The landscape told Tyler all he realy needed to know about where he was , but it gave him no clue as to how he'd come to be there. The small spares trees , and patches of living green amidst the rocky outcroppings surrounding him suggested a valley , most likely placed squarely between two or more mountains. Exactly where was a question , somewhere in the north west or south west...but,  in either case , one hell of a distance from suburban New Jersey which was where he last remembered being.

 How he'd gone from there to where ever here was lingered in his mind as a question , almost addictive in nature. As though somehow the answer would change the reality or at least bring him to peace with it.

Then he remembered his fathers first lesson in survival , "don't ask God why when no answer would be acceptable.".

 In other words deal with the reality , let the answers come as they may.

 Still his mind went back to the last thing he remembered. He'd been taking a short cut through the woods from the mall where he worked at Fridays as a cook. Car was on the fritz again . He'd seen what looked like a slightly fuzzy almost errily glassy puddle and chosen to step through it.

what the hell , he was tired and already dirty . Then he felt sick, then he'd blacked out , then he was here. Where ever exactly here was.

Looking around again he felt his senses returning.

 Then sun was up and baking. Easily eighty degrees , not quite as hot as a kitchen but enough to catch his attention. He took the chef's coat off , which left him in jeans and a t-shirt. Both caked with grease .

 A shower would be nice , a drink of water , maybe a pepsi...where ever he was there had to be a seven-eleven around somewhere. He kind of blurrily remembered seeing a girl enter the path ahead of him.

 That was right, he'd stopped to smoke a ciggarette to let her get far enough ahead of him that he wouldn't scare her by walking to close. The woods could be wierd that way. Even unfearful people could get jumpy if someone they didn't know came to close out in the middle of a trail.

 He'd been that way with a few people that he'd just bumped into in passing. He figured a girl would feel twice as scarred. Why not just wait the minute and let her have her own space?

Let her feel compfortable.

His mind jumped back to the shower idea as his feet pumped him further down the trail , acting more of thier own accord than in any dirrect comand from his mind.

He looked to the bright blue prarie sky out of some leanred instinct , and in the distance he could see a handful of birds darting in and out of a patch of woods off to his left about a mile ahead. Not the greatest sighn of water , but a decent one.

 Honestly , the best one he had.

 He pulled his bag from his shoulder , wondering just what he'd had left in it from school. Something to put water in , assuming that he found any, would ease his mind greatly.

He looked around again as he brought his mind to bear on the pack . Mountains to both sides and one to the front. A clear line of sight. More a prarie or flatland than the woods that he'd grown used to back home.

 He was in the back of his mind chalking the whole thing up to some freak government matter transmission experiment.

 Hell , they'd admited in Popular Mechanics that they could transport an atom from one point to another, and if they were admitting that much, then they could easily be testing on humans. Honestly he knew that to them he would be expendable.

Pack in hands he stopped and sorted everything in his possesion in front of him just as his father had shown him before God took him for some reason that Tyler might never understand.

There before him in easy view stood everything that Tyler Frost had to his name.

One well kept but low budget set of chef's knives , a half full bottle of raspberry snapple , six packs of ciggarettes , about a dozen packs of matches , an old boyscout knife that his Father had given him , two note books, a book on Two school books, a couple of overdue library books, an American survival guide magazine , two comic books , a few pens and pencils , his sketch pad ,some vitamins , his phone book ,a new can of comet that he must have accidentaly lifted from work, his school clothes ,and a half used roll of duct tape.

Not much to show for seventeen years of living , but life had gotten hard on the familly when Dad had died.

At least the snapple bottle would hold water , he was tempted to drink it .

From somewhere he remembered that the sugars in the snapple would only enhance his thirst.

Dad had been a minor survivalist , but it hadn't helped him when cancer came and took him away.

Tyler however had thrown himself into it.

 Reading everything he could find on the subject , it was a way to be close to his Dad. A way to make him proud.

 It also taught him about self sufficiency which was something he'd been getting to know better.

Dad had made an excellent living until he took sick , then the familly began to suffer. It had taken only a few months , but within the next two years the money just went away and didn't come back.

Even with all of them working .

 Life insurance had helped some , but then there'd been probate , and paying off the mortgage and the funeral and some medical bills. Then came taxes , estate tax , property tax , school tax. Mom had started working again , but she'd been out of the work force since he'd been born.  He and the other kids were all in school . Tommy still in grade school.

 Tyler felt the tingle of the sun on him again , mid affternoon he thtought.  Wierd , because it had been affter mid-night when he'd left work.

 Then again the whole sittuation was wierd.

He re-filled his pack and headed again towards where he thought water should be.

The short walk filled with concern over his family mixed with concerns over his own survival.

 Then he cought sight of the spot. Just off the trail to the left . The trail however dissagreed with letting him off of it.

 Brambles and thorns blocked the way to what should be the path to water as he came closer to the tree line. He backed away and walked along in the tall grasses just before the tree line looking for a game trail or any other break in the dense  thight high brambles.

 He looked to the sky again to see that an occassional bird was still dipping into the area just off to his left. The walk took him another half mile. He spied what he thought might be fresh boot tracks. Combat boots like his own , although smaller.

The rattle broke him from his nosing around.

 It seemed to be coming from a small break in the brambles , the spot that the other boots had headed for. Then the ratlle became louder, and there seemed to be more of them.  For a moment he stood his ground as he'd read in the survaival books , but then the sound simply over powered him . He looked to his right and then again to his left and counted at least three adult rattlesnakes. One of which was coiled about four feet from him.

 His will broke just as the first snake lunged for him , and he turned back toward the trail and ran in a full out sprint.

He felt one of the snakes brush past his leg , he didn't feel as though he'd been bitten , but it was still too damned close.  Then he felt his boot crush the head of a snake under foot and he lost it.

 The run ended well ahead of where he'd thought to enter the woods , and it ended quickly , his legs forcing him to a stop as the sound left his head. He had no idea how far he'd run or even if he'd been bitten. He stoped , and shook , and with shaking hands fumbled with his button fly in fear that he'd piss himself if he didn't get it open.

 He then forced himself to walk , still shaking. Snakes were all well and good in the survival books , but he had no use for them in real life.

He felt quickly up and down his legs for bites , and finding none checked again. Finnaly convinced that the snakes hadn't killed him , he sat down and vomited from the sheer terror of it.

"Water?"

 The one word jumped back into his mind , and his thist beconed him like a siren.

 Slowly and unsteadily his legs moved him off to the left again against the protest of his mind and his fears. Saying a quick prayer he fumbled back to the tree line.

 At least there were no more brambles, just thin brown and green trees of a sickly type that he had never before seen. They were stark in thier beauty , but stunning none the less , like stick figures with leaves. Much like the stick figure that he was.

 Five feet and elevn inches wieghing just under a hundred and fifty pounds. Thin , but muscular and smart. He focused his mind to calm his fears.

He could smell the water.

 He half closed his eyes and reached out with his ears and nose letting them pull him to where he hoped he might find a stream.

Every sound of the wilderness now brought him horror but he moved on despite himself. He told himself simply to shut down , to focus like an animal .

 He mentaly forced himself into an instictual state, forcing out all fears , all outside thoughts , his familly , his past , his concerns for every thing but the moment , and slowly his fears lifted.

 The flapping noise was only a bird , the snapping sounds of twigs and the rustling along the ground only rabits and other game animals running through thier lives almost oblivious to his presence.

The trickling sound though , that was water and without it he wouldn't survive.

After what seemed an eternity , he came to the small stream.

 It was nothing that would ever be seen on a hall mark card , but to him it was the most amazing sight he'd ever seen. Small , but more than a trickle.

 Slow moving though.

 He went to drink from it and thought better of the idea. The water was clear within reason , but his mind insisted that the last thing that he needed was dysentery or some other nasty dissease caused but undrinkable water.

 He thought to boil it , but then thought that he lacked the means , so he turned around towards the dirrection he had come from seeing that the stream widened in that dirrection.

 As he walked the stream widened and he listened. His ears searching for snakes or similar sounds of threats.

 Eyes searching for some small patch of ground that might be even reasonably safe to camp on.

After a few hundred feet he could see what had slowed the water down stream.

Lightening had knocked a large tree down and it was blocking the flow. He continued upstream noticing that as he walked away from the jam , the speed of the water picked up . It still wasn't much more than a trickle , but moving water was safer to drink.

 He'd read that somewhere.

 Then his eyes spied what would become his camp.

A small clearing about thirty square feet in size that abutted the stream at a fairly wide point.

He walked cautiously along the stream bank hoping the clearing was far enough away from the rattler's lair to be safe.

 

"Late affternoon" , he thought as he looked again to the sky.

 He'd deffinately killed some time. He guessed the time around five o'clock, an hour maybe two until sunset .

 He looked around the clearing and then wearily dunked his head into the stream trying not to gulp at the water.

Standing up , he ran his fingers through his cropped blonde hair and realised just how greasy he realy was.

 The grease and food smell would attract bugs he thought , as he dunked his head back under to let the water cool him.

He walked to where he'd set his bag down and again looking for snakes , reached in and pulled out the bottle of comet.

He Stripped off his clothes except for his boots and wadded into the stream.

It was only about three feet deep and a great deal cooler than he'd given it credit for , but it would do for a bath tub.

 The comet hurt at first , then he learned to work with a lighter touch even cleaning each foot and boot one foot at a time.

The t-shirt would have to do for a towel , and he could wear the shirt that he'd worn at school ,a simple blue oxford, while the T-shirt and the chef's coat dried.

 He'd need a lean-to , and at least one fire.

He reached into the bag and pulled his cleaver out of his knife roll.

 

The roll was a basic set with a 6 inch chef's knive , a four inch chef's knife, a carving knife, a bonning  knife , two paring knives , and the cleaver.  The knives were cheap but decent, and the two stones that he kept in the roll kept them constantly sharp.

Clean dry and armed with the cleaver and the boning knife he ventured out a few feet into the woods to scrounge for fire wood.

Three decent sized sapplings would do for the lean-to , then two more trips without incident brought back filler and fire wood.

 The two trips inspired some small sense of safety in him and keeping his fire in sight he wandered a bit further upstream to look for more fire wood knowing that he could get back to the closer stuff in the twilight.

 About fifty feet upstream he found her.

She had collapsed into a pile of dead wood along the streams shore.

She was out , possibly dead.

Bugs were already crawling on her , but he could hear the ever so faint sound of breathing.

Who ever she was , she'd come ill-prepared for her little trip into the woods.

 She was dressed in all black , which matched her hair except for patches which were dyed a purplish blue.

 The combat boots would help if she lived.

She had a back pack which might hold something useful , but he'd only consider ransacking it if she died.

 For the moment she was alive.

 He pulled her into the stream and washed away the bugs, then checked again for breathing.

Yep, still alive. In the first streaks of a setting sun he pulled her through the water back to his camp and set her next to the fire.

He checked the heart rate, slow , too damned slow.

 Then he remembered the boot prints by the snakes, and began to look her over.

 He felt like a minor pervert feeling along her body for bites but the feeling passed when he found the first one.

 It was on her outer thigh , another on her inner thigh , and the last on her side just under her chest.

Three bites from snakes that could make a person wish they were dead from just one.

 Add the possiblity of heat stroke and he didn't feel that her chances were good.

 He was tempted to cut her and try sucking out the poison, but he realised that it was far to late for that.

 The snake attacks had been hours ago , and she had been there before him. He laid her for a moment by the fire and went to the stream with his snapple bottle for watter . He force fed her as much as he could and then set about making his lean-to, this time for two.

 Partly out of fear of the snakes , and partly in hopes of rescue , he set five fires.

 Four encircling the camp and one in front of the lean-to.

If he'd known what was to come he wouldn't have dared make the fire's that large but then Tyler had no idea as to the true nature of his new reality.

 

 With the lean-to finished and the fires providing decent light and heat he stripped her , and set her onto the lean-to's raised floor.

Then he set about making a clothes drying line from the duct tape.

 He hoped honestly that she lived. She hadn't looked like much in the stream , and he hadn't realy bothered to look at her since , but naked , she was beautifull.

  Five three , maybe one hundred and ten pounds , with short blue balck hair and a well shapped womans figure.

 He ran a hand across one of her well rounded breasts , and paused perhaps a moment to long in taking her skirt off.

A few tatoo's here and there worked to enhance her beauty. The sprite and fairy playing together   just below her navel , and the dragon encircling her shoulder with it's tail leading to her breast drew his attention again to her womanhood , and he found himself fighting off a strange attack of lust.

"Who would know?" , some strange part of his mind asked him.

"I would", answered the rest of him , as his soul clamped down on his darker desires.

He left the lean-to to get away from her , or more honestly to get away from the temptation.

He definately didn't feel right about his thoughts , but nothing about the place felt right.

 "So who the hell are you?" , he asked aloud into the night.

 He pulled her rucksack open and began to sort it out before him.

 

"Definately an odd one.", he said aloud , as his mind thought through the implications of what he was pulling out.

A bottle of Vodka , somewhat used , a carton of cigarettes , a pistol shaped lighter , and matches? , some stolen clothes , mace , a purse , condoms, hair gel, a note book , an artist sketch pad , a spare magazine for one of those useless little .25 caliber pistols. A picture of her and some freak who might be a boyfriend , some other pictures in a book, a half gallon of iced tea ,somewhat used, a book on sexual positions , a book on spirituality, some art supplies, a cell phone , a couple of c.d.'s , a high school phys. Ed. book, a history book , two joints , a pipe , most of a roast beef and chesse hoagie, and assorted make up.

 He checked the cell phone first .

He turned it on and it worked to his surprise.

 Alex , the first number in her adress book...no dial tone , no rining , no nothing.

 911...same , okay...maybe it didn't work. The battery read charged though, and it was definately getting power. Maybe the water did something to it, he thought putting it aside for latter.

 He checked the gun lighter to find that it was not a lighter but one of those useless little .25 autos.

Useless , to a point...it was still a gun.

 Tyler knew a lot about guns from the survivalist fringe , and from shooting with his dad. He could if need be probably even desighn them , and he was very used to handling them at least at the range and in the video games.

