//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2:Where Are We? 
// Story: The Unity Pact 
// by Truthseeker 
//------------------------------//


As it turned out, not everyone had arrived as safely as most of us had. The young woman my brother in law, Chris Vacca pulled from the pool was comatose and we could do nothing to wake her. She passed just a few hours after we woke up. Of the three people Darryl pulled to safety, one died, we believed from swelling in his brain. The residents that Masonete and Richardson put themselves at risk to rescue from the black Chevy Colorado were in really bad shape. Four of them died from blood loss and one succumbed from shock and trauma from his injuries. There was nothing we could have done for them.

I ended up with the group that headed South, toward the lone mountain. Imagine my surprise when Joyner and Campbell determined that I was one of the top eight people most knowledgeable about survival. I loved hardcore camping and it came back to haunt me, in fact it landed me as the 'leader' of a group of people.

I was not happy. I wasn't any sort of leader and I had less than no patience for ignorance or stupidity. There were five other men with 'my group' who knew a bit about survival. Their names were Derek Jameson, Andrew Talbin, Joseph Winter, Kieth Dunmore, and Brian Boyd.

I was surprised that Kieth was one of the more knowledgeable ones. He was one of the wealthy kids but he didn't have the stereotypical 'I'm better than everyone else because I have money and you don't' attitude. He was an 18 year old student who was Majoring in Psychology. He and I had spoken a few times and I knew he often talked about camping but apparently I had badly misjudged him. He was a sharp kid, honestly most of the Security team liked him.

I kept Derek, Andrew, Joseph, Kieth, and Brian close to me as we walked.

Once we had moved away from the main group, about half way to the treeline, I turned and addressed 'my group',
"Listen up!" I said loudly, "You guys," I said gesturing to Derek, Andrew, Joseph, Kieth, and Brian, "All of you know how to navigate using the sun, right?"

Five voices spoke their collective affirmatives so I continued, "We'll cover more ground if we split into smaller, more manageable groups."

"Um," Andrew said, "I'm no leader. I wouldn't know what to do."

"The fact that you were the first one to speak up says otherwise." I said bluntly, "I don't like having people to babysit but we aren't in a situation where we have a lot of choices. I need you to do this. Will you at least try?"

Andrew nodded his head reluctantly, "I'll do my best."

"That's all anyone can ask." I said, "Thanks Andrew."

"Everyone else good with this?" I asked.

They gave their affirmatives, "Good," I assessed the numbers of 'my group', "I want sixteen people to form up around each of these five guys." I turned back to the five young men, "Guys, spread out so folks can form up around you."

Everyone did as I asked but the numbers were uneven, "Alright there's two people left over, I'll take them with me. You five, take your groups and head South but at different angles. You're in charge of these groups. Keep them safe." I raised my voice again and addressed everyone, "Listen up, follow your group's leader and do what he says. Group leaders, make a path for your group to follow, make sure they can walk safely. Groups, step only where your leader steps, mimic his footprints exactly. Meet back at the field by sundown and be careful."

Andrew and Brian took their groups and headed South by South-East while Joseph and Kieth headed South by South-West with theirs.

I took my group and headed due South. We moved at a fairly quick pace since we were only walking on grass and flowers. I had noticed a distinctive lack of the usual rocks one would normally find in a field, but I ignored the fact, simply thanking my lucky stars that it was a fact at all. There had been no stubbed toes or bruised heels and I wasn't about to look a gift-horse in the mouth.

It was only a few minutes later that we approached the treeline.

I held up my right hand, fist closed, "Hold up!" I yelled.

The people following me slowed down and came to a stop. We were not a tightly packed group. People had already moved outward, as such we were not moving in a straight line. That, I knew, had to change in very short order.

"I need everyone to follow behind me in a straight line. Step only where I step, nowhere else. You don't think about where to step when you have shoes on because your feet are covered. Right now, you need to think about that a lot. A single misstep can end up with you having an old fallen branch sticking out of the top of your toes. We don't have anything in the way of medical equipment or antibiotics right now so any cut and infection could kill you. I'm trying to make you aware of some of the dangers of just walking around here. Another thing, keep an eye out for snakes. Most snakes are not venomous but better safe than sorry. If you do see a snake, freeze in place and don't move. Snakes won't want to bite you unless they feel threatened. For the record, screaming, shrieking, yelling, stomping, flailing arms, throwing rocks, and swinging sticks all count as threatening behavior to a snake. When I say to 'freeze in place' I mean make like a statue and make it convincing." I stopped and took a breath, "Now, are there any questions?"

"What if we do freeze but we still get bit?" a young Asian man asked.

I didn't know the man's name but I had to nip the 'what ifs' in the bud, "We can stand around speculating about 'what if' scenarios all day and we won't get a damn thing done. Let me rephrase my question. Are there any topics that I didn't bring up that you have concerns about?"

No one spoke up, "Good. Now when we're in there," I said gesturing to the trees, "I'm going to start finding and handing out bits of trees and bushes and so forth. If I hand you something that has berries on it by chance, do not eat it. It might be poisonous and could kill you. Follow my footprints and step only where I step. Come on."

