Moving slowly through the woods, he listened for anything against the background of the forest and only heard birds. Picking up the pace, they soon found the pond and Amanda immediately went into hysterics. "Water Moccasins are going to kill us all," she whined.

"We slept by water for two nights and you didn't freak out," Nathan said.

"That was a river," she said.

"Amanda, it doesn't matter. They were around and we are still alive," Nathan said and she froze.

"They were there and you didn't tell me?" she gasped.

He looked at John. "Did you know they could've been around?" he asked.

"Yeah, I saw one," John replied.

"I don't know if I like you anymore, John. You should've told me," Amanda popped off.

Not in the mood, Nathan shook his head. "Amanda, we are in the wilderness, kind of. Animals are going to be out here. We are in their home," he said, speaking slowly.

Looking around on the ground, she said, "Tell the Water Moccasins and Copperheads to go away then."

"What about the rattlesnakes?" Jasmine asked and Nathan shook his head no.

"A what kind of snake?" Amanda gasped, and Nathan just sank to his knees.

Jasmine put her arm around Amanda. "It's okay, if you look where you step you'll be fine," she said, leading her to a spot under a big oak tree.

"I'm sorry about telling her about the snake, Nathan," John said, walking over to him.

"That's fine, I saw four," Nathan said, burying his face in his hands.

"She's from the city. Why is she so scared of snakes?" John asked.

"I have no idea," Nathan said, shaking his head. The two dropped their packs and took off Ares' pack.

Jasmine was holding Amanda's hand as they walked back over to John and Nathan. "I'm going to show her that if you look carefully you can see them," Jasmine said.

"Tried that," Nathan said. "No further than twenty yards from me and don't get near a rattlesnake or let Ares near it. I'm not in the mood."

"I've walked the Appalachian trail twice," Jasmine said.

"Ares has been around a bunch of snakes," Amanda piped in.

"I'm not talking about snakes, I'm talking about things that use guns and walk on two legs," Nathan popped off. Seeing Ares jump up upon hearing the word rattlesnake,' Nathan groaned, knowing Ares could find a rattler in about five seconds flat. He reached over and patted Ares till he sat down then chose his next words carefully, "I'm not kidding about the other' snake. Leave it be."

"Oh sorry, didn't think about that, and if I see a rattler I'll leave it," Jasmine said.

Jasmine led Amanda around the area and they didn't find any snakes. Nathan wanted to tell them to look under a log they walked by but kept his mouth shut. They came back and Amanda was smiling as she sat down. "We looked and didn't see any," Amanda announced proudly.

"That's good. Let's get camp set up," Nathan said emotionlessly.

"You're just jealous because we can look for snakes as good as you can," Amanda said with a smirk.

"Yep, that's it," he said.

"We couldn't find one, so there's none here. Not even you can find one near us," Amanda challenged him.

"Yep, sure can't, can we set up camp now?" Nathan asked in a flat voice.

Jasmine looked up at him. "There's none around here, Nathan," she a.s.sured him.

Speaking like a computer, he said, "Yep, there's none here."

"You can't find one so just accept it. We can find one if it's around," Jasmine said.

"You're that sure?" Nathan asked, way past irritated.

"I'm positive," Jasmine said proudly.

Spinning around, Nathan grabbed his tomahawk, headed over to a sapling and chopped it down. "Oh s.h.i.t," Amanda said, standing up and thinking about getting up on Jasmine's shoulders.

"Amanda, we looked. There's none here," Jasmine said as Nathan stormed by them with his stick. He walked over to a rotten log they'd walked by twice and kicked the log till it rolled. Then he stuck his stick down and lifted it with a snake on the end. Jasmine got to see and feel the Amanda snake experience as she screamed and climbed up on Jasmine's shoulders even though Jasmine was sitting down.

Nathan walked over with the snake on the end of the stick. "Amanda, what kind of snake is this?" he asked.

"COPPERHEAD!" she screamed.

"Amanda, that's enough," Nathan snapped, and to his surprise she shut up. She was sitting on Jasmine's shoulders looking at the snake and it looked p.i.s.sed off. Ares just stayed sitting down. He didn't like that particular chase and chew toy.

