Advertisement
Not a member of Pastebin yet?
Sign Up,
it unlocks many cool features!
- So, there's a man crawling through the desert.
- He'd decided to try his SUV in a little bit of cross-country travel, had
- great fun zooming over the badlands and through the sand, got lost, hit a
- big rock, and then he couldn't get it started again. There were no cell
- phone towers anywhere near, so his cell phone was useless. He had no family,
- his parents had died a few years before in an auto accident, and his few
- friends had no idea he was out here.
- He stayed with the car for a day or so, but his one bottle of water ran out
- and he was getting thirsty. He thought maybe he knew the direction back, now
- that he'd paid attention to the sun and thought he'd figured out which way
- was north, so he decided to start walking. He figured he only had to go
- about 30 miles or so and he'd be back to the small town he'd gotten gas in
- last.
- He thinks about walking at night to avoid the heat and sun, but based upon
- how dark it actually was the night before, and given that he has no
- flashlight, he's afraid that he'll break a leg or step on a rattlesnake. So,
- he puts on some sun block, puts the rest in his pocket for reapplication
- later, brings an umbrella he'd had in the back of the SUV with him to give
- him a little shade, pours the windshield wiper fluid into his water bottle
- in case he gets that desperate, brings his pocket knife in case he finds a
- cactus that looks like it might have water in it, and heads out in the
- direction he thinks is right.
- He walks for the entire day. By the end of the day he's really thirsty. He's
- been sweating all day, and his lips are starting to crack. He's reapplied
- the sunblock twice, and tried to stay under the umbrella, but he still feels
- sunburned. The windshield wiper fluid sloshing in the bottle in his pocket
- is really getting tempting now. He knows that it's mainly water and some
- ethanol and coloring, but he also knows that they add some kind of poison to
- it to keep people from drinking it. He wonders what the poison is, and
- whether the poison would be worse than dying of thirst.
- He pushes on, trying to get to that small town before dark.
- By the end of the day he starts getting worried. He figures he's been
- walking at least 3 miles an hour, according to his watch for over 10 hours.
- That means that if his estimate was right that he should be close to the
- town. But he doesn't recognize any of this. He had to cross a dry creek bed
- a mile or two back, and he doesn't remember coming through it in the SUV. He
- figures that maybe he got his direction off just a little and that the dry
- creek bed was just off to one side of his path. He tells himself that he's
- close, and that after dark he'll start seeing the town lights over one of
- these hills, and that'll be all he needs.
- As it gets dim enough that he starts stumbling over small rocks and things,
- he finds a spot and sits down to wait for full dark and the town lights.
- Full dark comes before he knows it. He must have dozed off. He stands back
- up and turns all the way around. He sees nothing but stars.
- He wakes up the next morning feeling absolutely lousy. His eyes are gummy
- and his mouth and nose feel like they're full of sand. He so thirsty that he
- can't even swallow. He barely got any sleep because it was so cold. He'd
- forgotten how cold it got at night in the desert and hadn't noticed it the
- night before because he'd been in his car.
- He knows the Rule of Threes - three minutes without air, three days without
- water, three weeks without food - then you die. Some people can make it a
- little longer, in the best situations. But the desert heat and having to
- walk and sweat isn't the best situation to be without water. He figures,
- unless he finds water, this is his last day.
- He rinses his mouth out with a little of the windshield wiper fluid. He
- waits a while after spitting that little bit out, to see if his mouth goes
- numb, or he feels dizzy or something. Has his mouth gone numb? Is it just in
- his mind? He's not sure. He'll go a little farther, and if he still doesn't
- find water, he'll try drinking some of the fluid.
- Then he has to face his next, harder question - which way does he go from
- here? Does he keep walking the same way he was yesterday (assuming that he
- still knows which way that is), or does he try a new direction? He has no
- idea what to do.
- Looking at the hills and dunes around him, he thinks he knows the direction
- he was heading before. Just going by a feeling, he points himself somewhat
- to the left of that, and starts walking.
- As he walks, the day starts heating up. The desert, too cold just a couple
- of hours before, soon becomes an oven again. He sweats a little at first,
- and then stops. He starts getting worried at that - when you stop sweating
- he knows that means you're in trouble - usually right before heat stroke.
- He decides that it's time to try the windshield wiper fluid. He can't wait
- any longer - if he passes out, he's dead. He stops in the shade of a large
- rock, takes the bottle out, opens it, and takes a mouthful. He slowly
- swallows it, making it last as long as he can. It feels so good in his dry
- and cracked throat that he doesn't even care about the nasty taste. He takes
- another mouthful, and makes it last too. Slowly, he drinks half the bottle.
- He figures that since he's drinking it, he might as well drink enough to
- make some difference and keep himself from passing out.
- He's quit worrying about the denaturing of the wiper fluid. If it kills him,
- it kills him - if he didn't drink it, he'd die anyway. Besides, he's pretty
- sure that whatever substance they denature the fluid with is just designed
- to make you sick - their way of keeping winos from buying cheap wiper fluid
- for the ethanol content. He can handle throwing up, if it comes to that.
- He walks. He walks in the hot, dry, windless desert. Sand, rocks, hills,
- dunes, the occasional scrawny cactus or dried bush. No sign of water.
- Sometimes he'll see a little movement to one side or the other, but whatever
- moved is usually gone before he can focus his eyes on it. Probably birds,
- lizards, or mice. Maybe snakes, though they usually move more at night. He's
- careful to stay away from the movements.
- After a while, he begins to stagger. He's not sure if it's fatigue, heat
- stroke finally catching him, or maybe he was wrong and the denaturing of the
- wiper fluid was worse than he thought. He tries to steady himself, and keep
- going.
- After more walking, he comes to a large stretch of sand. This is good! He
- knows he passed over a stretch of sand in the SUV - he remembers doing
- donuts in it. Or at least he thinks he remembers it - he's getting woozy
- enough and tired enough that he's not sure what he remembers any more or if
- he's hallucinating. But he thinks he remembers it. So he heads off into it,
- trying to get to the other side, hoping that it gets him closer to the town.
- He was heading for a town, wasn't he? He thinks he was. He isn't sure any
- more. He's not even sure how long he's been walking any more. Is it still
- morning? Or has it moved into afternoon and the sun is going down again? It
- must be afternoon - it seems like it's been too long since he started out.
- He walks through the sand.
- After a while, he comes to a big dune in the sand. This is bad. He doesn't
- remember any dunes when driving over the sand in his SUV. Or at least he
- doesn't think he remembers any. This is bad.