I had been hearing birdsong as we got closer to the edge of the field. I could see dozens of birds fluttering from tree to tree through branches and leaves. Their songs were both calming and invigorating at the same time. Even before we entered the forest I had already seen squirrels scurrying about, both in trees and on the ground. The forest was alive with creatures.

We entered the tree line and began making our way toward the mountain. The birds and squirrels fell silent the second we entered the forest, giving the whole environment a very unwelcoming feel. We were uninvited interlopers into their world and they recognized us as such. It made me feel terribly unwanted, like I was trespassing on some ancient sacred ground.

The trees grew close together and rotting, fallen leaves crunched under my feet with every step. I could identify lots of maple, beech, ash, yew, and oak. I did my best to steer away from oak trees since their acorns had sharp points on the bottoms. Bushes grew in abundance in between almost every tree. They were thick and lush. Some bushes only had leaves, others had thorns, while still others had different types of berries hanging off their small branches. Fallen sticks of various thickness liberally littered the forest floor, often partially or completely concealed by leaves on the ground.

I could tell right away that there were going to be problems. We had only just entered the trees when I looked back. I sighed in exasperation and kept going. I glanced back every few steps. Every time I looked behind me I saw people moving outward, not following my steps. I had already repeated myself several times about the dangers of foot injuries and I knew I'd just be wasting my breath if I said it all again, so I waited for the inevitable.

I only had to wait for a few minutes, "Aaahhh! My foot!" I heard a shrill, feminine voice cry out.

"Sheranda!" I heard another yell.

I held up my right hand and came to a stop, "Hold up!" I ordered.

I turned around and saw that I needn't have said anything. Everyone had already stopped and I counted at least fifteen out of my eighteen people not directly behind me. They were spread out all over the damn place. One young African-American woman was sitting down on the leaves clutching her left foot. She was only about fifteen feet behind me but there were people all around her already. I could hear them trying to tell her what to do. One told her to pull the stick out of her foot while another said to leave it alone. I couldn't see her foot clearly, there were too many people in the way.

"MAKE ROOM!" I bellowed as I started picking a safe path to her, "DON'T DO ANYTHING YET! LEAVE HER FOOT ALONE!"

People didn't listen, not that I really expected them to. I had to move a few gawkers aside so I could get to the injured young lady. I came up to four people crowding around her.

They were all arguing about how to help her and one voice was much louder than the others, "Just pull the shit out man, I'm tellin' you!"

"Don't do that." I said calmly.

He turned to face me, "Yo fuck off pig!" the speaker was a young African-American man I had never seen before.

He stood a good 6' 2" and had short black hair and brown eyes. His build was muscular, his face was clean-shaven, and his tone was aggressive. I couldn't spot any tattoos on him so I guessed his age to be under 18. I knew I needed to keep my cool. I had already figured that there would be trouble once the shock of our sudden displacement wore off so I was already prepared, "I need to help this young lady so I need you to get out of the way sir." I said flatly.

Predictably, he stuck out his chin postured like a strutting rooster, "You gonna make me?" he asked snidely, "I don't see no gun in yo' hands. Whatcha gonna do? Nothin, that's what."

"Leo!" the injured lady's friend yelled, "Leo, let him in!"

"So you're going to put this," I gestured to the injured young woman, "Young lady's life in jeopardy just because you have a problem with authority?"

"No! I'ma put yo' fat ass in yo' place cracka'! Who da fuck you think you is tellin' us where to step an' shit!" he spouted indignantly.

"Leo just stop! Sheranda's bleedin' real bad! What the hell are you doin'?" the young woman asked again.

"I was trying to make sure THIS," I gestured to the young woman again, "Didn't happen in the first place. So either get out of my way and let me help her or carry your butt and your attitude back to the field."

He raised his right hand and shoved me in the chest, pushing me back half a step, "Make me."

"Goddamn it Leo!" the young woman shrieked, "Shut the fuck up and let him help!"

"I don't have time for this stupidity and neither does she, so I'm going to tell you one last time to get out of my way." I wasn't about to back off, I couldn't afford to.

"Or what?" Leo said in a dangerous tone.

I heard a sound behind me, "Or I'll make you pendejo." the voice was a smooth, masculine baritone and had a Hispanic accent, "Let 'im trough."

Other voices joined the first one,
"Yeah, let him help!"
"What da fuck is yo problem niggah!"
"He knows what he's doin' man, let him help!"

Leo looked at the people behind me then back at me scowling with barely concealed rage, "This ain't ova'!" he said poking the index finger of his right hand into my chest.

I ignored him and moved around him to get to the injured young woman. There, sitting on the dead leaves, naked, with her hands clutched around her bleeding foot, and a small pool of blood underneath her injured instep was Sheranda. She was rocking back and forth with her eyes screwed shut, tears streaming down her face as her friend knelt next to her, holding her comfortingly. I was initially feeling quite angry that almost no one had listened to me, however after seeing the young woman in pain I found I couldn't stay angry. Instead I felt pity for her.

I knelt down and spoke softly, "Sheranda was it?" I asked.

She nodded, eyes cracking open, "Yeah."

"I need to take a look at your foot, O.K.? It may hurt to move but I need you to lay down slowly and try not to move your foot at all. I'm going to take your foot so I can see it better after you've laid back. I need you to try to keep as calm as you can and I need you to talk to me." I paused to take a breath and turned to her friend, "What's your name ma'am?"

