Darien

Finally... You've reached the Colombian border. <hr> ==><== You've arrived at ==><== ###(text-colour:lime)[The Darien Gap] <= <style> img { max-width: 100%; max-height: 100%; } </style><img src="start.jpg"> </div> <== A strip of territory no goverment has been able to claim. Deadly at every step, it's the route left for refugees who can't afford a safer way into Panama... <= About 133,000 people braved this perilous journey in 2021 In 2023, the 100,000-mark was reached in April... ==> One in five of them was a minor =><= [[Brave The Darien Gap->The Darien Gap]] <== Or would you rather go back? ==> Go back to... [[Venezuela->Venezuela]] [[Haiti<-Haiti]] [[Ecuador<-Ecuador]] <== (link: "Load")[(load-game: "file A")] <hr><a href="https://lombrizblog.wordpress.com/2024/09/10/demanding-safe-and-dignified-migration-visual-novel-media-showcase/">credits</a> ######(text-color:#facccc)[❖︎ Blue links open the author's website] { (unless: (track: 'journey', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'journey', 'loop', true) (track: 'journey', 'play') ] }

You had no alternative. Life had turned into a dead end long ago. So you tried escaping through the Darién Gap with your child... ==> [[Continue->day0]] { (unless: (track: 'cricket', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'cricket', 'loop', true) (track: 'cricket', 'play') ]}

The inability to meet basic needs like food and healthcare reminds you of the reasons you had to spend most of your savings migrating. Your child needs healthcare you can't afford back home. The extreme dangers of the Darién migrant route do not deter other Venezuelans desperate to escape the humanitarian crisis. And so because you couldn't get painkillers, you witnessed the slow and painful death of your only child. To overcome such loss you resort to alcohol. Eventually, you stop going outside, then you stop eating. Finally, you cease drinking water as well. =><= [[Your corpse was found when a stench comming from your door was reported by the neighbors->start]] (unless: (track: 'drama', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'drama', 'loop', true) (track: 'drama', 'play') ]

They said this trip would last just a few days but you've lost count of them by now. Food supplies had already run out by the third day. Yesterday, your group came across the corpse of a big guy rotting by the path. You will never forget such smell. Drinking some water could help you mitigate the migraines but you should save the precious liquid for as long as possible. * [[Drink some water]] * [[Keep going...->day00]] { (unless: (track: 'cricket', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'cricket', 'loop', true) (track: 'cricket', 'play') ]}

Drinking water would also trigger your bladder and the group wouldn't wait for you. You haven't seen the young couple who got stomach sick again and no one seems to care waiting or looking for them. Also, you are too tired to try and care for someone besides you and your child. You did encounter another corpse. Corpses decompose way faster due to the heat and humidity in the jungle. His friends and family will be probalby left not knowing the fatal end of their beloved one. The image would haunt you later that night when you would revisit the scene in your nightmares. A restless night. ==> [[Next day->dayX]] { (unless: (track: 'cricket', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'cricket', 'loop', true) (track: 'cricket', 'play') ]}

This is the last of your clean water. But you wouldn't have been able to carry enough food and water for a week eitherway. So you drink a few sips of water and your child immediately begs for some, too. Once sated, you observe there's only half a water bottle remaining. ==> [[Catch up with the group]] { (unless: (track: 'cricket', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'cricket', 'loop', true) (track: 'cricket', 'play') ]}

Once ready, you follow the voices of the group and hurry along the path... (text-rotate-x:52)+(text-rotate-y:13)+(text-rotate-z:323)[Until voices and path fade] You've got a bad feeling. * [[Yell for help]] * [[Hurry going back to the path]] (link: "Save")[(save-game: "file A")] {(unless: (track: 'grim', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'grim', 'loop', true) (track: 'grim', 'play') ]}

You start yelling, unsure at first but now in despair. (text-style:"blink")[HELP!] Your child starts crying, too. You've scared them and the birds. (text-style:"blink")[HELP!] By the time you pause, only the multitud of (text-style:"rumble")[insect sounds] populate the air. ==> [[Keep yelling->bandits]] [[Backstep->lost]] { (unless: (track: 'grim', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'grim', 'loop', true) (track: 'grim', 'play') (track: 'cricket', 'loop', true) (track: 'cricket', 'play')]}

Without yelling so you don't scare your child, you start making your way back to the main path. Your child follows you blindly without questioning. Finally you arrive to a stream of a river you don't recognize. * [[Try crossing the stream->cross river]] * [[Walk alongside the river->bitten]] * [[Backstep->lost]] { (unless: (track: 'grim', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'grim', 'loop', true) (track: 'grim', 'play') ] }

