THE JUNGLE FACILITY
1379 Words
The text message arrived at 2 AM.
Declan was dreaming of the Swiss facility—the gray walls, the empty eyes of the children, the explosion that had turned it all to ash. The buzz of his phone pulled him back to the surface, his heart pounding, his hand reaching for the nightstand.
Unknown number.
Dr. Heinrich Vogel is in the sss. A facility hidden in the jungle. Thirty miles from the nearest town. Coordinates attached.
He has children there. At least twenty.
He knows you're coming.
—A friend
Declan sat up in bed.
Claire stirred beside him. "What is it?"
"Heinrich Vogel. He's in South America. He has more children."
"Declan—"
"I have to go."
"You just got back."
"I know. But those children can't wait."
Claire was quiet for a moment.
"Then go. But come back to us."
"Always."
---
Declan called Reyes at 3 AM.
"I need to go to South America. Vogel is in the sss. He has at least twenty children."
"How do you know?"
"A text message. Same number as before."
"Could be a trap."
"Could be. But I have to take the risk."
"I'll make the arrangements. We'll fly out tomorrow."
"Today. We fly today."
---
The flight to Brazil took nine hours.
Declan stared out the window at the ocean, the clouds, the distant coastline. Reyes sat beside him, reviewing maps and satellite images.
"The facility is deep in the jungle," she said. "No roads. No airstrips. We'll have to take a helicopter from the nearest town."
"How long will that take?"
"Two hours. Maybe three."
"And the children?"
"We don't know anything about them. Ages. Conditions. Nothing."
"Then we prepare for the worst."
---
The town was small—a cluster of buildings at the edge of the jungle, surrounded by green and brown and the sounds of animals Declan didn't recognize. The helicopter was waiting on a dirt landing pad, its blades already spinning.
The pilot was a local, his face weathered, his eyes sharp.
"You're going to the facility?" he asked in accented English.
"We are."
"Many people go there. Not many come back."
"We're not most people."
The pilot shrugged.
"Your funeral."
---
The helicopter rose over the jungle.
The trees stretched out below them, endless and green, broken only by the brown ribbon of a river. Declan watched for signs of the facility—a clearing, a building, smoke.
Reyes pointed.
"There. At two o'clock."
A clearing. A large building, gray and windowless. Surrounded by a high fence. Razor wire. Guard towers.
"Just like the one in Switzerland," Declan said.
"Same architect. Same design. Same purpose."
The helicopter landed in a clearing a half-mile from the facility.
Interpol agents were already there, waiting in the trees.
"The guards are armed," the lead agent said. "Heavily. We'll need to move fast."
"Any sign of Vogel?"
"No. But he's in there. We have witnesses."
"Then let's go."
---
They approached the gate.
The guards saw them and opened fire.
Declan hit the dirt as bullets tore through the air around him. Agents returned fire. The chaos was deafening, the jungle echoing with the sounds of violence.
One guard fell. Then another.
Then silence.
The gate was open.
"Move!" the lead agent shouted.
They ran.
---
The facility was a maze of corridors and locked doors.
Declan followed the agents, his heart pounding, his breath coming in short gasps. The air was hot and humid, thick with the smell of sweat and fear.
They found the first child in a room on the first floor.
A boy. Maybe eight years old. Dark hair. Dark eyes. He was chained to a bed, his wrists raw, his face blank.
"Get the chains off him," Declan said.
An agent produced bolt cutters and snapped the locks.
The boy didn't move.
"It's okay," Declan said. "You're safe now."
The boy looked at him.
Then he started to cry.
---
They found more children in the other rooms.
Dozens of them. Boys and girls, ages five to fifteen. Some were in cages. Some were strapped to tables. Some were huddled in corners, their eyes wide, their bodies shaking.
Declan's hands shook.
"How many?" he asked.
"We've found eighteen so far. There are more."
"Keep looking."
---
They found Dr. Heinrich Vogel in a room at the end of the hall.
He was old—seventy, maybe eighty—with white hair and a white coat and eyes that held no warmth.
"Declan Cole," Vogel said. "I've been expecting you."
"Then you know why I'm here."
"The children. The experiments. The research."
"Yes."
"It's all true. Every bit of it. I have no regrets."
"You should."
"I don't. I was trying to save humanity. To make it better. Stronger. Smarter."
"By torturing children?"
"By unlocking their potential."
Declan stepped closer.
"You're going to prison, Vogel. For the rest of your life."
"I'm an old man. Prison won't change anything."
"No. But it will keep you from hurting anyone else."
---
Vogel didn't resist.
He let the agents cuff him and lead him away.
As he passed Declan, he stopped.
"The children you found here are just the beginning. There are others. In other facilities. In other countries. You'll never find them all."
"Watch me."
Vogel smiled.
"I will. From my cell. For the rest of my life."
---
They found twenty-three children in the facility.
Some were too weak to walk. Some were too scared to move. Some had to be carried.
Declan helped where he could.
He held a girl's hand while a medic checked her vitals. He carried a boy down the stairs when he couldn't walk. He sat with a teenager who wouldn't stop crying and told her that everything was going to be okay.
He didn't know if it was true.
But he had to say something.
---
They loaded the children onto helicopters and ambulances.
Declan watched as they were flown away, one by one, to hospitals and shelters and temporary homes.
Reyes stood beside him.
"How many?"
"Twenty-three. That's how many we found."
"Twenty-three children. Hidden in the jungle. For years."
"Some of them were born here. They've never seen the sky."
"Now they will."
Declan looked at the facility.
"What do we do with this place?"
"Same as the last one. Burn it. Bury it. Make sure no one ever uses it again."
"I'll light the match."
---
They set the charges at dusk.
Declan stood at a safe distance, watching as the building exploded, flames shooting into the sky, smoke billowing over the jungle.
Another piece of Elias's legacy destroyed.
Another nightmare ended.
Reyes handed him a bottle of water.
"You did good today."
"We did good. All of us."
"What now?"
"Now we go home. We hug our families. We try to forget."
"Will we?"
"No. But we'll learn to live with it."
---
Declan flew home the next day.
The plane was quiet. The other passengers slept. He stared out the window at the clouds, the sun, the endless sky.
Claire was waiting at the airport.
"You look terrible," she said.
"I feel worse."
"Did you save them?"
"We saved them. All twenty-three."
Claire hugged him.
"I'm proud of you."
"I didn't do anything special. I just showed up."
"That's what makes you special."
---
Finn was waiting at home.
He ran to Declan and wrapped his arms around him.
"Dad! Did you save the kids?"
"We saved them, buddy."
"Are they okay?"
"They're scared. They're hurt. But they're alive. And they're getting help."
"Like you got help?"
"Like I got help."
Finn looked up at him.
"Can we go to the park now?"
"Of course we can."
---
They walked to the park, hand in hand.
The sun was shining. The birds were singing. The world was turning.
Normal things.
Beautiful things.
Declan sat on a bench and watched Finn play.
His phone buzzed.
A text message.
Unknown number.
There's another facility. In Africa. We have coordinates. More children.
When can you leave?
Declan stared at the screen.
Another facility.
More children.
The work never ended.
He put the phone away.
Tomorrow, he would fight again.
But today, he rested.
With his son.
With his family.
With the people he loved.
- Writer
