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Collaborative Writing please join in the story
#1
I started this at ATS https://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread1300273/pg1 and thought it might be interesting and fun to do the same here as we really do have many talented writers both here and there .

I have not seen one of these posted or attempted for a long time. They can be fun and interesting as long as posters are committed to adding value to the story line and not destroying what others have spent time to create. Owners, Mods and of course anyone else at ATS/Rogue Nation can participate which makes it all the more fun.

I am not golfing today as I suffered a lite heat stroke yesterday after the last hole.. 33 C and 3 cups of coffee and me did not get along very well I suppose.... but I won so regardless of being stupid at least there was that ...

OK the beginning of the story and where it turns an twist only the members will tell !

The beginning and maybe the end



I have read so many books and short stories where the hero is faced with impossible odds yet always seems to survive and come out of the fray or any situation...a hero. I hoped that I would end up a hero in this story but in all honesty I felt more like a fill in character who would shortly be sacrificed to make the real hero look important and hero-ish; unfortunately I am all there is in this story and the odds, as far as I can see, look to better favor some gambling house in costly resort; not impossible odds but not favorable by any book maker .

I had a 40 pound back pack with all my worldly possessions which also contained a water blivet which when filled could carry 2.5 gallons of life giving water. Water is damn heavy so I usually ran the blivet only half full or even empty on occasions as my location provided me with many water sources. Most of the weight in the pack was due to 500 rounds of 7.62 and another 300 rounds of 9mm ammo. About half the 9mm was subsonic which made the suppressor even more effective at keeping the noise down. Water purification tablets, a few C-rats and MREs along with two fire starters, one folding and one Bowie knife that was big and heavy but at times very useful. I had two tubes of three and one antibiotic cream and a med kit that even had needles for sowing up a wound. Those are not all of the items in the back pack but those particular things have been extremely important for my survival .

I had started out with a Bamboo walking stick which could also function as a spear but it did not work very well so when I found a young straight tree sapling Mr. Bowie and I set about making a more functional 7 foot long walking stick and fire hardened spear. The 7 foot long spear could also become a club which was useful when beating off some creature that wanted to have a bite out of your leg as a snack.
#2
==========================================================================

MOD NOTE

I think, in order to make this work, a few ground rules are necessary. For one thing, folks need a "bigger picture", some background information to use as a framework for embedding the individual writers into the tale. For example, we have a man in the woods in survival mode - but why is he there? How did he get there? What is the background story that placed him there? Is he stranded in a Brave New World, or is he just a lost hiker?

Second, any writers chiming in should create their own character, and write for that character so as not to unfold events in the story lines of other characters. They can kill their OWN character off if they desire, but cannot kill off other writer characters, and they can write for any "NPC" characters that anyone creates, secondary character to the main character that writer is writing for. Other writers are responsible for finding a way to embed their character into the overall framework - i.e. they have to figure out where there character fits into the overall story, how they got where they are, and where they go from there.

With those two aspects taken care of, people will have a better understanding of what they are writing, and an understanding that they cannot simply commandeer another character and roll it off a cliff.

END MOD NOTE

===========================================================================
.
Diogenes was eating bread and lentils for supper. He was seen by the philosopher Aristippus, who lived comfortably by flattering the king.

Said Aristippus, ‘If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.’ Said Diogenes, ‘Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.’


#3
(11-23-2021, 03:59 AM)Ninurta Wrote: ==========================================================================

MOD NOTE

I think, in order to make this work, a few ground rules are necessary. For one thing, folks need a "bigger picture", some background information to use as a framework for embedding the individual writers into the tale. For example, we have a man in the woods in survival mode - but why is he there? How did he get there? What is the background story that placed him there? Is he stranded in a Brave New World, or is he just a lost hiker?

Second, any writers chiming in should create their own character, and write for that character so as not to unfold events in the story lines of other characters. They can kill their OWN character off if they desire, but cannot kill off other writer characters, and they can write for any "NPC" characters that anyone creates, secondary character to the main character that writer is writing for. Other writers are responsible for finding a way to embed their character into the overall framework - i.e. they have to figure out where there character fits into the overall story, how they got where they are, and where they go from there.

