Get leaves

{if GameMode == true}

“I'll help get the leaves,” you say, pulling your knife out halfway so that they can see the hilt and the gleam of the metallic blade. “Here, you'll need this for the bamboo.”

“Shit bro, where did you get that?” Asks Roman.

You look at Amber, about to thank her for finding it but you see her shake her head, looking you dead in the eye.

“I just found it buried under the sand,” you lie.

You glance back towards Amber who silently mouths a her appreciation in a thank you.

“Okay lets go,” says Axel, who then begins to lead the larger group to the jungle to find some banana leaves.

You catch up to Selena as everyone starts walking across the hot sand, the radiating heat of the afternoon sun being visible by a flickering distortion of the distance.

“Hey,” you call.

“Oh, hello Julian,” smiles Selena.

“I saw that netting that you made earlier on, I didn't know you could do that.” You explain.

“Yeah, my mum taught me. It's one of the few things that I can remember vividly about her.” She says, beginning to trail off.

You remember when the two of you got talking one night in the shared kitchen of your dorm she told you about how her mother passed away when she was younger, and the two of them spent very little time together since her parents had divorced soon after her birth and her father gained full custody of her.

“I was thinking you could make more of it, we could use it to take any fruits that we find on the way.” You say, trying to distract her in a way that doesn't feel like she caused the conversation to take an awkward turn.

“Sure! You mind helping me?” Asks Selena.

“Erm actually yeah, I do mind,” you say, looking at her with a completely straight face.

She looks at you and for a split-second you can see that she thinks you're serious. Then she break out into a small laugh, with you joining her. The two of you continue to talk as you walk along the tree-line, following Axel and the rest of the group subconsciously.

When you finally enter the jungle, you kind of wish you still had that knife to slash through the thick foliage and dense shrubbery that blocked your path, but eventually you come across a few dozen banana trees. Only a couple of banana trees have yellow-looking bananas, the rest being unripe.

“So, how do we get the leaves?” You ask, silently wishing you still had your knife to make this job ten times easier.

“I guess we just have to try and pry them from the tree trunk without tearing them,” replies Will.

“Put me on your shoulders, Julian,” says Selena, looking at you with her gorgeous almond eyes, “I think I'd be able to reach like that.”

“Come here then,” you gesture, pointing at a nearby fallen log that would be able to boost her up.

You move with your back towards the log as she steps up onto it, carefully placing both of her delicate hands onto your waist, positioning you properly. She then takes hold of your shoulders and gently pushes down.

“Get down, you're too tall.” She says, as you squat down as much as you can without worrying about not being able to get back up.

Suddenly, she propels herself upwards, using your shoulders as a handle. You can feel the downward **** driving you into the ground as she manages to swing her legs over both of your shoulders, her crotch pressed against the back of your head. Using all the strength you can muster, you drive your feet into the ground and push using every muscle fibre in your leg. You let out a small groan as you find your legs locking, the relief of knowing that you're able to carry Selena on your shoulders without collapsing washing over you.

“You're so heavy,” you tease, eliciting a playful smack on the arm from Selena.

“Take me to the tree before your weak-ass legs give up on you,” she retorts.

“Fuck off,” you moan, walking to the nearest banana tree, Selena wrapping her arms around your head for support and you clutching her legs likewise. As much as the pressure she puts on your wound hurts you, you push the pain to the back of your mind and focus on the gorgeous girl on your shoulders.

The rest of the group watches as Selena reaches up to the base of the huge leaf, and snaps it cleanly off, dropping it to the ground where she works on the next leaf.

“Move left slightly,” she tells you.

“Say please,” you tease.

“How about his instead,” she says as she playfully slaps the side of your head, not realising that she hits the side with the wound.

“Fuck!” You shout, using both hands clutch your head and in turn, causing Selena to lose her balance. The fact that her legs are wrapped around you even tighter as you stagger doesn't help when the two of you topple over and fall on the soft, grassy ground. Axel and Will attempted to stabilise you before you fell to the ground but were too late.

“Oh my gosh Julian,” Starts Selena, “I'm so sorry I completely forgot.”

“It's fine,” you reassure her, “although let's leave this for everyone else to do.”

As everyone else pairs off and starts using the same method to collect the huge leaves, you two stay sat down as Selena teaches you how to weave a net using some vines that she saw nearby.

“Then you loop it through here and continue until you reach the end, simple.” Selena states, gleaming at how concise that explanation was.

“Okay let me try,” you say, taking the vine and following her precise finger movements.

“Yes!” She exclaims, hugging you out of celebration when you do it correctly and finish the net. She realises that she might have overstepped a boundary and quickly recoils, blushing slightly too.

Suddenly something catches your eye.

A metallic glimmer comes from the ground, almost concealed by the large vines and jungle leaves but you spot it and uncover it.

You brush away the loose soil to unearth a silver coloured briefcase. It's pretty heavy and the two of you look curiously at the box. You call Neela and Axel to you, telling them you found something.

“What do you think is in it?” You ask, fingers resting on the clip to open it.

“Just hurry up and see,” says Selena, excitedly.

“Alright, alright.” You say, unlocking the metallic case.

You carefully lift the cover on it's hinges, ensuring not to let anything fall out, revealing two delicately placed tools. The first tool is clearly a tactical tomahawk. It spans across the whole diagonal of the briefcase and would be really useful in the future, as a tool. You pick up the second one, which is a black knife with a recurve. You have no idea what it is but it looks incredibly deadly. As you gently place it back into the grey foam padding, Neela speaks.

“That's a kukri,” Neela says. “Not a traditional one though, probably tactical. It's a Nepalese weapon and tool in one. Essentially it's just a machete.”

“Let's take this back,” says Axel.

“Are we just gonna ignore the fact the Neela knows what that is?” You say.

“I visited Nepal once, those things were everywhere,” she defends.

“Hmm,” you shrug, eyeing her suspiciously with a teasing smile.

{else}

Please turn on game mode to read the full story. Head to the menu at the top right, then select ‘Start Game’ under the ‘Score’ tab.

{endif}