Chapter Text
Sweat poured off her face as she made the trek up the steep hill. Lucky it’s not steeper, she thought, staring up at the enormous mountain range that takes up all of her vision. With her pack on her back and more supplies on the mules, she should have really been counting her blessings that she was selected to go on this expedition at all. As an undergrad, it would have been easy to pass her over for another graduate in the same field - and they’d only sent someone from the Geography department because of the strange seismic event that had cleanly split one of the tallest mountains in the area in half a few months back.
She should count herself lucky, but…
“Ramirez, keep up!” called the group leader, stopping and turning to look disparagingly at her. The moisture made his glasses fog up, but he was pushing forward anyway. “You’re slower than the mules!”
“The mules have double the legs I do,” she gasped, pushing her sweat-drenched hair out of her face. Never mind what the humidity would do to her curls. Lucia Ramirez had passed that stage of worrying about 20 miles back. “Dr Sanchez, we’re going to need to find another water source soon…” Or else dehydration would threaten to turn them back around. It didn’t look like it would rain any time soon, either, with the clear sky overhead and the sun beating down.
“Don’t you worry about that, linda,” grinned Garcia, skidding down the hillside towards her. She took a step sideways, trying to keep the grimace off her face. “I’ve been on 10 expeditions with Dr Sanchez, and he always knows what he’s doing. You just focus on the stuff you’re good at, sí? Look!” he bent down and picked up a clump of dirt, rolling it around in his skinny fingers before shoving it into her hands. “Your favourite!”
“Wow. Thanks,” Lucia deadpanned. Maybe if Dr Sanchez turned his back for long enough she could nail Garcia in the head with this and pretend a monkey did it.
“Leave her alone, Garcia. She’s not used to going this deep into the jungle,” chimed in Castillo, in his deep timbre. “Usually she’s looking at her rocks in an air conditioned lab. Besides, none of us can exactly say we’re comfortable.” His shirt looked soaked through with sweat, though he was a rather large fellow, carrying probably twice the amount she was.
“Ah, but those of us who crave a sense of adventure can’t get enough of it! The heat, the smothering humidity, the bite of vines into your flesh, the ache in your legs, the altitude sickness!” Garcia gestured dramatically.
“We are only at 2000m,” Dr Sanchez cut in, cleaning off his glasses from the humid air that fogged them up. “All of you stop bickering, it’s like I’ve brought my children along with me for this trip, dios mio. If you want altitude, you can climb El Recinto. We estimate it is around 3800m at the highest point.”
He was of course referring to the remarkable circular mountain chain, more likely a caldera, but surely such a thing would have to have come from a frankly enormous volcano. And none of the rocks around here, the ones that were exposed, seemed to have any igneous properties. In any case, their mission was to pass through the split mountain to see what was inside of this impassible natural fortress. Since its discovery 30 years ago, nobody had ever gone in and come back out afterwards.
Which isn’t to say nobody tried. Approximately 4 teams had been lost over the years to attempts, of which only one group’s bodies had been found, apparently felled by a sudden landside. Not too shocking, considering how steep the mountains were, and the tendency towards sudden changes in weather in the area, but enough to discourage any more exploration until now.
“Think there’ll be another earthquake?” Garcia wondered, as they continued their ascent. The ground was starting to level out, thank god, and they fell into the shade of the split mountain. Lucia stared up at the craggy sides of the gorge in the mountain, and felt something inside her shift uneasily.
“Hopefully not, if it happens while we’re in that mountain pass we’re dead,” replied Castillo. They still weren’t inside yet, but the mountain was so tall it loomed over them from what had to be a mile away, and Ramirez wouldn't call it a 'pass' so much as an enormous crack that looked nearly comical from far away, but from up close was absolutely terrifying.
Suddenly, Dr Sanchez stopped, putting a hand up. The others halted as well. For environmental researchers, they sure did behave like soldiers under his command. She supposed that they imagined themselves as such, now they’d been hired by the local government to investigate this place.
