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

320 OUT OF CAPTIVITYof a captive’s life. Being able to go down to the water to bathe wheneverwe wanted to also helped. Our schedule wasn’t as rigid as before.Our new jailer, Enrique, was proving to be a decent commandante. Hisguards were a lot more no-nonsense but at least we were being givensome freedoms. I liked how that felt and was developing a greater appetitefor more.The FARC had built a pair of volleyball courts next to our camp. Basically,they had cleared an area of trees and undergrowth and strungan actual volleyball net between two trees they’d left standing. On theother court, they did the same except they strung a vine in place of anet. I’d never been a huge fan of the game, but I decided to participate.Whether we were playing against the FARC or there were hostages andguerrillas on the same side didn’t matter to me as much as I’d thoughtit would.The first time we played, I was stunned. In the last three and halfyears, I’d been able to exercise, I’d marched a hell of a lot, and I’deven had to triple-time it a bit. What surprised me was that I was ableto move freely, but at first I couldn’t. I had no chains on me, but itfelt like my feet were encased in stone. I knew I was in good enoughphysical condition to make a quick move and lunge for a ball, but mymind wasn’t agile enough to get me to do it. I’d always loved moving.Whether I was out in the woods somewhere carrying my Baretta shotgunor riding bikes with the kids or standing stock still with my handsinside the guts of a Pratt & Whitney engine torquing down a bolt tospec, I wasn’t a sit still kind of guy. Chess was a sit still kind of game,and I eventually got around to playing and enjoying it, but I was a farmore active person outside of captivity than I was inside it.These newfound freedoms at the Reunion Camp reminded me ofjust how much I was missing out on. Instead of this making me angry,it made me more determined than ever to end this game playing andget the hell out of Dodge. It wasn’t going to be enough to just be on thesame court as those guys. I wanted to win, win big, and go home.