This chapter, (I hope) will be better than the last. Actually, that's kind of a stupid thing to say. Of course, you always hope that the next chapter will be better than the last. Refloc, you are out of it today.
You guys know what goes here, so I'm not going to say it. I didn't do my research. You'll see what I didn't do it on in my writing, unless you live at the South Pole, in which case, you probably don't know what heat, and that junk is. :) And the non-gender specific thing? I had to put that in there. Forgive me, if you still remember what that is. If not, reread all the previous chapters until you do.
Elyne: Yep, but Juliet is that kind of person, she'll be nice to him later.
Eva Evans: Rediculously close to the future enough for you? Yeah, you like Dom. Anyway, he is NOT gay! End of conversation. If you portray him as such, I think I'll blow up.
Holly Rox: Is coming... is coming. Very soon the romance starts. I'm subtle but very obvious. The persons who don't realize it, are Juliet and Justin, but of course, we all know. And about the reviews, hey, you did the same thing for me, so there. And you almost have eighty on your story now. I wish the ending had been better though, but it was you, I suppose. Endurance is what I really want to read. Update soon!
The Blazing Blade: I'll do better next time. The forest isn't important, it's the mountains. The desert isn't even there in the story, so yeah. And I'm deadly curious. If you don't tell me, (if not in the review, in the email) I will spam your mail box with letters of WHO and questions asking what you wanted to tell me that you didn't want other people to see. And you skipped a word in your review (it), and spelled 'nashes' wrong. It's gnashes. And update your story soon dear. I'm impatient.
Trouble Kelp: I can't wait for your update!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything except the things I own. The things I own are the things not owned by Colfer. Colfer owns everything except the things I own. The things Colfer own are the things I do not own. :) Try that one, all you people who think you're the next Artemis Fowl.
Justin hopped out of the car, followed by Chance, the rest of the men, and Juliet. Juliet seemed quite relaxed, and almost bored, compared to the rest of the them. In a way though, he supposed it was better. She wouldn't lose her temper as easily.
The vans, owned by local people that Chance had hired instead of taxi's, pulled away, and they were left alone.
Chance raised his voice. "Alright people! It's time to go. If you paid attention earlier, and studied your packet and maps, and whatnot, you should know what's going on! I want you guys in order!" He glanced at Juliet. "That is… guys in a non-gender specific way."
Juliet returned the stare, and then pushed her way through the men to the front, ignoring low whispers. Thankfully, she had been given the job of leading today.
The system the Anthonys used, was really quite interesting. Each person was assigned a number, and given a partner, by Chance. They got points for how they handled things, both as a team, and individually. It was a good way to do things. People tried harder.
No one knew anyone else's number though, so when Chance had written down that a certain number would lead, people hadn't known it was her. Which was too bad for them.
Chance frowned slightly, forgetting the men, as they jostled and shoved into place. "That's all you brought? And what about a machete? You were told to bring one!"
"Assuming I needed it." Juliet shook her head at him. "Listen. I pack light. I don't know about you, but I'm a professional. This is my outfit. I'm not going to go staggering around under a shopping mall of junk. Believe me when I say I have everything I need."
Most of the men were listening now. Juliet knew that she had better live up to what shed just said. People would be watching her.
He shrugged. "Fine. Go ahead then."
Juliet smiled slightly, showing a little bit of teeth, and stepped forward into the trees. This would be fun.
Five hours later, still, none of the men had their machetes out. There was no need for them. Somehow, Juliet had managed to avoid all of it, slipping in and out, and hardly leaving any traces at all. It was like they weren't even there, except for footprints in the muddy spots. At the moment, she was standing in a clearing up ahead, waiting for them to catch up.
It was bad, actually. That they weren't leaving a trail. Dom would have been able to follow it easily.
Finally, Justin caught up, and hurried towards her before the other men could follow him. "You need to slow down, Juliet."
"Don't call me by my first name!"
"You need to slow down." He wiped a hand across his face, wincing as bug bites stung here and there. It looked like she had avoided all of those too. "This is too early to go this fast. Not everyone will be able to keep up."
Juliet shrugged. "Look, Justin. If you can't keep up, that's your problem, not mine. I can keep this pace for a month or more. You guys are obviously not prepared, or ready for this kind of workout."
Chance strode up, glaring at Justin. "Cut the talking. Most of them are here; let's go!"
Juliet took off again, pulling her apple out of her pocket, a eating it quickly, before it could attract many insects. She hated having bugs buzzing around your head while you ate.
