Spy School: Time Off

Chapter 12: Clues galore

The Atlantic Ocean

Beach Bazooka

Friday morning

0800 Hours 

Ben's POV

I woke up the next morning and felt surprisingly relaxed. I couldn't feel Erica, but I smelt something good in the air. I opened my eyes to find some meat on a fire that Erica was cooking. "Look who finally woke up, want some breakfast." "Sure!" I said happily. I took some and ate it and it tasted amazing! It also tasted like beef. "How did you get the beef for this" I said sloppily while eating. Erica blushed, "Umm... emergency rationssssss" she said unsure. I thought for a second and then realized what that meant. It came from her breast pocket. "Oh...umm...it still tastes good." I realized that kinda sounded weird but she didn't seem to take it that way. She just smiled and sat next me. We finished our breakfast in comfortable silence and then decided to plan out the day. 

"So, what happened after I fell asleep." "Well, I was able to get service on the laptop and hack into the CIA headquarters. I found that it said we died while on the helicopter going over to the island. They said the engine malfunctioned  and that we drowned" Erica said. "Wow, that's a lot to unpack. Did you contact them to let them know we are alive" I asked concerned knowing that she didn't. "Of course not, there must be a mole in there CIA, so letting them think we are dead is better." "Right, what should we do know expert" I said jokingly. "Welllll" she said dramatically, "we could go find the group or go and investigate the crash site to find Murray." I knew we probably should have tried to find my friends, butttttt, I wanted more time with Erica. I know, selfish. But it was Erica, give me a break. "Lets not let Murray gain any more ground" I said confidently. And with that, we packed up and left for the site.

We did have to walk pretty far. It turns out we were 2 miles away from the crash sight. On the way, we talked about teachers and how boring some of the classes were. We also talked about how stupid the principle is. "He still holds me accountable for the mortar round!" I say while laughing. "He kept the most important codes in the CIA in his dictionary!" she said laughing even harder. By the time we got to the crash site, we were dying. So much in so, that we both stumbled down the hill leading to it. We landed on top of each other, her eyes glimmering in the light. Her smile as wide as a rainbows. I knew I wouldn't have a better chance, so I risked it. I started to pull in, she did to. Our lips touched. Hers was warm like a nice day and felt like one to. We both just kept on going for 12 seconds before she finally pulled away. We just sat there, staring into each other's eyes, until we heard footsteps. We both immediately got up, blushing, looking around. After what seemed like ages, we heard the footsteps again. We hid in a bush, waiting for them to come out. When they did, I was about to attack, when I realized, they were the group. Before coming out I mumbled under my breath "Of course they had to ruin it." Then I heard a surprising, "You'll survive" as Erica happily walked out of the bush with a smile on her face.

"Hi guys" Erica said happily. They all looked at her surprised, but they didn't question her smile. "Where have you guys been, we have been waiting here for yall for hours" Mike said exhausted "How did you know we would go here?" I asked confused. "This is the only lead that you guys have, and knowing Erica, she would drag you here" Zoe said. "Where is Cyrus?" "Uhh... we lost him while running away. He screamed about finding yall when we ran off without you guys" Mike said. Erica shot him a icy glare cold enough to freeze Yetis. "Sorry" Mike said sheepishly. "Have you seen anyone come back down here?" Erica asked. "No, this place has been deserted since we got here. We did find a phone here but it was badly damaged so we couldn't get on. It still has power though" Zoe said helpfully. "Could we use the computer to download the data to it?" I asked Erica. "If we could find an adapter that should work, there might be one in the beacon." "What beacon?" Zoe asked confused. "I'll tell you on the way" I told her.

I told Zoe all about how there was a mole in the CIA, she already figured this, but I also told her about the beacons and how we found the computer on the way back to the cave. Erica went to the beacon, ripped a few wires out, and came back with an adapter. "Now lets get this hooked up" Erica said. She plugged it in both and waited for the info to download I went to go to the bathroom, so I walked out over to a far away bush and started doing my business. When I zipped up my pants I heard a startling "Yo." I jumped and then turned around to find Mike standing there. "What are you doing man, I am going to the bathroom!" I said. "Sorry. But what did you and Erica do while we were gone" he said slyly. "Nothing!" I said to quickly, "we just slept in the cave and came back to the site" I said defensively "Okay, just asking" he said with a wink. We walked back to the cave to see what the girls could find.

"What did you guys find" I asked "Well, there was nothing to find except for some emails. I didn't even know SPYDER did email!" Zoe said. "We found that they need this specific island for a very important mission and need to get rid of us so we can't stop them, it is supposed to take place in 4 days on New Years. They did mention something about caverns though" Erica said. Then I heard Mike's stomach rumble. "You okay" I asked him concerned. "Yeah, I'm just hungry. I haven't eaten in a while." "I am going to hunt for some food, anyone want to come with?" I asked. "I will" Erica said to quickly. She seemed to realize this and said, "Someone is going to have to shoot the food" trying to defend herself. "Thank you guys" MIke said. Then we went off again for the second time today.

"What should we hunt for, seeing as your the expert" I said playfully. "Well" Erica said putting on her British accent, "We should hunt for dellllicious rabbit, maybe it will have some tea." We both started laughing, scaring away any potential hunt. "Lets go find a burrow." We looked around for about an hour, gathering safe berries and mushrooms throughout the journey until we found one. "Here" Erica said handing me some zip lock bags from her 'other' pocket, "separate the food into different days. You might want to stand far away from here, you won't want to see this." "Okay, tell me when your done" I said. I went over to a faraway tree and separated the food. Putting some blueberries and Shiitake mushrooms in one bag, raspberries and Galerina mushrooms in another, and blackberries with Enoki mushrooms in the last one. I was about to head back when I heard gunshots. I presumed Erica was killing the rabbits, I didn't want to see the after math so I waited until Erica came to me. "Wanna help me skin these rabbits" she said holding them out. There was about 12 of them from the look's of it. "You got 2 knifes" I said grinning, knowing where she has them. "Ugh." She turned around and pulled out two knives. "Do you keep anything in your normal pockets?" I asked genuinely curious. "Shut up" Erica said smiling. We skinned them for about thirty minutes and then headed back to the cave. By the time we got back to the cave, everyone was starving.

We made a fire while I gave everyone some leftover berries and mushrooms, while we cooked the rabbit. We kept hearing explosions, probably from Murray. Erica presumed that he was only doing it at night so he would be harder to track. Once we finished cooking, I handed out the rabbit. "Mmmm. This is delicious guys, thank you" Mike said. "Yeah thank you" Zoe said.  By the time everyone finished eating it was 9:00 at night. It was really cold, being about 5 degrees. We all  gathered around the fire trying to keep warm. Mike and Zoe fell asleep pretty fast, but I couldn't sleep. Suddenly, Erica snuggled up next to me. I was surprised at first, but then I embraced her. She was as warm as a nice cabin and was as soft as a pillow. She put her head on my chest and I put my arm around her. We both then went to sleep soon after that to the peaceful sound of explosions.

Sorry for the long wait on this chapter, but I was away for a bit. I hope the Berica moments make up for that. (Sorry if I got the names of the mushrooms wrong) Thank you guys for all the support on this book, it really means a lot. I'll try to notify you guys if I'll be away again. I hoped you liked this chapter, have a good day (or night) 😊.