𝙑𝙞𝙭𝙚𝙣 || 𝙏𝙧𝙞𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙧

Fourteen.

Chapter fourteen: The ties that bind

It wasn't long before they began to trek through yet another jungle in the hopes of returning back to their own civilisation. With the humidity, Margo's clothes clung to her skin due to the moisture that consumed her body. The temperature was hot and sticky and at times, they all felt as though the air was suffocating. But just like they've always done, they kept their negative opinions to themselves and continued to venture the rain forest and down a little dirt road that was swallowed by green leaves and brown roots, similar to the way they started off.

Margo so desperately craved to strip of her grime ridden clothing and bathe in a cool lagoon, not caring who saw or not, for the euphoria she'd gain upon being surrounded by fresh, clean water would be too captivating. 

"Did you pay for the damage?"

"Yeah." Tom responded to William as he led his flock between the trees.

"How much?"

"Two hundred for the animals. A million for the families."

Margo snorted to Tom. "That was very generous of you."

"They wouldn't have let us leave without providing them with some sort of exchange."

William briefly stopped in his tracks and placed his hand on the donkey to prevent it from trotting along without him. He turned back towards the executors. "Which one of you shot first?"

"I don't know." Tom replied half-heartedly.

William patted the head of the donkey and gave both Santiago and Tom a cold stare. "We need to watch ourselves here."

"Yeah, we do." Pope responded.

Tom turned to his comrade in defence mode. "What the hell does that mean?"

"Nothin'." Pope moved his feet upon the chain starting to proceed. "It just means that we gotta watch ourselves, that's all."

"Roger that."

Margo turned to look at Ben over her shoulder and he returned the same look of known. They both understood that the men weren't just talking about keeping safe on their journey home. If they continued getting down each others throats, it would only end in another tragic accident and right now, they needed to stick together and support each other like they've done throughout the years.

***

The thunder rumbled in the dim sky as it unleashed a heavy downpour and in the distance, crept a familiar fog that Margo came to enjoy. She loved the ability to get lost in the mist and disappear out of sight like a ghost. To see the thick, peculiar fog and the inability to touch it was tranquil, however, given that they were foundered in the midst of a jungle with nothing but leg cramps, stomach aches and wounds from their accident, they were in dismay. 

Under a rock, they were still no match for the weather that was able to soak them at all angles. With the lack of nutrition in her body, she trembled. Her skin became blanch and it lost the pink pigment that arose on her cheeks with every passing comment that came out of Ben's mouth. Her blonde hair like glue to her face, stuck to her chapped lips and her eyes threatened to close over, never to be opened again.

Throughout the two hours they'd been walking with very limited breaks, she'd quickly grown ill. She presumed she'd been getting sick since before the crash landing but with her being the strong-willed, independent woman, she fought through the bile that dared to flare from her stomach and the hallucinations that caused her to see double vision. The storm only made her sore head pound even more and she couldn't take it anymore.