All things considered it wasn't a bad girls gun , but they were absolutely worthless for accuracy , had no stopping power and little or no penetration . It wasn't even a name brand , but he stuck it in his back pocket with the spare magazine.

  It probably could kill a snake , but not much else unless she got real lucky or realy close. He threw the mace in a pocket ," never hurts".

He put the stuff back in her bag with the exception of the note book and the clothes.

He stopped to hang the clothes and then went to the stream again to force feed her more water.

 She was definately an odd one , feverish from fighting the venom.

He sat on the edge of the lean-to with his back to her.

The fire reflected for a moment off of some of the duct tape that he'd used to lash the structure togehter.

It wasn't much realy, wouldn't even keep out the rain.

 But it gave compfort and would keep them off of the ground. In the morning he'd finish it off a bit more.

 He'd be staying there until she either healed or died, either way he couldn't just leave her.

The purse had more stuff.

 A little cocaine , a decent switch blade , a name tag from one of the mall stores..."Sami" , a drivers liscence..."Samantha Murphy" , age 17 only a few months younger than him.

 School I.D. public school, his school,...go figure...what a whack job.

Rosary beads , and a small version of the new testament.

"This one's going to be fun when she wakes up ", Tyler thought.

 He took off his shirt and dressed her in it.

 He just felt too uncompfortable sleeping next to her naked.

 He setled into sleep listening to her heart beat, slow almost dead.

 Affter a time he got up , went to the stream , and filled the water bottle , this time mixing in just a bit of the cocaine.

He force fed it to her and in a few minutes her heart rate kicked up a bit .

He wasn't sure if that was a a good thing or a bad thing.

He thought for a moment then pulled the hoagie from her pack and ate it washing it down with the iced tea that wasn't just iced tea.

 He lit a ciggarette , and drank most of the iced tea vodka mixture while reading her poetry.

More of a mystery, joy , hope , love , and the fear of it all , fantasies of spirit crashed by painfull realities...definately an odd, odd girl.

 The booze rushed to his head and the tiredness hit him , not being much of a drinker he faded to sleep.

 

Chapter 2

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 Morning came early , and with it no change in her condition.

She was still feverish and sweating.

 He mixed a crushed vitamin in with the water that he force fed her , and then did it again knowing that vitamins taken without food didn't process as well.

 Looking at her, he knew that he couldn't wander far. She would need water, and a change of clothes, possibly something wet on her forehead to help bring the fever down, and all of these things would require that he stay around the camp.

 He soaked the t-shirt and put it on her forehead, she was hot to the touch, not warm.

 He thought again that it was unlikely that she'd make it through, but then he'd thought that she die sometime during the night and she'd surprised him.

Hell his father had looked healthier when the cancer had taken him.

That was part of it he knew, Tyler owed death one...and he'd do what he could to keep death from taking her.

 He spent the morning patching up the lean-to, and scavenging fire wood , alternating between wetting her to cool her and changing her clothing to keep her from getting too damp from the sweats.

 The afternoon he spent hunting, and caring for her.

 He'd fashioned a few "hunting sticks" from the local hard woods.

 Short pieces of sticks carved to have a rounded head that would make them throw better and give them better balance. He made three, all about a foot and a half long.

An article in the survival magazine had mentioned them.

It was in late afternoon that he heard the rattle, and the terror stopped him in his tracks.

Turning he could see the snake, an off brown colored thing.

But at least this time it was alone. Anger at his own fear reared up in him, and his mind thought to the girl dying back at his camp.

Without thought the first of the sticks flew and struck the snake dazing it , the second flew with aimed precision , knocking it limp to the ground, and with the third he beat it's head in until his arm ached and tears ran down his face.

 He hadn't felt such a fearful rage in his life and had little idea how to process it. He simply shook from the anger, from the fear and most from the victory.

 He wanted to find more of them and kill them all, every rattlesnake in the world, then every other snake.

 The rage surged in him, and he punched the dead thing with his fist and then shook it's rattle praying for more to be drawn to the noise.

 The moment passed and the adrenaline decreased and he was simply human again.

 Human and hungry.

 At least it would make for dinner. Four feet long and about eight pounds.

 It wasn't likely to be tasty, but it would do.

On the trip back he killed a bird that didn't move fast enough, but lost two of the sticks in the process.

 He'd have to find a more effective way to hunt.

 "No", his mind said , "you have to find a main road and get the hell out of here."

 Another part of him argued, to leave meant carrying her , which he wouldn't be able to do for long, or leaving her.

He wouldn't leave her. Some one some where would see the fires if he made them bright enough.

A simple S.O.S. would do.

 So early evening was spent making a large crude S.O.S. in the clearing.

Lighting it, feeding it, and caring for Sami'.

 

 Late evening she woke him with convulsions.

 Her skin was hot to the touch and he heart rate and breathing nearly non-existent.

 He pried a stick into her mouth to keep her from biting her tongue off , then he carried her to the stream and dunked her in the water , he held her there nose pinched , mouth just barely above the water until her temperature dropped and her convulsions stopped.

 She was still dying though , her breathing was coming in fits, her heart seeming to stop for short moments then beat again sluggishly.

 He mixed more of the cocaine into the water , and force fed it to her.

Her heart kicked up a notch and her breathing settled as she pissed herself.

 He cleaned her up , mixed the vodka liberally with what was left of the iced tea and settled in for a long night. 

 To his surprise the vodka helped to make his mind a more livable place, it helped to make every thing seem alright or at least acceptable.

 He worried a bit over that feeling heeding at least in thought his fathers warning that whatever a man might use for a crutch could one day become his master.

 With that thought he dunked her in the river again, adding the last of the cocaine to her water and hoping for the best.

 At around three A.M. his mind somewhat fogged picked up something that just didn't seem quite right, a sound or a scent, but it barely registered at first.

 Then as fear kicked in he felt for the small pistol and armed with it walked into the clearing.

 Nothing seemed amiss at first, but then he noticed an odd silence.

The wilderness noises that he'd grown comfortable with were absent from the night.

He put the spare clip in his off hand, and prowled around the clearing, but found nothing.

 Heading back to the lean-to he felt that something was amiss, but he couldn't put a finger on it.

 Luckily the clearing was too well lit by the fire to allow any one to sneak up on him , or at least so he thought.

 The lean-to looked amiss, but he couldn't quite put his finger on that either. A smell perhaps, something...but what?

That he couldn't answer.

He settled in again, this time nursing the vodka, he hated the taste of it anyway.

 The wilderness sounds returned almost as abruptly as her fever broke, and she made her first sounds.

 Light moans and cries mostly but also the word no, whispered lightly again and again.

Even with the sounds returning, he felt that something was wrong, his mind was telling him that something wasn't how he'd left it.

Was her shirt a little too open?, he hadn't remembered being able to see her breasts that clearly. He fixed the buttons again and marked in his mind that he had done so.

 It was a feeling more than anything else, a feeling that someone had been in his little home. On some energetic or animalistic level his soul felt as though his safety had been violated.

 He turned to where his cleaver should be and it seemed somehow moved.

 Felt as though some other hand had touched it.

From her only soft moaning and the words no and stop.

 Something was wrong, something was very wrong but what?

 He sat up with her through the night. She quieted, but was still unconscious as morning dawned. He took a long swig of the vodka and headed to the stream for more water. The sounds seemed off as he left the lean-to, and he simply stood and listened for a moment.

 He felt tired, but knew he couldn't sleep.

 He stepped and stumbled.

Falling to one knee as an arrow flew over his head, and another from a different direction tore into the air where his chest had been.

He dove for the closest tree, but could see nothing of his attackers.

He couldn't hear anything to speak of either.

Feeling threatened, he moved to another tree , as another arrow chased him.

 He was getting further from the lean-to.

And the tree in front of him bucked as a bullet hit it.

What was strange was that the dust cloud from the shot marked his attacker's spot.

 A large grey cloud, like one from a black powder weapon.

  Hunters? , pervert hunters? or some kind of rednecks?

Pot farmers would have better weapons. Even normal hunters would have better weapons.

For some reason he felt pulled to the shack, pulled to the girl. What ever was going on, had something to do with her.

An arrow tore at him , then another, but they were coming from only one enemy ? where was the other?

He heard nothing from the lean-to , but someone was making noise , trying to draw his attention away from the girl.

 He dove into the lean-to pistol first , and found himself facing a slimy and skinny man spread out over the girl holding her down and trying to mount her.

 He hadn't bothered to even unclothe her, just ripped the shirt and pushed the skirt up. Only his feeling that he needed to hold her with both hands kept him from taking her.

 In the tiny lean-to the action moved quickly.

 Tyler fired , taking the man through his exposed penis then emptying the clip into his chest and head at less that a foot.

 The man jumped off of the girl , and forced Tyler out of the door in a mad rush then fell on top of him trying to take him to the ground.

A shot fired into the confusion hit the man in the back and Tyler rolled to find himself facing a much larger man who struck at him with the butt of a long rifle.

 Tyler managed to bring his hands up to take the blow that should have crushed his skull , but the pistol went flying.

He rolled with the impact , letting it give him distance between him and his attacker and out of instinct bred through training Tyler kicked out with both feet Knocking the other man to the ground.

 Ty' rolled off to a side and felt for the mace.

He found it and sprayed almost blindly at the bigger man.

 The man screamed and pulled a knife lashing wildly about himself in any direction. He gasped for air which Tyler knew would only cause him greater pain.

 For a moment he could see the man clearly.

He was six foot and probably more than two hundred pounds , unshaven and unwashed for what must have been days.

His pants were some sort of deer skin , dark and stained with a length of rope for a belt to which a number of knives and small bags were attached.

He wore no shirt , and seemed more fat than muscle , but the inspection was broken by a lunge that nearly caught Tyler off guard.

 What ever the case the mace hadn't taken him down , so Tyler maced him again.

 The second blast nearly knocked the man to his knee's but he kept coming, now howling in pain and forcing Tyler towards the stream , which was the last place Tyler wanted to go.

The water would counter act the mace which was barely working anyway.

 Tyler maced him again and changed his direction, but the man seemed to be getting used to the mace.

Tyler was tempted to talk to the man, but looked around instead for a weapon. Talking wouln't do anything , and Ty' knew it.

His eyes landed on the man's rifle , a huge old fashioned kentucky long rifle that looked as though it had seen better days.

 It was empty and Ty' knew it so he grabbed it by the barrel and swung it like a baseball bat.

Splitting the man's head open.

 The bastard refused to fall and simply howled in pain , stabbing at the air a few feet from Tyler with what looked like one of his chef's knives.

The longest one.

 Who ever the man was he meant to kill Tyler or die trying , so Tyler hit him again , this time heard the stock crack as it contacted the mans head.

Blood and bits of brain exploded from the man’s head.

Still the body took a moment to fall.

 Tyler shook again from the fear, but it passed more quickly . Replaced by the slight fuzz of drunkenness.

The booze had taken some of the fear from him, had taken some of the adrenaline crash from him.

He feared that if he continued to drink he would get too used to it.

He stopped for a moment of sanity, and realized that the booze did too much for him.

 Wearily he walked back to the lean-to and checking on the girl, he took up the water bottle.

 He took a moment to push the two bodies away from the shelter, filled the bottle, and fed her.

 He finished the last of the iced tea vodka mix and then poured the rest of the vodka onto the ground.

 With that he passed into unconsciousness...not really sleep.

 

Chapter 3

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 Tyler woke to a slightly buzzing head and blurry memories of the night before.

He checked the girl, she was still out of it.

Taking the two empty containers he went to the water and cleaned and filled them, taking a long drink while he was there.

 On the walk back he noticed the bodies, and realized that the blurry memories had truly been more than a nightmare. He wanted a drink to calm the feelings of revulsion inside him , but it passed.

 The vodka was gone , a bit of forethought on his part. He remembered knowing that he would want to drink and fought the feeling down.

It was mid-afternoon, and he was tired.

 Worn from the night before and the drinking.

 He returned to the shelter and gave her water, she was finally at least semi-conscious.

Far from fully aware, but moving at least , turning and accepting the water , then passing out.

His mind raced back to the men from the night before, who had they been? and what had brought them to him?

More so, where was he that such people could exist?

 He chased the flies from the bodies with a lit branch  and then looked them over more thoroughly.

The dead lay lazily on the green grass of the clearing as though somehow pretending, but the blood painting their faces and the stench of death brought the reality home.

Side by side they seemed near total opposites.

 The first attacker medium height and slim while the second was tall and large.

 The first dressed in something resembling clothes, a shirt with buttons and pants of a butternut color which had at least been washed recently.

 The second ,, only the deer skin pants , no shirt.

 Both were unshaven, possibly for months from the looks of their long and ragged beards.

Odd for what felt like spring.

Tlyer searched the first mans pouches, and the search turned up odd results.

One pouch held what appeared to be black powder , coarse and clumpy , possibly home made. Another held nuts , and a third held firing caps, a couple of dozen .50 caliber lead balls , and a seating tool along with 31 cents in silver and copper. The one coin with a readable date showed the year 1851.

That alone would be worth a small fortune, so he had a hard time guessing at why these men were out here.

Business burn outs? , run away Klan’s men?

The fourth small pouch was made of the same material, a soft leather like substance that Tyler guessed might have been the stomachs of some small creatures, for they lacked seams, but were tied at top and bottom.

 The color a chestnut brown.

His mind wondered at the thoroughness of such people to use every part of an animal. How long had they been there?

Lost, possibly stranded by their own choice?

The mans boots were mere moccasins, hand made and well worn.

 Roughly Tyler’s size,  so Ty' peeled them off and stuck them off to the side.

Inside the boot Tyler found a single five dollar gold piece, it's date rubbed clean by the wear of the mans shoe.

Strange, down right asinine.

The last two pouches were larger.

One contained a pipe and something that seemed to be about two pounds of tobacco, roughly cut and stringy.

Well, in a pinch he'd smoke it.

The last and largest pouch contained food.

 More nuts, something that he guessed to be home made pemmican and about a pound of some sort of jerked meat.