With those two aspects taken care of, people will have a better understanding of what they are writing, and an understanding that they cannot simply commandeer another character and roll it off a cliff.

END MOD NOTE

===========================================================================
.
The bigger picture is up to the contributors that is what makes the story unknown until someone post.. Why, where, and when is up to whoever post to the story. Yes contributing characters is always fun and hopefully people will respect the story line enough to add and not take away.
#4
Hi sky,

Is the beginning of the collaborative story outlined as in the survival paragraph.  (Mr Bowie knife :) ?

Kind regards,

Bally:)
#5
(11-23-2021, 06:16 AM)Bally002 Wrote: Hi sky,

Is the beginning of the collaborative story outlined as in the survival paragraph.  (Mr Bowie knife :) ?

Kind regards,

Bally:)

#6
(11-23-2021, 06:21 AM)727Sky Wrote:
(11-23-2021, 06:16 AM)Bally002 Wrote: Hi sky,

Is the beginning of the collaborative story outlined as in the survival paragraph.  (Mr Bowie knife :) ?

Kind regards,

Bally:)


Yeah, I understand Bowie knives (thanks anyway)  Just wondering if that story containing Mr Bowie is the commencement of the collaborative write.  Sorry if there was any misunderstanding.  

Regards,

Bally :)
#7
@"727Sky" 

Heh, I PM'd you on ATS regarding this.  Apparently only ATS "writers" can contribute to the collab story (over there).

Cheers
[Image: 14sigsepia.jpg]

Location: The lost world, Elsewhen
#8
(11-23-2021, 08:46 AM)F2d5thCav Wrote: @"727Sky" 

Heh, I PM'd you on ATS regarding this.  Apparently only ATS "writers" can contribute to the collab story (over there).

Cheers

Yeah, over there one has to be recognized as a writer to contribute to a story, which begs the question of how does one become a "writer"? I had to contact a mod and express my interest in contributing to a story being written there, and that's how I became a "writer" - the mod had to flip a switch some where.

Here, it is a free-for-all - exactly as life should be!

.
Diogenes was eating bread and lentils for supper. He was seen by the philosopher Aristippus, who lived comfortably by flattering the king.

Said Aristippus, ‘If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.’ Said Diogenes, ‘Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king.’


#9
(11-23-2021, 08:46 AM)F2d5thCav Wrote: @"727Sky" 

Heh, I PM'd you on ATS regarding this.  Apparently only ATS "writers" can contribute to the collab story (over there).

Cheers

I have notified Donttreadonme as the story should be open to all..Probably get a response in the next 10 hours..
#10
(11-23-2021, 06:42 AM)Bally002 Wrote:
(11-23-2021, 06:21 AM)727Sky Wrote:
(11-23-2021, 06:16 AM)Bally002 Wrote: Hi sky,

Is the beginning of the collaborative story outlined as in the survival paragraph.  (Mr Bowie knife :) ?

Kind regards,

Bally:)


Yeah, I understand Bowie knives (thanks anyway)  Just wondering if that story containing Mr Bowie is the commencement of the collaborative write.  Sorry if there was any misunderstanding.  

Regards,

Bally :)

The beginning of the beginning sorry if there was a misunderstanding

The beginning and maybe the end



I have read so many books and short stories where the hero is faced with impossible odds yet always seems to survive and come out of the fray or any situation...a hero. I hoped that I would end up a hero in this story but in all honesty I felt more like a fill in character who would shortly be sacrificed to make the real hero look important and hero-ish; unfortunately I am all there is in this story and the odds, as far as I can see, look to better favor some gambling house in costly resort; not impossible odds but not favorable by any book maker .

