David was at my door at 5:00am sharp. I was showered, dressed and ready to go. David had divided the supplies we were delivering into two large backpacks, and had left enough room for us to put our own overnight stuff at the top. I pulled mine over my shoulders. It was heavy, though I was used to it from my trips to the farm, and at least it wouldn't be as heavy coming back.

We hiked all morning at a fast pace. Much of the route was over fields, down tracks, and over/amongst the mountains, and some was through the jungle. I hoped I would actually get to see the beach and the sea, though David confirmed that the route unfortunately didn't take us near to the coast. At lunchtime we stopped and shared some of the food we had bought for the journey, but it wasn't long before we were walking again. We didn't run into any trouble. There was no sign of any black smoke, and we didn't come across anyone else. The scenery was breathtaking and beautiful, colourful birds swooped and soared around us. It was strenuous and I was tired, but the excitement of arriving at Richard's camp kept me going.

The afternoon gradually disappeared, and at teatime we stopped for more fuel. I was so tempted to lay back on the field and close my eyes for a while, but knew we needed to continue.

Eventually, at pretty much 19:00pm on the dot, David gestured towards a plume of smoke a few hundred yards ahead.

"There they are." He exclaimed.

We walked through a further copse of trees, and, finally, I could see a camp in front of us. I was expecting modern dome tents, but these were large old military style structures. I can't imagine they travelled too often as transporting all of this must have been a major operation. A man appeared, apparently from nowhere holding a rifle. He seemed to recognise David straight away though and greeted him with a smile, though eyed me suspiciously. David introduced me, and the man seemed to accept my being there. He led us over to the camp.

A large fire burned in the centre, and people sat around chatting. They looked different to those back at the barracks. These people looked wild and dirty and walked with bare feet (reminding me of my meeting with Jacob). I'm not sure what I expected, but this wasn't it. Richard always looked so clean and smartly presented, unless that was just whilst at the barracks. They nodded a greeting at David, but didn't seem to consider him a friend, so I don't know what chance I had with them. Not that I really cared. There was only one person here that I wished so see. I scanned the camp for him but couldn't see any sign. I hoped it hadn't been a wasted journey. It would be just my luck if he was back at the barracks.

"You didn't mention there would be two of you." Called a stocky looking man who came strolling over. "I'll sort an extra tent for you.".

"Thanks Bob!" David said, and introduced me.

"We should probably get an early night, we have an early start tomorrow." David advised.

As I scanned the camp again, I saw somebody emerging from one of the tents to my left. My eyes met his, and we gazed at each other for a few seconds, him looking utterly surprised.

"What…..what are you doing here?" He asked incredulously.

"I came with David." I replied. He looked slightly disapproving, but I brushed it off. I knew he didn't want me gallivanting around the island by myself but surely if I was accompanied by someone experienced it was ok.

We sat down by the fire with the rest of the camp and hot cups of tea were passed round. There wasn't much chatter. Clearly these people spent a lot of time together and were comfortable with silence. As people gradually began to drift away, Richard leaned over and whispered to me.

"Take a walk with me?

Nobody took any notice of us wandering off together. It was a beautiful night and the sky was full of stars.

"Are you annoyed I came?" I asked, hoping that his disapproval had diminished.

"Of course i'm not." He said. "It's nice to see you."

"I've missed you." I admitted.

"You had David for company." He joked.

"So this is where you live."

"Yeah, I guess this is where I call home." He acknowledged.

"Why live like this? And not at the barracks though?"

"I guess i've just got used to it. I've lived on the island far longer than the barracks have been there, and i've always managed just fine". He mused.

"This is your tent?" We came to a stop by the tent he had emerged from earlier and he lead me in.

It was quite spacious inside. A single camp bed was in one corner, and a table and chair in the other. There were boxes and chests full of his possessions stacked against one wall. It was basic yet looked comfortable. An oil lamp on the table provided enough light to see around.

I looked at Richard, his face illuminated by the lamp light. He was beautiful. His dark eyes met mine and we stood there for a moment, just taking each other in. I could have easily leaned over and kissed him, but was too worried about what his reaction would be. The way he looked at me gave me hope that he felt the same, but there was still a guard surrounding him that I didn't feel I had yet broken through. I still knew little about his life and his past. If only he would open up to me.

We became aware of murmurs outside, as people cleared the camp up for the night, so I followed him out. Bob approached me, and offered to show me to what would be my tent for the night. It was right on the edge of the camp by the trees. There was a bed inside, but it was basic and not homely like Richard's. Still it was only for one night. I thanked him and retired inside. I unpacked my overnight bag and freshened up, before curling up on the small bed.

I closed my eyes and waited for sleep to take over, but it never came. Then the noises started. There must have been wild animals of some sort outside in the trees, though I wasn't sure what sort. I buried my head in my pillow and tried to block it out. I lay there for over an hour trying to go off, to no avail. There was now a new sound coming through. It sounded a lot like the strange whispering noise I had heard before, just before the black smoke had appeared. I began to panic. I felt all alone on the outskirts of the camp. The nearest people were strangers to me anyway. I couldn't lie there anymore, I couldn't bear it any longer, so I got up and peered out of the tent.

The air was clear, the whispers had stopped, but it had become eerily silent instead. I stepped out of the tent and made my way to the centre of the camp, where the embers of the fire were still dying out. There was nobody around. Everyone had retired to their tents which were all in darkness, and all I could hear was silence. I looked over to Richard's tent. It was one of those 'Should I, Shouldn't I' moments. I slowly started walking towards it. The entrance was loosely hooked in place, so I peeled it back a few inches and peered in. In the dim moonlight I could see him sound asleep on his bed. He looked peaceful. He wore a black t-shirt that showed off his muscular arms and torso, and lounge pants. It was too late to back down now, so I closed the entrance behind me, and crept over to him, perching down to sit on the edge of his bed. He woke up with a start.

"You ok?" He croaked, sleepily.

"I was scared on my own." I admitted, pathetically.

He reached up and took hold of my arm, gently pulling me down onto the bed. I kicked my boots off and lay down beside him, leaning back against his warm chest. He wrapped his strong arms around me and held me close to him, nuzzling is face into my hair. I was no longer scared. I was now just where I wanted to be. As much as I didn't want to miss a moment of this, I relaxed and closed my eyes sleepily.