Andrew has just finished his first year of liberal arts school, and is hungry for an adventure. On a whim he calls two of his classmates Sandra, and Daniel, and they talk about going hiking some remote place. They agree to tell their parents they are attending Summer semester, but will instead use the money for their trip. Andrew decides on the perfect area - the Pacaynia Mountain in southern Mexico. This mountain was perfect because no one had ever heard of it - almost as if it didn’t exist! It was devoid of tourists, but not too hard to get a plane and a bus there. It was surrounded by jungle and mostly unpopulated except for a small mining town. It was even rumored to have Aztec artifacts.
Three days after leaving the U.S. they make it to the small town, if you could call it that. The area had barely a hundred residents, mostly men, and almost all of them farmers or miners. While they seem friendly enough, the townspeople stare silently at them as they pass through. Mysterious. They stop at the only store to get supplies and ask about the area. They can barely speak Spanish but Andrew manages to find out there have been some strange disappearances and small earthquakes lately. Danger never concerns characters of a C.Y.O.C. story, however, so they head out towards the mountain without asking for directions.
They soon came upon the mining facility which employed half the town, and were quickly told at the gate to turn around. Daniel asserted to the guard they had the right to travel peacefully, but they soon discovered this was a restricted area. They were about to turn around when the guard called out to them. He looked around for people watching and then motioned them to listen. In broken Spanglish he suggested that if they want to explore the mountain they meet him, Philipe, in a few hours after the miners went home. Then he bursts out laughing, and returns to his post. Strange.
They consider this for later, but for now decide to travel on. Once out of Philpe’s sight, they walk around the facility perimeter into the wooded area. They could make it to the mountain on their own through the restricted area, but it looks easy to get lost. Or they can wait for Philipe, but he was a bit odd. Maybe they should go back to town and ask some questions about this unfamiliar place.