I had a 40 pound back pack with all my worldly possessions which also contained a water blivet which when filled could carry 2.5 gallons of life giving water. Water is damn heavy so I usually ran the blivet only half full or even empty on occasions as my location provided me with many water sources. Most of the weight in the pack was due to 500 rounds of 7.62 and another 300 rounds of 9mm ammo. About half the 9mm was subsonic which made the suppressor even more effective at keeping the noise down. Water purification tablets, a few C-rats and MREs along with two fire starters, one folding and one Bowie knife that was big and heavy but at times very useful. I had two tubes of three and one antibiotic cream and a med kit that even had needles for sowing up a wound. Those are not all of the items in the back pack but those particular things have been extremely important for my survival .

I had started out with a Bamboo walking stick which could also function as a spear but it did not work very well so when I found a young straight tree sapling Mr. Bowie and I set about making a more functional 7 foot long walking stick and fire hardened spear. The 7 foot long spear could also become a club which was useful when beating off some creature that wanted to have a bite out of your leg as a snack.
#11
Which was what I thought would happen days ago when I came upon something that reminded me of all the legends I’d heard of skinwalkers. After everything that had happening during the previous days it wouldn’t have surprised me. It turned out that it was a lone coyote that had been abandoned by her pack. 


She was injured and half starved. I walked toward her carefully, fishing around in my pack for a bite of jerky. Her right front leg was caked in blood. I reached out for her to see how she’d react to my touch. Whether it was from sheer exhaustion from pain and loss of blood I didn’t know, but she didn’t seem to mind. I used some of my precious water to clean the area and bandaged her up. She then followed me back to camp. I guess she decided sticking with me was better than being alone.

The sound of movement in the brush brought me back to the present. It was getting cold. I grabbed a few more pieces of wood to put on the fire and checked my surroundings. I saw the coyote coming back from whatever excursion that had taken her away. She lay down at the edge of the fire and looked at me as if to say she was there now, to sleep, she would keep watch.

I lay down and looked at the sky, amazed at how many stars I could see now that there were no lights anywhere on the horizon.
#12
I finally decided I would try and cook the 3 foot long Water Moccasin I had skinned and  killed  just before sunset so with the Coyote looking on I tried to figure out what to do with the snake. I need to save my prepackaged food supplies because you never know by what means or when a new supply will become available.

I have eaten Rattle Snake prepared by some of the best West Texas Rattle Snake cookers in the world, however, for the most part the meat is stringy and greasy IMO. If you put enough spices and seasonings on something I suppose anything can be made eatable except for Nutria which seem to be plentiful in this area. Even my Cajun friends gave up on making Nutria anything more than a "for sure gag response" chewy !

Since I was going to heat water to clean my scalp and head I got to wondering if it might be better to boil the gutted snake and make snake soup instead of trying to cut up and cook the 3 foot long snake over open fire ? I have never had boiled snake before and maybe some of the soup can be kept for later....if I can stomach the first bit of soup at all.... OK big decision time ! I will cook some snake over the open flame and also make some snake stew.. Nice to have choices, no ?

I wish I had some salt and pepper along with a few other spices especially garlic as everything goes better with garlic except for ice cream; or so I have been told !

The first batch of heated water went for cleaning my head. I could feel several small open wounds where the blood had trickled and matted into my hair line. The lacerations were directly on the crown of my head and were not deep enough to cause me much concern. I retrieved my three and one antibiotic cream and applied several dabs to the open wounds as I darn sure did not need or want some kind of swamp infection setting in. I treated myself while a fresh batch of water heated for my snake stew....yumm yumm !

The snake was horrible but I could eat it and wash the snake meat down with the snake stew which was just about as bad as the fire grilled meat. My pardner for the night which I named Cally was not picky as she ate all the left over snake and lapped up all the soup and when finished looked at me for more..She better know how to hunt or this relationship will end shortly !

It was getting late an I knew that tonight would be both dangerous and miserable with the mosquitoes. In Asia they used to build their houses about ten to twenty feet off the ground as Mosquitoes are usually ground huggers. Generations later the Mosquitoes learned the food was up there and not down close to the ground.. I just hoped there were no Asia Mosquitoes in the particular swamp.

