"Yeah, let's go on an adventure. It'll be fun!" Moose shouted excitedly as he jumped out of the helicopter and gave a high five to Tom and Malcolm, who flew out on the first flight along with Helen, Ellie, Arnold and Elvis and had to wait for the rest of the team. Now the three of them shouted at each other in their typical euphoria.

"And I always thought I had something to do with animals. How can you be so positive about something like that?!" grumbled Lizzie, who was briefly straightening her clothes after jumping out of the helicopter and now, like everyone else too, putting on her backpack while Sam spoke briefly to the replacement pilot.

"The pilot gave me a compass and a map. If I'm not mistaken, we have to go in this direction," Sam then explained to his friends and colleagues as he joined them and the helicopter disappeared into the distance.

They gradually examined the map. Everyone agreed with Sam and so they shouldered their backpacks and set off. Groups quickly formed and conversations arose. Sam and Penny walked in silence at the front of the group, just listening to the chatter behind them that they couldn't really understand much of, wondering when they would all run out of energy to chat.

"Helen?" Jodie then turned to Helen after a while, both of whom brought up the rear. Helen turned to her and saw something in her face that she couldn't quite interpret.

"Are you okay? Are you having problems with your prosthesis or are you worried about the hike?" she replied immediately - the nurse in her always switched on automatically.

"No, no. Everything's fine. I...I just thought..." She took a deep breath before deciding to speak freely. "I'm still pretty new here and Ellie has already told me a lot and shown me a lot in the city, but I'm a little afraid of making a mistake now that we've all been sitting on top of each other for a week and you're here the nurse. I thought you could know about everything?!"

"Okay. What do you want to know?" Helen invited her to continue talking with a reassuring smile.

"What do I need to know so that I don't step on anyone's toes? In a figurative sense."

"Nothing really, because no one here really holds grudges. There's nothing you could say that couldn't be put to rest with a good dose of humor. We're all pretty laid back."

"Yes, I've noticed that. It's nice to work with all of you. It's fun." They walked in silence for a short while, watching the others in front of them talking or laughing. "What is this wild man thing that Moose, Tom and Malcolm are doing?"

"Oh, to be honest, I have no idea. Tom and Moose started it. I think they think real men can make it anywhere, or they're trying to get back to their roots."

"Roots? To the cavemen? They're on the right track," Jodie now smiled and Helen laughed softly as she agreed with her. "And what's that with Sam, Penny and Ben?"

"What's supposed to be there?"

"Sam and Penny seem to be very familiar with each other. When you see them like that, you might think that they are together and then they look at each other strangely, as if they didn't dare to even touch the other."

"Well, it's probably like that. Everyone can see that they're totally in love with each other, except the two of them. Or to put it correctly, they're too insecure. They trust each other blindly, but they're incapable of to confide their feelings to the other person for fear of being rejected."

"And Ben? Why does he always go after Penny so obviously, even though he should see that she only has eyes for Sam?"

"I would guess that he still thinks he has a chance as long as they aren't actually together. I honestly have no idea why Ben is so attached to Penny. I mean, I get it. Penny is very pretty, ambitious, goes her own way and is extremely talented at what she does, but there are more women who fit that description. Why doesn't Ben see that?" She answered her own question with a shrug. "When Ben came here, many women turned to look at him more than once, not just Penny."

"She was interested in him?" Jodie replied, surprised.

"Let's just say she didn't miss how good-looking he is."

"He really does. But there's something else about him..."

"Aha," Helen replied with a smile and saw Jodie looking down at the ground, smiling sheepishly. She nudged her gently with her shoulder. "Well, maybe now is the time to open Ben's eyes to the fact that other mothers also have pretty daughters?"

"That's so easy to say. I'm not quite as straightforward as Ellie is. Sometimes, when I don't have to feel embarrassed when she speaks again without thinking about it, I even envy her a little for her courage. She's never embarrassed and never lets anything get her down."