- But, he has no other direction to go. Too late to turn back now. He figures
- that he'll get to the top of the dune and see if he can see anything from
- there that helps him find the town. He keeps going up the dune.
- Halfway up, he slips in the bad footing of the sand for the second or third
- time, and falls to his knees. He doesn't feel like getting back up - he'll
- just fall down again. So, he keeps going up the dune on his hand and knees.
- While crawling, if his throat weren't so dry, he'd laugh. He's finally
- gotten to the hackneyed image of a man lost in the desert - crawling through
- the sand on his hands and knees. If would be the perfect image, he imagines,
- if only his clothes were more ragged. The people crawling through the desert
- in the cartoons always had ragged clothes. But his have lasted without any
- rips so far. Somebody will probably find his dessicated corpse half buried
- in the sand years from now, and his clothes will still be in fine shape -
- shake the sand out, and a good wash, and they'd be wearable again. He wishes
- his throat were wet enough to laugh. He coughs a little instead, and it
- hurts.
- He finally makes it to the top of the sand dune. Now that he's at the top,
- he struggles a little, but manages to stand up and look around. All he sees
- is sand. Sand, and more sand. Behind him, about a mile away, he thinks he
- sees the rocky ground he left to head into this sand. Ahead of him, more
- dunes, more sand. This isn't where he drove his SUV. This is Hell. Or close
- enough.
- Again, he doesn't know what to do. He decides to drink the rest of the wiper
- fluid while figuring it out. He takes out the bottle, and is removing the
- cap, when he glances to the side and sees something. Something in the sand.
- At the bottom of the dune, off to the side, he sees something strange. It's
- a flat area, in the sand. He stops taking the cap of the bottle off, and
- tries to look closer. The area seems to be circular. And it's dark - darker
- than the sand. And, there seems to be something in the middle of it, but he
- can't tell what it is. He looks as hard as he can, and still can tell from
- here. He's going to have to go down there and look.
- He puts the bottle back in his pocket, and starts to stumble down the dune.
- After a few steps, he realizes that he's in trouble - he's not going to be
- able to keep his balance. After a couple of more sliding, tottering steps,
- he falls and starts to roll down the dune. The sand it so hot when his body
- hits it that for a minute he thinks he's caught fire on the way down - like
- a movie car wreck flashing into flames as it goes over the cliff, before it
- ever even hits the ground. He closes his eyes and mouth, covers his face
- with his hands, and waits to stop rolling.
- He stops, at the bottom of the dune. After a minute or two, he finds enough
- energy to try to sit up and get the sand out of his face and clothes. When
- he clears his eyes enough, he looks around to make sure that the dark spot
- in the sand it still there and he hadn't just imagined it.
- So, seeing the large, flat, dark spot on the sand is still there, he begins
- to crawl towards it. He'd get up and walk towards it, but he doesn't seem to
- have the energy to get up and walk right now. He must be in the final stages
- of dehydration he figures, as he crawls. If this place in the sand doesn't
- have water, he'll likely never make it anywhere else. This is his last
- chance.
- He gets closer and closer, but still can't see what's in the middle of the
- dark area. His eyes won't quite focus any more for some reason. And lifting
- his head up to look takes so much effort that he gives up trying. He just
- keeps crawling.
- Finally, he reaches the area he'd seen from the dune. It takes him a minute
- of crawling on it before he realizes that he's no longer on sand - he's now
- crawling on some kind of dark stone. Stone with some kind of marking on it -
- a pattern cut into the stone. He's too tired to stand up and try to see what
- the pattern is - so he just keeps crawling. He crawls towards the center,
- where his blurry eyes still see something in the middle of the dark stone
- area.
- His mind, detached in a strange way, notes that either his hands and knees
- are so burnt by the sand that they no longer feel pain, or that this dark
- stone, in the middle of a burning desert with a pounding, punishing sun
- overhead, doesn't seem to be hot. It almost feels cool. He considers lying
- down on the nice cool surface.
- Cool, dark stone. Not a good sign. He must be hallucinating this. He's
- probably in the middle of a patch of sand, already lying face down and
- dying, and just imagining this whole thing. A desert mirage. Soon the
- beautiful women carrying pitchers of water will come up and start giving him
- a drink. Then he'll know he's gone.
- He decides against laying down on the cool stone. If he's going to die here
- in the middle of this hallucination, he at least wants to see what's in the
- center before he goes. He keeps crawling.
- It's the third time that he hears the voice before he realizes what he's
- hearing. He would swear that someone just said, "Greetings, traveler. You do
- not look well. Do you hear me?"
- He stops crawling. He tries to look up from where he is on his hands and
- knees, but it's too much effort to lift his head. So he tries something
- different - he leans back and tries to sit up on the stone. After a few
- seconds, he catches his balance, avoids falling on his face, sits up, and
- tries to focus his eyes. Blurry. He rubs his eyes with the back of his hands
- and tries again. Better this time.
- Yep. He can see. He's sitting in the middle of a large, flat, dark expanse
- of stone. Directly next to him, about three feet away, is a white post or
- pole about two inches in diameter and sticking up about four or five feet
- out of the stone, at an angle.
- And wrapped around this white rod, tail with rattle on it hovering and
- seeming to be ready to start rattling, is what must be a fifteen foot long
- desert diamondback rattlesnake, looking directly at him.
- He stares at the snake in shock. He doesn't have the energy to get up and
- run away. He doesn't even have the energy to crawl away. This is it, his
- final resting place. No matter what happens, he's not going to be able to
- move from this spot.
- Well, at least dying of a bite from this monster should be quicker than
- dying of thirst. He'll face his end like a man. He struggles to sit up a
- little straighter. The snake keeps watching him. He lifts one hand and waves
- it in the snake's direction, feebly. The snake watches the hand for a
- moment, then goes back to watching the man, looking into his eyes.
- Hmmm. Maybe the snake had no interest in biting him? It hadn't rattled yet -
- that was a good sign. Maybe he wasn't going to die of snake bite after all.
- He then remembers that he'd looked up when he'd reached the center here
- because he thought he'd heard a voice. He was still very woozy - he was
- likely to pass out soon, the sun still beat down on him even though he was
- now on cool stone. He still didn't have anything to drink. But maybe he had
- actually heard a voice. This stone didn't look natural. Nor did that white
- post sticking up out of the stone. Someone had to have built this. Maybe
- they were still nearby. Maybe that was who talked to him. Maybe this snake
- was even their pet, and that's why it wasn't biting.
