They had started to eat there sandwiches. On the hill, was parked a beat up rusty red van. On the side of it was a rainbow and below that it said Wake Rapids, schedule you trip today. Then there was a phone number listed in white numbers.
Jan and Vag hoped up off the ground, the butts were dirty from sitting in a spot were the ground was still wet from the earlier rain.
Okay, guys, great news we are packed up and ready to go, we are on our own now, noone can save us but our self and or will to survive. Stan said this as Maggie drove off out of sight in the van.
"Don't worry, another van will be waiting for us down river," Stan said.
There was two teams, two rafts, and ten happy souls in for the biggest challenge of their lives, the Futaleufú River.
The roster included a instructor formly a light weight boxer. Chris Rodriguez. He got into it with Ruth. When on the first day out over food they were eating. Ruth was a vegan and Chris insisted that meat was what God inteaded for humans to eat. Then it went on from there and more arguments erupted about God and the Devil and Chris said she was evil incarnare and he didn't want her in his raft.
Stacey whilkes chimed in with her reputation behind her. Knowing that any type of confrontation could seriously hurt the business.
"Sweetie, sweetie!, we are here to have fun. We got to keep our heads together. Chris are you cool! Comeon you know better, your a big boy, so act like it," Stacy continued, "I need you to put on your fucking big boy pants! Now comeon let's go. We're taking on the terminator today and we cant have our minds wandering. I need you both to focus.
That was the first and last time the two got into it. Six days had past and the other rafters went missing during a night camping in the patagonia mountains. The only survivors were Stacy, Chris, Ruth, Stan, Red, and Wanda. Ruth, Stacy, and Red were assigned to raft one, and Chris, Stan, and Wanda were among the living of raft two which had in several weeks later was recovered torn on a tree and looked more like a crinkled up piece of paper than a raft.
Current Day
Chris started to complain of muscle cramps. It was agreed that the sick and dying must try to continue. Even now Stacey and Stan. The best raft instructions were starting to feel stomach cramps.
It was about 1:15 in the afternoon, when Stan started to vomit in the river, when the rain started. Everyone was getting cold and fear and panic of them getting out of there alive was starting to look bleak.
The only one that was not seeming to be infected by whatever the others succombbed to was Ruth. She was now recollecting the leading up to her trip kneeling by the river.
Ruth twenty years earlier from travelling to patagonia on a postcard she received when she was in Spain studying the Valesquez paintings there. The postcard read as follows:
Dear Ruth Martins,
We are happy to hear about your interest on joining us this Spring down the Terminator in the beautiful futaleufu river. Hopefully if you wish we have a opening a available for you. Please contact Maggie Ghives to book you hotel accomidations.
Regards,
The rafting staff at Wake Rapids.
When Ruth got this postcard she was enthralled and being the thrill seeker she responded immediately.
She phoned her twin sister in Rosewell, New Mexico Miranda. She was 29 and also took an interest in Aliens. But unlike her sister, Ruth liked Elvis and had three posters of him on the walls were she was staying not to far from the Prado Museum in Madrid.
Ruth got up when Stacey said she needed to talk to her.
Stacey's left cheek was not there. Her sweat mixed with blood was showing beneath her chilselled epidermis.