Conrad and Hank lightly grounded the Ploat on a pebbley bank of the river. We all disembarked and milled around, very quiet after what had just happened. I had managed to recompose myself enough by then and turned my attention to the downcast Slivko who was sitting beside me on a log.
"Hey," I said softly.
When he didn't respond, I gently took his hand and slipped my fingers between his.
"Don't beat yourself up, alright?" I told him. "There's no ...pterodactyl protocol," I sighed at the ridiculousness of the whole thing.
"You did the best you could."
He sighed and stared at our entwined fingers.
"You reacted really quickly, though," I commended. "And you just jumped right out there where you could've gotten snatched up, which now that I think about it gives me chest pains," I sighed but Slivko exhaled one little laugh.
"I know I'm not your commanding officer or anybody special, but I'm really proud of everything you've done," the words were only just out of my mouth when we heard something moving through the foliage behind us.
Slivko turned and a small smile appeared as he recognized who it was. He turned to me and gave my hand a squeeze.
"You are special, Maybelle," he said before getting up and running over to Packard and Mills who had emerged from the jungle.
I stood up and scanned the new coming faces for Jack. There was Packard, Mills, Cole, and Reles. Randa was there with them too and Houston and San ran up to him. That rude Landsat guy trailed out of the jungle with some more military men but no Jack. I went up to Mills who was talking with Slivko.
"Where's Jack?" I asked him.
He, Cole and Reles exchanged a look.
"The last time the radio worked, he was with the downed C Stallion to the West. We were on our way to him when we got you guys on the radio," Mills explained.
"Yes! Thank goodness!" I said, the relief lifting the weight off my chest.
I overheard Packard and Conrad talking about Jack which initiated an outburst from Hank.
"We have a saying on the island," Hank began in near hysterics. "East is best, West is worst. And we say it for a good reason. Now northwest... eh we can talk about that."
Conrad also seemed doubtful about going to find him because it took us away from the rendezvous point and time. I understood that, I did, but Jack was family and he needed to get back to his wife and son. I couldn't live with myself if I just left him behind in this horrible place just so I could go home. I marched over to them.
"I know the needs of the many should outweigh the needs of the few and all that," I began on Conrad. "But there is a little boy waiting for his daddy to come home and I won't be able to live if I don't try to make that happen."
He stared hard at me with his brows knit.
"Fine," he said after a sigh. "But if we don't find him at those coordinates we don't go off looking, we get back here by morning."
"Fine by me," Packard smiled.
"Thank you," I said quietly and earnestly to Conrad.
"This is a good group of boys," Hank was saying to Slivko and his friends. "We're all gonna die together out here. You're a good group of boys to die with, I'll tell you that much," he laughed a bit neurotically.
"You shouldn't have come here."
I turned and raised a brow at him and saw the equally disturbed looks on the faces of the soldiers he spoke to. I had gotten a little bit used to Hank by now but this was their first encounter with him and it showed.
Slivko came over to me with an anxious look on his face.
"Maybelle, I'm not sure about this," he said to me quietly, leading me away from over hearing ears. "It sounds dangerous. Mills was saying that Packard has been acting strange too. I don't think this is safe."
"This whole place isn't safe," I said. "Either way, it'll be hard to live with the possible consequences. Either we leave Jack here and I can never see my sister or my nephew again, or we take a chance where other people could die. There's no winning. I know I'm totally not logical on this because my family is involved, I know that. But I have to do this."
Slivko ran his hand over his face and sighed, his other hand on his hip.
"Alright, fine," he said. "But for the love of God, be careful and don't leave my side. If things go bad you stay right behind me, ok? Promise."
I put out my pinky and he eyed me before hooking his around it.
"Promise."