- He tries to clear his throat to say, "Hello," but his throat is too dry. All
- that comes out is a coughing or wheezing sound. There is no way he's going
- to be able to talk without something to drink. He feels his pocket, and the
- bottle with the wiper fluid is still there. He shakily pulls the bottle out,
- almost losing his balance and falling on his back in the process. This isn't
- good. He doesn't have much time left, by his reckoning, before he passes
- out.
- He gets the lid off of the bottle, manages to get the bottle to his lips,
- and pours some of the fluid into his mouth. He sloshes it around, and then
- swallows it. He coughs a little. His throat feels better. Maybe he can talk
- now.
- He tries again. Ignoring the snake, he turns to look around him, hoping to
- spot the owner of this place, and croaks out, "Hello? Is there anyone here?"
- He hears, from his side, "Greetings. What is it that you want?"
- He turns his head, back towards the snake. That's where the sound had seemed
- to come from. The only thing he can think of is that there must be a
- speaker, hidden under the snake, or maybe built into that post. He decides
- to try asking for help.
- "Please," he croaks again, suddenly feeling dizzy, "I'd love to not be
- thirsty any more. I've been a long time without water. Can you help me?"
- Looking in the direction of the snake, hoping to see where the voice was
- coming from this time, he is shocked to see the snake rear back, open its
- mouth, and speak. He hears it say, as the dizziness overtakes him and he
- falls forward, face first on the stone, "Very well. Coming up."
- A piercing pain shoots through his shoulder. Suddenly he is awake. He sits
- up and grabs his shoulder, wincing at the throbbing pain. He's momentarily
- disoriented as he looks around, and then he remembers - the crawl across the
- sand, the dark area of stone, the snake. He sees the snake, still wrapped
- around the tilted white post, still looking at him.
- He reaches up and feels his shoulder, where it hurts. It feels slightly wet.
- He pulls his fingers away and looks at them - blood. He feels his shoulder
- again - his shirt has what feels like two holes in it - two puncture holes -
- they match up with the two aching spots of pain on his shoulder. He had been
- bitten. By the snake.
- "It'll feel better in a minute." He looks up - it's the snake talking. He
- hadn't dreamed it. Suddenly he notices - he's not dizzy any more. And more
- importantly, he's not thirsty any more - at all!
- "Have I died? Is this the afterlife? Why are you biting me in the
- afterlife?"
- "Sorry about that, but I had to bite you," says the snake. "That's the way I
- work. It all comes through the bite. Think of it as natural medicine."
- "You bit me to help me? Why aren't I thirsty any more? Did you give me a
- drink before you bit me? How did I drink enough while unconscious to not be
- thirsty any more? I haven't had a drink for over two days. Well, except for
- the windshield wiper fluid... hold it, how in the world does a snake talk?
- Are you real? Are you some sort of Disney animation?"
- "No," says the snake, "I'm real. As real as you or anyone is, anyway. I
- didn't give you a drink. I bit you. That's how it works - it's what I do. I
- bite. I don't have hands to give you a drink, even if I had water just
- sitting around here."
- The man sat stunned for a minute. Here he was, sitting in the middle of the
- desert on some strange stone that should be hot but wasn't, talking to a
- snake that could talk back and had just bitten him. And he felt better. Not
- great - he was still starving and exhausted, but much better - he was no
- longer thirsty. He had started to sweat again, but only slightly. He felt
- hot, in this sun, but it was starting to get lower in the sky, and the cool
- stone beneath him was a relief he could notice now that he was no longer
- dying of thirst.
- "I might suggest that we take care of that methanol you now have in your
- system with the next request," continued the snake. "I can guess why you
- drank it, but I'm not sure how much you drank, or how much methanol was left
- in the wiper fluid. That stuff is nasty. It'll make you go blind in a day or
- two, if you drank enough of it."
- "Ummm, n-next request?" said the man. He put his hand back on his hurting
- shoulder and backed away from the snake a little.
- "That's the way it works. If you like, that is," explained the snake. "You
- get three requests. Call them wishes, if you wish." The snake grinned at his
- own joke, and the man drew back a little further from the show of fangs.
- "But there are rules," the snake continued. "The first request is free. The
- second requires an agreement of secrecy. The third requires the binding of
- responsibility." The snake looks at the man seriously.
- "By the way," the snake says suddenly, "my name is Nathan. Old Nathan,
- Samuel used to call me. He gave me the name. Before that, most of the Bound
- used to just call me 'Snake'. But that got old, and Samuel wouldn't stand
- for it. He said that anything that could talk needed a name. He was big into
- names. You can call me Nate, if you wish." Again, the snake grinned. "Sorry
- if I don't offer to shake, but I think you can understand - my shake sounds
- somewhat threatening." The snake give his rattle a little shake.
- "Umm, my name is Jack," said the man, trying to absorb all of this. "Jack
- Samson.
- "Can I ask you a question?" Jack says suddenly. "What happened to the
- poison...umm, in your bite. Why aren't I dying now? How did you do that?
- What do you mean by that's how you work?"
- "That's more than one question," grins Nate. "But I'll still try to answer
- all of them. First, yes, you can ask me a question." The snake's grin gets
- wider. "Second, the poison is in you. It changed you. You now no longer need
- to drink. That's what you asked for. Or, well, technically, you asked to not
- be thirsty any more - but 'any more' is such a vague term. I decided to make
- it permanent - now, as long as you live, you shouldn't need to drink much at
- all. Your body will conserve water very efficiently. You should be able to
- get enough just from the food you eat - much like a creature of the desert.
- You've been changed.
- "For the third question," Nate continues, "you are still dying. Besides the
- effects of that methanol in your system, you're a man - and men are mortal.
- In your current state, I give you no more than about another 50 years.
- Assuming you get out of this desert, alive, that is." Nate seemed vastly
- amused at his own humor, and continued his wide grin.
- "As for the fourth question," Nate said, looking more serious as far as Jack
- could tell, as Jack was just now working on his ability to read
- talking-snake emotions from snake facial features, "first you have to agree
- to make a second request and become bound by the secrecy, or I can't tell
- you."
- "Wait," joked Jack, "isn't this where you say you could tell me, but you'd
- have to kill me?"
- "I thought that was implied." Nate continued to look serious.
