The Travelers 1

by Lee Hunnicutt

  Sonny said, “A candy bar diet. I don't think Mom would approve. Eh Beth?"

  Beth grinned at her brother and said, “I think it’s cool enough to start walking. Let's go."

  They took a compass bearing to the mountains and set out. The real adventure was just beginning.

  They walked on towards the mountains, scared, tired, but full of excitement and a sense of adventure. When it became dark they looked up in wonderment at the brilliant display of stars. They walked by the light of a three quarter moon. They were strong and set a good pace. As it became colder, they wrapped themselves in their poncho liners.

  Being raised in the tropics had not prepared them for the beauty of the stars in clear dry air. They recognized the constellations and could even find the North Star which was difficult and sometimes impossible to see from Panama. Seeing the familiar constellations gave them comfort.

  Sonny was the first to notice. “Look” he said, “Leo, Gemini and there, the Big Dipper”

  Beth exclaimed, pointing “The Big Dipper, the Little Dipper and the North Star.”

  Jack said, “Well this means we are on Earth and in the Northern Hemisphere.”

  It looked as if you could reach out and touch the stars. Even though they knew that they were in a difficult and dangerous situation it was still a magical time.

  So far they were having a great time. They were young. They had the silver bullet of youth and the young don’t think that anything bad will happen to them. To them the young don’t die.

  As they walked, they sang songs. Each year in the Summer their parents took them to the States for vacation and they would make a pilgrimage to Texas and to Gruene Hall where they would go to a Jerry Jeff Walker concert. They knew all of his songs by heart, “Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother” and “London Homesick Blues” were their favorites so they sang them over and over again and they talked of the things that boys and girls of their age talk about.

  "Lois Lane, Perry White and Jimmy Olsen can't be that stupid,” said Beth. "He takes off his glasses. Puts on a blue and red suit with a red S on it and no body recognizes him. Come on. What are they brain dead, have the IQ of a turnip?"

  "Come on Beth, get serious for a minute,” said Jack. "Everybody knows Clark Kent is a wimp."

  "Yeah,” said Sonny "He's such a jerk. Nobody would think he's Superman, glasses or no glasses."

  "Oh yeah. Then you guys are as dumb as Lois. No, dumber,” said Beth with obvious contempt.

  "She's so easy to get going." Jack said to Sonny in a loud whisper.

  Beth glared at both of them.

  Just then a meteor shower began to light up the sky.

  "Wow, would you look at that,” said Sonny.

  They stopped and watched in awe.

  "My God, it's beautiful,” said Jack. "I've never seen anything like it."

  In a few minutes Beth said, “We've been walking almost four and a half hours. You guys think it's time for half a candy bar and a drink?"

  They agreed and they sat on the ground, leaned against their packs, munched on their chocolate bars and had a swallow of water. The celestial pyrotechnics continued. They were in an adventure, a great adventure and they knew it. Even though they were in a tight situation, life was good.

  Jack said, "So far things have gone pretty good. But ..."

  "Yeah,” said Beth "they've gone just great. We fell down a hole for what seemed like hundreds of feet, landed in an underground lake, were swept over a water fall and ended up on Mars for all we know. Yeah, things have gone just great."

  "What I mean numb nuts, is we're alive, nothing's broken; we are together and our survival gear is intact. Things could be worse."

  Beth put both fists on her hips, leaned forward and said with a sneer “Only boys have numb nuts, you idiot.”

  "Lighten up Beth!” said Sonny "We're here, wherever that is and there is nothing we can do about it. All Jack is trying to do is make the best of a bad situation, so quit your bitchin."

  Beth started to open her mouth. She was pissed. But Jack broke in "No arguing, no arguing. It won't get us anywhere. Sonny, Beth's right. Beth, Sonny and I are right. Sonny and I are trying to look on this in the best light that we can and Beth you have every reason to be concerned. Look, I'm scared out of my mind but if I dwell on my fears, I might as well just curl up and die. One thing is for certain. If we don't pull together on this, we all die."

