Up the hill, quietly

I've got to get moving, Jade thinks. If nothing else, I need to make some serious progress today. I'm probably at the trailing end of the pack, what with all the doubling back and one hold-up after another! If I'm going to win this thing, at some point, I need to be in the lead!

Carefully and quietly, Jade coils up the rope and slips it into her bag, then slips it over both shoulders and pulls the straps tight. Then, just like the Fox she has begun to call herself, she slinks low and quiet from her hiding place, making her way up the slope. Her hands and feet make no noise against the sand - that's a plus - but soon she is in among the leaves and fallen twigs, and she can't help but make them rustle. She knows that she's visible now, there's little in the way of cover, but with any luck she can get a little further up the slope before -

"THERE!! Right up there, let's go get her!"

Jade pulls herself up to her feet and charges up the hill, pushing her way up past the trees which begin to thicken, at last providing some further cover - not that it does much good. The men are actually whooping and hollering as they run toward her, which at least gives her an idea of how close behind they are. They're acting like idiots, she thinks to herself as she runs. If they'd kept quiet like me, they could have gotten close and then started running once I had no chance of getting away! But, they're getting dosed too, of course... who knows what the aphrodesiac is doing to them? It's not like being horny gives a guy more I.Q. points...

Jade reaches the top of the hill just as those pursuing her reach the bottom, and for the first time she gets a good look at a fair chunk of the island. If only I could stay up here longer! But, I have to run... at least the woods are getting thicker, I should be able to lose them in there!

She takes just a moment to scan her eyes over the landscape, trying to fix it in her memory as best she can, and then she takes off running again, down the slope this time and into the trees. The Sun has yet to rise, and for that she is grateful - in the predawn twilight, it will be harder to see her. It's muddy at the bottom of the slope, and Jade runs through the soft, wet ground - then turns back and stares in horror at the clear footprints she's left behind.

"Oh, shit!" she whispers out loud - and then, an idea strikes her.

Carefully, but as quickly as she can, Jade hops backward through her own tracks, doing her best to land each foot in the same spot as when she ran through the first time. The shouts of the men behind her are getting closer! Once the earth is dry beneath her feet, she picks out a tall tree and scrambles up, climbing fast and recklessly, stopping only when there are leafy branches between her and the ground. Then, she waits.

The men burst into view, stopping at the bottom and looking around. "That way!" one of them shouts, pointing at her tracks, and the three of them run off in that direction.

The Red Fox strikes again, Jade thinks, and she can't help but let a smug grin touch her lips.

Once she can no longer hear the men running through the woods, she climbs down - much more carefully than she went up - and takes a moment to get stock of her situation, starting with supplies. A sip of water is necessary, as the running has taken its toll on her. The bottle of sunscreen is cracked, but most of it is still inside, and she can scoop up what oozed out easily enough. She covers herself with it as best she can, using it generously - it only has to last another two days, after all. A single food bar helps to soothe the gnawing in her stomach.

No map, she remembers. I'm going to have to do something about that. Maybe, if I can find one of the other girls again, I can get look at one. In the meantime... she closes her eyes and wills the scene she saw from the top of the rise to come back to her. I think... yes, I DID see a shelter in a clearing, maybe about a mile inland. The shelters are where I'm most likely to find other girls - and the men, of course, but that can't be helped. The beach was off to the left, so I want to bear right. And if I bear a little further to the right, there's a high hill, I can probably see the whole island from there - I might even be able to see the final safe house!

All right, Fox... let's go.