Trapped : The Island of Torment

Chapter 34 : Breakthrough, At Last

Dawn broke on Lian Yu, the island breeze was cold to the bone. I woke up in response to the cold, only to find my head leaning on Bruce's shoulder. I certainly had fallen asleep during the night watch, which was embarrassing and might result in a court-martial if I were in the military. "Sorry." I whispered, lifting my head from his shoulder and looking away in embarrassment. Bruce smiled a little, but he held my head in his hands and placed a kiss on my forehead.

"Good morning." he greeted. "I'm glad that you slept well last night." 

"I wasn't meant to." I say. 

"You're injured. You should be resting but you declined to do it." Bruce said. Getting up from the ground I prepared to do some stretching but my legs were numb and caused me to fall, with him catching me before I hit the ground. "Like I said, you need rest."

"Ok, and proper medical attention." I say. 

"And morning to you lovebirds." Kate greeted sarcastically as she exited her tent. Embarrassed and blushing I nudged Bruce to let me go and he obliged, helping me to stand up rather than dropping me on the ground in a playful manner. "How's the wound? No dangerous infections?"

"If you count sleepiness as an infection." I replied. "Should we...?" I turned to Bruce.

"We should." Bruce said, taking the map hidden within the pocket of his jacket. "We found this map from the dead body before Isa was shot by an arrow."

"New map?" Kate asked, taking the map she had kept and comparing it with the new map. "It's rudimentary compared to the new."

"We found a beachhead, we'll use the flare gun to get help." I say. "It is the campsite that Bruce and I were concerned." 

"It's to the east of our location, but the beach is to our north." Kate said. "We can check out the two locations but it might consume an entire day if we go together."

"We'll have to split up." Bruce said.

Later

I looked at the compass as the team we assembled, well, more like volunteering, trekked east in the direction of the campsite. The team we have now consists of Nyssa, Sara and Laurel, Kate and Richard and Barbara, both volunteering to join the team I'm in when Bruce briefed everybody about the plan. "You can't fix the trust you broke." Kate told the two of them. "And joining the team doesn't help you two in undoing your mistake."

It has never been easy in situations like this, but all I can do now is to rein in my temper and keep moving on. "Kate, maybe it's time that we all stop talking about that." I told her. "I know that you're just trying to stand up for me, but we shouldn't make things harder anymore."

"I'm doing what you said, standing up for you. Those guys are just trying to salvage their mistake, when you needed space and time."

"It's been three years now." I say, as I pocketed the compass. "I already had the time and space to reflect, but I'm not ready to reconcile." Kate nodded and kept quiet.

The forest path wasn't too tricky to trek, as leafy greens grew on trees and songbirds chirped, befitting the ecosystem of Lian Yu. "Should be a few meters away from the campsite to our location." she murmured. We heard the sound of jeeps as we trekked along the forest path, indicating that the campsite was not far. Ducking into the foliage we observed the campsite in silence.

It was the campsite that befits a command post, whether it be on a deserted island or on the desert plains of Afghanistan. Men in teams patrolled the compound, clad in black while a mixture of firearms and melee weapons was employed. Long tables were set up in the camp to accommodate equipment, ranging from radio communication devices to computers. "It's a command post." I say, observing the men as they operate inside the tent. 

"Do we have a plan?" Nyssa asked. "The radio can help us escape this island."

"No sign of Elliot." I whispered. "Ok, plan out an attack." All of us gathered around to form a plan of attack, to take down the men and snatch their equipment if necessary. "I see multiple crows in black, armed and unarmed. "Some of us will take out those guys, and the remaining ones have to go in, grab the radio equipment and clear out ASAP." 

"Sounds like a plan." Kate mused. "You can still fight?"

"I survived nearly ten days of isolation in that small town with injuries I sustained when the IEDs took out the platoon I was in." I say. "But I'll try my best to kick as many asses as possible." 

"Point taken." Kate said. "And you deserved that Medal of Honor because of this." 

"Let's go." I say, pulling the bowstring to take aim. Taking a deep breath I let go of the bowstring, sending the arrow flying in a straight line. The arrow found its target in the heart, while Nyssa fired a second shot from her own bow and arrow, hitting another target in the throat. Shouts in Arabic were heard as the men scurried to hide, while some acted as vanguard. Nyssa and I made our presence known and the men charged, seemingly forgetting that they had guns. Having our backs pressed against one another we drew our arrows and fired, taking down the men with quick and ruthless efficiency. While we engaged Laurel and Sara snuck into the tent to nab the equipment. Nyssa didn't have many arrows to spare, so she used her half-bow as a weapon, and I had to follow suit because of the same dilemma. 

"It seemed that you and I were trained well by my father." Nyssa commented, as the last man fell dead to the ground. I showed a brief smile, but said nothing as the sisters came with the equipment in their hands. 

"Great work." I smiled.

"Comes with the job. Thanks for the compliment." Sara said. "You're not so bad yourself."

"Had to pour in sweat and tears to learn to fight." I say. Movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention and it was one of the men, who seemingly survived his attack and is now crawling away. Kate emerged and stepped on the man's back to stop him from escaping. "Speak, where is Al-Sa-Her?" I ask. 

"You'll find him... by the beach..." the man, knowing defeat, squeezed out this sentence.