There was no way Tom could reach him, but even at that distance, looking at the strange angle and pose of Charlie’s body, there was no question that he was dead. Even if Tom got him down, he couldn’t bury him. And with the insects swarming around, he guessed nature would take its course whatever he did.

Charlie had once borrowed a pen from Tom, and had said hello every time he’d seen him after that. So they’d hardly known each other, but still enough to make Tom wonder how Charlie could be suspended up there now, present and absent at once, still possessed of that clean, healthy look, but the easy smile and the likability and the friendliness all gone.

Charlie had often looked deep in thought, a dreamer, and yet whatever had occupied his mind, it all seemed pointless now. Here he was, thinking nothing, and he would never think or dream or plan again, never again snap out of his own little world as they passed in the hallways and say, “Hey Tom, how’s it going?”

Slowly, sadly, Tom turned away and made his way back up onto the ridge. He sat there, looking down at the crash party and the wreckage and at the scattered trail of debris and the unyielding jungle stretching out beyond. And with the thought of Charlie still lodged in his mind, he felt an odd relief that he had not gone to find those sisters.

He reached into his pocket for the bottle and took a small swig. The water was already warm and yet felt incredibly refreshing running over his tongue, down his throat. He didn’t think a simple drink of water had ever felt so good.

It wasn’t just the water, either—as hot as he was, as exhausted by the climbing, bruised by the thrust into the seat belt, as troubled as he’d been by the sight of the wreckage and of Charlie suspended in that tree, he was suffused with a strange sense of restfulness and well-being. Maybe that was a reaction to the shock too, but right now he felt he could have sat contentedly on this ridge forever.

He wouldn’t be able to stay, of course. He’d have to join the others, as much as he sensed he’d be better off on his own, and as ill-equipped as he felt about being part of a group.

With that in mind, he wondered if they had a plan of action yet, or if they’d even thought about it. Maybe they were just killing time until the rescue party arrived, but judging by this landscape, it would be a long time before that happened.