The four remaining EGO members continue to hike through the forest as they make their way to the secret EGO base after ALTER and Sudorov's Forces launched a successful assault at their main base
Pvt. Sokolov's POV
Pvt. Sokolov: Have we tried contacting the other members?
Rippley: ALTER could be blocking our communications, and even if we did, they could trace the call and would expose our location
8-Ball: How far is the base from here?
Journey: According to the map here, if we hike through this ridge, it'll take us to the base
Pvt. Sokolov: What about the others? Do we have any clue where they could be?
Rippley: Hopefully the others made it to the base
Exhausted from their long journey to the base, the group decided to rest and continue the hike tomorrow. They found a proper camping site. A flat ground, wood logs suitable for campfire, and a nearby river are what makes up for this place
Journey: We'll take a rest here, and we'll continue at dawn
The group lay down their guns and prepare their camping equipment. Journey grabs the tents, while 8-Ball sorts other equipment such as a torchlight, their radios, rations, lighter and gasoline for the campfire, and other
Journey: Rippley, can you go grab some logs for the campfire?
Rippley: Yeah sure
Pvt. Sokolov: I'll help
Rippley: Alright let's go
Pvt. Sokolov grabs an axe and a 1911, for safe measures, while he and Rippley heads out to the woods to chop down some trees for firewood
Rippley: You've done this before?
Pvt. Sokolov: What have I done?
Rippley: Chop down trees
Pvt. Sokolov: Umm, yeah, when I was in summer camp
Rippley: Can I tell you a secret?
Pvt. Sokolov: Yeah?
Rippley: Uhh, I've...
Pvt. Sokolov: Hmm?
Rippley: *sigh* I've never chop down a tree before, even though I'm all big and strong and everything
Pvt. Sokolov: Oh, well there's nothing wrong about that, why don't you tell the others?
Rippley: I don't want to, because if I do, they'll probably make fun of me, which is why I volunteered to grab some logs
Pvt. Sokolov: To look and act cool?
Rippley: Something like that
Pvt. Sokolov: Hey now, don't worry, I'll teach you
Rippley: For real?
Pvt. Sokolov: Da, I'll show you, is very easy
Pvt. Sokolov looks for a tree that can be easily chopped down, he finds one that looks a bit thinner than the rest of the trees
Pvt. Sokolov: Are you listening?
Rippley: Yes
Pvt. Sokolov: Okay, first thing to consider is the tree you will be chopping down, it has to be right shape. Not too thin, or you'll get less wood, but not too thick that it'll take you hours to chop down, if you have an axe like this at least
Rippley: Okay, tree should be the right shape, got it
Pvt. Sokolov: Once you find the proper tree, you want to chop it by a 45 degree angle so you'll be able to penetrate through the much resilient part of the wood. Once you made the cut, you hack straight, so what you get is a triangular shaped cut. After that, do the same 45 degree angle cut on the other side
Pvt. Sokolov demonstrates by starting to chop the base of the tree, he does the same exact 45 degree angle cut, while Rippley carefully watches him
Pvt. Sokolov: See? Very easy, you try
Pvt. Sokolov hands Rippley the axe so he can do the other side of the tree
Rippley: Like this?
Rippley hacks the tree log with his strongest force, and some dust and wood chips flew right to his face, and Rippley spitted out some that got to his mouth. Rippley continued hacking the log
Pvt. Sokolov: A little bit higher
Rippley adjusts the angle and finishes the triangular cut. Rippley rubbed the sweat off of his face with his right arm
Rippley: Now what?
Pvt. Sokolov: There's basically just a small chunk of wood holding everything together, you finish it by hacking straight, I do have to warn you once you cut through it, be sure to run to the OPPOSITE direction of where the tree is falling
Rippley: Okay, I got this
Rippley continues to hack through the base of the tree until the entire tree is starting to fall apart, Rippley and Pvt. Sokolov makes a run for it as the tree completely falls to the ground
Pvt. Sokolov: Phew, that was easy. Now you know how to chop down a tree, yes?
Rippley: Yeah, thanks for that
Pvt. Sokolov: Okay, since we're only going to be overnight, we don't need that much wood, so let's cut two big logs, and we'll hack them down into quarters so we get eight logs
Rippley: Alright, can I do the cutting?