''The current feels stronger than it seemed.'' While crossing the stream you try to set foot on a stone but it comes loose setting off your balance. Then your hand slips ...and your child gets dragged by the river. A few seconds later, you can't see or hear them anymore. * [[Rescue your child->drowned]] * [[Save yourself->anxiety]] { (unless: (track: 'grim', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'grim', 'loop', true) (track: 'grim', 'play') ] }

The jungle starts thinckening as you move forward. Vegetation blocks your vision and a few bugs begin crawling over you. You feel a sharp sting on your ankle. Your child screams as you see a snake recoil. You feel sick as you realize what just happened. <style> img { max-width: 100%; max-height: 100%; } </style> <img src="viper.jpg"> </div> You panic knowing you are leaving your child by themselves to survive in one of the deadliest places of planet Earth. Then, you die amidst incredible pain and suffering. ==><== [[Your child starts crying attracting dangerous predators->end]] { (set:$e2 to true) (unless: (track: 'drama', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'drama', 'loop', true) (track: 'drama', 'play') ]}

Light begins to dim... <style> img { max-width: 100%; max-height: 100%; } </style> <img src="lost.jpg"> </div> You realize you've wasted precious time that could've been used building a shelter and lighting a fire for the night. You might've been walking further away from help instead of getting closer. As night engulfs you and your child forevermore into the realm of the forgotten ones, you curse at your luck. =><= [[Your bodies were never searched->end]] { (set:$e1 to true) (unless: (track: 'drama', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'drama', 'loop', true) (track: 'drama', 'play') ]}

The rapid current blends everything around you. <style> img { max-width: 100%; max-height: 100%; } </style> <img src="drown.jpg"> </div> Soon enough you can't orientiate yourself. You try to emerge when something hits you in the head and everything fades to black. =><= [[Your remains were never recovered->end]] { (set:$e3 to true) (unless: (track: 'drama', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'drama', 'loop', true) (track: 'drama', 'play') ]}

You glance over the rapid stream into the short distance where it bends. Aware that no adult would survive those rocks, even less a child, you decide to look out for yourself and finish crossing the stream. Once on the other side and during the following days you try to come to terms with your rationalization. ==> [[What if...->suicide]] { (unless: (track: 'grim', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'grim', 'loop', true) (track: 'grim', 'play') ] }

Next morning some elders of group are too tired to continue. The group continues its way to Panama and you follow. You won't see the people who were left behind //ever// again. ==> [[Follow the group->dayX1]] { (unless: (track: 'cricket', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'cricket', 'loop', true) (track: 'cricket', 'play') ]}

The group reaches a rapid stream that afternoon. The guide informs that he hadn't expected the river had risen that much. * [[Grab your child by the hand->cross river]] * [[Take your child on your shoulders to cross->dayX2]] { (unless: (track: 'grim', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'grim', 'loop', true) (track: 'grim', 'play') ] }

Luckily, you and your child manage to get to the other side of the river. However, as you wait for the rest of the group to finish crossing, a mother and her child are washed away by the current, screaming as they dissapear in a matter of seconds. Your child asks you what may become of them. You don't manage to craft a proper answer so instead you sulk along the rest of the perplexed party. ==> [[Next day->dayY]] { (unless: (track: 'cricket', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'cricket', 'loop', true) (track: 'cricket', 'play') ]}

The trail consists mostly of walking with water reaching up to your chest between sections of mud and rocky riverbeds. All your things including your sleeping bags are humid and wet. That morning you discover red dots covering both your and your child's legs. Some other people in the group have got these too. You experience burning, itching and red bumps that look like pimples, hives, or blisters. Your child complaints, too. You split a paracetamol tablet. You have one half and give the other to your child who has trouble swallowing it. By now you have run out of bottled water. * [[Help your child some water from the stream->sick child]] * [[Forget about it and proceed->dayY1]] (link: "Save")[(save-game: "file A")] { (unless: (track: 'grim', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'grim', 'loop', true) (track: 'grim', 'play') ]}

Taking advantage of the oportunity, you had filled one of your bottles with water from the stream. At least you won't die from dehydratation now. And your child gets something to swallow their medicine. It seems like a win-win situation. ==> [[Move on]] { (unless: (track: 'cricket', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'cricket', 'loop', true) (track: 'cricket', 'play') ]}

Yet another corpse, this one had wounds that seemed as product of guns. She had been shot in the chest, her head and one of her legs. At the next stop you discover that the water you had picked from the stream into one of your water bottles is actually not so good for drinking. You have now officially run out of drinking water. Your childs legs are way swollen and won't let him walk. ==> [[sick child<-Leave your child behind]] [[Keep moving and ignore their pain...->dayY2]] { (unless: (track: 'cricket', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'cricket', 'loop', true) (track: 'cricket', 'play') ]}

