Grayson Marshall was flying over rebel territory in an observation plane. He had been recruited by the CIA from 5
th
Special Forces where he was a language expert. He was looking for a cocaine operation run by a group of Communist rebels to fund their revolutionary activities. One area began to look suspicious. The foliage looked real but was different than the trees and brush around it. It made an almost perfect rectangle. If this was a cocaine processing lab, it was a big operation. Grayson immediately felt dread because big operations are well protected. The next thing he knew, a SA-7 Soviet Quail handheld missile was on its way towards the plane. They were hit on the pilot's side and started going down in a corkscrew circle. The pilot was dead. Grayson was able to parachute out safely but was quickly surrounded by rebels.
He didn't even try to deny he was CIA. They would have treated him the same regardless. Grayson just stayed quiet. By that it meant that he didn't answer questions. He was quite vocal when they were torturing him. Every curse word Grayson knew in English, Spanish, Mandarin, and Swahili was used several times over. To stay alive, all Grayson had to rely on was his Jungle Survival Training and the memory of his wife and unborn child. Grayson's wife, Lori, had made him promise to come back because she needed a husband and their child would need a father. He had promised. At this point in time, he was afraid he had lied.
His initial torture only lasted a few days. It took that long for the rebels to dissemble the camp to move to a new location. They assumed Grayson had called in the coordinates before being shot down which was correct. The Columbian army, however, was not swift to send troops to such a dangerous place without the proper firepower. That was plenty of time for the rebels to disappear.
During the trek, his usefulness was discussed by the rebels. Some were in favor of an ISIS inspired beheading on video to show how powerful the rebels were in the war with US Imperialists. Others wanted to hold him for ransom to shore up their bank accounts. Given the disruption in funds because of Grayson's discovery and subsequent breakup of their cocaine factory, the ransom rebels won out. The beheading rebels were given the privilege of continuing his torture. Do you know what burning flesh smells like? Grayson found out. The rebels took great delight in branding him in weird patterns, using his skin as a canvas for their Picasso inspired painting.
They walked through thick jungle for several days. Grayson came to 'enjoy' the walking as stopping provided the opportunity for the rebels to have fun with him. He was surprised and disappointed every day he woke up. Grayson tried to convince himself that God was keeping him alive, so he could keep his promise to his wife. Eventually, they arrived at a spot where they would set up camp and begin construction of another cocaine lab. It only meant less walking and more torture for Grayson. He kept hoping he would reach the point where he had been tortured so much, it would no longer affect him. He never reached that point. It hurt every time. In fact, it got worse as his threshold for passing out became higher and higher, thus prolonging his agony each session.
With very little food and a lot of torture, Grayson's health deteriorated. He always tried to act more debilitated than he actually was. He was hoping to lull the rebels into taking chances in his supervision, so he could make a break. That was his Plan A, B, and C. Grayson had no particular place in mind to run to. He just wanted to get away from the rebels.
When the rebels knew they were close to making a ransom deal and replenishing their coffers, they decided to celebrate. They made their own brand of moonshine from a fruit Gray was not familiar with. It was likely to be around 150 proof. Within a couple of hours, there were only a few rebels awake and even they had had a few of the powerful drinks.
They told Grayson he would soon be released as his ransom was going to be paid. They had, however, told him the same thing several times before in order to laugh as his optimism was shattered. Every time they told him that this time it was really true. It was just one of their psychological torture tactics. This time it had the opposite effect. It made Grayson even more determined to escape. He would not be fooled into hopefulness again.
During the night, Grayson asked to use the slit trench. It was his custom to spend quite a bit of time expelling his waste as a means of delaying the next round of torture. Assuming a long wait, his guard sat down with his back against a nearby tree. Grayson waited. The guard's snoring was Grayson's signal to escape. With his training, he could move unheard in the jungle and did so. Once clear of the camp, he ran as fast as he could which was not close to how fast he ran when healthy. He kept running, jogging, and then walking until he could go no more. Exhausted, Grayson fell asleep in the jungle.
