"Another boring day in the boondocks

Note: I am not a Cabelas spokesman, they just have a lot of good products! Sorry to anyone out there for whom firearms are not the top priority in life, but just stick out that part, the rest isn't half bad.

He led us in to a small office which was only a few rooms down from the library. There was yet another large desk and four seats facing it. He motioned for us to take a seat. He started talking to CalGal first: "As leader of this expedition, you will be in charge of the safety of all who go with you, the bringing back of evidence that this 'lost world' exists, or existed, and, hopefully, the return of the Challenger expedition. Do you agree to these responsibilities?" "I do." Said CalGal without hesitation. "Excellent." He smirked. "You have one week to prepare. You must make sure that the expedition is supplied for a week. This includes clothing, food, water, shelter, and any other special equipment, with the exception of weapons. Those fall under Mr.Armslore's jurisdiction."

That jolted me out of the daze I was in because of the speed with which things were coming together. "What?" I said in a rather confused way. "Mr.Armslore, do you accept the responsibilities of procuring and maintaining the weapons used by the expedition?" "Ummm…er…yes, yes of course." I stammered. "Doubly excellent then. You will need this special license to buy the weapons, as you are underage." He said as he handed me the license. "You can both begin finding supplies in the morning, but until then I think you should stay in the rooms here in the manor that have been readied for all of you."

We had just gotten back to the library, when two people came running in. One had their hands full of rolled up papers. "Sorry I'm late." Said a woman from somewhere under the papers. "I was just working on an experiment, and the time went by so quickly…" "That must be Kimmy "(Gaddyup_gogirl) CalGal whispered to me. "She is related to Challenger himself in some way." "Well that explains a lot." I said, looking at the comic sight.

The other was bent over and obviously out of breath. "I'm…sorry…I'm…late…too." She panted, "but I met Kimmy here at the airport, and I couldn't help but start a conversation." "That's understandable." said Lex. "She is Danielle( Margurite's Girl )." CalGal whispered to me again. "At least she seems normal." I told CalGal.

After everyone got cleaned up about an hour later, we were shooed in to the dining room for a social dinner, to converse with our safari mates. The first person I met this time was Sarah. "This is a chance for me to get away from everything." She told me. I also found out that she was an X-Files fanatic. "I just loved the one with the cigarette smoking man and the JFK cover-up and…" After hearing this for almost ten minutes, I excused myself to talk with some of the others.

The next person I ran in to was Eva, who I found out is "Lady" Eva. Although she was 50 something, she was still ready for this adventure, much like her relative Lord Roxton. "I don't mind going to this place, as long as I'm with friends." Were her words.

The two people from the more exotic places than the US or Canada, Nadya and Sobek were the next people I met. They were very friendly. Sobek was still dressed for Sri Lanka, wearing what looked like a bikini with a tiny bit more cloth added to it. Nadya, I learned, had actually been to the Amazon before. She was also an accomplished fencer, among other things.

I sighted Rissy and Caitlin next, so I decided to drop in. Rissy was intrigued by the thought of seeing Marguerite and decided that when we found her, she would attempt to forge a friendship. Caitlin, who was to become our video documentarian, was busy making a list of things to buy the next day: "Camera, video camera, tapes, film, two loaves of bread, peanut butter, a soccer ball…"

The last people I visited that night were Kimmy, Danielle, and Lex. Kimmy kept ranting about the formulas that she would have to tell Challenger about. Lex was a bit more interested in what I had to say. She said that I was a "…very interesting person when [ I ] wasn't talking about guns." Danielle was fairly quiet. She seemed very interested in what everyone else was talking about, and only interjected to correct someone or make a point.

Before we went to bed, CalGal called an unofficial meeting. "Tomorrow, " she said, "Armmy, ASIG, Tiggs, Ashley, and Lisa will go and order our guns and other weapons, while the rest of us go shopping for clothes and other supplies at the mall. They will meet us there once they have ordered the guns." I then posed a question: " Let me know if you have any preferences tonight so that I know what to order tomorrow." After gathering all of the special requests, I followed everyone else's example and went to bed.

We woke up the next morning, and went straight to the dining room for a delicious breakfast of pancakes and sausage. After breakfast, our two groups went our different ways. The five of us bound for the gun store piled in to one of the larger SUVs that were in the huge garage, and off we went.