He tried the jerky.

 Definitely not beef , venison perhaps?

He wasn't exactly sure but it tasted fair and settled his stomach so he stepped away and ate several pieces.

Oddly the man had no water.

So either he'd counted on the stream, or he had other supplies close by.

For that matter Ty' hadn't seen either of the bows which had nearly killed him. He knew they had to be around somewhere, but had no idea where.

 That he vowed would have to change.

 Man number two was decidedly better dressed and better armed.

Leather boots , well worn , a leather belt and buckle with the letters C.S.A. engraved into it , the homespun clothing , and a Large bowie knife in a sheath on his side.

 The pouches on his belt turned up roughly the same contents, with the pockets turning up only twenty dollars in useless confederate cash.

"Definitely Klan types" , Ty' thought.

He propped the man forward to take off his belt and as he did so he heard a light thud as if some thing had fallen off of the belt.

Behind the man Tyler found a black leather cavalry holster with a large single shot black power pistol in it.

The weapon had been discharged.

Next to it a small measuring flask of what he assumed to be black powder.

Good, hopefully it was set right because T'y had absolutely no experience with black powder weapons.

Hell he'd never even seen one fired except in the movies.

He had read a little about them, but had hoped to never have the need of such archaic weapons.

But, now the need was upon him. He simply hoped that he'd remember the readings well enough to keep himself from blowing off a hand.

With the looting done, Tyler stripped them and tossed the bodies on the largest fire.

 He wasn't about to waste time burying them.

He felt some how sure that it was the fires that had brought them and then looking to the mountains surrounding him on all sides , decided to let most of them burn out.

The girl, he knew, would most likely live. When she would be able to move was a painful question, but he figured no more than a week, two at the longest.

His mind raced for a moment with fears about losing his job, the money that wasn't going to his family who desperately needed the help , and the other responsibilities that he had back in "the real world" , and for a moment he felt angry with the girl for slowing him down.

 Again his fathers advice came to mind in a simple prayer...

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change , courage to change the things I can , and the wisdom to know the difference.

With that his mind settled.

He could always replace the job , the family would survive without him until he got home , and God ,(who ever he or she might be), would see to all of the greater things in the world.

His survival in the here and now was the issue at hand , his and the girls.

He knew in his heart that he had to place his survival before hers , because if he did not survive , she definitely would not.

He walked back to feed her more water then took a moment to grind some of the pemmican into a nearly powdered form and added that to the water. She coughed and gagged a bit , but it went down.

The first thing even near to food that she'd had in days.

 He couldn't believe that he hadn't thought of it earlier. So much had been running through his mind that it simply hadn't come to mind.

Thinking of it now though he knew that he would have to continue to feed her in that way until she could at least move enough to take solid food.

 Two weeks , maybe three until he could even think of moving.

The day was moving into afternoon.

 Funny , he thought , how time moves when you have none of life's conveniences.

 Having to hunt and gather for food chewed up hours , as did nearly anything else that he did.

Everything had to be done on foot , by hand with next to no tools.

Even the lean-to had taken over an hour just to frame , more hours to cover.

 His mind thought about the idea of taking a day or two to patch together a larger home , a real shack , a small one room sort of thing , but first to find what else if anything the men had brought with them.

 He loaded the pistol and duct taped it to a tree.

 He used the rope belt to pull the trigger , and while the noise was deafening , the pistol remained intact.

 So he reloaded it in exactly the same way , and then loaded the rifle , test firing it as well.

 The stock had cracked when he'd struck the larger man , but not broken , so Tyler duct taped the crack.

He took a moment to get used to his new weapons. The rifle was a monster. almost five feet long , with most of that being barrel , and it was heavy, easily ten pounds. It was awkward and felt uncomfortable in his hands. The simple bead sight confused his sense of accuracy , but he vowed to learn the weapon as it could feed him and defend him if any other such men came calling again.

A part of his mind thought the idea sheer lunacy, but his father had trained him to survive , and then he had trained himself to do it.

Life was precious and easily lost , as his fathers death had taught him.

He would take what advantages his morality would allow him, and learning the guns were a solid start.

He felt through drawing the pistol.

 That was comfortable at least.

The six inch barrel made it a bit long and slow on the draw , but it felt comfortably heavy in his hand once he became used to the action of drawing it.

 He knew that he would have to work on his speed , but that would come with time.

He had always preferred pistols. It was nothing against rifles , his dad had taught him how to shoot first with rifles , but it was simply that pistols felt better to him, more natural.

There was a lot that a hand gun couldn't do , but in a close up fight ...he'd take a pistol every time.

 He broke his training time to feed the girl again. she was still white as a ghost , but at least her temperature was normal and her breathing almost regular.

More hours down , moving rapidly into late afternoon.

He began to look for tracks.

The tracks of the first man were hard to find and harder to follow , but the heels from the second mans boots led him right to one of the bows and a medium sized leather back pack.

 Black leather emblazoned with the bold C.S.A. of the "Confederate States of America".

 A civil war re-enactor gone wrong maybe?

 Ty' just didn't know , but the kit was a perfect replica so far as he could tell.

 A shelter half and bed roll topped the bag  , and then inside the bag an assortment of excellent civil war era replicas , to include among other things a confederate cavalry sergeants coat in nearly perfect condition.

Pots, pans , and the odds and ends of every day living...every thing in decent shape.

All of it recently used. He was surprised to find the straight razor and soap , mostly because neither of the men looked as though they'd used either in quite sometime , but he took them and the rest of the gear to the lean-to none the less.

The bow was a decent home made affair , a simple recurve with about seventy pounds of resistance , more than enough to kill a man or pretty much anything else .

He would have to learn the bow , it was reloadable and wouldn't run out of ammunition. As well it was quiet.

With the bow , a wooden quiver with a dozen or so hand made arrows.

 The tips at least were steel , but everything else looked very basic , even the quiver which was simply a burnt out piece of wood with a strap of rawhide attached.

 Strangely the boot tracks led away towards the main trail.

 He followed them to a pair of mules which had been tied up well out of earshot. More basic gear, and another pistol.

Mostly furs and food , but not modern food. Flour or something like it , sugar in burlap sacks , salt in the same packaging and not much of either.

The sun was almost setting so he opted to head back without looking very thoroughly through the goods. The mules however had different ideas.

 Both were small and obviously pack animals , one grey and white, the other black and grey.

 The second seemed the problem. It looked him squarely in the eyes with it's big stubborn brown eyes as if to say "Who the hell do you think you are?" , and then charged him and tried to bite him.

"Dopey" as he would come to call the mule moved surprisingly fast and angrily for something so seemingly old and harmless.

More out of frustration than fear , Tyler pulled the large pistol and pointed it at Dopey who seemed to understand the meaning of the act , But didn't trust the nerve of the actor.

 He charged again , and Tyler side stepped him and pistol whipped him in the head.

 The mule brayed angrily and Tyler hit him again , as the second mule , "Sleepy", just stood and watched with an amused grin.

The third hit calmed Dopey down , and Tyler tried talking to him.

"Look you wise ass , it's getting late and I'm tired of playing with you..." ,Ty' said in the deepest voice he could manage, "So you're either coming with me now , or I'm shooting you and making dinner out of you. Comprende'?".

 The mule simply ducked his head and waved his tail.

 Tyler took the reigns and led the two mules down the trail.

 

 The next few days flew by in a blur as Tyler cared for the girl and spent most of his time building a shack.

A hand saw and axe helped greatly , as he had settled for a very simple .

 Each wall was made up of four decent sized small trees stuck into the ground vertically with another row of four running parallel and about a foot distant.

In the space between the two rows Tyler piled rows of small to medium trees and branches , mud , dead wood and leaves.  The eight vertical tree's to each wall acted as support while the dead wood and mud acted as a filler forming a decent wind break.

Tyler built walls of this nature on all four sides and then topped the shelter with horizontally running trees and dead wood.

He topped that with mud , dried grass , and whatever he could find.

 By the end of the week he had a functional shack the size of a small out door shed.

It was tall enough to move around in without bumping his head , and provided about ten square feet of living space.

The door frame had taken half a day, but in the end it worked although he hadn't bothered with a door , choosing instead to hang a blanket.

 He built her a bed from green wood , it would warp and crack in time, but it would easily hold her until she healed.

 The food and salt in her water seemed to be helping , but she was still far from lucid although almost conscious at moments.

At times she seemed lost in dreams or nightmares , with her small Irish face crinkling into fearful wrinkles, body lurching as she tried to fight away from whatever was tormenting her in her head.

 On one evening she'd seemed so in pain and fear that he joined her in a few shots of the dead men's whiskey.

 She bucked at first but it calmed her , and she fell into a more restful sleep.

 Another week spent hunting and gathering to replenish their supplies , and then she was awake.

 "Where the fuck am I?" , she asked in stuttering almost toneless words without even bothering to try to sit up.

"I have absolutely no idea Sam" , Tyler answered honestly .

 Then she passed back to sleep.

Another day , maybe two and she'll be conscious at least.

That evening when he tried to feed her water , she opened her eyes and consciously allowed him to feed her.

 "Thank you ", she said hoarsely and then faded back to sleep.

It took three more days for her to return to full consciousness , and even then it was for limited periods.

 "Who Are you ?"

"My name is Tyler and you've been in a coma for a couple of weeks"

"That would explain the headache " ,she said trying to laugh, "Are you a doctor?"

Tyler laughed , but the question made sense.

"No , I'm not a doctor...and thank you it's been to long since I've laughed.

I have no idea where we are , or how we got here , nor how we're going to get home, but I've been taking care of you and at least for the moment we are safe."

"Safe huh? Are we in a prison or something?" , she said guardedly.

"No , we are from what I can tell somewhere in the mountains , north west or south west I'm not sure. Some where towards the middle I think , possibly Oregon."

"I work at the mall in Jersey...what the hell am I doing here? Did you kidnap me or something? ", she asked trying to focus on him ,"It feels like a prison , no lights...don't fuck with me Tyler , I will kill you."

"I think you just might...but no , this is a shack that I've built. Your drugs are gone , I had to use them to keep you alive. I have your pistol , I had to use it to kill a man who was trying to rape you. I'll be honest in saying that I have no idea of what's going on here. What I can tell you is that to the best of my ability I will keep you safe until we can get somewhere civilized."

"So then what , turn me over...you're too damned nice, I don't trust nice people...everybody wants something. Where are my clothes?" , she asked trying to turn her eyes away from him.

"I had to take them off , you were bit three times by rattlesnakes . I have changed you several times since. You have an amazing body , but I got over that pretty quickly. As to what I want , I want to be treated with respect , and I'm going to want you to work with me to find a way out of here. After that you can stay in my life if we can stand each other and go your own way if we can't.

I've read your poems , I've taken and used your things , I have just been trying to stay sane and survive. To be honest I didn't expect you to live. But you have , for what reason only time will tell."

"I have a cell phone , you ass just call someone." , she said obviously hiding her fear with anger.

"I have tried. It doesn't work, no dial tone ...nothing. Look , I'm just telling you the truth of our situation. You have a right to know what's going on. But it may be too much for you. Now, I'm going to go out and get some water , maybe take a bath. IF you're still awake , maybe we'll talk more. If not then tomorrow.".

"Fuck you too." , she said wearily.

Tyler walked out without looking back.

Should've let that one die , he thought for a moment.

Then he thought about being in her place. Terrified , half alive and wholly dependant upon someone who might want to hurt him.

 He thought that he wouldn't have been such an asshole to them , but then he and Sam' were obviously from different worlds even if they were from the same town.

Maybe that was just her way of dealing with her emotions. In a way he couldn't blame her, but he didn't have to stick around and be abused.

 When he went back in , her demeanor had changed , although she was still noticeably untrusting.

"It is Tyler right?"

"Yeah"

"Okay, let's say you aren't some psycho freak lost in fantasy land , don't just give me a you don't know and expect me to deal with it."

"I have nothing else to give you , so deal with it. It's nothing personal. But don't take your fear out on me. I didn't put you here, I have no control over us being here and if you continue to think you can treat me like some piece of shit, I will leave you here to fend for yourself as soon as your able. I'm a nice guy...not a sucker , and I don't take that kind of shit from anyone for long."

"I'm sorry , but you must have me confused with someone who gives a shit about your feelings..." she said and he stopped her.

"Water's behind you , foods on the chair over there. I'll be sleeping outside. You need something get it. I've taken care of you to this point because you had no choice , you couldn't tell me what you wanted.

Now you're alive. You chose not to give a shit about me don't expect me to give a shit about you. You want help ask for it. Other wise live or die by yourself. If your to stupid or to scared to ask for help then you don't get it. I don't know what kind of trash your used to dealing with but I'm not it. Have a nice night."

With that he walked out .

Sam' was tempted to scream at him , curse him out or otherwise hurt him in some way , but she couldn't find the energy. Who the fuck did this guy think she was. Hell her boyfriend would kill that prick.

She'd survived alone since she was fourteen , no asshole kid was going to tell her she needed help.

 She was thirsty though. She lay down and rested a moment , but the thirst called her , stronger and stronger.

 Finally she tried to move but her body rebelled. It simply wouldn't move. After what seemed like an hour she forced an arm to move and tried to pull herself to her feet.

The arm wouldn't respond properly , and her legs were nearly useless . She was so thirsty she wanted to scream , but she be damned if she'd ask that self righteous little prick for help. No one had ever helped her for nothing in her entire life. Not when her dad fucked her , or her mom sent her to school with black eyes.

 Hell the boyfriend only helped her for sex and to feed his own ego. His parents "helped" because it gave them one more person to "clean-up" , someway to prove to all of their friends how damned gracious they were, how perfect.

 She'd rather be out on the street again. She was planning on leaving but just couldn't get the money together.  A little stealing , a little dealing , a little fucking around to find a better guy...someone with his own place, someone she could control a bit better.

Damn she wanted to cry. He'd come back, men were all after the pussy , they always came back. They came back crying and begging, this guy had a dick he'd be back.