About half an hour later, your child starts complaining of stomach ache and begs you to make a bathroom stop. Fearful, you wait for your child as the group slowly continues pushing through the rainforest. Once your child is done you rapidly inspect their feces and your heart sinks. Your child has contracted diarreah. You hurry and catch up with the group only to be once more halted by the new urgent needs of your child to stop and poop again. This scene repeats itself three times within an hour. Everytime time you stop, catching up with the group becomes more difficult. Not only is the distance between you and the group increasing everytime but the terrain is becoming increasingly steep, muddy and difficult. Especially for a sick child. * [[Leave your child behind...]] * [[Stay with your child->Catch up with the group]] { (unless: (track: 'cricket', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'cricket', 'loop', true) (track: 'cricket', 'play') ]}

While your child is busy, you take the chance to quietly and hurriedly reunite with the group. Once you join them you avoid their inquiring gazes. Turning your head down, a heavy silence is shared by the group as they understand what you did. You can feel both the judgement of some and the understanding from others coming through their eyes. There isn't much anyone can do about it now, so the group starts marching through the jungle again as you follow them while trying not to think much about it. That night is the worst night of your lifetime. ==> [[Camp]] { (unless: (track: 'cricket', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'cricket', 'loop', true) (track: 'cricket', 'play') ]}

<= Suddenly you hear your child call you by name! <= (text-style:"fade-in-out")[They're crying for help!] =><= [[HELP YOUR CHILD!]] { (masteraudio: 'stopall')}

(text-style:"buoy")[You wake up drenched in sweat.] Wait! My child might be alive! They cannot be that far away! It's been only hours! * [[Go back into the jungle and look for my child]] * [[Try to get back to sleep]] { (unless: (track: 'grim', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'grim', 'loop', true) (track: 'grim', 'play') ] }

There's a conmotion at camp as you try to leave. Some are waking up and peeping from their tents while a few others try to convince you to stay with the group. Upset, the cartel member guiding your group through Darien's Gap makes himself heard. There's too much noise and people need to rest. If you want to go look for your child against common sense you're free to leave and the rest should not try and stop you so the group may rest. * [[Abandon the group and go back looking for your child...->lost]] * [[Stay with the group->suicide]] { (unless: (track: 'grim', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'grim', 'loop', true) (track: 'grim', 'play') ] }

You try to go back to sleep but the same dream keeps waking you up over and over, and over. Finally you realize you will never have other kind of dream ...nor a night of rest and sleep for what is left of you to be. When awake you see your child's face in other children's faces. And by night you will dream of them. ==> [[Take matters into your own hands->suicide]] { (unless: (track: 'cricket', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'cricket', 'loop', true) (track: 'cricket', 'play') ]}

What if your child is not dead? What if they're wounded and calling for your help? Impossible... But now... What's the purpose of carrying out this journey? Your child was your main motivation when looking for a better future. What kind of future awaits you once you leave this place behind without your beloved child? <style> img { max-width: 100%; max-height: 100%; } </style> <img src="rope.jpg"> </div> These thoughts end up being too much of a stressor. Alongside the unforgiving thirst and hunger, this event crushes your mind and soul... =><= [[Your corpse was found hanging from a tree->end]] { (set:$e4 to true) (unless: (track: 'drama', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'drama', 'loop', true) (track: 'drama', 'play') ]}

People are starting to report being sick of their stomach. The cartel member who is guiding the group can be seen growingly nervous. With every delay and stop his own chances of survival diminish. It is decided that people who get behind will have to catch up with the group by their own means. Although most of the group is sick and getting behind; by the time you arrive at campsite that night only a mother to be and her two children are missing. From here you can see the last obstacle, Death Mountain, //"La montaña de la muerte"//. ==> [[You are almost there->dayY3]] { (unless: (track: 'cricket', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'cricket', 'loop', true) (track: 'cricket', 'play') ]}

That afternoon during the last ascension, the heat is too intense and a man in his forties suffers a stroke. His dead body is left next to the trail. You unsuccesfully try to cover your child's eyes to spare him the scene. Without food and water there's no time to waste buring him. Taking his body would certainly be almost impossible. You search his documents to have something to deliver to his family or the authorities once in Panama. ==> [[You desperately want to exit this hell...->dayZ]] { (unless: (track: 'cricket', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'cricket', 'loop', true) (track: 'cricket', 'play') ]}

