Chapter fifty
Song recommendation : Typa girl by blackpink
In the forest
She removed her hat and sighed . She was now beginning to regret her decision. She gaze up to the sky and squinted
"Found it . " She grinned and pointed somewhere .
There it was . The path to the mountain was now almost invisible as shrub and plants have covered it to an unrecognizable extent .
"What !! What is again?? . " Mera yelled making Gabriel flinch from the impact , her high pitched voice resounded through the surrounding .
"There it is !! The path to the mountain . " Emily grinned and pointed to the thinned dense path .
They drank water and ate some rice burger that Emily had previously packed in a brown paper bag in the morning . Who knows it would be the one to save their soul ?
They begin to walk , or rather ' hike ' as Emily refered to it . They were groaning carrying their bags and trying to figure out a way to make their clothes less sticky and hot .
But how could they ?? Not when the sun was this hot .
Emily was the only one was in a bit better condition than the rest , she was wearing a nylon blouse that looked like it had been recycled from the garbage but at least it was very purposeful in this type of weather .
Her large straw hat protected her face and eyes and all in all the only thing she was feeling was hot . Not prickly, nothing.
They were beginning to walk with different pace , Emily , Micheal and Nancy were walking ahead of the rest , Mera and Gabriel took the second place .
Gabriel kept wiping the sweat and occasional snort from his face and neck . Mera's eyes were red and she was chewing her bottom lips , cursing her ancestors to the moon and back . Sending a blur streak of curse down their asses for sending her down to earth to meet this psychopath that she calls a friend .
A peek at Gabriel revealed that he was in no better condition to console or say something about the situation. He was pushing through and blinking rapidly .
Samuel and Hana were the last . They were a bit behind from the other , Samuel was smiling at Hana grim face
"Tired ?? " He bumped his shoulder to hers .
"No of course not . " She replied breathily taking a deep breath between words .
Samuel said nothing about it anymore , he walked side by side with her , glancing at her face to see if or if not she was comfortable
"Do you think we stood stop ?? . " Emily panted and stopped for a minute to catch her breath . She bend down and held her knees .
"Tired ? " Micheal asked without even bating an eyelash at Nancy who seemed to be in the same condition as Emily .
"No .. I'm not . I'm very great . "
How would I be great ? When I'm not a robot ? She stood back up and smiled bravely . Maybe not very brave but at least she showed her teeth to Micheal .
They had gotten to the denser part of the forest , the sun light was barely streaming in and the placed looked quite dark and somewhat eery .
Emily suggested to Micheal and Nancy that they should stop a little and wait for the others to catch up with them .
What could they do ?? Nothing of course but to do as their supposedly master says .
Gabriel and Mera arrived first , looking like some victim in a zombie movie .
Mera's mouth was worn out from much cussing, Emily was sure and Gabriel simply sat down on a log of word like looked slimy but he couldn't care less .
"Ok , but why isn't this place giving you guys the creeps ?!?" Mera rubbed her fingers on her arms trying to calm the goosebumps .
Nancy smiled and her eyes crinkled. And Emily wondered what could be so funny .
"The creeps ? What creeps . I'm not even scared at all . " Emily said laughing nervously and glancing everywhere .
"What's that?? " Micheal pointed and causing Emily to jump off five miles clinging to Micheal and shouted .
Micheal laughed so hard as he held her .
"Now who's the scaredy cat?? ." He whispered into her ears . Emily quickly moved away from him muttering some excuses for her behavior .
Samuel and Hana came into view , Samuel was carrying hana's bag along his and damn ! He wasn't even out of breath . Just like his older brother .
Not Gabriel but Samuel .
"Should take a rest ?? " Nancy suggested .
Almost all the time , Emily had almost forgotten about her existence . She's been keeping a low key and was barely speaking among them . She was chirping in some words and sentence into the conversation and was smiling like a goat that had just been given a new food after three days of eating stale meal .
Yikes?!
"Well guys . We shouldn't rest now. No, not now . We have a lot of way to go . Okay?? " Emily attempted to motivate them speaking under her breath and boy ! She wouldn't even dare to look at them inside the eye.
She was pretty sure that they'll be staring at her somehow , blaming her for the situation that she has got them in . What could she do ? Even she was blaming herself .
