"Louis! Where are you?" asked Ariel worriedly, her blue eyes looking at the cliff below her, scanning the area frantically.
"Here!" said Sean, waving at her. The 2 rushed over, seeing Louis holding onto 5 branches for dear life with one of his hands and all of his 4 tentacles. His left hand holding the map fragments tightly, dangling from his body.
Sean held onto Ariel as she reached out to Louis. Louis released one of his tentacles, but to his dismay, it is not long enough to reach Ariel's hand.
The branches started to crack even more under Louis' weight.
"Let go of the map! Reach to Ariel!" yelled Sean.
But Louis refused, not wanting to drop their most important tool of navigation.
"Damn it, Louis!" Ariel shouted, her voice trembling as she stretched even further, nearly sliding off the edge herself. Sean tightened his grip on her waist, anchoring her in place.
Louis gritted his teeth. Sweat trickled down his temple. "I can't let it go—we'll be lost without it!"
"You'll be dead with it!" Sean barked.
Another loud crack snapped through the air—one of the branches had given way. Louis slipped half a meter down, gasping, his eyes wide with panic.
"Louis, please!" Ariel's voice softened, imploring him. "We'll find the way again. But if you fall—you will be dead!"
Louis looked at the deep abyss beneath him and gulped, but he stubbornly refused, instead trying to reach out to Ariel with left hand while holding onto the 3 map fragments, but this soon proved to be futile since he can't extend his fingers to reach Ariel when his hand is wrapped around a few sheets of laminated paper.
"Merde, almost there…" cursed Louis, straining his arm forward, inches away from Ariel's outstretched hand.
"Crack!" another branch broke, and Louis fell by a metre again. Acting fast, Sean threw out a wind arc, knocking the maps out of Louis hand. Louis froze, staring momentarily at Sean, shocked at his action.
"GRAB ON!" yelled Sean. Louis quickly snapped out, and grabbed Ariel's arm, who grunted, pulling him up onto the cliff while Sean pulled the both of them back. The 3 sat on the ground, panting in both fatigue and shock.
"WHAT THE F*** BRO?!" yelled Sean, smacking Louis in his helmet, in a kind of disappointed and concerned rage. "If your aim is to kill yourself, I suggest you take a less convoluted way!" he said, his snarky sense of humour seeping through.
Louis looked down, avoiding Sean's gaze as if he is a little brother caught by his older brother for stealing ice cream from the fridge.
"I—I thought the map was everything," Louis mumbled, his voice barely audible, face still burning hot with embarrassment and guilt.
"Maps can be replaced," Sean said sternly, softening his voice after noticing Louis's shame-filled expression. "But you can't. Remember that."
Ariel gently placed her hand on Louis's shoulder. "Sean's right, Louis. Nothing's more important than your life. Never do that again."
Louis nodded slowly, the shame still visible on his face, but he finally mustered enough courage to look at them both. "I'm sorry. I panicked…"
Sean gave Louis a reassuring pat on the back. "It's alright. We all panic sometimes. Just promise us you'll think clearly next time."
"I promise," Louis replied earnestly.
Sean sighed, standing up and stretching a little. "Alright, enough drama. Let's figure out our next move." They huddled together, pulling out the remaining glowsticks. With the maps gone, they now faced the reality of relying purely on instinct and their collective memory. Ariel looked thoughtful. "We know we were heading eastward. The valley should still be directly ahead, right?"
"Yes," Louis confirmed. "If the terrain hasn't drastically changed, following this direction should get us there."
"Good enough for me," Sean agreed. "But this time, stick together—no more accidents."
They moved on cautiously, their pace slower, more deliberate. Without the visual guidance of maps, Sean's expertise and Ariel's steady rhythm with the pacer beads became invaluable. Louis walked between them, now extra careful about his footing, replaying the incident repeatedly in his head. He silently vowed to never let his friends down again.
After another hour of slow trekking, the terrain gradually shifted, the steep slopes revealing the anticipated valley below, faintly illuminated under the moonlight breaking through patchy clouds.
"That's it," Sean breathed a sigh of relief, pointing towards the distinct landscape. "
Louis smiled genuinely for the first time since the cliff incident.
They descended carefully, mindful of loose gravel and uneven footing. The valley felt like a sanctuary, a brief respite from the challenging terrain they'd navigated through the night. It gave the trio renewed energy, each step feeling slightly lighter than the last.
Halfway down, Sean suddenly paused, signalling the others to stop. A distant noise reached their ears—the faint rustling of leaves, footsteps crunching on dry grass.
"Someone's nearby," Sean whispered, instantly dropping his voice lower, crouching low.
"Could be other cadets?" Ariel whispered hopefully.
"Could be," Sean nodded. "But let's not assume anything."
They waited silently, staying hidden behind large boulders, watching shadows move through the dim moonlight. Soon enough, the outlines of two figures appeared, whispering hurriedly, clearly confused and frustrated.
Sean frowned for he does not recognise their voices.
Ariel and Louis are too perplexed, not knowing who these strangers are. The 3 looked at the HK-416A5 rifles as part of their kit. These are real guns but are all loaded with simunation, as evident by the blue tags on the magazines. These bullets are less lethal, though they still pack enough of a punch to incur pain.
"I'd say that they are civilians that got lost here," suggested Louis.
"Or something more sinister," said Ariel.
"No way, how can those with malicious intent show up here under the nose of UNSSD and the South African military?" asked Louis.
"Well, it may be the Bast*rd himself's little surprise," suggest Ariel.
"This is a land nav course, why would the instructors do this?" retorted Louis.
Sean dis-engaged the safety on his rifle. "No, Ariel has a point." He pointed to the simunation rifles they are holding, saying that the fact that the instructors had given training guns that can shoot simunation bullets instead of rubber props meant that the rifles are not meant to be a simple weight simulation, rather, there is expectation of it being used like actual guns.
