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"We can't lead them back to our camp." Thorodoth's features were tense.
"Is there a river or pond or any body of water nearby?" I asked.
"Follow me," Thorodoth launched into a sprint.
"Spread out," I cried, while reluctantly letting go of Kendryx's hand.
We did and ran wildly through the darkening forest. I chastised myself for having given in to my baser instincts and fucking Kendryx at the most inopportune moment but couldn't bring myself to regret it.
The sound of the chopper returned, followed by another.
"Zig zag and spread out more!" I yelled, returning to my officer mode.
The choppers hovered. They knew we were here, but neither their radar nor their infrared readers must be picking us up, or at least not enough to make a target.
"Over here," Thorodoth yelled, followed by a splash and a slew of curses.
Kendryx returned to my side and pulled me forward. Seconds later, we were flying through the air and landing in freezing cold water.
My suit protected most of my body, but my hands and face were instantly turning icy. More splashes followed, and the choppers, four now, hovered right above us.
"We need to… ke-ep moving," I stuttered, teeth chattering.
Thorodoth took the lead again, and I realized we were in a river. Thankfully, the current wasn't very strong as we moved down the stream.
The choppers above us split up, searching for us again.
A detonation created a wave that momentarily took me under water, but Kendryx's strong arms pulled me back up. My face felt as if it were on fire. Thousands of little needles pricked it, but there was no time to dwell on my misery as my eyes searched both sides of the river for a place to hide.
"The trees!" I gasped. It took more energy than I thought to pull up my arm and point at an array of thick trees, most of which appeared hollow inside.
Another detonation took out another part of the river. "They're shooting blindly. They don't know where we are," I advised.
Kendryx pulled me out of the water, and when my legs gave out at the shore, he picked me up and carried me deeper into the forest until he found a hollow tree large enough for the both of us. From the corner of my eyes, I saw the rest of our group also vanishing inside trees before darkness enveloped me, making it seem as if the trees had swallowed us up.
"You're freezing cold," Kendryx rubbed my arms.
"The uniform protects me some," I objected. "I'm not as cold as you."
"I'm used to it," Kendryx said, and it would have sounded like a boast from any other man but him. From him, it was a simple statement.
"Still, you need to get out of your clothes," I insisted.
He stared at me with a wicked grin. "All you had to do was ask."
I would have laughed, but I was too cold. Wringing my hair out hurt. My ears felt as if they were about to fall off.
At the sound of another detonation, though, my adrenaline spiked once again, heating me from the inside out, and I prayed they wouldn't level the entire forest in search of us.
"I thought bombing the solar panels would bring those choppers down," Kendryx said, naked, folding me back into his arms.
I clung to him, trying to give him as much body heat as I could, while simultaneously leaching off his. "They're running on what they had already charged," I explained. "Once the energy is burned off, they'll be grounded for good."
"Can't happen soon enough," Kendryx said with his jaw set as another explosion rocked the ground beneath us.
It seemed to take forever, but first one, then another, and finally all four choppers veered off, back to the FOB I assumed. We waited for a moment, then Kendryx pulled his still-wet pants back on, and we peered outside our little hidey hole.
"Thorodoth?" Kendryx hissed.