- "Ummm...yeah." Jack leaned back a little as he remembered again that he was
- talking to a fifteen foot poisonous reptile with a reputation for having a
- nasty temper. "So, what is this 'Bound by Secrecy' stuff, and can you really
- stop the effects of the methanol?" Jack thought for a second. "And, what do
- you mean methanol, anyway? I thought these days they use ethanol in wiper
- fluid, and just denature it?"
- "They may, I don't really know," said Nate. "I haven't gotten out in a
- while. Maybe they do. All I know is that I smell methanol on your breath and
- on that bottle in your pocket. And the blue color of the liquid when you
- pulled it out to drink some let me guess that it was wiper fluid. I assume
- that they still color wiper fluid blue?"
- "Yeah, they do," said Jack.
- "I figured," replied Nate. "As for being bound by secrecy - with the
- fulfillment of your next request, you will be bound to say nothing about me,
- this place, or any of the information I will tell you after that, when you
- decide to go back out to your kind. You won't be allowed to talk about me,
- write about me, use sign language, charades, or even act in a way that will
- lead someone to guess correctly about me. You'll be bound to secrecy. Of
- course, I'll also ask you to promise not to give me away, and as I'm
- guessing that you're a man of your word, you'll never test the binding
- anyway, so you won't notice." Nate said the last part with utter confidence.
- Jack, who had always prided himself on being a man of his word, felt a
- little nervous at this. "Ummm, hey, Nate, who are you? How did you know
- that? Are you, umm, omniscient, or something?"
- Well, Jack," said Nate sadly, "I can't tell you that, unless you make the
- second request." Nate looked away for a minute, then looked back.
- "Umm, well, ok," said Jack, "what is this about a second request? What can I
- ask for? Are you allowed to tell me that?"
- "Sure!" said Nate, brightening. "You're allowed to ask for changes. Changes
- to yourself. They're like wishes, but they can only affect you. Oh, and
- before you ask, I can't give you immortality. Or omniscience. Or
- omnipresence, for that matter. Though I might be able to make you gaseous
- and yet remain alive, and then you could spread through the atmosphere and
- sort of be omnipresent. But what good would that be - you still wouldn't be
- omniscient and thus still could only focus on one thing at a time. Not very
- useful, at least in my opinion." Nate stopped when he realized that Jack was
- staring at him.
- "Well, anyway," continued Nate, "I'd probably suggest giving you permanent
- good health. It would negate the methanol now in your system, you'd be
- immune to most poisons and diseases, and you'd tend to live a very long
- time, barring accident, of course. And you'll even have a tendency to
- recover from accidents well. It always seemed like a good choice for a
- request to me."
- "Cure the methanol poisoning, huh?" said Jack. "And keep me healthy for a
- long time? Hmmm. It doesn't sound bad at that. And it has to be a request
- about a change to me? I can't ask to be rich, right? Because that's not
- really a change to me?"
- "Right," nodded Nate.
- "Could I ask to be a genius and permanently healthy?" Jack asked, hopefully.
- "That takes two requests, Jack."
- "Yeah, I figured so," said Jack. "But I could ask to be a genius? I could
- become the smartest scientist in the world? Or the best athlete?"
- "Well, I could make you very smart," admitted Nate, "but that wouldn't
- necessarily make you the best scientist in the world. Or, I could make you
- very athletic, but it wouldn't necessarily make you the best athlete either.
- You've heard the saying that 99% of genius is hard work? Well, there's some
- truth to that. I can give you the talent, but I can't make you work hard. It
- all depends on what you decide to do with it."
- "Hmmm," said Jack. "Ok, I think I understand. And I get a third request,
- after this one?"
- "Maybe," said Nate, "it depends on what you decide then. There are more
- rules for the third request that I can only tell you about after the second
- request. You know how it goes." Nate looked like he'd shrug, if he had
- shoulders.
- "Ok, well, since I'd rather not be blind in a day or two, and permanent
- health doesn't sound bad, then consider that my second request. Officially.
- Do I need to sign in blood or something?"
- "No," said Nate. "Just hold out your hand. Or heel." Nate grinned. "Or
- whatever part you want me to bite. I have to bite you again. Like I said,
- that's how it works - the poison, you know," Nate said apologetically.
- Jack winced a little and felt his shoulder, where the last bite was. Hey, it
- didn't hurt any more. Just like Nate had said. That made Jack feel better
- about the biting business. But still, standing still while a fifteen foot
- snake sunk it's fangs into you. Jack stood up. Ignoring how good it felt to
- be able to stand again, and the hunger starting to gnaw at his stomach, Jack
- tried to decide where he wanted to get bitten. Despite knowing that it
- wouldn't hurt for long, Jack knew that this wasn't going to be easy.
- "Hey, Jack," Nate suddenly said, looking past Jack towards the dunes behind
- him, "is that someone else coming up over there?"
- Jack spun around and looked. Who else could be out here in the middle of
- nowhere? And did they bring food?
- Wait a minute, there was nobody over there. What was Nate...
- Jack let out a bellow as he felt two fangs sink into his rear end, through
- his jeans...
- Jack sat down carefully, favoring his more tender buttock. "I would have
- decided, eventually, Nate. I was just thinking about it. You didn't have to
- hoodwink me like that."
- "I've been doing this a long time, Jack," said Nate, confidently. "You
- humans have a hard time sitting still and letting a snake bite you -
- especially one my size. And besides, admit it - it's only been a couple of
- minutes and it already doesn't hurt any more, does it? That's because of the
- health benefit with this one. I told you that you'd heal quickly now."
- "Yeah, well, still," said Jack, "it's the principle of the thing. And nobody
- likes being bitten in the butt! Couldn't you have gotten my calf or
- something instead?"
- "More meat in the typical human butt," replied Nate. "And less chance you
- accidentally kick me or move at the last second."
- "Yeah, right. So, tell me all of these wonderful secrets that I now qualify
- to hear," answered Jack.
- "Ok," said Nate. "Do you want to ask questions first, or do you want me to
- just start talking?"
- "Just talk," said Jack. "I'll sit here and try to not think about food."
- "We could go try to rustle up some food for you first, if you like,"
- answered Nate.
- "Hey! You didn't tell me you had food around here, Nate!" Jack jumped up.
- "What do we have? Am I in walking distance to town? Or can you magically
- whip up food along with your other powers?" Jack was almost shouting with
- excitement. His stomach had been growling for hours.
- "I was thinking more like I could flush something out of its hole and bite
- it for you, and you could skin it and eat it. Assuming you have a knife,
- that is," replied Nate, with the grin that Jack was starting to get used to.