I started looking for a tree that would be easy enough for me to climb that would have a limb large enough for me to sleep upon and hopefully high enough off the ground to avoid the insects. It did not take me long to find my Tarzan tree and after securing my back pack I tied myself to the bole of the tree and less than comfortable tree limb with a strap from my back pack. I did not need to fall from my guesstimated 18 feet off the ground while asleep.

As I pondered the clue in my back pack the sun disappeared and the night critters started all their night calls; not long after the critters started I was fast asleep with my rifle's sling keeping the weapon laying across my chest.

Maybe I should market "Snake Sleeping Soup" if I get out of this alive and there is anyone else to market to ?
#13
I didn’t sleep much that night. While I was safer sleeping in the tree, there was no way to get comfortable with the branch digging in no matter how much I shifted. About two hours from dawn I must have finally fallen asleep because the next thing I remembered was the sun shining brightly through the trees, right in my eyes. I unstrapped myself from the branch and climbed down from the tree. I grabbed my pack and sat down to get my bearings and figure out what I was going to do next.

I decided to forgo any of the leftover snake and went for a drink of water, wishing it was coffee instead. Oh my God! Coffee! Coffee would be so amazing right now. I told myself to snap out of it and noticed I was holding a slip of paper in my hand. I didn’t need to read it, I knew what was on it. Just a few simple words


Get out of the city
-John

There were also a series of numbers written at the bottom. Coordinates perhaps? I needed to get out of the swamp and figure out my location to see if those numbers led to anything important.

As I began to pack up, I realized Cally was missing. Perhaps she’d finally gone off to rejoin the pack? She had stopped limping a day or two ago. I was suddenly sad. I know wild things should be kept wild but it was nice to have another living creature around. It had made me feel, not so alone.

I finished packing up and headed out. I was really looking forward to getting out of this swamp. I trudged on, boots making a slurping noise in the mud. Finally I found a dry area and decided to rest under a cypress tree. I was holding a bit of leftover snake in my hand, not looking forward to eating it when Cally appeared carrying a fat juicy squirrel in her grinning jaws.
#14
You guys are good! I like how this is turning out.
#15
I was both happy and surprised to see Cally but she did not seem at all interested in giving up her squirrel to the point of growling at my hand when I reached for it.

OK two can play this game so I pulled out the snake snack and made yumm yumm sounds as I faked eating it. She was enthralled by either the sounds or the smell but either or she approached. Cally having only one mouth had to drop the squirrel to eat the snake snack I was offering her and as she did I claimed the squirrel. Dogs and Coyotes do not savor a meal they just gulp the whole thing down as fast as they can I supposed to keep other pack members from stealing their food.

I built another fire and skinned the squirrel. The skin I gave to Cally for something to chew on as the rest of the squirrel roasted over the bigger than needed fire.

When I figured the Squirrel was cooked enough (call it past well done) to have killed any worms and bacteria the small hapless creature might have been carrying I cut the squirrel body in half and gave the half with the head to Cally. I could tell she wanted more but hey that was all there was for the moment.

I tried petting her but she was skiddish and retreated from my advances, bitch !

Big decision today was where to go ? Should I return to my burned out farm house to see what I could scavenge from either it or the barn ? I wanted to get the car or the truck as one night sleeping like this was not real high on my fun list. My car, truck, and tractor were all in the barn so if the barn stood, then a ride was only a few hundred meters away, I hoped.

I approached the burned out ranch home which was still smoldering and was able to see the barn had suffered the same fate.

"There went my rides"!

O.K. I am sore I am stiff and I am getting mad. What to hell could have caused this and why can't I remember ? Then the clue came back to my mind where I had written the supposedly geographical code. It was a news paper clipping from just two weeks ago (which must have been when I prepared the bug out bag) about the Chinese had started the invasion of Taiwan .

