Chapter 1
Violent turbulence ensues, wrenching my focus away from the spreadsheets. I clench the armrests as the engines stutter, an alarming cacophony against the usual hum of flight. My heart races, adrenaline flooding my system, as the plane dips sharply. Weightlessness grips me; my stomach lurches to my throat before gravity mercilessly slams me back into my seat.
Through the chaos, I hear the pilots battling with the controls, their urgent voices crackling through the intercom. We’re plummeting, the jungle canopy swelling up towards us at a terrifying speed. In a desperate maneuver, the pilots manage to level the aircraft, skimming just above the treetops.
It feels like we might just make it, a surge of hope wells within me—until a colossal, ancient tree looms directly in our path. The impact is deafening, a sickening crunch of metal as the plane careens into the giant trunk, flames bursting around us in a furious inferno.
Consciousness fades and flickers. When I finally pry my eyes open, I’m surrounded by the charred remnants of what was once a plane. Miraculously, I’m alive, my body a map of minor scrapes and burns. I call out, desperate for a response, but only the eerie calls of the jungle birds answer me, echoing hauntingly through the trees.