"Shannon." the young African-American woman replied.

"Shannon, I need you to steady Sheranda as she lays back and try to keep her calm. Sweep your hands over the ground behind her and make sure she doesn't lay down on any more sticks. Talk to her and don't let her fall asleep, alright?"

Shannon nodded, "O.K."

I reached out and grasped Sheranda's ankle firmly with both hands, making sure to place my fingers firmly on any arteries or veins I could see, "Go ahead and lay down."

Sheranda reluctantly let go of her leg and Shannon helped her lay back. As Sheranda straightened out her leg I could see the broken tip of a half-inch thick stick poking out of her instep. I didn't know much about blood vessels in the human foot, but there was plenty of blood already.

"Alright Sheranda, I need to go find some specific leaves. Stay as still as you can. Shannon, stay with her and keep her calm."

I turned and looked around at the other people close by. I examined each one in turn and much to my displeasure, Leo had the best muscular build. Everyone had taken a seat in the leaves by that point and Leo had followed suit. He was sitting on the ground with his knees up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them, while shooting me death looks. He resembled a sulking child.

I sighed and addressed the irritating young man, "Hey, Leo?"

Leo raised his chin, snarling, "Da fuck you talkin' to me for, pig?"

"Do you want to help Sheranda?" I asked, "That's what you were trying to do at first."

"Fuck her man! I don't give a shit 'bout some stupid bitch who's dumb ass done stepped on a stick." Leo spat back.

"I think you do." I said loudly, "You were trying to help, you just didn't know how. I don't care about what you think of me or anyone else, but if you want to help I could sure use a hand here."

He didn't move a muscle so I turned to the young Hispanic man who had been the first to support me, "What's your name sir?" I asked.

"Eduardo Ortega. Whatchu need amigo?" he said.

"I need someone to keep Sheranda's leg elevated while I go and try to find some herbs. Can you do that for me?" I asked gesturing to the ankle I was holding.

"Yeah, I got chu." he said as he rose to his feet.

I stepped to my left and held out Sheranda's ankle, "O.K. Put your fingers on any arteries or veins you see to help slow down the bleeding. Don't be afraid to use some pressure but if she tells you her foot is going numb, ease off your grip a bit but keep an eye on the wound to make sure it doesn't bleed too much. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it. Where you gotta go anyway?" Eduardo asked.

"I need to find a specific plant called yarrow. It's not going to be pretty but it can be made into a poultice of sorts." I told him.

I turned to the gathering of young people, "Anyone who wants to learn something that could very well save someone's life, come with me. Everyone else stay here." I specifically faced Leo, "I don't like you, don't get me wrong, but you were one of only four people willing to try to help. That willingness means something to me, whether or not I think you're a jackass, so if you want to come you can. Hell I'd prefer it if you did."

"Why?" Leo asked spitefully, "So I don't cause YOU no trouble? Always gotta keep tabs on the niggas!"

I swallowed what I REALLY wanted to say, "If you're willing to learn, next time I'll ask you to do it and I'll have you show others how to as well. Asshole. You don't scare me but you've got some balls, we can work with that. You in, or not tough guy?" I'll admit some of my comments weren't strictly necessary but he was really plucking my nerves.

"Ai'it I'm commin'." Leo said sourly.

"Alright everyone, follow me and this time I want to see everyone step EXACTLY where I step. We clear?" I asked.

A small ocean of heads nodded silently, "Good. We're heading back to the field."

It didn't take us long to get back out of the forest, we hadn't gotten far anyway. I was pleased to note that everyone was following behind me in single file. We stepped back out into the sunlight and I immediately began looking for yarrow.

It was growing in abundance in the field, "Alright, everyone pay attention." I began, "What I'm going to show you is how to make an Emergency Spit Poultice. It's not pretty but it will get the job done."

I walked over to a knee high plant that had clusters of tiny white flowers growing on it, "Gather around everyone, I want everyone to be able to see." I held out my right hand gesturing to the plant, "This is yarrow. It's easy to identify by its height and the clusters of tiny white flowers growing on it. Does everyone remember what this plant looks like?"

"Yeah."
"Got it."
"I can remember that."
"No problem."
"My grandma used to boil that stuff."

I looked up sharply at the person who spoke last, it was Leo, "Your grandmother was a wise lady. Yarrow can be used for quite a number of things including poultices."

I reached out my right hand and grasped the base of a large cluster of flowers then used my left hand to pluck the stems while my right hand steadied it. I held up the bunch of stems to show everyone.

"Follow me back to Sheranda. Remember, step only where I step." I reminded them.

Retracing our steps was fairly simple and we reached Sheranda, Shannon, and Eduardo in almost no time. Eduardo was holding Sheranda's ankle exactly like he had been before. From what I could see, he hadn't moved a muscle. Sheranda seemed to be breathing easily enough and I could hear Shannon talking to her quietly about some kind of party they had attended in the past.

"Alright everyone, spread out so you can see her foot." as they did so I turned to Eduardo, "Has the bleeding stopped?"

"It ain't bled a drop since you left." he informed me.

I patted him on the shoulder, "Good observation." I looked at Sheranda's foot just to make sure, "Alright then, looks good."

