Chapter 24

Thump Thump, Thump Thump. What was pounding so hard? Nate's eye opened a crack, and he looked around. He felt like he'd been in a dryer for an hour. Nate tried to move, OH! What they hell, he thought, his entire body was in pain.

His entire bottom half was wet. Blood? Or did he pee himself? Nate tried to move again, popping joints and bones and the like with every movement. He looked around.

His shirt was caught up on a rock, the way his jacket, shirt, and gear were strapped to him, it didn't choke him and hang him, but held him up. His wasted was almost submerged in water, his feet actually touching the river bed below it. There didn't seem to be any current or anything, just the movement of his aching body.

He looked around, only the blue sky was overhead. The giant spiked rock formations seemed to reach right into the sky, as if he was in some sort of forest of stone. On either side of him were large walls stretching up to them. There was a lot of debris around in the water. Dirt floated on the surface, piles of rock and stone were built up here and there.

Nate struggled, now to get away from his containment. He couldn't get off the great pillar of rock he was stuck on, and he let out a scream of frustration.

"Help," he yelled, "I'm down here! I'm down here!"

He couldn't hear anyone returning the call, and he could not help but struggle against the rock which seemed to hold him in place. He tugged, and continued to yell out in pain as his body revolted every movement.

There was a snap, and rock rained down on Nate's head as he fell forward, splashing into the water below. Nate now struggled to get up, the weight of his pack and clothes beginning to weigh him down under the water. Nate got his head up and gasped for air, but his eyes widened and he recognized an entire pillar of rock and debris, the very one he was just on, began to come crashing down. Nate tried to swim and crawl his way away as giant rock pieces slammed all around him, the pillar slamming into another one before hitting the wall, and staying there.

Nate had crawled away, and used another pillar to right himself. He stood, gasping in the wetness he now felt, pulling his hair away from his eyes and looking around again.

"Hot damn," he said.

Nate reached to his side for his rifle, but noticed it wasn't there. He looked around, but he couldn't find it. Then he was thrown into silence, only his breathing grabbing any attention at all.

Then there was a rustle of stone, and Nate looked towards it. He breathed slightly heavier, but he smiled at his jumpiness and was about to laugh it off when he heard a splash, and some movement in the water not far off from his right.

Nate was silent, and he reached into his holster and grabbed his Revolver. He clicked the hammer back, and stood silent once again. The world was silent, and he let out a slight chuckle at his fears. Another swishing of something through water was heard, and Nate stopped his laughter, turning the other way and wading through the water towards the other direction.

Nate scanned the pillars, looking for some way out. He found his heart slowly beating harder and harder.

"Come on, Nate, snap out of it," he said, "You can do this, you're just falling a little bit behind, that's all."

Nate smiled as he passed another pillar, his rifle hung on a stone pillar not far away, it seemed to be in good condition. Nate made his way over to the pillar, and awkwardly tried to shimmy up the side. He finally managed to get up a few feet on the small edges in the rock, and he grabbed hold of his rifle, swinging it off the side and falling, back, into the water. When Nate got back up, he checked the rifle for damaged or waterlog. It seemed to be in working order, and he returned his revolver to the side.

A slight growl seemed to rip right through his body, and Nate backed up, putting his back directly against the very pillar he just climbed. He stared at where he had just came from. A slight ripple of water moved from behind a pillar, and Nate watched carefully at it.

"He-hello?" Nate said, "Come on out, I won't hurt you… if you won't hurt me."

Nate aimed his rifle right at the spot, taking the safety off his gun. Whatever he said to make himself feel better, it was NOT his plan of action, by any means. His finger wrapped around the trigger and squeezed lightly, ready to fire at any moment.

The ripples in the water turned into waves as a large figure moved from behind the pillar. Nate gasped, completely taken by surprise as a large creature stepped out. It was very big and muscular, a large hump on its back. It walked on all fours, and yet its head was completely lifted off the ground. And out of the water. It stood taller then Nate, and he was just shocked at how its muscles rippled and shook under each powerful step it took. It waded through the water, and it sniffed at Nate, its eyes trained onto his.

"Hey there… little doggy," said Nate, "Good boy, nice doggy. You're pretty big, huh? Where've you been hiding out this entire time?"

The dog barred its teeth, and began to growl, crouching down as if ready to pounce. Nate's heart began to race.

"No… no… bad dog," said Nate, retraining his sights on the dogs head, "Bad dog! Down boy, down!"

The dog let out a bark, and leapt forward, its teeth bared and its jaw snapping as it lunged towards Nate's soaking wet body.

