Chapter 12

A Chapter by ALITR

Well, I already wrote chapter 13, so this is overdue.

I didn't know quite where I was when Natasha woke me up, nor did I have any memory of the day before. I just remembered drinking creek water, and I assumed that fell in, because my over shirt and pants were hanging on a tree branch and I was slightly damp.

I still had my boxers and undershirt on. It was a tiny bit warmer this morning, but I was probably just comparing it to the creek water. "Garry? Garry wake up." Said Natasha. "What is it?" I asked. "Just put your clothes on and meet me at spot C."

Spot C was the third retreat spot we had marked before we went back to base camp. It was the only one that wasn't a tree, but was thick with vines to climb. We had tested them to see if they would break, and after a while we could tell which ones were climbable and which were not.

My clothes were still a little wet, which didn't help the fact that it was so cold. Pierce was sound asleep. As I walked to C, I wondered what Natasha wanted. Had something happened?

"What is it?" I asked Natasha, who had been waiting in a tree. She dropped down from her perch in a tree and stumbled into me. Her hair was damp. "I just wanted to talk to you alone." "About what?" I said. "When you were screaming in the car, what were you screaming about? What happened in your dream?" Said Natasha.

Just the mention of it made me feel strange. "Now, Natasha… I- it's- I can't really think straight about it." "But you remember it?" She said. I did. I remember the nightmare as if it really happened, but when I try to think directly upon that memory, it's like there's a film of static over it. "I do, but what's this about? Is there something wrong?" I said.

Natasha came in close. "I had a nightmare too." She said. "There was- it was late at night, almost pitch black, and I was with my little sister. We were walking home from something together. I kept thinking I heard footsteps behind us but saw nothing. Then we started to walk faster. Then finally we saw him, or at least his silhouette. He was a large man, cheap whiskey on his breath, and he tried to attack me, and then broke my arm and I was tossed to the side. Then he went after my sister. I tried to move, but there was too much pain. And I woke up." I realized my eyes were closed. The situation sounded vaguely familiar.

"What do you think it means?" She said. "I have no idea." I had some strange hope that she had a dream similar to mine, so somebody would know what I'm going through.

"Did I fall in the creek?" I said, hoping to change the subject. "Pierce pushed you in, and then I pushed Pierce in, and then Pierce pulled me in." "Why don't I remember any of this?" I said. "I dunno, you drank a lot of water." She said.

"How did you dry off?" I asked, hoping the answer didn't have to do with taking her clothes off. "I sat by the fire with Pierce, but you were still angry at him so I had him undress you and hang your clothes up once you dozed off." The image of Pierce taking off my pants while I was asleep was then forever burned into my mind. "We had a fire and I missed it?!" I said. "I think you have some kind of memory issue, Garry." She said.

* * *

"Where the f**k were you guys?" Pierce said, throwing up his hands. "I was about to start yelling your names at the top of my lungs!"

"Sorry, Pierce. We didn't mean to scare you, we just had some… personal stuff." I said. "You don't mean…" Pierce said with a cautious look.

"No, no, god no, nothing like that!" Natasha cut in. "We just wanted a place to talk in private."

Pierce wasn't one to pry. He let it go.

* * *

"We have hit absolute rock bottom." Pierce said after a while. "We have nowhere to go, no one to help, and no supplies to scavenge." "We may as well be dead."

"We could always just survive out here." He said. "Remember, we are going to wait to go to Sacramento." Natasha replied.

"Think about it. What if everybody in Sacramento has already been saved and moved somewhere else?" "Then, we get there, and we have a f*****g wasteland on our hands." Pierce replied.

"It might be worth a shot. If we get there there could be stations positioned for stragglers." Natasha pressed.

"BUT WHAT IF THERE ISN'T A SINGLE F*****G SOUL THERE? THEN WHAT? THEN WE'VE GONE ACROSS THE ENTIRE F*****G STATE FOR JACK S**T!"

Natasha backed away, but she kept her cool. "We'll figure something out."

Pierce was breathing heavily, which elevated into crying. Natasha went to him and he just kept saying "I'm sorry." Through big, blubbery sobs.

If only I could be half the saint she is.

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