━━━━━ AFTER THE REUNION Jo-Ann grabbed her gun and walked over to Conrad nodding her head at Packard.
"What's your count?" Conrad asked the older man.
"What you see is what I got." Packard replied.
"We lost one, too."
"Good to see you, fellas!" Marlow said, walking up to Conrad, Jo-Ann, and Packard.
"Who the hell is this?"
"We picked up a hitchhiker."
"Lieutenant Hank Marlow of the 45th Pursuit Squadron of the 15th." Marlow explained.
"You've been here since World War II?" Packard went on to ask him.
"Yes, sir. I miss the parade?"
"I'll be damned. Snap to, Lieutenant." Packard lifted his hand to his head, Marlow doing the same.
"We're gonna get him home, sir. If we follow this river, we'll make it to the boat, and we'll make it to the north shore in time." Conrad told them. Jo-Ann watched as Packard looked down at the ground.
"That sounds good. But we're not leaving yet." Packard told them, lifting his head up. Jo-Ann widened her eyes, confused as to why he was saying this. "Still got a man out there, Conrad." He added, walking around Conrad and Jo-Ann.
"Wait a second. You got someone out there?" Conrad asked him, moving past Jo-Ann.
"Chapman. He's with the downed Sea Stallion just west of here." Jo-Ann slowly started to put the pieces together as to what he really wanted to do.
"West? We can't go west! That's where the skull things live. We have an old saying here. 'East is best, west is worst!' That's why we say it! You know, southwest... We could talk about that. But you're gonna need a lot more guns if you're gonna go west." Marlow explained to them.
Jo-Ann looked back at Mason as she stood up to look at everyone. "Guys." She called out, gaining their attention. "I think we should listen to Marlow. This is crazy."
"I agree with Mason. Marlow's been here a lot longer than any of us, and he knows more about what's out there than we do." Jo-Ann said, making her statement very clear. Conrad looked at the two, his hands resting on his hips.
"Hey. Your job is finding lost men, right?" Packard asked Conrad, ignoring the fact that Jo-Ann could do the same thing too.
"Okay, sir." Conrad called out, Jo-Ann and Mason sighed and looked down at the ground. "But if we reach that position and he's not there, we don't send out a search party. We're back here by nightfall, understood?" Conrad asked him, with order. "In 24 hours, we have to be on the other side of this island."
"Roger that. Hear you loud and clear. All right, you heard the man. Moving out in 10." Packard simply replied.
Jo-Ann rolled her eyes, turning around knowing she was going to go with Conrad. She couldn't leave his side, not again. Jo-Ann lifted her hand up moving it through her hair, shaking her hair around slightly. Conrad walked up next to her, looking at the brunette.
"I don't trust him." Jo-Ann whispered, it was loud enough for Conrad to hear but just low enough so Packard wouldn't hear her.
"Why not?" Conrad asked in return.
"I think he wants to kill Kong, for killing his men. I can't and I won't let him do that. This is Kong's home and we came in and destroyed it, probably waking up the Skull Crawlers. I just fear what's going to happen next."
Conrad moved closer, placing his hand on her chin and lifting it up so he could look at her. "I promise you, we will get out of here alive; after we do this. You stay by my side no matter what, I can't lose you again." Conrad told her.
"You're not going to lose me again, I promise you that Conrad." The brunette then smiled softly at him.