The group continued to walk on, but they stopped in the next town to take a break. The sun was now almost directly above them, and yet it felt like an entire week had passed. Shatner lead the search into the town, looking about the area for anyone. All they found was an elderly couple held up in one of the old houses. They both had weapons, and told the group to stay away, but they could have full run of the town as long as they left them alone.

Shatner ordered the group to camp in the middle of the town, and they rested for a little while.

"So, where are we?" said Shatner, "I'm not a fluent German speaker, but I think I know that you had some trouble understanding them."

"They spoke in a Slavic tone, it's not German," said Kate, "We've already exited Germany probably."

"What happened?" said Andy, "Someone rip down all the borders while the world slowly crashed and burned?"

"So to speak, yeah," said Shatner, "This isn't the world we know and love anymore. So, I think we should re-start the search for a map of some sort so we may begin making our way south."

"I think that couple knows this area quite well," said Seth.

"They want nothing to do with us, and they don't speak English," said Shatner.

"I barely can understand them," said Kate, "And Shatner is right, we should leave them alone."

"We should be breaking down those doors and interrogating them," said Seth, "We're walking aimlessly heading in one direction, nothing about this is a good idea."

"We're not becoming monsters for no reason," said Shatner, "Now everybody calm down, ok? We'll work this out."

"Yeah, we'll see," said Kevin, crossing his arms.

"Look, we'll find a way to get out of here, ok?" said Shatner, "We've come this far, we're all going to make it back, alive."

"Yeah, I've heard that one before," said Seth, crossing his arms as well.

Shatner shook his head, but an exclamation from Iawn turned their attention away from the argument.

"Look," said Iawn, "I found a peanut!"

Iawn smiled at his accomplishment, and the others just sighed, shaking their heads.

Nate couldn't seem to run fast enough, and he kept tripping as he tried to wade faster and faster through the water. The growling and howling of the wounded creature chasing him fed his adrenaline and he was constantly checking behind him.

Lucky for Nate, the wolf chasing him was still a wolf, and the water swished and swashed Nate's sent over every rock and every wall as the creature tried to get a fix on its prey. Nate, on the other hand, was much, MUCH slower then the creature, and a few close calls meant that his time was running out.

Nate waded behind another rock, and stopped, pressing himself against it and closing his eyes. He heard the wolf, trotting through the water and sniffing, barking and growling like a deranged beast. Nate peeked out, and spotted the creature, the bullet hole bleeding at its shoulder. The wound Nate inflicted on him didn't seem to slow him down at all, and so Nate took a deep breath, and leaned out, pointing his rifle at the creature.

The wolf heard the movement, and turned, barring its teeth at Nate, but Nate was already pulling the trigger. Nate took the shot, the bullet slamming right in between the creature's eyes on its snout, and the wolf gave off a wounded shriek. It began to walk forward towards Nate, but it was shaking its head, going a lot slower, starting to stumble. Nate yelled, and began pulling the trigger as fast as he could, shot after shot slamming into the body and head of the creature.

After a few more rounds, the wolf fell over, and crashed into the shallow water, its blood beginning to fill the water. Nate smiled, and laughed, letting out a battle cry and hooting and hollering.

"That's right," said Nate, "Who's the Alpha-Male now, huh? You're just a puppy, baby! Boo-Yeah! Don't come all up in this hizzel and try to mess with me! I am the PANAMA Can-NAL baby! Whoo!"

Nate's cheering stopped short as a growl erupted. Nate took a step back, and his mouth dropped in fear. Back where he had come, two more of the giant wolves appeared, and they seemed to be assessing the situation. Their gazes jumped from their dead pack mate to Nate several times as they inched forward. Nate began to wade backwards, his rifle pointed at them.

"Oh crap," said Nate, "This is very bad, Dude, this is very, very bad."

One of the wolves then gave a light bark, and Nate took off, running. He tried to wade as fast as he could through the water, but he could hear them closing in on him. His heart was beating so incredibly fast. Nate breathed heavily, he could hear them behind him.

Nate heard the snapping of jaws behind him, and he let out a yelp.

"No," Nate yelled, and he turned around, pulling the trigger on his rifle as fast as he could.

His bullets sunk into the face and snout of one of the wolves and it yelped in pain as it crashed into Nate. The force of the great beast pushed Nate over, and he fell back ward into the water. As he rose, he grasped onto a rock half submerged in the water.

