A Dragon's Tale-Genesys

Day Two

Morning came earlier than I would have liked. I woke to the sound of thunder rattling the bamboo walls and shaking the tin roof. It was extremely dark inside the hut and the glow sticks were dim. I could see Hudson standing by the door with his head stuck out of it.

"Damn",he whispered,"you gotta be fucking kidding me."

"Looks like rain huh?",I asked slipping on my combat shirt and boots.

"Looks like a hurricane",Hudson said,"the sky is damn near black."

I rolled out of the hammock and went over to the door,looking outside. The sky was in the final stages of dark grey before going to black. Thunder like a twenty millimeter Barrett sniper rifle rolled in the distant clouds and forked lightning arced in the distance. There was a cool wind blowing through the air,carrying the smell of rain on it.

"What ya wanna do John?",Hudson asked.

I sighed,"rain or shine,we gotta move,get the others up,let's cover as much ground as we possibly can before the storm starts."

Hudson nodded and woke the others.

"Sounds like it's about to pour",Emelia said,"good for me,I like the rain."

No one said anything. I walked over to my gear and heaved my vest and pack to my shoulders before grabbing my machine guns,shouldering the RPK in favor of the 48. Hudson helped Emelia with her gear as Issac and I looked over the map again. After a bit of measuring and planning,Issac and I figured with the same six hours of travel as the previous day,we could cover the rest of the six miles,provided of course it was just brush.

"Everyone got everything?",I asked placing the map in a waterproof pouch on my vest,"once we hit that brush,we wont be coming back here,so if you left something,your screwed."

My friends ran through their kits.

"I got all my stuff",Issac said.

"Me too",Hudson said.

"Likewise",Emelia replied.

"Everything is accounted for",Frank said.

"Alright then",I continued,"let's go."

Hudson opened the door and I walked out into the dark and windy morning. The sky had greyed significantly in the past ten minutes,telling me rain was very close by. Emelia was the last one out,closely followed by Hudson,who shut the door behind him,leaving it unlocked for the next person who needed it. We walked from the clearing and started into the brush,once again hacking our way through the jungle by means of dull machetes.

We had only been going for about ten minutes before the rain began to come down. At first it was only a light drizzle,but soon it was like someone was dumping a bucket from heaven. The rain,combined with the ninety some degree weather,made for miserable conditions as it was. Add to that the return of the mosquito's and spiders,and we had basic times twenty,but none the less,we pressed on.

As we went along,the mud started. I sank into it with every step and it was extremely difficult to pull my boots out of the mud. Then,Emelia hit a deep pocket of mud and feel right in,most all of her twenty foot long body getting submerged. It required all four of us to pull her out. I tied ropes around her shoulders while Hudson found a long long and wedged it under her like a lever. After twenty minutes of pulling,and falling in the mud a few times ourselves,we finally got her out and managed to press on. After only a measly four minutes,Issac spoke up.

"John",he said,"I'm hearing what sounds like rapids up ahead."

Over the sound of the heavy rainfall,I began to hear them too.