John put down his stick and got closer. He leaned right to the top of the sign to be able to read it.
The red paint had already flaked away in many places, but the sign below was still quite visible—a skull and crossbones.
“Landmines!” he uttered the word aloud, and his heart thudded painfully. “I’m in a damned minefield!”
His heavy panting was louder than the buzz of the mosquitos, the chirr of the grasshoppers, or even the boisterous scuffle of the monkeys …
You need to calm down … gather your thoughts. You have been in deeper s**t than this before, he kept saying to himself. You can’t go back because the grass turned straight again, you have no idea which way you came. You can’t go any farther because it’s getting dark now, and that reckless fan-shaped technique with your s
