Chapter Fourteen:
Lost, Found and Found Again

The Hammersley crew were quiet, still, and most importantly not whole without their two missing comrades. The babies of the crew, the duo provided the team hours of entertainment with their constant bickering, something everyone knew to just be a face to cover their attraction to each other. It was funny how living with people as close as they did could help them see things through their expressions. Sadness when they smiled. Pain when they sat determined. And love when their faces told you it was hate. Little things like a presence, a laugh or a name called even if you didn't see them for hours. Things like that were now missing from the boat. Bomber and Spider. The kitchen was empty, the room Nav shared with Bomber empty, Spider's bunk beneath ET unslept in and their abuse to each other which could he heard echoing down the hallways of the Hammersley gone. Even the ship seemed to know this. She creaked when she hadn't before, the deck where Bomber usually stood to watch the sunrise was splashed with sea water and wet all the time, and the new imaging device that Spider usually manned was on the blink. Charge called in pining. Like the crew she wasn't whole without them. And there was still the possibility they may not come back.

Bomber had spent the night against a tree, staring out to sea, lost in her own thoughts and anger at herself. She'd stuffed up, ruined everything, and now she was confused too. Spider didn't hate her for what she'd done to his arm, no matter how much she hated herself for it, and had rather comforted her when the guilt had finally got too much. She knew there was every possibility she'd helped end his career in the navy, a job she could tell he loved, and she felt worse than she thought she could possibly ever feel. She hadn't even been able to sleep the night before, staring out over the ocean all night after they'd finally reached the beach the afternoon before. How long they'd sat on that log she didn't know, it had felt like hours, before she knew they had to go. They had to get back to the shore before they missed any more boats going past, no matter the risk of getting seen by those Russians again. She had her gun back, and so felt a little whole again, and she'd take them on if they threatened her again. Whatever would happen to her if she did she wasn't sure, but the knowledge of what she'd done to Spider had left her in a renegade mode, but this time she was going to harness that destructive nature for good. Bomber by name, Bomber by nature. It was time to bring her out again.

Bomber was beyond thirsty and so far they'd only managed to get water from rock ledge holes, murky brown water that they knew wouldn't kill them but still tasted horrible. With Spider's cold, which he said he'd seen Swain about but hadn't got any medication for, making him very tired, Bomber was left to search for water by herself again. Coming across a small ledge she found a puddle of water, barely a handful and as brown as the rock behind it, but enough. Scooping it up gratefully she drank the last of the rainwater, feeling bad she hadn't found enough for Spider too. She vowed the next lot she found would be for him, even if she had to drag him there. It meant both of them leaving the beach, something they hadn't done a lot in fear they may miss a boat if they did. But Spider was no use to anyone dead from dehydration, especially to Bomber who would never admit it openly but was beginning to feel something like affection for the man. After 20 minutes she still hadn't found anything and headed back to the beach but her route was impeded by the sound of voices. Eastern Europeans. And she knew they were back.

They stood between her and the beach and yet all she could think about was the fear that they'd found Spider and done something to him. And she knew there was very little chance that he was still alive if they had. But she needed to find out if this was true first and, pulling out her gun, she started towards the beach as quickly and quietly as she could. From a metre away she could see three men talking in a small clearing and they were, indeed, the men from the boat. Passing them as quietly as she could she thought she was out of danger when they didn't look up but then a bush behind her moved and a fourth one stepped towards her. He obviously hadn't expected her there because when he saw her his mouth dropped before he started to call out to his friends. He didn't get a chance as Bomber pulled out her gun and shot him in the leg. It wasn't how she usually operated but it was called for. The man went quiet as he fell, but the gunshot had been enough. Within the space of a minute Bomber found herself surrounded and looking up at the three guns in her face with only one thought in mind. If she was going down she wasn't taking Spider with her. She stayed silent and turned away from the beach. The Europeans all smiled cruelly, Bomber knowing each one thinking of the perfect way to finish off the Navy girl. But they weren't alone and as they began to advance on Bomber, she still holding her gun on them in a mislaid attempt at defiance, the man closest to the beach fell forward as a shot rang out. All of them turned their attention to the sound and Bomber seized her chance, pouncing on the man closest to her and wrestling his gun out of his hands. The other man didn't have a chance to do anything as another gunshot sounded and he fell, shot in the arm. His gun skidded towards the man Bomber had just wrestled the gun off and he grabbed it quickly, turning it on Bomber. Holding two guns but with no desire to kill the man, Bomber aimed for what she could see of his legs and foot and fired to disable the man. It was a mistake and the man used his chance to turn on her, holding her around the top of her arms with both of his arms. Both were now useless. Bomber wrapped up in the boa constrictor embrace and he caught up in holding her arms and so unable to use his gun himself. With three figures on the ground nearby, one surely dead but the other two merely injured, Bomber feared she was done for, especially when the man she had shot first snatched her two guns out of her hands and turned them on her. But Bomber wasn't alone, as the man who held her clearly hadn't forgotten as his eyes scanned the bush for movement. Bomber saw it first. Almost right behind the man who now held two guns, the figure of Spider stalked from the bushes. His expression was very different to his usual smirk or cheesy grin. Had Bomber not been so confident now that she and Spider were something like friends she would've been scared. Instead she almost smiled at the sight of him. The look on her face made the man with the guns turn but he was too slow and without even blinking Spider shot him in the chest. The man fell and Bomber sensed the man that held her was surprised by the callousness and so seized her chance and threw his arms off. No time to grab a gun she ran towards and past Spider and into the bushland. She heard Spider turn and follow her and soon they were thick in the bush again. But they weren't free yet, the man following them in. They stopped for breath and Bomber glanced up at Spider.

"Thank you." She whispered. He just touched her arm softly before glancing back at the clearing. Bomber joined him, unable to see the man. She grabbed his wrist.

"C'mon." She whispered. They started running again and then a shot rang out and Spider fell. Bomber assumed the worst and something like a new person took over her. As she glanced down at Spider, the man barely moving, she noticed he'd dropped the gun. Grabbing it she hid behind the nearest tree as the man came closer. Then, as he reached them and looked ready to put a bullet hole in Spider's head, Bomber stepped out from behind the tree and shot him in the neck. He was dead before he hit the ground. She then went to Spider to find he'd rolled over, groaning but not dead. She almost hit him out of sheer relief.

"What happened? I thought you'd been shot."

Spider groaned again. "I bloody tripped and fell on my arm didn't I?" He glanced up at her with a small smile. "You did rather well back there."

Bomber grinned. "You too." She handed back the gun. "Where'd you get that from?"

Spider just gave her his cheesy grin, wiping out of her mind the recent memory of an animal-like Spider, emotionless and charging through the bushland. "There were five men weren't there?" He said mysteriously.

Bomber just smiled and then, to his obvious surprise, threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. Sitting up he patted her softly with his good arm before finally admitting she was pressing on his injured arm. She fell back into a crouching position and smiled at him. "Now we're even."

Spider just gave her a look as she helped him to his feet. "Even? I'm so far ahead."

"No way, snakes!" Bomber returned with a laugh. And they continued all the way back to the beach, blissfully happy and enjoying one another's company, forgetting just for that moment that they were stuck on an island in the middle of the ocean.