In Too DeepㅣJENLISA

Chapter 17

Day nine of their long journey didn't bring any good news to the desolated lost survivors except that they were getting increasingly better at successfully keeping themselves alive, somehow. They strictly followed the path of the stream for hours, deciding to lower the time spent in making camps and taking rests and instead focused mainly on walking as much as they could every day.

Once their sore legs and tired bodies started giving up, though, they finally settled for the decision to listen to their desperate need to rest and made a small quick camp a few kilometers down their previous one.

Lisa launched her spear into the water swiftly and finally stabbed the fish she had been expectantly waiting to swim by her for the past few minutes until her patience ran out. She threw herself into the shallow water and caught the vigorously moving animal with both hands. Lisa cursed under her breath when the fish struggled in her grasp before somehow slipping between her fingers and continuing down the stream, leaving a bloody trail behind itself which she quickly followed.

After a few more minutes of endless chasing into the water, the lieutenant - now wet to the bones - had the fish pierced through the sharp tip of the spear as she walked back to the camp. She took her time to clean it as best as she could and cook it perfectly on the chill fire before placing it neatly on top of a big leaf and adding a cup of fruits to the side.

Lisa grabbed about a five centimeters long piece of a thin stick before catching the tip on a small fire and sticking it on the top of the fish. She grabbed her improvised food platter in hand and walked toward the place where Jennie was still peacefully enjoying her slumber. Kneeling next to her, she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and ran a fingers down her cheek, a small smile cracking on her lips.

"Jen" she whispered, watching as the brunette let out a quiet whine, and stir. "Jennie, get up, come on" Lisa giggled when she protested once again. "I have something for you"

"What is it?" Jennie whispered in a state of still being half unconscious.

"Get up and see for yourself, sleepyhead" Lisa slumped back on the ground as Jennie rubbed her eyes and groggily propped up her upper body on her elbow. She eyed the food in Lisa's hands through the small gap between her eyelids, her asleep mind still not grasping what was happening.

"You made me breakfast?" she asked confused.

Lisa's smile widened at Jennie's oblivion. "That's not just any simple breakfast"

The brunette stared at her for a few long seconds. "Huh?"

Lisa giggled once again. "That's a birthday breakfast. Your birthday breakfast"

"Birth-" Jennie blinked a couple of times. "Wait, what? Do I-?"

"Yup. Happy twenty-ninth, Jen!"

Jennie quickly sat up next to Lisa, now wide awake, as she eyed the cute presentation of the food and the effort Lisa had put into it. Her heart swelled with happiness. "You remember my birthday?" 

Jennie stood stunned by the fact that even after everything she did to Lisa, after more than a year of pure hatred towards her, the lieutenant still remembered such small and simple details like her favorite ice cream, her birth date, and that she didn't like cleaning the fish bones by herself, which Jennie noticed Lisa had taken her time to remove beforehand.

"Seems like it" The lieutenant blushed lightly. "Hope yours is better than mine, though"

"Thank you, but I doubt it. We are stuck in a jungle, Lis. This can't possibly be good"

"At least there are no tears"

"You can't be sure about that. I can cry right at this moment because I definitely did not expect you to do something like this, or anything at all, for me after everything that happened. It's really kind of you. Thank you so much"