The Woods Are Dark

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

“What time do you think it is?” Neala asked, staring through the doorway.

Sherri shrugged. “Cordelia’s the one with the watch.”

“I’d guess it’s past noon,” Johnny said. “Maybe.”

“It gets dark around eight?”

“Yeah,” said Sherri. “That gives us seven hours. Can you die of thirst in seven hours?”

“I doubt it,” Johnny said.

Neala wiped her face. “I wish night would get here.”

“It will,” Johnny told her.

“And then,” said Sherri, “the real fun starts.” She lay down on her back, folded her hands beneath her head, and stared at the ceiling. “Hide and seek with the bogeymen.”

“We can’t stay here,” Neala said.

“If we had water, we could.”

“But we don’t.”

“Maybe just one of us should go out, tonight, and bring some back. He could fill that pot…”

“You volunteering me?” Johnny asked.

“Sure.” She grinned at him. “You game?”

“Not hardly. By the time I could make it to water, I’d be home free. I might as well keep going.”

“Right! Great idea! Keep going, and get help. Bring in the cavalry. Get us out of here in a chopper, and blow these fuckers to hell.”

Johnny remained silent. Neala turned to him, alarmed. “You’re not seriously considering it!”

“Well…”

“Damn it Sherri!”

“Hey, it was only a suggestion.”

“It has some merits,” Johnny said.

“No!”

“I probably could get help. Search and rescue, over in Melville, has a copter. If I get to them, they could set down right outside the door. Only thing is, it would take a while. I’d have to make it to the road, and get my hands on a car. My car, if it’s working. Then I’d have to make it through Barlow.”

“What’s the problem with that?” Sherri asked.

“Barlow? Everyone knows me. If I’m spotted, they’d try to stop me. But Melville’s only half an hour past Barlow, so I could get there pretty fast, if nothing goes wrong.”

“Yeah,” Neala said. “If nothing goes wrong. In the meantime, we’d be sitting here alone. No food, no water, no way of knowing if you made it.”

“The thing is, you’d be safe here. Out beyond the heads, you’d be vulnerable.”

“Just like you.”

“I can move fast, alone. If I make it, I’d be back by morning with that copter.”

“And if you don’t make it?”

“You’re no worse off than if you’d been with me.”

“It’s a good idea,” Sherri said.

“Hold it. Just a minute, damn it. Johnny, didn’t you say it’s twenty miles to get out of Krull territory?”

He nodded. “That’s if you head east.”

“What’s this if That’s the way you led us, last night. East.”

“If I go out alone, I’ll head west.”

“Back the way we came?”

“I’ll try to get back to my car. If I can get it started…”

“The place was crawling with Krulls.”

“Last night,” Sherri added.

“Okay, last night. So do you think they just vanished since then?”

Sherri smirked. “They’re right outside.”

“That’s right,” Johnny said. “Right outside. Must be fifty of them surrounding this cabin. That’s fifty who aren’t prowling the woods. If I can just sneak past the ones right here, the rest of the way should be a cinch.”

“If it’s a cinch,” Neala said, “let’s all go together.”