I straightened back up and took a deep breath, "This is where things stop being so pretty everyone." I turned to Sheranda and knelt down next to her but spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, "It looks like the stick missed all the arteries and veins in your foot," I wasn't absolutely certain but I was pretty sure, "I have the herbs I needed to get. This," I said holding up the yarrow flowers for her to see, "Will ease the pain and help keep the injury from becoming infected. I'll need you to chew up these flowers until they're mush. Try to dry your mouth and don't swallow any if you can help it."

I handed the flowers to her and she put them in her mouth and began chewing. After a few moments I held out my left hand next to her mouth. Taking the hint she spit the saliva slick flower mush into my open palm.

I stood back up and looked back down to her, "We're ready." I took another deep breath and steeled myself for an extremely unpleasant necessity, "Eduardo, Leo I need you guys to hold her foot tightly. Keep it immobile but don't hurt her."

I waited for them to get their grips, Leo didn't complain, much to my surprise, "Hold her tight. I need," I pointed to two young women, "You two. What are your names?"

The first young woman was Asian. She was only about 5' 5" but she was a little husky, which I needed. She had long straight black hair and dark brown eyes. I also noticed a nine inch tall and wide tattoo of a butterfly on her stomach.

"I'm Clarice." she said.

I couldn't help but to quirk an eyebrow at the French name on the Asian lady. The other one I had picked out was African-American. She had long, long black hair and brown eyes. She was quite shapely but she also had an athletic build. She stood roughly 5' 9" and had some of the largest eyes I had ever seen.

"Kaneesha Edwards." she said with a slight street accent.

I walked over to them and gestured for them to come closer, I lowered my voice and leaned toward them, "We have to get that stick out of her foot and she's going to struggle like crazy. I need you two to hold her still. She'll probably scream and maybe try to bite you. Clarice, I want you to hold her left arm. Kaneesha, I want you to hold her right arm. Can you do that for me?"

Kaneesha nodded her head without hesitation, "Yeah."

Clarice looked decidedly unsure, "I've never held anyone down before."

"Just grab her arm and use your hands to make sure she doesn't struggle and hurt herself or you. Can you do that?" I asked again.

"I'll try." she said, still unsure.

"Then get into position." I said standing back up.

Kaneesha and Clarice knelt down on either side of Sheranda, who was beginning to look worried as I knelt down next to Shannon,
"I need to pull out the stick."

"Uh uh! Don't touch that thing! I'm goi... " I interrupted Sheranda.

"It has to come out or you're likely to get an infection and die! We HAVE to do this! I'm sorry." I said over Sheranda's yelling.

I turned to Shannon, "Hold her head still. Put your hands on either side of her head and hold on tight. O.K.?"

Shannon looked nervous but nodded her head and got into position. I stood back up and walked over to Eduardo and Leo.

"Leo, I need you to pull her toes back so the stick is easier to reach. Eduardo, hold her foot tightly, she's going to struggle." I instructed as I got into position, "Pull her toes back Leo."

Leo did as instructed and pulled Sheranda's toes back exposing half an inch more of the stick. I saw Eduardo and Leo tense up as Sheranda shrieked and grunted at the extension of her foot. A full inch and a half of the stick was visible but covered with blood, which I knew would make it slick. I took one last deep breath and closed my left hand completely around the spit poultice, making a fist. I set my fist against the ball of her foot and wrapped my fight hand around as much of the stick as I could.

"Hold her tight now." I instructed Eduardo and Leo, "I'm sorry Sheranda but this is going to hurt. I'll make it as quick as I possibly can."

I spread my feet and tensed my arms then pulled.

Sheranda screamed and struggled frantically against the people holding her. Eduardo and Leo grunted with effort as she tried to pull her foot away from them. For the record, it is very difficult to pull an object out a person's body, especially when their muscles are holding it there. The stick moved a quarter of an inch before my grip slipped. I quickly grabbed the stick, tightening my grip as hard as I could, and pulled again. The stick slipped free of Sheranda's foot followed by a steady flow of blood. I dropped the stick and watched her wound for a moment.

To my immense relief, the blood only oozed out. There was no pressure behind it, no spurts of blood. The stick had missed all arteries and veins. I opened my left hand and scooped out some of the poultice with the fingers of my right hand. I pushed the mush into Sheranda's wound and packed it tightly. I scooped the remainder of the spit poultice goop and stuffed it into Sheranda's wound then held the heel of my left hand over the wound, applying steady pressure.

Sheranda continued to scream even after I had finished. I could hear Kaneesha, Clarice, Eduardo, and Leo grunt in exertion as I kept pressure on Sheranda's foot. It took several minutes for the poor young woman to calm down as the yarrow did its work. I felt absolutely terrible for having to hurt her as much as I had, but I knew it had to be done.

I looked at Sheranda's face and my heart wrenched. She had her eyes shut tightly as tears trickled down her cheeks. Her teeth were gritted and I could see her outstretched hands were clenched into fists. She was grinding her teeth so hard that the tendons in her neck were taut and stuck out under her skin. She was breathing heavily but she was slowing down.

Once she was calm again, I pulled my hand away from her foot and took a look, "Alright it's not bleeding. She should be fine as long as she doesn't walk too much. Set her down nice and easy gentlemen." I turned to the women, "Clarice, Kaneesha you can let go now."

