Chapter Fourteen
The next morning, over breakfast, I told Murphy that we had left the radio back at the tower. Rainer was sitting beside us, listening to the conversation, but to my surprise, neither of them seemed too concerned.
“Shouldn’t we go get it?” I asked with a frown when neither of them jumped to go back.
“We can get it tomorrow. We have other plans for today,” Rainer said, shoveling a few hazelnuts into his mouth.
“Plans? Are you guys going hunting?” As I asked, I noticed that everyone else seemed to be shoveling their food into their mouths. They were all in a hurry and that wasn’t something that normally happened.
A pang of annoyance at being left out hit my chest, but I tried to ease the discomfort when I saw Murphy’s wide smile. I didn’t think it was anything important they were leaving me out of, but more so a surprise.
Finishing our food, Mina bounded over to me, giddiness in her steps. “This was a great idea, Alessia.”
“What was a great idea? I have no clue what we’re doing.” I laughed, trying to figure it out.
Now that I was looking closely, everyone seemed to be relaxed, smiles dotting their faces.
“Oh,” Mina said, “Murphy said it was your idea. We’re all taking the day off and going swimming in the creek. No hunting, no cooking, no stressing. We’re going to relax.”
My head whipped toward Murphy and he winked with a grin before turning back to Emmanuel, who he was now chatting with. Mina linked her arm through mine, Sasha finishing off our trio, and all of us started the short walk to the creek.
Once we arrived, Emmanuel and Elizabeth told us they were taking the kids a little further up to spend some quality time together. They walked far enough away that they weren’t in eyesight and although I was worried, I knew Emmanuel could take care of them.
Sasha seemed to be the happiest with their departure and let out a sigh of relief. “I didn’t want to tell the kids to leave, but I could seriously do with rinsing off and washing these clothes.”
Without another moment of notice, Sasha ripped her shirt over her head, her shorts quick to follow. Standing there in nothing but her bra and underwear, confidence exuded off of her in waves. With her clothing in her hands, she submerged her body in the water, a sigh of contentment slipping past her lips.
Murphy and Rainer seemed to think her idea was brilliant because before I could blink, both of them stripped down to their briefs and I couldn’t look away. Their suntanned skin glistened under the sun, both of them standing proudly with their expanse of muscles on display.
A quiet laugh came from my left and I turned to see Mina looking at me with a twinkle in her eyes. I couldn’t blame her, I was pretty sure I was drooling. But then I caught her gaze bouncing back to Sasha and I joined in on her laughter.
“Come on, we may as well join them.” Mina began stripping off her clothes and I followed suit.
Realistically, there was no need for decency out here, and it”s not like someone hadn’t seen me naked before in the last twenty-eight years, but I still found myself blushing as I waded into the water.
However, any embarrassment staining my cheeks faded when I sunk my body in, letting the water wash over me. Tearing my hair out of the matted ponytail it had been in for months, I dipped my head beneath the water, massaging my scalp.
Breaking the surface, a large grin split my cheeks, happiness exuding off of me. Who knew all it would take was a quick swim?
The five of us gathered in the middle of the creek, keeping our bodies submerged in the cool water. Grabbing our clothes, we tried scrubbing off as much dirt as possible before Mina laid out all our clothes on some rocks to dry.
Knowing I had no intention of getting back into those clothes until they were dry, I tilted my head back, closing my eyes and basking in the sun. The rushing water flowed around us, the only noise as we all sat in silence.
Eventually, one of the guys grew bored and I peeked my eyes open when I heard Murphy splutter around a mouthful of water.
“Asshole! I’ll get you back for that,” he yelled, standing up and chasing after a laughing Rainer.
Rainer and Murphy chased each other around the small creek, splashing each other and trying to dunk one another under the water. The sight was heartwarming and I could easily envision them as kids, chasing each other around in the same way.
About an hour later, Mina and Sasha stood up from the water, telling me they were going to explore a little further down the creek. They asked if I wanted to join them, but I was content in my spot, and I figured Mina wouldn’t mind a little alone time with Sasha. At least if those looks from earlier meant anything.
Situating myself against a rock that jutted partially out of the current, I rested my back against the hot stone, letting the sun lull me to sleep. I was nearly asleep when a shadow crested the sun. Peering through my lids, Murphy’s smiling face appeared, nearly as blinding as the sunlight.
“Were you sleeping?”
“Almost.”
“Alessia, today isn’t about resting. It’s about having fun.” Murphy looked behind me, a mischievous grin on his face.
Before I could prepare for who I knew would be behind me, a large wave of water came cresting over my body, chilling my upper half that had been sweltering in the sun.
