Beach Head woke Airtight early in the morning. The ranger actually looked a little anxious over the disappearance of the rest of the team. He barked orders for a half hour, making Airtight fix breakfast and clean up, then marched off toward his latrines, leaving orders to contact him as soon as the others were found.
Airtight made sure that all of his gear was in order, including a med kit, and headed toward the area where the radio tower was being built. He planned on staying away from camp for as long as possible; he wasn't sure when Beach Head would notice the itching powder Airtight had liberally sprinkled into the drill sergeant's outer clothing, but he planned on being far away when he did.
The woods were noisy with the sound of insects and birds. It would have been relaxing had Airtight not been worried about his friends. He looked for signs of their passage, but tracking wasn't his specialty. Reaching the clearing on the hill, he saw that the radio tower was partially constructed, but there was no sign of Cover Girl. He called for her a few times, just in case, but there was no answer. He chose a direction at random and started walking.
Cover Girl and Shipwreck sat huddled at the back of a shallow cave, sleeping. They had well and truly gotten lost the night before. Cover Girl had insisted they try to find the river and follow it back to camp. The first part had been a success, but instead of finding the river, they fell into it. They had emerged streaming with water a few hundred yards downstream, and stumbled into this questionable shelter. Both had been too cold and weary to continue, and had agreed to spend the night there.
Shipwreck blinked his eyes open, taking a few moments to remember where he was. The stone in front of his face made him assume that he'd passed out in an alley again, but then it all came back in a rush. He sat up, dislodging Cover Girl from his shoulder, and she hit the ground with a thump.
"Ow! Shipwreck!" She looked around blearily, recalling the night's events with a sigh. "Oh, right. We're still lost." She stood and dusted off her clothing, stepping out of the cave and into the sunlight. Shipwreck followed, trying to work the kinks out of his neck.
"So if we follow the river, we'll get back to camp, right?" Shipwreck said, starting toward the sound of rushing water.
Cover Girl followed, wishing she could stop and take a bath. She was filthy, hungry, tired, and sore. Not that she hadn't been through worse, but this mission was supposed to be an easy one. She had expected mosquitoes, flies, and brambles, but not a night of wandering lost in the woods followed by a dunking in the river. At least she was fairly far along on her assignment.
It was only a few short bends in the stream before they saw where Airtight had been working. He had dug a long trench at an angle to the stream, but had left the ground intact nearest to the water. Once the digging was done, he could remove the last section of dirt and flood the trench, diverting the water toward camp.
Shipwreck and Cover Girl followed the line that Airtight had dug, assuming that it would point them in the right direction. They were both looking forward to getting something to eat, not even caring that it would be the same thing they had eaten for each meal the day before.
"Do you think Beach will give us a break since we've been out all night?" Shipwreck asked. "I could use a nap."
Cover Girl ducked under a branch, holding it so that it wouldn't smack Shipwreck as he passed under. "I doubt it. He's probably mad that we got lost."
"Well, it's not like he was worried enough to come looking for us."
"I'm sure he thought we could take care of ourselves. And we did."
"Nah, he just doesn't care about us," Shipwreck commented.
"Well, he cares about getting the work done," Cover Girl replied. "He would have come after us eventually, if only to put us back on task."
Shipwreck snorted. "He's a big bully. If he isn't barking orders at someone, he's not happy."
"He's just dedicated," Cover Girl replied. "Really, really dedicated."
"He'd better not make me do pushups."
The two teammates trekked on, passing close to a separate, smaller camp. Recondo watched them crash through the brush, making enough noise that they probably wouldn't have heard him if he had started singing the national anthem. He shook his head. Neither of them were trained in jungle warfare, that was certain. It would make his job that much easier. Recondo hefted the bag he had prepared over his shoulder and headed toward the radio tower he'd watched them build the day before.
Airtight figured he'd walked about two miles from camp. That would, he hoped, put him in radio range of Mainframe. He pushed the transmit button and called for his teammate.
The answer came immediately. "Airtight! Thank God! I'm lost!"
"No kidding," Airtight replied. "Where are you?"
"How should I know?" Mainframe's voice sounded slightly panicky. "I'm in the middle of a bunch of trees!"
Airtight sighed. "Didn't you track your progress with the GPS yesterday?"
"Obviously not, or I wouldn't be lost!"
"Fine. Did you pass any landmarks?"
"I passed a lot of trees."
"Can you be more specific?" Airtight couldn't help but chuckle a little. The computer expert was obviously well out of his comfort zone.
