Andy McNab - Recoil

A volley of shouts in French came up from the valley entrance and people started running. Seconds later, the ground rumbled and shuddered under my feet. A mass of logs and wood shrapnel bounced into the air and I dived to one side, ready for an attack. Then I looked around. Everybody else had gone back to work. Life went on; they must be blowing another hole.

As the rumble subsided, I heard an urgent yell from Sam, up on the knoll. I couldn't make out what it was about, but he was pissed off big-time.

I carried on to the re-entrant. Some of the sick from Nuka were still straggling in along the valley floor. Silky and a couple of MF guys were immediately alongside them, doing their caring and sharing bit. Tim was further back, putting a blanket over an old woman who lay motionless on the ground. He finished off by drawing the end over her head.

I walked through the throng to Silky. 'We're leaving.'

She didn't bother looking up. 'What? We can't move them again.'

There was no more time to fuck about. I gripped her arm to let her know I'd drag her out of there if I needed to. 'Otherwise you'll die here. I'm taking you to Rwanda, to safety.'

Tim approached, his face etched with concern.

I pointed a finger. 'You can shut the fuck up before you start.'

But he still kept coming. I let go of her and headed his way, part of me wanting to front him and see what he would do. It wouldn't be difficult to blow him over.

Crucial jumped down from the high ground and landed between us. 'Nick, hey, it's OK.'

Tim walked round Crucial, ignoring the pair of us completely. 'You should go, Silke.' He spoke softly to her. 'It's dangerous and it's only going to get worse.' He swung to face me. 'I have a duty of care here. The miners, the LRA, everybody's done enough damage to these people over the years. I'm not going to desert them now. But you're right. She must go.'

I turned back to Silky, annoyed at Tim for being so fucking honourable.

He placed his hands gently on her shoulders. 'It's futile staying. Please, go.' His hands stayed where they were a while longer. Finally, she lowered her head and nodded. They hugged, then he turned and walked into the crowd. Clearly he wasn't big on goodbyes either.

'Good, let's go.'

I shoved the tin can at her as she took one last look behind her. 'Get this down you while we're moving.' I grabbed her hand and headed for the river.

Crucial yelled after us, 'Wait, man, the bridge – they've already blown it.'

'We'll get over, mate, don't worry.' I tightened my grip. 'And I'll think about what you said, yeah?'

I gave Yin and Yang a nod and they fell in behind us.

The bridge had all but disappeared. The only bits left standing were two log piers on each bank. Sections of the main span were strewn along the track. Sam's guys were making it as difficult as they could for the LRA to cross the river. Unfortunately, either things had got a bit out of hand, or the translation was crap, because they'd sparked up too early.

I pulled out the sat nav. It was a small, handheld Magellan unit encased in dark green armoured rubber. These things normally took a few minutes from cold to tune in and find satellites. When it was ready, I'd key in the airstrip way-point.

I studied the thirty metres of river that separated us from the other bank. The rain-swollen, surging torrent was the colour of the valley, and we were going to have to cross it at some point. But not here: it was too wide, too fast. The only thing that cheered me up was the thought that Standish would have to cross it the other way.

I turned to Silky as she forced down the last mouthful of sludge and placed the empty can to one side of the track. 'There a bridge in Nuka?'

She shook her head. 'If there was, they'll have dealt with it by now, won't they?' She eyed Yin and Yang, who were standing there like a couple of dickheads, chatting away to themselves, pockets bulging with whatever they'd retrieved from their Louis Vuittons. 'Who are they?'

'Surveyors. I guess they cost too much to train to get dropped.'

'Speak English?'

She was looking at them but I shook my head at the same time as they did.

'They destroyed the village. I hate them.'

It wasn't time for a debate. 'OK, listen, I need your help.' It felt good to stick my work head back on. I told her about the airstrip, its connection to the mine, how far away it was and why we were heading there.

'If we hit any of the LRA, you've got to do exactly as I tell you, OK? You'll get scared, it's natural, but that's different from flapping. Don't do that, just get on with whatever I tell you to do. It's our only way out of here.'

The ground sloped gently upwards for about twenty metres, then steepened. I pulled the bergen from my back and dumped it. It wasn't as if I needed the shelter sheet to keep dry, or even had any food, water or dry clothing inside.

The Magellan still hadn't got a fix but I started to follow the river south anyway, upstream, away from Nuka. We still had to cross it. Then the thing could ask its mates up in space where we needed to go.

I stayed four or five metres in from the track. The bank would be a natural route for the LRA to follow. In the jungle, rivers are roads, and big rivers are motorways.

Weapon in the shoulder, safety lever down two clicks to single shot, I navigated our way through the bush, using the cover to keep us out of sight from the bank.

My eyes scanned the jungle, but my mind kept veering away from the job in hand. What would happen to us when we got back? She hadn't been overwhelmed to see me, and she was only with me now because Tim had had enough brain cells to know what was what. If it was over, then fuck it – I might as well come back here and take up Sam's offer. Maybe helping the odd kid stay on the rails would help me get over it.

After an hour we came to a huge buttress tree, like a fat rocket with six big fins. The whole thing was covered with a mass of vines and moss. I gestured towards its base, then held up a spread hand for the Chinese. 'Five minutes.' As if they understood.

It sank in when Silky sat against the trunk and I knelt next to her, weapon at the ready, covering towards the river.

'How did you get here, Nick?' Silky was out of breath, but calm. One of the things I'd always liked about her was that she kept her head, even when the shit was hurtling in the direction of the fan.

'I know a couple of the guys running the mines.'

'But how do you know these people? They're mercenaries, no?'

My eyes were busy scanning the river, and I kept them there. 'No… Well, maybe… I know them from my army days.'

I knew she was tilting her head to catch my eye, but the terrain ahead was too interesting for me to divert my attention from it.

'I don't really know that much about you, do I?'

I was almost relieved that she'd gone straight in at the deep end. 'It's a two-way street, you know. I guess there's quite a lot we don't know about each other.' I hesitated. 'I didn't know about your medical degree. I didn't know that the moment you find things too complicated, or not going your way, you hit the road. Fuck what anyone else thinks. You've pissed me off big-time. You think this is a game we're playing here?'

Yin and Yang looked even more frightened than they had when I'd bawled them out about their luggage. 'Don't you worry.' I flashed them a smile. 'You'll be all right. Jan will be knocking up a brai for you boys in no time.'

Silky wasn't listening. She was staring at me. 'Stefan?'

Finally I turned, but kept the weapon where it was.

'Stefan told you, didn't he? What else did he tell you?'

'Fuck-all, really. But what little he did say made me realize I hardly knew you…'

We couldn't waste any more time. I was worried about getting over the river. There hadn't been any sign of a narrowing between the banks. I got up and waited for the others to do likewise, then moved off. We would have to keep punching through bush until we found a crossing point so we could head east.