Encounter
The campfire flickered in the dusk as the small party gathered around it tried to make sense of their day. An acute uneasiness filled the air while one man smoked a cigar watching the two women sitting between two other men. The glow from the fire revealed glances of concern as they nibbled on high-energy bars from the emergency backpack. A splashing murmur from a nearby creek sounded over the snips and cracks of the campfire.
“A week, damn it! We’ve spent a week out here. So we’ve run into trouble. I don’t see what there was in a mere circular print on a rock-ledge to make your men behave like that,” said Doctor Bashar in a voice as dry as his entire personality.
“You might have noticed the condition of the bodies,” Andersen, the lead guide and hunter, replied sarcastically.
Bashar glared at him, then picked up a twig, then made a crude map on the ground.
“As I understand it, we only have about fifteen miles to go. Since I have thirty days to complete the contract with Mr. Yoo, I say we continue. Those men are your responsibility and we’ve got too much…”
“Quit your bitch’in,” Andersen’s anger grew. “You can draw a map, but it’s not telling you we’re in the middle of nowhere. My men stumbled into something that ain’t natural. We’re just damn lucky your wife wanted to hang around by the creek so her sister could take more photographs. Otherwise, we’d be in the same condition as those corpses.”
Bashar’s eyes narrowed.
“Yes, perhaps, but we don’t know, do we? We only have your assurances. Which reminds me, you shouldn’t have exposed the women to that scene,” he said.
“Next time, you can cover their eyes. Death comes to everyone. You can’t hide it just because you think they’re weaker.” Andersen glanced at the women. “Anyway, let’s get back to a plan. We lost three good men. Worse, our ATVs are now worthless hunks of metal. That means we’re walking out of here.”
“Are you sure we can’t fix those vehicles?” Bashar asked.
Laughter from Jones caused the two men to look at him. The young man, who called himself a cultural journalist, shook his head.
