The Quest for Paradise

They all nodded solemnly, but I wondered how well they comprehended what they were up against.

*****

A perimeter fence of razor wire and what appeared to be the disturbed dirt of landmine placement greeted us at the jungle's disrupted edge that ran parallel to the one side of the impressively sized outpost that had gone up virtually overnight. Climbing a tree with Tolak accompanying me, I looked out over the encampment only to discover a grim reality.

There was no gateway through the erected fortifications. How then to get through?

I heard a high pitched whistling noise pass by and in the next moment my world exploded. Flames shot up past me from the ground and I would've been shook free from the tree altogether if Tolak hadn't gripped a hold of me.

Trees were falling and with a crack of groaning protest the tree we clung to began to fall as well. I screamed in fright as we were plunged downward to smack into the charred Earth below.

The desperation of the moment had me on my feet almost instantly, but any cognitive ability to reason had been knocked from me. Looking around in a daze I saw the warriors that had come with us all lying around torn apart and dead upon the ground.

Dimly within my brain I realized what I hadn't accounted for, proximity sensors. I was such a fool to think I could've thrown a wrench into the cogs of such a technologically superior foe!

I didn't see Tolak and in alarm I wheeled about in search of him only to see him reaching down to pull the suitcase, which though charred still seemed intact, from his dead brother's grasp. Oh God!

There was no time to lament though and this Tolak knew full well. Charging towards me he grabbed my hand and tugged me along after him at high speed through the jungle even as more incendiary devices began to fall in a spread out grid pattern all around us letting off earsplitting blasts of flame that charred the lush vegetation of the jungle into ash.

How we made it past the rain of fire I don't know, but we did, only we didn't stop. I did my best to keep up, but after an hour's run I collapsed into the jungle trail face first.

Everything seemed to hit at once. Not only had I not succeeded in buying time for my husband's people, but I'd misjudged the enemy and gotten his brother killed!

Paradise had somehow suddenly turned into my private hell!

Why had God even brought me here? To torment me?"