“Wh-” began Garcia.
“Shh,” Dr Sanchez hushed him. “Listen. Do you hear that?”
Ramirez strained her ears.
“... water?” she guessed. It sounded like a river nearby.
Garcia chuckled. “See? What did I tell you? Dr Sanchez is a professional, he always finds us water when we need it!”
“It’s like a gift he has,” Castillo smiled. “Which way, sir?”
“This way,” Dr Sanchez said, picking up his machete to cut through some of the thick jungle brush, moving off the thin trail in the forest. Well, as much as Ramirez hated to see Garcia be right about something, she was glad to be able to refill her water canister. Hopefully she’d also be able to wash her face.
As she was about to follow the others off the path, she paused at a shape she saw in the trees. Jungles are full of twisting shapes and hanging vines, nothing is ordered or straight in nature. But… through the trees, she thought she could see the remains of a building. A house. Stepping forward, she clutched the dirt clod in her hand, until she flinched at the feeling of something sharp cutting into her palm. Looking at her hand, she saw the dirt was falling away off of something in the middle. Picking it off, it revealed…
“A clay tile…?” she muttered to herself in confusion. The colours were faded, but this was clearly a painted clay tile, like one would see on the floor of a house. Obviously man-made. But what on earth was it doing this far out into the jungle?
Curiosity spurred her on, and she moved towards the strange shape in the jungle. She didn’t have a machete, but she didn’t need one, the plants here were a lot less grown than in the rest of the place. Almost as though they hadn’t had the time to grow as thick as they should. Almost as though…
She found herself standing in the remains of a street.
Nature is merciless in its reclamation of territory, but it hadn’t completely swallowed what seemed to have once been a small village. Roofs caved in, windows long since destroyed, but the remains of walls and streets still stood, choked by vines and trees growing through them. The shard of tile in her hands was one of hundreds that could still be seen, poking out from under the fallen leaves and dirt of the jungle floor. Monkeys called to each other from the perches and eaves, and there were even old street lamps, long since turned into birds nests.
She ran her hand along one of the walls, and had it come away black with soot. There was a fire here. A big one. Perhaps that’s what destroyed the village, and drove its people away. A crunch under her foot made her heart sink, as she lifted her boot to find bleached white shards of bone. Perhaps not everyone got away, after all…
“Ramirez!!”
Her name being called in such a sharp tone made her jump and drop the tile, whirling around. Dr Sanchez had cut his way through the jungle to her side, his face thunderous with rage. “What in the world do you think you’re doing?! Never go off on your own, do you want to become a jaguar’s dinner?!”
“I- sorry, Dr Sanchez, but I…” she gestured hopelessly at the ruins of the village. “I wanted to investigate…”
Dr Sanchez heaved a sigh. “Old abandoned settlements like these are a dime a dozen in this part of the jungle. Since La Violencia 50 years ago, there were thousands that had their people flee for safer places. You’re too young to remember such things, but I recall it happening when I was a young teenager.”
“Oh…” she looked back down at the bones, forgotten in the undergrowth, in the shadow of the mountains, the ruined buildings that were likely once this person’s home.
Apparently she must have looked pathetic enough, because Dr Sanchez gave her a pat on the shoulder. “These tragedies in our history are things we should learn from. Appreciate how blessed you are to live in more peaceful times. Now, let’s go. We found a river with clear water, and the other two are setting about boiling it so it’s safe to drink.”
Nodding mutely, she turned her back on the old village, trying not to think about the ghosts that could haunt such a place. It didn’t help that, ever since setting foot into this place, she felt like she was being watched. Dr Sanchez was probably right about the jaguars.
The skin-crawling feeling of something following them didn’t leave her as they circled back around to the original path, and then to the one Dr Sanchez had cut through to the river. If anything, it just got worse, with every shriek of a toucan and every chitter of a monkey making her jolt a little. From the firm set of the Doctor’s jaw, he wasn’t exactly feeling relaxed either.