By the time we arrived, we had compiled a list with everyone's weapons:

Me- Searcy .470 NE double rifle and a Remington 700 African Plains Rifle in .300 Winchester Magnum and 2 Kimber .45s, plus my dad's Rugar Security Six .38/.357 backup revolver

Rissy- Remington 700 in .375 H&H Magnum and a S&W Model 10 .38 revolver

ASIG- Remington 700 in .30-06 and 2 stainless finished Rugar Vaquero .45 revolvers Sarah- Remington 700 in .30-06 and a Sig-Sauer P-226 in 9mm and a Sig-Sauer P-232 in .380

CalGal- Remington 700 in .30-06 and a S&W Model 10 in .38

Eva- Remington 700 in .30-06 and a S&W Model 10 in .38

Lisa- Remington 700 in .30-06 and a S&W Model 10 in .38

Christina- Remington 700 in .30-06 and a S&W Model 10 in .38

Sobek- Remington 700 in .30-06 and a S&W Model 10 in .38

Kimmy- Remington 700 in .30-06 and a S&W Model 10 in .38

Danielle- Remington 700 in .30-06 and a S&W Model 10 in .38

Lex- H&H custom double barrel 12 gauge shotgun, Ivory handled Webley .455 pistol

Ashley- H&H custom double barrel 12 gauge shotgun with Mahogany stock and forend and 2 Ivory handled Rugar Vaquero .45 revolvers

Tiggs- Mossberg 500 12 gauge and S&W Model 10

Caitlin- Mossberg 500 12 gauge and S&W Model 10

Nadya- Mossberg 500 12 gauge and S&W Model 10

8 AK-47s (Just in case of a run-in with a not so friendly tribe), 32 AK-47 magazines, 8 .45 magazines, 8 9mm magazines, 4 .380 magazines, and 100 rounds for every long arm, 50 rounds for every pistol.

When we walked in to the store, everyone broke off and went their own ways, to look around. I went to the counter and plopped down the list and the special license. "Everything on that list should be arriving within two days." I said. He looked at the list, then at me, then at the list again. "Are you postal workers?" he queried. "No." I said. "It's for…a…umm…hunting trip." "AK-47s?" he asked. "It's a very hostile area." I said. "Ooook." He warily said. "Do you have any questions about this stuff? I mean, you are kinda young…" "Why yes, in fact, I do." I stated. "Do you know what the premium load for raptors is?" "Huh?" he said quizzically. "Never mind. Do you take checks?" I asked. "Unless you wanna pay cash." He said hopefully. "Sorry." I responded.

While we were at the store, we bought holsters for the pistols, some ammunition to practice with when the guns came, cleaning kits, targets, slings, ammunition bandoliers (in the Cabelas Online catalog, listed as "shell belts" ) for Ashley, Lisa, and I, and cartridge carriers (as listed in the Cabelas Online catalog). To carry all of the rounds not already in a bandolier or shell holder, I also bought two Triple K box type leather cartridge holders (Cabelas catalog under "cartridge belts/carriers" ). When we had finished our business at the gun shop, it was off to go shopping.

When we arrived at the mall, we saw members of the expedition scattered everywhere. We searched around until we found CalGal. "What do we do now?" I asked for the group. "Just get yourselves a weeks worth of clothes. I have people tasked with buying food, medical supplies, and other things." As Lisa, Ashley, and Tiggs left (to look at shoes, I suspect), I told CalGal, "When we're finished here, ASIG and I will order some stuff from an Army-Navy surplus catalog." "Fine." She said, focused on a T-shirt.

I had already brought my brown Cabelas hat, and a pair of leather sneakers/boots, so I just got four khaki safari shirts (button up sleeves and epaulets) and a white one, for any formal occasions we might have. I also got three pairs of khaki shorts, a white pair, and two pairs of khaki long pants. I didn't stop there. I purchased a pair of long brown leather boots too. As I came out of the dressing room, I asked ASIG, "How do I look?" He said seriously, "Any other day, I would call you an idiot. But today, I would say that you look pretty sharp."

After ASIG and I had made our purchases (which took about half an hour compared to the people who had been there since 6:00 and had yet to buy anything), we got in to the SUV and went back to the mansion. When we got there, we searched through some Military surplus magazines and websites, until we found one that suited our needs. "Hello." I said when someone answered the phone. "I would like to purchase the following: 16 Ka-Bar knives with sheaths, 16 large German Military backpacks, 36 canteens, 4 machetes, 2 .45 extra magazine holders, 16 compasses, and 2 pairs of Night Vision Goggles (NVG's). Could you send that all overnight?" "Well sir," she began, "you've given us a tall order, but we'll see what we can do." Thank you." I said.

ASIG and I sat around for the next two hours and watched reruns of The Lost World while we waited for the others to return. When they finally did, we had a meeting and everyone discussed what had been purchased. It was decided that we were ready, and the only thing we needed now was the guns and some practice.

As the entire day had been spent shopping and sorting, it was 10:00 by the time everything was figured out. As soon as we were done, everyone retired from a very busy day.