Free Desperate Measures by Jeff Probst

together,” Buzz said. He and Jane had already taken off their own
seccu
as well. All three of them walked over to stand with Carter.
    â€œYou guys,” Carter mumbled out. “Don’t—”
    â€œShut up,” Vanessa said. “We’re staying wherever you are.”
    â€œ
Ozo etta mi shinolaka
,” Mima said. Several people laughed nervously.
    Vanessa looked into Mima’s eyes, searching for some kind of understanding. Mima only stared back, as unblinking as a stone.
    â€œWhat did she say?” Jane asked.
    â€œShe said, ‘Blood runs deep,’” Ani answered. “It means the four of you are a family to the end.”
    â€œYeah,” Vanessa said, putting out her hands to be tied. “She’s right aboutthat.”

CHAPTER 12
    T he pit had been dug during
Ohzooka.
It was the same size and shape as the one on the western beach, where Vanessa had been trapped the first day. Jane looked down inside, but there was nothing to see, just a flat bottom and sand walls that gave way to dirt lower down. It was definitely too far to jump in or climb out.
    The pit sat at the far edge of the main clearing, in the direction of
Trehila
and the canoes. Two guards stuck tall torches in the ground all around it and lit them as Carter, Jane, Vanessa, and Buzz were lowered in, one by one, with a vine rope.
    As soon as Jane hit the bottom next to Carter, she threw her arms around him.
    â€œI’m so sorry!” she said.
    â€œWhat are you sorry for?” he asked.
    â€œYou must have been so scared on your own!” she said. “At least the three of us have been together.”
    â€œI’m okay,” Carter said, playing it off the way he always did. But Jane could tell from the tightness in his voice that he felt otherwise. He blamed himself for all of this. If it hadn’t been for Carter’s sacrifice at the end of
Raku Nau
, they could have been gone by now.
    But none of that was worth saying out loud, Jane thought. It was behind them. And the truth was, she might have done the same thing.
    â€œBetzo!”
someone said.
    Jane turned and saw it was Mima. She’d come down into the pit and was holding more of the thin vines they’d used during the marking ceremony.
    Ani stood at the top, along with Laki and several others. Everyone watched from above as Mima continued what seemed to be her job here. She’dcaptured Carter, and now she would bind all of them for the night.
    â€œYou must all sit and have your hands tied,” Ani told them.
    â€œWhat for?” Buzz said. “It’s not like we can climb out.”
    Jane didn’t even hear the answer. She was staring at Mima, trying to get her to look back. Mima only kept her eyes down and wrapped Jane’s wrist with the vine, then tied it off. The whole thing was so confusing, she didn’t even know where to start. Mima had so quickly become a friend, even like a family member to them. This new change was just as sudden, but twice as perplexing.
    â€œMima?” she said, more than once. But she never got an answer. She never even got a glance. Jane felt a lump in her throat, but her eyes stayed dry. There were simply no more tears to give.
    Soon, they were all sitting with their hands tied and their backs propped against the dirt walls. Mima used the vine to walk herself up and out of the pit, then pulled it up behind her. Not once did she look back.
    The next surprise came in the form of food and water. The guards dropped down four leaf bundles and two waterskins to share. It was awkward to eat with their hands tied in front of them, but nobody worried about that. There was no conversation, either. After forty-eight hours of starving, there was nothing they needed as much as this.
    Just the smell, much less the taste, of the meat and the stringy vegetables in the leaf packet was like a miracle. At home, it all would have tasted like nothing, Jane thought. They probably would