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Author's Chapter Notes:
Give it up for Mr. Dorough! ;-)
Way to go Alexander. Get the girls all excited about something we haven’t even found, yet. Yes, it’s a wonderful prospect, but the fact of the matter is…we had no way of telling, if we could even get to that waterfall. Who knows what kind of terrain could be standing between us and the sweet salvation of that rushing water?

“…we didn’t actually find it, in the literal sense. But we heard it and it does sound pretty close. It also sounds like a fairly good sized one, too. So…if we can make the hike…”

“No.” Resa interrupted me and stood up, some sort of hand made tool, in her hands…it looked almost like a hammer, but yet not really. “We can’t take such a huge risk of life and limb, for the possibility of a waterfall…or river…or lake…or anything like that. We’re already distilling water to drink, so what is the purpose of finding it, anyways? Staying put is safer.” Maybe she had a point, on that. I mean…it’s not like we were anywhere near dying, of dehydration, at this point and it wouldn’t do anyone any good if someone was seriously injured in the attempt of locating the water.

“Ah…but where there’s water…there’s food, too. Think about the traps we could set and the food we could catch! Everyone knows that animals flock to a big water source, like that. Can you imagine all the plants that would be growing there, too?” And yet, AJ had a good rebuttal. Honestly, this was potentially going to end up in a very long debate. I guess we’d really have to think about the pros and cons of making this kind of hike.

“The possible dangers are endless. There’s really no telling what animals, other than pigs, are out there waiting for a good meal…and if we aren’t prepared, it could…” I knew AJ would have a hissy fit over me…

“Sure…take her side! You were just as excited as I was, over this. Sell out! Get a back bone, man!” See? What’d I tell ya? He’s throwing a hissy fit, as if I just betrayed him and stabbed him in the back. He acts like such a baby sometimes. But I guess growing up in this business can have that effect on certain people and AJ hasn’t really known anything other than this business. He’s had some level of fame for most of his life and I doubt he even remembers what it was like to be a measly little nobody.

“I’m not taking anyone’s side, AJ. I’m merely stating that she does have a point…as do you. The logical thing to do…” Sometimes AJ could be just as big of a handful, as Nick. He wasn’t exactly childish or ignorant…he just likes getting his way and doesn’t always deal with it well when people don’t agree with him.

“Screw you and your damn logic, Howard! We need to find the fuckin’ waterfall! If you think about it…we can’t afford not to find it. Not only could that be an amazing life source to keep our sorry asses alive…but logic says that any rescue crews would look there…thinking we were smart enough…to find water. Our best bet…is to make the hike.” Oye. This was shaping up to be a long night…and not the fun kind of long night, either…more like a night filled, to the brim, with stress and debates.

“Hey…guys…” Resa was interrupting, again. She definitely had a bold personality that was honestly starting to grow on me, a little bit. I liked the way she could step in and take charge of a situation…assume the position, of authority, and direct others in an orderly fashion. “We need to sit down and think this over rationally. Doing that kind of hiking, tonight…is out of the question, for sure because it’s already getting dark. So…let’s sit, eat, and discuss our opinions in a calm, adult-like manner. Ok?”

“Alright. Fine. I’m hungry anyways.” With that said, AJ plopped onto the sand and tilted his head. Rubbing his hands together, he stretched his neck in an attempt to peek in the small pot, where the food was simmering over the fire. “Are we having more meat, tonight? I used to hate having the same thing twice in one day…but shit…I’m willing to eat pork for every fuckin’ meal, right now.” I couldn’t help but chuckle, at that, because truth is…I had to agree with him. The scent of dinner wafted into my nostrils and it was already making my mouth water, even if there wasn’t any meat in it.

“It looks like you girls got a few tools made today. And that last hammock is up, too, so we can all have a spot to sleep off the ground, tonight. Awesome job.” All of us needed some encouragement, right about now. We had to be there for each other and offer whatever support we could, if we were to get through this. Teamwork was essential and every one of us was important to the survival, of the group.

“Oh we did. There’s my…hammer of sorts…then there are a couple make shift machetes that will be good if we do have to hike through any kind of dense stuff…we also made two backpacks out of that sheet. The backpacks might not be able to stand a lot of weight, but they’ll be able to help carry a few important items. Oh…and naturally Kris made a few things for cooking. Now, what we really need is something for carrying water. And yes…dinner is already made…and yes, it has meat.” Resa scooped out some dinner onto banana leaves, for us guys.

It looked the same as what we had earlier, but I really couldn’t care less. It still smelled delectable and right now, I was just happy to have a fairly well balanced meal instead of just a banana and some coconut milk. Besides that…everyone who knows anything about me…knows I’m a food buff…so in all truth, this was just a way of experiencing new foods that I’ve not yet had the chance to try.

“Mmm! I love me some meat! You know…there might be other animals on the island that we can trap…especially by a good water source. Maybe there’s bear? Or mountain lion? Lizards and snakes…rabbits…oh the list could be miles long!” I swear that man has no sense of general table etiquette. Here he is, chomping and talking with a mouth full of food, like he’s part pig. Yes. Ok. We aren’t exactly sitting at a table or anything, but we are in the presence of women. The man could have a little bit of respect. Although…his mouth full of half chewed food aside…I liked the thought of trying some grilled bear. I wasn’t so sure about snake, but a large cat would probably be pretty good, too.