  "You're right Jack,” said Beth "I'm scared stiff and I guess it just got to me. To the end. All or none." She held her hand out toward Sonny and Jack, palm down.

  Jack slapped his hand down on Beth's and Sonny did the same slapping his hand down on Jack's and they all said loudly "To the end. All or none. RAH" They popped their hands down then up as if they were on a basketball team.

  It made them feel better. They had addressed their fears and knew if nothing else they had each other.

  After a few minutes Jack said, “Well, if we walk three miles an hour until it gets hot, assume twelve hours. We can cover thirty-six miles a night. Hopefully we will make the mountains in two nights or less, much more than that and we will be out of water."

  We had better get going. Let's take a compass bearing. Don't want to be going in the wrong direction."

  By the dawn they had walked the night through with no more that momentary stops. They were tired but still exhilarated. They continued to walk for another three hours after sunrise. They walked until it began to get hot.

  The mountains were noticeably closer. They loomed before them. Even though they were tired, scared and hungry, the sight of the mountains so close raised their morale and gave them hope.

  The terrain and vegetation had changed. The ground was now hilly and there were clumps of trees and brush.

  They stopped by a clump of stunted trees. They strung one of the ponchos between two of the trees to make shade. Blew up their air mattresses and put them under the poncho. They then sat down and ate the other half of the candy bar that they had eaten during the night.

  They lay down on their air mattresses. They used their packs as pillows.

  Jack said, “When the sun came up I looked at my watch and it said 10:22 A.M. Panama time. I’ll look at it again when the sun goes down. This way we can tell the length of the day. I’ll do this for the next few days and this way we can figure out if it is Spring, Summer or Fall.”

  “So?” said Sonny. He was tired and not up to chit chat.

  “Well, if it’s Spring or Summer, we can prepare for the coming Winter. If it’s Fall, we’re in trouble. If cold weather is just a few weeks away, we might starve or freeze to death.”

  “Jack, can we talk about this after we get some rest,” said Beth. “I don’t know about you but I’m beat.”

  “I was just trying to increase our chances of survival” Jack said sanctimoniously. He was a little miffed.

  “Don’t get your nose bent out of shape Jack. We are all just too tired to think. We’ll talk about this later.” yawned Sonny as he rolled over to go to sleep.

  Jack looked at Beth and she was already asleep. He looked at his watch to get a time check as to when they actually went to sleep. He lay back on his pack to think about their situation and went immediately to sleep.

  He was being shaken and someone was calling his name, “Jack, Jack” Couldn’t whoever this was just leave him alone. I just went to sleep, he thought and tried to move away from the shaking but it wouldn’t stop.

  “Jack, Jack, wake up. Its nighttime,” said Beth.

  Of course its nighttime, thought Jack. He started to wake up but it was like coming out of a deep, black well. Even after he sat up and had his eyes open, it took him awhile to realize where he was and even then because it was dark he didn’t recognize his surroundings.

  “Where are we?” said Jack. He was confused. His arms and legs felt like lead and they had no strength.

  “We are headed towards the mountains. Remember Jack? Remember the cave and falling into the lake an
d ending up on a great plain? Remember we walked all night towards the mountains?” said Beth.

  Jack looked at Beth. Even though it was dark he could see her face. She could see his face and saw that there was a confused blank look on it. His confusion and lack of expression frightened her. Without warning she hauled off and slapped him across the face as hard as she could. The blow knocked him sideways on to her air mattress.

  He lay there for a second. The blow had stung his face and made his ears ring. He sat up quickly and said, “What in the Hell did you do that for!” He was now fully awake.” He was rubbing his face.

  Both Sonny and Beth laughed with relief. Sonny said “I thought we had lost you, Jack.” He looked at Beth and said, “Beth when you grow up you should be a shrink. You have great technique and you get results in the first session. Of course you’re not going to make any money at it if you cure them the first time you see them.”