- "Ugh," said Jack, sitting back down. "I think I'll pass. I can last a little
- longer before I get desperate enough to eat desert rat, or whatever else it
- is you find out here. And there's nothing to burn - I'd have to eat it raw.
- No thanks. Just talk."
- "Ok," replied Nate, still grinning. "But I'd better hurry, before you start
- looking at me as food.
- Nate reared back a little, looked around for a second, and then continued.
- "You, Jack, are sitting in the middle of the Garden of Eden."
- Jack looked around at the sand and dunes and then looked back at Nate
- sceptically.
- "Well, that's the best I can figure it, anyway, Jack," said Nate. "Stand up
- and look at the symbol on the rock here." Nate gestured around the dark
- stone they were both sitting on with his nose.
- Jack stood up and looked. Carved into the stone in a bas-relief was a
- representation of a large tree. The angled-pole that Nate was wrapped around
- was coming out of the trunk of the tree, right below where the main branches
- left the truck to reach out across the stone. It was very well done - it
- looked more like a tree had been reduced to almost two dimensions and
- embedded in the stone than it did like a carving.
- Jack walked around and looked at the details in the fading light of the
- setting sun. He wished he'd looked at it while the sun was higher in the
- sky.
- Wait! The sun was setting! That meant he was going to have to spend another
- night out here! Arrrgh!
- Jack looked out across the desert for a little bit, and then came back and
- stood next to Nate. "In all the excitement, I almost forgot, Nate," said
- Jack. "Which way is it back to town? And how far? I'm eventually going to
- have to head back - I'm not sure I'll be able to survive by eating raw
- desert critters for long. And even if I can, I'm not sure I'll want to."
- "It's about 30 miles that way." Nate pointed, with the rattle on his tail
- this time. As far as Jack could tell, it was a direction at right angles to
- the way he'd been going when he was crawling here. "But that's 30 miles by
- the way the crow flies. It's about 40 by the way a man walks. You should be
- able to do it in about half a day with your improved endurance, if you head
- out early tomorrow, Jack."
- Jack looked out the way the snake had pointed for a few seconds more, and
- then sat back down. It was getting dark. Not much he could do about heading
- out right now. And besides, Nate was just about to get to the interesting
- stuff. "Garden of Eden? As best as you can figure it?"
- "Well, yeah, as best as I and Samuel could figure it anyway," said Nate. "He
- figured that the story just got a little mixed up. You know, snake, in a
- 'tree', offering 'temptations', making bargains. That kind stuff. But he
- could never quite figure out how the Hebrews found out about this spot from
- across the ocean. He worried about that for a while."
- "Garden of Eden, hunh?" said Jack. "How long have you been here, Nate?"
- "No idea, really," replied Nate. "A long time. It never occurred to me to
- count years, until recently, and by then, of course, it was too late. But I
- do remember when this whole place was green, so I figure it's been thousands
- of years, at least."
- "So, are you the snake that tempted Eve?" said Jack.
- "Beats me," said Nate. "Maybe. I can't remember if the first one of your
- kind that I talked to was female or not, and I never got a name, but it
- could have been. And I suppose she could have considered my offer to grant
- requests a 'temptation', though I've rarely had refusals."
- "Well, umm, how did you get here then? And why is that white pole stuck out
- of the stone there?" asked Jack.
- "Dad left me here. Or, I assume it was my dad. It was another snake - much
- bigger than I was back then. I remember talking to him, but I don't remember
- if it was in a language, or just kind of understanding what he wanted. But
- one day, he brought me to this stone, told me about it, and asked me to do
- something for him. I talked it over with him for a while, then agreed. I've
- been here ever since.
- "What is this place?" said Jack. "And what did he ask you to do?"
- "Well, you see this pole here, sticking out of the stone?" Nate loosened his
- coils around the tilted white pole and showed Jack where it descended into
- the stone. The pole was tilted at about a 45 degree angle and seemed to
- enter the stone in an eighteen inch slot cut into the stone. Jack leaned
- over and looked. The slot was dark and the pole went down into it as far as
- Jack could see in the dim light. Jack reached out to touch the pole, but
- Nate was suddenly there in the way.
- "You can't touch that yet, Jack," said Nate.
- "Why not?" asked Jack.
- "I haven't explained it to you yet," replied Nate.
- "Well, it kinda looks like a lever or something," said Jack. "You'd push it
- that way, and it would move in the slot."
- "Yep, that's what it is," replied Nate.
- "What does it do?" asked Jack. "End the world?"
- "Oh, no," said Nate. "Nothing that drastic. It just ends humanity. I call it
- 'The Lever of Doom'." For the last few words Nate had used a deeper, ringing
- voice. He tried to look serious for a few seconds, and then gave up and
- grinned.
- Jack was initially startled by Nate's pronouncement, but when Nate grinned
- Jack laughed. "Ha! You almost had me fooled for a second there. What does it
- really do?"
- "Oh, it really ends humanity, like I said," smirked Nate. "I just thought
- the voice I used was funny, didn't you?"
- Nate continued to grin.
- "A lever to end humanity?" asked Jack. "What in the world is that for? Why
- would anyone need to end humanity?"
- "Well," replied Nate, "I get the idea that maybe humanity was an experiment.
- Or maybe the Big Guy just thought, that if humanity started going really
- bad, there should be a way to end it. I'm not really sure. All I know are
- the rules, and the guesses that Samuel and I had about why it's here. I
- didn't think to ask back when I started here."
- "Rules? What rules?" asked Jack.
- "The rules are that I can't tell anybody about it or let them touch it
- unless they agree to be bound to secrecy by a bite. And that only one human
- can be bound in that way at a time. That's it." explained Nate.
- Jack looked somewhat shocked. "You mean that I could pull the lever now?
- You'd let me end humanity?"
- "Yep," replied Nate, "if you want to." Nate looked at Jack carefully. "Do
- you want to, Jack?"
- "Umm, no." said Jack, stepping a little further back from the lever. "Why in
- the world would anyone want to end humanity? It'd take a psychotic to want
- that! Or worse, a suicidal psychotic, because it would kill him too,
- wouldn't it?"
- "Yep," replied Nate, "being as he'd be human too."
- "Has anyone ever seriously considered it?" asked Nate. "Any of those bound
- to secrecy, that is?"
- "Well, of course, I think they've all seriously considered it at one time or
- another. Being given that kind of responsibility makes you sit down and
- think, or so I'm told. Samuel considered it several times. He'd often get
- disgusted with humanity, come out here, and just hold the lever for a while.