The two women let go and stood up, backing away, their faces were stained with tears. Shannon's face had tear stains as well as she looked up at me.

Sheranda slowly opened her eyes and glared at me angrily, "You motha' fucka'!" she screamed, "I hate you! I hate you!"

I stood in place and let her scream at me. She needed to get her frustration out and I knew I deserved it. She cursed and screamed and yelled and spat and cried until she had run out of expletives and breath. She was panting heavily as she broke down and cried. Shannon held her head and rocked her back and forth whispering and mumbling soothing words to her friend.

"You can hate me all you want, but at least you're alive to do so." I said as evenly as I could.

I turned and looked at the rest of my group. Eduardo and Leo had their jaws clenched and looked ashamed. Clarice had nearly broken down in tears herself. Kaneesha on the other hand simply had her lips pursed as she averted her eyes.

"It's not as pretty or clean when you don't have modern medical supplies. If you want to help people, sometimes they'll hate you for it. It happens, deal with it or don't help at all." I paused and took a breath, "Eduardo, Leo grab one more guy and let's carry Sheranda back to the field. Eduardo take her hurt foot and be gentle with it. Let's get moving gentlemen."

*          *          *

Eduardo, Leo, another young African-American man named Rico, and I had carried Sheranda back to the field without incident. Shannon and Rico volunteered to stay with Sheranda while the rest of us continued on toward the mountain. Rico was a pretty large young man Eduardo had found a thick stick for him so we left the three of them there.

Progress was slow with a group of fifteen noobs. The forest was thick with bushes, brambles, and thickets as we headed deeper in. The first time we had come in, people had stumbled and complained and snapped at each other, the second time, everyone was silent. I instructed each person to grab a sample of each different bush, shrub, or tree we came across.

We trekked carefully as I lead them onward. We had just reached the base of the mountain when I called for a halt.

We had come to the base of the mountain. The trees thinned out and let a little direct sunlight through. There were very few fallen sticks or pine cones in the small twenty foot wide area we were in so people could rest their feet for a few minutes.

I raised my right hand, fist closed, "Hold up!" I turned and faced everyone, "Everyone take a seat and rest for a minute or two. I'm going to go around and take a look at everyone's feet. If you have any sore spots or anywhere that hurts let me know when I get to you, unless you want to end up as bad as or worse than Sheranda."

Everyone sat down gratefully. As I looked at them a thought occurred to me, 'It's strange. I would have thought that I'd be staring at women's breasts or trying to get a look at their pussies, but after a while I just didn't notice at all. Hmm. I didn't even think about it when I had Sheranda lying down.'

I ignored the thought and took a step toward the closest person. He was a thin young caucasian man with short blond hair, blue eyes, and a skull tattoo on his left shoulder. I didn't know his name but that wouldn't be an issue for long.

I sat down in front of him, "Hey," I began conversationally, "What's your name?"

"David Caplin." he said plainly.

"Alright David, stretch out your right leg toward me so I can take a look." I said.

He had been sitting cross-legged and he had to shift his weight to do so but he complied. His foot looked to be dirty but healthy.

I let go and motioned for his other foot, "Left leg now please."

He extended it and I took hold of his foot. There looked to have been the very beginnings of a small blister near the ball of his foot but it wasn't in any sort of bad condition.

I let go of his foot and stood up, "Overall your feet look pretty good. Are there any places that feel extra sensitive or tender?"

"Not really." David replied.

"Alright then. Be sure to let me know if that changes." I instructed.

David nodded his head and I moved on to the next person, "Hello Clarise," I addressed her pleasantly, "How do your feet feel?"

I took a look to make sure there were no sticks behind me then sat down in front of her and gestured to her for a leg.

She extended her left leg first, I took a look while she spoke, "They feel fine."

She was right, they looked healthy. I set down her left leg and gestured to her right. She lifted it to me and I took a look. It was just as healthy as the first.

I let go of her right foot and stood up, "Your feet look good. Let me know if that changes."

On and on it went. I checked the feet of every person who had been following me. There were some tiny scrapes but nothing that bled any and not a single blister. It took me several minutes to get through everyone but I finally came to the last person in line. He was a person I had kind of expected to be in the back of the line, Leo.

I looked around for sticks then plopped myself down in front of him, "May I see your feet Leo?"

He made an obvious effort to look anywhere but at me, however he did straighten out his legs so I could lift and look at his feet. I picked up his left one first and was pleased to find it healthy so I set it back down. I picked up his right foot and inspected it.

I was surprised to see a very distinctive pock mark in his instep, almost exactly where Sheranda's injury had been. I almost felt bad for what had happened earlier.

"That's why you said to pull the stick out wasn't it?" I asked. Leo didn't answer so I continued, "What was it?"

"It was a fuckin' rusty, old assed railroad spike O.K.?!" he spat angrily, "Someone fuckin' told me not to pull that shit out so I didn't and ended up almost dyin' from fuckin' tetnis or some shit cause that shit got into my fuckin' blood!"

"And you didn't want to see that happen to Sheranda, right?" I asked cautiously.

"The fuck do you care!?" Leo said venomously, "You jes' on some fuckin' power trip! Gettin' ereone to stick up for you and do shit for you! Man, get the fuck away from me!" he yelled trying to pull his foot back

I let his leg go but I stayed right where I was, "Leo, I didn't know . . . "

"Yeah, well your apology don't mean shit to me motha' fucka'!" he said.