"Every dude is different, or so they say. Don't worry. Be who you are. You fit in pretty well, I think, and a certain blonde someone will definitely recognize that," Helen replied with a wink, which prompted Jodie a embarrassed smile and yet there was a small glimmer of hope in her eyes. It wasn't lost on her how attracted Ben was to Penny, and yet she spent a lot of time at the ocean rescue center during her work on the Pontypandy coast and got to know Ben better. His interest in the sea and its inhabitants was almost as great as hers. They had so much in common. Wasn't that a good basis? "What's the matter with your sister? Let me know," Helen then interrupted Jodie's train of thought.

"What should be about her?"

"When she first came here, I really thought she really liked Arnold and Elvis too. But the longer she was here, the more her behavior confused me. She keeps getting into trouble with both of them."

"Ellie gets into fights with everyone when she thinks something isn't going fairly, especially for people she cares about. I remember when she called me very upset after this report was shown on TV in which Elvis appeared at the end. She was so excited from day one, and looked up to Penny. And why not? She was and still is Newtown's first graduate Academy, who holds a senior leadership position in our district, or according to Ellie, in the whole of Wales. She thought it was so unfair that Penny had been passed over. I agree with her, but sometimes you just have to suck it up and accepting it. According to Ellie, Penny did, what she found even more strange. But she was also happy for Elvis, but didn't want to admit it. With my sister, it's actually quite easy to say that the more emotionally upset she is the more she likes him."

"It's not that easy if you don't know her," laughed Helen. "But when you look at it that way, Elvis is constantly annoying her. Does that mean what I think?" she then said with a smile and Jodie grinned cheekily.

"Elvis is a very red flag for her with his scatterbrained nature and yet her favorite colleague because you can do all sorts of nonsense with him...so yeah, I think that's what it means. But with Ellie you never know for sure," explained Jodie and they both laughed.

So the hike progressed steadily and some people completely forgot about the time while they made small talk and joked with their comrades. It almost felt like a vacation to them. But only almost. When they took a break at lunchtime, everything was still fine. They ate a sandwich from their supplies, of which each had a whopping 7 pieces. They were shrink-wrapped so they would hold up well until the end of the week. They also each had 7 portions of ready-to-eat meals wrapped in silver foil, which the astronauts also ate and were usually prepared in the microwave. They would have to try, willy-nilly, to see whether the embers of a fire would be enough to warm up their meager meal in the evening.

As dusk began to fall, they found a clearing by a small stream and Sam suggested setting up the camp there. Everyone groaned, grateful to finally get a longer break.

Everyone had been packed with extra accessories: Sam, Ben, Elvis, Arnold, Tom and Moose carried the tent tarpaulins - how they were supposed to put them up was a mystery to them as the poles were missing, but it was probably also a team-building idea by Boyce. Helen had the first aid kit in her luggage and Penny, Ellie, Lizzie and Malcolm were carrying climbing equipment, while Jodie had two pots on her backpack that they would need to boil water.

They decided not to put up the 6 tents that evening because the night was clear and warm and pretty much every muscle in their bodies hurt. With the water from the stream, once they had boiled it, they would be able to refill their drinking bottles and wash themselves, but first they would have to make a fire. Sam and Arnold prepared the fire pit, brought in stones for the surround, while everyone else looked for firewood and Moose and Tom tried to make a fire with dry leaves and two branches - unsuccessfully, of course. When Sam and Arnold were ready and had piled up the first thin branches in the fireplace, Jodie handed Sam a storm lighter with a grin.

Moose and Tom weren't nearly as excited about it as everyone else.

"So, what do we do with the rest of the evening?" asked Ben, perplexed, after they had successfully warmed up their astronaut food in the embers and eaten it. They collected the trash in the bags that their meals were packed in and would take it home with them if they didn't come across a trash can first. They sat in a circle around the fire pit and Elvis strummed the guitar he had brought with him every free minute, but apparently that wasn't entertaining enough for Ben.

"Oh, oh, oh," Elvis piped up excitedly and everyone turned to him. "How about a Dark Race?"

"What is a Dark Race?" Sam asked confused.

"I'm guessing a race in the dark?" Penny said teasingly and Sam gave her a critical grin. He really liked seeing her so exuberant.

