Chris Ryan - Survival

'You don't expect me to eat them, do you?' whispered Amber, staring in horror at the grubs. They were each a good four inches long. Their stubby legs waved in the air as they bent their bodies back and forth. Their white skin gleamed in the dim green light under the trees.

Paulo hurried to explain. 'I ate them on my rainforest trek back home. Our instructor told us they were the best source of fat, carbohydrates and protein in the jungle.'

'And you believed him?' said Amber, swallowing as she watched the squirming grubs.

'But you must eat, Amber,' said Paulo. 'For your diabetes, yes? You wait, once they are roasted-'

'We can't have a fire,' interrupted Alex. 'The pirates might see the smoke.'

'Ah,' said Paulo. 'Well, you can eat them raw-'

'Forget it!' hissed Amber.

Paulo frowned down at the squirming grubs, then his face brightened again as he had an idea. 'Leave it to me,' he said. He emptied the grubs onto a flat stone, then picked up a second stone and pressed it down on top of them. They popped with a loud squishing sound.

'Oh, gross,' said Amber, turning away as Paulo enthusiastically ground the grubs into a thick, white paste. Alex was watching her from his place beside the stretcher.

'What?' said Amber.

Alex hesitated. 'Amber, I need to ask you. Did you manage to get to the satellite phone?'

Amber felt a flush spread across her face. She looked down. Her knees were poking through the blanket and she occupied herself with picking at a scabbed mosquito bite. Alex waited. Finally, she lifted her head again and looked him straight in the eye.

'I goofed,' she said.

Alex, Li and Paulo listened quietly as she explained what had happened.

'Right,' said Alex, briskly, when she had finished. 'Amber, you did brilliantly out there. You've probably saved Hex's life. But, the fact is, nobody knows we're here. We're still on our own. Whatever happens next has to be up to us. So, what are we going to do about Philippe and his family?'

'I have been thinking about that,' said Paulo. 'It would be easy enough to distract the pirates in some way while we let the family out of the cage. But then, where do we go? There's no way we can all get out to the yacht. The water is full of sharks and the pirates have rifles. Even if we managed to escape into the rainforest, we would be moving so slowly that the pirates would track us down in no time.'

'We have to do something,' said Li. 'When the other pirates come back, they're probably going to kill them. Even the children. We can't let that happen.'

'If we could only disable the pirates in some way…' muttered Alex, gazing around him. He stopped as he spotted the branch of physic nuts and a thoughtful look came over his face.

Paulo hurried across to Amber, carrying a leaf piled with what looked like balls of pink ice cream. 'What's that?' asked Amber, glaring at him suspiciously.

'This is mashed grubs mixed with mango.'

'No!'

'But it is delicious. Watch!' Paulo picked up one of the pink balls and popped it into his mouth.

'No,' said Amber. 'N – O. No.'

'I think you'd better try,' said Alex, quietly. 'You're going to need the energy.'

'Why?' asked Amber.

'Eat up and I'll tell you.'

Amber sighed loudly, then grabbed the leaf from Paulo. 'Water,' she demanded. Li poured some into the coconut shell and handed it over. Amber took a deep breath, then grabbed a ball, shoved it into her mouth and swallowed it down with a gulp of water. Doggedly she carried on until the leaf was clear, then she flung the leaf away from her and swallowed the rest of the water in big gulps. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and glared fiercely at the others.

'Do not ever, ever, mention this to me again. Ever!'

'Well done,' said Alex, quietly. 'Now, here's what we're going to do.'

Alex lay on his belly in the undergrowth. Only a thin screen of high grasses separated him from the beach. Carefully he reached out and parted the grasses with his fingers. Out on the beach, the two older pirates were still down by the boat, playing cards. The younger one was much closer to Alex's hiding-place. He was standing over the campfire he had built, stirring the contents of a large cooking pot. Scattered all around him on the sand were empty, catering-sized cans which the pirates had taken from the yacht.

Alex was close enough to read the labels on the cans. He smiled as he saw what had gone into the cookpot. Beef stew, spicy tomato sauce, anchovies in oil, hot peppers and savoury rice. Good. The hotter the concoction, the better their plan would work. The young pirate scooped out a spoonful of the stew and tasted it. He coughed, then nodded his approval. The meal was nearly ready. It was time for Alex to move.

Directly ahead of him lay the pile of firewood the pirates had collected. Stacked next to it were the wooden crates of supplies they had taken from the yacht. Alex eased out of the sheltering undergrowth on his belly, then, using the crates as cover, he wormed over to the woodpile. For a few seconds, he stayed motionless, his head down, listening. Everything was quiet. He had not been spotted.

Reaching into his pouch, Alex pulled out a handful of tinder-dry kindling and his magnifying glass. He pushed the kindling into the woodpile, then angled the magnifying glass so that a concentrated beam of sunlight arrowed into the centre of the dry kindling like a laser. A thin thread of white smoke began to rise. The smoke grew thicker, then the kindling burst into flame. Alex blew on the kindling and the flames began to spread to the rest of the woodpile. He watched the fire grow. The flames were almost invisible in the sunshine but the fire had definitely taken hold.

Alex wormed his way back into the undergrowth, then skirted round the edge of the beach to Li's hiding-place further along. As Alex flopped down beside Li, the young pirate spotted the burning woodpile and yelled. The other two pirates dropped their cards and raced up the beach to help him pull the crates of supplies away from the flames.

'Now!' hissed Alex.

Li shot out of the undergrowth and raced for the cookpot at a crouching run. She dived down behind the pot and tried to make herself as small as possible while she fumbled a leaf parcel out of her pocket and opened it.

'Come on, come on,' whispered Alex, from the undergrowth. The pirates were still moving the crates to safety but there were only a few left to go.

Li's hand rose above the top of the cookpot and shook the contents of the leaf into the stew.

'Good,' muttered Alex. 'Now get out of there.'

Incredibly, Li stayed where she was. She picked up the spoon from the flat stone beside the fire, reached up again and began to stir the stew. Alex groaned and glanced over to the pirates. The last crate was being carried to safety. Any second now, they would turn and walk back to the cooking fire.

At last Li put the spoon back on the stone and headed back for the undergrowth, just as the pirates dumped the last crate and turned towards the campfire. Li was still out in the open, in plain view. Alex went into a crouch, ready to fight them if he had to. But the pirates were arguing again and looking back at the blazing woodpile rather than ahead to the campfire. Li somersaulted herself into the undergrowth just as the youngest pirate turned his face back to the campfire and stalked up to the pot.

'Cutting it fine,' whispered Alex.

'I had to stir. He would've noticed it otherwise,' whispered Li.

They crouched together, watching as the pirate picked up the spoon and stirred the pot. Would he notice anything? But the pirate hardly looked into the pot. He was concentrating on sending sullen glares across at the other two pirates who were back at the motor launch. He lifted out another spoonful and tasted, then stopped suddenly and stared into the stew. Alex and Li held their breath. The pirate looked over his shoulder at the other two. They had their heads down, sorting out their cards. The pirate smiled slyly, leaned over the pot and spat into the stew. Then he turned and called the other two to dinner.