Rogue Element

Joe’s watch didn’t lie. They hadn’t been in the tunnel long but it seemed like a lifetime. They’d briefly talked about leaving the security of the tunnel and striking off into the jungle, but his enthusiasm for this had been one-sided.

‘Why?’ Suryei asked. ‘Neither of us has a compass. There are no landmarks to navigate by. We can’t see any stars because of the cloud. The moon’s not up yet. And we can’t move nearly as freely through the undergrowth, as you’ve already discovered. And believe it or not, this tunnel is probably the safest way to get around. As I said earlier, it’s like a freeway. The other, smaller animals know that too. They stay away.’

The question on Joe’s lips slipped out before he could stop it. ‘So what do we do then?’ he whispered between short, hoarse breaths. He heard her stop just in time to avoid burying his head in her rear yet again.

‘Jesus, how would I know? I’m just going in the opposite direction to the people with guns.’ Joe was worried that they were being herded, and Suryei had just confirmed it.

‘Look,’ he whispered, sucking in wet oxygen. ‘You said earlier you didn’t really know where this was taking us. We could be heading back to the plane for all we know. We could just crawl right into those bastards.’ In the almost complete darkness he could make out her shape, head bent, slumped against the side wall of the tunnel. But she was listening, so he continued. ‘Also, just a guess, but I’d say those soldiers are pretty relaxed in the bush.’ Joe took a breath. He felt like he was about to wade into deep, freezing water. ‘I know this sounds crazy, but I once reviewed a computer game called Nam. The only way to evade the bad guys was to stay off the trails and yet here we are, heading down jungle main street.’

Silence.

Joe pressed on. Suryei was at least listening, keeping an open mind, even if he was talking about tactics featured in a computer game. ‘If you stuck to the trails you’d always lose because there’d be ambushes and booby traps set by the enemy. The point was the enemy expected you to take the easy route, the trails. The only way to win was to stay off them and move through the untracked jungle.’

There was an unexpected pause. Joe wasn’t sure whether she was about to laugh at him or just leave him behind. Her eventual response took him by surprise. ‘Okay, I accept that,’ she said quietly, intensely. ‘So what do you think we should do?’

Joe thought, the now almost complete darkness hiding his insecurity. ‘We should have something to eat and drink.’ He rummaged through the rucksack and fetched out the trays of aeroplane food and two bottles of water. His fingers told him there were only three full bottles left amongst the empties. He thought he had six full bottles altogether. Have I dropped one somewhere? He hoped he’d made a mistake counting them in the first place. Joe handed her a tray and one of the bottles. ‘And I don’t know about you, but the other thing I need is sleep. I haven’t slept in over thirty-six hours. Just an hour will do — I don’t usually sleep much anyway.’ He took a bite out of a stale ham and cheese sandwich with the crust cut off. ‘Ugh,’ he said, ‘economy!’

‘Sure, no problem. We can just find a nice hotel. I’d like a swim and room service,’ she suggested sarcastically through a mouthful of sandwich.

Joe knew it sounded stupid. They were being hunted like animals and his big idea was to have a snooze. But the reality was that they were both physically and mentally exhausted.

‘I’m finding it hard to concentrate. I’m not thinking about anything other than putting one hand in front of the other here. If we’ve got any chance of getting out of this alive, we’ll need our wits about us. Simple as that.’ Joe’s conviction that he was right grew with every word. Sleep wasn’t a luxury, it was mandatory.

Suryei surprised him. ‘Okay, but only if you let me choose the hotel.’

‘Fine,’ he whispered. ‘After you.’ Then he paused while his tired mind ordered his thoughts. ‘Suryei, any idea what sort of people we’re up against?’

‘Not really. All I know is what I learned when I was in East Timor.’

‘What, taking wildlife shots?’

‘No, back then I was doing hard news, covering the Indonesian military’s handover after the elections in ’99,’ she said quietly. The tunnel reached a small clearing in the bush. She poked her head out tentatively and looked around. There was plenty of chirping from crickets and frogs — a good sign. She felt Joe bump into her. Again.

‘Sorry,’ he whispered. Suryei crawled out of the tunnel and stood in the small clearing, stretching, massaging the cramp out of the small of her back with her hands. Joe stood beside her quietly and did the same. They both then crouched, making themselves as small as possible.

‘You said you were in East Timor,’ Joe said after a minute of silence. ‘Was it as terrible as the papers reported?’

‘Worse.’