Demons in the Jungle

Chapter 14

  Everybody in the tribe had a weapon.

That was one of the first facts I discerned about the Kokowai people, once I took some time to observe them. There were warriors, who had their spears, and then hunters, who had bows, stone knives, and some with thin spears clearly meant for fishing. The women, who I saw rarely, also had knives, presumably to harvest vegetation, based on their scythe-like shape.

I had figured out quite a bit in the few hours I had spent watching them. It was a simple culture of hunters and gatherers, possibly primitive farmers. I didn't see any crops, but the amounts of food they were carrying about seemed to indicate that they had some. They lived in a patriarchy; the men did the hunting, and only men had the black face-covering fabric. Women appeared to be relegated to farming, gathering fruits and vegetables, and caring for children. Their sense of shame seemed to come and go; while the men were essentially naked, the women had grass skirts, but their breasts were left exposed. The children also ran about naked, doing the same things kids in the west did; playing, laughing, chasing each other, watching me curiously whenever they noticed me. The women kept them in check with calm words as they carried baskets of food to and fro, but the children's eyes kept wandering toward me, large and wide with bright curiosity within their deeply tanned heads.

It seemed the Kokowai lived almost exclusively in tree houses. The majority of the buildings visible were built on stilts, twenty or thirty feet in the air, amongst the treetops. People were moving around up there, tending to canvas bags hanging from the trees. Down below, a couple small tent-like structures and huts were built, and here was where the Kokowai women and children went about their business. The little ceremonial death pit, where I was being kept, was slightly segregated from the rest of the village, but still within sight of anyone nearby. I had noticed that there was a small table that looked to be stained with blood, near the edge of the pit. It had my belongings spread across it.

As I watched, a trio of Kokowai men appeared, these ones not wearing headdresses. They were hunters. They seemed to have a lower social status than the warriors. At the very least, everyone respected and listened to the warriors, though I couldn't tell if they were actually leaders. These men, the hunters, were dragging a large tapir carcass, and they brought it to a wooden table and laid it down, quickly setting to work skinning it.

It was hard to get the taste of failure out of my mouth. I had lost, my brain kept telling me. I had faced the jungle, challenged it, even, and it had beaten me. Charlie had eluded me. My quarry remained free and breathing. There was no way I could get him. Not from here. And I didn't see a way out of here.

Unless I could find one. I kept trying to remember the simple fact that I could get out. I was still alive, I had a body capable of moving and fighting. So far, I had survived jaguars and ocelots, a fall from an incredibly high height, the weather and the cold nights...by all rights, I should have been dead by now. But I wasn't. Which meant I wasn't finished yet.

I sighed, looking at the ground before me. I thought of Debra, still being held captive by Amy – I hoped. She had been through so much, just like me, and we both still had to endure. She had to hold strong in the face of that crazy murderous bastard. I could only guess what he had already done to her. The way she had screamed told me it was probably better that I didn't know. God, what would he do to her once he realized the strings were no longer attached?

I'm so sorry, Debra. I'm so sorry. I wished I could go back. I wished I could have thought a little more clearly, and told her to stay back. I hadn't wanted to get her mixed up in this. I was stupid to let her come. Sweet little Debra. I'm sorry, Deb.

A pair of Kokowai women walked by me, nearly a half-dozen children in their wake. They paused as the children began to shout, excitedly pointing at me and talking to the mothers. The two women cautiously approached me, one of them setting aside a bag of vegetables and stepping close. I made a brief note of the fact that her dark arms were thick with muscle. Everyone in this tribe was strong. A byproduct of living so close to nature, I assumed. The woman confidently grabbed my chin and roughly twisted my head to one side as she examined me closely. I didn't resist. I didn't want to startle anyone in this tribe into making a quick decision. I wasn't sure how rational they were. I tried to keep my breathing steady as the woman looked me up and down, a calm, unimpressed look on her face. It was now that I realized I was naked.