"Screw them," Peter exclaimed when he found out what had happened earlier. "we've gotten along fine without them so far."
"If you ask me that Boss Nass is the one with the piss poor attitude." Beth hissed into her cup of water. "Only a jerk would pull and then throw our leader to the ground after she was attacked and has been injured."
"We're sitting out here eating shit because he can't have us dirtying it up near his camp," Vinny sniffed. "prejudice sumbitch."
The fire in front of them was big enough, it lit up their whole camp, when Angel and Steven had gotten back they had just gone to their tents and had not said a word, it had been through countless pestering through Peter to get Steven to say what had happened. He understood their anger, he had been shot twice now plus had had a machete taken to his chest for them Gungans and they were repaying him in this way. Reaching down, grabbing a small white flower, he threw it into the fire and watched it burn, he was close enough to the fire to feel it heat his skin.
"Steven said that they saw Jar Jar when they were headed out of the camp," Peter sighed. "he was being kept on the outside of their camp, if he went so much as put a foot inside their camp a soldier would rush out at him with one of those electronic poles."
"Poor guy," Beth said. "they even treat their own people like shit."
"He said he wasn't alone," Peter went on. "that there were at least five others with him, all men."
"So what they kick out rogue males or something?" Pam asked. "I don't think Jar Jar would do anything to hurt the camp or anyone or anything in their camp."
"Neither do I," Peter said. "he, Steven, said that they were just cruelly treating Jar Jar. Jar Jar looked like he was hungry, had dropped maybe ten or so pounds, and had a few wounds to him."
"And Jar Jar said that that he had heard from another 'banished' Gungan that the 'banished' were given temporary stay in the camp." Beth said, she rose two fingers when she said the word banished. "bet he wishes he would have stayed with us now."
"We sure as hell treated him better," Vinny spoke up. "hell we're human and we treated him as if he were one of us."
They knew about the attack on Steven and Angel, they had heard it and had taken position but no one had come at them, Steven had been wounded badly in his shoulder but had refused any treatment from Andrea when she asked if he needed help, he had simply gone into his tent and, from what Peter had heard shortly after, must have tore the projectile from his shoulder. When he had gone into their tent to get something he had seen that Steven had bandaged himself up, he had bandages on his arms and since he didn't have a shirt on his whole shoulder was wrapped up, he had had a bag of ice on it.
"Why don't we just get ready to go home?" Pam asked. "I mean, we have nothing here to prove, nothing to do except get shot and be brought into a fight that isn't our own. We have no purpose here."
"Honestly I think we do now," Peter said, he stood up and brushed his hands on the back of his pants. "we stay here and prove that we have the means of both taking care of ourselves and lending a hand when needed to them."
"Those Gungans don't want our help," Pam exclaimed. "so why should we continue to help them?"
"Persistance my dear Pamela," Peter said, he walked behind Pam and placed his hands on her shoulders. "we keep at it and they'll accept us. Just like one day you will accept me."
"Go away Peter!" Pam shouted. "I see where you're going but go away, your persistance will go unnoticed by me."
"Persistance," Peter said in her ear. "will be rewarded swee...tah...heart."
Peter tapped Pam on her shoulder then turned around, he headed right for his tent. When he disappeared inside it Pam stood up and brushed her shoulders off, Beth shook her head and gave a little chuckle. Peter really was a persistent fellow, she thought to herself, he had been pursuing Pam ever since she had walked on their boat at the dock.
"persistent little fuck," Beth said. "just won't take no for an answer."
"Do you have a stun gun on you?" Pam asked. "I mean, I really think I should have one on me."
"I might have one on me," Beth said, she leaned back some. "but I might need it."
"Can I use it for whenever Peter is near me?" Pam asked, she placed her hand on Beth's shoulder.
"I'll start carrying it whenever I'm out our tent," Beth replied. "if Peter starts it up with you and you feel threatened give me a signal and I'll toss it to you."
