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

68 OUT OF CAPTIVITYsightseeing and go to bed, but the rest of the hard core revelers werestill out there. Through my sleep-deprived haze, I could hear them carryingon. This was like that, except it was no party.A couple of times I raised my head up and looked to the doorwayto see a few FARC backlit in the door frame. Each time it seemed thefaces were different, the figures posed in a new configuration. I wasn’tsure how long we were in the bedroom, but we emerged outside just asthe sun was beginning to set. On our march, we’d been accompaniedby about sixteen to twenty guerrillas, but at this finca, at least sixtyguerrillas had gathered. We immediately got the sense that we were acuriosity at worst and celebrities at best. The staring that had markedour first days of captivity resumed as groups FARC guerrillas came tolook at us. Some wanted to say a word or two and did so, while the restjust moved their eyes over us as though they were waiting for us to dosomething.The finca’s kitchen was attached to the house, but instead of havingfour walls and a roof, it just had a piece of canvas hanging over a fewpoles to keep the rain off the stove. Alongside the stove sat a large metaltub, big enough for a guy to climb into and bathe. One of the FARCpulled the tub out a ways from the kitchen area while the three of uswatched. At first we thought they were going to prepare a bath for us,but a few moments later, we heard the sound of a cow lowing. The cowwas led to the tub, and one FARC busied himself with tying the cow’shind legs while another tied its front legs.The cow, a somewhat thin, haggard-looking animal that seemed tobe about as exhausted as we were, just stared at us sleepily. Suddenly aguerrilla put the cow into a headlock and twisted its neck back and tothe side, while the other slit the cow’s throat with his machete in a single,precise move. The cow’s eyes rolled back in its head and it lookedcompletely startled. Unable to keep its balance, the animal toppled overin a heap, and the guerrillas knelt beside it, pressing their hands downon its stomach as blood spurted into a smaller pan they held.