Six of one, half-a-dozen of the other

"All six of them."

In the lower depths of the pyramid we come across the bodies of four Spainish speaking individuals: Pedro, Juan, Javier and the headless Carlos. They were part of a group of 'alleged' treasure hunters who entered the pyramid some 40 years after Muller and his squad of 17 men.

Some confusion exists over the exact number of people in this Spainish speaking group. Six or eight men?

Juan clearly states that he was part of a six-man group. On "Earthquake Zone" Juan says in response to "companions":

I was part of a six-man group looking for
some sort of enchanted bottle- I never
really believed it. But we were ambushed
here, and all died.

Yet Javier, the leader of the group infers that they were an eight man group. We find Javier and the headless Carlos on the penultimate level - "Where Only Fools Dare Thread". In reply to the name "Carlos" Javier says:

Carlos never really wanted to come, I'm
totally responsible for his death. And the
others, too.

If you ask about the "others" Javier replies:

All six of them. And they're all dead
because of me and this stupid useless bottle.

These six others, who died above, plus Javier and Carlos make eight men in total!

So how did Juan get it so wrong?

Well Juan was slowly dying of snake bite so he may have been confused. Indeed Juan was having a hard time remembering his own "name" never mind those of his companions:

I think my name is Juan. I can't remember
any of my companions names.

However his failing memory was clearly selective. In response to "green, humanoid slimes" he replies:

They killed and then absorbed everyone,
until only their weapons were left. Maybe
Javier and Carlos escaped, but I doubt it. I
ran back here and hid.

So Juan could remember the names of Javier and Carlos. How odd!

And if you ask him about poor "Pedro" who suffocated above on "I'd Rather Be Surfing" he says:

Pedro was trapped behind a door on a higher
level. We tried to get him out, but we
couldn't move the door, so we left. I wonder
what happened...

So was Juan simply confused or was he really hiding the tru7h?

But then again what is the tru7h in Pathways Into Darkness?

But it doesn't end there.

Pedro when asked about his "companions" had this to say:

I was the last in a line of six men and the
door slammed shut right as I was about to
pass out of the room, trapping me. They
tried, I heard them, but there was no way to
open the door.

Ok so Pedro was last in a line of six men. Where were the other two? Could they have been Javier and Carlos who had gone up ahead?

If you enquire further about these "six men" Pedro says:

I can only remember Juan, who was slowly
dying of a snakebite in the jungle, Javier and
Carlos

Ah so Javier and Carlos were among the six. So two of the original eight man group remain unaccounted for... that's of course if you believe Javier's account of things!

But wait that's not all!

Juan mentions something interesting when he describes how he and his companions were "ambushed"

These green, humanoid slimes attacked us,
and devoured everyone but myself. For some
reason they completely ignored me, and took
my friends.

So everyone was devoured? Maybe not since in response to "green, humanoid slimes" he replies:

They killed and then absorbed everyone,
until only their weapons were left. Maybe
Javier and Carlos escaped, but I doubt it. I
ran back here and hid.

We find out later that Javier and Carlos did indeed escape. Thus the rest of the group met their fate on this level. Note how Juan mentions that their weapons were not absorbed. If you enquire further about these "weapons" Juan says:

You should be able to find their weapons, if
someone else hasn't taking them. It's
nearby.

Extra weapons could come in handy but try as you might you won't find any weapons on this level other than Juan's AK-47 Assault Rifle. He also had a Gas Mask but that's another story. Surely there should have been other weapons lying around belonging to those who got devoured?

Perhaps Javier and Carlos took them? Yet if you search their bodies later on you won't find any extra weapons nor will you find them discarded on any of the intervening levels. So what happened to the weapons? If they were taken who took them?