Hello dear readers! I present the next chapter! Hope you guys like it. Till next time!
I looked out the window at the ocean, once again fiddling with my rings as we flew towards the island in Sully's plane. Behind Nate and I, Elena was filming more for her show.
"We're on the trail of the lost treasure of El Dorado, and it's brought us here, to this tiny island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean."
"Let's get a closer look… and hope we're the first ones here," Nate said.
"Will we discover the ruins of a forgotten colony and a fortune in Spanish gold? Or does the island have a darker secrets in store for us?" Elena finished. "That should keep 'em from changing the channel." The plane suddenly shook as we were hit. "Whoa! What the heck was that?!" I glanced out the window again to see missiles heading straight for us.
"Che cavolo! Since when does a tiny island have anti-aircraft fire?!" I cried, holding onto the side as the plane rocked from the explosions.
"This is so not cool!" Nate agreed. Another missile hit us, catching one of our engines on fire.
"Oh, crap! We're on fire!" Elena shouted, once again filming.
"Now's not the time to be filming!" I yelled at her. "We need to bail out!"
Elena stared at me in shock. "Bail out? Does this thing even have parachutes?!"
"We're about to find out!" I clumsily climbed to the back of the plane and frantically searched Sully's junk. Grinning briefly in triumph, I pulled out three parachutes.. I passed one to Elena and set another beside Nate before putting on mine.
"Have either of you done this before?!" Elena asked.
"Of course," Nate replied, but I knew full well he hadn't. "You just jump, count to five, and pull the cord! Now go!"
"Are you coming?!"
"Kind busy right now! Get going!" Elena stumbled her way to the door.
"See you on the ground?"
"Right behind ya!" Elena gave him a skeptical look, but jumped, screaming on her way down. Another explosion shook the plane.
"Nate, we have to go, now!" I shouted.
"Just go!" He yelled back. "I'll be right behind you!"
"You'd better be because I'll kill you if you die!" With that, I jumped, quickly pulling the cord. I floated towards the ground. An explosion caused me to look up. A piece of the plane sailed straight through my parachute. I let out a shout of surprise as my decent pace quickened. "Oh merda (crap)!" I did my best to steer away from the rapidly approaching trees, but it was no use. I landed with an 'oof' and everything went black.
I woke up sometime later with a quiet groan. Opening my eyes, I immediately frowned in confusion. Why was everything upside down? I looked down, or up, to discover my parachute had gotten caught in a tree and I was currently tangled in it, dangling upside down. I attempted to untangle the rope from my leg with little success. I let myself drop back with a huff of frustration. I suddenly remembered the knife I always kept on me and reached to get it only to find it missing.
"No, no, no!" I muttered in a panic, looking around. I spotted the knife a few feet away where it had embedded itself in the ground. I groaned. "Ah, great! Now what?" I felt my gun holster and sighed in relief as I felt the handle of my pistol. I looked back at the tree that was holding me captive. Maybe I could shoot the branch? I dismissed that idea, the branch way too thick. I froze as I heard a twig snap and I quickly took out my pistol, ready for a fight. Just as I was about ready to pull the trigger, a familiar face came through the trees. "Nate!" I gasped.
"Alex!" Nate grinned in relief, rushing over to me. "Thank God you're alive!"
I smiled. "After all we've been through, I'm not going to die after jumping from a burning plane." Nate chuckled. "Hey, uh, do you think you could get me down? I kinda dropped my knife."
Nate nodded. "Sure, where is it?" I pointed to my knife and he grabbed it. "I think I can climb the tree and cut you down from there." I nodded and he started the climb. He positioned himself on the branch and prepared to cut the rope. "Okay, ready?"
"Yeah." Nate sawed at the rope and the strands snapped one by one. "Take it easy. Let me down -" He cut the last rope and I fell to the ground and all the air was knocked from my lungs. "Ugh!... Gently."
"Sorry!" Nate called from above me.
"S'okay," I coughed. Nate climbed down and helped me to my feet, looking me over for any injuries. "I'm fine, Nate," I assured him. I grimaced slightly as I rolled my ankle, causing Nate to place a hand on my arm, eyeing me in concern. I chuckled lightly, patting his hand. "I said I'm fine, you worry wort." I glanced around and noticed something, or rather, someone was missing. "Where's Elena?"
"Haven't found her yet."
"Well, I suppose we should get going," I said. "There's no telling what sort of trouble she could get into."
"We need to make a stop by the crash though."
"What for?"
Nate scratched the back of his neck. "I uh… I left the map on the plane."
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Of course you did." Nate gave a nervous chuckle. "Well, come on then, let's go get the map and find Elena." We made our way through the jungle, stopping by the plane crash on the way. Nate had spotted Elena's parachute in a huge fortress. We cautiously made our way through the fortress, taking shelter every so often as we were shot at. We found the remains of Elena's parachute hanging from to ruins of a tower.
