The whole jungle next to them seemed to become darker and more forboding as they heard the terrible tidings from the now unconscious scout. A medic ran over and took him into shade and waited next to him with water.
Everyone at the camp was disturbed. Knowing that the Oyashimans were also on the island with them would upset their state of mind, and no one would be able to sleep.
Murmurs like, "Did you hear that...", or, "Did you know...", circulated the camp, and Magnus disregarded them.
All Magnus worried about was keeping Thomas alive and defeating the Oyashimans. He didn't have time for the rumors, he needed to take action. He strode up to the company commander's tent and knocked on the flap. A voice came from within, saying, "You can come in."
Magnus walked in and saluted his commanding officer. The company commander who went by Lieutenant Jackson rose, his reading glasses falling from his face as he saluted Magnus back.
The Lieutenant sat back down and bent over while sitting in the chair. He said, somewhat strained, as he was reaching for his glasses, "So what do you want, hotshot?"
Magnus had been referred to as "hotshot" over the past two weeks because the news of his bravery and triumph reached the UPC as he was in the UPC, taking the trains to the coast.
When his family first read the news in the newspaper that day and saw Magnus there, his mother was smiling, proud of here son, and his step-father smirked and chuckled a little, as a dark shadow drew over his face...
Magnus was scheduled to receive the Medal of Honor as soon as he returned from the war, the nawspapers claiming on their front pages, "Supersoldier scheduled to receive Medal of Honor when he comes home, needed on the front lines."
Magnus didn't appreciate all the attention, so he stuck his head down when he was on the trains and he was doing the same at camp. The only person who would bring it up was Thomas, and Magnus greatly appreciated that.
Magnus said back to the Lieutenant, "Sir, I would like to go into the jungle in search of the Oyashiman camp. I believe everyone would rest better and morale would be sustained much longer if they knew I was out there, sir!"
Lieutenant Jackson leaned back in his chair, now chewing on the end of his reading glasses. He was thinking. Magnus really thought this was the best course of action, but the Lieutenant said, "I'm not sending you out there to die. You're a real hero, you know that? You've got the eye of the public on you now, and I would be tortured to death if I let you die! The Oyashimans would get the upperhand and the public would get out of hand!"
The Lieutenant took a second to calm himself. Jackson, who was rather young for a lieutenant at the age of 23, a year older than Magnus, had a rather short fuse. When he got worked up, he really got worked up. He continued, saying, "Therefore, I am going to go with you, and coming with us are ten other soldiers. I will debrief you on my plans later. For the moment, go help with the fortifications."
Magnus, not expecting that to have gone so well, exited the tent through the flaps he came in through. He walked over to the other soldiers who were setting up fortifications and assisted them with the wooden spike wall.
Magnus picked up three of the spiked logs, tied them together using a lashing he had learned as a boy from his older step-brother, and propped it up. It wasn't the prettiest of the bunch, but it sure would last a couple of charges.
Looking back over at the pile of spiked logs, he had to make around seven more of those. So, Magnus got to work. He set one log up and tied a clove hitch on it using the rope he had. He took the rope and weaved it between the three logs about eight times. Then, he wrapped the end of the rope around the bits in between the logs, starting from the opposite log and working his way to the first log, and finished it with another clove hitch on the first log.
Magnus did the process 6 more times, then Thomas walked up to him.
"Magnus!", Thomas said, "Come with me to the dining tent, it's time for dinner."
He still had a couple more tripods of wooden spikes to make, so he asked Thomas, "Yeah, I'll go with you, if you help me out with these lashings."
Thomas quickly agreed. However, the thirty-one year old did not know how to do lashings for a tripod. Sure, he could tie two pieces of wood together, but not in a way that would last a month or two.
So, Magnus tried showing Thomas, who was barely able to complete one after Magnus finished the rest, had gotten quite hungry. Therefore, Thomas got up and left for the dining tent without Mangus, who was so engrossed in his work he did not notice Thomas' departure.
When he looked up from his work, which had been put in the line with the other spiked tripods to fend off Oyahiman charges, he realized that Thomas had left. Getting up to go the the dining tent, Magnus started walking, but was stumbling because his legs were asleep.
When Magnus had walked about half of the two minute walk, he heard a suspicious rattling sound come from the underbrush. Magnus whipped out his knife and sprang, but his legs were still asleep.
He landed on top of an Oyashiman scout, who he took some swings at, but missed, as he couldn't get up and aim the stabs. The other man ran away, and the jungle on the island grew even more ominous.
Magnus got back up and ran to Lieutenant Jackson's office. The lieutenant wasn't there. He ran to the dining hall, and shouted, "There was an Oyashiman scout... Our location has been compromised!"
Everyone inside the dining tent, which was big enough to house half of the company, looked at each other, confused. Oyashimans on the island? The the lieutenant grabbed Magnus' collar from behind and dragged Magnus back to his tent.