I called for Cally but she did not show herself so I went to the mower shed and tried to start the riding lawn mower. The auto start was dead even though I had used the mower just two days ago. Even trying to hand start the mower was not working... I worked on trying to get the mower to start for nearly 5 minutes before I started on the wiring to only find the wires crumpled into fried pieces of carbon at the slightest touch.

"What to hell"?
#16
So many questions were racing through my mind. Did someone set fire to everything here? Was it an attack directed at me because of who I am, what I know? The lawnmower wires caused me to think something else could have been responsible. Perhaps two different kinds of attacks then. There had been no lights on the horizon for awhile now. I rubbed my head where there was still a tender spot and thought, could this be what sent me into the swamp? Was I attacked here as I was gathering supplies? I needed time to think but I was afraid time was running out.

I saw lightning in the distance and decided I’d better get out of the weather and the shed looked about as good as it would get. I had an old cot and a few camping supplies stored in there. I grabbed the cot and moved it away from the wall. Behind it was the tote that stored my camp stove and lanterns. I had fuel for those against the wall. I opened the tote and found coffee. I had forgotten I left that in there last time I went camping. There were also three cans of Vienna sausages and a box of saltine crackers.

I put fuel in my camp stove grabbed the coffee pot out of the tote and started coffee as I got my room for the night ready. Just before the rain started I heard scratching at the door. Cally. I let her in and she began her ritual of going in circles before she plopped down on an old towel. I sat on the cot with a map studying the coordinates. As I popped the lid off a can of the sausages Cally’s head swiveled toward me. I tossed her one and said “You know, this partnership feels like a one way street”

As I was looking at the map I thought of the note. The name John seemed so familiar. Why couldn’t I remember? Odd that it was written on that clipping and the numbers, did I write them or did he? The writing does look different. Thinking was making my head hurt. I went over to pour another cup of coffee and saw a picture of me and someone who seemed to be a government official on a shelf propped up on the wall. Then it hit me. John is my brother.

I spent a troubled night tossing and turning on my cot with the rain pouring down noisily on the metal roof of the shed. I figured that I’d look around for more clues tomorrow. I woke up early in a panic because I couldn’t move my legs. I was shocked when I figured out why. Apparently Cally had gotten tired of the floor and decided I’d make a better bed. I scooted out from under her and made some more coffee.

As I made my way around my burned out ranch I didn’t see much of anything I’d call helpful. Then I saw the syringe laying on the ground by where my garage once stood. I was pissed. Someone had come here and did this to me, to my home. I was going to figure this out and someone was going to pay. I had an idea of where to go next but it was going to be a long walk. I heard Cally yip, looked toward her and saw Dennis, my mule. Cally was smart and stayed away from his hooves. I knew she’d be ok though because Dennis had never gone after a dog and since she’d been around me I figured she smelled more like a dog than a coyote.

Now I had a decision, ride out on Dennis or walk the entire way to John’s cabin.
#17
I was sitting and having one more cup of coffee when I head something at the edge of the brush and woods. Cally was up and alert almost on point to the spot where I had heard the noise.

 It was John's 24 year daughter standing and looking at me with big tears rolling down her cheeks. (In the country a neighbor can be 7 miles away and still be considered a neighbor.)

"Sally" I said as she took a step and basically crumpled to the ground with her .22 rim fire rifle still strapped to her back .

I sprang to her side as she said, "Everyone is dead." and then she passed out, fainted, or whatever.

I carried her to the shed and tried getting water down her throat after dabbing coolish water over her head and neck. After choking a few times she came back enough to grab the water hose and greedily drink until I told her to stop. Sure enough she turned on her side and puked a gush of water into shed. She was shaking and white as a clean white sheet.

"Sip slowly Sally.... you just puked in my bed room" ! She looked around but finally figured out what I was saying and attempted a weak smile and a "Sorry"..

I checked Sally's few scrapes and scratches and after cleaning off the blood I applied a few dabs of three and one antibiotic. I figured she would live unless there was something I was not seeing.

She was very weak so I told her to rest and sleep.... which she did almost as soon as I finished saying sleep.

