by Rick Kueber
“There!” I pointed into a valley between two mountainous hills. “It looks like there is a winding path cleared through the forest, way over there!”
“Where?” He asked as he strained to see what I was pointing at. “Oh! Way over there?”
“Meet you on the ground.” I called out. After looking at the form of the Titan and where the path was I figured out how to use the Titan to gauge what direction to walk and how far it was. Truth was, it was miles through rough terrain and we had no supplies whatsoever. It would be a challenge to say the very least.
Chapter 2
Relativity
I had searched the wilderness in every direction, but there was no sign of civilization anywhere to be seen. This path that was cut through the thick forest seemed to be our best bet. When I made it back to the forest floor, Daniel was already there waiting for me.
“What took you so long, old man?” He jokingly sneered.
“Just wanted to make sure it was safe before I hit the ground.” My comeback was weak, but it did raise a smile.
Judging our direction by the lay of the Titan, we started out through the veritable jungle on our quest to find the path that, by definition, would have to lead us somewhere. This was no easy trek through a few miles of Indiana woods. The air hung heavy and steamy around us and insects of every size decided we needed an entourage to escort us through the thick green unforgiving overgrowth. I can’t say if it was the physiological fact that Daniel and I were part alien, or the foul truth that neither of us could remember our last shower, but something kept the swarming pests from actually biting us.
Sweat dripped from our hair, noses and chins, and stained our shirts. The heat of the day was punishing us with rapid dehydration and I wondered if we would even live to see the road we were searching for. When the light of day waned, we had no clearing and no dry and rocky cave to rest in for the night and so, we trekked on through our exhaustion. The darker the night grew, the louder the wilderness became. Daniel and I could still see fairly well in the cover of night, but the origins of the ever present rustling noises could not be found. Birds called from high in the forest canopy and filled our ears with sounds that resembled some sort of primate more than the songs of an aviary. Just before the sun came up, a thunder of swift hooves flew past us less than thirty yards away. We paused for the few seconds it took to watch three small deer dart up a steep hill and disappear over its peak. As miserable as we felt, this short glimpse of nature gave me comfort and brought a smile to both of us.
Just before dawn, scurrying sounds through the thick underbrush increased exponentially. Daniel pointed out a small raccoon standing up on his hind legs to size us up, but he quickly took off when our glowing eyes met his. The sound of small animals was not the only sound that grew louder. There was something else. A calming murmur was ever present in the distance and I tried to recall the source of the sound from my memory.
“What is that noise?” I whispered to Daniel.
“Sounds like monkeys to me.” He answered lightheartedly.
“No. I meant the background noise. It’s really faint and constant. It’s not an animal. To me, it sounds like a busy highway.” I tried to clarify.
“Wouldn’t that be something”?” Daniel put his arm out in front of me to halt our movement and I watched as he closed his eyes and concentrated on what he was hearing. We stood silent and still for several minutes before he opened his eyes wide. “That’s water!”
He didn’t whisper and immediately took off forward to find the flowing gift of life we both so desperately needed. I didn’t want to lose my only friend and companion, but even more than that, I wanted water. I sprinted after him as fast as my feet could carry me through the dense forest. The thick growth of trees and elevated vines and vegetation held the forest floor under a shadowy green umbrella, even in the height of the midday sun. The tangle of small brush and fat, leafy plant life tangled our legs and slowed our pace, but we were undeterred and forced ourselves forward toward the increasing sounds of rushing water.
The pain in my side made me stop to catch my breath, but I could already see the wilderness lightening up where the trees parted. Could it be that we would reach the road before we reached the running water, or maybe, just maybe, could we really be hearing the sound of distant traffic?
“Wait up!” I gasped, out of breath and panted uncontrollably as I leaned heavily against the closest tree trunk.
“What’s the matter old man?” My teenage friend was nearly as out of breath as I was. “Can’t keep up?”
“Just give me a second. I don’t want to die before we find the water.” I was beginning to regain my composure and my rubbery legs carried me slowly to where Daniel waited for me, bent over with his hands on his knees.
“We can’t stop now. We’re so close...” Daniel, too, was breathing easier. “Water...” He smiled. “It’s definitely water!” And again, he took off.
I lagged behind, but did my best to keep up. My surroundings brightened steadily until I finally broke free of the wild jungle and found my friend standing frozen in front of me. The trees ended abruptly and a few yards of tall grasses gave way to a myriad of flat, round, muddy colored stones of every size...some as small as a pea and others as large as a softball and bigger. As unexpected as the change in scenery was, what lay beyond the stones was sheer beauty. A miraculous song of spattering water filled our ears and the sight of a wide ribbon of flowing water bounced off of boulders and swam through crevasses between age sculpted stones. It wasn’t just water that we had heard. This was a rushing river.
I stepped up next to my young friend, turned my head to the pale blue sky and mouthed the words, “Thank you.” As the words left my lips I noticed Daniel wiping his eyes and not even attempting to conceal his emotional breakdown.