She tried again to pull her self to her feet and in a fit of rage managed to stand for about two seconds before she fell face first to the ground and passed out.

Tyler heard her fall and didn't bother to look in on her for an hour or so.

She was passed out on the ground and he left her there.

 

He'd had some friends who'd found their way into the drug scene , and died because they refused to ask for help.

 They asked only for money or for him to join them , then they tried intimidation , sometimes direct violence.  One even tried to rob his parents house.

Tyler went to a couple of al-a-teen meetings , and an al-a non meeting or two with mom.

 He learned some things about how to be strong without having to be mean. He learned how to care without getting used. He learned about boundaries , and when and where to let people cross them. He was no saint by any means , but he knew better than to let people hurt him and get away with it. He also knew that he didn't have to retaliate , he could simply leave.

He spent the night under the stars trying to sleep and not be tied into the negative energy that was Samantha.

In time he managed.

 

 Morning came and with it another fall.

He checked back in on her , and this time she'd truly knocked herself cold. He force fed her more water. She wasn't comatose again , but she was out. He cleaned the blood off of her head.

Now he could and would help her , because she couldn't protest.  That was a strong rule with him , help no one who tells you not to or orders that you do so , but now , again she was beyond being able to hurt herself.

Tyler went out hunting and foraging.

She was awake when he returned.

"Give me some damned water", she said groggily.

 "No, I will not be treated that way. You want something you ask for it , otherwise do it yourself . You want to treat yourself like shit, fine...but I don't deserve that , and I won't put up with it." , He turned and left with her screaming after him.

It took another day before he'd finally had enough , and started packing the mules to leave.

"I'm leaving you your pistol and a spare pistol , your other things are in your bag. I'm glad that you survived, and I wish you luck. Honestly i do."

"Bullshit , I'll die here without you , I can't even walk yet."

"I know , but there’s nothing I can do for you. You don't want help , I can't give it to you. You don't know how to ask for it , I can't teach you."

"I need your help you fuck , what did you just save me to let me die here? What kind of bullshit is that? What kind of asshole are you?"

"A lot of people need help , probably everyone in some way. Your needs are not my problem. And no , I didn't save you just to let you die, that's your choice. You want help ask for it. Otherwise there's nothing I can do for you.  I've seen a lot of people die who needed help and tried to pull me down with them , and I've seen people die who asked for help and couldn't get it , I'm not god , I don't make those choices.

I'm leaving because I can't do anymore for you without being invited to, and I won't stand for your abuse while you try to kill yourself.  You want to die that's on you, I've done every thing that I've had a right to. You have your life. "

"I'll die here alone, and you don't even give a shit, so don't preach to me you self righteous prick. You will stay here and take care of me and I'll worry about myself when I'm healed.", she said almost spitting the words at him.

"No, I won't . I'm done with this game , you don't control me, and you never will. What you need may be real important to you , but it doesn't mean shit to me. Do I care, yes I do , but that's all.

 That's as far as it goes.

You don't get to use me. Now if there's nothing else, try praying , maybe that'll help. I'm not god, I don't get to decide whether or not you live or die." He turned to grab a last bag and headed for the door.

Sam' was confused , terrified, pissed , enraged.

Terrified won in the end and she did something she swore she'd never do.

"Please?..."she said with honest tears in her eyes , "Please help me .I don't want to die. God damn I don't want to die.".

 What wall fell Tyler couldn't say , but something had fell. She was sobbing uncontrollably. A simple please would have done. But what it had taken her to ask he didn't really know .

 Sam' shook inside her own mind. She needed him , she needed him and she knew it and the idea of needing anyone or anything that she couldn't in some way control destroyed her ideas of herself.

 Walls were falling , she was crying , crying at the pain of her Dad, at the pain from her mother, at the pain of life...but she feared death more...or maybe she simply feared never realy living. That had been the call of the drugs in the first place. Life without fear, only to be more fearful than ever the next day. She hated life , hated her life , and knew beyond knowing that it could never change.

Maybe she thought for a moment , maybe?

 Live , find out , trust some one.

The words came from somewhere outside of herself , but they made sense enough.

She opened her eyes and he was just standing there.

 "please help me?" , she asked again not looking at him , but through him.

"I would love to. I really would . You are thirsty , would you like some water?"

"Yes , no , I don't know ....God you just fucked me up...", she said laughing and crying at the same time.

"look , I like what I've read of you , but damn you've been through it. I don't know what hurt you or who , but if you want to talk I'll listen and try to understand.

 For right now , just drink this and try to believe that you are safe here. That's important. Everyone needs someplace to call home , to feel safe.

 In a couple of days you'll be better and once your walking I'll teach you to shoot if you need to learn, hell , maybe you can teach me a thing or two...I'm just getting used to the new guns." , he said kind of rambling.

"Shit I've never even shot a gun. Stabbed someone once but I was so stoned , I barely remember it. Yeah , teach me to shoot. Teach me whatever you like, if I'm not interested I'll tell you."

"That I believe...just please try to be nice about it. You have nothing to fear from me. But I will not let myself be abused. I will not spend whatever time I might have with you playing meanness games. You want to talk to me, talk to me honestly and as an equal. I'm no one's better , but I'm no one's punk either."

"What the hell does that mean? I mean , I like it , but I don't get it?"

"It means I'm human , I fuck up . I'm human I have flaws. I'm human and I am any man's equal , and any one is mine . I don't think that you're anything lesser than me , you are human.

 I don't like the way you've been trying to control and manipulate me , and I won't be put through that. I'll treat you like a human regardless of how you act towards me , but if you try to push me away , I will sooner or latter go away."

"Okay , that's the need my permission thing. God that's so fucking simple. You are a total geek , you know that right. I mean it's cool ,but God are you weird."

""I'm human, that's it. Most people are so busy trying not to be that they get all fucked up when they meet someone who's comfortable with it."

"Fuck it my head hurts. I'm going to sleep .Thank you for helping me , and thank you for staying. I'm not used to treating people like this so if I fuck up once in awhile don't take it personally."

"Cool , just try treating me like you'd like to be treated, not how you have been treated. I've been fucked over to, people aren't that much nicer in my world....but I don't have to hurt myself by being mean to people.

When I'm mean to people it hurts me. It happens...it may happen between us , but it hurts me.

I had to beat the hell out of a few people back home, that's different. Self defense , I had to kill two men the other day, it hurt me but not in the same way that just being rude to some one for no reason hurts me.

Different energy. Don't know how to explain it."

"Don't ,"she said with a smile, "I'm brain fucked right now...please go do something. I can't talk anymore. This is just too fucking weird."

"I'll be back to check on you in a bit."

With that he left to start smoking a deer he had killed. With luck she'd be able to eat some solid food later.

Okay , Sam' thought ...I need this guy to survive for now , But I can't control him.

There has to be a way , play him out, tell him what he wants to hear , fuck him if that's what it takes , but no way am I going to let anyone have that kind of power over me...I will not depend on him, he will fail me. Every one always does.

And fuck that god shit, that fucker hates me , and I know it. God I need a drink . This is too fucking real , way too fucking real.

How long ? , a week 'till I'm walking , a month 'till I've healed , another week to find civilization. Sell the story to the tabloids , dress it up a little make enough to get out on my own , maybe I should fuck him ...it'd make for a better story.

 She let her mind run in the familiar fantasies of wealth and self sufficiency desperately searching for some way to make sense of a situation she knew was well beyond her control.

 

Chapter 3-

 

 The week passed with little conversation between them, at times Sam' asked a lot of questions , other times she was withdrawn and moody. Physically she was healing .

By the end of the week she could go to the bathroom by herself and walk for short distances .

Tyler had spent the time building a better drying rack , an outhouse , and searching the surrounding area , going further and further out on each trip.

 He left the mules and more serious goods with Sam' , taking only some food the canteen , the two pistols and the bow .

On the day that she began to be able to more truly function , he had wandered almost five miles from the camp.

 "Any sign of civilization?" , Sam asked from the stream as he approached.

 She was bathing and naked and beautiful , and she noticed that he was moved by these things.

 Her mind clung to that for future use , it was a weakness , something she might in time be able to use.

She looked herself over pretending not to notice him . She had lost a good ten pounds if not more , weight she really hadn't needed to lose. She felt that it made her look too skinny , but the chest was still a solid "C" cup , and the extra couple of pounds had really sculpted her ass . Her stomach was truly flat for the first time in years , but her body felt sore and tired , and the food left a lot to be wanted.

She ran a hand across her nipples just to draw his eye to the fact that they were erect from the slightly cool water , and then ducked back into the stream. A tease , and an only slightly effective one .

 What ever interest he might have , he wasn't going to be easy to seduce.

A thought that both enraged her and aroused her . Men were always too damned easy , a real challenge might just be good for her. Although she would have preferred to have found one under different circumstances.

He was cute too , not what she'd usually he gone for , but he had a kind and attractive Germanic face. Corded muscles , and an overall attractive look . Plus he was sure of himself , and even keeled , two qualities which had never before really appealed to her but qualities that were growing on her. She'd have him once she really healed enough , another week ...hopefully less. Men tended to be so much more malleable once you'd fucked them.

God , she hoped he wasn't gay , that would explain a lot. She'd have to find some way to find out.

"No ," , he said flatly , "Nothing for miles  , which shouldn't be possible except in a national park or something. But no park signs , no man made anything. I stuck roughly to the stream banks , but not even a hint of a road or man made bridge , no signs of tires , no trash , no nothing.

It's fucking eerie." , he said looking a little lost.

"We'll be fine honey , after all I've got you and you've done a great job of taking care of me so far." , she said standing trying to play to his lust and his ego.

 "Don't depend on me too heavily , I'm human...I will fail at some point. I just hope it's nothing crucial . I'll do what I have to do , but the out come is always in God's hands whoever he or she might be." , he looked contemplative , which was never a good thing in a man.

 "Hun' , we'll be fine. I don't know , I just feel it. But let's switch subjects…this is really just fucking with my head and bringing me down. You have a girl friend back home?" , she asked getting out of the stream and drying off as seductively as she could with her body still hurting.

"No , I was seeing some one ...fucking her really I guess , but it stopped working out. I took it as far as I could , then a step past that , and finally had to put it down. I haven't really dated much since my Dad died." "Sorry , I didn't know" , she said honestly. Her real dad had been a decent sort , but she barely remembered him , when he'd died mom had started hitting the bottle and the drugs and ended up with a bunch of different assholes until she'd met the one who abused her and Sam' the most.

He brought home the drugs and fucked both of them , usually with out bothering to ask.

 He'd raped her when she was thirteen and then did it again for a straight month. He'd said she was better because her mom was a worn out slut and she was tighter. He didn’t stop for her period , didn’t stop when she screamed , just thrusted harder and came faster ,then beat her around for getting him off to quick and being a "Slut".

"Stepped on a land mine there didn't I ?" Tyler asked  seeing the dark cloud pass over her face.

"Fuck it , every body dies sooner or latter , and the rest of us just hope to." , she said and turned away back to the shack. She was done with the game and to hell with him , he wouldn't understand . No one did , no one could be bothered to. She wasn't worth it to anyone but herself , and she wondered if she was even worth it to herself. Fuck the whole damned world for all she cared.

"You got anything to drink? , All of this reality is just too damned much."

"Yeah , but it's not going to get the job done. You'll trust someone some day , and then reality won't seem so bad. 'till then though , we've got some whiskey.  Not enough to get good and ripped on , but it might take the edge off. I'll get it and meet you back at the shack".

"Thank god." , was all she said looking totally relieved.

Tyler had seen the type , might have become one himself ...still might.

He'd also learned that a person wasn't going to stop until they were damned good and ready.

 

 He dug the whiskey out of the tree where he'd stuck it.  It was a half gallon jug , maybe a quarter full. From what he could tell of her , it would get him pretty rocked but probably wouldn't even dent her.

Honestly he didn't see the point in not drinking it. He didn't need it , and if she did then she'd be shit out of luck because it was all that they were going to have for a while.

They shared the bottle before the fire in what she considered a perfectly romantic setting.

 The warmth of it , steeled her even if it did make her a it queasy. She felt alright for the first time since waking up , and she talked to him openly about her life , at least openly to a point. There was a lot he didn't need to know , a lot that she wouldn't even tell herself.

 He talked about his life with real honesty , she respected that.

 She made the first move , kissing him as he handed her the bottle. He kissed her back and moved his hands to her breasts then slowly pulled away.

"Let's not rush into this" , he said somewhat breathlessly.

"why not? what's so damned wrong with it?" , she asked grabbing him by his crotch and kissing him again. He hardened in her hand , and she kissed him harder.  He pulled away again.

"Nothing wrong with it , just don't want to get confused. Don't want to start something we might not be able to finish. If we're going to play , I want to know why and what your expecting."

"I just want to get laid , and you'll do ."

"Not love?  , not control ? , because sex doesn't control me. Not a boyfriend ? because I'd do that , but I don't know what that means to you."

"Just shut up and enjoy yourself." She said moving his hand to her crotch.

 He started rubbing her , she enjoyed it , possibly too much. This kid knew what he was doing. Just maybe he wasn't the amateur she thought he was.

"Not my style" , he said finding her spot and going to work on it. She was speechless.

"I don't have sex without some things being understood. This changes nothing with out some kind of commitment. You want something from me, you tell me other wise your just someone I'm fucking and I'm not prepared to do that with you. You won't mean it , and I'm not into games."

 "Just shut up and fuck me." ,  She said pulling his penis out and rolling onto her back .

 "No" , he said going down on her.

Her back arched at the feeling and she lost herself in it . She couldn't talk if she wanted to . Yet he stayed at it.

 After a time she felt herself release and she shuddered. He hadn't fucked her , hadn't demanded anything of her , and she knew she hadn't gotten him off.

 The booze and the orgasm made her head spin , and she felt herself drifting off.

 Maybe she wasn't as healed as she'd thought she was. She let go of consciousness. Happy for the first time in what seemed like forever , and at least somewhat terrified of it.