“But it’s not going to help us any, if someone gets hurt, along the way. If you guys didn’t actually see the waterfall…you could have been hearing the echo of a small creek, bouncing off the trees and stuff. So then what happens if someone breaks a leg…or heaven forbid, dies…and it just turns out to be a trickle of mud, flowing through the jungle?” Yikes. Resa had a point, there, that I hadn’t thought about. What if we ended up going on this never ending hike, just to wander back disappointed and empty handed? “Then again, on the other side of the argument…this pig could have been a fluke…one that wandered from the other side of the island, or whatever. There might not be any more right here around us; so a waterfall would really be the only hope of finding more large game.”

“We could always wait a few days before going? Just to see if we come across any other animals in this area?” There were good points to both sides of this argument. But the question still remained…do we go, or not? How we were going to decide? I wasn’t sure. Maybe we should wait for a day, or two, though…just to see what happens.

“I still say it’s worth the trip. Between the four, of us, we have a lower risk of injury. We just simply stray away from potentially hazardous terrain…find a way around it…or help each other through it. You know? We really don’t have much to lose.” I knew AJ well enough to know that he wasn’t going to back down from his opinion, on this. The man has always been stubborn and hard headed…this time would be no different…but I’m not sure I could blame him, for that.

“Ok…supposing we did take this hike and tried to search out this waterfall…we should, at least, figure out what we would need. After we figure that out…we can decide if the trip would even be feasible.” Finishing the last bite of her meal, Resa grabbed a stick and plopped in the sand a few feet away, starting to scribble in the light sand. “We would definitely need a way to bring water with us. Dehydration must be avoided, at all costs…it’s a really horrible way of dying…and we have no idea how long this hike could last.”

“There would have to be a way of marking our trail, too.” Maybe AJ had put some thought into this and wasn’t just running his mouth. He had a tendency to shoot off, at the mouth, without letting his words and thoughts go through that crucial brain to mouth filter. “We could leave marks on the trees or something. And we should definitely bring spears…oh…maybe we can make them double as walking sticks…just have the rib bone or whatever from the pig at the top, to use as the spear?”

“That’s actually a really good idea, AJ.” Standing behind her, I watched Resa closely, as she added that to the list, of items, she was engraving onto nature’s notepaper. “Do you have any ideas, Howie? You look pretty deep, in thought, there.” Not that I was going to openly explain it, but I had been pretty lost in my thoughts ever since the cruise ship went down. I missed my baby boy and…well…everything else, too…except my wife. I wasn’t missing her nagging habit, that’s for sure! Nor was I missing the rocky marriage that had just seemed to continue getting worse, with each passing day.

“Huh?” With a slight shake, of my head, I snapped my thought process back to what was going on, at that very moment. “Oh. Um…we’d need to think about maybe some tether lines, or something? A lot of rock climbers tie themselves together, in case one person falls, the weight of everyone else can help avoid them from tumbling farther…therefore possibly helping to avoid severe injuries and all.” To be honest, I’m rather impressed that I even thought about that! Maybe I can handle this survival thing, after all.

“Now you’re thinkin’ man! What else? Hey…maybe we should have more backpacks? Who knows what we’ll find on our way, right? We may want to carry back food or treasures that we come across, while we’re on our adventure.” One more point for AJ! Sometimes that man can really surprise you. He’s not as dumb as people may think. When it comes right down to it, AJ is actually pretty smart…unfortunately, he just makes really crappy choices in life. Luckily, all the bad sock choices are drifting out at sea right now, along with that awful kilt he likes to wear when he’s drinking.

Then again…knowing my luck…a few of those socks will wash up on shore…and how much do you wanna bet that none of them will match? Then he’ll be walking around the island with one orange zebra striped sock and one bright blue one with pink polka dots. Ugh. Someone should ban goofy looking socks. And this is a guy who is petrified of clowns? Why make yourself look like one, AJ? It just doesn’t add up, but then again…this is AJ we’re talking about.

“I think we have a really good start on a list of items we’re going to need. And most of them…we have either already made…or can make, fairly easily. The main problem is that we still don’t have any way to carry water, with us, which will be absolutely necessary. For now, I think we should sleep on it, though, and then talk about it more in the morning. This isn’t a trip we should attempt to make unprepared.” Please, Resa…tell me that you are implying that it’s bed time! I’m exhausted.

“I can agree to that. It’s time to get some sleep.” After tossing his empty banana leaf to the ground, AJ stood up, stretching. “We’ll need our rest, if we even want to attempt this search.” He passed right by a silent Kris, who was adding wood to the fire, and made his way to one of the hammocks. Even a bed made of leaves and vines sounded heavenly, right now.

“Anything you need before I join him in the journey to dream land, Resa?” I squatted down, beside her, looking over her list that she had made in the sand. Not that this was the time to be noticing such things, but the woman had pretty nice handwriting. It was neat and had a slight curviness, to it.

“Nope. I’m ready to turn in, as well. It’s late and I’m seriously exhausted.” She gave me the sweetest grin, just as I stood back up. I couldn’t stop myself from returning the grin and offering her my hand. Once she slipped her hand into mine, I felt a slight tingle as I helped her up. “Thanks, Howie. Buenos noches.”

“Night, Resa. Sleep sweet.” The golden red flames cast a soft glow that danced over the sand and our make shift little camp. Honestly, I think we’ll survive just fine…even if we’re stuck here for a little while. Not that I want to be stuck here, though. The sooner we’re rescued, the better, if you ask me. Mmm…stretching out in this hammock was just what my tired body needed. Now…for that precious sleep…