  Beth looked angrily at Sonny and said, “Put a sock in it Sonny.” She turned to Jack and said, “Jack I didn’t mean to hit you. You scared me and the next thing I knew, I hit you.”

  Jack smiled and said, “You pack quite a wallop. Thanks, I was out in La La Land. I just had a hard time waking up and I didn’t know where I was. Why is it dark?”

  “Because we slept for twelve or more hours,” said Sonny.

  Jack illuminated his watch face and said, “More like fourteen hours. I looked at my watch at sunrise and when we went to sleep. So by my best calculations and depending what season we are in, it could be anywhere between 10 at night to 1 in the morning.” he yawned.

  “We’d better get a move on then,” said Sonny.

  “I’m starved,” said Beth.

  “We all are,” said Sonny. “We can’t continue to eat candy bars. Besides I only have two left.”

  “Maybe we should each eat a whole bar now and one more at sunrise,” said Jack. “It won’t be a full meal but at least it will give us some energy.”

  Sonny and Beth agreed. They sat down on their air mattresses, leaned against their packs and slowly ate their candy bars.

  Between bites Beth asked “How much water do you guys have? I have three quarters of a canteen left.”

  Jack shook his canteen and said, “I’ve got about the same. How about you Sonny?”

  “Two thirds to three quarters.”

  “Well, we’re doing pretty good on our water” said Beth, “but if we don’t find some within a day or two we’re going to be in deep trouble.”

  “We’ll just have to keep a positive attitude,” said Sonny. “It could be worse. We could be in a desert. It has been kinda cool during the day and downright chilly at night. At least we’re not sweating as much as we would if we were in desert heat.”

  “Yeah, it could be worse. Don’t worry Beth. We’ll find water” Jack said, displaying a confidence that he didn’t feel. He did have hopes that they would find water but he was still worried.

  Beth put her hand on Jack’s and gently said, “Thanks Jack. I’m worried too.”

  They finished eating. They deflated their air mattresses and took down the poncho. Jack took another compass reading and they set off into the night.

  Although they were hungry and their mood was not as upbeat as the night before, they were still strong and set a good pace. As they walked their mood improved.

  “You know, Sonny, Shirley Peterson has the hots for you,” said Jack.

  “She does not.”

  “Sure she does. Doesn’t she Beth?”

  “That’s right Sonny. All you have to do is ask her out. She asks me all the time if you like her.”

  “Well, I don’t like her.”

  “Why not?” said Jack “She’s kinda cute.”

  “Well if she’s so cute, why don’t you ask her out?”

  “What and destroy your only chance of romance and true happiness on this Earth? Not me.”

  “I tell you what.” Sonny was getting mad. “If we get out of this I will ask her out! At least I have the nerve to ask a girl out. I’m not like you, who is all thumbs and can’t speak when a girl is around.”

  “All thumbs and can’t speak Eh? Well it seems to me that, unlike you, instead of just talking about taking a girl out, I called and took out Marsha Belton.”

  “Boy that was a date that will go down in history. The only reason that it is not in the same league as the Titanic is that 1500 people didn’t drown.”

  “Yeah” said Beth. She started to laugh and had a hard time finishing the sentence. “The four of us were sitting there” She had to stop and get her breath she was laughing so hard. “drinking cokes” her voice became shrill with laughter. Sonny had begun to laugh which made it worse. “and you took a drink, looked into Marsha’s eyes like you were Rudolph Valentino and Sonny said something funny and you laughed and coke spewed out of your nose and mouth all over her.” Both Sonny and Beth had to stop walking because they were laughing so hard that tears were rolling down their faces.

  Beth’s voice was shrill and broken “You should have seen her face. There was coke dripping off of her nose. There was coke dripping off of her chin. It was terrible.” Beth had to stop for breath. By this time Jack had begun to laugh too as he began to remember poor Marsha Belton’s face. “She didn’t say a word. She just got up and went to the Ladies Room and she didn’t come back. It was a disaster.” She grabbed on to her brother and Jack for support so that she wouldn’t fall down. It took them ten minutes to stop laughing. They were weak from laughter and had to sit down. One of them would be silent and the other would begin to snicker and they would laugh again.