Nathan took the snake away from camp and let it go. He walked back over, picked up his rifle and stopped in front of Amanda, holding out his hand. "Come," was all he said. Amanda climbed off Jasmine's shoulders and grabbed his hand. He gave her the stick and led her off. Jasmine watched them go, then stood up and motioned with her head for John to come along as she followed them.

Not willing to turn down Jasmine for anything, John jumped up and joined them. Nathan worked with Amanda for three hours. At first he did the searching, finding a lot of snakes. Then he made her look and in the end she found three snakes on her own and even picked up a gra.s.s snake. It was close to dark when they returned to their packs, but for the first time since she'd seen the snake cross the road Amanda didn't feel terrified of them.

They all took turns on watch having hopefully experienced the last Amanda snake freak out, but Nathan wasn't going to hold his breath.

Chapter 6.

Day 12 With his back against a tree, Nathan waited on his coffee to percolate as the sky started to slowly lighten. Hearing movement, he turned to see Jasmine sit up, rubbing her eyes. She turned and saw Nathan watching her and smiled at him. Nathan couldn't help but smile back. She stood up and stretched out.

Sucking in a breath, Nathan quickly looked away, feeling his heart race and all sense of grogginess flee from his body. That girl has got to wear some clothes when she goes to bed, Nathan thought, forgetting about the coffee. The Id in him was demanding another look as his Super Ego said no. Super Ego won but it was a close match. Seeing the coffee up in the gla.s.s k.n.o.b, Nathan s.n.a.t.c.hed up his cup and poured it full.

"Can I have some?" he heard a whisper in front of him. He just motioned to the pot, not looking up. "Thank you," Jasmine whispered and he just nodded. Risking a look, he saw she had on shorts and a shirt. When he looked up, she was grinning at him. "Is John rubbing off on you?" she asked coyly.

"Nooo," he stressed. "You stood up naked catching me totally off guard. I was averting my eyes out of kindness and morality," Nathan said. He said it but he didn't believe it.

"I had on a bra and panties," she said in a smarta.s.sed tone.

"You need to check again," he said.

"They are thongs and a low-cut bra," she snapped.

"I've seen more cotton on a gun cleaning patch," he said as she started laughing and couldn't stop. Unable to fight it, he joined her, laughing till his sides hurt. When the fit left them she sat down beside him on his woobie.

"I can sit here, can't I?" she asked.

"Sure, you've got clothes on now," Nathan said, sipping his coffee.

"We're not starting that again," she informed him.

"You're lucky John didn't see you. I'd have to give him CPR," Nathan said.

"I doubt that," she said, smiling. "I really loved what you did for Amanda yesterday," she said, lowering her voice and leaning into him.

"What? Waste another day learning snakes?" Nathan asked, still a little p.i.s.sed.

"No, showing her that her fear was unfounded and she could conquer it," Jasmine said.

"It was a wasted day. I needed to continue teaching the guns, start on how to move and start basic traps," he said.

Jasmine looked at him in shock. "You really think it was a wasted day?"

"She would've figured it out on her own and there are worse things to fear than snakes," Nathan said. "You had to push it, huh."

"Nathan, I promise you I thought there were no snakes in the vicinity. How was I supposed to know you have their personal addresses?"

Raising his eyebrows and nodding his head, Nathan said, "That was good."

"Thank you," she replied, tilting her head toward him.

"She needs to learn to face the real things that can hurt her not the boogie man under the bed," he said.

"Didn't you have a boogie man under the bed?" Jasmine asked.

"Nope, he was in the closet," Nathan replied.

"You beat him?" she asked.

"Yep, Dad locked me in the closet for one night to prove there wasn't one," Nathan said.

Jasmine looked stunned. "Seems a little harsh," she pointed out.

"No, not really," Nathan said. "It proved the point. Same with Amanda. I thought by holding a snake and seeing how easily they could be found Amanda would see they are just another part of nature and not demon sp.a.w.ns of h.e.l.l."

"Yes, it worked," Jasmine agreed.

Nathan cut his eyes at her. "I meant the first time we went over snakes."

