Chapter 6

The growing strength in the movement of the air tossed and pulled on the leaves of the innocent trees of the jungle; ripped from their stems, the unfortunate many, were thrown into the greedy wind for a rough and unexpected journey across land and sea. The magical force of which were once rising particles in the heat of a summer's day, now came in mass as a drenching rain that slapped against the skin of any poor animal that lay in its reach. The wildlife of the trees and ground, hid under rocks and branches hoping not to be swept away by an uncontrollable power. One poor creature was wading his way through the thick, hard mist that the rain created; meanwhile being cautious on foot not to slip on the jungles debris. His hair stuck to the side of his face, creeping across his eyes to blur his vision; forcing him to remove it from its position with his dripping, wrinkled hand. Scott looked down at his normally presentable fingers and frowned slightly at the sight of them creased by the water. He sniffed loudly, hoping that the only thing that will be inflicted on him by the growing storm would be a standard cold. Unaware of the planning and ideas being passed around his father's office in an attempt to rescue him; Scott pushed forward through the wood. He prayed in his head that they would all be sitting in the living room, slightly concerned of his whereabouts but consoled enough to busy themselves with other tasks. He imagined Gordon, sitting upside down on the sofa, head hanging off the edge and feet in the air, making odd noises with his mouth. He thought of Alan finding this annoying but distracting himself by secretly glancing at Tin Tin through the corner of his eye; John would be sitting nearby smirking quietly at his brother's infatuation. But most of all he imagined his father detached from the family scene, in his office, pressing buttons and being busy. This angered him slightly, almost making him forget his surroundings as a large leaf threatened to make him lose his balance. He stopped for a moment, in an attempt to calm himself but he found it near impossible as his emotions became stronger. He was angry at his father. He could not think of why for a moment, he thought only of him being busy however realised that this didn't bother him; then it came to him. After the mission, when the girl was rushed to hospital, Jeff had flown out, leaving John in charge of base, to make sure that all the boys (especially Scott) were okay. On arriving he did not once look at Scott until he noticed him about to walk through the hospital doors; Jeff stopped him, he whispered something into Virgil's ear and Virgil went through the swinging doors. Jeff looked at Scott in the eye; and as if it was happening again Scott heard it loud and clear.

"Scott back on TB1, I'm driving, Gordon you take TB2 with Alan; Virgil won't be joining us."

"But sir.."

"No Scott, those are my orders."

"But sir!"

"Scott! You are not fit to be doing anything, let alone arguing with me, now take your orders!"

The words burnt through Scott's memory and made him grit his teeth. Unable to shake the building anger he let out a deep shout and crouched down to rest his elbows on his thighs. He breathed deeply and wondered why he felt so angry when he knew that his father was right. He stayed in the position for a moment and rose with realisation. He was only angry for the things he could not do. He could not see the girl, therefore he was angry, he could not drive TB1, therefore he was angry and he had been told he was not fit, so he was not healthy, therefore, he was angry. Coming to the conclusion that these where all things that were not permanent and could be changed and improved, he was content to carry on.

One step to quickly on a remorseless leaf, sent Scott tumbling down into the shaped valley of a growing stream. Scott screamed in pain as his left leg hit a rock and twisted. He heard the snap. He grappled with the earth trying to stop his decent and succeeded near the water's edge. He lay completely immersed in pain; he was in an upright position, his back pressed firmly into the side of the valley. His left leg pointing in a right angle. He pushed both hands down on the ground next to his hips to try and move himself further up the eroded earth to remove his right foot from the raging stream; his wrists gave way under the pain that shot through his leg like lighting. He swore loudly not caring for the innocent animals that might hear his profanities. His head felt heavy on his neck and he was forced to lay it on the ground. A wash of darkness wiped across his eyes as he tried to lift his head again and he accepted the darkness as a refuge from the pain.

He felt the water rising inch by inch up his right leg. His darkness formed walls of rock and the sound of a girl crying echoed louder and louder and LOUDER. He panicked and woke with a startle. He sat up quickly to see that the water was only a few inches above his ankle and he sighed with utter relief. He was sick of the recurring nightmare that taunted him with the images from his vivid memory. He was not afraid to admit to himself that he was terrified the moment he awoke. However he could not be more relieved to have realised the real situation he was in. He touched his arm to wipe away the large droplets that where forming in the crease of his elbow when he noticed how cold he was, as soon as he did a breeze as icy as a glacier cut through the valley and stung his skin. He had changed his mind, he hoped more than anything now that his family where coming to save him, either that or he would die of hypothermia or some other horrible cold causing illness.

Jeff stood in front of his son's and a determined Tin Tin. All were prepared for the conditions and all had first aid kits strapped to their belts. He knew what he was about to say would send off fireworks with the only female present in the room but his decision made sense to him and he was not afraid of the fiery of Tin Tin.

"Right boys! And girl. Scott could be anywhere in this region of the jungle, do not divert more than 50 metres off this path because you will be going in the wrong direction. Scott was last on the south side of the island and by his last transmission location he entered the forest here. He would have headed straight; that is why we stick to the path! Now do you all have your first aid kits, grip boots and extra walkie talkies in case of a fail in communication via satellite?"

"Yes sir!"

"Right, keep in your formation lines and it will be near impossible to miss him and never forget the power of verbal communication. If you can't see him, he might be able to hear you!"

"Yes sir!"