  They finally stopped and leaned back against their packs to catch their breath.

  After a few minutes Beth said, “Whew, I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.”

  “Me neither,” said Jack.

  They got back on their feet and started to walk.

  Sonny said, “You know Jack, Marsha would go out with Mrs. Coulton’s poodle before she would go out with you again and Mrs. Coulton’s poodle is the ugliest dog in Panama.”

  “Yeah, and I don’t blame her. I tried to call her and apologize but she wouldn’t answer the phone or even talk to me on the street.”

  “I think you scarred her for life,” said Beth. “She told Helen Poole that she was going to join a convent. You know one of those that doesn’t have contact with the outside world and doesn’t talk to anyone.”

  “Right Beth.”

  “Face it Jack you have that magical way about you that girls look for,” said Sonny.

  “What can I say? I’m a babe magnet. You know it can be a curse sometimes,” said Jack.

  And so it went throughout the night, laughing, joking and talking about the experiences of their young lives.

  The ground was becoming hilly with scattered pine trees. There was a cool breeze coming off of the mountains.

  About two hours before sunrise they began to smell a slight odor that they couldn’t identify. The further they walked the stronger the smell became.

  “I hope we get by this smell soon,” said Sonny. “It’s making me sick.”

  “Yuck,” said Beth. “It’s gross.”

  They were going down a particularly long hill. It was more difficult going down hills than going up. They had to be more careful. The last thing they wanted to do was fall and break a leg. The sun was coming up behind them. They could see a soft glow but they were still in the dark.

  The sun broke over the hill as they made the bottom of the hill and they could see what made the smell. Not a hundred yards away from them was what looked like a large wooden wagon that was turned on its side with some lumps on the ground lying around the wagon. Lying directly in front of the wagon were large dark lumps. Near the wagon were five or six pine trees. The branches of the trees had dozens of large black objects in them.

  As they came closer to the wagon they could see that the black objects in the trees were buzzards and the lumps on the ground were human bodies a
nd the shapes in front of the wagon were what looked like horses.

  They were drawn to the wagon. They were afraid to go but were more afraid not to go. Maybe they could get a hint as to where they were and as important when.

  The buzzards had been at the dead for quite a while. There were four bodies. All were naked. They could make out that three were female and one male. The male was staked out spread eagle. The females were of varying ages and looked as if they had simply been tossed aside like rag dolls. The bodies were in an advanced state of decay but you could tell that they had been mutilated.

  The stench was unbearable. Jack walked over to the staked out man. What he saw made him draw his breath and cry out. There were the remains of a small fire that had been built on his crotch. Sonny and Beth walked amongst the other corpses. Beth stumbled to the wagon and grabbed on to the side so she wouldn’t fall down. Her legs had lost their strength.

  The buzzards had done their job. They had eaten the eyes out of all of the corpses, most of the facial flesh and there were pieces of viscera scattered around the bodies. The stench was over powering. All three of the children were soon vomiting from the combination of horrific sights and smell. They didn’t have much on their stomachs so they dry heaved.

  Jack had fallen to his hands and knees heaving. He was shaky and weak. Beth was clutching the side of the wagon unable to let go. Sonny was leaning over with his hands on his knees, their stomachs convulsing.

  Jack was the first to stop vomiting. When he raised his head, he looked straight into the eye sockets of the dead man. The flesh had been torn from the man’s face. He had no nose or lips. He had the grin of death.

  Jack screamed and leapt to his feet and in panic ran out of the killing zone towards the mountains. His actions electrified the others and they stumbled after him. They ran for about a hundred feet when Jack’s legs collapsed and he fell in a heap sobbing. The others fell beside him.

  Nothing in their young lives had prepared them for this. It was beyond their wildest nightmares. All three were in tears and soon they had gravitated to each other and had wrapped their arms around the others. They were breathing heavily and sobbing uncontrollably.