- But he never pulled it. Or you wouldn't be here." Nate grinned some more.
- Jack sat down, well back from the lever. He looked thoughtful and puzzled at
- the same time. After a bit, he said, "So this makes me the Judge of
- humanity? I get to decide whether they keep going or just end? Me?"
- "That seems to be it," agreed Nate.
- "What kind of criteria do I use to decide?" said Jack. "How do I make this
- decision? Am I supposed to decide if they're good? Or too many of them are
- bad? Or that they're going the wrong way? Is there a set of rules for that?"
- "Nope," replied Nate. "You pretty much just have to decide on your own. It's
- up to you, however you want to decide it. I guess that you're just supposed
- to know."
- "But what if I get mad at someone? Or some girl dumps me and I feel
- horrible? Couldn't I make a mistake? How do I know that I won't screw up?"
- protested Jack.
- Nate gave his kind of snake-like shrug again. "You don't. You just have to
- try your best, Jack."
- Jack sat there for a while, staring off into the desert that was rapidly
- getting dark, chewing on a fingernail.
- Suddenly, Jack turned around and looked at the snake. "Nate, was Samuel the
- one bound to this before me?"
- "Yep," replied Nate. "He was a good guy. Talked to me a lot. Taught me to
- read and brought me books. I think I still have a good pile of them buried
- in the sand around here somewhere. I still miss him. He died a few months
- ago."
- "Sounds like a good guy," agreed Jack. "How did he handle this, when you
- first told him. What did he do?"
- "Well," said Nate, "he sat down for a while, thought about it for a bit, and
- then asked me some questions, much like you're doing."
- "What did he ask you, if you're allowed to tell me?" asked Jack.
- "He asked me about the third request," replied Nate.
- "Aha!" It was Jack's turn to grin. "And what did you tell him?"
- "I told him the rules for the third request. That to get the third request
- you have to agree to this whole thing. That if it ever comes to the point
- that you really think that humanity should be ended, that you'll come here
- and end it. You won't avoid it, and you won't wimp out." Nate looked serious
- again. "And you'll be bound to do it too, Jack."
- "Hmmm." Jack looked back out into the darkness for a while.
- Nate watched him, waiting.
- "Nate," continued Jack, quietly, eventually. "What did Samuel ask for with
- his third request?"
- Nate sounded like he was grinning again as he replied, also quietly,
- "Wisdom, Jack. He asked for wisdom. As much as I could give him."
- "Ok," said Jack, suddenly, standing up and facing away from Nate, "give it
- to me.
- Nate looked at Jack's backside. "Give you what, Jack?"
- "Give me that wisdom. The same stuff that Samuel asked for. If it helped
- him, maybe it'll help me too." Jack turned his head to look back over his
- shoulder at Nate. "It did help him, right?"
- "He said it did," replied Nate. "But he seemed a little quieter afterward.
- Like he had a lot to think about."
- "Well, yeah, I can see that," said Jack. "So, give it to me." Jack turned to
- face away from Nate again, bent over slightly and tensed up.
- Nate watched Jack tense up with a little exasperation. If he bit Jack now,
- Jack would likely jump out of his skin and maybe hurt them both.
- "You remember that you'll be bound to destroy humanity if it ever looks like
- it needs it, right Jack?" asked Nate, shifting position.
- "Yeah, yeah, I got that," replied Jack, eyes squeezed tightly shut and body
- tense, not noticing the change in direction of Nate's voice.
- "And," continued Nate, from his new position, "do you remember that you'll
- turn bright purple, and grow big horns and extra eyes?"
- "Yeah, yeah...Hey, wait a minute!" said Jack, opening his eyes,
- straightening up and turning around. "Purple?!" He didn't see Nate there.
- With the moonlight Jack could see that the lever extended up from its slot
- in the rock without the snake wrapped around it.
- Jack heard, from behind him, Nate's "Just Kidding!" right before he felt the
- now familiar piercing pain, this time in the other buttock.
- Jack sat on the edge of the dark stone in the rapidly cooling air, his feet
- extending out into the sand. He stared out into the darkness, listening to
- the wind stir the sand, occasionally rubbing his butt where he'd been
- recently bitten.
- Nate had left for a little while, had come back with a desert-rodent-shaped
- bulge somewhere in his middle, and was now wrapped back around the lever,
- his tongue flicking out into the desert night's air the only sign that he
- was still awake.
- Occasionally Jack, with his toes absentmindedly digging in the sand while he
- thought, would ask Nate a question without turning around.
- "Nate, do accidents count?"
- Nate lifted his head a little bit. "What do you mean, Jack?"
- Jack tilted his head back like he was looking at the stars. "You know,
- accidents. If I accidentally fall on the lever, without meaning to, does
- that still wipe out humanity?"
- "Yeah, I'm pretty sure it does, Jack. I'd suggest you be careful about that
- if you start feeling wobbly," said Nate with some amusement.
- A little later - "Does it have to be me that pulls the lever?" asked Jack.
- "That's the rule, Jack. Nobody else can pull it," answered Nate.
- "No," Jack shook his head, "I meant does it have to be my hand? Could I pull
- the lever with a rope tied around it? Or push it with a stick? Or throw a
- rock?"
- "Yes, those should work," replied Nate. "Though I'm not sure how complicated
- you could get. Samuel thought about trying to build some kind of remote
- control for it once, but gave it up. Everything he'd build would be gone by
- the next sunrise, if it was touching the stone, or over it. I told him that
- in the past others that had been bound had tried to bury the lever so they
- wouldn't be tempted to pull it, but every time the stones or sand or
- whatever had disappeared."
- "Wow," said Jack, "Cool." Jack leaned back until only his elbows kept him
- off of the stone and looked up into the sky.
- "Nate, how long did Samuel live? One of his wishes was for health too,
- right?" asked Jack.
- "Yes," replied Nate, "it was. He lived 167 years, Jack."
- "Wow, 167 years. That's almost 140 more years I'll live if I live as long.
- Do you know what he died of, Nate?"
- "He died of getting tired of living, Jack," Nate said, sounding somewhat
- sad.
- Jack turned his head to look at Nate in the starlight.
- Nate looked back. "Samuel knew he wasn't going to be able to stay in
- society. He figured that they'd eventually see him still alive and start
- questioning it, so he decided that he'd have to disappear after a while. He
- faked his death once, but changed his mind - he decided it was too early and
- he could stay for a little longer. He wasn't very fond of mankind, but he
- liked the attention. Most of the time, anyway.