“Why is everything so hard?” He spoke quietly as we walked together to the where the water began to run between the round river stones.
“There is no way to know, I guess. That’s just the painful reality of life.” It wasn’t much of an answer, but I didn’t want my companion to think I was ignoring him.
When we had walked a little farther, we knelt down and felt the cool life-giving water saturate the knees of our pants. I reached out, stuck my hands into the flowing goodness and, cupping them, slowly brought them to my lips and drank it in deeply. As soon as my hands were empty, they dove back for more, over and over. Daniel took a different approach. Laying nearly flat on his stomach, with his face only inches from the water’s surface, he splashed his face, hair and neck and with one cupped hand drew the water to his lips over and over until his thirst was quenched.
“I remember thinking how hard life was when I was so sick with the big C. That was a piece of cake compared to now.” He rolled over onto his back and laid his head back into the water.
“I think it’s all relative. You know...the hardest thing you’ve ever been through is the hardest thing there is.” My philosophy was what I truly believed, but sounded kind of shallow and simplistic, considering how challenging life had become.
“This one time...” Daniel recalled from his youth. “when I was upset about the cancer, my dad brought me a soda and a bag of licorice to cheer me up and take my mind off of it, and all I did was bitch that I didn’t like the kind of soda he brought.” He had a distant look in his eyes as he stared up into the blank sky. “And now...I was so thankful, I cried over dirty river water. Why can’t we just be happy with what we have and be thankful for any gift, no matter how small?”
“Wow, buddy... That was deep.” My mind shot off on a tangent. “I wonder how deep this river is?”
“I dunno, but I bet it’s plenty deep to wash off in, or maybe swim.” He smiled.
“Race ya!” I shouted as I took off splashing into the water, deeper and deeper, until it was nearly chest deep.
“No fair!” Daniel argued as he scrambled to catch up. “I wasn’t ready!”
The two of us soaked and s
plashed in the cool running water. I stripped down throwing my shoes, shirt and pants onto the rocks. Daniel followed suit and we swam in our underwear and goofed off, splashing and dunking each other. Scattered through the river, as far as we could see, were boulders that were as big as cars and some as large as school buses. When we had our temporary fill of the water, we crawled on top of a large flat bolder and let the warm sun beat down on us and bake us nearly dry.
“That was great.” Daniel sat up, leaning back on his hands and his voice was lighter and younger than it had sounded since before we left in the Titan. “I needed that!”
“Yeah. Me too.” It was uplifting to have an hour of carefree, nonsensical fun.
Standing up, Daniel looked like he had grown a foot since we met in the ghost town of Independence. He visually scouted our surroundings. “I don’t mean to be a downer, but I think this is what you thought was a road.”
“Hmmm.” I thought. “Guess that makes sense, but at least we found water, right?”
“Oh yeah. Definitely.” He agreed. “A road wouldn’t keep us alive like water will...and maybe if we follow it...”
“What?” I wondered why he stopped short of finishing his sentence.
“There’s something blue over there!” He pointed downstream and was filled with excitement.
“Where?” I jumped to my feet and from atop the large flat boulder, I saw it. It was a long way downstream and it was impossible to make out any form or shape, but it was bright blue in a sea of lush green and dirty browns. It must be something man made. “Let’s not rush into anything.”
I was just as thrilled as Daniel by this mysterious blue object on the far bank of the river, a few hundred yards downstream. Taking our time to get dressed in our wet clothes and shoes, we started following the flow of the river. We trudged along over rocky banks and through muddy, weed filled marshes along the river’s edge. Despite my hope that some proof of civilization might be close, we were hungry and isolated and even though we were together, I felt very alone. I missed the company of friends at the cancer center and Barnhill. Most of all I missed Elle.
“I think I know what that is.” I told Daniel when we were less than fifty yards away. “That looks like an inflatable raft.”
“Why would someone leave it on the river bank? I mean, really?” Daniel was puzzled and worried that maybe the rafters had been ‘taken’.
“Well, I guess it may have drifted downstream, you know, like it got loose or blew away in a storm, or something?” I tried to reason. “Or maybe there are people close.”
“Maybe somebody lives near here and has food.” Daniel was getting overly optimistic.
“I wouldn’t jump to any conclusions or get your hopes up.” I did my best to keep us both grounded in the harsh reality that we were still lost, alone and had no way of knowing if we would ever find our way out of the wilderness alive.
We stood with our shoes sopped in river water, a hundred feet across the river from the raft. I began to wade out into the river with Daniel close behind. My clothes were heavy with water and my feet stumbled across the uneven, hidden river bed. When it was up to my chest, I started swimming against the current with all of my might. It was a struggle, but Daniel and I had both endured much greater difficulties. The opposite bank of the river and the bright blue raft grew close and I began to tread water and let my feet sink until they reached the river bottom and we were able to walk out.
“Is there anybody there?” Daniel called out.
“Shhh!” I instinctively ducked as he shouted out.
“What?” He shot me a look of displeasure.
