Ash Ketchum: Battle of the Ampere

Ch. 18 On the Move

  "Mr. Ketchum, Mr. Ketchum."

   I opened my eyes to see Raihan leaning over me. It was still dark. "What?" I asked groggily.

  "The voice has signaled us."

   I sat up. "The voice?"

   He nodded. "Come."

   I looked over at Iris, who was still asleep, then climbed out of the tent and followed Raihan to the radio. Our camp was lit by nothing but the moon, and Raihan had even covered the radio dials with leaves. I didn't see them at first, but in the shadows the other two Peruvian men were dressed and ready to go, standing next to their packs.

  "How do they signal you?" I asked.

   Raihan showed me a small blinking device that looked like a simple pager. "With this." He  turned on the radio and a voice immediately came over the speaker.

  "Southern Cross," a female voice said. "Do you read me? Southern Cross, do you. . ."

   Raihan lifted the microphone close to his mouth and said in a soft voice, "This is Southern Cross."

  "Please confirm," the voice said.

  "Diez, uno, uno, uno, nueve, seis, dos."

  "Confirmed. Please receive this this message. The army is on the move east on the PE-30C highway. I repeat: The army is on the move east army move on the PE-30C highway. Do you copy?"

  "I copy," Raihan said.

  "Transmission complete," the woman said. "Good luck." The radio went dead.

   He looked at me. "It is time to go."

  "I'll wake Iris," I said. I went back to the tent. "Iris." She didn't move so I lightly shook her.

   She woke with a start. "What?"

  "It's time," I said. "They're coming."

  "Who's coming?"

  "The army."

   Iris pulled her hair back from her eyes into a sloppy ponytail, then sat up. "Let's go." She pulled on her shoes then followed me out. Raihan and the other men were standing near the outside of the tent waiting for us. "Vámonos," he said.

   We followed Raihan down the mountain, moving quickly through the dark jungle. Raihan's friends were fascinated by Iris's and my glow, and Raihan reminded us to pull our sleeves down as far as possible. It took us nearly forty minutes to reach the stony outcrop--twice as long as it had taken in daylight. Except for a few black stratus clouds, the sky was clear and the stars shone like punctured holes in a black curtain. The tension around us was as thick as the darkness. Or maybe it was just fear. Something told me it might be the last night of my life. I shivered at the thought.

   From the edge of the outcrop, we saw them. The lights of the army's caravan stretched on for miles, a long, dark snake, slithering steadily toward us, two abreast. It was the first time I fully realized how improbable our task was. I reminded myself that my friends were somewhere in that snake's belly and we were their only chance of escape.

  "Look at all those trucks," Iris said softly. "There's got to be a hundred of them."

  "At least," I said. I took a deep breath of the crisp night air. "How long until they reach us?"

  "Maybe twenty minutes," Raihan said.

  "Then we better go."

   He slipped the pack from his shoulder his and propped it up against a stone. As he dug through it, he asked, "Do you have your GPS?"