Stranded in Thoughts

Chapter 12—The Lost Group

Red. Blue. Yellow.

After coming up with a decision to group the crowd into three to do different tasks, I immediately went back to my tent and slumped heavily on the makeshift bed. I couldn’t believe what was happening right then. Everything here was traumatizing. Everything was unreal.

Was it too much to ask God just to meet someone romantically?

I never asked to have this kind of situation.

First of all, the main reason why I agreed to join the retreat was that I was expecting that I’d be able to meet someone—of course, romantically—on the island and have some fun. I wanted to at least be held by a guy even once in my life. That was the only thing that I was asking for. I didn’t care if the guy would be handsome or not as long as he was a guy then it was all good. Damn, I was desperate about finding one.

Instead, this happened.

I noticed that I was shivering, which I suspected was because I still couldn’t forget what happened in the captain’s cabin. It would surely haunt me for life. That was my first time seeing a dead body, much more a headless one.

Vhina barged in without knocking—well, you couldn’t really knock on a tent—and dove beside me.

“Elly, how are you feeling?” first thing she asked, which I appreciated.

“I’d be lying to myself if I’d say I’m fine. Though I’m not as shocked as earlier, I’m still traumatized by it.”

Vhina stayed quiet for a whole minute, maybe giving me enough time to say something else. She finally stood and grabbed my hydro flask from a pile of clothes adjacent to my bed and jugged a mouthful. In a serious note, she reported, “We are in the blue team.”

I twisted myself, now lying on my back, and thought for a minute what the blue team would do. As far as I could remember from the meeting, the group was supposed to go inland and find some locals or anything that could be helpful to us, or things that could be a threat.

But the real objective was to find the missing people. Teacher Mary even dubbed it as “Finding the Lost Group” mission.

In short, we were just sacrificial pawns. Since we didn’t know the dangers lurking around the island, especially after the incident that happened to the captain, it would be the same as calling it a suicidal trip.

I put my left hand above, blocking the light that had been sifted from the shaft of the tent, and counted the missing ones from our school with my fingers.

Arjun. Blanch. Veruca. Josh. teacher Samuel.

I continued counting with my other fingers.

Priscilla. Finlay. Chevonne.

Right, Chevonne. I hoped she was okay. We had been classmates since college, and she had been a good friend of mine. I did hope for her to be alive.

I jumped off my bed and looked Vhina straight in the eye. “Vhi, when do we leave?”

“Later on. The rest are still preparing.”

“When you said we earlier, are you referring to Ritchelle and Alyssa as well?”

“Yep. Also, there are some more who will accompany us. Three from the crew of the barge, and teacher Norkie and teacher Selena from the teachers.”

This information sent a relief sensation—equal to having goosebumps—all over my body.

“Well, at least they were mindful enough to send some men with us. I mean, it’s no less than a suicide mission. Why don’t they just send some men inland?”

“Actually, at first, it was supposed to be all the crew of the barge since they are the most capable ones to face any danger waiting inland if there was any. However, I suspect that teacher Mary doesn’t trust everyone here, much more the crew, so she suggested that we come along.”

“Why us, though?”

“Seems like we are the ones she trusts.”

I sometimes couldn’t understand what teacher Mary was thinking. But it wouldn’t hurt to trust her in this situation, especially that she was the one who was the most experienced in this crisis out of the teachers—or maybe out of all of us. We couldn’t risk trusting the rest of the crowd, even Dr. Shawn.

I knew he was hot and manly, but I didn’t want to trust him. I watched enough movies to know how nice-looking guys could turn into someone that would betray everyone. His good nature was too suspicious to be wary about. I hoped I was wrong.

Alyssa and Ritchelle went inside the tent, bringing some backpacks with them that they had salvaged from the barge.

“Hey, there, Jelly. How are you feeling?” Alyssa asked.

“I’m fine. What’s with the bags?”

“Oh, it’s actually to stash important things that we might find on our trip. See? They’re empty.”

Well, that would be helpful.

“How ‘bout you? You’re not going to bring something with you?” Ritchelle followed up.

