Gaspare paused slightly, then shook his head, seemingly misinterpreting his curiosity as wariness.
"I said I would repay you. The Legion taught many things, including honor."
Jack thought to himself. Words are cheap. Although this guy seed sincere, facts were needed to prove it.
Jack brought him along for two reasons: first, he valued his combat abilities, and second, he wanted to keep an eye on him personally. Otherwise, if he suddenly attacked from behind, even with weapons, JJ might not be able to handle it.
"That's about it. Let's go around to that mountain over there." Jack pointed to a small hill not far to the north.
The sun had fully risen, and the temperature had increased accordingly. It was probably around 10 a.m. Trekking through the hot and humid tropical jungle was extrely painful, especially when the pathfinder didn't even have a machete.
Fortunately, this wasn't a true prival jungle, but rather primarily secondary forest, much like a tropical rainforest that had been burned and briefly cultivated with crops before being abandoned.
Although it had gradually reverted to a wild environnt, there were still many small paths that allowed passage.
The group of more than ten people moved silently through the jungle, the n protecting the won in the middle, supporting each other in pairs.
Even with the paths, walking in this kind of place was still extrely difficult for ordinary people. The dense vegetation blocked the scorching sun, but the sweltering environnt made everyone sweat constantly.
Everyone was bundled up tightly, no one daring to expose any skin. Various poisonous insects lurked, constantly harassing these easy prey, and repellent seed completely ineffective in this environnt.
Initially, while walking along the main road, people would occasionally whisper and chat, but after turning onto the smaller paths, everyone lost interest in talking, and their movents gradually beca numb.
Each person carried a wooden stick, using it to push aside branches overhead or occasionally strike the grass and bushes around them. Every now and then, a rustling sound would drift through the air, whether from a venomous snake or sothing else, as it suddenly darted into the depths of the dense forest.
Suddenly, a voice from the front of the group eased everyone's tension.
"Climb this little hill ahead, we'll rest at the top," Captain Torrance said, kicking away the marker Jack had made with pebbles by the roadside. He pointed to a small hill in the distance, where Gaspare stood waving at them.
The hill was sparsely vegetated, with only a few large, unidentified trees that spread their massive canopies like parasols, finally bringing so coolness to the sweating passengers.
"We've cleared this area, you can rest for a bit."
Jack didn't say much to the group, only hugged JJ, and when no one was looking, took the pistol and magazine she handed him, then turned and disappeared into the jungle with Gaspare.
No one noticed that only a little over an hour had passed since they set off.
"Isn't that our plane over there?" Finally, soone noticed sothing was wrong, pointing to the dirt road leading down to the small hill — the wreckage of the plane that had crash-landed with half its wing broken.
Looking at the small hill they were on, the straight-line distance from their starting point was only four or five hundred ters. Had they been trekking through the jungle for so long just by taking a detour?
The astute among them had already guessed what was going on and cast questioning glances at Captain Torrance.
"Everyone, rest here. Officer Tavelor and that man have already gone back," Captain Torrance explained.
"This was the best plan we ca up with together. If the search party is terrorists, we're safe as long as we hide here. If they're ordinary islanders we can communicate with, Officer Tavelor will try to negotiate with them."
"But the three who stayed behind know our whereabouts. What if they get caught?" The female college student's once-perfect makeup was now a ss of sweat, but she was clearly not the type to be all looks and no brains; she looked worried.
"If there aren't many people coming, Jack is confident he can rescue them. Besides, our real plan isn't to go to that small town in the southwest, but to the southeast, where there's a port — that's our true destination," JJ chid in. The entire plan was basically proposed by Jack; she made so modifications, while the captain and crew handled the details.
The passengers began whispering amongst themselves, clearly quite satisfied that the leaders of this makeshift self-rescue team had co up with such a seemingly flawless plan.
Most of the ti, ordinary people don't mind being directed or led, especially in self-rescue groups; they care more about the competence of the leader or organizer.
Jack and Gaspare quickly returned to their starting point, hiding in a thicket of bushes and waiting quietly.
The couple from the Chingchong country were chatting incessantly with the bald, white old man under the shade of a tree, until he finally picked up a stone and pretended to throw it, at which point the couple hurriedly sat down to the side.
Nearly another hour passed. Jack was bitten by insects to the point of tears. He tried to imitate Gaspare by collecting leaves from a variety of plants in the Artemisia genus, crushing them and applying them to his skin, which finally relieved him from insects.
Finally, at one end of the dirt road, billowing dust rose as six or seven old pickup trucks led the way, followed by a dilapidated bus, heading towards the plane wreckage.
The couple from the Chingchong country who had been sitting under the tree suddenly beca excited, raising their hands high, waving excitedly, and shouting loudly.
The bald, white old man seed to hesitate for a mont, then also stepped forward and waved.
"Are they blind?" Gaspare was so nervous that he didn't dare to move, muttering to himself. One of these battle-damaged Toyota pickup trucks clearly had a heavy machine gun mounted on the back of its cargo bed.
The pickup trucks ford a semi-circle, and a short man wearing a headscarf and camouflage pants jumped out before the trucks had even co to a complete stop.
Bang! bang! bang!
The short man drew a pistol from his waistband and fired several shots at the feet of the three people.
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