Two Man's War

Punishment

Cam's POV
The commander announced that Zane and Tom were captured. Everyone was instantly worried. We came here to save them and soon we might not get a chance to. We knew we had to get them back and that the map could be a clue- but where was it located?

Suddenly, and idea popped into my head. What if we capture a terrorist? But instead of killing them, we could ask them questions? I walked over to the commander and he agreed to do it. Besides, I don't know what else we could do. Our watchmen had spotted no terrorists but agreed to go out farther away form the camp and search for them. The whole day everyone set up traps around the camp.

I was worried about Austin. When the night came, he had probably thrown up about 3 times. I'm not sure what he had, though, because he had barely ate anything and he wasn't contagious. I just hoped he got better.

When the night came, I began to think about home. I know this was like any other mission, but it was more important and we have already had men killed. So we don't know what will happen next. Maybe another attack. I'm not sure why but I just wanted to go back to the base to see everyone.

I looked up at the stars, the fire keeping me warm. I had really hoped that the traps would catch someone lurking or spying in the dark, and hopefully tonight.

I looked at Austin who was now asleep. Good, he needed it I thought to myself. Before the sun went down, he had eaten an EMP. So I would take that as a sign his symptoms were getting better.

I shifted to my side, not finding a comfortable spot on the hard ground. I looked at the woods in front of me imagining that Zane and Tom were close to us and that they would come running out of the woods.

Suddenly, I heard a large crack where I was looking in the woods. I looked around me and no one seemed to be awake, just me. I sat upright, watching. I saw a dark figure begin to run across the edge of the woods. Quickly, I sprang to my feet and ran towards it. Chasing the figure, I was able to make out a male. He was slower than me, and before no time I found myself on his heels. I lunged towards him, grabbing his ankles and tackling him to the ground. He grunted in pain and I held his arms down. His gun was knocked out of his hand.

"Who are you?" I asked him. The man didn't respond. Roughly, I grabbed his arms and picked him up off the ground. We walked back towards the camp and still no one had woken up. I whistled very loud, startling everyone awake.

"Hey." I said. They looked at me and saw the person I had in my strong grip.

Zane's POV
Today was a cold day, but we both had still sweat. We chopped piles and piles of wood until it was too dark to see. The ax I was holding had caused blisters and sores of my hand. Occasionally splinters, too. My hands were throbbing. Now the boss came to judge our piles of wood. I don't know how we didn't chop enough wood because we had tons of it.

Tom was standing next to me and I slipped the Walkie out of my arm and quickly gave it to Tom who stuck it in his sleeve. It was his turn to talk. I did last time.

When the boss came, he examined our piles carefully. Tom's pile was a little bigger than mine but only by a few inches all the way around.

"Yours is fine. Escort him to his room." The man said to Tom in his thick accent. I was waiting for him to excuse me but he never did. Tom reluctantly got escorted to the old room we sleep in.

The boss turned to me.

"Chop 100 more logs." He said. I couldn't believe what he said to me. 100 more? With my bleeding hands? No way.

"No." The boss turned to me angry. I continued to speak. "With respect sir, my hands are bleeding and torn. It is too dark to see. I cannot continue today." I said in the most polite way I could.

"Refusing to work? Your punishment will take action tomorrow." He said. Then his men ushered me into the sleeping room. Tom was sitting upright on the hay. I sat on the opposite wall from him, lost in thought on what my punishment could be.

"You look like you've seen a ghost." Tom said.

"Did you call the chief?" I asked him, not looking up from the spot I was staring at on the floor.

"Nah. I don't know what I would tell him different. Zane, what's up? Did the boss say something to you?"

"Do you think that these men in this camp would kill us?" I asked. Tom moved closer to me.

"If they hate us enough to make us slaves, then probably. But they haven't, so that means they need us." Tom replied. "Why?" He added.

"Tom, I don't wanna die. We have made it this far. I don't wanna die here." I said, my voice full of worry.

"What makes you think you're going to die?" Tom asked confused.

"They are going to punish me tomorrow because I refused to chop more wood. I was polite and everything."

"How are they going to punish you?" Tom asked concerned.

"I don't know."

"Zane, you won't die. They need us both to do their work. Whatever this punishment is, I'm sure it won't be severe, like maybe you have to chop more wood than usual. It won't be bad." Tom said. He handed my the Walkie back and I knew he was asking if I wanted to call.

"I won't call. Maybe later." I said, hiding it back beneath my sleeve.

Tom and I laid down in the hay, trying to lay in the spots with no bugs. It was dark and cold. Even our uniforms weren't heavy enough to keep us warm. Soon enough, my exhaustion from the past few days settled in and I fell asleep.

A&N-Please Read
One thought to think about: what do you think Zane's punishment is? What about the man Cam tackled?

You made it to the end, anxious to go on.

However, just when you're about to scroll to the next chapter, something catches your eye: the yellow outline of a star at the bottom of your screen.

You wonder if you should press it, knowing it wouldn't hurt. It may even make the author smile knowing they got another like.

You press the star, it filing with yellow. Pleased, you read the next chapter.