Clandestine (To Love or To Kill)

SHARI smiled when she clutched the direction compass allotted for their group. Their company was divided into five groups because today was the schedule for their land navigation. Each group had two compasses. They had different places to jump off with one endpoint.

After Levi had caught them, Shari behaved well after the incident. And now, she wanted to show off her navigation skills.

”Lets do this! ” Shari could not contain her excitement. All of them wore their green camo uniform.

She was confidently reading the compass while Pamela stood beside her in full support. They were six in their group, walking simultaneously. Too bad Bartolome was in their group, and he held the second compass.

They were in the mountain quietly following its direction. On the other side, Shari was silently confused by their compasss different results. To avoid creating confusion among the group, she followed Bartolome.

”This place is creepy, ” said Ruiz, one of their group mates. His eyes were busy checking the area since there was no visible trail they could follow. Indeed, they were in the middle of nowhere. They couldn even see the sun in the sky because of the colossal trees around them.

”Lets follow the protocol of the land navigation, and well survive this. The higher officials won put our lives in danger. ” Pamela said.

Shari grabbed Pamelas arm and let her see the different readings of her compass. She whispered to her buddy.

”Look, our compass is pointing in a different direction. Im starting to doubt Bartolome. I think we
e lost! ” She could not stand Bartolomes haughty attitude.

Pamela peeked at the compass, and her eyes widened. ”You
e right! Lets tell the group. ”

Sharis brow raised as she waited when Pamela announced the huge discrepancy in the compass reading. And just as they expected, Bartolome insisted he was right.

In the end, Shari and Pamela decided to follow the reading of their own compass. The group did not like the idea, but Shari had already made her decision.

”Leave them. They know what they
e doing. ” Bartolome shook his head. Some were hesitant, but the majority of the group agreed.

As the two girls went on a different path, they had walked for almost two hours before Shari sensed they were off-track. She ignored the feeling of uneasiness gathered in her chest and still trusted her reading. They would surely reach the endpoint of their navigation.

”Are we off-course? I feel like we
e in the middle of the Amazon forest. ” Pamela had noticed their situation as well. They trekked through the thick forest and reached the open area where wild plants sprawled on the ground.

”I bet this compass would not give the wrong direction, right? The earths magnetic field had not changed. ” She composed herself and was distracted by the sight of a huge guava tree filled with fruits.

”Pam, look! We
e still lucky. We found a guava tree. Come on, lets rest for a while. The trek is tiring. ” Shari pointed. It stood a few meters away from them.

”You
e right. Its still early. Lets rest. ” Pamela walked towards the tree.

Shari removed her backpack and put it on the ground. She had to climb. The guava fruits were big, and the good ones were on top.

”Lets pick down here. You might fall climbing up there. ” Pamela puts down her backpack as well.

”Ill be careful, relax. This won take long. Then well resume our land navigation. At least we have this guava as trail food. ” She started to climb without removing her combat shoes. This was enough to calm her nerves, knowing they had gone astray.

Shari started picking the guava fruit and tossed it down to Pamela. They were having fun, but Pamela suddenly screamed.

”Shari, someone is coming. Come on, jump! Hurry! ” Pamela panicked while putting the fruits in her pockets and others in her backpack.

Shari suddenly felt nervous, too. What if those were enemies? They were in the middle of nowhere. Hiding in a safe place to assess the situation was the sensible thing to do.

She rushed, going down, causing her combat shoes to slip. Worse, the branch she was holding was fragile. There was a loud crack.

”Oh, shit! ” Shari closed her eyes to prepare for the impact as soon as her body fell hard to the grassy ground. Until she sensed that her body landed on something as if someone had caught her. She only came back to her senses because of Pamelas scream.

Shari slowly opened her eyes, still apprehensive of what would materialize. To her great surprise, Levis gloomy face greeted her. It appeared she had landed in his arms!

Wait, why is he here?

”Sir! ” Sharis eyes broadened.

Levi immediately let go of her. He was with Allen, and he witnessed him shaking his head. The two men carried a high-caliber rifle.

She straightened her back and made a salute. ”You… are real. ”

”What is this? Are you out of your mind? Why did you go off-course? ” Levi was fuming. And with the timbre on his voice, Shari almost quivered in fear.

Levis face was red with rage. He harshly grabbed her arm, and she couldn complain that she was hurt by the way he clasped her.

”Im sorry, sir. ” She looked down.

”Did it ever cross your mind that this is a high-risk area? This is infested by the enemies. What if you got kidnapped? Do you know what could have happened? ”

Shari shook her head. She couldn meet his dangerous gaze.

”Damn it, Ford! Look at me! ” He commanded.

She was taken aback by what he said. She tilted her head up. It was her fault. She was overconfident, which put Pamelas life in danger.

Levi turned to Pamela. ”And you, Laxamana, I can believe you would tolerate your buddy knowing you could have died! ”

Pamelas eyes were fixed on the ground. She wouldn dare to reason out in this situation. Doing so would provoke him more. They were both at fault anyway.

Shari lost count of how much she swallowed hard as her heart was beating rapidly. It gave her chills over her spine. She was used to Levis serious personality, but this was the first time he witnessed him this furious. The man was full of menace, yet she could see the hint of worry in his eyes. Or was she imagining things?

”You are my responsibility when something happens. I can believe you
e this dense! ” Levi pointed his index finger at Sharis face.

Allen walked in their direction and held Levis shoulder. ”Calm down, lets go back. ”

Levi let go of Sharis arm, leaving a mark on her skin. He deeply breathed out many times to calm his nerves.

”We were just following the reading of the compass, ” Shari said in a low voice.

Allen held her compass and checked it momentarily. Then he shook his head.

”This compass has a discrepancy in the calibration. I bet this is broken. Anyway, we need to be in a hurry. We can stay here long. The groups are complete. Only the two of you are missing. ”

”Sir, we didn mean to be lost, ” Pamela said. She finally got the courage to face Levi.

”Lets get back, ” Levi commanded something on his radio before he turned around.

Shari and Pamela walked in the middle of the two men. Their eyes were scanning the surroundings, and their hands tightly grasped their rifles.

It finally sank into Sharis mind the danger of what she did. She had never been this frightened. She was too lax. And with a little more push, Levi would have exploded.