“Only this hydro flask. You’ll never know how long we’re going to be out there. One of the enemies of a survivalist is thirst. You all better pack your own water bottles.”

They never did.

Teacher Mary barged inside and gestured for the rest to leave us alone. It might just be me, but there was like a connection that we both established with each other already that might have been because of the captain’s incident. She was the least of all I expected to get close to.

She gave me something that I embarrassingly snatched from her—my lucky charm. I’d never have thought that it would survive the wreckage. She might have seen how I got embarrassed from my reaction because she carefully positioned herself beside me on the bed while putting one arm around my shoulders in a semi-hug. She whispered something that could be misinterpreted as a threat if you didn’t know her.

“Be careful.”

She went out without any other words to utter. I was thankful to have her as our mentor, and I’d be forever thankful for knowing her more in just a day. Once we were rescued, I’d surely not be afraid of her anymore around the school.

I’d be more open the next time we’d see each other.

Teacher Selena and teacher Norkie were already outside the camp, together with the three crew members of the barge. They seemed like talking with each other while waiting for the four of us to get ready. Once they noticed us coming, they gave us a big wave, and teacher Norkie nodded to the rest, which was understandable as a “let’s have a move on”.

“By the way, let me introduce you to the rest of the group. Here is Mike,” teacher Norkie said and gestured to the pale-looking man who just gave us a weak smile. He kinda reminded me of Desmond Doss from the war movie that Molly and I watched last week. Well, at least he looked nice and trustworthy. I hoped he would never fail my expectations of him. “And these two are Jesson and Matt.”

“Hi, teachers.” The tall and chubby one, who might be Jesson, gave us a wave and a wink. He added some cringe-worthy lines that I’d rather not recount.

“Hey,” the shortest of them—almost as tall as me—scoffed, barely giving us a look.

What a rude guy. I’d sure as hell remember his name. Matt.

Just a few minutes of our journey, we were already trudging along a thick, damp grass that gave us some difficulty in going on. Ritchelle got trapped in a mud swamp that might have been a quicksand all along based on how squishy the ground was and the rate she was sinking. Luckily, Jesson was fast enough to pull her up despite his weight.

You would never expect a person who looked the least reliable to be someone helpful.

“What kind of jungle is this? I’ve been a seafarer of Kulbahinam for years, yet this is my first time encountering such dense and odd-looking plants and trees on an island up North,” Matt started complaining after we had walked for almost an hour. Well, I kind of expected him to do so.

“I agree with you, bro. I still remember when we went hunting for chix in Bantayan just last month. We’ve been to a lot of bars and places, yet this is new to me,” Jesson seconded. This man was surely a chicboy for all I knew. But he was not that good-looking, so he might have been rejected many times before.

I shook my head and slapped my cheeks. I hated myself for intuitively judging him.

 “Told ya, it might not be Bantayan at all,” Mike finally spoke. Despite his almost skeleton built, he surely manifested a deep voice within him—even deeper than teacher Norkie who I idolized for it.

“There’s also a lot of strange-looking plants here. Hopefully, we will be able to find out where we are,” teacher Norkie added with a finality tone.

“How ‘bout those?” Teacher Selena pointed to our left where a lot of butterflies were hovering over a strange-looking flower.

Matt approached the area and snatched one using his bare hands, not caring if it was dangerous. He squeezed it so hard that a lot of purple juice came bursting out from its body, killing it on the spot. The sudden action brought a gasp of shock to us, girls, especially Alyssa who almost screeched to the sight.

“These are not butterflies. These are mosquitoes,” he reported as soon as he came back.

The creature did resemble a mosquito. It was just weird because of how strange it was with a lot of features added and, by some miracle or phenomenon that I didn’t know, tweaked. I believed that it was a butterfly by the size of it and its wings, but you would surely doubt the moment it was offered in front of you.

“Ouch,” teacher Selena winced, scratching her neck. It started to bulge, and a lot of rashes spread throughout her skin. We kept our distance from her in fear and waited for something to happen. “Guys? What are you doing?”

“Selena, what’s happening to you?” teacher Norkie questioned calmly, making sure not to scare her.