"More specific? I passed five thousand pine trees and three thousand trees that weren't pines. Does that help?" Mainframe replied sarcastically.
Airtight asked, "How many dead trees did you pass?"
"What? Airtight, this isn't funny!"
"Relax, I'm just joking with you. I've got the camp coordinates written down. Use your GPS and head back." He relayed the numbers to a very relieved Mainframe, who assured him that he should be able to find his way back now.
Airtight stayed in place for a little while, keeping within radio range until he was sure that Mainframe was comfortable using the GPS to make his way. Then he turned around himself and followed his own trail back toward camp. He planned on searching the area near the radio tower more thoroughly, hoping to find signs of the other missing Joes.
Beach Head looked up from his construction work when he heard Shipwreck's voice drifting through the trees. The sailor walked into the little clearing, followed by Cover Girl. They both were covered in mud, but seemed to be otherwise healthy. They stopped when they saw him, shifting guiltily from foot to foot.
"Hey, Beach. How's it going?" Shipwreck asked nervously.
Beach Head crossed his arms over his chest and regarded the two Joes. "What happened to you two?" He idly scratched at his sleeve, and they saw him clench his teeth.
"We fell in the river last night. It was dark, and we didn't want to walk in the wrong direction, so we slept in a cave," Cover Girl replied. Beach Head's eyes narrowed, and she rushed to fill the silence. "We got a lot of work done, though. The radio tower looks really good. We just didn't realize it was getting dark, and…" her voice trailed off as Beach Head's expression gained an even darker cast.
"What do you mean, 'we got a lot of work done?'"
"Hey, I was just helping out a teammate," Shipwreck defended himself.
"You're supposed to be working on the repairs," Beach Head admonished with a growl. He was now rubbing at his shoulder, grimacing.
"Don't you even care that we were lost?" Cover Girl asked angrily.
"Well, you're not lost now, are you?" Beach Head would never admit that he had been worried. "Get back to camp, clean up, and work on the assignments you were given." He dismissed them with a gesture.
When they were far enough away not to be heard, Shipwreck leaned over and said, "You know we were following Airtight's trench, right?"
Cover Girl nodded, not understanding. "So?"
"So Beach Head is gonna be in for a surprise when Airtight finishes and a big flood of water hits those latrines."
The tank jockey's face lit up. "Oooh, he's gonna be really mad." She was quiet for a moment, then asked, "Why was he scratching so much?"
Shipwreck shrugged. "Must be overdue for his monthly bath."
"That joke is getting really old, Ship." Cover girl sighed.
"Who's joking?"
Their tents came into view, and they both gave a sigh of relief to be back at base camp. They prepared and ate five cans of stew between the two of them, and relaxed against the logs around the fire. Within a few moments, they were both napping peacefully.
Mainframe stumbled into camp a short while later, hardly even noticing his sleeping teammates. He opened and ate two cans of the stew cold, dragged his pillow from the tent, and joined them in slumber.
Beach Head pounded the last timber into place. The first latrine shed was finished, complete with a wooden seat and latching door. He stood back, pulling his sweat soaked shirt away from his chest. He hoped he hadn't gotten into poison ivy; something had made him itch like crazy all day. He'd have to try a rinse in the stream later. First, though, he planned on checking on everyone's progress. He headed toward the radio tower first.
A half hour later he stomped into camp, eyes blazing. Seeing the three forms on the ground, he clenched his teeth so hard his jaw ached. "Get up, you lazy excuses for soldiers!" he bellowed. The three Joes sat up, blinking, eyes widening at the sight of Beach Head towering over them. He rounded on Cover Girl first. "I thought you said you'd nearly gotten the radio tower up!"
Cover Girl's mouth opened in a confused "O." She looked at Shipwreck, who shrugged. "But we did, Beach," she protested. "It was at least halfway done."
"'Halfway done' to me does not mean one support beam sticking up out of the ground." Beach Head grimaced, clenching his fists to keep from scratching at his back.
"What?" Shipwreck exclaimed, flopping back down on the ground. "Oh, all that hard work! What happened?"
"Well I doubt bears snuck in overnight and undid the bolts," the ranger growled. "Cover Girl, get to work. You too, Shipwreck. And no sneaking off like you did last night."
"We did work, Beach Head, honest!" Shipwreck did his best boy scout imitation, holding his hand over his heart, but even Cover Girl had to admit that it just made him look suspicious.
Beach Head just turned away, shaking his head. He called over his shoulder, "Don't think I forgot about you, Mainframe. There's still a lot of daylight left. Get working on that map." With that, he disappeared back into the trees.