- "His daughter and then his wife dying almost did him in though. He didn't
- stay in society much longer after that. He eventually came out here to spend
- time talking to me and thinking about pulling the lever. A few months ago he
- told me he'd had enough. It was his time."
- "And then he just died?" asked Jack.
- Nate shook his head a little. "He made his forth request, Jack. There's only
- one thing you can ask for the fourth request. The last bite.
- After a bit Nate continued, "He told me that he was tired, that it was his
- time. He reassured me that someone new would show up soon, like they always
- had.
- After another pause, Nate finished, "Samuel's body disappeared off the stone
- with the sunrise."
- Jack lay back down and looked at the sky, leaving Nate alone with his
- memories. It was a long time until Jack's breathing evened out into sleep.
- Jack woke with the sunrise the next morning. He was a little chilled with
- the morning desert air, but overall was feeling pretty good. Well, except
- that his stomach was grumbling and he wasn't willing to eat raw desert rat.
- So, after getting directions to town from Nate, making sure he knew how to
- get back, and reassuring Nate that he'd be back soon, Jack started the long
- walk back to town. With his new health and Nate's good directions, he made
- it back easily.
- Jack caught a bus back to the city, and showed up for work the next day,
- little worse for the wear and with a story about getting lost in the desert
- and walking back out. Within a couple of days Jack had talked a friend with
- a tow truck into going back out into the desert with him to fetch the SUV.
- They found it after a couple of hours of searching and towed it back without
- incident. Jack was careful not to even look in the direction of Nate's
- lever, though their path back didn't come within sight of it.
- Before the next weekend, Jack had gone to a couple of stores, including a
- book store, and had gotten his SUV back from the mechanic, with a warning to
- avoid any more joyriding in the desert. On Saturday, Jack headed back to see
- Nate.
- Jack parked a little way out of the small town near Nate, loaded up his new
- backpack with camping gear and the things he was bringing for Nate, and then
- started walking. He figured that walking would leave the least trail, and he
- knew that while not many people camped in the desert, it wasn't unheard of,
- and shouldn't really raise suspicions.
- Jack had brought more books for Nate - recent books, magazines, newspapers.
- Some things that would catch Nate up with what was happening in the world,
- others that were just good books to read. He spent the weekend with Nate,
- and then headed out again, telling Nate that he'd be back again soon, but
- that he had things to do first.
- Over four months later Jack was back to see Nate again. This time he brought
- a laptop with him - a specially modified laptop. It had a solar recharger,
- special filters and seals to keep out the sand, a satellite link-up, and a
- special keyboard and joystick that Jack hoped that a fifteen-foot
- rattlesnake would be able to use. And, it had been hacked to not give out
- its location to the satellite.
- After that Jack could e-mail Nate to keep in touch, but still visited him
- fairly regularly - at least once or twice a year.
- After the first year, Jack quit his job. For some reason, with the wisdom he
- 'd been given, and the knowledge that he could live for over 150 years,
- working in a nine to five job for someone else didn't seem that worthwhile
- any more. Jack went back to school.
- Eventually, Jack started writing. Perhaps because of the wisdom, or perhaps
- because of his new perspective, he wrote well. People liked what he wrote,
- and he became well known for it. After a time, Jack bought an RV and started
- traveling around the country for book signings and readings.
- But, he still remembered to drop by and visit Nate occasionally.
- On one of the visits Nate seemed quieter than usual. Not that Nate had been
- a fountain of joy lately. Jack's best guess was that Nate was still missing
- Samuel, and though Jack had tried, he still hadn't been able to replace
- Samuel in Nate's eyes. Nate had been getting quieter each visit. But on this
- visit Nate didn't even speak when Jack walked up to the lever. He nodded at
- Jack, and then went back to staring into the desert. Jack, respecting Nate's
- silence, sat down and waited.
- After a few minutes, Nate spoke. "Jack, I have someone to introduce you to."
- Jack looked surprised. "Someone to introduce me to?" Jack looked around, and
- then looked carefully back at Nate. "This something to do with the Big Guy?
- "No, no," replied Nate. "This is more personal. I want you to meet my son."
- Nate looked over at the nearest sand dune. "Sammy!"
- Jack watched as a four foot long desert rattlesnake crawled from behind the
- dune and up to the stone base of the lever.
- "Yo, Jack," said the new, much smaller snake.
- "Yo, Sammy" replied Jack. Jack looked at Nate. "Named after Samuel, I
- assume?"
- Nate nodded. "Jack, I've got a favor to ask you. Could you show Sammy around
- for me?" Nate unwrapped himself from the lever and slithered over to the
- edge of the stone and looked across the sands. "When Samuel first told me
- about the world, and brought me books and pictures, I wished that I could go
- see it. I wanted to see the great forests, the canyons, the cities, even the
- other deserts, to see if they felt and smelled the same. I want my son to
- have that chance - to see the world. Before he becomes bound here like I
- have been.
- "He's seen it in pictures, over the computer that you brought me. But I hear
- that it's not the same. That being there is different. I want him to have
- that. Think you can do that for me, Jack?"
- Jack nodded. This was obviously very important to Nate, so Jack didn't even
- joke about taking a talking rattlesnake out to see the world. "Yeah, I can
- do that for you, Nate. Is that all you need?" Jack could sense that was
- something more.
- Nate looked at Sammy. Sammy looked back at Nate for a second and then said,
- "Oh, yeah. Ummm, I've gotta go pack. Back in a little bit Jack. Nice to meet
- ya!" Sammy slithered back over the dune and out of sight.
- Nate watched Sammy disappear and then looked back at Jack. "Jack, this is my
- first son. My first offspring through all the years. You don't even want to
- know what it took for me to find a mate." Nate grinned to himself. "But
- anyway, I had a son for a reason. I'm tired. I'm ready for it to be over. I
- needed a replacement."
- Jack considered this for a minute. "So, you're ready to come see the world,
- and you wanted him to watch the lever while you were gone?"
- Nate shook his head. "No, Jack - you're a better guesser than that. You've
- already figured out - I'm bound here - there's only one way for me to leave
- here. And I'm ready. It's my time to die."
- Jack looked more closely at Nate. He could tell Nate had thought about
- this - probably for quite a while. Jack had trouble imagining what it would
- be like to be as old as Nate, but Jack could already tell that in another
- hundred or two hundred years, he might be getting tired of life himself.
- Jack could understand Samuel's decision, and now Nate's. So, all Jack said
- was, "What do you want me to do?"
