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Back Jungle Up Save as PDF
Chapters (63)
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
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  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. Author’s Note

“I figured the odds of someone ever finding the golden jaguar were so infinitesimal that I never worried about it. Plus, their village was over twenty-five miles from the pyramid. Even if someone did put two and two together, their odds of actually finding the tribe would still be nearly impossible.”

But now here they were.

Gina glanced at Martin. She was curious why he’d lied to even her, but mostly, she was confused why, if Martin spoke the villagers’ language, he hadn’t instructed the tribesmen to keep Patrick, Bill, and the soldiers under guard. Though the villagers had taken their rifles, Gina knew Patrick still had a gun hidden in the waistband of his pants.

What if the shaman refused to tell Patrick the secret to their immunity to cancer? Would he start shooting villagers until he got what he was after? And even if they did share the jungle marvel that was keeping them so healthy, it wasn’t like Patrick could just let her and Martin go. He couldn’t risk them making it back to civilization and going to the authorities. He would spend the rest of his life in jail.

At this point, there was only one thing Gina knew for certain.

She, Martin, and the villagers—none of them were safe.

48

48

jungle
august 23, 2:32 p.m.
days since abduction: 18

With the help of Diego’s words of encouragement, a few light kisses from Camila, and a huge mouthful of coca, I still wasn’t able to get to my feet. I wanted to, so badly, but I was made of ectoplasm. I was having trouble keeping my eyes open.

I felt a sting in my thigh, and my eyes fluttered open. Rix was kneeling beside me, holding a four-inch clear tube in his right hand.

My heart instantly raced, and I said, “What was that?”

He turned the tube toward me. “EpiPen. Andy gave them to me before we left. He thought you might need a hit of adrenaline at some point.”

I rocked my head forward, the adrenaline already working its way into my cells. “Good thinking.”

He pulled a second EpiPen from his pack and handed it to me. “Just in case,” he said.

I slipped it into my pocket and a moment later, we were back on the trail.

Over the next half hour, Diego continued to say how fresh the tracks were. At one point, we crossed a small stream, and Diego found several depressions in the soft mud near its bank.

“These tracks happen today,” he said.

That gave me a boost of optimism. But even if they did happen today, Gina and her captors could still be five hours ahead of us. Unless we started running, we might never catch up. And considering that my being upright was itself a victory, running wasn’t going to happen.

Diego turned on the trail in front of me and put up his hand. He pointed to the ground. “Footprints.”