It got dark after a few more hours, and behind her, men started turning on flashlights. Juliet shook her head. It was pretty pointless, really. In fact, it made it harder to see things. She pushed on ahead, until she was out of the light, and in the darkness.
Again, Justin came after her. "You can't go wandering around without light!"
Juliet took his flashlight, and turned it off. "You know what? I see a lot better without the light! And I'm serious. The light can blind you to a lot of things, Justin. I think I'm safer without it."
Justin gritted his teeth, took back his flashlight, and once again joined the men.
She smiled.
At eleven, she started looking around, leading the men in one direction, and then darting off out of sight, circling around them, and going up ahead: searching for a place to camp.
The men kept tramping on, too tired to realize she wasn't there in front of them half the time. It was always like this the first few days. Then they got into a rhythm, and it wasn't that bad.
Around twelve, Juliet suddenly appeared in the middle of the group, and tapped Chance politely on the shoulder. "It's twelve. We need to stop. There's a camp right up ahead."
More than a few of the men jumped.
Chance turned and looked at her. "Why aren't you up ahead? Like you were a moment ago?"
Juliet laughed. "I haven't been up there for the last hour! You just thought I was. I was looking around for a good place to camp. And it's twelve. And here it is—"
She motioned to the clearing they had just entered. On one end, there was even a nice little stream.
There was silence for a moment. Then Chance nodded. "Fine. Go ahead and set things up, people."
Juliet moved off, as people spread out, each doing their own job. She'd found the camp, she didn't have to help set it up. Other people would do that for her.
Justin was setting up the tent on the far end of the clearing, away from most of the others. Juliet studied it for a moment, and then frowned. "Why are we so isolated, Justin?"
Slowly, he tapped in a stake, and then straightened, meeting her eyes. "That bothers you, doesn't it? You think I'm going to take advantage of you."
"Not necessarily. I just wondered." She dropped her backpack on the ground, looking up at him.
Justin turned away, glancing the tent over to make sure everything was in place securely. "You want to know the truth then? Why I'm setting up over here, instead of the middle of camp?"
"Why?"
He waved a hand at the camp. "Look! All of those people are curious about us! All of those people are watching, and they're listening. I want a little privacy, okay?"
"Fine! Anything else?"
"Yeah! There is!" Justin stood there a moment, glaring into the dark, and then looked back at her. "You're going to make a damn fool out of me tonight, aren't you? And you know what? I don't want everyone talking about it! That's why. Okay?"
Juliet stared at him for a long moment. "Okay," she said coolly. "I understand. Maybe you should have said something before. Okay? Yeah. That's fine."
There was a moment of uncertain silence, before Justin unzipped the tent, and stepped inside, dropping his pack. "Do you want to go ahead and change, or sleep in your clothes?"
"I'll just sleep in my clothes. I'm getting up in just a bit anyway to exercise. I don't want to wake you up then."
Justin nodded, pulling a light blanket and pillow out of a bag. "Thanks."
Juliet set her backpack down, slipped in after him, and zipped up the tent as he turned on a flashlight.
He looked at her in surprise as she produced a light jacket, and curled up with it on the floor of the tent, using it for a pillow. "You didn't pack anything else?"
"No. I'm used to sleeping on the ground. It doesn't bother me. Besides, it's hot."
"What about in the Andes?"
"I'll be fine." She opened her eyes a crack, looking at him. "Believe me. I will."
Justin did not look convinced.
"Turn off the light, please. It's time to get some sleep. And I'm really tired."
Without a word, he flipped off the light.
"Thank you. Do you want me to wake you up at any particular time, or not?"
"You might wake me up a few minutes before who's ever on guard duty starts yelling. That always scares me half to death the first few days. I get a huge rush of adrenaline I would have liked to have later on in the day."
"Right."
Butler hung up. The calls were made, and everything was ready. In a week, the team he had put together would leave the Lodge for Santiago. And from there, they would go into the mountains and desert to find his sister.
And this Justin person— who had dared to take her. It would be more than painful. He would make sure of that.
Lovely, isn't it, you people? Now, even Dom is an obstacle. All these wonderful complications— they make the most perfect of stories, don't they?
It would be advised to review as soon as possible, people. I know you didn't reveiw the last bit or so, probably because it was boring. Unboringness starts up again, so review those chapters. For those of you who review anyways, thanks a lot.
I really enjoy hearing from you guys, so please take the time to check, and make sure you've got the latest, and aren't three chapters behind already.