Pvt. Sokolov: Are you sure?
Rippley: Yeah, I already know everything
Pvt. Sokolov: That was only the half of it, but sure why not?
Rippley: Alright
Rippley then goes on into cutting two logs from the cut down tree while Pvt. Sokolov watch how he performs to correct any mistakes
12 Minutes Later
Rippley and Pvt. Sokolov return to the campsite, carrying the firewood with them
Journey: Hey guys you're back
Pvt. Sokolov: Yes, and we got the logs, Rippley is the one who cut down the tree by the way
Journey: Well, that's nice Rippley
Pvt. Sokolov: *whispers* I got you covered
The two placed down the logs into a spot surrounded by rocks, while 8-Ball douses the logs with lighter fluid. Before he lights it up, he sets up the cooking rig and hangs the pot above the firewood, after that he then takes a match and sparks it with its matchbox and threw it into the logs, creating a warm, cozy campfire. The four lay down by the campfire in an Indian sit position
Rippley: I'll get the rations
8-Ball: Go
Pvt. Sokolov: *sigh* Long day
Journey: Sure is
Pvt. Sokolov: So, what will be our next plan after we arrive on the base?
Journey: Reorganize some of our troops, and if some of us are captured, we rescue them. Once we got all of that, we launch a counterattack on ALTER, it's all I could think of but for now, we need to deal with problems that we solve first
Rippley returns with some canned rations
Rippley: We got some canned pork and beans here, it's the only rations that I could find before we left
8-Ball: We'll use whatever we have as of now
Rippley: I'll go toss this in the pot then
Rippley grabs his knife and makes a careful stab to the lid of the can. Once he opened the cans, he tosses the pork and beans into the pot and it makes a sizzling sound. He improvised by using his knife to stir it, despite that they have a spoon in their gear
Rippley: I'll get the bowls, and we'll have dinner
2 Hours Later
Every one is asleep. Journey and 8-Ball cuddling each other in their sleep in their own tent while Rippley is again snoring in his sleep. Pvt. Sokolov is still awake as he is in patrol duty, he did not want to lose his guard or else ALTER or Sudorov's Forces could ambush him and his team. Bored, he laid down his M4A1 and used one of the logs as a makeshift chair, he looked through the dark woods, brightened by the moonlight, he admired the beauty of this... Island. He never thought of this kind of beauty before, and for this, he pulled out his journal, he never told anyone about its existence, not even his family, only him can know about it, he'd even kill those who heard about it. Journal on his left hand and a pencil on his right hand, he began drawing the landscape that he is seeing, even though he's not a great artist, drawing is a way to relieve his mind, it feels like he's recreating the universe, the feel to it is just so satisfying, it's calm and soothing, especially the place around him is just silence, crickets and wind blowing through the trees are the only noise being emitted. While sketching the view, he feels a sudden breath on his back, he slowly lets go of his pencil and quickly pulls his pistol and turns around only to find Rippley
Rippley: Woah! Relax, it's just me
Pvt. Sokolov: Oh, sorry
Rippley: Anyways, I'm just gonna pee
Pvt. Sokolov: Yeah sure, I'll stay here on guard
Rippley: Okay
Pvt. Sokolov, with his journal on his back, watches Rippley goes to the woods to find a spot where he can occupy himself. Once he was gone, Pvt. Sokolov picks up his pencil and resumes drawing. He finishes off the minor details such as the shadows and the sharp edges of the objects. He raises his journal and compares it to the real life counterpart to see if he gets it right, once that, he takes one last look at it to admire his work. Rippley returns to go back to sleep
Rippley: Hey, I'm done, wake me up if it's my turn
Pvt. Sokolov: Okay, sleep well
Pvt. Sokolov turns his attention back to his journal. He decides to read some few pages that he made a few months ago, and finds more sketches. From the sandy towns of Urzikstan to the dense mountains of Kastovia, he was proud of himself of his sketches. While skimming through the pages, he finds one familiar sketch, it's a sketch of a woman, a woman he recognizes, every time he sees this face, Pvt. Sokolov gets a chill on his spine then it hits him on the face. He treats this like a valuable piece, he is scared something might happen to it, either it gets torn even by a small inch or it gets smudged. Now we probably know why his journal is kept away from the eyes of other people as much as possible, probably because of the sketch of this unknown woman