During the waiting days, anxiety slowly spread through the camp.
Sending wounded comrades into the hands of an unknown tribe was enough to unnerve even the bravest men. Whispers passed from tent to tent, carried by the cold mountain air. Some spoke in low voices about the stories they had heard since childhood—that the Americas still hid cannibal tribes, that men disappeared into the jungle and were never seen again.
Even Krugger was not immune to doubt.
Each morning he woke wondering whether his decision had been the right one. If his men were to end their days in the stomachs of indigenous warriors, perhaps it would have been kinder to let the sickness take them quickly. At least that death would have been familiar.
