The Ruins (2006)

The Ruins is a 2006 horror novel by American author Scott Smith, set on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. The book fits specifically into the survival horror genre, which is marked by people doing whatever it takes to conquer their environment and stay alive. The novel was released on July 18, 2006 (ISBN 1-4000-4387-5).

A film adaptation of the novel was released in the United States and Canada on April 4, 2008.

Plot summary

Two American couples, Jeff and Amy, Eric and Stacy, were having a vacation in Mexico. There they met a German named Matthias, who were looking for his brother, Heinrich, who departed to find an archeological dig in the Maya jungle. Also joining them were three Greeks, whose real names weren't known due to difference in languages, the group called them Pablo, Juan and Don Quixote.

One morning, Matthias showed Jeff and Amy the hand-drawn map left behind by Heinrich in the morning of his departure, the map also contains instructions on how to get to said archeological dig. Jeff humored the idea of their group embarking on an adventure to find Matthias's brother, Amy silently resented this, but didn't speak up. Later that morning, the group set out on their journey to the dig, Pablo also joined them, he left a copy of Heinrich's map for Juan and Don Quixote to follow if they so were interested. Once arrived at the jungle, they hitchhiked a truck to ferry them off the beaten tracks. The truck driver, upon learning their destination, tried to warn Amy not to go there, Amy told the group about this though they rebuffed her.

They journeyed through the jungle and arrived at a Mayan village, where they had to backtrack to find the turnoff that would lead them to their destination according to the map. Amy suggested searching the other side of a clearing they passed earlier, where they found the entrance to their turnoff, concealed by a bush that has been made to look as if it naturally sprouted there. Amy took concern about this, but Jeff again ignored her. After traversing the narrow path, they arrived at another clearing, with a hill covered in beautiful red flowers on the other side. As the group attempted to ascend the hill, the Mayan villagers arrived with their weapons, threaten them not to go further. Due to their difference in languages, however, they were unable to understand each other. When Amy tried to take a photo of the groups arguing, she accidentally stepped on the vines near the hill, which prompted the villagers to push the group upon it.

At the hilltop, they found several empty tents with tools most likely belonged to the archeologists, a shaft in the center, and flowery vines covered the scenery. When they descended the hill, they were surrounded by Mayan villagers and their weapons. Jeff noticed a strange vine-covered mound, where they found the remains of Heinrich, with arrow wounds through his chest. Unable to leave the hill, the group returned to the top, where they heard a phone ringing down the shaft. Pablo volunteered to descend, but the ropes snapped due to the burning sap from the vines when they were crushed under the movement, causing Pablo to fall and break his back, Eric was also wounded when trying to reach Pablo. When they were brought back, they rested Pablo on a makeshift bed while the others take turn to watch over him. In the morning, Pablo and Eric woke up horrified to find the vines had made their ways into their wounds, enticed by the smell of blood. The vines had eaten a large part of Pablo's legs, forcing an amputation, whereas Eric had to undergo several incisions to take out the vines inside him, although he continuously claimed there's still more vines in his body.

The group decided the other two Greeks, Juan and Don Quixote, to be their best bet for escape, hoping they get on the message Pablo left them. They took turns to watch the base of the hill for signs of the Greeks, Jeff found various vine-covered mounds similar to Heinrich's, containing the remains of the hill's previous victims. Later, Jeff and Amy decided to descend the shaft once more, hoping to find the ringing cellphone, they were chased off by the vines as it enticed them into a trap. Jeff later theorized the vines might be sentient, although others disbelieved him. The next day, Amy, Stacy and Eric, desperate with their situation, got drunk while entertaining each other, neglecting their chores, which infuriated Jeff. Following a heated argument, Amy left to the other side of the clearing to sleep, not wanting to be close to Jeff, she crawled back in the morning vomiting, but Jeff assumed she was having a hangover, thus not helping her. Later Matthias discovered Amy dead, choked on the vines that wormed their way into her mouth, hence the vomiting. As they buried her in a sleeping bag, the vines quickly claimed her body while mimicking her voice calling out to Jeff. A guilt-ridden Jeff wandered the hill looking out for the Greeks, when he noticed the area was covered in mist following an earlier downpour, he attempted to run pass the Mayan, but was struck by arrows and claimed by the vines.

At the hilltop, the vines were calling out to the others in various language, they announced Jeff dead, mimicked strangers talking in German, and to Eric's surprise, Stacy and Matthias being intimate. As the trio argued, the vines suffocated Pablo, claiming his body. The next morning, Matthias descended the hill to look for the Greeks, Stacy followed him. Left alone, Eric began hacking at his body where he felt the vines crawling. When Matthias tried to stop him, Eric stabbed him in the heart, killing him. A prostrated Eric begged Stacy to finish him, which she complied. Shortly after, Stacy committed suicide by slashing her wrists.