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

44 OUT OF CAPTIVITYshrugged and dumped my food back in the bag. Between mouthfuls,Farid looked up and waved them on, back down the trail we walked up,presumably to feed the others. Still chewing and licking his lips, Faridgot to his feet and pulled me up.Energized by the first meal that I’d seen him eat since we’d startedmarching, Farid picked up the pace. I devised a new strategy. Ratherthan lag behind and deal with Farad’s wrath, I’d keep his pace for aslong as I could. When I got so winded that I couldn’t go on, I woulddrop to one knee and suck in as much of the thin air as I could. By thetime Farid noticed I’d stopped and turned to come get me, I wouldstand up and start moving toward him. This went on for another houror so. Full-on darkness was still a ways off, but the sounds of the junglehad switched from the wild and cacophonous to eerie. Along with theinsect and wildlife noises, I heard a faint tapping sound—regular asa heartbeat most of the time but with a few pauses. Farid heard it aswell, and he put his finger to his lips. As we made our way forward, thesounds grew louder. Farid took his AK-47 off his shoulder and whippedaround to quiet me again. He turned and stood with his AK held sidewayswith the stock perpendicular to the ground, Rambo-gangster style.He continued creeping forward, waving his hand back at me to indicatethat I should hold my position. I had no idea what was going on andmy mind was racing.Farid lowered his gun and waved me forward. Peering throughthe dense bush, I saw another guerrilla slinging his machete to clearanother, more overgrown trail. At the head of this new route stood twomules. Farid indicated that I was to get onto one of them, but when Itook a step forward, the mule started braying and kicking its back legsat me. The new FARC guerrilla grabbed the mule’s rope bridle andtried to quiet him, but the thing was still bucking. Farid picked up aburlap bag that the other guerrilla had left on the ground and placed itover the mule’s head. It stilled. I figured the thing got aggressive whenit saw someone moving toward it to mount. Farid waved me toward the