"I'll give a thumbs up," Pam sighed. "honestly Peter knows I'm married with kids and I know he is married and has a young daughter."
"Yes," Beth sighed, she knew all to well what Pam's husband was doing behind her back. "he knows you are married."
Standing up, Beth stretched her arms high then turned around and headed for her and Pam's tent. She had been in the military for a few years, had been in Iraq for three years before getting injured and sent home. One night on the town she had happened on Pam's husband sitting in his truck with a black haired lady in the seat next to him, she hadn't stayed around to see what ws going on, it was all over the town that Pam's husband was picking up girls and going to empty parking lots to engage in affairs. Peter's marriage life wasn't peaches and crème either, she knew that his wife had been kicking him out of their bed and forcing him to sleep on the couch, they were fighting a lot.
"Yes Peter I agree with you." Beth said, she sat on her cot and took her boots off. "We must remain persistant, we can't show a weakness."
It wasn't Peter poking his head into her tent to ask if she was awake that woke her up, at first she didn't know what it was then she heard it. The low calling for help and the high laughs and yodels. Grabbing her clothes and throwing them on, she ran to the front of her and Beth's tent, before she exited she turned around and looked at Beth, she was fast asleep. Not wanting to bother her tent companion she turned around and left the tent.
"Help!" she heard in the distance. "Help me!"
Walking from her camp, she headed in the direction she thought the call was coming from, the night was muggy and the ground made squishy noises under her feet when she walked, the moon was half out and the stars were all hidden. There was no noise other than the distance calling and the ground when she walked making it's squishy noises, it was eerily quiet all around her.
"Help me!" she heard again.
Taking one step was all it took, she felt a hand wrap around her ankle, the hand jerked hard to the right and she fell hard to the ground. Once she was on the ground a hand wrapped around her mouth tightly, she fought to scream but was permitted from doing so, she tried to tear the fingers from her mouth but they dug in more. Kicking out her legs, she tried to kick her attacker, it was no good as there must have been more than one near her because both of her legs were grabbed and held tightly by someone else.
"Women," one of her captors chuckled. "they come to everything."
Angel had heard just one yell, that was all, then everything went silent. She stayed on her cot for a three more minutes then sat up, she figured she should go on and check the tents to make sure everyone was accounted for. She normally slept with nothing on but her undergarments but as of the last few weeks had been sleeping with her jeans and muscle shirt on, grabbing her socks, she slid them on her feet then reached for her boots, slipping them on she stood up then exited her tent.
The night air was muggy, if she was wearing glasses they would have fogged up, the ground was wet with dew and made squishy sounds when she walked, no birds sang and no animals calls rang out in the forest, it made her senses go on high alert. Thinking that she should check the girls tent first she went to it, drawing the flaps of the tent back, she poked her head in. Sue, Wendy and Laura were all on their cots sleeping soundly. Nodding her head she went to Theresa and Andrea's tent, before she pulled the tent flaps back she thought she heard someone calling out, it made her stop and listen, when she didn't hear the call again she went back to what she was doing. Sticking her head in the tent she saw that both women were sleeping on their cots. When she pulled her head out from the tent she thought she heard something from Peter and Steven's tent so, instead of going to Beth and Pam's tent next she went and checked on them first. When she pulled the flaps back on their tent she saw that Steven was on his side, sleeping soundly, and Peter was practically out of his cot, the sheets were on the floor and his head was near touching the floor of the tent. Shaking her head she entered the tent and, with a lot of effort, pulled the man back into his cot. He rolled over to his side after she had done that, before she left their tent she checked Steven. He had a magazine under him but was otherwise perfectly fine.
"Why you men fall asleep with your magazines in bed with you I don't know," Angel whispered. "but at least you're both asleep and not keeping everyone awake with your manly activities."