 It, happiness , was something she was always chasing and never letting herself catch...it was odd, unpredictable and fleeting , while pain and gloom were predictable and dependable. If nothing else, Sam' was terrified of change , terrified for change always meant greater pain. Always meant loss. The other shoe sooner or latter always fell, and with it , the pain deepened. She let the happiness go, it was too quick , too real, and too likely to go anyway as soon as he really knew her.

 

 Morning came and she found herself in his arms asleep in the same bed.

Memories of the night before came flooding back to her mind and she was scared. He'd said no to her, turned her down flat and then rocked her little world , and now she was in his arms and it felt so right that it seemed wrong. Happiness wasn't for her , she'd learned that. She knew that deep within herself. But what's wrong with pretending for a while? a voice within her asked.

 New place , no one she knew around , no one to hurt her... to have to be strong in front of. Why not just enjoy it for a while?

She knew it would end , and when they got back to the real world , she'd end it just to keep him from being able to hurt her , but for the moment , why the hell not?

She couldn't believe that she was even letting herself think of it , but she let the thoughts continue.

"Hi hun' , good morning" , she said in a hushed tone , waking him up.

"Hi...", he said , and groped for a pillow to stick his head under.

 She laughed , and watched him groggily come to .

"Okay , I'd like to do the boyfriend girlfriend thing" , she said.

"Meaning what?" , he asked.

"Meaning that I don't fuck anyone else and you don't either...you know , going out."

"That's it?"

"What else is there?"

"Getting to know each other. Helping each other.  Trying to trust each other. Being emotionaly availible , trying to be supportive and understanding, maybe trying to build some kind of future with each other. That's what being a boyfriend means to me , and i want to know that we're agreeing to the same thing. I am interested , and I like you . I just think it's something where missunderstandings can get real painful and I'm not into pain."

"Okay , but don't expect superwoman...I don't trust easily...but you did say try right?"

"All a person can ask realy."

Okay , then I agree if you do ."

"Okay , so would you like to be my girlfriend?"

"Yeah , I would. It's going to piss off some people of back home , but I'll try.

They'll get over it." , she said with a smile wondering how the people in her life would feel if she actualy followed through and ended up happy.

"Cool , I'm going back to sleep , I'm drowsy as all hell today , must be raining , I hate getting up when it's icky out...just better sleeping weather and I realy have nothing to do today.", he said kissing her and then turning back under the wool blanket.

"Okay " , she said snuggling next to him , and passing back to sleep in his arms .

 The week passed in good spirits , with Sam' coming more and more to life with each day.

 She was somking again , but it didn't seem to affect her to badly.

 She could walk with Ty' for reasonable periods and often did in near total silence.

She was lost somewhere , in dreams and memories that she would only reveal in part.

"I think we should start thinking about moving , about finding our way back to civilization." , Tyler said one day .

 She met the pronouncement with distance . Over the next few days as Tyler packed , she started to part  from him , to grow back towards her old self.

"You don't want to leave do you?", he asked already knowing the answer.

What the hell , it had to end sometime ." , was all she said , but he could hear the pain in it.

 "Hun' , we've got a long trail ahead of us. You can talk to me if you want to . Or not , I'm not going to push. I like you , I want you in my life , but if you chose to push me out ...I will go. Give yourself a chance here , let yourself be happy . I can't do that for you , and I won't insult you by trying. Life's not that great for me back home , but you're more than welcome to be a part of it provided you don't go out of your way to hurt me or my familly."

She smiled at the thought.

 "And if my life came bak to haunt me ? , when it comes back to hurt you and your family? , what then?".

 Tlyer thought about that. It was the first she'd realy talked about her life.

"Deal with it if it comes."

"I'm a run away , my parrents are looking for me , the cops are looking for me. I live with a guy I can't stand who only wants to fix me and fuck me.

I have no place to stay that I'd actualy want to be , and I'm not going into the system to be abused more. My mom works for Dyfs , she wouldn't alow it. In short , I don't have anything to offer you back home.

 I'm a slave and I'm fucked , and I just have to accept that and live with it.

So , you want to break up now? or do you want to pretend a while longer?"

"Damn, that's a mouthful." , he said and pulled her to him.

 They sat quietly in each others arms and Tyler reeled at her reality.

" Let's stay a couple of more days, I need to think about this a bit. I may have some answers. As to breaking up , I'm happy . When that changes for any significant period of time then I'll consider it . I don't know that it has to change ,but we have a lot of work ahead of us . My familly has a lot of conections if not a lot of money., as do I . Maybe something can be done , but not without your help.

At some point you'll have to chose a dirrection . I won't even try to make you chose me. But honestly , I say folow what makes you happy , truely happy in your heart and don't let fear beat you."

"Okay , I'll think about that. I'll try. That's all that I can promise."

 A week passed with Tyler fixing the place up a bit here and there.

Just in case civilization couldn't be easily found , he wanted some safe place to call home.

He thought of what he knew of America. He'd give it a hundred miles give or take. There should be something , at least a road within a hundred miles, even if they were as far out as alaska.

They'd stick to the main trail , only veering off to look for water when they needed it.

 He figured they should be able to average ten miles a day for ten days, and failing that they'd return.

To her surprise Sam found herself hoping that  they'd never get home ,that there'd be nothing at the end of the trail.

 

Chapter

 

 They moved out in the morning , shortly affter the first rays of the sun licked at the sky. Dopey thought of protesting but Sam' simply pulled him along. He liked her for some wierd reason , and tended to do what she asked. They took mostly every thing, nearly all of it packed onto the mules. She carried only a few water jugs made from animal stomachs , and her back pack. Tyler carried only the guns and his pack.

He was to his surprise very heavily armed . But he was also very scared.

 For the fist day they were lost in the beauty of the trip , a wild emptiness that they had never before experienced , but by the second day it had become monotonous.

The ridge of the larger mountian seemed to grow closer with each passing hour and both hoped that they wouldn't have to cross it to find civilization.

The trail however wound up and through the mountain.

 

The eigth day brought their first sighns of other people , small hand made crosses not even marked at points along the trail , sometimes single crosses , sometimes in fours of fives.

"I don't get it , those things are fresh , a year or two at most." , Sam thought out loud as they came across another set of unmarked crosses.

"People don't do this kind of thing in our day and age. The state doesn't alow it".

"No hun' they don't. Something's real wrong here. I don't know what or why...but we aren't where we left.

I'm statring to wonder if we aren't when we left. Somewhere along this trail we're going to find people , I'm just wondering what we're walking into?"

"Tyler I want to go back...I'm scared. If we're in our time someone will find us , if not I don't know if I want to be found.", she said shaking and alomost sobbing.

"Good , I'm glad you're scarred , because I'm realy freaked too." , he said with a smile and a nervous laugh. "let's be careful , real damned careful . Stick to me until we know what we're dealing with. And let's try not to get into anything we can't get out of. We may be on our own here."

"Deal" , she said whipping her eyes and shaking his hand , "You get all of me until we at least know what we're dealing with.  How far have we gone?"

"At least fifty miles , probably more. Should have bumped into at least a beer can by now. Nothing but theses damned crosses. I've counted sixteen. Yuo?"

"Same."

"The guns and stuff suggest mid to late eighteen hundreds.  I'm not saying that we're there , but if we are ...then we could be walking for hundreds of miles before we find even a small town. That depends on where we are."

"Indians?"

"Yeah, the indian wars. Damn...this could be a realy bad place for two people on foot.  We're almost over the mountain , let's get down it and if we don't find anything let's find a good place to live for a while ."

"Dig a whole and crawl in?" , Sam' said with an odd smile.

"Yeah , there's a difference between being affriad and being prudent. If we're in some other time...we need to know. And we need to survive it.

Indians and such could be a real problem for us. They may not bother us at all , or they may torture us for days and let us die. They were pretty sick back in the day.

 We may dress it all up , but the reality was horor and savagry and nothing that I want to be any part of."

"Yeah, I've had enough torture for one lifetime...." she said as though she'd admited something that she'd never admited before.

"Okay , let's set camp and keep a small fire. Some where more than a little off of the trail."

They slept the night in some limited compfort. Each lost in fears of what could be a horrible end.

 The next two days blured as the trip over the mountian passed silently into a open plain that ran farther than the eye could see.

With only a few miles of mountainous terrian left , Tyler made a choice.

" I say we find a safe place here somewhere and settle in for what might be a rough winter. If it can't be done then we move on.  I'll know within a month.  You game? or do you want to keep going?"

Sam' looked at what might be a hundred or more miles of open space and simply nodded her head. The vission both awed and terified her.  At some point the horrizon might be desert , but one thing she knew was that they hadn't seen a single light in the darkness . Not a camp fire , not a sighn of a city or town. Even from the peak of the mountain , in the clear moonless night. Only starts and the creatures of the dark moving and talking.

If it was that they were alone , then she wanted to be alone and safe.

They moved back up the mountian and settled by a stream in a clearing much like the first. Tyler spent the evening building a lean-to shelter which he covered with animal hides .

 The second day he told her that he wanted to look around for a cave.

He asked her to stay behind , but she wasn't ready to be that alone just yet.

They left the mules behind them , and wandered through the mountain side for several hours until Sam' spoted a cave.

"We'll leave in the morning , and get a better look." Tyler said and they returned home to spend the night together.

 To her surprise and relief they hadn't yet had sex. They'd been playing pretty hard here and there , but he hadn't pushed and to her surprise she hadn't just jumped him.

She was tempted to that night out of fear , but for once thought it a realy shity reason to be with some one. She was changing and it scared her , but also she liked it.

 She hoped inwardly that home would stay gone , because she feared that she could never go back and live with the changes growing in her.

 

 The cave proved to be long and high ceilinged with only a few occupants , and none of them lethal. She and Tyler scared them off and the fire he lit chased out some of the smaller rodents.

Within the week they had moved in and he had covered over the front to limit the amout of fire light that could be seen from the outside.

 It was hard work , and she refused to alow him to do it alone. Another change.

 Her muscles ached but they were getting stronger.

 She was getting stronger.

In the mornings she found herself excersing with Tyler who was much stronger and smarrter than she gave him credit for.

Push-ups and sit-ups and jumping  jacks were turning her into a real hard body. Her hair had grown , and the blonde roots were comming through with a vengance. She hated them , hated them because it was one of the things that had made her last dad want to fuck her ...or at least that was one of the "Reasons" that it had been her fault.

Out in the middle of no-where though...she kind of liked it. Although the mix of blonde and blue/black looked too damned wierd.

Two weeks into living in the cave and she was begining to enjoy her time alone. Tyler always left her the rifle and her little pistol , and she knew that he wouldn't be too far away.

On rare days , he'd shown her some of what he called "Chou-lay-fut" , a chinesse "Gung-fu" style that his father had him learn when the familly had money and Tyler wasn't yet working.

He was a little out of practice , but he started her with the basics and when she found herself bored , she would simply run through one of the few "forms" that she now knew.

 The forms were like short dances to be danced alone , with each movement being an attack or deffense. She did miss music , but she'd realy never bothered to go dancing much at home.

The forms though held an odd beauty , and a music and timming of thier own . They felt somehow right to her muscles , and even her somewhat odd spirit approved.

The month passed into what they were both figuring to be August , possibly late july. It was hard to tell for the lack of any idea of where they were. It seemed right for Jersey , but for california or some other state, it could be november or even June.

 Early August brought the gunfire , early one morning.

 It was coming from the trail , and it was enough to be impossible to miss , as though some small battle were comming towards them.

 Thier perch on a small cliff overlooking the trail showed them safely the action as it unfolded.

A stage coach of a sort was being harried by what could be a dozen or more men .

The coach in response fired back , and kicked up it's speed rapidly aproaching the point dirrectly beneath Ty' and Sam'.

 As he watched the action explained it's self in the split second it took for him to process it.

The stage was under attack , the men attacking wore face masks and were falling pretty steadily under a strong deffence from the man ridding shot gun , and two armed passengers who could not be seen.

The man ridding shot gun appeared wounded , Ty' watched as another bullet seemed to strike him , but the action was fast and hard to follow.

The difference in armaments was striking , the men on horse back having only old style cap and ball revolvers and rifles with the men in the stage coach having a lever action cartrige firring rifle and a pistol or two that seemed to fire too rapidly to be cap and ball although both were obviously firring black powder rounds from the wall of deep white grey smoke that they were throwing up.

 Tyler raised his rifle , but Sam' stoped him.

Then seeing the look on his face , she let him go and he sighted in.

 He knew that he wouldn't be able to reload fast enough to make much difference , but he knew he couldn't let the fray continue without joining the coach's defenders.

With luck he wouldn't even be seen .

 The stage came to within two hundred yards of his position and he fired at what apeared to be the leader , a man towards the middle of the bunch who held aloft a sword and urged the other men on.

 They wore a pale grey uniform of a sort. Pants only , with a mix and match on the shirts .

 The man caught the bullet in the chest and fell from his horse as the heavy and slow fifty caliber bullet ripped through his organs.

 Tyler didn't sit to watch but reloaded , tearing apart one of the paper bound reloads that he had been using to speed his rate of fire when hunting. An idea he'd read about in the history books , an idea the men below seemed to be following.

 The coach's deffenders had whitled another five of the attackers down , the men lyying either dead or dying in pools of blood and dust left in the caoch's wake.

Ty' sighted again with the coach almost fifty yards past him and moving towards a turn .

 He aimed in front of one of the four remaining attackers , and pulled the trigger.

The bullet caught the man in his abdomen knocking him into a pile of rocks as he was thrown roughly from his horse.

Tyler reloaded as the coach hit the corner and failed the turn.

 The men inside and on top had managed to kill two more of the attackers , but the coach fliped smashing off of the dark grey rock walls that sided the trail in that part of the mountains.

The man ridding shotgun and the driver both went flying pel-mel into the wall bouncing to the ground like bloody rag dolls as the coach riccoched off of the wall into a series of flips.

The last attacker who had turned to flee , now pressed forward slowly .

Holding his ground for a moment to fire into the lifeless bodies of the driver and his partner.

 Tyler sighted him in carefully and pulled the trigger.

 The distance made the shot fairly easy , but the elevation added to it's comlexity.