Sally slept for a solid 7 hours and would have slept more but hunger and thirst drove her to open her eyes for water and ask if I had anything to eat ?

Over a can of beanie weenies and crackers out of the C-rat stock I got her story.

Same as me, her home was on fire when she woke up to the sound of her pet Parrot screaming. The master bedroom was on the second story of their farm house and her Mom and dad were there while she had been sleeping down stairs; that was the only thing that saved her as the entire upper story was consumed by the fire.

She threw on the clothes she had been wearing the day before and got her .22 she had been using to kill turtles in the ranch pond. She had just enough time to set the parrot free, who flew the hell out of there as soon as she opened the door just before the upper story collapsed into the room Sally had been sleeping in; smart bird.

She had walked the 7 miles to my place with a small fanny pack of ammo but otherwise nothing but her rifle and the clothes on her back.

Sally was not the typical callused farm girl as she had been away at college finishing her degree . She was around 5''7" of a slender build, brownish black hair, and would no doubt be consider pretty by most all the college boys when cleaned up.

When extracting her story from her I got to thinking this was another clue. The fire at her place had started upstairs as had the fire at my place which had started upon the roof.

We stayed at the mower shed for the next day after I cleaned out her watery puke so we could rest an form a plan.

There was a small private airport where I kept my plane just about 10 miles away so if my bird or any of the numerous Cessna's and Pipers were still flyable that would be our ticket out of the boonies and back to some form of civilization.

Sally agreed so the morning of the second day we set off with Dennis the mule acting as a pack animal carrying our water and other supplies we had agreed we needed as we proceeded to see about some transportation with wings.

Sally had been able to save her Cell phone (mine had burned in the fire) but she said it was dead even though it had been on charge the night of the fire. I had a look at it but could not determine why there was nothing when you tried to turn it on. It was dead as a door nail and no way to get a signal....
#18
This whole week had been to damn hot for most people to be outside. I think that is one of the reasons Sally had been in such bad shape when she stumbled onto my property; the heat, no food, and lack of water had given her a mild heat stroke in my non medical opinion. She was much better now after eating everything I offered (and then some) so we set upon our 10 mile hike.

An average distance with a 40 pound pack and someone in good shape with good foot ware, could be 10 miles a day if you were pushing it but....it was so hot I figured if we could do 5 miles a day we would be doing good. Dennis the mule carried most of the heavy stuff such as more water and food stuffs but my pack still weighed at least 30 pounds with the water blivet half full and all the ammo and a few food things in the pack. I was not going to get separated from my back pack .

Out of my property's gate onto the two lane paved road our little march started. It did not take Cally long to figure out the asphalt was to hot for her by 10am to walk on so she ran the grader ditches seeing if she could scare up something to eat or drink. We had not heard nor seen any vehicles or even airplanes these last 6 hours we had been walking and for that matter I had not heard or seen anything mechanical since my house burned.

Sally was starting to not walk as sure footed as she had upon our departure so I called a break underneath a big wide Oak tree just off the side of the road. I broke out some MREs and gave Cally one of the cans of Vienna sausages with the statement, "those are for the Squirrel the other day." She looked very interested in what I had to say (in case I had more food no doubt) but her understanding was about as good as me talking to a closed aluminum door. Nevertheless she was part of our troop so if one eats we all eat. I was not to concerned as I figured we would be at the airport by sometime tomorrow.

It had to be 15 degrees cooler in the shade of the Oak tree coupled with once off the hot Asphalt I had an idea .

"It is so hot why don't we take a break here and try and get some sleep. We can continue when the sun goes down and maybe even bag a night critter for something to eat"?

"Good plan I like that as I am feeling faint headed," was Sally's response.

"Why didn't you say something Sally...this does not have to be a forced death march"!

"I feel like a wimp as you are carrying the pack your guns and everything and all I have is my fanny pack and the .22"

"You are a wimp but don't let that bother you as you are only a girl," I said with a smile hoping she would not shoot me. She just smiled and shook her head in agreement.

