Project Lazarus Read Online Free Page B

wanted him alive, ironically.  They had no desire to kill him.  They wanted only his knowledge and his power.
     
    Unknown to his powerful companions with guns, Charlie Dempster was more than a scientist and a researcher that day, he was a man on the verge of losing his only son, Dylan, just five years of age to cancer.  He would die in a month, maybe a week, maybe that very day.  But “The Mystical One”, the leader of  “Those of The Arrow”, he could raise him.
     
    If they ever knew his personal motives, Charlie would be fired or worse.  They could never know.  He made sure of that.  Dylan was treated out of state and out of sight.  He was completely off the grid and so was his cancer.  Only Charlie’s trusted friend, Dr. Collins, a specialist in child cancer knew the truth.  They both agreed before Charlie left for the Amazon, the tribal leader of  “Those of the Arrow”, was his only hope.
     
    “Okay Commander,” Professor Dempster warned, “They’re probably watching us now.”
     
    The two men exchanged an intense look, it was now or never.  The leaves of the forest and the brush were so brutal, the sweat dripping from all over their bodies was nothing compared to the blood that followed.  No amount of layers of clothing could hide them from the sun, the brutal branches or the animals that would chase the scent of something now dying- them.
     
    Commander Henrid motioned his men to stay back.
     
    Complete silence.  It was indeed a standoff, a war was about to ensue.  Commander Henrid and Professor Dempster knew what they wanted to win.  “Those of The Arrow” only knew these were strange intruders to be warned, to be killed, to be eliminated.
     
    It was what all wars come down to eventually.  One side needs to eliminate the other because of misunderstanding and fear.  Or perhaps, everyone has it clear to begin with.  When someone takes something from you or invades your territory, it is time for them to go.   An eye for an eye. 
     
    Commander Henrid was growing impatient.
     
    “No, not yet,” Charlie urged.
     
    He knew the tribe would make their move.  They would expose themselves.  They were on the verge of seeing a group of people that had never seen civilization.  They were also on the verge of finding, “The Mystical One”, the leader, he would be the one with the two blue stripes of paint on his forehead, the long unkempt hair and no thumbs.
     
    Eight fingers.  Could the myth really be true?  Charlie wondered.
     
    The arrow shot past his face, inches from grazing his nose.
     
    More whizzed by.
     
    The war had begun.
     
    They appeared in bits and fragments, “Those of the Arrow”, bare legs, covered with animal skins, faces with paint, hair with its own language, men, women, and children.
     
    Barely a sound.  Those snipers pulled the trigger and made barely a sound in the Amazon.   Was it possible to be surrounded by wild animals and people in a lost place and time and not make any sound?
     
    Charlie braced himself against a tree.
     
    There was a thick branch like cord, directly to his right, he knew what that meant.  It meant go no further.
     
    He tugged at Commander Henrid’s camouflage shirt.  The commander was annoyed.  This was a battle.  The professor had no place in the middle of it.
     
    Being a wise man, Commander Henrid, motioned to his men to cease.
     
    Professor Dempster motioned at the cord, “We can’t pass.”
     
    Both men looked up to the sound of footsteps scurrying about.  They saw two barely clothed men making their way across a bridge.  They were going to warn the others about the dangerous intruders.
     
    The snipers left three members of the tribe dead.
     
    The other tribe members were uncertain. Were their members dead?  They could have easily been wounded or in shock or knocked out.  The possibilities were endless to a human being that had never seen a gunshot wound let alone one that left very little