 In the end he had chosen another chest shot and the round found it's mark , ripping through the attackers chest and blowing a blody patch of his spine out as it exited.

The man's body fell in a spasm and jerked for a few moments , but he was dead and Tyler knew it.  Ty' reloaded and followed the trail back as far as he could see knowing that just because a man was shot and dying didn't mean he couldn't fight back.

A lucky last effort shot could easily kill him or Sam' , and he wasn't going to risk that if he didn't have to.

One man was crawling about three hundred yards back and he sighted extra carefuly for the shot. Leading the man and then firring. The shot obviously hit him , and the man fell lifeless to the ground , but where it had hit him Ty' didn't know.

The man could be alive , or not . He'd have to keep an eye out for him.

Looking up , Tyler could already see the scavengers perusing the scene.

One vulture who seemed a little too sure of himself was already on the ground and feeding off of the dead , the others would come and there was nothing he could do about it. The dark creatures would go about their grisly work with or without his presence.

He fired at one more target a bit closer to the coach and after hitting it and pronoucing it dead , he and Sam' moved out along the downward trail that would take them to the coach.

 

 A crow was fighting with a vulture over feeding rights as Tyler and Sami'

walked onto the main trail that held the now dead band of attackers and deffenders.

"Would have been nice to have someone to talk to." , Sam' remarked as she looked out over the stretch of dead bodies.

"Yeah , but I think we've got at least part of our answer....no way this could have happened in our time. Let's see if we can find out where we are and where they were going.

 That coach has a lot of boxes and provisions...I think they were prepared for a long time between stops , days , possibly more. Some thing about it loooks oddly military...just a feeling. "

"Tell me we're not in the civil war...that would just suck. " , Sam' said with more than a hint of fear.

"I don't know hun' , but we could be." , he said shooting a body of one of the attackers in the head before turning it over.

He put the pistol away and pulled out the shorter black powder pistol.

It was like it's larger brother a simple single shot in fifty caliber with a four inch barrel. From the looks of it , Tyler wondered if someone hadn't simply cut down a similar larger gun and left it unfinished but functional.

"Watch your self . If anything moves shoot it with the rifle. I don't want to lose you to some dying asshole." , he said with a look of sincere corncern.

"Okay , want to look inside the coach ? or should we sort these guys out first ?".

"Attackers first. Who ever's in the coach is likely dead , or possibly friendly. we'll worry about that last. These guys came here to kill people. I'm not prepared to have even one of them at our back when we look through the coach. This isn't where we come from , the rules are different here. They came to kill , and they lost...anything that isn't dead isn't going to get a chance to kill us. "

"Or rape me?"

"Yeah" , he said with a near snarl remembering the two men who had tried to rape her in a coma.

"You wouldn't want me if I'd been raped would you?" , she asked confronting her fears as best she could.

"Hun' rape is beyond your control...it doesn't make you any less of a person.  It doesn't take any value from you. But I won't let anyone hurt you if I can help it , and if you don't have to deal with it , why add that pain to your list."

"and if I have had to "Deal" with it?"

"Then let's try to keep it from ever happening agian." , he said reaching over and kissing her fiercly.

 She melted into it , affraid to think that a man might want her if he knew her past.

 Yet she had hinted at it , and Tyler still wanted her.

She caught a movement out of the side of her eye , pointed the rifle and shot a man who'd moved towrds her obviously wanting help.

"I don't even begin to know how to feel about that." , she said dropping the rifle to the ground.

"Hun' , you may have just saved our lives...there's just no way to tell. Just let it go, we'll deal with the feelings later. For now just survive and thank whatever gods  may be that it was them and not us who died here today."

 She paused for a moment and tried it. For the first time in what seemed to be an eternity she said a simple honest thank you to god that they were still alive.

She felt better for some reason she couldn't explain , and moved over to join Tyler who was seaching the man he had shot.

"Here , take this and put the rifle down for now. It's an old colt navy revoler with four shots left. I picked another one off of him but it was empty.  His rifle's broken , maybe I can fix it later but for now it's useless."

With that thought in mind he walked next to the corpses of the driver and his partner. They were well dressed , possibly army men, they were too bathed in blood to be able to tell.

  What color hair? what had thier faces looked like? he'd never know. The crash had simply destroyed them.

 It took a moment to find what he was looking for. A Henry repeating rifle , the rifle the man ridding shotgun had been firring. It's stock and fore grip were shatered and beyond use , but the mechanism worked and he cycled a round through,  into and out of the chamber.

He then found the man who appeared to be the coach's shotguner , and searched him for bullets . He found a pair of bandoliers which he nearly threw up on as he pulled them from the blood and gore of the dead man.

 They were soaked in blood and one was nearly empty , but the other held thirty rounds of a caliber that Tyler was unfamiliar with.

 The buttlets fit the rifle , and Tyler loaded the weapon to it's full cappacity of nine rounds.

 He stoped to use his cleaver to hack most of the broken and splintered stock off and duct taped the remainder into a functional hand grip.

 Then he duct taped the shattered handguard as best he could.

The weapon no longer had a shoulder stock , and was too long for a pistol, but it was the besat weapon he had so he laoded a round and threw the bandolier over his shoulder blood and all.

Looking at the bloodied corpse again, he decided to search the rest of it latter.

 Then he shot one of the vultures and wathched the others scatter back to the sky.

 

 The "Clean up" took the better part of two hours as Ty' and Sam moved quietly through what turned out to be seventeen dead men and eight dead horses.

Early into the "clean up , one of the horses came back to it's dead owner and then walked over to Tyler who took it by the rieghns and began using it for a pack animal. It was a tall grey mustang  with no remarkable features but it would do .

Tyler took to calling it ghost , and ghost had friends who came back one or two at a time until Ty' and Sam' found themselves with nine horses of various makes and breeds.

After a short lunch it was time to look through the coach.

Tyler dreaded it knowing that he was likely to find nothing but the bloodied remains of what were probably two decent men , but the one man surprised him by stumbling out of the caoch as they aproached.

 For a moment Ty' was tempted to shoot him , but the man was remarkably unthreatening despite his all black atire and noticably well equiped gun belt.

As they came closer with weapons drawn the man fell wordlessly to his knees .  Tyler stoped when he noticed that the man's black atire apeared to be catholic priests robes.

In that moment the man uttered something and fell forward face first to the trails dusty floor.

 Tyler ran forward , and checked the man's pulse to find it weak but there.

A quick look turned up any number of briuses and a single bullet wound in the abdomen.

A frown crossed Tylers face.

"What?'

"He's been gut shot, there may be nothing we can do for him." , Tyler said obviously thinking .

"Is he realy a priest?" , Sam' aske almost aghast.

 "I think so , he's got the rossary , the collar , and all of the other gear. The guns are a little strange but not unheard of. Durring times of war , or in dangerous places like south america , priests have been known to carry guns although the practice is generaly frowned on."

"An armed , murdering priest?"

"He was defending himself and others...that's not murder. "

"Okay, let's say I believe that . What are we going to do with him?"

"Patch him up , and stick him out of the way for now. Bring him back to the cave when we're done here." , Tyler said looking over the man's wound.

"That's it? , can we take the bullet out or something...can't you help him like you helped me?"

"That's all I did for you. All I can do...I know a little about first aide, but I'm not a doctor. I fed you , changed you , and prayed every day that you'd live...but I didn't save you. God did whoever he or she might be , and I'm happy to have you.

 I'll do the same for him and hope for the best.

I might be able to cauterize the wound, I've heard of that be done in the old west , but I've never done it.

 I he survives the trip home , then I might try it ...for now we see to our survival."

"Just fix him and throw him to the side, I just can't believe you of all people are saying that."

"Honey , if we don't look out for ourselves we'll have no chance of helping him. If I didn't go out and hunt and fish and build durring all of the time that you were out , I would have died too. We have to look after ourselves first. If we don't he'll die for sure."

"So you just left me there all of that time and hoped for the best?"

"Yes and no. I tailored my activities around you , and may have to with him. I built the larger shack more for you than myself. I kept as close an eye on you as I could while still ensuring my survival. If I hadn't I might have died and most likely you would have too.

 Now hold this piece of shirt here to stop the bleeding while I look for some way to tie it down."

"Duct tape?", she said with a smile showing that while she was still a bit confused she was not angry.

"Actualy, that'll do for now , but I 'll have to find something that'll breath latter if I don't want him to get infected. I'm also running out of it , and I don't think it's even been invented yet. So, when it's gone...it's gone for good."

"Here" , she said handing him the roll and putting presure on the improvised bandage.

 The wound hadn't been bleeding that fiecly , just a slow steady stream.

 If it hadn't punctured his stomach or torn up too many of his organs , he might just live. At the very least it would be nice to get him conscious long enough to answer thier many questions.

 

 As evening aproached they loaded the priest onto a horse , with Tyler wearing his gun rig which was a decidedly well thought out affair.

 With that and thier other booty , the three lost adventures returned to thier cave.

 

 "He's still bleeding .  I've been feeding him water , but I'm afraid that if we don't do something he'll die. What was it you said you might do if he lived long enough to get here?"

"Cauterize the wound...strange to see you with such a fixation for priests?"

"Hey , I've always thought that God hates me and I've hated him back...you've shown me that maybe I've missed something.

Yeah, I'd like to talk to this guy...I'd like to save him. Maybe make up to god whatever he thinks I owe him."

"I'm not sure that it goes that way , but I may be wrong. I have a piece of iron heating in the fire that should seal at least part of the wound.

 It's out of my hands after that.  I'll need your help"

"Okay , just tell me what to do. " , she said honestly giving Tyler control.

 He looked at her knowing that he was growing to love her , and unsure of how to say it.

She looked at him with strangely trusting eyes , and for a moment he wondered if she felt the same. A part of him knew she did, and he looked away.

"Okay, put that stick in his mouth. Then hold him as best you can , because this is going to hurt him alot . "

 With that Tyler grabed the metal rod and pulling away the bandage stuck it's glowing white hot tip into the priests flesh.

 Sam' winced as he bucked away from the pain comming back to consciousness long enough to scream through the bit in his mouth. The horse's whinnied in protest and even the mules seemed offended bu the scent of burnt human flesh that filled the air as Tyler held the glowing brand inside the man for a moment and then dowsed the wound with water producing a sickly sweet steam.

 "Thank you" , the man whispered and then faded back to unconsciousness.

"did I ever do anything like that with you ?"

"Yes , you did durring your fever. I had to dunk you in the stream a few times to stop your body from convulsing. You even woke at one point to say thank you."

"I did?"

"Yeah , now let's get some sleep. It's going to be an early morning and we need to do something with the bodies."

"Burry them?", she said obviously not looking forward to it.

"Probably burn them , we'll take the mules and a couple of the horses and go through everything again. I want to take everything that we can. It may be a while 'till we have a chance to restock. " , he said trying to keep his mind in the cold realities of the day.

"Why do you think they were attacked?"

"Don't know, may never. But those men might have been part of a unit . People may come looking for them. So let's be damned carefull tomorow."

"Yeah, I'd miss you if anything happened to you. You are definately growing on me ."

"Does that still scare you?" , he asked looking into her eyes.

"Yeah, " , she said looking down , "It scares me some...but not like it used to."

 

 They slept in each others arms playfuly snugling by the fire.

 

 

 With morning came a quick trip to the coach , with Sam' watching with the Henry as Tyler looted what he could load onto the horses and stripping the boddies  and moving them into a pile.

 

The caoch had two lock boxes which he'd at first overlooked. The first fascinated him for it's lock had broken and its content of books had spilled out onto the ground.

 A few bibles , poetry , scholarly books and science texts.  His heart lept at the discovery.

 Of all things , Tyler liked most the simple joy of reading.

He had missed it , and now needed to miss it no more. He wondered if Sam would be equaly pleased .

 The second box remained a mystery, It was of only a medium size. Two feet long by roughly the same high and it was emblazoned with the brass U.S. which he figured meant the military.  The lock had held though and with the fear of company he chose not to shoot it off.

He thought for a moment about the possiblility of that company following his tracks , and began to think of ways to hide them.

A look to the sky told him that he might not have to , but also that his plans for a fire were out.

 The morning had been an opvercast one which was quickly turning into a severe prediction of a storm. The pale grey skies of morning turning into the dark grey thunder clouds of mid-affter noon. Good sleeping weather except he couldn't afford to sleep.

 He loaded the last of the coach's personal belongings onto the horses , took a last check for anything he might have missed and headed up hill to Sam' , and then to the marginal safety of home.

The rain clouded out all other noises , which was fine with Tyler and Sam' who were enjoying thier first shopping spree in months.

So much of the work had to be done so quickly , and so much of what they had taken had been in back packs and saddle bags or coach luggage that they hadn't realy had much chance to know what goodies had been sent their way.

Sam' found a dress that one of the attackers had kept in a saddle bag for what reason she couldn't guess , and changed into it boldly without bothering to see if Tyler was looking or not.

 A cough half way through the change caught her attention and she blushed to see the priest alive and looking at her.

"A truely beautiful woman" , he said dryly and hoarsely.

"I thought you preists weren't supposed to look at naked women" , she said flustered , and hurrying to dress.

It was a bit short in leghnth which she liked , but other wise fit snuggly well.

 It was a girly thing, and she hadn't let herself play with girly things in so long that she reveled in it despite the priest's interuption.

"So you're awake." , Tyler said flatly.

 "Yes , Thank God and yourselves I am awake. Dying , but awake." , he said sitting up stiffly with great effort.

Tyler went to unbuckle the gunbelt saying "These are yours , sorry I shouldn't have taken them with you still alive and all."

"Keep them , I won't need them. If I'm lucky I've got a day or two. Internal bleeding...I can feel it. You slowed it down and bought me a few days...But know one can fix this kind of wound. Maybe someday...but not here and now."

"You sound a little too sure of yourself...", Sam' said" what of your faith?".

"Miss, there's faith and then there's reality. God moves in mysteriuos ways his wonders to preform. I should be dead and instead I'm dying.