Leaving their tent, Angel headed right for Beth and Pam's tent. The air had gotten very wet now, she could tell it was about to rain. When she got to their tent the first drops of rain fell, brushing her hair back she pulled the tent flaps back and entered the tent. What she saw dropped her stomach. Beth was on her cot, sleeping soundly, Pam's cot though was empty, the covers were pulled back. Blinking her eyes once, she rushed over to Beth and shook her awake.
"What?" Beth asked sleepily.
"Where's Pam?" Angel asked.
"Over on her cot." beth replied.
"Her cot is empty," Angel said, she pushed herself closer to her friend. "do you know where she could have gone."
"No," Beth said, she looked over at Pam's unoccupied cot. "could she of gone to the bathroom?"
"I saw not a soul on my way here," Angel replied. "I didn't hear anything either."
Angel didn't waste any time, she ran from the tent and lit up all of the torches that were around their camp, Beth didn't leave her and Pam's tent for a few minutes then when she did she was wearing full camo from head to foot. Steven had been woke up by Angel lighting up the torches, he lifted the tent flaps of his tent and peaked out.
"What's going on?" Steven asked.
"Pam's missing!" Angel exclaimed. "Get your clothes on and help me and Beth find her, leave Peter to watch the others."
"The hell I'll stay here," Peter said, he rushed out of the tent. "wherever my two ladies go I go. Steven you watch the camp I'm going to find Pam."
Spanning out to about ten feet from one another, Beth, Angel and Peter looked for their missing friend. Peter was frantically looking for her, he was turning over logs and had pulled up weeds and small bushes, Beth was looking under everything that she could. Angel, though, had a knife to the ground and was listening to here if there were additional footsteps than the ones given off by Beth and Peter. There were not so she stood up and continued on, she shimmied up a tree and looked down, at first she saw nothing then, squinting her eyes, she saw the pink shirt her friend was wearing. At first she wanted to yell 'she's there' but then when she saw the two figures kneeled down in front of her friend she stopped. Grabbing her sword, she swung from the tree she was on to the one next to it, she repeated that for five trees until she was behind the men that had captured her friend. Slowly climbing down from the tree, her nails dug deep into the trunk, she headed for the first of the two men.
"When that man steps over that log grab him," one of the men said. "tie him up quick then go for the brunette."
"And the redhead?" the other man asked.
"When you see her catch her," the first man said. "Nathan wants her caught but not harmed."
Before the other man could speak Angel jumped from the tree, with a quick swipe of her arm she sliced his head in two. When the man who had spoken first turned around and saw what she had done to his companion he opened fire, two bullets hit her arm. Throwing the sword from one hand to the other, Angel sliced the man's hand off then finished him off by slashing the sword down his middle, bisecting him perfectly.
"Ovuh... here." Angel gasped, she dropped her sword and grabbed her arm.
Peter and Beth rushed over, Beth quickly severed the ropes that bound her friend while Peter went to Angel. He grabbed her arm gently and looked at it, there were two holes from where the bullets had entered right above the elbow, he wasn't sure if her arm was broken but he sure knew that the wound was bleeding a lot. He tried to pick Angel up but she waved her hand and told him to leave her and to tend Pam, he did so with some hesitation.
"Search the men," Angel said through gritted teeth. "take their weapons and ammunition. We'll need it."
Peter didn't do as she said, Beth did though. She looked through one man's pockets and found two Ruger LC9th 9MM pistols, a box of ammunition for them, three knives and she took the man's Remington 700th SPS DM Combo along with the ammunition she found on the small hill in front of her. On the other man she found a Beretta Nano 9MM pistol and a Beretta PX4 Storm Full Size pistol, she also found ammunition for both pistols on the man, the man didn't have any knives on him, before she left she took the Browning X-Bolt Hunter rifle and its ammunition that she found in the man's back pocket. When she finished collecting the weapons and ammo that the two men had she took off after her friends, Peter was carrying Pam who was historical and Angel was walking beside them, she looked to be in considerable pain.
"Good weapons those two men had," Angel said after a while, she was in the medical tent being checked over by Andrea. "they should get us by for a few days."
