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

We had been hiking for eight hours. We only had four hours left of light. That means we wouldn’t even make it back to the village until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow at the earliest. Then who’s to say we would find the right trail the next time?

“Sí, sí,” Diego responded.

Camila was startled, either by the rise in my voice, or the acceleration of my heartbeat, and she leaned back from where she was hanging around my neck. I covered her little sloth ears with my hands and shouted, “Ffffuuuuuuuuck!”

A moment later, I pulled my earmuffs off Camila. She had a somber look on her face—like I’d just broken the news to her that she was adopted—and I handed her off to Diego.

“Thomas,” Vern said.

I closed my eyes. “Just give me a minute here.”

I knew getting upset wasn’t going to help find Gina any sooner. I took three calming breaths, then snapped my eyes back open.

Zen.

“Take a look at this,” Vern said, waving me over to the fire. He had spread the ashes out with his foot, and he was kneeling down, holding something in his hand.

It was thin, eight inches long, purple on one side and white on the other. It must have been white side up in the ashes, camouflaging it perfectly, which I suspect was no accident.

“What do you think?” Vern asked.

The purple side was worn down from many miles of running, but you could still make out the A and the second S of Gina’s beloved running-shoe brand.

It was the insole of her shoe.

“It’s hers,” I said, smile-laughing. “It’s definitely hers.”

18

18

expedition camp
august 15, 3:54 p.m.
expedition: day 2

The day started at 5:30 a.m. with the waking of the howler monkeys. Andy slid from his hammock, grateful to see the nighttime creepy crawlers had scattered. There was a dense layer of morning mist, and it took Andy several minutes to feel his way to the main camp. Several others were already awake, including Farah, who was wearing her backpack and tapping her foot while she ate.

Andy ate a pouch of freeze-dried scrambled eggs for breakfast. Buxton was standing nearby, and the two compared notes on their first night in the jungle. Both agreed they would be relieved to sleep in tents that evening.

Andy was waiting for a second pouch of scrambled eggs to heat when Roth, Libby, Holland, and Rix made their way to the tent.

Farah asked when Holland thought they might head out to the closest ruins, and he said, “Hopefully, not long after the first round of supplies arrive.”

Supposedly, emergency first aid kits for each of them would be among the initial round of supplies, and Holland refused to let anyone leave base camp without one.

“And when exactly is the helicopter supposed to be here?” Farah prodded.