 Fine, no man lives forever. But there is the question of why?, and I'm assuming it has some thing to do with you two." , he paused to caugh and the wet sound produced blood .

"I could try to open you up and fix whatever's wrong, but it might kill you. I'm not a doctor.", Tyler said appologeticly.

 "Not your place son...I am a doctor , and I can tell you that this is a fatal wound. I've seen a thousand just like it and everyman who had one died.

I'm sorry about not coughing earlier Mam' , I have been "Conscious" for some time now ..but I just haven't had the energy. Have you any idea of where my small black leather bag might be? , it has some opium in it and a small jug of moonshine. Both may help with this terrible pain."

 "No , but I can find it. We haven't gotten to that just yet. I'm Tyler , The young lady is Sam'".

"Short for Samantha I would suppose but possibly not for you look like no woman I've yet met. "

"Yes sir , Short for Samantha".

"It's the tatoo's mam'. The hair , etc... You just look horribly out of place. I am assuming that you are , but pardon my manners. I am Father Seamus Martin and as you may have assumed I am a bit ecclectic myself."

"To say the least Father, carrying guns and flirting with women...what kind of priest are you?" , Sam' asked almost seriously but with a playful tone.

 "I am an honest priest , and an Army priest. I have seen so much missery and suffering and useless death that I find no purpose in being lost in the vagaries of society and it's niceties."

"But you are cappable of them. ", Tyler said as he dug through the corner into which he had thrown the coach's contents , "Found it. "

"Bring it here if you would dear lad. Now, what brings two such odd and educated young people to be hundreds of miles from nowhere and obviously out of thier element?" , the priest asked , looking more at the bag than either of them.

Tyler handed him the bag , and he pulled a large apothocaries flask from it.

"Now , if I measure this right, then we can talk in a few moments...if not I'm out like a light. I'm affraid I've never taken opium personaly. So this one's somewhat in gods hands." , he said taking a very light pull on the bottle. His body relaxed after a moment as the opium took hold of his nerves and steadied him.

"Now , let's have a quick look at this" , he said peeling the dressing from his wound and moving closer to the fire.

 "Nice , cauterized it did you? , I've done much the same my self many times. You didn't go deep enough I'm afraid , but I may just live a week or more. My death should hopefully be quick and painless. I may be a priest but I have no wish for martyrdome , the christ was the only one we ever realy needed. I'm sure that you have some questions fro me?"

 Tyler looked at the man. He was an odd bird , heavy but not quiet fat , with a rosey slightly worn quality to the face.  Tyler had left him in his priests clothing out of some strange respect for god's property which he assumed priest's were. Short grey hair and a neatly trimmed bushy grey mustache finnished the nearly perfect picture of an irish catholic priest and Tyler chose to believe the image.

 "what are you doing out here? And where is Here?...we're a bit lost sir."

"A bit is putting it mildly dear." , Sam' said , "We have no idea where we are or when we are. We are here as some wierd joke of god , and I'm not sure that I'm laughing."

"I'll agree to the almighty's odd sense of humor , but I believe that every thing in life has a purpose and somehting can be learned from it. As to where you are , you are in the northwest territories and we were here to negotiate with the Indian tribes in this area in hopes of swaying them from supporting the insurrection of the southern states and to speak to the few comunities in these parts about the possibility of future statehood. We were to continue into California , New Mexico and Texas."

"Why send a priest to do that ?" , Sam' asked interupting him.

"Honestly because I can no longer do the things that I was trained to do , my failing eyes I'm afraid. I can see distances without my glasses , but even with them I can no longer see well enough to work except in a hack and slash manner. That was unaceptable to me so I sought to retire , and the army asked me to take this mission as I speak French , Spanish and several of the native tongues.

We started in January of this year from New york state with a complement of 21 men , what you see before you is what is left of that compliment.

 Between the natives , the hardships of the wild , and the odd bands of southern guerillas I'm afraid that the mission was doomed to failure.

We quite underestimated our enemy.

As to when you are?...I'm not sure that I understand the question, but the month is june , and the year is 1865."

Tyler laughed and Sam' shrugged a heavy sigh of relief.

"I'm not sure that I can find the humor in the story sir?"

"You wouldn't...1865 , the Union armies force Lee to surrender...I forget where to be honest  , but the war's over either by now or sometime very soon. And It would probably blow your mind if I told you that the last time we looked at a calander was september of 2005."

"Okay , hun' maybe there is a god...at least we missed the war." , Sam' said with sheer delight. The enthusiasm of which overtook the father.

 "Mam' if your right about that I'll die a happy man. This war has been horible , destructive and I believe it may in the end destroy our nation...either now or in the future. As to the date of your departure though , I must wonder if the opium is a bit too strong today?" , he said scrunching his face into a unbelieving look.

"Oh, I'm right about the date. And questions of why are hard to supress.

I have some of the skills needed to survive here , and I've learned many more , or simply improvised.

So far so good within reason but I'm scared which is why we've chosen to stay here. I have very little idea what waits for us down the line. I don't even understand how people live in this day and age. In our age science rules , and few people have any form of survival skills.

 I'm an odd one in that I do , and Sam' has simply known poverty and pain for so long that she has become adaptable. I'm not even sure that I want to leave this place if it remains safe , but I'm fairly sure that we can't defend it if we come under any form of serious attack from indians much less rogue bands or the gangs that are going to be coming into exsitence in the near future.

 I don't know the weapons of this time well enough ,nor do I know it's customs. You can be of great help to me with these things if you chose to."

"And so, I'm alive for a few days to teach two lost souls how to survive . And one possibly how to forgive god and herself. That rings true to me.

I won't ask how you came to be here for I think it obviuos that you do not know. If it had been intentional I believe that both of you would have been wise enough to come better prepared. True?"

""True." , Sam' answered.

"The pistols you are wearing were given to me by a gunsmith for saving his son's legs. They are personaly modified colt .44 caliber rimfire revolvers in 4 and 6 inch barel legnths and they are what I believe to be the finest pistols currently avaialbe in the world. The standard weapon of the day however is the black powder cap and ball in it's many shapes and sizes. I have a book regading thier function and proper loads in my book case.

 That should help you grealy , although from what I witnessed of your shooting from the cliff you have learned to guess the workings of at least one caliber?"

"Yes sir , I believe it to be fifty caliber , but that was just the luck of the draw...I found a measuring flask set to that caliber and have learned from it. I also looked it up in a book that I brought along. I believe it to be a simple Kentucky rifle. But my book didn't tell me anything about the load it carries...just describes how it works...not how to load, clean or fire it.

 I can pretty much load by eye for the fifty , but I now have a lot of guns , and have no idea how to load half of them.".

"Bring them over and I'll show you thier loads providing I know them , you can in turn show the young lady. As to the colts, they are cartrige based and no knowledge is realy needed to load and shoot them for peacefull purposes."

"And what about for non-peaceful purposes. The west is about to become a very wild place. Within the next few decades all hell is going to break out in the west , and I'd like to survive it if I can. I'm assuming that you know a few things. I'll take what ever combat knowledge you have to offer. I'm affraid my combat loading and what not are more fitted for different weapons."

"Then I'll start with the simplest bit of combat knowledge...stay home , never fight unless absolutely needed and always walk away if you can.

With the indians and such being likely to haunt you as you travel to where ever you may chose to call home , you may be forced to defend yourself and I will teach you what I can of that.

 

Young lady if you would hand me that first revolver and the opium bottle?"

 Sam complied .

"This is a spiller and burr .36 caliber revolver. It is one of the few issue pistols of the confederate army , it would make an excellent choice for the young lady .", He said handing it to her , "Why don't you get that bottle of moonshine out and join me. There is whiskey as well in my other bag if you would prefer that. I will stay awake as long as possible and teach you what I can of guns , and forgiveness , and god , and our times ,aand what ever else we might come to speak on. Some where in the pile there should be at least one smith and wesson in thiry two ciliber rim fire , that would suit the young lady as well."

"A toast to old times , new and old..." , Sam' said taking a long pull on the moonshine ,"god I've needed that."

"It is good to enjoy liquor Mam' , it is hell to need it. For it will in time fail. Now , this is how you load the pistol..." , the father began to show them the ways of the gun.

 They stayed up through the evening with the father finnaly passing out near 2A.M. .

 He lived for two days managing on the second day to stand and show Tyler what he called the art of the quick draw and fire.

Tyler was surprised with the old mans little tricks, with his speed even at his age, and moreso with his own abilty.

The priest's holster rig was set in a double gun fashion, but not what one might assume. His primary pistol was housed in the dull black leather holster which hung from his right side, with his secondary pistol being set in a cross draw, just to the side of the left hip. This alowed for a knife or other weapon to be hung where a left side holster "should be".

 The father explained that the draw was set to favor the right hand while alowing for the posibility of bringing the left into play, in short both pistols were meant for the right hand. With the four inch hanging in the holster for it's speed, and the six inch in the cross draw for it's accuracy.

"You'll make a fine gun hand , provided you follow the right spiritual path. Always ride with the law son , never against it.

 Always ride with the loving god of your understanding and never stand against him for while he will forgive you , he may also lovingly brush you aside to fulfil his will.

Now , I need to talk alone with the young lady. For my time is nearly upon me."

He then walked away to talk with Sam' openly in the distance. Their talk lasted sometime and Tyler watched as she cryed and hugged the old man.

 He hoped in time she would talk to him about her emotions but honestly he was thrilled to see her talk with someone about them.

 "So you talked with the father?" , he asked her in thier bed that night.

"He offered me confession and I took it. I'm still sorting out those feelings , but I feel like a wieght has been lifted from me. I think I may finaly be able to feel. To feel with less fear anyway. How I feel for you is that I love and respect you. I've never felt that for anyone , and I'm only starting to feel that for myself. I just wanted you to know that " , she said shakily and unsure of herself.

"I love you too." , he said and they passed to sleep as the father passed to the realm of his god.

 

 Tyler and Sam' burried him in the clearing beyond the cave front.  Sam' cried and affter a time Tyler broke down and cried as well.

"Why do all the men that I love die?" , he asked to know one in particular.

"Hun' , don't ask god a question that you wouldn't be able to accept any answer for....you told me that once." , she said hugging him.

He turned to kiss her and took her there on the field.

 

 The father had told them of a fort in california some 300 miles or more south that would be a step in the dirrection of civilization. , and affter a few weeks they decided to make the attempt.

 The father had mentioned any number of small towns along the way and even left a map of sorts.

They both feared but looked forward to the adventure and the chance to settle somewhere reasonably safe and begin a life.

The father had  left them all of his worldy belongings and as that last survivor of the attack had turned over all booty to them in a written document should the possesion of anything ever come into question.

Most importantly perhaps he had forgiven Sami' of her sins and helped explain to her which sins were hers and which were not.

In the those few weeks , Sami' and Tyler trained and hunted and loved and prepared as best they could for the trip and the end of it to come.

 They had been left a total of sixteen hundred and eighty three dollars. , a small fortune by the standards of the time.

With that and the horses to include three that they had found since the attack and of course the goods, clothing and guns.

 Sam had chosen to change her style again , cutting the black from her hair and leaving only the blonde in a short shaved style more remeniscent of late eighties punk than eighteen sixties fashion.

Tyler liked it none the less, and followed suit having her trim his hair to a short flat top , which he considered easier to take care of.

They dressed for the trip in the fashions of the day , home spun pants with simple plain colored shirts  hers blue , his white , and wide brimed hats both a similar color of light brown . If anything would mark them as different it would be that Sam was dressed as a man in a time when such things weren't accepted and also the fact that both wore the double gun rigs of seasoned gunfighters. A statement dangerous enough for a man but twice so for a woman. A fact that would prove itself time and again as they rode the trail to the small town of "God's tear".

 

 

 The trail led on for endless miles with nary a word between them . It was not so much an unwillingness to talk as it was listening to the sounds of the trail.

 Danger could come from any source in this part of the country and the high grasses often concelaed turns and depressions which could litteraly hold armies.

 Their own little procession had grown large enough and took most of thier spare energy. with well over a dozen horses and two mules , the trail was fairly slow going .

 More of a walk than a ride.

 Ten to fifteen miles a day was a good day , and if the horses spooked or needed to be led off of the trail for water or to graze , seven miles could be a good day.

 Two days out from "Gods Tear" and they could see whisps of smoke in the distance with the far off sounds of gunfire comming from what looked to be flat land.

 Somewhere up ahead in one of the hidden depressions , someone was fighting for thier lives.

 "What do you think?" , Sam' asked checking the load on her shotgun.

"I think we try to get close enough to get a look without getting involved.  close enough to make a judgement, but stay far enough out to leave if we want to. " , He said checking that the Henry rifle had it's full load of sixteen rounds. The new stock that he'd carved for it seemed steady enough in hunting, and he hoped it would be up for combat if needed.

"It'll work hun'", she said watching him feel the rifle out , "I'm just wondering why we don't just leave them alone to let them sort themselves out? We have a future to build , and getting ourselves killed isn't going to get that done." , she said with a coolness that surprised him. She reached to check the pair of "Hawken" rifles that she kept in sheaths on the side of her main horse , and he knew that she was expecting his sense of helpfulness to get them into a fight.

"We may be able to help some one , and if not , we may be able to cut down the number of people that might try to kill us latter."

"So , sneak up and shoot at whoever seems to be the bad guys , just like you did with the Father's stage coach?"

"Yeah , more or less...if there is an obvious bad guy , then we try to cull thier numbers in the confussion of the fight and hope they don't see us.

We may not want either side to know that we're here." , he said hearing the sounds of gun fire grow louder as they troted thier horses toward the noise.

"We're a lot better armed this time , and I can help you this time. My aim has gotten pretty good although I still feel a lot more compfortable with the pistols."

"Let's hope no one gets close enough that we need the pistols." , he said with a wise ass grin.

"Yeah, good point , okay...We're coming up to the depression let's slow it down.".

 They slowed the horses to a trot and then stopped them.

 From the distance they could see the battle , an old fashioned wagon trian versus indians gunfight. Unlike the movies , the blood was real , the sreaming loud and the numbers staggering.

