Where No Tourist Has Gone Before - Part 3

[Aiko]

Sorry for the delay. I was more than a little busy this week. But now I can present you with part three of the story:

Rhonda quickly got down on the ground and hid in the undergrowth. Of course she would have liked to be found and brought back to civilization, but she had an odd feeling about these men. She kept wondering what they were doing out here, as their car came closer. Just when they were about to pass her by, they made a sharp turn to the right. Rhonda gasped and wanted to jump up and get out of the way. But she stayed and saw the tires plowing through the vegetation about two feet from her. They passed without taking notice of her and headed toward the swamp. She was not aware of it at the time, but her own camouflage was not that bad either. Mud had stained her tank top and made it brownish gray, and there were still speckles of black peat all over her. The vehicle went on for about another hundred feet, then stopped. The four men in the four-by-four were speaking Afrikaans. Rhonda only knew the language a little but she understood at least bits and pieces of the conversation. Apparently the driver did not want to go any farther for risk of getting stuck in the soggy ground. Three men left the vehicle, one of them was Caucasian, the others were Black, and all of them were armed. They walked on into the swamp, while the driver stayed behind. Apparently they did not mind to get their boots and pants dirty when they waded through calf-deep stagnant swamp water. The increasing distance made it even harder for Rhonda to understand what they were talking about. Apparently though they were looking for a crashed plane - her plane. Rhonda thought that maybe they were looking for survivors like herself to rescue them. They might be on whichever side had shot them down by accident.

While Rhonda was pondering to approach the soldiers, one of the men took out his binoculars and scanned the swampland. He kept walking slowly as he did so, and suddenly found himself drop down past his knees in the murky water. The others instantly broke out in laughter at the sight. Only the one down in the mud did not consider this funny. As he tried to lift up one leg he only sent the other one in deeper. He struggled against the mire's grip, but despite being in all appearance a healthy, strong man, he was unable to break free. In fact he was down to his crotch in mere moments. The Caucasian was first to stop laughing and to offer a helping hand. As soon as he had a good grip on the other's wrist, he started to pull, and suddenly sank down into the swamp himself. By now nobody was laughing anymore. Two of them were struggling and steadily getting deeper, the third did not dare approach any closer. Instead he told the driver to bring the rope, who promptly did as ordered and hurried towards them. The two sinkers had gone down past their stomachs, before they gave up on struggling. When they caught the rescue rope, Rhonda would have expected them to be pulled out by their comrades in virtually no time. But muck did not let its victims go that easily. It looked like the suction would keep all of them busy for a few minutes. It also looked like there was something dangling from the jeep's ignition lock.

[quagmire_uk]

Ooh... decisions, decisions.

Given the conventions of story-telling, i doubt they are there to rescue her. And assuming she watches movies and TV shows and reads stories, I think she'd be cautious too, rather than rushing out to help them. But should she stay and watch, get away unseen, or steal the jeep? Hmm.

[Aiko]

Given the conventions of story-telling, i doubt they are there to rescue her.

And yet what reason would they have not to help her? Or to harm her in any way? She's not the enemy after all.

[Korv]

Well in the Congo you're just as likely to get shot, extorted or otherwise hassled by the government troops as you are by the rebels.

[quagmire_uk]

Perhaps I'm paranoid and suspicious, but I I figured she wasn't shot down by accident.

[Aiko]

Perhaps I'm paranoid and suspicious, but I I figured she wasn't shot down by accident.

Well, you are finally about to find out, whether you're really paranoid.

On to the next part...
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