Row immediately nods. “Got it.”

And that’s how we become an official team of five, moving through the thick jungle as a single unit, working our way slowly through the brush. Which gets pretty fucking boring honestly.

“So, big guy. Tell us about your life,” I say to Creed, knowing he’s the most likely to be forthcoming. Achilles is still being an asshole, Jiro seems to like the mysterious vibe, and Row. . .well, he’ll probably tell us all about himself if we ask nicely. But Creed, I wanna know his story.

“What do you wanna know?” he asks, keeping his voice low so it doesn’t carry too far. No need to make it easy for someone to track us.

“Whatever you want to reveal,” I say with a shrug. “I don’t know.”

He scoffs. “Well, Creed Montgomery. I live in Tennessee. Have a modest ranch up there. I spent sixteen years in the Navy as a Navy Seal, but I got out when I got tired of fighting wars for rich people.” He glances at Row. “No offense.”

Row shrugs. “None taken. I was born into it. It’s not like it was a choice.”

Achilles snorts. “I bet that money was no hardship though, was it?” It’s clearly a barb, but Row just shrugs, unaffected.

“No, it wasn’t a hardship. I spent my days on yachts with models in bikinis and getting pissed on whatever alcohol made its way on. Can you say the same?”

Achilles looks away at the barb, not because he’s ashamed, but because he clearly didn’t expect Row to be as unaffected. That’s the way to throw him off apparently. Act nonchalant and dismissive. I file that information away for later.

We continue on our path, stopping every now and then to pick fruits we find hanging in the trees to store for later and cutting a path through palm leaves and insects. Every so often, we stop, and Achilles shows us a new handy way to collect water. When he reveals a plant that stores it like a pitcher, I watch in amazement as he simply fills the canteen by pouring it from the leaves. That survival class is looking more and more promising the longer he’s around. There are even coconuts we can crack open and drink water from. Achilles stripes the meat from inside them to use for food later.

Eventually, as we enter another lull of boredom, I decide I can drop a bit about myself.

“Well, I’m sure everyone knows I was a dancer by this point.”

Row laughs. “Yeah, we know.”