A Dragon's Tale-Genesys

The Jungle

The jungle was thick and dense. We sank into the mud with each step and not even Emelia was spared torment by huge quarter sized mosquito's. They buzzed in my ear,going up under my sleves and gloves to bite my arms,leaving big red bumps that ictched like hell. The foliage was dense. We had to hack through it to mve each step. The machetes we had were dull and we had to swing extremely hard to cut through the thick branches of thorn bushes and overhanging Bamboo trees. On top of that it was suffocatingly hot and humid,just adding to our misery. The heat made us all sweat and the humidity soaked us right to our skin.

Hudson,Issac,Frank and I were soaked from our sweat and Emelia was panting like a dog. There were spiders everywhere,and every so often they would fall on us and try to crawl into our clothes,some did and bit us,I'm just glad none of them were poisonous. The conditions were miserable and to top all  that shit off,Jackson was dead and Wyatt was MIA. As a familiy,as brothers in arms,we'd been stabbed in the chest,so to speak. But none the less,we pressed on. We had a mission and it was to find a way out of this mess. After about five straight hours of hiking,we came upon what I thought was a roof. I raised  my fist and slowly crouched down. Everyone behind me did the same. I turned around to face Hudson and the others.

"There's something up a head that looks man made",I whispered,"it could be occupied,Frank you come with me to investigate,the rest of you stay here,keep still keep low,keep quiet."

Frank flipped off the safety on his Uzi while I exchanged my 48 for my B32R and screwed the suppressor to the end of the barrel. Frank and I began to creep forward,disturbing the grass as little as we could. As we got closer,I could see what the object was. It was an old straw hut. It was about fourteen feet long and nine or ten feet up,it had full walls,no windows and a closed door.

"Prepare for entry",I told Frank as I motioned to the door.

"Stacking",Frank said getting on the side of the door with the knob. I stood on the other side of the door.

"Waiting on your go boss",Frank said adjusting his vest.

"Open and clear",I whispered.

Frank opened the door and quickly went inside,hugging the wall as he did. I did the same,going in the opposite direction. The room was empty,expect for a matt in the middle of the earthen floor,a few hammocks in the corner and a fire place with a metal pipe chimney.

"Clear",Frank said,"I'll go get the others."

Frank quickly left the hut and shut the door behind him I leaned my light machine guns in the corner and set my pack and vest beside them. My combat shirt was soaked with sweat and I was covered in mosquito and spider bites. Inside the hut was mosquito free and noticeably cooler,so it would be a morale booster. I was sitting down and pulling off my boots and socks as Frank ushered everyone into the hut and shut the door behind him. My friends shrugged off their vests and packs and piled them in the corner with mine along with their guns before sitting down with huffs.

"My god",Hudson said,"last time I was this miserable was in basic."

"Basic?",Emelia asked as Frank got the ruck off her back.

"Military training",Hudson replied,"something we all went through when we joined."

"I remember",I said,"basic was less miserable,I'd rather be back there doing push ups than out here."

"You hate push ups",Issac said.

"I know",I replied,"says allot doesn't it?"

Issac gave a light laugh and a smile,lifting my spirits some what.

"Sucks Jack ain't here",Hudson said,"he'd have us all laughing by now."

"Kid didn't deserve what he got",I said sighing,"no deserves to die like that".