I bit my tongue and decided not to vocalize what I wanted to say, "I wasn't apologizing you ass!" I hissed, "I'm giving you credit for trying to do the right thing! Get your head out of your sphincter for a second!" I took a deep breath to calm down a bit, "Look, I know it's not my business but I wanted to thank you for being back here."

Leo looked at me dangerously, "The fuck you talkin' about?"

"You're back here to make sure no one gets left behind or lost. You may think I'm an idiot Leo but I see what you're doing. I also know you'd just blow it off if I said anything in front of anyone else, so I'm saying it to your face. Thank you." I stood up quickly but turned my head back to him, "By the way, if anyone asks, you bitched me out for feeling up your feet."

I walked away from Leo without looking back, but I had to put some effort into hiding a smile. I quickly shook my head and turned my attention back to the strange mountain looming directly ahead of us.

The mountain confused me to no end. There were no foot-hills leading up to it and the base of the mountain was obvious and plain to see. The terrain went from flat and even, if tree covered, to a semi-steep slope that was thick with bushes, trees and unstable rocks. The mountain's very shape puzzled me as well. It was tall and thin near the summit, which I saw reached far above the clouds from the field before we departed, but by contrast the base was quite wide. The angle seemed to change from semi steep to very steep around a certain, uniform height. That was another odd thing about the mountain, it seemed way too symmetrical, at least from the angle and direction from which we were looking.

After our short rest, we began carefully climbing the incline up the side of the mountain. I led the way, trying not to think about how many pairs of eyes could probably see my asshole as I took each step. The climb was extremely tricky and slow. The trees and bushes gradually thinned out as we ascended but I continued instructing my group to only step where I had stepped, a proposition that I was certain became measurably more difficult as we progressed. Their complete and unquestioning compliance helped ensure our safe climb.

After what I guessed was an hour's worth of climbing, we came upon a wide plateau which was about two hundred feet wide from the slope we had ascended from to the continuance of the slope on the far side. I turned around and offered my hand to help the others climb up the final bit of the ledge onto the more flat ground, on which I was standing. Leo was the last person up. I offered my hand to him but he just batted it away. Shrugging, I turned and examined the area we had ascended to.

The area was almost completely clear of any sort of tree or bush. Situated almost exactly in the center of this miniature plateau was a gurgling stream which ran with crystal clear water. The stream was only about 8 feet wide and didn't appear to be particularly deep either. Small, round, pea-sized gravel stretched out on either side of the stream, making for easy footing and semi-soft places to sit, while much larger rocks, some looking rather sharp, interrupted the smooth flow of the water, thus giving it the gurgling sound which was so melodious. Fortune had smiled on us.

The find made me feel quite accomplished even if I didn't have any iodine tabs or canteens with me.

I stood there, staring at the stream and addressed my group, "This is what we needed to find." I said plainly, "Take a look around and collect a couple of fist sized rocks then bring them to me. Especially keep an eye out for jagged black rocks with sharp edges and for the love of god don't drink or piss in the stream."

As everyone moved away to collect samples, one young Latino man approached me, "What's up?" I asked.

"I'd like to volunteer to test the stream and see it it's drinkable." he said eagerly.

"The term you're looking for, Eduardo, is 'potable'." I said, "Well then, let me give you a full rundown of what to expect if you do decide to drink from the stream. If the water is potable, which while possible is also highly unlikely, you won't be thirsty anymore and we'll have a source of fresh water. If it's not potable, which is extremely likely, you'll likely get dysentery. Are you familiar with dysentery?"

"Not particularly." Eduardo said slowly.

"Then let me give you the gist of it. You drink the water and for a little while you feel fine. After an hour or two you begin to feel like you have indigestion, you feel queasy and you have to take a dump. Only problem is that your poop isn't just soft, it's liquid. You defecate diarrhea uncontrollably for hours while trying not to spew your guts out before you find yourself able to stop, but now you're dehydrated, running a fever, and still nauseous. You drink more water because you're dehydrated from pooping liquid and vomiting but it only makes the problem worse. You crap and throw up more and more. The cycle continues until you die in a puddle of liquid feces and vomit." Eduardo's face had taken on a rather pale shade but I continued, "Why did you die? Dehydration." I looked at him squarely, "Still feel like volunteering to play Guinea Pig?"

To my surprise, he swallowed hard and nodded, "Yeah, someone got to drink it at some point or else we found this stream for nothing."

I hated to admit it but he had a point, "Fine." I sighed.

I noticed that my explanation had drawn every ear and most eyes to Eduardo and I, "Everyone come here."

It didn't take long for the group to converge on us, I addressed them collectively, "This young man," I said patting Eduardo on the shoulder, "Has decided to volunteer to test the water from the stream. I want every one of you to watch and pay attention, because if he gets sick from the water, he's going to die out here. I want every one of you to thank him for his bravery and I mean it. He's putting himself at risk for our benefit. If the water is potable, he'll be fine. If it isn't then within two hours he'll be shitting liquid and his fate will be sealed."

