Threnody (Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

needed additional field time and thus their presence was unrelated to the mission itself.  Though plausible, the explanation did little to alleviate his anxiety about the assignment.
    The combined eight members of the medical team and its accompanying security force left the outpost at first light the following morning.  With no hint of danger or recent conflict, nothing appeared out of place in the rainforest as they continued toward the target area where the village was thought to be located.  Dr. Cardosa reveled in the tranquility they found as they left the obscure outpost but as they moved farther into the overgrown jungle, his sense of unrest returned, growing like a stubborn weed inside him.  While he saw nothing resembling the destruction described by the boy, he definitely sensed something was awry; the jungle somehow felt different that morning.  Though he had never been in this exact area, he was no stranger to being in the jungle.  At first he was unable to pinpoint the cause of his nagging feeling, and soon realized it was not what was there, but rather what was not. It was simply too peaceful.
    The rainforest jungle is a vibrant ecosphere with an unbelievable amount of activity at all times of day and night.  Movement of animals, wind rustling through the canopy, birds calling, and insects buzzing are just some of the constant sensory stimuli abounding in the jungle environment.  Today, Dr. Cardosa noted, there was a relative paucity of such activity.  Sure, there was still the sound of the wind passing through the canopy as well as the incessant droning of countless insects, but a definite sonic void existed where there would typically be the sounds of monkeys calling and other myriad animal noises.  Dr. Cardosa could not recall the last time he had seen or heard a bird since they left the outpost early that morning. 
    As they continued the arduous task of navigating the unbelievably dense and difficult terrain, it was no surprise to Dr. Cardosa that the Wapachu had remained uncontacted for so long.  The team rounded a massive 150-foot tall Brazil nut tree and discovered the first hard sign that something terrible had indeed happened.
    The four-man security team was arranged such that two of the special operations soldiers led point, while the other two brought up the rear as they maneuvered through the jungle.  One of the lead soldiers, Sgt. Cortez, tripped and stumbled to the ground, loudly cursing the wet root he slipped on.  As he regained his footing, he was horrified when he saw the ‘root’ was actually the remains of a severed human leg.  He stood speechless as his eyes followed the blood stretching like a grotesque trail of breadcrumbs from the leg back toward the village in the distance.
    In that instant, the man likely responsible for the dismemberment caught sight of him, snarled, and lunged at the recovering soldier as the second point man skillfully put him down with a quick double tap to the head from his suppressed H&K G36.  It was difficult to determine what group the deranged attacker belonged to as he was completely covered in blood and had suffered fairly significant injuries in the prior engagement.  He appeared to be from one of the indigenous tribes, perhaps the Wapachu, and bore evidence of multiple penetrating injuries to the abdomen in addition to the two new holes in his skull.  Several loops of the man’s small intestine protruded from one of the wounds in his abdominal cavity and had become entangled on a tree root when he lunged for Sgt. Cortez.
    Dr. Cardosa shuttered involuntarily as he wondered how a man with such injuries was even alive, much less ambulatory.
    Cautiously, the expeditionary group followed the blood trail with renewed fear as they carefully scanned the forest in all directions for any further threats.  What they encountered as the village came into full view was beyond imagination.  Total destruction, unspeakable atrocities, and raw carnage