The jungle was loud. I mean loud. Bugs screaming, things moving in the leaves, the whole place humming. The air was so thick it was like drinking through a cloth. I chopped at a vine with the machete. It felt good. Simple.
Kenji was behind me. I could hear him breathing. My own breath was heavier. The dam was close now. My neck was tight. This felt bad. The scanner in my pocket showed nothing. Just a blank screen.
“It’s too easy,” Kenji said, his voice low.
I stopped. He was right. Up ahead, the plants were all cut back. A clean path. Right to the fence. The gate was open.
“They’re waiting,” I said.
“Yeah.”
So we stopped hiding. Just walked out into the open. Gravel under our boots. The dam was huge. A big gray block. The new part on the side looked like a metal growth. Wrong.
No gu