"I am surprise you noticed under all this dirt and filth."

"Sally there is a small lake along our route, not to far off this road."

"You mean the Phillips lake"?

"That's the one," I said.

"We can have a wash, freshen up and maybe even get a fish or two if we are lucky" she said beaming enjoyment by just the mere thought.

Cally just wagged her tail and slobbered as she was also very hot.

It would start cooling and getting dark around 18:30 so I spread out my pack as a pillow and laid back for some sleep after tying a long rope onto Dennis for him to graze. Next thing I know Sally's head is on the opposite side of the pack. From her breathing I could tell she was asleep within 5 minutes....I followed shortly thereafter...
#19
It was a little cooler when I opened my eyes sometime later. Sally was still sleeping. Cally was laying near her. The coyote had taken to her from the moment she’d stumbled onto my property. She’d still get skittish if I tried to touch her but would wag her tail happily and beg for more whenever Sally was petting her. I decided to let them sleep a little while longer while I got our things together. I wanted to go at a much faster pace but I knew Sally wasn’t feeling well and I felt bad for pushing as hard as I had. I walked over and checked on Dennis. I’d taken him on quite a few elk hunts in some rough mountain terrain but I was a little concerned with him walking so far on asphalt. I ran my hands down his legs checking for any swelling and lifted his feet to check his hooves. He seemed sound so I turned to wake Sally but she was already awake watching me.

“You feel up to a little more walking?” I asked still concerned for her but ready to get moving again. 

“I’m ready” she said and picked up her .22. 

I untied Dennis and we set out again. I didn’t mention anything about John’s cabin being at Phillips Lake. I didn’t want to get her hopes up. Considering what had happened to both our homes made me doubtful that the cabin would still be standing when we arrived. I hoped like hell it was because I knew if there were any clues to be found I would find them there. Maybe John himself would be there and seeing him might trigger my lost memories into returning. I kept thinking of that syringe. Whatever was in it must have been used to wipe some of my important memories. I began to wonder if I’d get any of them back.
#20
I grabbed my pack and re-slung my my rifle after checking the mag for the 100th time and so we were once again off to Phillips Lake.

It was only another two hours walk when we came upon the dirt road leading to the lake. Sally and Cally were maybe 20 steps in front of me and Dennis as this was more than familiar territory for her and apparently Cally. Cally was thirsty and started to run ahead to the lake for a drink and a splash. This dirt road was tree lined and we had not made the last turn before there was a shot that rang out from the direction Cally had taken to the Lake.

Sally without thinking ran towards the sound of the shot before I could say anything to stop her. Myself I went to the tree line with Dennis in toe and continued to go in Sally's direction while staying concealed. When I found a spot through the trees I could take in the picture of what was going on, I was almost stunned immobile.

What I saw was Cally down on the ground "dead stone still" while Sally was kneeling by her side. One guy was standing and talking to Sally with his gun pointing at her. I could just barely hear the conversation but from what I could hear made my determination needle peg out into the red zone !

"Why did you shoot Cally," was Sally's question ?

"Cause I'm gonna eat that Coyote.... and now I want you to UN-sling that pee shooter you have and very slowly sit it on the ground, muzzle pointing away from me."

"What to hell is wrong with you mister ? You just shot Cally and now you are acting like I am your prisoner or something" ?

"If you do not do as I say I will put a bullet in your head and all your worries will be over there Missy; I might even eat you after I play with your body for a while" !

That was all I needed to hear so I blew a big hole in his head with a 7.62 round in his ear. He crumpled to the ground and other than a few twitches he was no more.

I stayed where I was for a few moments to see if anyone else would be coming upon the scene as the report of my rifle was anything but quite in the stillness of the night. I have a suppressor in my back pack but there was no time to screw it on...it was a mistake to take it off the rifle to save some weight to begin with, but hind sight is 20/20 or so the saying goes.

Sally just sat there looking at Cally with her eyes barely able to see through her tears. I did not know what I would find when I got to her but instead of talking about the man I just blew away she just said, "He did not have to shoot Cally"!

