Lost & Found- James Conrad

Chapter 5

When Scar and I finished our patrol around the island, he dropped me off at the village then disappeared into the night. I walked slowly back into the village. I was so nervous to talk to James. What if he doesn't like me anymore if I tell him the truth? I saw where the group was staying for the night and I began to panic. I started pacing back and forth when I heard somebody call out to me. "Liz?" I saw Mason run towards me.

"Hey, Mason." She ran up and hugged me. I was shocked.

"I'm sorry if we've been a pest." I pulled away from the hug.

"Who said that you've been a pest?"

"Well, I thought when you ran away it was because you were trying to escape from us." I laughed.

"Mason, I was going to patrol the island with one of the Skull Crawlers. You've guys have done absolutely nothing wrong."

"Oh, so nothing is wrong?"

"I'm good, I promise." She put her arm around my shoulder and led us towards the group.

"Come on then, let's go." I felt my heart rate spike. I saw Hank shaving for the first time. Slivko was listening to some interesting music that I've never heard before. He waved at me.

"Hey, Liz." I smiled back at him.

"Hey, Slivko. What on earth are you listening to?" He laughed at me.

"Man, you guys are time travelers.I'm telling you, this is the new sound." Mason and I went out back so she can take a picture of the night sky.

"Mason." She turned to face me.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for making me come in here. I've really enjoyed hanging out with you." She smiled at me.

"Of course, Liz. You're apart of our team now." We both sat in silence as she took her pictures. I felt somebody wrap their arms around my waist. I smiled as I felt his lips press against the top of my head.

"Isn't it odd? The most beautiful places are always the most dangerous," James said to me and Mason. When Mason finally turned to face us, James let go of me.

"I'm trying to take a long exposure photograph but my flashlight broke," Mason said holding her flashlight in the air.

"Try this."James tossed her a lighter so he could stay next to me. Mason caught it.

"Thank you," Mason stated as she turned her attention back to her camera. She looked on the side of the lighter. "Royal Air Force?" I turned to face James. He shrugged.

"My father's. He threw it to me from the train as he rolled off to fight with the Nazis. It was like John Wayne to me." Mason turned to face us again.

"Did he come back?" She questioned.

"His plane went down near Hamburg. They searched for him for months," James paused. "I supposed no man comes home from war. Not really." It was quiet between the three of us. Mason left me and James alone outside, while the others began to retreat to their tents. We both sat down next to each other. I had my head on his shoulder while he held my hand.

"James I need to talk to you." I looked up at him. "I want to tell you a story about my childhood." He nodded at me. "When I was younger and I still lived in England with my mother, I had a best friend. He was my next-door neighbor. His parents and my parents were really good friends, so we saw each other all the time. We played simple games together, but as we got older our games became a little more dangerous. We fought against each other with tree branches and garbage lids and we climbed the tallest trees we could find. The last time I saw him was the day before I left on my trip, the two of us were sitting in a tree together. We were talking about what we think our lives were going to be like in the future. I told him I was going to be an explorer or vet. He wanted to be a soldier just like his father. We were going to keep climbing when our parents called us down. We climbed down slowly because we knew this was going to be our goodbye. I hugged him tightly and whispered to him, 'You'll wait for me right?" He smiled at me and whispered back..."

"When you get back, I promise that we will travel the world together." James finished for me. We locked eyes for the longest time. We both had tears in our eyes. "I missed you, Lauren!" James pulled me into a tight hug. I began to cry into his arms.

"I'm sorry that I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say." He lifted my face towards his.

"Don't be sorry. I'm happy that my best friend is alive!" We both laughed quietly. "You have no idea how much I missed you, Lauren. When my parents told me that you and your mom's ship went missing, I cried myself to sleep for almost three months. So finding out that your alive is the happiest day of my life." I kissed him gently.

"I love you." He smiled at me widely, then kissed me on the lips.

"I love you too, my queen."