Yelping, I jumped up, Murphy and Rainer’s laughter mingling as I glared at the two of them. Scooping my hands into the water, I did my best to splash the other two, but it wasn’t a fair fight. It was two against one and before I knew it, I was holding my hands up in surrender, soaked from head to toe.
Blinking past the onslaught of water in my eyes, I said, “Okay, I give up. Please stop splashing me.”
Both of them laughed at the sight of me, but thankfully, they stopped splashing, giving up on the game. The others still weren’t back yet and suddenly, I was all too aware that it was just the three of us. And we were all nearly naked. And now my brain couldn’t stop thinking about the moments at the radio tower with Murphy or the way Rainer’s chest felt pressed against me when I practiced self defense.
Wanting to diffuse the heat that was rushing through my body, I cleared my throat loudly. Murphy smirked at me and if I didn’t know better, I could have sworn he could read my mind and knew exactly what I was thinking. Rainer, on the other hand, stared at me intently, his gaze darkening the longer he looked.
“What should we do now? I don’t think I can actually just sit in the water all day.”
Murphy was the one to speak up and I took the opportunity to focus entirely on him, Rainer’s penetrating gaze burning a hole into the side of my face. “How about we fish? That’s still fun.”
“Maybe for you guys. I wouldn’t consider fishing fun.” Maybe I would if I could catch more than one fish every few days.
“Says the girl who fishes every morning,” Murphy teased, pulling on the strands of my hair falling around my shoulders.
“That’s to get away from everyone else,” I quipped, climbing out of the creek and toeing my shoes back on. Fishing may not be my favorite thing in the world, but if it got rid of some of this tension, I was all for it.
Murphy and Rainer followed me, pulling on their own boots, and Rainer finally broke his silence. “I’m sure that’s the reason.”
His deep blue gaze met mine and I swore he understood me more than I thought he did. Murphy broke our stare by slinging an arm around my shoulder, tangling his fingers in my hair and guiding me back toward camp.
“Let’s go get the fishing gear. I’m craving seafood tonight.”
Laughing, I let him guide me back toward the clearing, my body leaning into his side and soaking up the warmth of his bare skin against mine. Rainer followed closely behind, his presence a beacon at my back. And although the world could be ending for all we knew, I couldn’t find the energy to care when I was surrounded by these two men.
***
The rest of the day flew by in a blur of joy. The guys and I fished for several hours, Rainer catching a few while I caught none. Murphy blew us both out of the water and I wondered why he wasn’t up at dawn and fishing. We probably would never have to hunt again if he was out here every morning.
Sasha and Mina rejoined us a few hours later, their arms filled with different berries and nuts. They must have had the same idea as us, that they couldn’t just sit around and relax. Truthfully, none of us had relaxed for more than a few minutes lately and it felt wrong to lie around.
Eventually, our clothes dried and we all pulled them back on. Relief spread through me once Rainer and Murphy were covered up once again, and I decided we shouldn’t have another creek day for a while.
Elizabeth, Emmanuel, and the twins came back a bit later, just as the sun was beginning to float above the horizon. Knowing we needed to get back to the camp to get a fire started and cook dinner, we all walked back in a cluster. Silence echoed around us, but I could feel the contentment flowing off of each individual. We were all a little burned from the sun and a little happier. Today was needed.
When we approached the clearing, I was chatting with Mina about how I could teach her a few quick first aid things when Murphy held up a hand, stopping all of us. My words faltered as he and Rainer stepped forward, their footsteps silent.
Nerves skated up my arms and I knew today had been too good to be true. The world was falling apart; we didn’t get to have relaxing days filled with fun. Rainer and Murphy took a few more steps forward before Rainer finally spoke. “Everyone, grab as much as you can. We need to leave. Now.”
No one questioned him, immediately moving into action and picking up the things around camp. Walking into the clearing to grab the first aid bag and a few of the cooking supplies, I glanced around, trying to see what spooked them. Obviously, there was no one in the area. At this point, I figured Rainer was more of a shoot now, ask questions later kind of man.
I was about to ask Murphy what the concern was when I spotted a pair of boot prints circling the fire. We hadn’t been here all day besides when we grabbed the fishing gear and not once had we stepped by the fire. The prints were large, most likely a man’s, and the tread looked like it came from an industrial styled boot.
But the thing that sent a wave of dread through me was the familiar radio sitting in the middle of the fire. I had spent days staring at that radio while Murphy messed with it. My heart started beating faster as the urge to sprint out of here coursed through me. It was like they were toying with us. Wanting us to know that they were watching. That they knew where we were and our idealistic bliss in the woods wouldn’t be lasting much longer.