“What do you mean? I think those butterfly-looking mosquitoes bit me.”

“Look at your arms.”

She surely looked the moment teacher Norkie had told her. Her eyes widened, followed by a scream that almost deafened all of us in the area. She started scratching everywhere other than her neck and kept on complaining about how itchy she felt.

“We better bring her back to the camp,” Jesson suggested in a worried voice.

“We’ve traveled approximately an hour already; it would be a waste if all of us will return ya’ see. Let’s just have someone to go with her,” Mike said. He approached teacher Selena and grabbed her left arm, which he fitted around his shoulders. “And that would be me, fellas. Y’all better continue.”

Teacher Norkie pondered the idea for a moment and relented as soon as teacher Selena begged him to agree with puppy eyes. “Alright. Be careful on your way.”

† † †

Teacher Norkie led the way, and we trudged through some denser foliage than before. We, girls, alternately took turns in jugging a mouthful of water from the hydro flask that I had brought, saving as much as we could until we could find some clean stream or potable water source. Or better yet, locals that would accommodate us.

If only they had brought some water bottles with them.

Vhina slumped down the ground and started taking in hard breaths that almost looked like she was having difficulty in breathing. “Can we rest for a minute?”

Teacher Norkie turned, about to give his approval when Matt interjected, “Woman, we will waste a lot of time resting right now. Have Jesson carry you on his back.”

“Hey, who are you to be that rude? I’ve been holding myself ever since teacher Norkie introduced you!” Alyssa fired. She surely snatched my opportunity to tell him likewise.

“I’m not being rude. I’m just being practical.”

“Practical? It’s like you don’t care whatever happens to us here. You’re just thinking of yourself! Don’t compare us to your monstrous stamina!”

“Was it my fault? Since you knew how weak that woman is, you should have told her to stay in the camp. She was a dead weight to our mission.”

“Whoa, there. That’s too much now,” I jumped in. I couldn’t stand how insensitive he was.

An unhealthy argument brewed. Matt kept on insisting that we should carry on with Jesson carrying Vhina on his back, while we fired back aggressively about his trashy idea. While I was pointing out how heartless and cruel he was, teacher Norkie joined us.

“Matt, can we just rest for some minutes? It would be much better than continuing our trek and risking ourselves from passing out due to exhaustion, right?”

“You should have just told that supervisor of yours not to bring these women here with us. They would not be helpful in this mission. They seemed like treating this as a walk in the park.”

“Mind your words, Matt. Don’t talk to my co-teachers like that. You wouldn’t like it once you get in my nerves,” teacher Norkie threatened, defending us. I’d like to see him beat the crap out of Matt.

Matt gave teacher Norkie a dead stare, eyeing him like how you attempt to intimidate someone who was much bigger than you. With a muscular built, teacher Norkie surely looked like someone out of WWE. The intricate, buffed muscles and shining, bald head gave Matt some concerning bullets of sweat. If I were him, I’d surely back off and apologize for what I had done.

It was like witnessing a Mexican standoff.

Vhina stood and went at my side, and then whispered, “What do you think will happen? Seems like they’re about to brawl.”

“Don’t wish for the worst. Teacher Norkie is a professional, and a teacher to sum it up. He will surely handle this one carefully.”

“Should we intervene?”

“Don’t even think about it.”

Ritchelle crawled her way to my other side. “Hey, the atmosphere is getting intense.”

“I know. Let’s just wait for what will happen next.”

Finally, Matt relaxed his shoulders and turned to the other side. He found a mound full of grass and dropped his butt on it, and then he groaned: “Five minutes. Let’s save time as much as possible.”

“Thank you, Matt,” teacher Norkie said and smiled at him. The action didn’t satisfy Matt—it was more like he was rubbing salt to the wound.

We took the five-minute break in silence. Even we, girls, couldn’t talk with each other, afraid of breaking the fuse that was keeping the two men from trading punches. I checked the insides of my hydro flask and found out that it was only good for one sip. I gave each of my friends a look and we somehow understood each other and agreed to give it to Vhina who badly needed it.