 A train of eight wagons had managed to circle themselves but two were on fire with a dozen or more indians dead or dying on the ground leaving roughly thirty circling the wagons defenders who seemed to number less than a dozen.

Not all of the indians had firearms , but they were taking thier toll through sheer determination.

Ridding out of rifle range to reload , then comming in screaming with guns blazing and arrows flying only to circle out again.

 The deffenders were whitling them down , but the indians seemed sure to win over time.

 "Stake the horeses and bring what guns we can carry. We might be here a minute."

 They walked or crawled the three hundred yards or so that it took to get them within rifle range.

"Here's hoping we weren't seen" ,Tyler said proping the Henry's barel on a split stick that he'd been using back at the cave as a bipod , a way to keep the rifle steady and improve accuracy.

 Sam' followed suit pulling her aiming stick from her pack and tacking it into the hard clay ground.

 Below them the indians circled in for another attack and then out again. The gunfire coming from the wagon train was lessening and another wagon was on fire. Tyler pulled the father's telescope from his bag and then handed it to Sam who grimaced at the scene he had just seen.

 Most within the wagon train were dead or wounded , a dozen or more bodies littered the ground with women and young children loading and shooting . Only a few men stood who were still able to fight and those apeared wounded.

 The crack from Tyler's rifle informed her that they were now in the fight and she caught up to him as he was on his sixth round.

The indians had circled away from the wagons again , and without trying to do so had circled right toward her and Tyler.

 At a range of roughly two hundred yards Tyler had opened up on them.

No fire was comming from the wagons so the indians now knew of the new threat that was her and her lover.

She sighted and fired , not bothering to reload but simply switching guns.

 Tyler had downed five of them and she had hit her man , but that left well over a dozen indians that were more than close enough to run them down.

 As she traded to a third rifle , she could see the some of the indians change dirrection   and head for her and tyler.

 She fired taking a third man , and then pulled up the doulbe barled shot gun knowing that it would be better for the deffence.

 Tyler just kept firring , emptying the Henry and taking up a spare rifle .

 He had put down five more , as the fire from the wagon train returned to confuse the indians who were now being attacked on two sides.

 One fell from Tyler , another from the wagons deffenders , and a third was blown bloodily from his horse no more than fifty feet from her by whom she had no idea.

 She looked to see the Tyler had gone for his pistols , and stuck her head up to empty the shot gun at a band of three indians who had split from the main group to come up on thier side.

Two of the menacing figures went down in the blast with the third's arrow being knocked awya by the blast.

 He rode down on her none the less and her hands leapt to the spiller and burr .36 caliber revolver that hung straped in her  right holster.

She pulled on the weapon , feeling it slide through the leather while straining against the leg tie that alowed her the quickest possible draw.

Her thumb fell behind the hammer as her right leg steped back and her arm came into line with her target, all within blink of an eye.

 She fired catching the man in the chest and knowing from the look in his eyes that he was now hurt and angered. Her left hand came up with her spare pistol the Smith and Wesson .32 caliber revolver, smaller and and less acurate than her main gun it's round crossed the short distance to split the mans throat open.

 It was Tyler's fussilade of .44's that blew his body away from her as the indian lept from his mount in a suidcide dive.

 Perhaps it had been a distraction , but when they truned to get back into the larger fight, the small band of remaining warriors could be seen fleeing to the south under a very limited attack from the wagons.

 Only two or three rifles fired after them , but the indians had apearantly lost enough men for one day and simply didn't want to play anymore.

"Fine with me", Tyler said stepping over to the body only a few feet from Sam' and putting an extra round in it's head ,"Never hurts to be shure...that one came way too close."

"Yeah, " she said almost shaking and taking him into a powerful embrace.

"Okay hun' " , he said affter a moment , "let's get the horses and go down to meet the nieghbors."

"Fuck , ..I don't know if I realy want to meet these people. They scare the shit out of me...I mean what if their like toothless inbred klansmen or something", she said honestly fearful.

"Then I tell 'em yur' my sister and my wife...." , he said letting his jaw slack into a southern drawl that made her laugh despite herslef.

 "They looked human enough through the telescope...human and scared. Let's see if we can help and if their going our way?"

"It would be safer to ride with more people wouldn't it?"

 "Yeah , for us and for them. They don't have much in the way of guns, but we can pick up what the indians dropped. "

"Kill'em all ?"

"Yeah, if it's close enough to put a round into , put it out of it's misery. Let's not get shot in the back , you know how I feel about that.", he said taking off his hat to whipe the sweat from his forehead , and looking the part of the clasic american cowboy.

"Maybe we were born late" , she whispered as she turned away , but he didn't hear her.

 

 The trip back to the horses and the "Clean up " of the indians took the greater part of an hour . They added eighteen more horses and eleven rifles of various kinds to thier inventory along with pistols,  knives , hatches , bows, blankettes , war clubs , powder flasks and one flintlock double barreled shotgun.

 To his surprise not one of the weapons yet found were cartrige based. All were either flintlock or cap and ball , and he hoped that this far from the 'states it might remain that way for a while.

 Knowing some of America's history though, he knew better.

The real indian wars were just starting.

He would take a moment to meet the wagoneers , treat thier wounded , and then "Clean up" the indians on the other side of the wagon train before moving the train out.

 

  To thier surprise Ty' and Sam' were met by an armed child .

sixteen , not realy a child by western standards but by no means a man.

 The boy stood roughly Sam's hieght and wieghted the same. A mop of red hair gave away his scotish ancestory before the brouge did but only by mere seconds.

 "I'm Walter Houge , The last of the Houge men. I thank you on our behalf for your courageous help, but I have to ask your intentions before I let you enter our camp." , the boy said in thick barely understandable english.

"Wally hush ," Said a redheaed woman who had recently been crying and might again soon from the look of her. She looked thirty in the eyes, but fifty everywhere else. She was solid , not fat so much as healthy. No model by twentyfirst century standards but pretty in a hard worn way , thirty or so pounds overwieght , short and messy , with straight red hair and bloodied clothing , "These folks helped save our lives don't you dare turn them away."

"Pa' made me promise I'd look after y'all and I'm not letting them in unless they promise to behave themselves...thier too damned good with those guns."

"Let pa' meet them and ask them then ,before he dies. " , she said holding her voice clear but streaming  with tears , "Come this way..I"m affraid he doesn't have long."

 She led them through to the other side of the circle. The walk showed the dead in full relief , a half dozen men shot more than once , some with arrows sticking from them and among them thier women. Sam' noticed thath the blood stain on the redhead's dress was growing , and knew that she to was dying. The dead children chilled Sam' , the mere sight of them bringing damned up emotions to the surface.

 She wept silently and Tyler took her hand as they walked past the four dead readheaded kids.

The four year old with it's head blown away and it's face indistinguishable nearly forced Tyler to break and did force Sam to break. She stoped at the child and vomited , breaking into open sobbing which freed the woman to do the same.

 Tyler found himself supporting them both as hands full his eyes searched the distance for the indians return.

"Wally , show me where I'm going" , he said trying not to show his pain but cracking his voice as he spoke.

"Yes sir", the redheaded boy said taking the lead and walking straight towards an older brown haired man who was bleeding from several wounds and proped against a wagon wheel.

Tyler was amazed that the man still had his eyes open , and doubly amazed that he still held a rilfe. A spencer carbine , slow compared to the Henry, but cartrige based. An expensive weapon for such obviously poor people.

"I bought it from the Army for five dollars when I lost my leg in the battle of westport." , The man siad through a bloody froth noticing that Tyler was looking at it.

 "They let me buy my rifle and pistol and gave me and mine  land grants out here. That's where we're bound...but I'll not see it I'm affriad." The man stoped to cough up blood.

 "My brothers are dead in that pile there , some of our children , most of the women, but we saved most of the children. Wally...this man's in charge if he'll take you?"

The man was dying , and looking around him , Tyler could see that those moving around were the young. The oldest being a girl of possibly sixteen. With their parents dead and dying the kids wouldn't make it. It was so obvious as to be painfull. The pain of his father's death assailed him too , and he looked to Sam' who was barely compossing herslef.

"Not without your consent hun'" , he said catching her eye and knowing her answer from her look.

 "How can we not take them?" , was all she said and then looked away trying to find some place to put her eyes that wasn't filled with pain and despair. In futility she simply closed them and tried not to shake.

"Where are you bound?"

" The teritory they're calling Washington. Wally knows where the map is."

"We were kind of headed the other way , but it's as good as anywhere I guess.  What are we heading into?"

"Land son , land...over nine hundred acres between us , and I'll give a quater to the two of you to see the children safely there. Wally you heard that didn't you?"

"Yes sir , but I thought I was to care for our kin?" , the boy asked seeming a bit hurt by his fathers change of heart.

 "Ya' are son...I'll ask these people only to see that you get there. But you are the eldest man now..." , the man said through walls of pain and regret,

"They may stay on or they may not , they are not family. You are to hold our kin together , to build and to grow and to keep us alive through you.

 I'm sorry I can't go with you . May god guide you and keep you on your journey..." , the man said trailing into unconsciousness. Within minutes he was dead as well. Free to join his brothers in whatever heaven they might believe in.

 Tyler bit his lip at the bargian he had made.

Washington state , a beautiful state from what he'd been told. Birth place of "Grunge" rock , and home to millions in his day , but only a territory at present.

"Any idea how far ? " , he asked the woman who was cradling her dead husband , "I'm sorry mam' , but do you have any idea how far out we are from your claim?" , Tyler asked again seeing her grief but needing some information with which to calm his raging mind.

"Another month give or take...I'm affraid Scean never talked in miles but in days and weeks.  I'll get you the map...", she said rising to her feet slowly and nearly falling with the effort.

She wandered off with her son's help to one of the remaining wagons.

 Tyler watched as the children hurried to put out fires with what water was availible.

They did a hell of a jod of it. Two were out with one under control while the last had burnt itself out , leaving a scarred empty smoking hull where there had once been hopes and dreams.

 For a moment Tyler thought he could see the lifeless form of an infant in the chared remains and he simply looked away.

 The woman returned slowly with a hand drawn map and a jug of something that Ty' assumed to be alchohol. She took a long pull on the jug and then handed it to Sam' , handing him the map which marked in pencil where the old man best figured them to be.

He watched as Sam' calmed , settled by the loss of reality caused by alchohol , and then joined them in thier escape by taking a long burning pull of the moonshine.

 It washed through him , and his mind calmed. The change was instant in him , and it scared him , but it helped.

The woman barely standing handed the jug to Sam' , "I'll not need this where I'm going" , she said sitting down to die.

"Mam' , we'll leave you two to your moment. I'm sorry we couldn't be of more help."  , he said honestly and she caught the honesty in it.

"Keep our kin alive...that's all we can ask. Keep them alive and get them home safely , then saty or go your way. They have people there who will help them , kin of my sisters in law. Not close family but bound by blood...Now I have to say good bye . Thank you..." , she said flatly with a look that said that there was nothing left to say. Her gratitude was evident , as was her need to say good bye.

"Honey I need to clean up before the light fades...can you stay and help them?"

"Ty' they're all fucking dead , how can I help them?"

"Treat the kids wounds, introduce yourself , take control when the mother goes...keep them togther...We have to move from here. Back the way we came I'm affraid , but at least we know the way."

"You've got to be kidding me?"

"No , we head out for about three days and we'll come to a small town...then we have to turn around and go back through where we just came from. That's what the map says. Another month , maybe more and we'll be at thier settlement.  It shows a small town and some farms...that's all. From there who knows?"

"Okay...Okay...I can deal with that. Let's get it going then huh? , just burry the feelings and the boddies and move on? Back out into the nothing again?...Fuck Tyler...can we at least stay in town a day or two?"

 "Yeah, I could use that...get the kids to a preist if there is one , let us all deal with this.  Honey...I feel this too , but we need to move." , he said whipping back a tear.

"Okay , I'll get them togehter. You go "Clean up" , I just can't kill anymore today...too much death for one day.", she said shaking despite the booze.

 They both took another pull and set the jug aside.

 "God grant me the serenity..." , she heard him say as he moved purposefully into the field of the dead that lay beyond the wagons.

 

She watched him walk away pulling a pair of pistols from the pile that he'd taken from the indians.

 She cound't argue with the way he thought, "Why waste the good ammo when the dead men's guns would do?" . It was a cold logic that she knew would help them survive in this place , she was just a little scared by the fact that she was growing into it. She was also happy that he'd be saving the "real" guns for when thier lives were on the line.

 

 As she moved around the camp checking the kids for wounds she could hear the shots . One at a time with strict preciesness. Cold and efficient were the words that came to mind , words which didn't realy fit her man's heart , but words that she knew she needed to learn.

 Sarah had died surrounded by her children. At least God had given her the chance to say good bye...even though she was a bit miffed at who ever God might be , she thanked him for that kindness.

"Mam' , we have to bury them...Ma' was real stuborn about that." , Wally said . She hadn't even noticed his aproach.

 "I don't know what to say to that....Ty' said we have to move , so we'll move. You'll have to talk to him." , she said not looking at him.

 "Here mam' , this'll help" , he said handing her the jug , "I'll get us all togehter."

 

 Tyler returned shortly before sunset.

"We load the dead into what's left of the burnt out wagon and we can bury them tommorow." , he said curtly to the assembled mass.

 "We have to move, and we won't be able to move far before it's dark. We circle the wagons and set a watch, there'll be no fire tonight. Sorry."

 

 With that they piled the dead into a wagon and moved out along the trail back the way the children had come towards the first town Tyler and Sam had seen in months.

 

 They found a spot that Tyler felt was secure enough for a fire and the girls cooked food while Tyler unloaded the boddies with wally.

 In the morning they buried them with Tyler and Sam' reading over them.

 Tyler looked over his new responabilities with a questioning eye.

 He now had eleven souls to juorney with. Ten children ranging in age from five to sixteen and of course Sam'.

 He wondered for a moment how she'd feel about his next proposition , but felt in her eyes that he knew the answer.

The indians had either chosen not to return or had simply lost them , in either case , they reached the town unmolested.