Enter the Jungle

Bobby, with a cup of hot coffee in his hand, went up to Firecracker Tan and said, "Hi, Firecracker Tan. Your glass jar bomb was awesome. Can you teach me how to do it?"

Hearing that Bobby wanted to learn about his glass jar, Firecracker Tan's eyes lit up.

He put his hands on Bobby's shoulders, his eyes wide open, and said, "Finally, someone who appreciates my craft!"

Bobby then raised his hand with the hot coffee, hit Firecracker Tan's hand, and spilled the hot coffee all over him.

"I'm so sorry, Firecracker Tan."

"Argh. Now I'm all sticky, and I smell like coffee."

"Go get a shower; it will be so uncomfortable," I suggested.

"Hmph. Nice timing. Be careful." Firecracker Tan took out new clothes for changing, then walked to the shower.

"I need to go take a leak," I said and followed him closely.

Firecracker Tan undressed, placed his old clothes and his belongings in the changing area, then went into the bathroom stall.

I took out his phone from his pocket.

I clicked on the power button; there was a screen lock.

I held the screen against the fluorescent light and saw the grease mark on the screen, shaped like an 'L'.

I tried swiping the pattern from top to bottom.

"I'm singing in the rain..." Firecracker Tan sang.

Sounds of water coming down then added to his voice.

It startled me. I wiped the sweat off my forehead and said to myself, "I'd better hurry."

No go; it was the wrong sequence.

Thereafter, the water stopped.

I didn't know whether he was done or just applying soap.

There was no other choice but to quickly try again.

I swiped from the bottom to the top, and bingo!

The phone was unlocked.

On the screen was a photo.

Firecracker Tan was hugging a woman, together with a small little girl by their side.

The little girl, most likely his daughter, holding a teddy bear, was looking up at her parents, smiling.

Damn it, he was just looking at a photo of his family.

I then immediately looked at his SMS and email.

Nothing; he wasn't talking to anyone.

"Clack."

I heard the bathroom stall unlock. I immediately browsed back to his family photo, turned off the phone, and placed it back.

Very quietly, I tiptoed out of the shower.

I went back to the gathering area, lit up to let my mind do its work.

There was only Kurnawan left.

I recollected every moment with Kurnawan, from greeting us at the airport right until now.

Like a silent movie, the images played in my head.

Any moment that stood out?

I couldn't figure it out.

Across the gathering area, Kurnawan was practicing Pencak Silat (martial arts from Southeast Asia).

With the karambits in his hands, his swift, elegant movement was a sight to behold.

I thought to myself, how would I fight against him?

Most likely, I would be dead with my throat slit within a few seconds.

With that in mind, I went over to Bobby.

"Bobby, listen and stay quiet. There's a traitor among us. I suspect it's Kurnawan."

"Wait, what?" Bobby was shocked, his eyes wide open.

"Be cautious with him from now on; never turn your back to him."

"Why don't you tell the rest?"

"I will when I figure it out. We might alert the real traitor if I got it wrong."

He nodded in agreement.

"In the meantime..." I got closer and whispered to him my plan.

...

The next day, Sea Snake Fang felt better.

Amy Lee decided it was time to move out.

We checked all the necessities: batteries, water, and food.

We packed up everything and started on our journey into the jungle.

You could feel the gradual change in the ground.

Initially, it was a smooth ride, but subsequently, it got bumpier.

When it got rough, we were like a bunch of dice being shaken in a dice cup.

The scenery changed from sparse vegetation to lush greenery everywhere.

Throughout the journey, we had to pause occasionally to tow a jeep whenever one got stuck in the mud.

Finally, the vegetation was too thick for the jeeps, so we had to move on foot.

"Unload everything you need; make sure you don't leave anything important," Amy Lee reminded us.

I checked my backpack, making sure I had everything.

I looked up into the dense, thick forest and swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

So it begins, I thought to myself.

"Maybe Kurnawan can take the lead; he should be more familiar," I suggested, trying to keep his back to us.

Kurnawan, with his usual smile, shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Sure. Let me know if I'm going too fast."

He walked ahead, took out his parang, swung at the rotans in front of him, and thereafter walked into the jungle.

We quickly followed.

...

After two hours of bashing through, we decided to rest at a small clearing.

The humid air together with the undulating terrain made it very exhausting.

On top of that, we were carrying heavy loads of around 10kg each.

The constant howls in the distance and the insects swarming at us only added to our misery.

"Damn these leeches," Bobby cried out loud.

I took a peep; he had his boots off, exposing his foot.

All over it were a few black-colored leeches, now bloated, looking shaped like teardrops after feasting on Bobby's blood.

I shook my head, took out my small bottle of salt, and sprinkled some of it on the leeches.

The leeches, reacting to the salt, fell off soon after.

"I need to go for a dump; I'll be back soon," Kurnawan said.

He then wandered off to find a dumping spot.

Then it hit me.

Kurnawan didn't do anything odd when he was around us.

He did it when we left him on his own.

Like when he offered to stay at the hotel to take care of the hotel staff.

I nudged Bobby, signaling to him, "We need to go for a dump too."

"Must have been the coffee," I said, placing my hand on my stomach.