The creature was wounded, and tried to awkwardly sulk as it bled from many wounds in its face. Nate looked around, he couldn't see the second one. So he turned and fled, pulling the trigger only to hear a CLANK at the other end. Nate looked, it was a jam. Nate cursed under his breath as he continued to wade through the water.

He rounded another pillar and put his back against it, listening as the wounded wolf's howls were answered by one…two…four…five… he began to lose count. The air erupted in howls from all over. He was surrounded, it appeared. Oh NO, he thought.

He checked his gun again, trying to un-jam it. No, he needed to do it when he had time, this jam was too bad and water logged. Nate cursed again, and he looked at the strange stone he had grabbed while underwater.

It was a grenade! Whoa, what luck, Nate thought. He smiled, let's see them chase me now! Nate looked around now, eager to use this new weapon he had found, then his smile spread from his eyes to his mouth and he literally smiled at his find.

"Yes," said Nate, and he took off from the pillar, strapping his broken rifle to his back next to his pack and grabbing his revolver from its holster.

Not far away, Nate spotted the broken sailboat from earlier, and a broken pillar that had fallen onto it, crushing most of its deck, but creating a wonderful bridge up to the sailboat. Nate ran towards it, quickly treading through the water and listening to the treads of multiple wolves behind him. Nate climbed the broken stone, and began to hurry up the rock onto the ship. Nate turned, just in time to see three of the giant beasts surround the boat from behind, snarling and barking. Nate aimed his revolver at them, and backed up the deck toward the mass of the boat. One of the wolves jumped onto the stone, snarling and barking. Nate took a shot off at it, and wasted no time putting three more into the wolf.

The creature yelped and jumped down, but growled and barked, preparing to attack once more. Three more of the beasts joined the crowd, now surrounding the boat. Nate put his revolver away and quickly climbed the ladder-like stakes on the mast, up, up, and up as fast as he could. The wolves used this against him.

All at once the wolves jumped and were on the deck of the ship, and they surrounded the mass, ravenously jumping and snapping their jaws at Nate's ankles. Nate didn't even bother stopping to look down. He continued to climb as fast as he could, sometimes even closing his eyes as he made his way to the mast. Finally Nate was about three quarters of the way up, and he looked down. More wolves had joined the group, and they all circled below, waiting for Nate.

Nate smiled, and took the pin out of the grenade, dropping it to the ground. The wolves were unsure of whether to avoid the grenade or snap at it, and some tried one way while others did the opposite. One thing was for sure, Nate held on as the grenade exploded below, killing two dogs and injuring the rest of them.

Nate took out his revolver, and began shooting the rest of his shells at the remaining wounded wolves, trying to ward them off. His revolver emptied of shells, and he flipped it open, pouring the empty shells down on the wolves. Then, Nate noticed the mass beginning to creak and sway, and he held on, his eyes widening.

"No," he said, holding on, "This can't be happening, this is NOT cool!"

The mast swayed again, and Nate heard the cracking of wood down below.

"Dear God," yelled Nate, as the mast swung for the last time, falling sideways, "Don't kill me yet, I'm sorry I LIED!"

The mast slammed against the side of the river wall, and Nate held on as his was ripped from his perch, and he now dangled from the mast. The mast held, and he swung himself onto the wall of the riverbank. Holding on for dear life, Nate began to crawl up the wall, until he could comfortably stand on the mast, and lean against the river bank. He breathed heavily, staring at the wolves down below.

"Oh… my…" gasped Nate, but he looked up, and decided not to finish his statement.

He began to grab hold of the rocky ledge, and climb his way out of this cursed river.

Shatner, Kate, Iawn, and Pandora sat around one of the fires, and stared into the flames. Iawn was finishing up the last of his canned chili and Pandora was playing around aimlessly with his canned Green Beans.

"So… you think it hurt?" asked Iawn.

"What?" asked Shatner.

"When he fell… and hit the bottom. You think it hurt?" Iawn asked again.

"Why would you ask that?" asked Pandora.

"Well… I'm sure it didn't hurt at all," said Shatner, "In fact, he might not even be dead. I'm sure he was fine, he did what he always does. He laughed it off, he said something snappy, he looked for his hat, and he's on his way here right now."

"You don't really think that," said Pandora, "If you did, you would have found a way to get down there."

"I'm sure he's fine," said Shatner, "You know… his luck."

"Yeah, I do," said Pandora, "Once he thinks he's ok, something else will happen."

There was silence, as the truth of it all came down on them. They were silent once more, just staring at the flames.

"He always came out ok from before?" asked Kate, "Then he must just be… running late, is all."

They all nodded in agreement, no one saying a word in defense or in attack.