Out of Captivity : Surviving 1,967 Days in the Colombian Jungle

Caribe 185but he could hang with the others in any kind of political discussion.Like us, he kept his eyes and ears open and was quick with his analysisof situations and circumstances.I didn’t think that Marc, Tom, and I had any kind of hierarchy amongus, but when we were introduced into this new mix, I sensed that wewere in real danger of getting the short end of the stick at every turn. Idecided to exert myself more to bring things to a better balance. As thelargest guy among us and as the one with the loudest voice and mostforceful personality, I could be perceived as being the alpha male. Thatwas a position I enjoyed. I remember once early on, Tom and I weretalking and he said to me while pointing at my fist—“I never want tobe on the wrong end of that.” I told him not to worry. No matter what.No matter how upset I got with him or Marc or anyone else, I wouldn’tattack them physically. I’d defend myself when attacked, but I wouldn’tgo after anybody. Like me, Tom had read about prison camps in Germanyand he knew some things about hierarchies. We’d all worked incompanies and organizations, so we were familiar with the game playingthat could go on, and we had to be on the lookout for it—especiallywith all these new players in the lineup.Add into this volatile chemistry of personalities and interests thefact that we were living in such close quarters, and it was a wonder thatthere weren’t physical confrontations every day. At home, if I was upsetwith someone and I really needed to get it out of my system, I couldhop on my motorcycle, jump in the car, go for walk, do whatever it tookto get some space between him or her and me. In a jungle prison, wehad nowhere to go—or at least not very far.After I confronted Tom with my assessment of these people and hisattitude, we didn’t really speak for the next couple of days. It was justour way of putting distance between ourselves. Marc did his best to nottake sides, and he was clearly upset by all the stress. I didn’t appreciatehim not seeing things my way, and I’m pretty sure that Tom felt the