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Back Jungle Up Save as PDF
Chapters (63)
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  63. Author’s Note

My brain was starting to play tricks on me, and I was having trouble staying awake.

“One hundred and three point nine,” someone—I think his name was Marvin—said at one point. “That’s bloody hot. We might have to chopper you out of here, mate.”

“Vern,” I mumbled. “Verrrrrnn.”

“Yeah, buddy, right here.”

With the few brain cells which hadn’t been turned into hardboiled eggs, I said, “Don’t let them take me anywhere.”

“You sure?”

“Promise.”

Vern promised.

“Good,” I said. “Because I won’t leave without Gina.”

35

35

base camp
august 20, 7:18 a.m.
expedition: day 7

“He what?” Andy asked.

“I swear,” Darnell said, fighting down a smile. “He thinks he’s on Naked and Afraid. He keeps mumbling about making it to day twenty-one.”

By the time Andy made it to the main camp—he was a bit apprehensive about facing either Roth or Farah and stayed in his tent until nearly seven—the only thing anyone was talking about was Thomas.

He had all the telltale signs of dengue: swollen glands, rash on his chest, and of course, a temperature of almost 104.

According to Darnell, Holland wanted to chopper him out, and he would have if Thomas had been one of the expedition team. But Thomas wasn’t technically under Holland’s authority, and it was decided they would let him ride it out since that’s what he wanted.

“Naked and Afraid?” Andy said, with raised eyebrows. “That’s funny.” But humor was the furthest thing from Andy’s mind. “Do, uh, you know if dengue is contagious?”

“Holland said it can’t be transferred person-to-person—only by mosquito.”

Andy already had his can of insect repellent out and was spraying himself head to toe. When he emptied the can, he glanced over at the white tent where Thomas was lying on the ground. “What if a mosquito bites him and then bites one of us?”

Thomas seemed like a great guy, but Andy would feel much more comfortable if Thomas were in New Zealand right now.

Darnell scoffed. “You’re much more likely to get lymphoma from all the DEET you’re covering yourself in than to get bit by the same damn mosquito that bit him.”

Darnell started toward command central, and Andy ran to catch up. His heart began to race as he asked, “Wait, what’s this about lymphoma?”

≈

The expedition team and their Bolivian escorts trudged through the knee-deep brown waters of an unnamed river. They were bound for T3, a mile and a half away. Holland and Rix were headed to the sprawling T5, three miles northwest of base camp, searching for the dangerous characters who might have abducted Thomas’s missing doctor, which left Lieutenant Goytia and the Bolivian soldiers as their chaperones for the day.