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he’d have to send the girls on without him.
    You’ll fit,
Jane mouthed, as if reading his thoughts, or at least his expression.
    Buzz wasn’t so sure, but worrying was just one more way to waste time. He could hear the other runners crashing through the forest and heading farther west by the minute.
    He sat himself on the first crossbar of bamboo and swung his legs over to dangle his feet inside. The ground was more than a story below, maybe even two stories. Falling could mean a broken leg, or worse. And there was no knowing if these vines would hold his weight, even if he did squeeze through.
    With another deep breath, he leaned in and grippedthe longest vine he could spot. There was no turning back now.
    Sliding forward, he was surprised to feel his belly slip right through the gap. In fact, there wasn’t much belly left. Not after eating so little for so many days. The painful scrape of his ribs against the bamboo told him so.
    For a fraction of a second, he dropped. Then the vine snapped taut in his hands and he swung crazily back and forth. As he did, he lowered himself toward the ground, hand over hand with all the strength he could muster.
    It didn’t last. He was halfway down when his grip gave out. The woody vine tore into his palms like a million splinters before he dropped the last several feet to the dirt below. It wasn’t pretty, but he was in. He rubbed his palms to put out the fiery feeling, and motioned to the girls to go for it.
    Jane was the monkey of the group. She managed to lower herself all the way without any trouble. Vanessa climbed and then slid, like Buzz had done.
    That way?
Vanessa mouthed. She pointed downthe tunnel that led directly under the guard hut.
    Jane and Buzz nodded. The tunnel definitely set out to the west, but it was impossible to say how far it went, or what kind of turns it might take. From where they stood, it was just a black hole.
    The only thing to compare it to was the tunnel leading in the opposite direction, toward
Trehila
and the canoes. That one had been a straight shot, and not very long. But it didn’t mean this one would be the same way. Which was the whole point. They had no idea.
    Here!
Jane indicated, and bent down to pick up an abandoned torch from the marking ceremony. She used it to stir the ashes in the fire pit and quickly turned up a few orange embers. Soon after that, they had a small flame to carry with them.
    Jane went first, with Buzz and Vanessa close behind. They moved cautiously past the ladder that led up to the guard hut, and then picked up their pace over the uneven tunnel floor, continuing west.
    Hopefully, toward Carter.

CHAPTER 7
    T he light was dimming fast when Carter stumbled onto the mud bank of the river. He’d ridden the current as far as he could. Now, the water had slowed to a near standstill, and gone shallow.
    There was no knowing how far he’d come. It was all a blur of white water, rock, and mud. Both his knees were bloody, and he’d have some new bruises for sure, but at least nothing was broken.
    He stood on the bank and listened. The jungle gave back its usual insect buzz and hum, and he could hear the soft sound of ocean waves somewhere. The drumming from the eastern shore had stopped.He was completely turned around now, with no real sense of direction.
    Carter turned and looked for the sun. It was too late in the day for that, but through the trees behind him, he could make out the red-orange glow of a sunset. That meant west, didn’t it? His mind felt thick and slow. He needed food. Fresh water. Rest. But he couldn’t have any of those things.
    It was tempting to drop right there in the mud and close his eyes. Falling asleep would have been beyond easy. But the darkening sky was like a ticking clock he couldn’t afford to ignore. So he put the sunset at his back and pushed on, one step at a time.
    His path took him over a small rise through the forest and back down again, into a