Stan Morris - Surviving the Fog

“What are we going to do with her?” Ahmad asked anxiously.

Howard thought for a moment, and then said, “You three go back to camp. Tell Mike what happened. I’m sure he’ll send someone to help. I’m going to stay with her. Leave me all the food. Eat the other rabbits tonight. Try to hurry tomorrow, but be careful. Nathan, Kevin, I’m putting Ahmad in charge.”

“He is in charge?” Nathan questioned Howard, giving Ahmad a dubious glance. Kevin grimaced.

Howard’s eyes flashed. “Ahmad is a Spear,” he said fiercely. “If you guys give him any trouble, Mike’s gonna kick your asses, and you’ll never get to go anywhere again.”

“Hey, just kidding, Howard,” Nathan answered hastily. “We know the rules.” Kevin nodded.

“Better get moving, Ahmad,” Howard said. “Good luck.”

“You too,” replied Ahmad. “And don’t worry about Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb. If they give me any trouble, I’ll blow them up with a flashlight. Just kidding,” he said to the startled twins. He and the twins quickly vanished back the way they had come.

When they got back to their gear, Ahmad changed the plan slightly. “I’m going to take some food, water, and two sleeping bags back to Howard,” he explained. “You guys are going to have to share a bag tonight.”

“All right,” the twins said. Ahmad hurried back to Howard.

“I brought you two sleeping bags,” Ahmad explained, “Yours and Kevin’s. He and Nathan can share for one night.”

“Thanks, man,” Howard said gratefully. He had not thought of that. Ahmad left the food and water and disappeared through the brush.

Howard turned to the woman. She was asleep, and she seemed to be breathing normally. He wondered if she was just extremely fatigued. She was thoroughly soaked from the rain. There was not enough room to make a fire in their shelter, and it was raining again outside. He decided to put her in one of the sleeping bags.

Howard unzipped a sleeping bag, and he positioned it by her feet. He removed her shoes and socks. He started to tug the sleeping bag over her legs, but then he stopped. Her pants were soaked. Should he remove her pants? He quailed at the thought.

You have to do it , he told himself sternly. You can’t put her in the bag while she’s wet. He felt his heart start to pound as he unbuckled her belt. He hesitated, and then he pulled her pants down. Trying to avoid looking at her, he carefully lifted her feet one by one, and pulled off her pants. Next, he unbuttoned her shirt and awkwardly pulled her arms out of the sleeves. He wondered if she would suddenly awaken and beat the crap out of him. Finally, he had her shirt removed. She was soaked to the skin.

Now he faced a terrible dilemma. Should he remove her underwear? I can’t do it, he thought. It’s not right. She will kill me, or Mike will hang me . Still, maybe he should. If only it were dark . He looked outside. It would be hours before darkness set in. He needed to get her warm and dry.

He argued with himself for minutes, before he thought what if it was me ? Would I want her to take off my briefs ?

He finally decided that if their positions were reversed, he would want her to get him dry, however she did it. So, he shut his eyes and removed her underwear. He had to open them for one minute, as he studied how to unclasp her bra. Then with his eyes still shut, he hastily pulled the bag up over her legs. Then he lifted her using one arm under her back, and he pulled the bag over her hips. Eventually, he got her all the way into the sleeping bag, so that it was up to her neck.

Howard felt exhausted. He thought he had never worked so hard in his life. He took off his clothes, climbed into the other bag, and he slept. When he woke, the sun was low in the sky. It had stopped raining. He got out of the bag, and he put on his damp clothes. Note to Mike , he thought, always take an extra set of clothes on these trips.

Howard crawled out of the tree and stood. He stretched and walked around for a few minutes. Then it began to rain again, and he crawled back into the shelter.

The woman began to make waking noises. As he watched, her eyes fluttered open. She seemed dazed. Howard took a piece of bread and held it to her lips. She bit into the bread and then weakly tried to lunge forward for a larger bite. He had brought a thermos of powdered drink which he helped her to drink. That was all the energy she could muster. She lay back and fell asleep again.

The sun went down, and it got cold. Howard shivered even after he was in his sleeping bag. He thought that it was the coldest night of the season, yet. He used his flashlight to check on the woman. She was shivering, too. Howard thought about climbing into the bag with her, but there was not enough room for the two of them. It was difficult, but he managed to unzip both bags and then zip them together. He was probably already in a lot of trouble anyway, he decided, so he took off his damp clothes except for his briefs, and he got into the combined bags. He lay there next to her for a few minutes, but she did not stop shivering. Now thoroughly alarmed, he pulled her into his arms and held her. Soon, she stopped shaking, and Howard felt her relax. Once, she sighed in her sleep. Gradually, his eyes closed. He slept, woke up, and then fell asleep again.

When he awoke, there was a dim light in the sky. He was still holding the woman. Trying to be quiet, he crept out of the bag. He looked out of their shelter. It was still very cold, but he crawled out, so he could stand and stretch for a minute. His body was sore, and he felt very tired. He crawled back inside the tree trunk. He looked at the woman and froze. Her eyes were open, and she was staring at him.

“Who are you?” Her voice was as icy as he felt. Another red head , she noted, seeing his long hair.

“I’m Howard.”

“I’m naked,” she said indignantly.

“I’m really, really sorry about that,” Howard answered hastily. “You were really wet. I mean really, really soaked. So I thought that I should…” He trailed off.

“You thought that you should take my clothes off. Wasn’t that nice of you?” She scowled at him.

“I’m sorry. I thought that was what I should do.”

“Where are they?”

“What?”

“My clothes!”

“Uh, look over here. See? I got a stick, and I hung them on the stick, and I leaned it inside this tree. I was hoping they would dry. But they didn’t.”

“And my underwear?”

“I put them in your pockets.”

Howard could see that she was thinking over his words.

“Are there any others with you?” Her suspicion was like a shield.

“Not now. I sent the others back to our camp to tell the Chief that we found you. I’m sure he will send help. You looked kind of sick, so I stayed with you.”

“Hmm…” She continued to stare at him.

“Are you hungry?” he asked. “I have some food. What’s your name?”

She seemed to relax slightly. “I’m Jean. And yes, I’m very hungry.” Howard gave her a sandwich, an apple, and a can of tiny wieners. She ate them ravenously, and then she drank a bottle of water.

“I’ve got more,” said Howard. “But maybe you should wait for a little while before you eat again. Do you have any food?”

“No, I haven’t eaten for three days now, I think. I managed to get water. Where did you find me?” Jean asked.

“Right here, outside this tree. I didn’t want to move you, so we put you in here. Then I sent the other three for help.”

“How soon will they be back?” she asked.

“They’ll get back to our camp late today. I imagine the Chief will send someone tomorrow. They should be here the day after tomorrow.”