"I think we should do exactly what we did tonight," Beth said, although she was unhurt she was sitting on a cot in the tent. "after we kill an offender we should take his weapons."
So that's what they started doing for the next week, Angel would lead them on patrols and anyone that would attack them they would fire on and afterwards they would take their weapons and ammunition. They had picked up on quite a bit of weapons, Beretta's, Savage American Classics, a few A. Uberti Silverboys, a Stoeger Longfowler Over and Under, Beth had found a Tapco AR Rifle on one man and was claiming it as her favorite weapon while Peter was claiming a A. Uberti Silverboy, Steven claimed a Savage American Classic while Angel was using heavily, amongst all her other weapons, one of the Stoeger Longfowler Over and Under.
"Now maybe if we could find some of their camps and get some food," Pam said, she had a Beretta on her lap. "we'd be even better."
"We could go out and do some hunting," Peter said over his shoulder. "always something out there to keep our bellies full."
"No," Pam sighed. "I have more of a stomach for something fruity now."
"If we wouldn't have been kicked out of our original camp we would have some fruit stuff to eat." Vinny said. "I mean, there were plenty of berry bushes around that pond."
"Not to mention sweet grass." Andrea said. "Best tasting grass I've ever eaten!"
It was early morning, the fire was still going but was starting to lower, the birds that were flying over it would swoop low, they acted as if they were curious about the fire. Vinny had catalogued every animal that they had seen and had been sharing every page in his note-book with Andrea, they were a good team when it came to exploring the flora and fauna. The day before they had found and catalogued a unique animal that looked like a cross between a Opposum and a Sloth with the face of an Aye-aye, the creature they had caught had been predominantly gray in color with four rows of brown dots on its back, it only had four fingers on its hands that sprouted long claws, the back feet had short nails, the eyes had been brown-red in color and it had had a tuft of blackish brown fur on top of its head, the tail on the animal had been long and strong, it had wrapped it all around Andrea's arm when she had caught it. Steven had their last can of Chili in his hand, Vinny and Peter were staring at it hungrily. When Steven noticed he handed it to them, Peter only got four bites in before Vinny grabbed it. Before Vinny could finish the food in the can they were the vocal drone of a Kaadu, near everyone in the camp sighed out of frustration. None of them wanted any problems and they were sure that there were going to be some now that a Gungan was riding towards them.
"And to my left is the group of humans that claim to be our friends," they heard the Gungan on Kaadu-back say. "we don't trust them though because they are human and humans cannot be trusted."
"Captain Tarpals?" Peter whispered to Beth, he nodded slightly behind him.
"Don't know and don't care." Beth whispered back. "I just want him to leave."
"Of these humans the one you have to watch out for is the tall redhead," the Gungan was saying. "and the fluffy brown haired man."
"Don't pay any attention to him Pete," Pam said, she reached over and touched his arm when she saw him tense up some. "he's just trying to start trouble."
"He's going to get trouble if he doesn't get away from here!" Peter said through gritted teeth.
"The one with the fluffy brown hair is categorized as being a pervert," the Gungan said, for some reason Pam felt that he was staring a hole into Peter's back. "so Fassa watch yourself. The big man beside him is also categorized as a pervert. Keep your eyes on both of them."
Pam's eyes grew wide, Peter could be perverted at times but Steven was more in control of himself. Steven had become visibly upset over being called a pervert, he was fidgeting in his seat and was mumbling to himself. Before the Gungan could say anything more Angel walked out from her tent, the tent flap flapped in the gust of wind and Angel's hair blew to the side. Pam was about to stand up when Angel spoke.
"Pam seat yourself," she ordered. "what are you guys doing here?"
"Teaching a class," the Gungan replied. "nothing more."
"You're disturbing the peace in my camp," Angel said, she walked forward. "begone Ceel."
"That's General Ceel to you," General Ceel growled down at her. "and I happen to have orders to come here."
