JUNGLE FEVER, Conclusion By Merz Two Women Muscle Their Way to end an African Adventure Creeping uphill toward the back of one of the little shanties comprising the camp Julie Hunt planned the diversion Renee Armstrong would need to make her move across twenty yards of open ground to the watch tower. From her pocket she pulled the whistle she had taken from the head ranger's body back in the village. She knew hikers were supposed to carry a whistle as a distress signal but hadn't expected to actually use it. Now stopping behind on of the shacks she blew a great shrill blast followed by two shorter ones. Then she pressed her back against the building to await the reaction. At the sudden sound all eyes swung toward the west. Renee bolted from her hiding spot and reached the base of the watch tower in seconds. Her pace straight up the spindly leg of the structure was hardly less than her dash across open ground. The two men on watch had barely time to notice their structure was shaking before Renee vaulted over the railing, colliding with one of the men with both her feet. He was hurled out of the tower, crashing to ground four meters below. The second man turned directly into Renee's small smashing fist and was likewise out of the combat. She grabbed up one of the automatic rifles, glanced around the camp just enough to see Julie was in danger of being surrounded by guerillas, and pulled the trigger on the weapon. Renee was not a soldier. It took her a moment to find the safety catch when nothing happened following her first attempt, and she did not bother trying to aim at anything. She pointed the gun in the general direction of the swarming fighters and let off a string of automatic fire. At the barrage from above the scattered rebels broke and raced for the sheltering trees surrounding the village. Most ran unarmed, their weapons abandoned where they were stacked or leaned during preparations to march on. One hurrying fighter rounded a corner of a building and nearly ran into Julie. She recovered from her surprise first and drove one hard fist into his stomach and another against his jaw, leaving him unconscious on the ground. Before anyone else could spot her she scrambled up to the low roof of the building and lay flat, crawling forward to watch for her next challenge. She saw Renee had run out of ammunition and was bending the barrel of her rifle to make it useless to the guerillas. She also saw directly below her that two of the rebels had also spotted Renee's situation and were taking aim at the unsuspecting woman. Without hesitation Julie hurled herself from the roof, landing on the two men and sending them sprawling. Her landing was awkward and she fell hard on her left ankle, tumbling to the ground but springing up immediately to grab the arm of the closest fighter, twisting it until she heard the forearm snap. The second one grabbed her from behind but found it impossible to contain her as she thrust her powerful arms away from her body. She spun and struck him in the throat, the highest point her fist could easily reach on the man. He fell backward and lay convulsing on the ground. As soon as the shooting had begun one of the men leading Joseph Hunt and Parker Ragland began shouting orders to rally the scattering band. When he turned his back Joseph looped his bound arms around the man's neck and jerked him backwards off his feet. The other guard began raising his rifle, but was stopped by a kick to the midsection from one of Parker's long legs, then knocked senseless by another arching kick to the head. From her perch Renee quickly surveyed the scene. The entire rebel band had dispersed. She saw the captive Americans had overpowered their guards and Julie seemed to be in no danger for the moment, gathering a rifle dropped by one of the fighters she had disposed of. She caught the astonished eye of her husband, Parker, as he looked up toward the tower. With a wide smile and a wink she flexed her enormous arms for him, then blew him a kiss. Satisfied the short battle was over Renee vaulted over the side of the tower, landing lightly on the ground and racing into the jungle she had emerged from two minutes before. "That's my wife," Joseph told Parker, indicating Julie. "She was in the army. I knew she'd come after us." Being saved by a woman didn't seem to bother or surprise him at all. He still held his arms around the neck of the African he had seized although the man offered no further resistance. "What was that up in their watch tower? I didn't get a look at it but it looked like some sort of animal. It must have been one of the soldiers Julie brought along." Parker avoided looking at Joseph. "Um, I didn't really see. It must have been a soldier. I think my wife is around here, along with yours." Parker had recognized Renee's unmistakable physique in his first glance. He hoped she was taking the opportunity to conceal that unique body and let her muscles relax into a more normal size before facing Joseph and the inevitable questions. Backing toward them as she kept her eyes on the jungle where the rebels had disappeared Julie came over to the two men. She was trying to disguise the pain in her ankle, walking as normally as possible. "They'll be back as soon as they regroup. They'll figure out there isn't an army here and get their courage back. We better get ready." "It's good seeing you, too, beautiful. How many soldiers did you bring?" Shaking the lean man still in his grasp Joseph said, "This guy is their leader. They won't do anything to endanger him. We can do a little bargaining." Renee, dressed once more after washing off her muddy decorations, joined the group shortly after. In whispers, away from their prisoner, Julie had already informed the men that the army consisted of two women. The guard at Parker's feet was told to inform his fellows that the Americans were leaving by the trail. They would take the group's leader across the pass to assure nobody followed, but would leave him unharmed once they felt safe. They would delay the approaching government forces long enough for the leader to rejoin the rebels and take them farther from the border. More than that they could not promise. Any sign of pursuit and they would kill their prisoner. Both the leader and the messenger understood. The small party started back up the trail as soon as they felt enough time had passed for the message to be spread. Once on the trail Julie directed the men, "Joseph, you and Dr. Ragland should go ahead of us with our captive. Parker will know the way back to the road. The Land Rover is waiting there. We'll follow along behind. I have the gun in case anyone tries following, but I don't think there will be any problems. We'll need to move quickly so we get to the road before dark." The men nodded and moved off, each slinging a rifle over his shoulder, their prisoner walking between them. "Renee, my ankle hurts too much for me to walk on it very well. I don't want Joseph to know or he'll worry. Can I lean on you while we're on the rocky parts? Or maybe you're strong enough you could carry me part of the way?" "I'd be so proud to carry you. Here, get on my back. I want you to hold on to my arms. That's it. Give them a squeeze. Do you still like feeling how hard they are? Anytime you think I'm slowing down just give them a squeeze and it will give me such a rush. You can feel or squeeze other places if that will make you happy, too. When we reach the village maybe we could send the men off to report to the government by themselves, so we'd have some time to ourselves. Maybe overnight to help the government prevent the next raid? They're our husbands, but it just feels like we'll need a night or two to get used to that idea again. Sure, undo the buttons if they get in your way. Yeah, that feels nice too. My bra got too stretched out from my workout so I tossed it. You can give me all the support I need there. I'll walk fast enough that we can reach the car and get back to the village by nightfall, but not too fast. Yeah, I like having your legs squeezing around me like that. You're so strong!" "Oh, God Renee. It's like I'm feeling steel instead of regular muscles. I think Joseph will understand that I might hurt him if I slept with him tonight, feeling like I do. I love him, but sometimes I just get carried away. I think you and I could get carried away together tonight and nobody will get hurt."