"No sign of her… that's either very good, or very bad," Nate mused.
"Hopefully the former," I commented. I noticed a zipline and nudged Nate. "She probably took that."
"C'mon." I followed Nate down the zipline, barreling into him as I landed.
"Sorry."
"Elena. What the hell's she doing?" He wondered aloud. I looked out the window and noticed our lost reporter across the fortress. She hurried off, completely unaware of us on the other side. I spotted a barred iron gate across the courtyard.
"We need to get through that," I told Nate.
"Ha-low?" The guard on the other side of the gate called through a microphone on the table in front of us. Nate glanced at me and I gestured to the microphone in a 'go on then' motion.
"Buka pintu," he said hesitantly.
"Siapa ini? Bicara sekarang!"
Nate scratched the back of his head in frustration as he tried to remember Indonesian. "Ah crap. Sialan lo! Cepatan, buka pintu!"
The guard noticed us. "Ah, tai!" He disappeared for a moment and the gate opened.
Nate laughed in delight. "It worked." Four armed guards ran through the gate. "Oh, boy."
"Spoke too soon," I muttered, pulling out my pistol. We eliminated all the guards only to be met with a machine gun turret as we ran through the open gate.
"How do I always get myself into the crap?" Nate groaned.
"That's what I'm for," I told him. I quickly poked my head out from behind my cover and shot at the barrels next to the turret. The barrels exploded, shaking the tunnel and showering Nate and I in dust. I moved out from behind my cover and continued on. "I'm here to get you out of the crap you get yourself into. Come on."
As we moved through the fortress, it seemed that there was a mercenary around every corner. Along the way, we found several clues left behind by Drake, eventually leading us to the top of a tower. Nate spotted a spyglass on a nearby table and picked it up.
"This must've been Drake's…" He murmured to himself. He walked out onto the balcony. "So what were you looking for, hm?" He looked through the spyglass, pointing it at an orange-domed building. "Well now, that looks familiar… Huh."
"What is it?" I inquired.
"The ships never left."
I frowned. "Strange. I wonder why."
"Elena!" Nate suddenly gasped. I followed his gaze and spotted our missing reporter.
"Hey, there she is." Nate and I both looked down and noticed two guards, one holding a rocket launcher. Before I could move, Nate pulled out his gun and fired at one of the guards. Unfortunately, it was not the one holding the rocket launcher. Nate seemed to realize his mistake as the guard spun around.
"Oh, crap." The guard fired the grenade launcher at the balcony and the world went black.
I woke with a groan. Slowly, I opened my eyes and sat up, wincing slightly. Looking around, I found myself in a cell. I spotted Nate lying a few feet away, still unconscious.
I scrambled over to him and turned him onto his back. "Nate! Nate!" I called, patting his cheek lightly. He groaned, furrowing his brows and opening his eyes. I let out a sigh of relief. "You okay?"
"I think so," he replied, sitting up.
"Good." I promptly smacked him upside the head.
"Ouch!" He yelped, rubbing the back of his head. "What was that for?!"
"For not hitting the guy with the rocket launcher first, idiota!" Nate gave me a sheepish look. A pebble suddenly came flying in. Nate and I stared at it for a moment, glanced at each other in confusion, then towards the direction the pebble came from. Looking through the barred window, was Elena.
"I know I'm not a big-time treasure hunter like you two, but I doubt you're gonna find El Dorado in there," the blonde said, smiling. "How'd you get yourselves in this mess?"
"Trying to rescue you, as a matter of fact," Nate replied, getting to his feet.
"Oh, that's so sweet," Elena teased. She examined the wall closely. "Traditional sandstone brick and stucco… limestone mortar… huh."
"Impressive," I complimented.
"How'd you get to know so much about this?" Nate asked curiously.
"My show - episode 4, 'Architects of the New World," Elena answered proudly. I hummed in interest. I might need to check out her show when we get home. She pulled at the bars experimentally. "Yup, it'll just take a tug to pull these bars out." She wandered off.
Nate gripped the bars, staring worriedly after her. "What? No, wait… are you sure -" He was cut off by a voice outside the wooden door of the room we were in.
"Get out of my way, bodoh!"
"Oh, crap," Nate muttered, moving to stand next to me. The door was kicked in and a short man waltzed in.
"Hey, Drake," the man greeted, grinning smugly.
"Eddy Raja. I shoulda guessed," Nate said, returning with a fake smile.
Eddy turned to me, sending me a flirtatious smile that made me want to gag. "So this is Alexandria King. I must say, you're more beautiful than I imagined."
I crossed my arms and cocked my head, ignoring Nate as he protectively shifted his weight towards me and considering the tiny Indonesian. "And I was under the impression that Hobbits hardly left the Shire," I quipped. Eddy sneered at me and I sent him an innocent smile.