The moment I stood, my head took a three-hundred-sixty turn and my knees buckled. I’d have hit the ground if Jesson was not around. He caught me by the waist.

Everything stopped. I mean, it was like the time froze. If it were a shoujo manga, there would surely be petals of flowers fluttering around, accompanied by a lazy-ass, romantic music. He drew his face closer to mine and in alpha and husky voice whispered, “Are you okay?”

God, what was happening? Please, for your love, not him. He couldn’t be my romantic encounter!

His freezing breath caressed my face, and some directly went into my nose, sniffing something familiar from olden times. Yeah, sure, his breath stank a lot worse than garlic, but the familiarity of it took me down memory lane, racking my brain for that particular memory that had been lost.

I stared at his facial features and the smile he gave hit me strong enough to remember the event that happened to me during my high school days. Those missing teeth were sure as hell my proof.

“Ri—Rico?” I stammered, barely audible for him to hear.

However, the shift of his smile hinted me that he did catch on what I had said.

“How did you know my second name?” he said in a curious voice.

“Oh, my God, it’s you, Rico!” I shouted back.

The puzzle pieces of realization soon fit in with how his expression turned to amazement and awe. The nostalgic experience that we both had shared made our encounter wonderful. So, he was really the Rico that I had once known.

That I once had a crush on.

“Look at you, how come you’ve become this fat?” I scoffed, teasing him like how he used to tease others before.

“Now, now. It’s never been in my intention to be as round as this. Though you surely look as beautiful as before. What’s your skincare routine, Jelly?” he answered and returned the insult.

“Let me tell you, though, I’d never really recognize you if not with your cringe-worthy lines and looks that are almost hidden with your facial fats.”

“Ouch. That hurts. Anyway, so you’ve become a teacher?”

“And you a seafarer?”

“Life is surely unpredictable, huh?”

“Sure it is.”

We both laughed out loud, breaking the threatening silence of the atmosphere, gaining some attention from the rest of the group. Jesson, rather, Rico gently helped me on my feet. We looked at each other.

We both shared a smile again.

Was this the romantic encounter that I had been wishing for?

I mean, sure he was not that good-looking, but for some reason, he was able to wrap his palm around my heart, tweaking its beats back to the time when I first fell in love with him. Even with his indigo coverall, he looked like the atrocious boy who, in my eyes, was as handsome as any other.

“Hey, what are you doing there?” Matt called out of the blue.

“Nothing, just reminiscing the past we once shared,” Rico replied.

“You both knew each other?”

“Yeah, when we were in high school. We were both in the student council back then.”

“Never have thought of you as a school guy, Jes. For me, you always look like the man with wicked lines and poems to tell the girls all over the world. That’s why you’ve become a seafarer, to see assorted girls, right?”

Rico got embarrassed by this and covered his blushing cheeks. “Oh, man, that’s not something you should just be sharing around.” He turned to my direction and in an apologetic voice added, “That’s not entirely true, you know.”

I just chuckled, and he did likewise.

Just when we were about to continue our journey, teacher Norkie gave us a worried look and asked, “Where’s teacher Alyssa?”

Both Rico and Matt turned around and wondered where she was. Ritchelle, Vhina, and I frantically shouted her name with no avail. She was not responding.

We continued calling her out when Ritchelle pointed somewhere through a thick shrub. We rushed our way through and found out we were on a wide cliff: it was almost a ten-meter drop below. Rico searched the whole area, and we kept shouting her name when teacher Norkie called us out from the opposite edge. “Hey, all of you! Come here!”

He pointed at a pair of black shoes just near the edge of the cliff. The three of us gasped in horror as we all recognized them.

They belonged to Alyssa.

The shoes were placed meticulously, like how you would do when you were about to enter someone’s house. We somehow got an idea as to what happened, and it made our knees wobble in fear—we were scared. Still, we steeled our hearts and pushed ourselves to look over. Even with my blurry vision, I could still recognize what was below.

Beneath was a mess of splattered pool of blood with a distorted body in the middle.

We screamed and cried as we recognized her. Without a doubt, it was Alyssa.