Everyone was silent as cold, hard reality sunk in. Eduardo stepped up to the stream, knelt down, lowered his head, and cupped his hands. His hands descended into the water and came back up with water trickling down his wrists. Eduardo looked pensive for a moment, then raised his hands to his mouth and drank. He repeated the process five more times before he stopped and stood up.

He stood stock still facing away from us, not saying a word. I walked up to him and placed my right hand onto his shoulder silently. He took a shuddering breath and let it out slowly.

"We'll know for sure in a few hours. You're a brave man Eduardo Ortega." he reached his right hand up and gripped mine firmly, "Thank you." I finished.

I turned back to the group and sat down on the gravel, "Did anyone find rocks?" I asked quietly, "We might as well have a look while we wait."

Kaneesha approached me with two rocks in her hands, "I found these on the other side of the stream." she held them out to me, "Is these the black rocks you was talking about?"

I looked the her offering with pride. The two 'rocks' were both pitch black, about 6" long, flat, and narrow with sharp edges.

"These are exactly what I was referring to Kaneesha."

"What's so important 'bout them?" she asked.

I held up the rocks as I spoke, "These are a type of rock known as obsidian. Ancient people used to use these for tools and weapons. You can make knives, arrowheads, and spearheads by 'knapping'." the group gathered around as I continued, "I need some more rocks, especially small, narrow ones. While we wait I can show you all how to make tools."

In short order I had a small pile of rocks for knapping and an ever growing pile of obsidian pieces. I demonstrated how to knap by first making a small knife then passing it around for the others to see. It was only six or so inches long and it was jagged but by god it was functional. After I knew I had their undivided attention, I began repeating the process slowly while verbally instructing them on how to duplicate the feat.

We worked away the hours with the group trying their hands at knapping. Some of them showed some ability with manual dexterity.

After a while I decided to take a look around, trying to see the position of the sun since there were no trees directly overhead. My eyes found it easily enough and I cursed inwardly, 'Shit! We should have headed back a while ago.' I looked over and saw Eduardo sitting down knapping a piece of obsidian, comfortable as anyone else. He had no signs of diarrhea or vomiting, 'Looks promising so far but better wait till tomorrow just to be safe.' I turned my gaze back to the sun and frowned, 'Huh, I thought it was higher than that... ' as I watched, the sun continued to slowly sink toward the horizon, just like my stomach sunk to my feet, 'That's impossible!' What I thought I saw, scared the hell out of me so I turned to the group for confirmation.

I turned back to the group, "Has anyone ever watched a sunset before?"

They all stopped and stared at me, puzzled, "I think everyone has at least once, why?" a young red haired man answered.

"Then could someone take a look at the sunset and tell me what's wrong with it?" I asked.

Eighteen pairs of eyes turned toward the setting sun and it only took about ten seconds before Kaneesha jumped to her feet,
"It's moving!"

"Of course it's moving." another young woman said.

"No yall ain't gettin' it!" Kaneesha said exasperated, "The sun moves too slow to see with your eyes! We shouldn't be able to tell it's moving at all! It's supposed to look like it's standing still!" she turned to me, "What's goin' on?"

I had to admit to being impressed, 'Kaneesha has a good mind and a great eye for detail.'

My ears caught a faint sound on the air, "Sssh! Please, everyone be quiet for a moment, I heard something!"

They shut their collective mouths and we all listened. It was a minor sound and somewhat distant but I knew singing when I heard it. I slowly rotated my head, trying to zero in on the sound. Eventually I settled on it's direction of origin being further up the mountain.

"Everyone stay here. I heard someone singing and unless a different group made it farther up the mountain than we did, we may be saved. I'm going to go check it out, Kaneesha and Eduardo are in charge until I return. Stay here and stay quiet."

No one argued.

I hopped across the stream and made my way up the slope on the far side as quickly and safely as I could. Being alone, I could afford to move much more quickly.

I ascended the slope grabbing branches, roots, and small rocks while hauling myself farther up as quickly as I could. I began perspiring but I was on a mission, people depended on me, hell LIVES could have depended on me. I pushed myself hard as I climbed and climbed, higher and higher. It was difficult and my feet slipped several times but the singing kept me moving forward and upward like I was a sailor answering a siren's call.

The light was fading fast, far faster than it had any right to but I ignored that fact as I continued pushing myself toward my auditory goal.

The singing suddenly stopped.

I froze like a statue, listening for anymore singing, anymore sound, anything that gave even the smallest hint of direction or guidance.

There was nothing.

I raised my head , eyes gazing up the slope to call out. Flickers of shadow farther up the slope caught me by surprise. As I peered into the quickly gathering darkness the flickering intensified, 'What's causing the shadows to dance like that?' the answer hit me like a ton of bricks, 'Shadows cast off by a fire! Someone is up here camping!'

My determination renewed, I began climbing up the slope once more. I moved more slowly, trying not to make any sound at all, 'If people are out here camping, they might have a gun for hunting or protection. Any sound might make them wary and end up with me having a perforated chest.'

I moved as quickly as I dared, climbing higher and higher. My focus came to a pinpoint when I heard two distinctive voices. I froze and listened, trying to make out what they were saying. They sounded close but I couldn't make out a single word. They were undoubtedly speaking with words but they were words that I just couldn't decipher.