"It's more of a game of tag," Ellie added to Penny's guess. "So, if we're going to play that, I'd suggest that Penny lets herself be caught first." Penny looked up at her confused, now skeptical thanks to Ellie's obvious anticipation of this game.

"Could someone explain to us how the game works?" she asked skeptically.

"As a rule, a person runs into the forest with a minute's lead. Then the catchers, who are of the opposite sex, have ten minutes to catch them," Ellie explained to her with a grin.

"That's all?" Arnold joined in the conversation.

"Well, not quite," Elvis chuckled. "Whoever catches her can do whatever they want with her until the time is up, but it's not allowed to reveal who caught her and it's usually common practice that evidence will be left behind."

"Evidence?!" Sam, Penny, Helen, Lizzie and Arnold asked in unison and looked wide at Elvis and Ellie.

"Oh, usually a smooch or something like that is enough, but I've already taken part in games where the smooches were so stormy that you could even see a bite on the lip," explained Ellie, giggling and everyone's eyes widened in surprise on.

"I'm out. I'm happily married!" Helen interjected in shock and Lizzie joined her in agreement while all eyes turned to Penny.

"Under the circumstances, of course I would play along," Ben said with a cheeky grin that Sam would have wanted to slap off his face.

"Absolutely not! We're not pubescent teenagers. Besides, I doubt that this can help improve teamwork," Penny objected stubbornly, which gave Sam a moment of relief, but also left him with the same disappointment on his face as he had briefly seen in Ben's gaze. Sam would have done anything to find her in the dark first.

"How about we do something different?" Sam suggested and everyone looked at him questioningly. "Um... tell me what you couldn't do without. What did you take with you? Apart from Elvis, who has us accompanied all day long with hiking songs on his guitar." This resulted in general laughter when Elvis stopped fidgeting, a little embarrassed, because he wanted to talk about his guitar and play a song.

"I have my cell phone with me!" Ellie shouted proudly. "And I smuggled in the charger," she added with a cheeky grin.

"Great, then we can at least call the emergency number if we need it," Penny interjected enthusiastically and Ellie was visibly proud of herself. "Let me know if you've found a socket here in the wilderness to charge your cell phone", Penny couldn't stop herself from rubbing in her friend's nose when the cell phone in question beeped in protest and couldn't hide her laughter when Ellie's eyes widened in shock of realization. As everyone joined in the laughter, Ellie glared at Penny and crossed her arms over her chest. Ellie probably wouldn't calm down so quickly today.

"What have you got with you, Morris?" she asked when everyone had calmed down.

"The radio from my uniform. Nobody will miss it and if we only turn it on when we really need it, the battery will last forever."

"Very good, Pen," Sam praised her.

"Yes, very good, Morris. That's clear again," Ellie grumbled offended, while Penny was praised by Sam through and through and she smiled at him. "And what does our team leader have to offer?"

"An all-purpose knife," Sam objected and pulled out a knife that hid something that could be folded out in all directions. "Everything from a knife to pliers to a mini flashlight is in there."

"Great, that'll save us if we find a nail that we need to straighten," Ellie replied sarcastically.

"She says who is in the forest with the charging cable!" Penny countered her angrily and it ended with the two of them sticking out their tongues at each other in insult. Nobody was too worried about the dispute between the two. Ellie didn't like to admit mistakes, but she never took offense to anyone and Penny never held a grudge, not even a little.

"Well, I wouldn't complain too quickly, Ellie. Since that wasn't included in our first aid kit, I packed a sewing kit. You never know when or where you're going to tear your clothes. But with a needle you can also very good removing splinters, but unfortunately I don't have the tweezers, where Sam's pliers could be very useful if one of you catches one," Helen jumped to Sam's help. He gave her a grateful look before looking at Malcolm.

"I have a flashlight with me," he said.

"Me too!" shouted Tom and Ben, visibly proud.

"I have a book with me." Everyone groaned when Arnold said that. Why didn't anyone really expect that?!"How do you survive in the wilderness by Mick Smyth," he then added sheepishly and a little offended.

