“The soldiers took everyone to the center of the village. There was so much screaming, so much confusion, so many shiny black pools of blood. A few, including Mariana and her sister, escaped to the hills. They couldn’t escape the screams, though. They lasted all through the night, horrible screams and gunfire and shouting that echoed up into the hills like the voices of angry ghosts.
“When it was over, the paramilitary set fire to everything. Mariana and her sister huddled together high up in the branches of a tree they’d climbed, and watched the only home they’d ever known burn to the ground.”
“I know this story,” Ryan says in a low, raw voice. “I’ve heard of Chengue. It was alleged that the Colombian government assisted the FARC guerillas with the killings.”
“Alleged, but never proven
