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succeeding in smearing it everywhere.
    Manon, realizing Armando was not trying to
attack them, stopped recording and put the camera down on the
ground. He took off his long sleeved shirt and approached the blood
soaked man. Manon poured water from his canteen onto the shirt,
soaking it liberally, and handed it to Armando. The large man took
it gratefully and, after a few minutes of scrubbing, was
recognizable again.
    “Thank you, thank you,” he repeated. “Thank
you.”
     
    ~ Chapter
VIII ~
     
    The four men arrived back in camp carrying
the frame and its struggling occupant with them. Pauley was already
there ahead of them. He had untied the old shaman and was deep in
conversation with the man.
    Manon, still visibly shaking, approached and
sat heavily on the ground next to the two talking men. They ignored
him. He brought his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around
them, head hanging forlornly, waiting patiently to talk to
Pauley.
    Armando removed his clothing and, using water
from a canteen and a bar of soap, started a thorough cleaning. He
and the other two men talked privately a few meters away. Constant
snarling came from the creature on the frame where it lay on the
ground on the edge of camp.
    After a lengthy conversation, Pauley turned
to Manon. “He says there is a cure.”
    Manon’s head popped up, and he stared at
Pauley. Lost in thought, terrified they had just killed Rock when
there was a remedy available, Manon said nothing.
    “It won’t bring my brother back though.”
Pauley paused. “The shaman, Tanis, says nothing will bring him back
to life. His body does not function any more. The cure will remove
the aggressiveness. In essence, my brother would be a passive body,
unable to think for himself, without the need to experience
happiness, or any ambition to do anything. He would feel no pain.
He would not even make a good laborer or soldier since he would not
take, or understand, commands.”
    Pauley hung his head, holding it in both
hands as if it would fall off without support. He lamented. “He
would not require, nor consume food and water… he would waste away
like these poor souls around us. Years from now, when his body was
unable to go on, he would collapse and just continue to exist, like
the people in this camp have done.”
    The two sat in silence for a long time, each
contemplating different thoughts. Pauley stared at his brother’s
wriggling form.
    The shaman said something to Pauley.
    “He says if we move my brother to the other
side of the camp he will calm down. He senses our presence even if
he cannot see us. Our life blood calls to him, but distance will
mute his ability to sense us.”
    Manon yelled over to the group of guys with
the information. They picked up the frame and moved Pauley’s
brother far away, leaning him up against a tree where they could
watch him. They then returned. The figure lashed to the wooden
frame struggled less as the men walked further away. By the time
they arrived back in camp, the wildness had subsided and nothing
could be heard from the Jombi.
    Manon was surprised how quickly his head
cleared now that the snarling had stopped. He finally felt himself
calming down and he was able to start assessing the situation.
    Pauley removed his hands from his head. He
looked immediately refreshed as well. “I think it would be better
if we just put him out of his misery. He is no longer alive anyway.
That thing over there is no longer my brother.”
    Manon asked, “How does the shaman know about
this cure?”
    Pauley turned to Tanis and the two shared a
lengthy conversation.
    Eventually, Pauley turned back to Manon. “He
says he created these creatures he calls Jombi. He claims it was an
accident. As far back as the stories of his people go, they have
always known how to bring the dead back to life, but those who
return are murderous, attacking with an insatiable need to kill
everything.”
    Pauley paused, then continued, “He says these
Jombi would