In Too DeepㅣJENLISA

Chapter 7

Jennie almost emptied the bottle before handing it to Lisa, gulping two sips and leaving the last two for the thirsty lieutenant who finished it without a second thought. She put the bottle back inside and looked around.

"Well, two things are a priority right now - camp and water. We need to acquire them as soon as possible or we are dead meat"

"There was a little opening we passed by a few minutes ago. I think it would be a good place to make a fire and build a small shelter"

"Great. Let's move there and take some rest"

They slowly trudged back between the leaves, watching their every step for curious little creatures that could easily get them killed after the smallest mistake. Lisa walked ahead, carefully testing the grounds and holding back the branches on their way for Jennie to move safely in between. She finally caught a sight of the opening the brunette talked about earlier. The place lacked any hint of vegetation, which was weird considering the looks of everything surrounding them. It looked as if the trees had stepped away from their roots to welcome the new masters of the land.

Lisa stepped in first, happily greeting the sight of the exposed muddy ground her eyes missed seeing ever since they left the scene of the accident.

"Okay, this should work" she dropped the bag at the same time as Jennie's tired and limp body hit the ground. "You are right" Lisa chuckled and sat by her feet. "We'll take a few minutes break after which we have to go find fitting branches and leaves for the shelter. We don't have much time to rest"

Jennie let out a sigh and closed her eyes, letting her body feel the cool dirt and become one with the jungle. She had never guessed how much she missed out on everything - clean air, beautiful greenery, animals she never knew existed, real sounds and smells of pure nature. That was life. And even though she knew the situation they found themselves in wasn't the best, she wished she would experience the feeling of such calmness and relaxation at least once again in her lifetime.

Being stuck between four cold walls for hours every day, performing duties you've lost years studying for, just to earn a piece of paper that was made out of ruined nature, was never going to be worth it. She now understood after she felt the rough texture of the unprocessed dirt between her fingers and smelled the sweet scent of wild berries hidden somewhere between the leaves they were going to cut after a few minutes to please their human need of security.

Even though the epiphany was just now settling itself into her mind, her instinct for survival and self-preservation was stronger than her pity for the living and breathing creatures they had to hurt and kill in order to secure their own lives. They were stuck in the wild, and the wild meant a battle of life or death. It was either them or her. The stronger shall win and she certainly had no intention of losing the vicious competition.

*****

"Time to get up, princess"

Lisa's sudden voice pulled Jennie out of her sweet way towards dreamland. She lifted her hand and rubbed her tired eyes, quietly groaning in the process as she wondered if she would be able to get even a single drop of sleep when the thought of being stuck in a jungle still twirled around her head. She finally opened her eyelids and was immediately startled by seeing Lisa's face hovering over hers from above. The lieutenant had bent over, hand on her knee as she stared down at Jennie's sleeping form.

"Don't call me princess!" her tone possessed a hint of annoyance. Jennie pushed Lisa's face away from her and pulled herself up to her feet.

"And why not? All you've been doing all day was.... well, nothing" Lisa smirked at her.