Too Young (The Jewel Project #1)

Chapter 9.2 - New Recruits

Tom watched Jimmy sleeping peacefully, wishing he could understand what had happened to him that day. Sure, he was glad his brother had finally moved on and was once again interested in girls, though Alice wouldn't have been Tom's first choice. Yeah, whatever toots his horn.

Ugh, why couldn't he find something that tooted his horn? Someone, anyone. Even someone impossible. But seeing Sam and Christine together had proven that he still felt as if he belonged to someone else, to the most miserable creature on this earth.

Get out of my head, get out of my head, get out of my head! He wasn't even going to think her name ever again, let alone speak it. God, let the other backup they expected be some hot girl he could fall head over heels for so he'd break the chains. He thought he'd gotten over her until he'd almost died. In those few seconds he'd been sure the walls would kill them all, he'd thought about her, about her smile, her laugh and how happy they'd been until she showed her true colors and destroyed everything.

I gotta get out of here. Tom scrambled out of his sleeping bag. He had to do something, anything, to stop thinking. This included getting eaten by a jaguar. Grabbing his slingshot, he stepped out of the tent. Carlos seemed to be sleeping next to the camp fire. Where could he go? Maybe he should just circle the camp since it was dark as hell and he hadn't taken any light source with him. He walked toward the fringe of the clearing.

"Don't be rash, miho. Learn to listen and you will find your happiness," Carlos said as Tom passed by him.

"Thanks, dude," Tom answered, not stopping. The guy obviously had good intentions, but generic advice was not what he needed right then.

He stopped once the light barely made it through the vegetation. He'd gotten used to the jungle and he'd be sorry to leave. And a part of him wanted to demand that they all took a DNA test to make sure he and Sam weren't twins. Deep inside, he was somehow sure they were. Sam was like a missing part of him - the rational, reasonable part.

The part that wouldn't stupidly wander away from camp and see an intruder sneaking around. He squinted at the shadow moving silently, but it didn't seem to have noticed him. The sound of movement came from his right as well. There were more of them. Maybe they were trying to surround the camp.

Tom glanced over his shoulder, but camp was invisible behind the walls of vegetation. He presumed it was safe for now, so he started off after the shadow, walking as quickly and as quietly as possible.

The silhouette wasn't in a hurry and Tom kept a safe distance. What confused him was that he couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman. He walked like a man and had broad shoulders, but also seemed to be wearing a skirt.

It suddenly stopped and Tom stopped too, ducking behind a tree. It had obviously seen something, and after raising his sunglasses to the top of his head, Tom could see it too in the almost nonexistent light: another person, crouching in front of something. He squinted, trying to make out the shape better, but he didn't get to because the one he had been following rushed swiftly and caught the other in a headlock. The girl screamed shortly and struggled to escape the grip.

Tom crouched, picked up a rock, loaded his slingshot and fired, hitting what turned out to be a man straight in the head. He growled and let go of the girl who scrambled away at once. Tom loaded his slingshot again, but the man didn't turn towards him. Instead, he rushed after the girl, and pushed her to the ground. She fell on her front and the man pinned her to the ground.

Tom came out from behind the tree and unloaded the slingshot again, from a much shorter distance. This time he caught the man's attention. He shoved the girl aside and rushed to Tom. Before he could make a move, the crazy guy rammed himself into Tom, throwing him to the ground. The slingshot flew out of his hand.