"Good, well off you go and bring him back safely."

All the boys including Tin Tin began to head for the door when Jeff called Tin Tin back.

"Tin Tin, I need a word."

"Yes Mr. Tracy, but better make it quick or ill lose the boys!"

"That's what I want to talk to you about. I want you to stay here."

"But Mr. Tracy! I...!"

"Now Tin Tin! I need you here, if something has happened to Scott and the boys need extra aid I need someone fast and careful to get there for me and that certainly cannot be me or grandma!"

"Oh right. I understand Mr. Tracy."

"I am not removing you from the mission Tin Tin, I simply need someone I can rely on here who will be safe and fast and you are both in one! You don't expect me to trust Gordon with being safe and fast at the same time do you?"

Tin Tin laughed at his poor joke and sat on the sofa of the office, she was disappointed slightly that she could not get out there and look for Scott but she understood that she was also needed there and did not mind so much that she wasn't needed in the rain. Jeff sat in his master chair and ran his fingers through his increasingly grey hair to the top of his neck before pushing his palms into his shoulders, in an attempt to relieve the tension. Jeff had always been able to keep a balance of calm and business, even if the calm was fake it allowed him to relax and at least sleep well. Tin Tin noticed but did not mention that Jeff was looking a little run down and decided to avert her gaze to look out of the coated pans, as she did she saw a quick glimpse of Gordon's burning hair disappear down the decent of the stairs.

The boys wasted no time in the grounds of the house and made quick progress to the entrance to the jungle; the boys stood one arms length apart and exchanged looks before John piped up to give extended orders.

"Right, we all know what we have to do, let's do it quickly and safely; if we stay a maximum of thirty metres apart then it will be impossible for us to miss him! And Gordon, no trying anything clever, the last thing we need is to waste time getting you a stretcher back to the villa!"

"Hey! I'm a professional John! And where did Tin Tin go?"

The boys had to speak in volume over the roaring pitter patter of the rain.

"I don't know Gordon, I'll give her a ..."

Alan's senses tingled at the opportunity and interrupted John before he could finish.

"I'll do it!"

John and Gordon gave a small smile to each other at the sight of their brothers attempt to contain his excitement. Alan turned away slightly and put on his professional voice to impress his crush.

"Alan to Tin Tin over!"

"Tin Tin to Alan, what seems to be the problem?"

"Oh hiya Tin Tin, just wondering where you got to?"

John and Gordon cringed slightly at their brother's effort to be cool, calm and professional all in one and felt his embarrassment for him.

"Mr. Tracy has given me a different job, if anything goes wrong then you have to report to me, I'm your back up."

"Oh right, well that's reassuring! Okay speak to you later."

"Tin Tin out."

Alan turned to his brothers with a look of complete smugness as he stepped down on to the dark, drenched earth. All the boys entered the treacherous uncertainty of a jungle on the edge. John particularly noticed the intense change of atmosphere of what was usual a fun place to explore and enjoy; now it held all types of dangers and near death threats, the wrong step could lead to a broken bone and John feared being immobilized by a snapped neck. It's a known fact that space weakens bones and makes them fragile, however this was minimised by the monthly rotation and a very specific diet that John was very serious about. His hair had slightly darkened in blondeness through the water drenching it through his IR cap. He became irritated from droplets settling on his lashes to blur his vision and wishes he had brought his sun glasses with him for some sort of comfortable eye protection.

Gordon headed down the middle of the group, John went right and Alan left. Gordon had felt a heavy guilt in his stomach after Tin Tin had made him see the seriousness of Scott's situation. He had never thought of any of his brothers being in mortal danger; he had great confidence in all their knowledge and strength, even Alan's, therefore never thought that the bad guy would actually shoot, the rock would fall on them or they would crash. However now it all seemed overwhelming and his brothers seemed more human then immortal. He gulped to hold back his tears. He did a funny sound to make himself laugh and that was that. He estimated whereabouts he would be within the jungle and thought it best to take on his father's advice and began to holler and shout Scott's name in different volumes, pitches and voices.

Alan jumped on first hearing Gordon's fog horn shouting for the person he was thinking of. He looked around himself constantly. He wondered how, in television programs and movies, when they would go into woods and jungles that they knew someone had been through the path they were walking. He looked for broken twigs or bent leaves but of both he could only see twigs dancing in shallow puddles and leafs bent with the weight of the storm. Concluding that it was a stupid idea to have even thought of doing; he settled that what he was doing was far more advanced; he was of course a member of International Rescue, he spends alternate months on a space station and the other flying a wonderful red machine. Oh yes that was defiantly much better. His body convulsed into a jump as a quick flash of lighting lit the jungle and was followed almost immediately by a slap of thunder. He lost his footing and landed on his bottom. He yelped at the frozen touch of the watery floor. He looked at the bottom of his grip boots and peeled off the build up of leaves that had caused his to slip. As he stood his skin crawled with the idea of Scott trying to walk through the jungle in just a pair of trainers but he pushed forward, hoping that they would find him before anything like that happened.

So So So Sorry for the major delay on this chapter, exams and having a new job take up a lot of time and its been a busy busy time! I would like to thank QueenB48 for once again supporting me and proof reading this chapter. And thankyou all again for sticking with this one and giving such wonderful reviews! Next chapter wont be for the next few weeks until im done with my exams but hopefully chapter 7 will be done and dusted in the half term! Cheers! - LeahMB95