Chapter 7

Base Camp 07:19

Gibbs sat up and looked around. Abby and McGee were already awake and gone for a walk. Gibbs got up and re-started the fire. Sitting by it, he rubbed his hands, trying to warm them. It was a cool morning. Dew glittered over the grass and the trees gently swayed in the cold breeze. Slowly Ducky and Tony emerged from shelter. They joined him by the fire and tried to warm themselves too. An hour later Ziva also awakened. She walked to her carry-on and grabbed her book and her NCIS jacket. Sitting down as Abby and McGee joined them they all tried to keep warm.

Base Camp 12:03

McGee and Abby set out to catch a few fish for lunch, Tony and Ducky set out to find some edible plants, and Ziva and Gibbs stayed back at the fire. Gibbs stood up and started searching in the woods. He finally found what he was looking for, a large, dry piece of wood. “Hey Ziva?” “Hmm?” She replied, still engrossed in her book. “Do you have an extra knife I can use?” “Yes.” She pointed to her carry-on. Gibbs opened it and pulled out a sliver knife, “Is this strong enough to use on wood?” “Oh yes, it is very sharp and strong. It is very useful.” Gibbs nodded and sat down and started to whittle the wood.

By time the rest of the team returned it was 13:00. Everyone was curious to what Gibbs was making but Gibbs just shrugged replying, “I’m not sure what it will be yet, but it’s something to do.” Gibbs knew that keeping busy was the best thing you could do to keep your mind off of other things, so once they finished eating, the men set out for another walk while Ziva and Abby stayed behind. Once they left Ziva came up with an idea, which will keep them both busy and also help out the team. “Abby, would you like to help me with something?” “Sure,” Abby replied enthusiastically, “What is it?”

“Well I noticed that our shelter was kind of small for all six of us, so I thought I would build another one. Bigger and stronger so if another storm hits us again, Tony will not complain that he is getting wet.” Abby snickered at that though. Last night, once the storm hit, some of the leaves, used for the roof, blew off right above Tony. He complained until they fell asleep. “Sure Ziva. It will also help us if we get hit with any snow. It’s getting really cool out, I don’t think it will snow yet but you never know how long we’ll be stuck here. So, where do we start?”

Ziva looked around, “We will first need some long sturdy branches for supports. Once we get the base down, we can go up from there.” After planning how the shelter would be constructed, Ziva and Abby set out and started collecting branches and twigs. Setting them into a pile they started to build. Ziva took 4 of the longest ones and pulled out her knife, cutting them all to the right size. She and Abby quickly pushed them deep into the mud. Once the 4 corners were up, they took vines and sturdily attached branches along the top, connecting them. Continuing on they laid branches along the top forming a roof.

With the Men in the Forest: 14:42

Gibbs, Ducky, McGee, and Tony we’re walking in the forest to keep busy. Tony was still hoping to find his magazine, but he was getting less hopeful until he saw it. Another page was sitting on the ground, in a puddle. Tony quickly snatched it up, “It’s all wet, but here it is! Page 16! Now all I need is page 17 to finish this article.” The other’s looked at him strangely, “What? On page 16 to 17 they had a really great article on…” Before Tony could say what it was Gibbs shushed him, “Tony, I don’t think we need to know what ever you’re reading.” With that, Gibbs led the way, deeper into the forest.

With the Women at Base Camp: 15:13

An hour had escaped as Abby and Ziva worked on their shelter. They we’re having fun building the best shelter they could. They’d almost finished the roof. Abby had laid branches side by side forming a wood roof while Ziva worked on the covering. Taking vines she found in the forest, she weaved the leaves together. They both took the covering and laid it on top of the wood roof. Tying it down, the slipped underneath it and looked for any possible leaks or bare spots. Once they were sure that there wasn’t any, they worked on the sides.

With the Men: 16:09

Once they all got tired, they headed back to camp. Tony stopped along the way and picked up another piece of his magazine out of a puddle, chanting, “Page 17, page 17, please be page 17! PLEASE be page 17!” As he looked at the page number he cried out, “Noooo! It’s the advertisement page! The most useless page there is!” The other’s chuckled at Tony’s outburst and continued on. Tony miserably followed the rest back to camp.