"Fascinating document, huh?" He said, holding up the old map we had recovered from the plane. "Seems like this 'Sir Francis' was in my line of work."
"Don't flatter yourself, Eddy," Nate told him.
Eddy chuckled. "Always ready to be enemies, eh?" He sat on a wooden table, pulling out his trademark golden pistol as a nonverbal threat. "Tell you what - lead me to the gold, and I might just let you live."
"Is that it? Is that our deal? Die now, or help you, and die later. It's a tough call, but you know what? We'll take die now." I closed my eyes briefly and pinched the bridge of my nose. Nate normally had smartass comments, but put him in a life or death situation and that's all vocabulary seemed to consist of, not that I was much better. Unsurprisingly, this response didn't sit well with Eddy.
"Tai kamu!" Eddy growled, getting close to the bars and waving his gun at us angrily. "Listen to me, maggot - I was promised treasure on this goddamn rock! And now my men are dying. They can't even go outside to take a piss without an armed guard, and I have nothing to show for it!" He turned away, fuming, looking much like a toddler in the middle of a temper tantrum. I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. Elena was hanging a hook around the bars of our window. Nate turned to look, but I subtly jabbed my elbow into his side and he turned his attention back to Eddy. "I am making you a fair offer. You help me find the treasure, and the last man alive gets the gold… and the girls, of course."
Nate gave him a look of mock pity. "The girls? Oh, Eddy, the other girl's long gone. She's probably off the island by now, going for help. And this girl -" he gestured to me. "- she -"
"Would sooner throw you off a cliff," I interrupted, glaring daggers at the Indonesian. "Although a two foot ledge would probably be high enough." Eddy was silent for a moment then smiled at Nate. ignoring my jab at his lack of height.
"Tai Kucing - you were never very good at poker. I will find the other girl, trust me," Eddy vowed. "How much trouble could one girl be?" On cue, the wall behind us was ripped out. I ducked to avoid the falling rubble and Nate covered me with his own body. The three of us slowly stood to see Elena in a jeep.
"Well?! Come on!" Elena urged. I quickly snatched the map from Eddy with a 'thank you' and ran for the jeep, Nate close behind.
"Nice work!" Nate complimented.
Elena grinned. "Thanks." I climbed into the passenger seat and Nate climbed in the back behind the mounted machine gun. "Hold on!" She drove off as Eddy came running out, shouting at his men to go after us.
I breathed a sigh of relief as we landed safely on the other side of the bridge, hopefully out of reach from Eddy's men, at least for now.
"I can't believe that worked!" Nate exclaimed.
"So who was that guy?" Elena asked as we drove on.
"Just an old business asso - OH LOOK OUT!" Elena slammed on the brakes and the jeep spun to a stop, throwing Nate out the back. The back end of the jeep teetered dangerously on the edge of the cliff.
"Nate!" I screamed. "Hold on! Grab my hand!" He grabbed my outstretched hand and I pulled him back in.
"You two okay?" Nate asked as he climbed into the driver's seat, Elena moving out of his way. I nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine - oh but, you're bleeding," Elena told him in concern.
"Goes with the territory," Nate dismissed, starting the jeep. He attempted to drive off, but the rear tires couldn't get any traction. He stopped trying as we heard clapping and looked up to see Eddy with some of his men.
"Going somewhere?" Eddy inquired, a smug smile on his face as he swung a shotgun on his shoulder.
Nate grinned nervously. "Hey, Eddy!"
"Did you really think you could escape from moi?"
"No, no - just giving the young ladies the ten dollar tour," Nate quipped.
Eddy glared at him. "Shut it! I bet you're working for them too!"
Nate frowned in confusion. "What?" He glanced at me, but I shrugged, equally as confused.
"You thought you could set me up and keep everything for yourselves, hm?" Eddy aimed his shotgun at us.
"Get down!" Nate shouted. Elena and I didn't need to be told twice. The three of us ducked as Eddy fired, shattering the windshield.
"This guy's crazy!" Elena exclaimed.
Nate slowly poked his head back up. "Eddy, take it easy, buddy."
Eddy laughed. "Well, you're out of luck now. And out of road." He cocked the shotgun threateningly. "Now, give me that map."
"Hold on," Nate whispered to Elena and I. I quickly grabbed hold of the seat, not entirely sure what he was planning, but able to hazard a guess. "All right, you got me, fair and square." He reached down towards the gear shift, not that Eddy could see that.
"Hey, don't move!" Eddy warned.
"Relax, Eddy. I'm just getting the map, like you asked." Nate glanced at Elena. "I said hold on."
"I am," Elena insisted, gripping her seat.
"Well, hand it over," Eddy ordered.
Nate smirked. "Well now, you told me not to move. Looks like you're gonna have to come get it."
Eddy snarled. "Tai kamu!" He walked towards us, his gun at the ready. However, before he could reach us, Nate threw the jeep in reverse and backed us over the cliff.