Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
“Why’d you come to Guyana?” Buck asked Mandy a couple of hours later.
The rain really started coming down not too long after they’d set out, and his clothes were soaked, as were Mandy’s.
They weren’t moving too fast, since the undergrowth in the jungle was thick, and he wasn’t about to attempt using any of the trails or the occasional road they came across.
Not only that, but it was now fully dark.
The flashlight he’d taken from the rebel camp didn’t do much to penetrate the blackness.
Which was good, as he didn’t want to be a beacon for anyone who might be looking for them, but it made getting anywhere quickly difficult.
It was another thing altogether to be trudging through the jungle with a civilian who’d already been a captive for over two weeks, with a stolen flashlight whose batteries could go dead at any moment.
Not to mention there were critters that came out at night that could kill either of them with one bite faster than a terrorist with an RPG.
Mandy hadn’t complained. Not once. And he appreciated that, but it also worried him.
She hadn’t said much in the last hour at all, and he was concerned that she was once again hiding how she was feeling from him.
He suspected this woman would pass out from exhaustion before making one peep of complaint.
She was hanging on to one of the straps of the backpack to make sure she didn’t get separated from him. A few times, when he’d stopped abruptly, she’d run right into him, apologizing profusely afterward even though it definitely wasn’t her fault.
Buck wanted nothing more than to stop, but a sixth sense told him that they weren’t far enough away yet. That they needed to keep walking, just in case. He didn’t feel as if there were any rebels in the immediate vicinity, so they didn’t need to stay silent, just vigilant.
And that was why he’d asked Mandy the question about why she’d come to Guyana. He was curious about her, and he had a feeling a lot of Americans wouldn’t have the slightest idea where the country was in the first place.
“Mandy?” he asked, when she didn’t respond. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw she was walking with her eyes closed. It wasn’t as if she could see much with her eyes open anyway, but the trust she was giving him was almost overwhelming. Buck was going to try even harder not to let her down.
“Are you asleep?” he asked with a small chuckle.
“Shhhh,” she said with a smile, not opening her eyes. “I’m pretending I’m on the beach, taking a pleasurable stroll that will end at my hotel room, where I’ll get into a huge Jacuzzi tub after eating the enormous meal I ordered from room service.”
Now Buck found himself smiling. “With a huge cup of coffee.”
“And a piece of peanut butter chocolate pie.”
“Buttered garlic bread.”
“A medium-rare steak.”
Buck’s smile widened. As much as talking about food was making his stomach hurt, it was also kind of fun. “So…Guyana?” he asked, still wanting to hear the answer to his question.
She sighed, and when he looked again, he saw her eyes were now open.
“After work one day—a very tough day, during which I’d been spit on, got my ass chewed by a parent for something I had nothing to do with, and was reprimanded by my principal—I was at home, doom scrolling on social media, when a video caught my attention.
At first I rolled my eyes, because it reminded me of those ads for the humane society that showed all these animals in deplorable conditions—you know the ones…
where puppies are shivering in the snow while the narrator talks about how for just thirty-two cents a day, you too can help save an abused and neglected animal?
Anyway, the longer I watched, the more intrigued I got.
“I clicked on the website and saw more pictures. Not of sad-looking children sitting in the dirt looking pathetic…but happy children, running around and smiling. They weren’t playing with electronics, weren’t dressed in expensive clothing…
most weren’t even wearing shoes. But they seemed content.
Unlike my students, who just seemed annoyed most days because they had to put their phones away in class.
“I researched as much as I could, then contacted Blair. She seemed excited that I was interested in joining them. She explained that their little school-slash-orphanage wasn’t sponsored by the government, so they only got by with private donations.
She further explained that if I came down, I’d be a volunteer, so she warned me that I needed to make sure I could afford it. ”
“I didn’t think teachers made a ton of money,” Buck said, not wanting to be rude, but genuinely curious.
“They don’t,” Mandy said. “But my parents were killed in a car accident when I was seventeen. A drunk driver hit them going seventy miles an hour on the interstate. There was a lawsuit, and an online fundraiser for their only child…me. I used some of the money for college but saved the rest, and it had just been collecting interest ever since. I had enough to quit my job back in Norfolk and do something new and exciting. It wasn’t going to be my new forever, I just desperately needed a change. ”
“This is a change, all right,” Buck said dryly.
