•✧ JENNIE'S POV ✧•

“Alright everybody, gather up!” - The commander ordered as the cadets immediately came out of their tents and stood side by side, paying attention to their commanders.

After lunch, they had decided to take rest until it was time for training. Now that the sun was going to set soon, it was time to do their tasks.

“As we all can see, the sun is going to set in an hour so it's time for our first task. The hiking challenge.” - They attentively listened to him as he explained everything, Jennie exchanged a look of excitement with Juda.

“The tools I gave you should be with you right now. All groups will be divided into two teams. Right now we have 3 groups so we have 6 teams. Each team will contain 3 members or 4.” - Juda, Jennie and Somi immediately stood together when the team forming started. Every group was divided into teams as they checked their equipment to see if they were working fine. And then the final rules were explained.

“Each team will hike up the marked trail on the maps, you can use your flashlights if it gets too dark. You have 35 minutes to hike up to the end of the trail and collect as many green flags as you can find. The team with the most flags wins. Be careful of the snakes and insects, cadets! If you somehow get lost you know how to get help. Otherwise stick together and don't lose your partners. Understood?!” - Hearing about snakes and bugs sent chills down the girl's spine but she shrugged it off and took a deep breath, ready to face the biggest fear of her life.

After fixing their uniforms and doing warm-up exercises, the teams begin hiking up the hill.

The trails were surrounded by tall, green trees which made it look darker than it already was, the trail was also covered in fallen branches and rocks alongside the chilly winds that were blowing right into their faces. The challenge was definitely a difficult one but they weren't going to let themselves fear anything, this was their motive after all. To overcome their fears.

Jennie and her roommates also continued to walk over the branches and rocks while carefully scanning their surroundings for any green flags they might miss, Jennie was walking behind Juda, Somi checked the map and led them ahead as they followed behind her. After a few minutes when it began getting darker they pulled their flashlights out, by now they only had 3 flags which wasn't much so they had to continue their way towards the end. Even though the brunette was still not liking her surroundings.

“Oh God, this is tiring.” - Juda complained as she stopped in her tracks making the others stop as well.

“We have to continue so we can come back before the time is up. Get walking now.” - Somi spoke as she groaned and started walking again.

A few more minutes passed just like that, everything seemed to be going okay except for the few snakes and bugs Jennie encountered. Suddenly, she stopped walking as her breathing had become uneven and she was getting tired now, the trail seemed to never end. She held her knees to regain her breath as she thought Juda and Somi had also stopped because of her but when she looked up and didn't see them anywhere, she panicked. Had they perhaps not noticed her stopping?

“Juda! Somi?!” - She tried calling out to them but no one replied. It had gotten extremely dark and cold, and there was no one around her so it startled her a little but she tried to be courageous and took her map out to check the trail.

Hell, she didn't even know which trail she was on.

There were multiple trails that were marked and Somi was the one taking them ahead so it was hard to recognize which one she was on. She decided to trust her guts and hiked up while looking at the map.

The unusual thing was that there were no flags in her surroundings now and she would be lying if she said she didn't almost cry out of fear.

“Oh God.. Juda!! Are you guys there? Is anyone here at all?!” - All she was answered with was silence, a deadly one at that.

The slightest move of bushes around her made her startled as the wind brushed through the leaves. She was now coming to realize that she had gotten lost in the woods, she didn't know her way back and if she continued to walk forward she'd only get deeper into the forest.

“I-is anyone there?! I'm lost please help!!” - She shouted, but even screaming was of no help so she finally broke down into tears.

Her body shivered due to the cold and mostly because of the negative thoughts that started clouding her brain. She had to remain calm, she tried, but she couldn't help the tears that were now flowing down her face. It was extremely dark already, she had probably lost track of time and the sun had already set. The only source of light was the torch in her hand. But that would also stop once the battery was out.

Remembering the flare gun in her pocket she decided to take it out, aimed it towards the sky with shaking hands and pulled the trigger. Startling herself once more as a firework illuminated the sky with its colors while she stumbled upon a rock and fell over.

Her hand got twisted as she winced in pain and tried to sit up. Her knee had accidentally scrapped against the rough rock as it was now bleeding, a small part of the fabric had been torn. The wound seemed to be too deep as it started aching a lot, blood didn't stop coming out from it and soaked a large part of her trousers.

“Bloody hell..” - She cursed, managing to sit up against a tree.

Her breathing got abnormal again as the cold started affecting her as well. The shivering of her body grew intense minute by minute and her eyelids fell lower and lower because of her tiredness but she tried to keep herself conscious. Hoping that someone would come save her now otherwise if she passed out, it was going to be hard.

All of a sudden, she felt the leaves on the ground move as she looked around herself, pointing her torch at the spot to see what it was and she only hoped it wasn't a snake. But unfortunately it was.

“Amazing. Anything else left? Bugs? Wild animals?” - She weakly laughed at her luck and gripped the pocket knife in her hand.

“Don't come here. I will end your existen- or maybe not.” - Her eyes widened when she saw the size of the snake in front of her, almost as big as her arm and the knife in her hand was of no help anymore. She tried shifting away but her hand and knee didn't allow her to move even an inch.

She gulped, seeing the stick beside her gave her an idea as she grabbed it and sharpened its end with the help of the knife, she gathered all the strength she had left inside her and stabbed the snake, fortunately succeeding in killing it as the stick pierced right through his head.

Her body fell back against the tree again as she closed her eyes, there was no point of staying awake anymore when her energy was slowly being drained by the cold and the ache in her body.

Her eyes closed and she didn't try to open them again, too tired to even think about the dangers as she completely passed out.

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•✧ TAEHYUNG'S POV ✧•

“Commander Kim! There's a problem. The LCs team from your group came back without one of their members.” - The soldier came running towards Taehyung as he explained the issue to him, his heart automatically sank a little lower hoping it wasn't Jennie.

“Which LC and why do the others not know where she is?!” - He raised his voice as the soldier stepped aside a little, letting him see Somi and Juda standing alone near the woods as they wore a worried expression.

“It's LC Jennie. Her roommates said she was behind them but they never noticed when she must've stopped walking. They tried going back down the trail but she wasn't there.” - He immediately rushed towards the duo as he tried to keep himself calm, not wanting to yell at them or be rude but the circumstances weren't letting him think clearly.

“Do you have any idea where she must've stopped?” - Somi gulped the lump in her throat and shook her head while Juda spoke.

“If I go back to the spot I'd be able to tell. Because I'm sure she was with us until the-” - She was cut off when the sky suddenly lit up with a colorful firework. Both Juda and Somi's eyes widened, realizing it was Jennie who used her flare gun.

Taehyung breathed out heavily and walked over towards the soldiers as he ordered them to head inside the woods.

“Commander Park! Please mark the attendance of other teams. We're heading inside the forest to find LC Jennie.”