"Isn't that the guy who always lets himself be exposed naked in the wilderness somewhere on TV in order to find his way back to civilization?" Sam asked in astonishment and all eyes suddenly turned to him. "I just happened to tune in when there was nothing going on on the shift."

"That's right. I was there," Penny supported Sam, thinking back to how horrified and amused they had been at the same time to see someone making such a fool of themselves for an appearance on television, before she turned back to Arnold. "But I didn't think Arnold would watch something like that." He just shrugged his shoulders while turning bright red.

"Well, I have my storm lighter with me, as you know," Jodie said quickly when she saw that Ellie had another comment on Arnold's red face and all eyes were on her as they all talked about how lucky they had been thanks to Jodie's foresight. No one really believed that any of them could make fire with two sticks - especially not the wild men.

"What's up with you Lizzie? What do you have with you?" Elvis then asked the vet.

"I only have a set of repellents for wild animals. For the ones that actually exist here," she added with a sideways glance at the wild men. "I don't think we'll need it, but you never know."

"We complement each other perfectly, Lizzie. I've got a bear trap with me!" Moose said in an ominous voice and while everyone looked at each other or at him in confusion, Sam slapped his palm against his forehead in disbelief and Penny groaned almost silently. while rolling her eyes in annoyance as Moose began to talk about the danger of a wild bear in the woods.

"Moose, stop scaring them. We're not in Canada. There are no bears in Wales," Penny interrupted him.

"Penny's right. I also think it's time for us to go to sleep. We still have a lot to do and who knows what awaits us here," suggested Sam after looking at his watch. A murmur went through the crowd and everyone began to get ready for the night.

A quarter of an hour later everyone was wrapped up in their sleeping bags and quickly fell asleep thanks to today's strenuous hike.

But Sam woke up again after just a few hours of restless sleep. Around him, the snoring concerts of Moose, Malcolm and Ben drowned out the crickets, whose chirping stopped for a brief moment each time when Ben next to him seemed to choke on his snoring and instead sounded like a wild sow when he was grunting in his ear.

He groaned in annoyance and was grateful for a moment that nature was demanding its rights before he peeled himself out of the sleeping bag.

He paused for a moment, surprised when his eyes met Penny's, before he walked into the forest. When he returned just a few minutes later, she was still awake and, after looking at his surrounding noisy sleeping comrades, he decided he might as well find out why she wasn't sleeping. It was a far more pleasant prospect than lying awake between those snoring bags.

He grabbed his sleeping bag and placed it in the 2 meter wide gap between Penny and Helen before wrapping himself in it and turning to face her. He was immediately greeted by her smile, which he was just as happy to return.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" he whispered to her so as not to wake anyone.

"I don't know. I can't find peace."

"Didn't you ever go camping before?"

"Yes, when we were younger. Maybe that's it. Back then, no one thought about the wild animals in the forest or that pieces of the embers could jump off and set the forest on fire."

"I think we need to worry more about the wild men with us than the wild animals out there." Penny laughed softly at his objection, but couldn't say he was wrong. "Is it really the thought of the embers that's keeping you awake or more the fact that Mal, Moose and Ben snore like lumberjacks?"

"Probably a bit of both," she replied with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"It's quite pleasant here with you. When I was lying between them, I dreamed that Ben was attacking me with a chainsaw."

"No wonder you slept so restlessly," she replied, amused, since she had been watching him and wondering why he was so restless. "Helen and Ellie aren't exactly the quietest sleepers either." Sam listened for a moment before he noticed that Penny's eyes were almost closing.

"But much quieter than the three back there. Sleep well. I'll take care of the embers," he then said with a smile, earning a weak smile from Penny before she gave in to sleep. While she had been lying wide awake until just now, Sam's presence gave her enough security to finally be able to fall asleep. She didn't really know what had set her inner alarm bells ringing, but deep down she knew that as long as Sam was there, nothing would happen to her.

And Sam soon followed her to sleep, as soon as the embers had gone out.

To be continued...

As you may have noticed, I'm going to TRY not to focus exclusively on Sam and Penny in this story like I usually do. I hope you don't mind it and still have fun with it.