Base Camp: 16:55

As the men neared camp they hear laughter. McGee and Tony looked at each other and shrugged. They raced ahead of Gibbs and Ducky to see what was so funny. They slowed down once Ziva and Abby came into sight, “Hey, what’s so funny?” Tony asked suspiciously. “It’s nothing Tony, just girl talk.” Abby said through suppressed giggles. “Girl talk? About what?” McGee asked. “McGee, it is nothing. We were just sharing embarrassing stories that happened to us.” Ziva said as she also tried to stop her laughter. This made Tony’s eyes widened, “Embarrassing stories?! And I missed them?! Who’s was so funny?” “Mine.”

Gibbs and Ducky walked up, they had also heard the laughing, “Hey, what were you two laughin’ about?” “Nothing Gibbs, as I told Tony, just sharing our embarrassing stories.” “And they’re laughing about Ziva’s. Come on Zi, tell us all! I could really use a laugh!” Tony said, hoping that she would confess. Ziva smiled, “No.” “Abby will you tell us?” McGee inquired. “Nope,” Abby replied, “One: We promised each other that we wouldn’t tell anyone else. Two: If I did tell you, and she told me not to because it was so embarrassing, she’d probably kill me.” This of course, caused everyone to laugh.

Gibbs looked up and saw something different. “Hey what happened to our shelter?” Everyone looked over and saw that it was now a heap of twigs and leaves. “Oh, Abby and I had to take it down. We needed to use some of the branches for the new one.” Ziva said as she pointed to the new shelter. The men walked over to it and looked around at it. “Good job you two! Wow, its bigger then the other one.” McGee stated. “It’s not just bigger, it’s also stronger and it’ll last longer then the other one did. Also, if it snows, it won’t collapse under the weight.” Abby replied happily.

Base Camp: 19:00

As night fell, the team set out doing various things. Abby and McGee went out to find a spot to watch the sunset, and Tony was desperately trying to get flames by rubbing two sticks together while Ducky watched him, laughing, “Anthony, you’ve been at it for an hour now. Would you like me to get it started?” “No Ducky, I’ve got it. Just a few more seconds and I should have it…” All of a sudden his sticks broke. Sighing, he moved over so Ducky could get it started. Tony looked around, Gibbs was whittling his wood again and Ziva was making something.

Tony looked at it strangely and walked over to her, “What ya doin’?” Ziva looked up, “I am making a signal fire. When a plane or helicopter passes overhead I will light it. It creates smoke and they pilot will be able to see us, meaning we will get rescued.” “Oh, need any help?” “Sure, if you want to.” Ziva said as Tony sat down across from her. “Tony, what we have to do is build it out of dry wood and things that will burn easily, that way when we light it, it will ignite fast and start sending off our signal.”

As they worked on the signal fire, Tony looked up at her, “So, are you going to tell me about your most embarrassing moment, the one you and Abby were laughing about?” “I can not tell you. As I said, we promised that we would not tell anyone else.” “You can tell me yours. You just can’t tell me Abby’s, so tell me!” Ziva shook her head, “No, I won’t tell you. It’s too embarrassing. There, we are done the signal fire. Once we hear someone overhead, we will light it.” Tony frowned as Ziva tried to change the subject, “Come on Ziva! Just tell me!” When Ziva refused to talk, Tony said in his best German accent, “We have ways of making you talk. Very unpleasant ways.”

Ziva stopped in her tracks, “Tony that is so cliché. Also I doubt that you would be able to get me to tell you.” “Oh really?” Tony asked, a hint of enthusiasm in his voice, “You never know, I just might be able too…” Ziva stopped him, “Tony, I really doubt it. I’ve been trained to not give in and talk.” Tony had an idea; he thought he would be able to win, “Fine, I have a bet then. If I get you to tell me you embarrassing moment you will have to pay me 25 bucks. If you get me to tell you my embarrassing moment, I pay you 25 bucks. Deal?” Ziva smiled, also thinking that she would win, so she raised the bet, “Make it 50 and we have a deal.” “Deal!” With that, the contest was on. Ziva walked in front of Tony, giving him an idea and an opportunity to fulfill it. He grabbed her wrists and twisted, “Tell me what it is or I will hurt you!” Although Tony couldn’t see, Ziva smiled again.

Ziva twisted her hands the opposite way and grabbed his. With one swift movement, she flipped him over herself and he hit the ground. Standing over him, she gave him a smug smiled and said, “Tony that will never work. Nice try though.” With that she walked over him, heading to the stream. She looked back and saw Tony pick himself off the ground. Quickening her pace so he wouldn’t be able to follow her she thought of a plan. She would get him to tell her but she wouldn’t use force or anything like that. All she needed was a moment to strike, tricking him into telling her. Chuckling to herself, she continued on.