Miri shifted to take a closer look at the river, and her shoulder brushed against his. He looked back at her, his eyes grazing over her silhouette, accentuated by the moonlight. With the way the moon illuminated her lips, they glistened under its glow, causing a lump to catch in his throat. Slowly, her head ticked to the side, and she brought her gaze to meet his. They stared at each other like they were the only things in this vast rainforest.
“Eh-hem,” Anissa said, finally snapping them out of it.
Miri snatched her gaze away.
“So,” Rafa said, trying to take his focus off Miri’s lips, “what’s going on?”
“What’s going on? We’re drowning away our sorrows. Licking our wounds. Tying one on—” Anissa said, until Miri cut her off.
“Brian just quit,” Miri said.
“The other field tech?” Rafa asked.
Miri simply nodded. “He’s leaving in the morning.” They stayed silent for a moment before Miri screamed with frustration into the Amazonian abyss.
“It will be okay,” Anissa said, leaning forward and placing her hand on Miri’s back.
“No, everything willnotbe okay,” Miri snapped. “I’ve lost more than half the crew. How are we supposed to continue with only five people? And you two aren’t even field crew.”
She reclined, resting her back flush against the wooden walkway, and folded her forearms over her eyes. “This is it,” she mumbled. “Say goodbye to my career.”
Rafa’s heart sank.Damn.
He reached into the side pocket of his cargo pants.
“Want some?” he asked, offering her the peanut M&M’s she had given him that first day at the airport in Manaus.
She twisted her head, peeking at him from under her arms with tears in her eyes, then quickly wiped them away. “You still have them?” she asked with a sniffle.
“I’ve been saving them for the right moment. This seems as good a time as any,” he said with a smile he hoped would make her feel better. “Here,” he said, tearing the corner off the wrapper and taking her hand to dump a few candies in.
A faint smile broke across her lips. She took the candy, then sat up before popping an M&M in her mouth. He raised the bag to Anissa to offer some, but she waved him away and pointed at the bottle of booze with a smile and a nod. Good. He really wanted Miri to have them anyway.
“Thank you,” Miri said.
“You’re welcome,” he said.
She sighed, tossed her head back, and looked out into the dense canopy above. The buzzing and whistling of the forest were a nice distraction from the thoughts swirling in Rafa’s head. They sat for what felt like hours, passing the bag back and forth, slowly savoring the chocolate-covered peanuts like they needed to be rationed over the whole night. Eventually, Anissa fell asleep, but Miri and Rafa didn’t make any effort to move.
“I don’t know what I was thinking,” Miri finally said.
“About what?” he asked.
“About finding the Moon City. I don’t know why I thoughtIcould actually be the one to find it.”
“Seems you had as good a chance as anyone else.”
“Yeah, but you were right. We should have quit days ago.” She picked at the wooden railing, tossing a tiny piece to the ground below them. “It’s probably only a matter of time before Logan and Felix throw in the towel, too. I can’t do this on my own. I can barely even do it now.”
She laughed, but it was hollow. “What am I even saying? I haven’tdone,” she said, using her fingers for air quotes, “anything out here. God, I’m such a joke.”
She folded her arms over the railing and rested her cheek upon them, turning her head away from Rafa. Her words created a pit in his stomach.
“No one is going to think you’re a joke for not finding a city that’s been lost for hundreds of years,” he said, hoping it would make her feel better. “The only thing that’s funny about this is that explorers keep trying.”
“And if Vautour finds it first?”
“He gave up.”
