Trevor and Ben rushed through the jungle the best they could with Ben's hurt leg.
They continued to rush through the jungle.
Twenty minutes later, they reached a lagoon and stopped.
Ben removed a map from another pocket on his flight suit.
He looked at the lagoon then studied his map.
He looked back at the lagoon.
"I believe we're on Namorik," Ben said while he made one last comparison to the lagoon and his map. "Yep, we're on Namorik," he replied with a tone of assurance.
"Now what?" Trevor asked.
'I think if we get back in our raft, get back in the ocean and head northeast and go around Jaluit then east to Majuro. Then hopefully a Navy or Marine plane will spot us," Ben told him. "Let's get out of here."
Ben walked with a limp while they headed back into the jungle.
Back at Engebi, Carl walked around the base to kill some time. He just left Weaver's office twenty minutes ago and learned that he will be going home in a couple of days. He couldn't wait to put all this war behind him and move on with the rest of his life.
Back on Namorik, Trevor and Ben cautiously went through the woods undetected by the Japanese patrol and arrived back at their raft.
But they noticed it was deflated because the Japs sliced it with a knife.
"Damn, they now know we're on the island," Ben said while he looked around for the Japanese.
Trevor looked scared. "What now?"
Ben thought for a few seconds. "We lay low and try to hide from them until I can think of a plan to get us off this island," Ben replied.
"For how long?"
"I wish I knew," Ben answered. "Let's try to find a safe place to hide. If there is such a place," Ben added.
Trevor looked worried as now things were getting heated while they walked off into the jungle.
Twenty minutes later, Trevor and Ben cautiously walked into the jungle, and it was quiet.
Then they heard some noises about thirty feet away.
Ben motioned for them to take cover in some vegetation.
Trevor and Ben quickly ducked into some thick vegetation.
"They have to be around here somewhere," the Japanese patrol leader told his troops while they searched the jungle.
Trevor and Ben peeked through some branches. They saw the Japanese patrol while they searched the jungle twenty feet away from their hiding place. They hid entirely still and didn't move one inch while they waited for the patrol to leave.
Ten minutes later, the patrol was gone, and the coast was clear. They came out of the vegetation and looked the area over.
Ben thought for a second, then his eyes widened with an idea. "They probably have a radio at some base on his island," he told Trevor.
Trevor wondered what he meant then it dawned on him. "I get it. Then we can report their location and ask for them to come to rescue us," he said.
Ben nodded in agreement.
"Let's go get some rest. We'll search for their base tonight," Ben said.
"I could use a little nap," Trevor said.
Ben limped away, and Trevor followed him through the jungle.
Fifteen minutes later, Trevor and Ben arrived back at their lean-to. But they noticed that the vegetation of the lean-to was scattered all the ground.
"Do you think they'll come back here?" Trevor asked.
Ben looked around. "Probably not today," Ben said while he scanned the area for a safer place to hide. Then he saw some thick vegetation.
"It's like this. I sleep for three hours, and you keep guard. Then you sleep for three hours and I keep guard," Ben said. "Then it'll be getting darker, and we can sneak around the jungle and find their home base."
Trevor and Ben walked over and got on their hands and knees, and they crawled into some thick vegetation.
Inside the vegetation, Ben curled up on the ground and closed his eyes.
Trevor sat up and waited and watched.
It was six hours later, and the sun started to settle below the horizon. Trevor and Ben crawled out of their vegetation hideout.
"Let's do some searching," Ben said while he looked around. "Let's head in that direction," he said and pointed.
They cautiously walked for twenty-five minutes and saw nothing. Then they heard some branches break thirty feet way. Ben motioned for them to freeze and be extremely quiet. There wasn't any vegetation to hide inside, just a bunch of pine trees.
"They must be close by," the Japanese leader told his patrol.
Ben and Trevor look at each other the second they heard the Japanese voices. They heard branches break while the Japanese soldiers walked closer.
Ben looked around for a place to hide, and when he saw a big tree nearby.
"I hope you climbed trees as a kid," he quietly said.
Trevor looked at Ben, who pointed at the big tree.
They rushed over, and Trevor climbed up the tree.
Ben anxiously waited while Trevor got twenty feet up into the tree. Then he climbed up the tree with a little pain in his leg.
While they perched on a tree branch, Ben cringed in pain and Trevor noticed. "You okay?" Trevor whispered.
"I'll be fine," Ben whispered back.
Trevor saw blood ooze from Ben's bullet wound as the climb aggravated it when it brushed up against some of the branches.
Down below, the Japanese patrol walked right up under the tree, and they stopped and looked around the area.
Trevor and Ben looked down and saw the Japanese soldiers below. More blood oozed from Ben's leg and dripped to the ground.
The Japanese soldiers looked around the area for the Americans.
Trevor cringed in fear when they saw a drop of blood fall on the top of a Japanese soldier's hat. He silently motioned for Ben to look at his leg.
Ben looked down at his leg and saw blood ooze out and drip downward. He quickly covered his wound with his hand to stop the dripping.
"It's getting dark. We'll continue our search tomorrow morning," the Japanese leader told his troops down at the base of the tree.
The soldiers walked away through the jungle.
Ten minutes later, Ben looked relieved the soldiers were gone and he motioned for Trevor that they can get out of the tree.
Trevor climbed down the tree.
Ben climbed down the tree.
After they got on the ground, Ben looked in the direction the soldiers walked. "Let's track them, and we'll find their base," Ben told Trevor.
They walked off after the soldiers and looked for the footprints in the dirt that made tracking them a little easier.
For the next thirty minutes, Trevor and Ben tracked the soldiers, and the sun was starting to sink below the horizon.
They followed the tracks until they came upon a clearing. Ben motioned for them to duck behind some bushes after he heard some Japanese voices.
They saw two Japanese soldiers walk by the edge of the jungle by the clearing with rifles slung around their shoulders.
Ben motioned for Trevor to stay in place.
Ben quietly walked out of the vegetation and walked to the clearing. He hid behind a tree and peeked out into the clearing. He got a huge grin at what he saw then quietly walked back to Ben in the vegetation.
"Their base is up ahead. We'll hang here until the middle of the night," he told Trevor.