"Sally I am pretty sure he will not be shooting anyone or anything anytime soon."

"Thank you." was all she said.

I could not bring myself to skin and eat Cally and Sally would have probably thrown a fit if I had suggested it so I grabbed Cally's back legs and pulled her body into the woods. She would become a meal for the numerous critters in these woods, "Dust to dust Cally" as I left her body next to the base of a tree.

As I came out of the woods Sally was going through Mister Coyote killers pockets and pack he had been carrying. The rifle he had used to kill Cally was an iron sighted SKS which shot 7.62X39 rounds. The rifle was old and worn but serviceable as Cally had been shot in the head from an estimate 40 yards away. Cally's killer had about 50 rounds for the gun and there were still 8 in the magazine. There was even a folding bayonet attached to the barrel.

Sally asked if I wanted her to keep the gun and ditch her .22 and my answer was am emphatic, "No."

"Your .22 can kill all kinds of small and even big things and not destroy the meat like that SKS will plus it is heavy and there are less than 60 rounds. It ain't worth lugging around IMO."

She looked at the SKS one more time and laid it next to the dead body. The guys pack had hardly anything worth having other than some matches and a few dirty changes of clothes with a small folding knife in the bottom of the pack. But the back pack looked almost new so Sally claimed it as her own after throwing the guys clothes out. I checked for a pocket book or some kind of I.D. and there was nothing. No money, no I.D. nothing !

Sally came beside me and took my wrist and said, "Lets go have a wash and a drink I want to get away from that A$$hole as soon as I can'"

I always liked Sally since I first met her when she was just 15 years old but, I had no idea how strong a spirit she had developed as she became a 24 year old woman. My esteem of her increased considerably .

There was a big flat rock that was half submerged in Phillips lake and that would be where we would wash our clothes and bodies. I told Sally to go ahead as I wanted to scout around a bit before I settled down to get cleaned up.

"Give me your shirt and let me wash it for you while you are checking what else is out there."

"Are you saying my shirt stinks" ?

"No, no, the shirt smells very manly, like some man dead for a week "!

I grimaced and went through the act of smelling my armpits before I took off the shirt and handed to her at arms length with a scowl on my face. Next bug out bag will have some deodorant !

As I left my shirt with Sally and proceeded to a place where John's cabin was was located. I first stopped and retrieved the SKS as a gift for John at his cabin after finding Dennis grazing at the water edge. He seemed content so I unloaded him and tied the rope he carried to another convenient tree.

I did not really like walking at night with my shirt off as the Mosquitos and anything with a pair of eyes could see my upper body without much problem, however I arrived at the spot of John's cabin only to find it had been burned to the ground. I went through the ashes and found what I assumed was John and his wife, burned to death in the ashes of their bed.

Nothing left worth anything in the cabin but John did have a boat shed 40 yards away which was still standing. In the shed I found his boat wiring was fried but I did manage to pull out his heavy duty plastic canoe, some rod and reel fishing poles and a tackle box. Weighted down with my stuff and now the Canoe and more stuff it was a chore getting everything to the water's edge. That accomplished I went back to the boat shed and did another search for anything useful . I did find some boat motor oil which we could use for the guns and even got a couple of rags for just in case.

I filled the Canoe with everything and stared to paddle across the lake to our washing rock. I wanted to call out to Sally and let her know it was me ( didn't want to get shot ) but I figured without a shirt and the full moon Sally would know it was me.

As I arrived at the rock Sally said, "What about John was he at the cabin"?

"The cabin is burned to the ground and I will assume the two bodies were of John and his wife. They did not make it out of the Cabin."

Sally just starred at me and shook her head in bewilderment.

I looked for my shirt and saw it hanging on a tree branch to dry. Sally's clothes were also hanging as she only wore her Bra and what looked like a "T" back pair of blue underwear. She had already washed herself off and even her hair judging buy how it hung down her back still dripping wet.


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