Moon Angel

Chapter 8: The Challenge

Chapter 8: The Challenge

 The sounds of rustling woke me in the morning. Or at least I thought it was morning because Jay was up, busily packing his belongings. He looked over and saw I was awake.

"We need to get going early if we want to get there by today," he said. I knew he was right.

I climbed out of my sleeping bag and joined him. I peered outside the makeshift tent. The sun had just started to rise, creeping slowly through the trees. The morning sun gave everything in the area a pink and orange glow.

"Breakfast?" Jay asked.

After another meal of bread and dried fruit, we disassembled the tent and set off.

Shortly after we started walking, I heard a crackle come through the headset once again.

"You still safe?" It was Em again. "We said we'd check back in the morning."

"Yes, Em," Jay answered. "We have just started out for a second time. We'll keep in touch if anything happens."

"Okay," Em said. "We'll do that too. Just make sure you get that flag for us."

The radio silenced again and we kept walking.

***

We heard the first sounds of other people not long after the sun had risen.

"Shhh." Jay turned to me, placing a finger to his lips in warning.

We each hid behind a large tree.

"Who is it?" I mouthed. Jay peered out from behind our hiding place.

"Adults," he mouthed back.

I froze. I didn't think we were that close yet.

"Where is their base?" I replied.

Jay shrugged as if to say 'I don't know'.

We couldn't keep walking out in the open anymore. We would need a plan.

"What do we do now?" I asked. It was a pointless question. I already knew the answer and Jay did too.  This was where our practice kicked in. Over the duration of the camp we had been doing activities that involved silent movement and sneaking around. We had been taught how to move with the shadows to avoid being seen. This was where we would be able to show off what we had learnt.

We crept out from behind our hiding place. The adults were facing away from us as we darted from shadow to shadow. The morning sun streamed into the area leaving long shadows trailing behind the trees. We were lucky that we were small and nimble. We passed the first set of adults with ease.

We continued walking carefully through the trees, keeping a sharp eye out for anyone else.

More adults were just around the corner and right behind them was their base. Now that would be harder to get past but if we struck now, we could catch them unaware. None of the adults even knew we were there. That was one of the advantages of being a child. We were small and light. It was said that if you got inside the adult base they would reward you with extra ammunition and supplies.

"We have to target the adult base," I whispered to Jay.

"Are you crazy?" Jay exclaimed, raising his voice.

"Shhh," I replied. I turned to peer around the thicket of undergrowth that we were crouched behind to see if the adults had noticed. They all still had their backs turned.

"Now or never," I said.

"I guess it is a challenge after all," Jay replied.

***