The last day, you've got to descend the hills in order to reach the camp where Panama's armed forces welcome the migrants who traverse the dangers of Darien's Gap. Sounds easy. However you are malnourished and dehydrated. Your legs are swollen and a new flesh-eating infection is rotting your feet. And your child cannot keep walking anymore. * [[Carry your child on your shoulders->dayZ1]] * [[Stay with your child and ask the group to request help for you->bandits]] (link: "Save")[(save-game: "file A")] { (unless: (track: 'grim', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'grim', 'loop', true) (track: 'grim', 'play') ]}

Moments later you hear unfamiliar voices... <style> img { max-width: 100%; max-height: 100%; } </style> <img src="armedmen.jpg"> </div> Your hopes to meet someone sent to save you vanish when you see the strongly armed men pointing their guns at you. =><= [[You and your child end up trafficked and enslaved by the organized crime->end]] { (set:$e5 to true) (unless: (track: 'drama', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'drama', 'loop', true) (track: 'drama', 'play') ]}

Shaking and trembling, you start descending the steep north side of the hill. Your child, half unconcius struggles to keep their balance. You left your bag and things back on top carrying with you only your cash and important documents. More than once you feel as you were about to black out on your way down. Looking at your feet you see your shoes torn apart by the rough trail, slashed open to prevent them from drowning you in case you fell in the river. ==> [[Was it worth it?->end]] { (set:$e6 to true) (unless: (track: 'cricket', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'cricket', 'loop', true) (track: 'cricket', 'play') ]}

(text-colour:lime)[The Darien Gap], a treacherous jungle and harrowing passage for countless migrants seeking a better life. Every day, medical teams witness the horrifying consequences. Their patients describe everything... ...from falls off cliffs to drowning in rivers, and from kidnappings to sexual abuse. It's time for safe and dignified migration. This fiction is based on true stories... [[Continue->start]] =><= Thank you for playing The Darien Gap by <a href="https://influenciaindebida.carrd.co">kurmi xochitl</a> <hr>''POSSIBLE ENDINGS:'' <ol> <li>(If: $e1 is true)["Lost parent and child"]</li> <li>(If: $e2 is true)["Deadly wildlife"]</li> <li>(If: $e3 is true)["Swallowed by the river"]</li> <li>(If: $e4 is true)["Desperation"]</li> <li>(If: $e5 is true)["Sold as slaves"]</li> <li>(If: $e6 is true)["Your journey has just begun..."]</li>  </ol> { (unless: (track: 'journey', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'journey', 'loop', true) (track: 'journey', 'play') ] }

==><== ###(text-colour:yellow)[+17 warning: intense violence*] <== ######(text-color:#facccc)[❖︎ Sound controls on left sidebar] ######(text-color:#facccc)[❖︎ Scroll the screen] =><= ###(text-colour:lime)[The Darien Gap] <div><style> img { max-width: 100%; max-height: 100%; } </style> <img src="start.jpg"> </div> =><= ##[[start<-continue ☠]] <== ######(text-color:#facccc)[❖︎ Click red links to continue] ######(text-colour:yellow)[*TW self-harm, human trafficking, abuse and other adult themes] <div><style> img { max-width: 100%; max-height: 100%; } </style> <img src="spook.jpg"> </div>

At home, gangs control over large parts of your country. Severe shortages of food, medicine, and basic services are the norm; forcing thousands like you to flee your homes and risk your lives crossing thousands of miles in search for safety. And now you were back. It's a sunny afternoon when your child is snatched from your hands to be trafficked. There's no one to go for aid. =><= [[start<-In your nightmares, you still hear their screams calling you for help]] (unless: (track: 'drama', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'drama', 'loop', true) (track: 'drama', 'play') ]

Back in Ecuador, your country is facing a severe humanitarian crisis fueled by a surge in violence and organized crime. The rise in homicides has created a climate of fear and instability, forcing many of your friends and neighbors to seek refuge in safer areas or even leave the country. The government's capacity to respond has been overwhelmed, leading to a breakdown in public services and a decline in living standards for many Ecuadorians. And so, you were reached by a lost bullet's ricochet during an armed extortion to one of the local businesses. =><= [[start<-You could've survived but emergency services weren't available]] (unless: (track: 'drama', 'isplaying'))[ (group: 'playing', 'stop') (track: 'drama', 'loop', true) (track: 'drama', 'play') ]

drama: ./drama.mp3, ./drama.ogg grim: ./grim.mp3, ./grim.ogg journey: ./journey.mp3, ./journey.ogg cricket: ./cricket.mp3, ./cricket.ogg

Last ascension.