- Nate nodded. "Thanks, Jack. I only want two things. One - show Sammy around
- the world - let him get his fill of it, until he's ready to come back here
- and take over. Two - give me the fourth request.
- "I can't just decide to die, not any more than you can. I won't even die of
- old age like you eventually will, even though it'll be a long time from now.
- I need to be killed. Once Sammy is back here, ready to take over, I'll be
- able to die. And I need you to kill me.
- "I've even thought about how. Poisons and other drugs won't work on me. And
- I've seen pictures of snakes that were shot - some of them live for days, so
- that's out too. So, I want you to bring back a sword.
- Nate turned away to look back to the dune that Sammy had gone behind. "I'd
- say an axe, but that's somewhat undignified - putting my head on the ground
- or a chopping block like that. No, I like a sword. A time-honored way of
- going out. A dignified way to die. And, most importantly, it should work,
- even on me.
- "You willing to do that for me, Jack?" Nate turned back to look at Jack.
- "Yeah, Nate," replied Jack solemnly, "I think I can handle that."
- Nate nodded. "Good!" He turned back toward the dune and shouted, "Sammy!
- Jack's about ready to leave!" Then quietly, "Thanks, Jack."
- Jack didn't have anything to say to that, so he waited for Sammy to make it
- back to the lever, nodded to him, nodded a final time to Nate, and then
- headed into the desert with Sammy following.
- Over the next several years Sammy and Jack kept in touch with Nate through
- e-mail as they went about their adventures. They made a goal of visiting
- every country in the world, and did a respectable job of it. Sammy had a
- natural gift for languages, as Jack expected he would, and even ended up
- acting as a translator for Jack in a few of the countries. Jack managed to
- keep the talking rattlesnake hidden, even so, and by the time they were
- nearing the end of their tour of countries, Sammy had only been spotted a
- few times. While there were several people that had seen enough to startle
- them greatly, nobody had enough evidence to prove anything, and while a few
- wild rumors and storied followed Jack and Sammy around, nothing ever hit the
- newspapers or the public in general.
- When they finished the tour of countries, Jack suggested that they try some
- undersea diving. They did. And spelunking. They did that too. Sammy finally
- drew the line at visiting Antarctica. He'd come to realize that Jack was
- stalling. After talking to his Dad about it over e-mail, he figured out that
- Jack probably didn't want to have to kill Nate. Nate told Sammy that humans
- could be squeamish about killing friends and acquaintances.
- So, Sammy eventually put his tail down (as he didn't have a foot) and told
- Jack that it was time - he was ready to go back and take up his duties from
- his dad. Jack, delayed it a little more by insisting that they go back to
- Japan and buy an appropriate sword. He even stretched it a little more by
- getting lessons in how to use the sword. But, eventually, he'd learned as
- much as he was likely to without dedicating his life to it, and was
- definitely competent enough to take the head off of a snake. It was time to
- head back and see Nate.
- When they got back to the US, Jack got the old RV out of storage where he
- and Sammy had left it after their tour of the fifty states, he loaded up
- Sammy and the sword, and they headed for the desert.
- When they got to the small town that Jack had been trying to find those
- years ago when he'd met Nate, Jack was in a funk. He didn't really feel like
- walking all of the way out there. Not only that, but he'd forgotten to
- figure the travel time correctly, and it was late afternoon. They'd either
- have to spend the night in town and walk out tomorrow, or walk in the dark.
- As Jack was afraid that if he waited one more night he might lose his
- resolve, he decided that he'd go ahead and drive the RV out there. It was
- only going to be this once, and Jack would go back and cover the tracks
- afterward. They ought to be able to make it out there by nightfall if they
- drove, and then they could get it over tonight.
- Jack told Sammy to e-mail Nate that they were coming as he drove out of
- sight of the town on the road. They then pulled off the road and headed out
- into the desert.
- Everything went well, until they got to the sand dunes. Jack had been
- nursing the RV along the whole time, over the rocks, through the creek beds,
- revving the engine the few times they almost got stuck. When they came to
- the dunes, Jack didn't really think about it, he just downshifted and headed
- up the first one. By the third dune, Jack started to regret that he'd
- decided to try driving on the sand. The RV was fishtailling and losing
- traction. Jack was having to work it up each dune slowly and was trying to
- keep from losing control each time they came over the top and slid down the
- other side. Sammy had come up to sit in the passenger seat, coiled up and
- laughing at Jack's driving.
- As they came over the top of the fourth dune, the biggest one yet, Jack saw
- that this was the final dune - the stone, the lever, and somewhere Nate,
- waited below. Jack put on the brakes, but he'd gone a little too far. The RV
- started slipping down the other side.
- Jack tried turning the wheel, but he didn't have enough traction. He pumped
- the brakes - no response. They started sliding down the hill, faster and
- faster.
- Jack felt a shock go through him as he suddenly realized that they were
- heading for the lever. He looked down - the RV was directly on course for
- it. If Jack didn't do something, the RV would hit it. He was about to end
- humanity.
- Jack steered more frantically, trying to get traction. It still wasn't
- working. The dune was too steep, and the sand too loose. In a split second,
- Jack realized that his only chance would be once he hit the stone around the
- lever - he should have traction on the stone for just a second before he hit
- the lever - he wouldn't have time to stop, but he should be able to steer
- away.
- Jack took a better grip on the steering wheel and tried to turn the RV a
- little bit - every little bit would help. He'd have to time his turn just
- right.
- The RV got to the bottom of the dune, sliding at an amazing speed in the
- sand. Just before they reached the stone Jack looked across it to check that
- they were still heading for the lever. They were. But Jack noticed something
- else that he hadn't seen from the top of the dune. Nate wasn't wrapped
- around the lever. He was off to the side of the lever, but still on the
- stone, waiting for them. The problem was, he was waiting on the same side of
- the lever that Jack had picked to steer towards to avoid the lever. The RV
- was already starting to drift that way a little in its mad rush across the
- sand and there was no way that Jack was going to be able to go around the
- lever to the other side.
- Jack had an instant of realization. He was either going to have to hit the
- lever, or run over Nate. He glanced over at Sammy and saw that Sammy
- realized the same thing.
- Jack took a firmer grip on the steering wheel as the RV ran up on the stone.
- Shouting to Sammy as he pulled the steering wheel...
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- Scroll Down
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- Keep Going
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- Almost there
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- ......
- "BETTER NATE THAN LEVER!"
Advertisement
Add Comment
Please, Sign In to add comment
Advertisement