The World's Next Plague Read Online Free PDF Page A

an
annoyed check-in lady is looking at me impatiently with her hand
out, asking me for my ticket for the third time. Passengers behind
me are pushing and muttering expletives, but I just have this
feeling the plane is going to crash.”
    “Eventually I give in to the pressure and get
on the plane because it is the thing to do. I will not know if I
made the right decision until either I am hurtling towards my death
or the plane lands safely.”
    “Of course, the only people you ever hear
this story from are the ones who listened to their internal warning
and made the decision not to board the plane that crashes. They get
interviewed afterwards and talk about the ‘feeling’ they had which
caused them not to get on. Those who land safely never mention
their foolish premonition to anyone.”
    From somewhere behind him and out of the
picture Rock yells, “Let’s go, Manon.”
    Manon continued, “Those who board the plane,
but do not land safely… well, we don’t hear from them either, do
we?”
    Manon pressed the button to stop the
recording. He stood up, gathered his gear, put the video camera on
his shoulder, and started walking behind the departing party.
    Pauley and Rock led the way. Rock carried one
of the tents. Manon could see Rock held the top two corners and had
folded it for carrying. By extending his arms it would quickly
unfold into a rectangle approximately the size of a small bed
sheet.
    Armando followed. He was carrying a large
wooden frame made from the thick branches Rock had been cutting,
spliced together with strong parachute cord. The frame, consisting
of ten horizontal and five longer vertical branches, was taller
than Armando and wider across. It must have been extremely heavy,
but Armando carried it behind his back easily. “They must be
planning to lash Pauley’s brother to the frame,” Manon thought, “if
necessary.”
    The other two large soldiers followed closely
with two tents identical to the one Rock held folded loosely in
their arms. All three of the men had their rifles slung across
their backs.
    Manon noticed the old shaman, hands tied
behind his back, lashed with a long rope to one of the nearby
trees. The old man was pleading with him as he went by, but Manon
did not understand the language and soon left the camp behind.
    After a short walk through the jungle Pauley
stopped. He leaned close to Rock’s ear, whispering low enough not
to be heard by the others. Pauley pointed ahead and to the right
into the surrounding growth.
    Manon peered hard into the brush where Pauley
was pointing, but the leaves were so thick he could not see even
five meters ahead of them.
    Rock turned. He walked stealthily back
towards Armando and gave him some instructions. Armando then turned
to the other men and the three of them disappeared quietly into the
jungle.
    Rock made his way back to Manon. “Pauley’s
brother should be just ahead. I sent the other guys to surround
him. When I give the whistle we all go in,” Rock whispered.
     
    ~ Chapter
VII ~
     
    As he was turning away from Manon, Pauley’s
brother burst from the overgrown brush to their right, directly
behind Rock. In a moment the attacker was within reach and started
yelling incomprehensively. Rock barely turned around in time to see
the shambling creature before it crashed into him from the side.
The little native was not large enough to tackle Rock to the
ground, but did cause the larger man to stumble awkwardly.
    Manon had been in the process of bringing the
video camera up to his shoulder when it happened. The camera never
made it.
    To Manon, the short creature burying its
teeth in the back of Rock’s hand had a wild predatory look. The
pupils had grown larger than the iris leaving a pitch black hole in
the middle of the eye. This pupil was surrounded by a pool of dark
blood where the whites of the eye would have normally been.
    The blood spattered face appeared to be
lifeless. The skin was hanging as if there was no more