“We don’t know who or what is out there.” I knew the evils that existed, and I knew that deep down, he did too. “I’ve been attacked by Ahsushas and Takers, and I’ve been shot by a survivor...a person more human than you or me. We have to be careful.”
“Sorry.” He said in a lower tone.
“It’s okay. But if we make an error, let’s make the mistake of being too cautious.” I smiled at him and nodded.
We started investigating the raft and the river bank and then into the woods a ways. There were no signs of anyone. No footprints, no broken branches or trampled weeds, no empty bottles or food wrappers ...no signs at all. My young friend and I returned to the raft and began inspecting it. It was inflated and there were no real signs of damage. I took hold of one the ropes that ran the entire circumference of the raft, through islets, and lifted it.
“Holy-what the-son of a freakin’!!!” I jumped backwards at least five feet. “Get back!” I waved Daniel away from the raft. “There’s a freakin rattle snake under there!” My heart pounded so hard I could feel it and hear it inside my head
“So now what?” Daniel danced around nervously.
“Grab that big rock.” I pointed to a large egg shaped rock that was nearly as big as a basketball. “I’m gonna flip the raft all the way over and you’re gonna smash it. It’s right about here...or at least it was.” I motioned to the approximate place where I thought the deadly viper was.
“But what if he isn’t there?” Daniel nervously picked up the heavy rock and I crinkled my eyebrows at him. “What if I miss?”
“Just do your best. If you miss, head for the water. Maybe they won’t go in the water...” I had no idea, but it sounded good to me. It was what I planned to do, if he missed.
“Ready?” I crept up to the edge of the raft.
“Ready...” Daniel’s voice quivered and he was less than enthused.
“On three. One... Two... THREE!” I shouted the last number, tossed the raft like a piece of balsa wood, and jumped back.
“AAAAHHHHH!” Daniel shouted, like it had some purpose. The rattler coiled up, vigorously shook its noisy tail and then ‘CRUNCH!” and thud. The huge rock landed so perfectly on top of it that we couldn’t see it at all. “Did I get it? I can’t see it. Did I get it?” He bounced around on his tiptoes.
“You got it!” I high-fived him and that’s when I noticed it. “Look... The weeds are all dead where the raft was. That means it’s been here a while.”
“I hate to sound like a broken record... Whatever that means... But what do we do now?” Daniel showed his young age, not knowing what a skipping vinyl record sounded like.
“We can think on it a while if you want, but I was sort of thinking we could take the raft down river. We can cover a lot of miles without having to wear ourselves out and maybe we’ll come across a house, or a road, or bridge.” I was really thinking out loud and making it up as I went. “Whadaya think?”
“Sounds okay.” He seemed indifferent, but I think he was disappointed that we didn’t find the rafters. I was too. “Besides...” He looked around nervously. “There might be more snakes around.”
“Good point!” I hadn’t thought of that. “Let’s get this thing in the water and get out of here.”
We waded out into the water with the raft until it was just over knee deep. The blue rubber was hot from the baking sun, but our clothes were soaked from our swim across the river, and kept us from scorching our legs when we climbed in and sat on the inflated thwarts that ran perpendicular to the sides of the boat and helped it keep its shape. I jumped back out of the boat and ran back to shore quickly and into the woods.
“Be right back.” I hollered to Daniel. His face looked scared, like I was abandoning him, but I quickly returned with a long, dead tree branch. I climbed back in the raft and started snapping off all the smaller side branches. When I had finished, I stuck one end in the water and pushed us away from the bank and then laid the seven foot long stick in the raft. “Since we don’t have any paddles, I thought this might help steer our majestic ship.”
“Good thinking.” Daniel almost laughed at my ridiculous comment.
Sharp, jagged mountain peaks rose on either side of the river and our solitude and serenity were accented by the natural beauty that surrounded us. We drifted for several hours with no sign of any life except for the occasional b
ird flying overhead. I wondered what was going through Daniel’s mind. Amidst all of my memories and my hopes for a future, I was constantly distracted by the relentless pains of hunger. I knew Daniel must be starving too and it made me feel worthless to not be able to provide the basic necessities to this young man. I was the adult and I should be the one to keep him...us...safe and alive, but I was failing miserably.
The tall mountains peaks drifted apart and the miles floated past us. Other than the river randomly growing narrower, and swifter, it was a lazy day.
“Tanner.” Daniel whispered and nudged me.
“Huh?” I casually answered but much to my surprise, he pointed to the river bank ahead.
“Look. Kids.” He was genuinely emotional and hopeful.
A small group of dark skinned children, in raggedy clothes and bare feet, from about six to ten years old stood near the river pointing at us and talking among themselves. I could hear some of what they said, but it made no sense to me. The children began to wave as we drifted near. Daniel and I returned the friendly greeting. Our raft drifted past them and began to pick up speed again. As it did, the children ran along the edge of the water smiling, laughing and calling out to us in a language I recognized but did not know. It was Spanish, or some derivative thereof.