He awoke with a start but was calmed by the lack of any sound resembling a squad of rebels searching for him. Grayson hoped his absence had not been discovered by rebels until the morning. He knew however, they would be coming. Besides continued flight, his plan had to include finding drinkable water and food. Grayson selected one direction to run in. Rain and fruit blessed him with sustenance. Mosquitoes blessed him with the need to constantly scratch. As bad as the itching was, he reasoned that it was better than the branding irons.
For days he walked, foraged for food/water, and slept uncomfortably. Grayson never heard anyone after him. Sometimes he would worry about mistakenly doubling back and running into the rebels. The sun was his direction guide. His choice of path was frequently challenged by his ever-questioning, ever-fearful mind. The validity of path choice became increasingly depressing as food and water became scarce. He was wearing out. It became harder and harder to go on. After stumbling and not being able to get up, he came to a decision. The last night of his escape was to be that night. He would not be able to go on any more. He thought one last time about his wife and child. Grayson prayed she would forgive him for lying.
At first, Grayson was disappointed to have woken up the next morning. He had hoped and expected to just die in his sleep. His dreams had become nothing but weird hallucinations, and it seemed to him he was having one now. It appeared that he was surrounded by some group of indigenous people who were trying to give him something to drink. After drinking a little at a time, Grayson became more alert. The natives were speaking in their own language for a while but then the one who gave him the water started speaking to him in Spanish. Grayson tried to explain how he had gotten to wherever he was, but all he could ask for was help. Alphonso (the Spanish speaker) said Grayson would be taken to the elders for a decision on what to do with him. A litter was constructed for transporting him.
Grayson was taken to Alphonso's hut which included his wife, two daughters and a son. Most of the men were in what he learned was the communal hut where his fate was being decided. Two men were left to guard Grayson. He was in no shape to escape and had no doubt that if he tried, these hunter-gathers could have tracked him down quickly.
Alphonso came to Grayson after a couple of hours. He told Grayson that there had been a heated debate about what to do with him. One group wanted to kill Grayson because he was an outsider like the hated rebels who captured people to be their slaves, and the loggers who were destroying the forest. Another group wanted to kill him just on general principle. It was Alphonso who argued that since he was the one to bring Grayson to life in the jungle, therefore, his life was Alphonso's to do with as he pleased. Grayson was to be Alphonso's and his family's slave. If Grayson did not prove to be useful, he would be killed. Obviously, Grayson wanted to prove to be useful.
After initial recovery, Grayson asked Alphonso how he came to know Spanish. He told Grayson that he had been taken captive as a young man by another tribe. They had sold him to a group of Columbian gold miners who needed someone who could do hard labor. After several years, the miners had become to believe that Alphonso was content being one of them and let down their guard. He escaped and eventually made his way back to the tribe. His knowledge of the white man and the danger they posed led to the tribe going back to the ancient tribal territory because it had less of the gold and timber resources the white man wanted. It also had less of the game meat resources that the tribe needed. A harder life was the price for their safety.
So, Grayson became the slave of Alphonso's family. He quickly found out that the household was run by his wife. Alphonso, as with all the men, had to take care of food gathering. Women handled all else. Grayson was considered of lower status than a woman, therefore, he got the chores that women hated. For example, he was in charge of the trenches for human waste, digging them and removing the waste once the hole was full. Food waste was used for the dogs and human waste made up part of the compost for the tiny garden the tribe had. Gardening was not a frowned upon endeavor, but it was difficult because the jungle yielded few spaces for a garden to grow. Keeping the garden from being taken back from the jungle was difficult task. You guessed it, that was one of Grayson's duties also.
His white man's clothes were soon tattered beyond repair, so Grayson followed the dress code of the men of the tribe. Straps around the waist to help carry weapons, a pouch for necessities, and a little flap in front to prevent damage to one's primary appendage from thorns and such. The flap did not, however, prevent appendages from being seen. Nakedness was not seen as unnatural to the Ufuri as Grayson found out they called themselves. The opposite, in fact. He quickly found out that sex was natural too. It was also under the control of the females.