I continued my slow, careful ascent as I puzzled over the unexpected development, 'O.K. So I probably won't be able to speak to them but the hand motions for cellphone are pretty universal, however a fat, naked, white guy walking into the middle of your camp at night... can we say, 'creepy'. If worse comes to worse I could always just tackle someone down and force them to lead me to civilization. It will guarantee me a jail cell but as long as we all get out of this mess ANYTHING is preferable to starvation and exposure.'

The flickering shadows of the campfire guided me to the campsite like a beacon in the quickly encroaching darkness. I reached the ledge of a second plateau and pulled myself up, making sure to stay concealed behind the thick bushes that separated me from the fire.

I listened and could still hear the two voices, furthermore, since I wasn't making any more noise, I could finally identify them as being feminine. I sighed heavily to myself, 'Terrific,' I thought morosely, 'Women. Hey, I'm a fat, naked guy cornering two women in the woods at night, what could possibly be misinterpreted in THAT scenario?' I was being pessimistic and I knew it, 'Come on Dan, just try talking to them first. Maybe they're really nice.' my half assed, self motivating pep talk was getting me nowhere fast so I just decided to bite the bullet.

"Pardon me ladies," I spoke loudly from the bush, "But do either of you happen to have a cellphone?"

The two of them ceased speaking immediately, so I tried again, "Do either of you ladies happen to speak American English?" on a rather desperate whim, I added, "Tu habla Espaniol?"

I could hear them speaking quietly to each other. The words were identifiable as words but the language was utterly unfamiliar to me, 'Not good.' I thought to myself, 'I can generally identify at least the region that a language comes from. They're not speaking any Asian languages. It's not Middle Eastern either, nor is it European and I'm pretty sure it's not any African language either. It's definitely no dialect of Spanish or South American. Shit! Where the hell are we?'

One of them responded, "Hetlulduin pestop? Hetlun uldin evanin? Uldin evanin quellya?"

'If I understand the inflection correctly, she asked a couple of questions.' I sighed inwardly, 'Great, it looks like words aren't going to be of any use here. Hand gestures it is then. The bush in front of me should keep my junk hidden.' I took a deep breath, 'Well here goes nothing.'

I rose to my feet smoothly, fortunately the bush did keep me covered. I raised my head, looking for the two women who had been talking. The only things standing in front of me were two, three-foot tall, brightly colored, quadrupedal . . . things.

Before Security, I had worked at a small animal hospital and a pig farm so I was at least familiar with the vast majority of basic types of animals in the world. My mind instantly began taking note of the features of the creatures in front of me. My eyes went straight to where their legs met the ground, 'Their legs end in an non-split hoof so that makes them perissodactyls.' I then examined their eyes, those gave me pause, 'They're huge!' Their eyes were much larger than they should have been in their heads, 'Normally only nocturnal creatures have large eyes since larger eyes normally catch a lot of light and allow the animal to see better in the dark.' The bright colors of their coats and manes, 'Manes? Wait a second, perissodactyl plus mane equals equine, and equine plus three foot height equals Shetland Pony but these don't have the long, shaggy coat.' I reexamined their eyes and nearly choked. Their eyes were neither side facing nor forward facing. Their eyes were angled and their muzzles jutted out below their eyes. Their muzzles were not only strangely shaped but short and narrow, 'Their eyes are huge, angled, and set above their muzzles which often means omnivore, but they are perissodactyls and perissodactyls are herbivores, now add to that the brilliant colors of their coats and manes, which often indicates a venomous capacity, and what do you have? ... ' I was stumped.

The entire analysis took perhaps two seconds, but I was completely lost, "What the fuck are you?"

They were almost exactly the same height, about thirty-six inches at the shoulder while the crowns of their heads ended a good foot above that. They were wearing what looked to be old fashioned saddlebags but had no saddles, bridles, or bits. They were standing side by side staring at me. The one on the left was neon orange and its mane was oxblood red. The other was cobalt blue with a mane that was as vibrantly green as new grass. Another thing that caught me off guard was the fact that they had discernibly expressive faces, 'No animal has the capability of being THAT expressive with their face.'

"Emooli," it almost sounded like a greeting, "Uldin evanin fenovie?" the carefully articulated words came out of the mouth of the orange one.

'It spoke . . . It fucking spoke.' I was frozen in place, I'm fairly certain, from shock. I think the other one spoke as well, but my brain had already registered a 404 error.

In my confusion I took a step toward them, completely forgetting the bush that was interposed between them and I. I fell right over the bush and face-planted on the soft dirt around their campsite. My movement must have caught them by surprise because once I had raised my head I noticed that the blue one had widened its stance, lowered its head, and unfurled a pair of wings I had apparently previously overlooked.

Suddenly the true reality of the situation dawned on me, 'There's no creatures like these things, there's no likely chance of finding fresh, potable water, and the sun doesn't set at visible speed... on Earth.'

Time seemed to stagnate briefly. My vision blurred, and I suddenly couldn't breathe. It was like I was somehow watching my body act as I casually observed from a backseat position. My body was gasping for air while trying to scream, at the same time tears were spilling down my face like a waterfall.

The last thing I remember thinking from the detached observatory in the back of my mind was, 'I'm lying on the ground, having a panic attack, and crying my eyes out in front of a pair of horse-like alien mutants. Way to go.'