Eric and Jackie are in an awkward situation. Will cooler head prevail, or will the awkwardness prove too much?

Chapter 10: Rough Waters

The campsite 9PM

Eric and Jackie both sat around the campfire, but unlike all the other times, they at on separate logs on opposite sides of the fire. 'God this whole day has been really awkward' Eric thought as he and Jackie continued to sit in an awkward silence. Jackie had attempted to start a conversation at dinner, but neither of them could sustain any sort of conversation. It had become obvious to both of them, they had the possibility of getting something good going, and it only took them 6 days to ruin it. Taking a deep breath, 'Look we need to talk about this" Eric began, as Jackie nodded. "Look we went way too fast with all of this. Heck a week ago, we hadn't seen each other in years. "Eric said, as Jackie moved her log around the fire, so she could hear Eric better. "Now all of the sudden, we're doing what we did in the middle of nowhere" Eric said, looking at Jackie. Jackie nodded, 'And worse of all, I don't have any birth control with me" She said. Eric froze when she said this, as the realization of what it could mean set in. "I'm not due for another few days, so if I'm late, I'll run a test" Jackie finished as Eric stared into the fire. 7 days ago, he had been out here enjoying his time around here being all by himself. Now he was faced with the possibility that he may have knocked up Jackie Burkhart. Looking back at Jackie, "So what do we do from here?" he asked, as Jackie looked back at him. "I don't know' she said, tears in her eyes. Eric shook his head, "Look Jackie that isn't going to work for me. I need more than that" Eric said standing up. "Well what more do you want?" she asked in an angry tone, any sign of tears were gone. "Do you want me to throw away all my things and give you all the answers you want to hear" she said as she picked up a small piece of wood and threw it in the fire. "You know what?"Eric shot back. "Maybe I need some time to myself to figure it out" Eric yelled as he gathered up all of his stuff. "Fine" Jackie angrily shot back, 'But you don't get my boat to use" She said locking eyes with Eric. As he became more frustrated, Eric's face flushed red, "Fine" he shot back 'I don't need your damn boat, I'm efficient on my feet" He said, reaching down and picking up his bag. "Hell I walked 10 miles that day before I heard you scream" Eric said as he stepped away from the fire. "Before I rescued your ass. " Eric said beginning to walk off, he zipped the zipper on his bag. 'And I'm beginning to think saving you was a major mistake on my part. Goodbye Jackie" Eric said, as he stormed off into the woods and out of sight., leaving Jackie alone by the fire.

"Oh my god" Jackie cried as she slumped back onto her log near the fire. As she gazed at the fire, she felt rage welling up inside of her. But it wasn't a rage at Eric, it was a rage towards life. 'Damn now I'm out here with a shoulder that still hurts everyday, that doesn't have the same strength. Now there is a possibility I'm carrying the baby of someone who thinks rescuing me was his biggest mistake" she thought as she placed her head in her hands and sobbed.

Helena, MT 10PM

"Ok thanks Harry" Kelso said, hanging up the phone. Turning back towards Hyde and Fez, Kelso took a breath, trying to figure out how to word the update. "They found what appears to be Eric's campsite. They found some rotted fish and what appears to be Eric's boat, overturned on the shore and apparently undisturbed for almost a week. They said none of his stuff was there, and there were some faded tracks, but they disappeared about 50 ft out from the campsite" Kelso finished as Hyde grabbed his map. Pointing to his red circle, 'Was it found within here?" Hyde asked. Kelso looked at the notes he took and nodded. 'Ok then, we gotta figure this out then guys' Hyde said, as Kelso and Fez looked at the map, nodding.

Somewhere in the woods

"Just keep walking" Eric said to himself, as he attempted to climb a steep incline. About halfway up, Eric was beginning to falter slightly. Pushing through it, Eric made it to the top. Setting down his bags, Eric looked towards the sky and took a deep breath, attempting to calm himself down. He had gotten so mad when he stormed off, he wasn't even paying attention which way he was going, he just knew he had to get away from Jackie. Looking around, Eric found enough brush and small pieces of wood to make a small campfire. Sitting down in front of the fire, he couldn't help but think about what just took place with Jackie. Putting his chin in his hands, Eric's mind raced about why it had all happened, especially why he had snapped at her so easily. Eric felt uneasy as he thought about how fast he snapped. The last time he snapped at someone that fast, was years ago back when he was in Africa.

Eric had been taking some time to teach grades 11 and 12 to get some experience teaching students who were older than 14. Eric had enjoyed teaching the high school kids even more than he enjoyed teaching the elementary kids. But there was one 12th grader that had gotten on his nerves. By this time, Eric had worked out and was pretty bulked up himself. But this kid was easily 400 pounds with 300 of it being pure muscle. He was his towns golden child and he never let anyone forget it. Eric could have cared less, except for the day the kid tried cornering him after receiving a less than stellar mark on a test. Eric thought he had gotten through that all the kid had to do was redo one answer and he would change the grade. But in the weeks that followed, that kid wouldn't stop nipping at Eric. One day, Eric got so frustrated a fed up with it, that he humiliated the kid in front of the entire town. Eric transferred to a different school over 400 miles away the next day.

'God damn' Eric said as he continued gazing at his smaller fire 'I snapped again with Hyde in '82" Eric finished as he put his head I his hands at the memory of that falling out with Hyde. Eric could remember yelling at Hyde about getting off his back, but doing it in such a way that it felt like he had humiliated Hyde. "Oh crap" Eric said as he picked his head and gazed at the fire.

Jackie's Campsite. June 24th

Jackie was sitting next to the fire, but she wasn't crying anymore. 'This is exactly what is was afraid of" she said, throwing her torn shirt towards the fire. As Jackie looked back, she could see her Daisy 2 test still working. She was hoping against hope that by a stroke of luck, she wouldn't be pregnant. 'Oh but he was so good I melted' Jackie said, sounding disgusted. "Why do I keep doing this to myself? I keep falling for the wrong guys, telling myself that they are really what I'm looking for, and then in Denver I couldn't even find anyone worth while. "She said, throwing another shirt towards the fire. 'If he thought it would be such a mistake, then why did he still rescue you though?" Jackie thought, as she sat on the log, turning her back to the test. 'No guy just saves a girl in distress like that. And they don't hang out with them unless there is more going on.' She thought, as she checked her watch. It had been almost an hour since she started the test. Turning back around, she picked up the test. Jackie took a deep breath as she looked at it.

South approximately 4 miles

Eric was sitting around his fire, fiercely writing away on his notepad. Eric finished the note and placed it in an envelope, addressed to Hyde. Eric had realized he was partially the bad guy in the falling out and figured it was now or never to try patching things up with Hyde. As Eric turned to place the envelope in his bag, a small black object caught Eric's eye. Taking it out, Eric looked at the box. Opening it up, he fought back the memory he had with that ring. This was a ring Eric had bought on his way back from Africa, and he had intended to give it to a very special person in his life. But when he got home, that person wasn't who had expected they would be. So when he left in 1982, Eric took this ring with him, so no one would know he ever had it. But as he lived out here by himself, he couldn't help but feel as though the ring symbolized failure. Eric had never found anyone who he genuinely liked, so he figured that he would have no use for the ring. When he left for his summer vacation, Eric had packed this with the hope of getting out to the middle of nowhere and just disposing of it. 'I guess I could still get rid of it', Eric thought as he stood up and looked out towards the river. Eric took the ring out of the box and threw the box back in his bag. Turning back towards the river, Eric wound up, preparing to throw the ring.

Stay tuned for the next update