They stepped out into the clearing - a beautiful, shallow basined river flowing in front of them, only a few inches deep but with crystal clear water and reeds waving in the gentle breeze. The riverbed had exposed stones of various colours, giving the water an almost rainbow-like appearance. Butterflies fluttered around the area, a species she couldn’t name with golden wings, catching the sunlight and seeming almost to glow. This place almost breathed, like it was magic in and of itself. And perhaps she would have been able to appreciate it more, if it weren’t completely empty.
“Castillo? Garcia?” called Dr Sanchez.
No response.
Ramirez felt her heart in her throat, shedding her pack to set it down on the riverbank. “Very funny, Garcia! Come out!” Her eyes found the cooking hob that they were using to boil the water to make it safe to drink. It was knocked over, the flame out and the water spilt. “Castillo? This isn’t–”
“Shh,” Dr Sanchez hushed, holding his hand up again. Her words died in her throat, as she watched the doctor’s eyes scan the edge of the clearing. Following his gaze, she waited for some sign of movement, some giggle that would tell her where the others had gone, and that they were alright. It was completely in character for Garcia to pull this sort of trick, but for Castillo to get in on it…
The sun dipped behind the mountain. Shade fell over the glen. A chill entered the air, sending a shiver over her sweaty skin. The birdsong seemed to die off, one by one, until an erie quiet descended upon the jungle. A jungle should never be quiet. The inherent wrongness of it churned her stomach. After all, the only time a forest is quiet is when a predator is about–
A shriek shattered the silence of the riverbank. Her head whipped around to see the figure of Garcia, arms raised in a feeble attempt at defense, just as an enormous jaguar leapt through the undergrowth. He was knocked down into the bushes, his terrified screaming continuing, shaking her to the bone. Before she could think, she felt Dr Sanchez’s hand close around her wrist, and start running, pulling her across the shallow river, feet splashing and slipping on the smooth rocks, eyes stinging as sweat slipped into them, ears ringing as Garcia’s shouts turned to gurgles turned to silence.
Even at the other side of the water, they kept running. Dr Sanchez’ machete swung wildly back and forth, clearing a rapid path through the vines for them. Until suddenly it didn’t catching on an unbelievably thick vine, seeming to knot and wrap around it and his hand too. Eyes wide, they looked at each other, the sound of something big rustling in the leaves behind them.
Before Ramirez could say anything, Dr Sanchez placed his hand on her chest and pushed her, hard. She tumbled backwards, the air knocked out of her chest, falling through the thick foliage and down a steep hill, rolling into the crevasse and coming to a stop.
By the time she could orient herself from the dizzying fall, she knew that Dr Sanchez was gone. The silence still pressed in on her from all sides, which meant she was far from safe. Tears threatened to fall, but she pulled them back, swallowing a sob. She couldn’t mourn yet. No, she hadn’t seen where Castillo went. Maybe he’d escaped, maybe he was somewhere around here…
Oh, what was the use? It was her fault that they’d split up, that Dr Sanchez had gone to look for her and left the other two more vulnerable in a smaller number. Even if she did find Castillo, even if he was alive, what would she say to him? “Sorry you brought along the stupid squishy undergrad to your incredibly dangerous fieldwork?” “My bad, I underestimated how hard you guys have to work just to stay safe out here?” “Lo siento, I thought I’d be tougher than this, smarter than this, better than this…?”
For a short moment, she contemplates just dying in the ditch. Just laying there and waiting for the jaguar. She heard they go for the skull to crush their prey so they won’t fight. Sounded quick. But as she lay there, one of the golden butterflies from earlier fluttered by her face, the soft beating of its wings sending a tiny puff of air across her skin. No… they would not become another of those expeditions. At the very least, she had to survive to get back to civilisation, to tell them what happened.
Just so they wouldn’t become another nameless pile of bones in a forgotten corner of the world, Lucia Ramirez pushed herself back to her feet, quietly dusted herself off, and started walking.