As we followed behind Penelope, I picked the leaves off of tree's as we passed by. "Oh, what's this?" I stopped, standing on my toes to grab a piece of fruit hanging from a tree. "It's a mango tree." I smiled, picking one. I didn't really like mangos, but they were better than that nasty oatmeal we had earlier. Rubbing it on my shirt in an attempt to clean it, I took a bite. It was so sweet. It was delicious.
"Almost there!" Penelope called to the rest of us. "Get ready to make that turn soon. Just follow me."

Looking past the others to see up ahead, I could see the forest thinning out slightly as if there was an opening some where ahead. Adjusting my backpack on my shoulders, I then put my hand on the spot I'd hidden my gun. I could feel it's cold hard handle underneath my hand, the though of using it made me somewhat nervous. I was hoping I really didn't have to.

Once we arrived to our destination, we began to discuss who would be the one to go and scope out the scene. "I'll go check it out." I said quietly, trying to end the conversation quickly. I saw the thick, white smoke rising in the air. They must've been burning leaves or something for the smoke to look like that. I quietly walked as close to them as I could without them seeing me. I hid behind a bush and peeked through. There was a group of about seven or eight people sitting around the fire with their guns leaning against logs and trees. Most of them were talking, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I could see one of them picking their teeth. There was a big, muscular woman who had half a sleeve of tattoo's on her arm. I wouldn't want to mess with her. The others were buff, well in shape and looked like they were ready for anything. Their uniforms had the ((insert country name here. we should figure that out)) flag on the left shoulder sleeve. It was the enemy. Backing away carefully, I turned to Sam and the others, shaking my head and letting them know that these weren't our guys.

I watched Daisy nervously as she investigated the camp ahead, my hand on my gun, ready to react if anything happened. When she turned around and shook her head, heading back to join us, I breathed a sigh of relief and dropped my hand. Once she'd reached us, we spoke quietly, deciding to go back to the path we were originally on, hoping it might lead us to some caves. As quietly as we could, we crept away from the camp not wanting to make any sudden sounds to alert the camp that we were here.

After walking for a few minutes, I began to relax, knowing the Jaxlor's wouldn't be able to hear us. "That was just a small group of them. I wonder where the rest are?" I thought aloud. "And now that I think of it, we need to be more careful. What if we run into a trap or something. They could be watching us at this very moment and we wouldn't even know."

"That's why we need to stay quiet and low, we can't risk letting anyone know we're here." I said looking at Daisy as she walked ahead of me. "If they knew we were here they would've attacked. Jaxlor's are aggressive soldiers, they don't think about keeping hidden or using tactics." I explained having done my research, in more ways than one.

Glancingbehind me at Sam, nodding, and letting him know I was listening to him. "We're never going to find them at this rate. We need a map." I mumbled, thinking maybe if we could steal one from the Jaxlor's. I was sure they had one.

"Well without one the best chance we've got is just going deeper in. Our people would've been able to get out if they were closer to the beach, the deeper in we go, the best chance we have." I said watching my feet as I stepped over a whole lot of uplifted roots in the path.

I tripped over a few uplifted roots, but caught myself before I could fall. I began to watch the ground as I walked now so it wouldn't happen again. "Ok, so we go deeper." I paused, trying to think of a better way to do this. "Or we could split up. We all have walkie talkies. We have a way to communicate with each other. So whichever group finds them first, we can just tell each other. If we run into trouble or spot anymore Jaxlor's... We'll know." I looked around at everyone. We'd all stopped walking for a minute. "How does that sound?" I asked, wondering if this was a good idea or not.

"Sounds smart." Luke said from behind me and I agreed, despite the fact that I felt safer for us all being together. More strength in numbers.
"But there's only five of us, it's not even." Christy pointed out from beside Daisy.
"True, but we'll cover more ground splitting up." Penelope added continuing walk slowly. "Three and two or two, two and one."
"Three and two's safer. No ones going off by themselves." I said as we all followed her.

"Alright, then lets get our groups together. Two and three. Who's going with who?" I asked as we continued to walk. It was beginning to get hotter outside. Soon my shirt would start to stick to me and it was still early! I could only imagine how the temperature would rise as the day went on. I grabbed the canteen of water from my pack and took a sip. Putting it back, I ran a hand through my hair.

“How about I go with Christy and Penelope, and you go with Daisy?” Luke suggested looking at me and I nodded.
“Sounds okay with me.” I said glancing ahead to Daisy to see if that was okay with her.
“Well, it’s okay with me…” Penelope said sending Luke a coy smile and Christy rolled her eyes.
“Whatever, as long as it’s sorted.” Christy said crossing her arms across her chest.

"Yeah, sure. Sam and I can go this way. Y'all can go that way." I pointed. "If neither of us find them, we should meet up at the trees that separates the beach from the forest. Right on the edge. But I doubt it'll take that long. One of us should find them before then." I looked to everyone and they nodded.
"And if we run into trouble?" Christy asked.
"Just let us know. Same if we run into trouble. We'll tell you." I glanced at Christy. She looked annoyed.
"Alright. Good luck. Maybe the best team win." Penelope smirked.
"Team? What d'you mean?" Luke raised a brow.
"Why not make this fun? Like a race." She responded.
"Yeah, sure. May the best team win." He said and waved his hand, signaling the others to follow behind him. In just a few seconds, they disappeared into the trees.

“Right, guess that’s us then.” I said a few seconds after they’d left, watching the trees move about after them. Glancing at Daisy, I paused for a second, before moving forward in the opposite direction to where the others left. “Let’s get moving."

"Right." I followed behind him. I was quiet for a bit. Just enjoying the sounds of nature. It was much better than the sounds of gunshots and bombs. I could hear the slight rustle of the leaves in the trees when they wind blew. The chirps of the tropical birds that flew overhead and the faint waves of the ocean hitting the shore.

“Is what you imagined?” I asked after a while. “This place I mean, is it what you thought it would be?” Glancing back at her, noticing her looking at all the flowers and up at the birds flying above us.

"Huh?" I paused for a second. "Oh. Yeah, it's beautiful here. It's such a nice sight compared to war and fighting all the time, ya know?" I gave him a small smile. "How about you? Did you imagine it looking like this?" I asked in return.

I nodded. "I know what you mean." I said pushing some large leafy branches out of my way then holding them back for Daisy. "I think it's better than what I imagined. You know, I've seen it on TV and in pictures, and it looks so idyllic, but being here, I dunno, it's real. I feel... liberated? Which is stupid considering we're in enemy territory at the same time."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." I nodded in thanks to him as he held the leaves back for me as I walked past. "It's so beautiful. I've been to nice beaches before. But this? This is amazing. Even if it is enemy territory." I ran a hand along a few bushes. "It is liberating." I agreed. "It's so free out here. I mean, if we weren't in a war, we could just run free."

I ran through her words, thinking about the war as we walked. Then I realized, even if the war didn’t exist, I wouldn’t be free at all. I would be stuck at home, working every afternoon and weekend at my father’s electrical company. My father may not have turned to alcohol to dull the pain but he still wouldn't have treated me any better than he did before. "If only it was that easy."