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Jamal was completely unresponsive for the time that Billy spent freaking out in the cave, but not long after he had been drug into the water did he slowly become aware of what was going on....or at least, that he wasn't dead.

Clutched in Billy's tentacles, his first impulse was to struggle, the water smarting against his unprotected eyes, but found himself completely incapable of even moving his tail let alone his arms or legs. He couldn't even feel the water brush against his fur. He squawked underneath the water, his head turning to and fro as he started to panic against Billy's thoughtful nose-plug. What the ******** was going on?

The head motion brought a whole onslaught of pain that shot upward, but the rest of his body was dead to the feeling and he was feeling severely weakened from blood loss. Luckily none of the major arteries or veins had been cut, so some clotting was happening, but the water was now interferring with the process.

"HIDE? How da ******** can't feel s**t!" he sputtered in a slur, true fear clear in his expression. "I can't move ANYTHIN'."

"I can't MOVE," he wailed. "Sonnova...DAMMIT, don't ********' LEAVE ME HERE." Jamal pinned his ears back both from the pain and from absolute terror. "Billy, god ********' damn it, NO." The tiger never planned on this happening. It was either he'd die or he'd make it out fine without more than a neck wound. This was unexpected and he was terrified.

All he wanted to do was to reach out and grab the nearest arm in panic to emphasize his point, but he didn't even have the ability to twitch a finger. Jamal could only lay there as branches and ferns were thrown over him. He felt like the living dead. Nevermind all the s**t that was being thrown on him was definately NOT good for an open wound.

"What if ya don't make it back? I can't stay like this! I can't!"

The guards did their best to keep up with Billy, who had a good lead on them. The guards in the jeep also had a helluva time following after Billy, who was using the river as his road as opposed to the narrow dirt paths that only charted the jungle in specific points.

There were many words exchanged between the guards in the jeep and the men on the cameras, most of which consisted of only four letters. The guards didn't want to be out there, especially with Angharad on the loose and Jamal unchipped and dangerous.

But Billy's frequent stops allowed the men in the jeep to close the distance... and finally catch up, the signal staying steady at a point... at the bottom of the lake.

Swearing and tossing his hat to the ground, the man who had been in the passenger's seat sent two of the guardsmen back on forth, following the river that Billy had taken, looking for Jamal. Sometimes it sucked being low on the totem pole.

The two gripped their rifles, and headed back, and looking none too happy.

Meanwhile, the driver got out and kept his rifle pointed at the river while the group leader radio'd back and ordered Billy to be buzzed. He couldn't be with Jamal now, not under the water, and so there'd be no danger of drowning the white tiger. While a menace, Moreau would STILL have his badge, and his humanity, most likely if he was responsible for killing a subject.

Within seconds, the chip in Billy's neck activated, and knocked him out.

It wasn't long before they got an unlucky guard in scuba gear and dropped him to the bottom of the lake to fish out the octopus, and then haul his slimy a** back to the labs.

**

Billy would wake up several hours later. He'd still be muddy from the bottom of the lake... but a lot of it would have dried and caked on. He'd be in a featureless room with sterile white walls and floor. There's a metal door, but it's locked solid.

About thirty to fourty five minutes after Billy stashes Jamal, voices can be heard, talking nervously, headed in Jamal's direction. Two armed guards slowly are picking their way down the river bank, stopping frequently and looking around, sometimes around a stump, sometimes picking through some of the shallow water.

Jamal can smell their anxiety, and the way they clutch their rifles like a security blanket only serves to reaffirm that.

Before you know it, they're upon you, looking around.... but you're lucky that Billy all but burried you in foliage, and that you, unable to move, didn't disturb his hasty masking job.

They pause... and one of them is literally a whisker away from you, before he shifts, and they keep walking, still chatting nervously about looking for you, swearing that the cameras need to be placed at more regular intervals through the jungle, as they keep going.

****

You've eluded capture today. And as long as you stay put, you're currently off cameras. They can only cover so much area through the jungle.

However, because you're not seeking medical attention, that wound in the back of your neck might fester if you're not careful, and the chronic pain and numbed limbs will be more frequent as opposed to less.

There will be search parties out looking for you and Annie, so be careful. And whenever you DO move, you will likely be passing in and out of camera visuals, sending guards slowly after you. But, since you're not chipped, they will always be a few steps behind you, or going off of information relayed from glimpses of you on the cameras from the monitering rooms.

If/when you stop, you will run a higher risk of capture.

((Drop a note when you start moving again/are moved and we'll give further instructions)).