"She's just a little girl," Jasmine snapped.

"Exactly," Nathan said, slapping his thigh. "A little girl.' People will want to hurt her and if I'm not there I want her to at least be able to fight back."

"It was one day, so please let it go," Jasmine begged.

Nathan nodded. "Okay, I will," he agreed and looked at Amanda, who was snoring softly. "She kicks in her sleep, hard," he said, shaking his head and rubbing his leg where Amanda had kicked him last night.

"I'm sure she has nightmares," Jasmine said softly, looking at her new little friend.

"Oh she does, but she curls in a ball and whimpers when she's having them. If you rub her head she calms down then beats the s.h.i.t out of you in her sleep," Nathan informed Jasmine.

She laughed. "Well, you survived another night. Time to wake them up."

The four set off after the morning routine, walking down the road in the morning light. Off through the fields they pa.s.sed they watched farmers tending livestock and at one house children playing on a rope swing.

Seeing the kids playing on the swing, Jasmine had a pang of sorrow hit her. She envied those kids and yet felt pity for them. They were playing when every moment should be used to secure what you can. Yet what is life for a child without playing? Should she ask Nathan if they could take a day or two off and this time let the kids do something just for fun?

Sure, they'd had fun at the lake, but learning how to take a gun apart gets old after a while, even if you take a different kind apart every day. Nathan did deserve some credit; he kept it interesting and fun. Never in a million years would Jasmine have ever believed she would learn how to use a gun. Yet she'd joined in with Amanda and John, shooting that-she had to think what the little one was called. Oh yeah, the .22.

Remembering Amanda jumping up and down when she hit the can was a moment Jasmine would never forget. The girl had handed the rifle to Nathan and started dancing, saying she was bad.'

Jasmine looked over her shoulder at the kids playing by the house and wondered who was right? Those kids were happy, no doubt with all the laughter, but the house wasn't on a farm. It had a large lot but she didn't see a garden or any animals. How were the parents going to provide for those kids in just a few weeks? Jasmine had no illusions about how bad things were going to get.

At the refugee camp she'd been at it was already way past bad. She had only been there three days and she'd learned never to sleep in the same place twice, keep what you have close, and tell no one what you have. Many had asked her what she had in her pack and she would just tell them clothes. Two men and a woman had cornered her at the food tent and even looked in her pack for food. Thankfully, they didn't know anything about packs and never even looked in the scent-proof food bag.

That was when she put her pack on and went to wait by the road. She couldn't even begin to count the people who had walked past her along the road. From just a single person to groups over a hundred. Yet she just waited till she noticed a young girl holding onto a man's hand, guiding a dog with a chunky kid right behind the two.

As soon as she saw them, Jasmine knew she wanted to join them. It took her completely by surprise when Nathan said no. Jasmine knew she was strong and pretty and would be an a.s.set to any group she joined. Yet Nathan had looked at her as an inconvenience and a burden. She could tell by looking at his face, although secretly she'd been thankful he had on sungla.s.ses so she couldn't see it in his eyes. If she had, it was quite possible she would've walked away.

Glancing over her shoulder one last time, she felt sorry for those kids in her heart. They would play today and perhaps a few more after that, and then they would pay for it. The worst part was they didn't even know better and would pay for their parents' lack of understanding more than likely with their young lives.

She turned around to find Nathan stopped and looking at her, which caused her to stop. "Walk with me," he said and started walking away. Quickening her step, she caught up to him and matched his pace. "You can't help them so don't let it get to you," he said.

"There's no way you knew what I was thinking," she said and he chuckled, which irritated her.

"You were feeling sorry for those kids back there playing knowing they're going to pay for it later," he said. The color drained from her face and her step faltered. Nathan reached over and grabbed her arm, pulling her along till she matched his pace again. "There's nothing wrong with it, just don't act on it," he said.

"How?" was all she could get out.

"It was written all over your face," Nathan said.

She smiled and glanced over; as usual he was scanning the area in front of them with very little movement of his head. Always on alert. "Guess I should wear a veil then," she said.

"I think John would go into hysterics if you did," Nathan pointed out, grinning.