"Tell your superior that I said that you are not to come near my camp," Angel said back, she was three steps from the Gungan. "we need our rest or we won't be able to put up a fight to save you and your peoples asses."
There was a group of five Gungans behind General Ceel's Kaadu, the tall female in front was the one that caught Angel's attention our of all of them. She had light orange eyes and light green skin, her features were light and gentle, her arms were tough and strong looking. She was wearing the same uniform as the General except that her head gear wasn't light brown but green. Angel guessed that of the five in her group she ranked a little higher.
"We have noticed that attacks on us have slowed up," the General said to her. "I suppose you humans are the ones responsible for that."
"We've been attacked, had one of us kidnapped, we've had injured and we've attacked hunters ourselves." Angel said to the General.
"What is your purpose here?" Steven asked, he stepped up beside Angel.
"I already told you," the General said, he did not look at Steven. "I am teaching a class."
"Teach your class elsewhere," Steven ordered. "thanks to you people we are sitting ducks out here."
"Still hostile I see," the General said, he looked down at Steven and snarled. "I'll be sure to tell the Captain to add you to the list of Castrations."
"Steven don't reply to that!" Pam exclaimed. "They wouldn't dare harm any of us."
"You know you guys are really inconsiderate," Peter said, he too walked up beside Angel. "we're out here attracting the attention of the people that attack your people and you disrespect us by making us a pawn in your daily class."
"I guess we won't be invited for supper then." the General said, he turned his Kaadu around. "We leave now."
Angel huffed at the General behind his back, the Gungan in front of the others in his class rushed forward and stood up to her, looking down at her fiercely. Angel didn't flinch, she didn't move, she didn't even bat an eye, she just stood there and stared back. Less than a minute passed before the female Gungan turned around, the General had stopped his group and was looking back at her, he was silent. The Gungan took three steps forward then stopped, she stayed that way for another minute before she turned back around and stared, once again, at Angel.
"My uncle was talking about you last night," she said. "he's thinking about letting you come back to your original camp."
"Thanks by no thanks," Angel said to the Gungan. "we are fairing well here."
"Really?" the Gungan with the green head gear asked. "You're being attacked and you say you're fairing well? You lot of humans are odd."
"At least our lot stays together," Steven spoke, he had a hint of annoyance in his voice. "we don't throw a member out for something that is stupid."
"Like clumsiness," Peter said. "I've never known a society that banishes a member because of clumsiness."
"Neither had I buddy." Steven said
"You humans are extremely disrespectful!" the Gungan yelled. "I'll be sure to let my uncle know how you acted when we came here. He'll be so mad at you and will probably come here to set things straight real quick!"
"We look forward to his visit," Steven said, he turned around and walked away. "maybe then we'll come to an understanding."
It got calmer for a while after the group of Gungans left them, Steven calmed down considerably and so did Peter, Angel though was another story. She had grabbed one of their rifles and had gone off on Phantom for a hunt, Beth had tried to go with her but she had been told no so they were all just sitting on the logs around a now dead fire pit waiting for her to bring some sort of food to the camp.
"Think Nass will come to our camp?" Pam asked.
"Probably won't," Steven said. "he's too scared to come out this far."
"Personally I hope he does," Beth said, she had her Tapco AR rifle on her lap. "that way he can see for himself the hardships we are dealing with."
Four hours later, the sun was up high in the sky and everyone was tired and sweaty, Angel hadn't returned yet and that worried everyone, especially Peter and Steven. Both men were about ready to tack up a horse and go find her when, from the bushes, rode an impressively large animal. The animal had Clydesdale-like legs only without the feathers, that was all the resemblance it had of a horse though as the rest looked like an extinct species of Rhinoceros, it had a long neck with a long head attached, the face looked to be in a great frown. Riding on the animal, in a big saddle, was Boss Nass.
"Seems that I need to speak to you humans personally." the Gungan said, he sounded none to pleased.