This story is part of a series, please start reading chapter one before going through this if you are new to it!
Welcome to chapter five of A Sibling Survival Story, sit back and enjoy!
Remember, your choice matters in the end, so be sure to give a vote to your preferred outcome!
*****
"Are you sure that's enough Ben?" Asked Kaitlin slightly concerned as she watched her brother adding the last pieces of wood to the large heap of dried twigs, branches and other burnable objects on top of the rocky outcrop.
Ben let out a sigh and wiped the sweat off his forehead. "It has to be Sis, it took a while to build this up and I'm fairly sure that it will burn for a couple of hours. If not for the light, we should be able to see the smoke coming off it." He responded to her.
Kaitlin let out a sigh of her own as she returned inside of their shack and collected the spare batteries and a few bottles of water before putting them in the backpack.
At the same time Ben managed to start a fire under the big pile of wood. It would be acting like a sort of lighthouse/searchlight for them so they could see where their shack was positioned at.
"There... It's started to burn so we can go through with this." Said Ben to Kaitlin as he returned to the shack.
"Mpff... Here..." Responded Kaitlin mildly annoyed as she pushed the backpack in her brother's hands. "I can't believe that we are actually going to do this!"
"If it can get us off this island then it's worth it Kait..." Said Ben to her as he flipped the backpack onto his back.
"Indeed, you said it correctly; IF!" Sneered Kaitlin back to her brother.
Though she had been opposed of the idea to venture out into the night she didn't hesitate to go with her brother at all. She wouldn't leave his side ever again, no matter what would happen.
Ben ignored his sister's rant and pulled the pocketknife out of his shorts. "Kait, look at this, I found out about this thing when I was playing around with it." He said to her as he held out the knife in front of him.
Kaitlin sighed again before looking at the knife. "Hey... Wait a second, is that a build in compass? It's so small! No wonder you just discovered that." She responded.
Her brother let out a short laugh. "Yeah, no shit. But look at the satellite photo, the place we need to search is directly north of us, so even if the fire went out we should be able to backtrack by going south from that position. Of course being able to see the fire and smoke would make it easier, but this compass would be a close second." He explained.
He then looked up at the sky and scanned around for clouds. "Mhmm... It's as bright as can be... Full moon too, the light illuminates pretty much everything around us, it's the perfect night to get to that location. I wonder if our mysterious stalker friend(s) planned this, if so then they must know a lot about this island and its surroundings..."
"Can you say creepy?! Ugh... I swear I don't know what's worse, being stuck on this island or being stalked by some complete weirdo(s). But anyway, I'm taking control over this." Said Kaitlin as she flipped the small flashlight on.
Ben started to smile at her. "Look at you, my big sister the ultimate adventurer! Are you ready to take the lead Lara Croft?" He said jokingly.
Kaitlin let out a giggle herself and stuck out her tongue to her brother before responding. "As the older one of us, I should to be honest. But..." She suddenly grabbed her brother's hand and intertwined her fingers with his. "We will both take the lead, I'm not letting go of you anymore little brother... Never again." She said in a more serious tone.
Ben looked her in the eyes and could see that she meant every word of it. He tightened his grip on her hand and nodded. "That's... That's something I can standby Sis..." He responded, a slight blush coming onto his face.
He then checked their gear one last time and let out another sigh after confirming that they had everything with them. "So, ready to go? We can do this Kait."
"I know we can Ben, so let's get this stupid treasure hunt out of the way." She answered his question with confidence.
And with that final statement they went off into the unexplored part of the jungle, seeking the so called supply drop that their mysterious onlooker(s) had left for them.
*****
The first forty-five minutes of their trip to the location was relatively easy to navigate, sometimes they came across a few obstacles, ranging from rocks they had to climb, overgrown jungle parts they had to navigate through or streams of water they had to cross.
Kaitlin kept her word of not letting go of her brother when it was not needed, they remained holding hands for most of the time, something that greatly helped them both to continue on. The simple feeling of their touch relaxed them both and kept their minds sane.
The terrain itself that they had to cross was much more traversable than they thought it would be. Apart from a few places of lush jungle the rest of it contained more open areas, some of them covered with rocks and dirt. All and all it was do-able.
"So how long do you think we have been going on now?" Asked Kaitlin as she lighted up the path in front of them.
"If I have to guess... About forty, forty-five minutes. I think we are making some good progress, and the jungle has been kind to us as well for not throwing some impossible challenges our way." Responded Ben.
"So according to your calculations from before, we should be about half way now, right?" Asked Kaitlin again.
Ben nodded his head. "That's correct, forty-five more minutes of adventuring and we should be at the location of the supply drop." He responded.
Kaitlin then stopped in her tracks and turned around to her brother. "How about we take a break then? Get some fresh water in our systems and give our bodies some rest before we continue."
"We can... We can do that, yeah." He said to her as he looked around them.
The area was pretty open and lit up by moonlight, it looked like the perfect place for them to take a well-earned pit stop.
Kaitlin nodded with a smile on her face, turned the flashlight off and proceeded to help Ben by taking off his backpack. As she was taking the water bottles out of it she noticed her brother climbing into a tree.
"What are doing Curious George?" She said to him with a giggle.
"Just checking in on the home front..." Ben answered her. As he reached the top he turned his head and looked south of their current location. In the distance he could see the glow and smoke coming from the fire he had started on top of the rocky outcrop where their shack was located.
"Good... The fire is still going strong, alright, let's give our pipes some refreshing oil, also known as water." He said as he jumped down the tree and sat down next to his sister.
Kaitlin handed over his bottle of water before taking a sip out of her own. "Goddamn, who ever created water deserves a medal." She said with a giggle after drinking half of the bottle's content.