Mandy chuckled from behind him. “Yeah. The thing is, being down here, interacting with these kids…it gave me my love of teaching back. They’re all so eager to learn, they soak up every scrap of info you give them, and they have so much love in their hearts.
There’s nothing better than being greeted at the door with a huge hug and a ‘good morning, Miss Mandy!’ If nothing else, it made me realize that when I go home, I want to update my teaching certificate so I can get a job with younger kids.
There’s nothing wrong with middle school, but I think my passion is teaching kids of a younger age. ”
“That’s great,” Buck said.
“Yeah. Your turn. Tell me about you. About your copilot, the one who loves Star Wars. How exactly did you end up flying a helicopter to South America to rescue a bunch of kids?”
“Apparently the vice president has ties to Guyana. He worked down here after college with the Peace Corps. When word got to the White House about the kidnapping of a bunch of orphans, he pushed for something to be done. And me and Obi-Wan were that something. We volunteered, while the rest of our team went to Mexico to help with recovery after the hurricane.”
“There was a hurricane?” Mandy asked. “Jeez, I love being down here, but I feel so out of the loop. The break from social media has been great, I don’t miss it, per se, but I do feel as if I’m not as informed as I should be. How many other pilots do you work with?”
“There’re six of us. Casper and Pyro usually fly together, as do Chaos and Edge.”
“I’ve always wanted a badass nickname like that,” Mandy said with a sigh.
“Trust me, they’re usually not as cool as they might sound. You already know how I got mine.”
“I know, but it still sounds impressive, and that’s what counts, right? I mean, if a dog’s name is Fluffy, that gives a very different impression than if its name is Killer, even if it wouldn’t hurt a flea.”
Buck chuckled. “True. So, what would you pick? As a nickname?”
“I don’t know. Viper? Shadow? Storm?”
“Rebel,” Buck blurted, not sure where it came from, but as soon as the word left his lips, he realized how well it fit. “You defy expectations, fight back against the odds, and you do what you want, even when it goes against what society thinks is normal or proper.”
When he looked back at Mandy, he saw she was smiling.
“Rebel. I like it. Tell me more about your friends.”
“Casper is our team leader. He has a twin who’s a Navy SEAL. He and our mechanic, Laryn, recently realized they were perfect for each other.”
“Oh, that’s cool.”
“It is. Because Laryn’s awesome. Not only is she the best helicopter mechanic in the country, she’s now tied to our unit because of Casper. So she’s not going anywhere.”
“You know how awful that sounds, right?” Mandy asked with a chuckle.
“Yup. But seriously, the woman has skills. And because Casper has recently destroyed two helicopters, she’s been kept very busy.”
Mandy inhaled sharply. “Two?”
Time went by quickly as Buck explained the circumstances behind his team leader’s two chopper incidents. He then went on to tell her all about his other teammates.
When he got to Obi-Wan, he did his best to explain his relationship with the man he trusted with his life on a daily basis.
“When you’re in the cockpit, in the middle of an op, it’s pitch-dark outside, you only have the instruments in front of you to know where to fly and what’s going on, so it’s vital that you trust the person sitting next to you.
Obi-Wan, he’s…he’s like my brother. We clicked the first time we met, when we were assigned to our new unit. There’s no one I trust more.”
“Is he going to be pissed that you’re here now? That you didn’t leave with him?” Mandy asked quietly.
Buck hesitated, but ultimately decided to be honest. She’d been through hell and deserved that much.
“Here’s the thing—we aren’t supposed to leave our chopper.
Under any circumstances. Casper did that on the mission I was telling you about before, and he’ll kick his own ass for it for the rest of his life, because it allowed Laryn to be taken. ”
“But he saved those SEALs. Right?”
Buck nodded. “Yeah. He did. Which is why he did it. It’s not in our DNA to literally sit by and let someone on our watch get hurt or die.
You asked if Obi-Wan would be upset that I came after you, and the answer is no.
He’d probably be more pissed if I’d gotten back in that chopper and left you out here alone.
I had no doubts about his ability to fly the kids and those special forces soldiers back across the border.
Further, I know that even now, he’s doing everything in his power to try to come back for us. ”