After all, the simulated situation is them in hostile territory.
Louis nodded, "ok, then what's the plan?"
"Let them pass, but if they keep coming towards us then we order them to stop, you two stay here," instructed Sean. He then crawled away, silently flanking the 2 approaching strangers.
The 2 strangers had now neared the patch of grass where Louis and Ariel are crouched at. Louis now can see the faces of the strangers clearly.
One was a stocky Hispanic man, mud-streaked but moving with steady purpose, every step deliberate despite his exhaustion. His sharp gaze swept the terrain like he was still thinking methodically. The other was a taller, wiry black man who, despite looking battered, had an easy grin on his face, like he was strolling into a neighbourhood barbecue instead of a military training zone.
Knowing that they are just seconds away from being spotted, Louis and Ariel sprang up, aiming their rifles at the 2 men, while Sean stood up from behind their backs, rifle raised.
"HALT! IDENTIFY YOURSELF!" yelled Ariel.
The 2 shocked men quickly raised their hands.
"Whoa, homies! We good! We're civilians!" The black man raised his hands high, a disarming grin spreading across his face. He then noticed Ariel, Louis and Sean wearing camouflaged uniforms with full combat gear, and cheered in joy.
"Oh, thank God, you all are finally here!" he said happily, looking at this buddy in joy. "We were lost in the valley for 3 days! Are you all the South African army?"
"No, wait, UN!" said the Hispanic man, recognising their different camouflage patterns. "Are you all on a mission?" he asked, walking forward to Ariel, who immediately raised her rifle at him, warning him to stay a distance away.
"Ah, right!" said the Hispanic man, reaching into his outdoor vest. "We are anti-poachers—"
"FREEZE!" warned Louis."Dude, relax, I just wanna take my ID," he said softly, taking out a broken smartwatch that projected a hologram ID. The black man did the same, pointing to the smartwatch on his wrist, with a casual wink at Ariel as if to say, "See? Told ya we're chill."
Louis went over the IDs while Sean searched the 2 men, finding pump action shotguns on them that are devoid of ammunition, a couple of tools and a compass each. Ariel in the meantime kept her rifle raised.
"Looks legit to me," said Louis. Ariel frowned. "You claim to be anti-poachers, but there is no endangered wildlife in this area to my knowledge."
"We got lost!" explained the black man with an embarrassed chuckle.
Seeing her sceptical face, the black man continued, "we are new, you can see from our IDs, we just joined last month!"
Sean eyed them carefully. Their stories check out, but there is a nagging sense at the back of his head: something is not right here.
"What do we do with them?" he asked. "We can't bring them with us, not when we have a time limit."
"We can tie them by the tree there," suggested Ariel. "Then we report the coordinates to the camp once we arrive."
"No please!" implored the black man. "We have been without food or water for days! You can't leave us here!"
Ariel and Sean hesitated, but Louis made his choice. He reached out to the Hispanic man, saying that he is more than happy to bring them along.
The 2 gratefully followed after him as Louis walked. Ariel led the way. Sean trailed behind, pretending to look at notepad where he had scribbled some notes on, in reality, he is keeping a finger on the trigger guard.
The 5 passed into a narrow path, this meant that they all need to walk in a single file. In this moment, Sean's glowstick went out, leaving his immediate front a black blob in his eyes.
Suddenly, the black man headbutted Louis, while the Hispanic man did the same to Ariel.
The 2 were caught by surprise and were quickly hit down, Louis and Ariel tried to fight back, but it soon became apparent that the 2 men were extremely skilled fighters, and the narrow space meant that the Louis, Ariel and Sean all could not manoeuvre their rifles.
Ariel grunted, reaching for her holstered pistol, drawing it out, but it was soon knocked out of her hands by the Hispanic man, who then kicked her one side while simultaneously disarming her of her rifle, throwing it one side. No motion wasted.
The black man slammed into Louis with a laughing grunt, "C'mon bro, you gotta hit harder than that!", even as he neatly flipped him onto the rocks.
Sean threw his rifle sling back, knowing that in these narrow spaces, rifles are less useful, parrying the lunge away.
The black man held on to his waist, pushing Sean back. This is clearly meant to prevent him from drawing his pistol. Sean then elbowed the man in the back, forcing him to let go, he then upper-cut the man with a hard punch, sending him flying back.
"He is strong…" muttered the black man. He could tell that Sean is already holding back his strength. Had he wanted to, Sean would have punched through him,
In the meantime, Louis pinned down the Hispanic man, holding on tightly to his legs to prevent him from reaching Ariel. Ariel then grabbed her rifle, and shot the Hispanic man.
A puff of yellow smoke rose from the Hispanic man's body. This is how UNSSD soldiers signal that they are "KIA" in war drills.
Sean looked at the Hispanic man, then at the black man lying against the rock, his pistol drawn and fired. A puff of yellow smoke is too rising from the black man's body.
"So, you 2 are instructors…" muttered Louis as he helped Ariel regather her equipment, picking up hers as well. He could not believe that his kindness was used and it almost led to catastrophic consequences for the team.
His heart sank once he realised he screwed up again today.
The black man grinned. "Well, homie, we are both dead men now, and I'd suggest you 3 hurry yo a**es before the clock runs out."
(7 hours later)
"I see the camp! RUN!" yelled Ariel.
The 3 bolted into the camp, having ran the last 5km in order to make up for the time lost. Herbert stopped the stopwatch as Louis passed him, falling on the ground and panting.
"Numbers 9, 31, 42 came in 7 hours 20 minutes! Second last!" he reported. "That's all the cadets accounted for."