But it wouldn't be good enough to come all the way from Newland to Jeju island without any story to tell at home . Alicia would be surprised at their attempt that may or may not fail at adventure
They resumed walking as per Emily's request , much more leisurely now that the sun isn't as scorching as before . Trees grew wide and big on each side of them . Green and glossy in nature .
Surely they must be almost all the way to the mountain , else how could they explain the fertile land ??
Emily thought . She swatted a fly away and adjusted her bag . She would love nothing more than to see some freshly fried chicken wings and a hot sauce dip . A good home made orange juice would be so lovely wouldn't it ??
She swallowed her saliva as she dream about the feast that would be waiting for them at the Villa .
"Do you think we're going the right way ?? " Micheal alerted Emily from her day dream making her frown a little without even getting the gist of whatever Micheal had told her .
"You say what ?? "She asked as she surveyed her surrounding . Why was this place looking kinda weird ??
"Do you think we're following the right path ? " Micheal repeated his question and stood rooted for a sec making Emily bump into him abruptly.
"Ouch !! " She rubbed her sore forehead. Gosh , he's just like a rock made of muscles .
"Wait . I'll check the map ." She brought out her phone from the bag and attempted to search the intent and connect to the Google maps.
She hit her phone on her hand , frowned .
"There's no network . There's no connection. " She smiled sheepishly as all eyes were on her .
"I'll check mine too . " Samuel brought out his phone and checked it . His face shows that the same thing is probably happening to him
"Same thing ?? " Mera probed
"So it seemed . " Samuel said and slid his phone back to his pocket .
They all stared at each other , not knowing what their next course of action should be . Surely they couldn't keep staring at themselves till their olden age .
They'll have to do something .
"What should we do ?? " Hana whispered , unknowingly holding Samuel's hand tightly and he grimaced but said nothing , letting her use his hand for a purchase .
"Seems like there won't be network here . We need to do something . And we've gone far into the forest than to turn back . I think we'll have to keep money . " Micheal took the lead as he spoke to them like a team leader or the class president of a class , telling them the way to go about the new class project .
"K...me..keep walking ?? " Emy stared wide eyed into Micheal's and he nodded
"Let's go !! ." Nancy patted Emily and smiled at the rest of them . Like a mother encouraging her children to sign up for the upcoming competition .
They resumed walking , talking and looking out . Emily stood beside Micheal ,walking side by side with him almost making him trip . Micheal was trying so hard to conceal his laughter . To hold back his laughter.
For someone who claimed not to be scared , she sure was being clingy a lot .
They talked a little among themselves , trying not to think about the predicament that they've gotten themselves into .
Suddenly Micheal stopped and shouted for the others to do the same . Afraid and panic stricken, they stopped .
"This is a dead end . " He whistled and sighed .
"A dead end?? " Emily gasped and clung to him some more . Breathing heavily
"We'll have to turn back . There must be a way some where . " Samuel spoke loudly turning his head to face the rest of them
They agreed to turn back and split to see if the room could be near . Walking together would only limit their success rate .
Nancy was the first one that went straight ahead after the conclusion that they should all meet there
Micheal insisted that Emily was going to go with him , he wasn't ready to let her leave .
Samuel held hana's hand firmly,without speaking clearly indicating that Hana is supposed to go with him .
Gabriel cleared his throat and looked up at Mera asking with his facial expression . ' what about us '
Mera nodded too . Now , Nancy was the only one without a partner .
Before Emily or somebody could offer her company , she smiled and told them that she'll go alone .
She's a pretty brave girl , or so she claimed . With that they all depart and agreed to meet at the dead end after someone has found the way
"Do you think we shouldn't have left her on her own??. " Emily spoke as soon as they were on their way , kicking the stump of wood that was on the path .
Micheal did not even reply , he kept his firm hold around her wrist . Careful not to hurt her
He was being very thoughtful.
"Huh ?? " He yelped and grimaced slightly. Emily pinched his arm when he refused to answer her
"What were you saying?? " He flick her forehead as a revenge
"Ouch !! " She rubbed her forehead ,"what was that for ?? " She glared at Micheal.
"That's for pinching me . Now what were you saying ?? "
"Do you think we should have left her alone ?? I kinda feel bad . Don't you ? " She swung her arms to and fro
Micheal didn't reply and kept walking while practically dragging Emily with him.
Eiish , that mule
"You caused all this . " He said seriously and Emily lowered her head in Shame .
Was it that bad to want an adventure??
Tsk