Attacking Aggressively

Journal.txt(17)

We rush through the woods, passing tree after tree, and the terrain slowly switches over from soil to rock. The trees appear some sparsely, and through a group of thin blue pine trees I see a train that has just left the station. There is no use trying to reach it in time, since it now runs by us.

- To town! Eve shouts to us, as she slows down to give Adam a chance to catch up.

I look around for Sam, whom is no longer behind me. Eve soon notices Sam's presence as well, and then Adam explains that he saw Sam take another way. We should go without him since they have probably already caught him, he then proposes. I reject this idea as soon as it is suggested, and decide to go back into the forst. I ask Eve and Adam to wait for us, and so they go hiding behind a rock formation.

- Why are we even waiting for them? Adam asks the feminine android.

- PD and Sam are our allies, it is right, and nevertheless most strategical to wait for them, Eve explains. The only reason why Adam does not take Eve to the station immediately is the many maps I have downloaded that make me a necessary teammate. He waits obediently, but does probably not enjoy doing so. Before I have crossed the very first tree I turn around and ask Adam which way Sam went. Eve asks him the same thing, and Adam tells her that he proceeded forward as the rest of us turned to the right. I thank Eve, whom thanks Adam. Adam says 'you're welcome' to Eve, whom repeats this to me. I return to the forest, and head for the direction that should lead to Sam. This is a very small forest that ends at a mountain up north, and he has probably not left the safe shelter of the surrounding vegetation.

I am once again surrounded by trees, and heavy footsteps is all I hear. I hide in a bush once these come closer, and spy at five soldiers passing by without noticing me. Once they are out of sight, I sneak forward a bit and take cover in another bush. I look around for Sam, but he is nowhere to be seen. This would be much easier if we both had some sort of Bluetooth or Internet to communicate with one another, but the only mean of communication incomprihensible for humans is the ability to speak in a high enough sound frequency. I could make an attempt on using this, but I fail then I will be shot instantaneously. Sam will probably be fine on his own, here in Himalaya. He has a charger in Fred's house, and the rest of us will lead the soldiers away. No, I must make an attempt to contact him, no matter the risk.

- Sam? Do you read me? I ask in a frequency humans should not be able to hear.

- PD? Is that you? Why are you talking like that? Sam asks me, whispering.

- Be quieter or increase frequency! I tell him.
- Okay, he says, a bit more quiet, but then I ask him not to talk at all.

Sam's face appears out of a bush on the other side of the path, and we leave after another troop has passed. Once we have taken a few steps, I hear another troop, and then Sam begins to run. I rush after him, which might not be the best move. They hear us, and head for our direction. I know from before that Sam is slower than me, but he seems to be slower now than usually. I ask him for the reason of his deteriorated speed, and then he suggests we discuss that once we are safe again. I start to worry that he has suffered any serious injuries.

Once we have gotten away a bit, I tell Sam that the others wait at the end of the forest. I do not know whether the soldiers still follow us or not, but if they do then we have a good margin.

- How many soldiers are there? Sam asks me, still whispering.

- All I know is there are only eight billion seven hundred million people on earth, so there is a maximum of eight billion seven hundred million soldiers considering that everyone lives in Nepal and serves the army, I explain to Sam. He thanks me for the answer, though we are both pretty sure that there are way less since we have both met and seen those who neither serve the military or live here. The United Kingdom is bigger than Nepal, so there should be more people there. I wonder exactly how relevant the size of the country is to the population. Big parts of Nepal are limited by mountains, so argiculture should not be that frequent over here, so I guess there are more people in the United Kingdom.