Chapter 3

It was surprisingly warm inside the tent for so early in the morning so either it was earlier in the season here or perhaps the climate here was a warmer one. In any case I hadn't needed the space blanket for which I was grateful. I hoped it would stay warm until I could find something better. Perhaps animal skins would make workable blankets.

I grabbed the belt containing the holstered Glock and unzipped the door of the tent, intending to take a look outside. If everything looked cool then I would just get dressed outside where there was more room. After unzipping the door I stuck my head out, took a look around, and didn't see anything dangerous. I grabbed my pants, shirt, and gun belt, crawled out of the tent and stood up to pull them on. I was just fastening the first button on my shirt when I noticed it.

It was a large cardboard box sitting a little bit to the side and rear of the tent and somehow it had gotten to where it was in a location inside my tripwire, without setting off the alarm. Getting it without setting off the alarm wasn't really that big a trick since it was mostly to detect animals and a person could just step over the line if they happened to see it. Since both women and I had arrived at this place with only whatever we happened to be carrying or towing, the box had to have been delivered during the night by the same power that had brought us here.

I stood looking at the box while I finished buttoning my shirt; it just seemed to be sitting there. It was a fairly large box like one of the big shipping boxes that people used for moving. As I buttoned the last button on my shirt I found myself feeling a lot of curiosity about what might be in the box and I started slowly walking over toward it. As I approached the box I looked down to see if there were any strange tracks from whoever or whatever might have left the box. As I came up to the box I didn't see any other tracks than those the girls and I had left in the area yesterday, which meant the box had either had been dropped from the air, or by some other means that didn't leave any tracks behind.

The top flaps of the box were tucked under in such a way to keep the top of the box closed but did not seem to be otherwise taped or sealed. I was pretty sure already that whatever was in the box was intended for the two women and I and in any case considering our situation if there was anything useful inside the box I would take and use it without hesitation. With that thought in mind I reached down and pulled open the top flaps of the box. As soon as I could see inside it I knew immediately the box was completely filled.

The box was tightly packed with a wide variety of different items and it seemed like whoever had left the box had done so with the idea to help us. I could see a number of military MRE meals in one side of the box as well as several bundles of what looked like clothing. That was only the top layer, there was likely a lot more underneath. With the contents of the box our stay here would be a lot more pleasant than it would have been before but we were still in big trouble.

Just then Susan stuck her head out of the door of the tent and looked around and after a few seconds she noticed me standing next to the box. She crawled out of the door of the tent and I assumed Kathy was still asleep inside the tent. I noticed Susan was still wearing the T-shirt I had given her last night and the morning was surprisingly already warm enough that she wasn't cold dressed the way she was. The large shirt hung on her small body almost like a sack yet I still found her appearance appealing.

"Good morning, Ray. Where did the box come from?" Susan asked as she came up to me. Her voice seemed to be surprisingly calm considering the situation.

"I don't know, it was here when I woke up this morning," I replied.

"What's in it?"

"Take a look," I said while opening the top flaps of the box allowing her to see inside.

"Wow, there is a lot in that box!" Susan exclaimed.

"Yes, and it seems like a lot of things we can use while we are here," I said.

"Who left it here? Was it left here for us?" Susan asked.

"I don't know the answer to either of those questions but since it's here I'm going to take it anyway because we don't have much to survive with here."

"I'm going to go wake up Kathy so she can see it too."

"OK, I will move the box closer to the tent and the ground cloth so we can take things out without them getting too dirty."

"OK, we'll be right back," Susan said and quickly went back and crawled inside the tent. I could hear her talking to the other girl in a low voice as I turned toward the box to move it.

The box was surprisingly heavy and awkward and while I wasn't able to lift it enough to carry it I was able to slide the box along the ground until it was next to the tent ground cloth. I finished this just as Susan and Kathy emerged from the tent, both still clad in the T-shirts I had given them last night.

I could tell that neither girl was wearing anything under their shirt and it struck me that both of them had been surprisingly compliant and accepting of me as well as of our situation here. Thinking about it a little more I realized that whatever was making the two women feel that way was also affecting me. I had a home, job, and family back on Earth yet somehow I found myself hard pressed to feel much concern about being away from them. Somehow it seemed that current events held my entire attention and everything I had left behind seemed to be of little concern anymore.

"Hey Ray, what's the big box?" Kathy asked, tearing me away from my contemplative moment.

"I don't know but it seems there is a lot of stuff we can use," I replied.

"Where did it come from?"

"I don't know- it was here when I got up this morning. No way to know for sure but I'm going to assume the box is for us," I answered.

"Let's see what we've got!" Kathy exclaimed.

I opened the flaps on the top of the box and started carefully removing items from the box. Many of the items we found in the box would make a big difference for us here but some of the other items were more of a puzzle. And there were some items missing entirely from the box that raised some puzzling questions about whomever or whatever had sent it.

Inside the box we found the following items:

• 30 military MRE meals

• A wood saw with 3 extra blades

• Hatchet

• 2 folding solar panel chargers big enough for laptops

• 3 armless canvas camp chairs

• 5 50 round boxes of'9 mm ammunition

• 10 100 round boxes of .22 caliber ammunition

• 1 30.06 rifle

• 5 20 round boxes of 30.06 ammunition

• 2 twin blister pack GMRS walkie talkies

• 5 T-shirts XL size

• 5 pair size 40 briefs

• 1 large first aid kit

• 1 8 roll pack toilet tissue

• 2 boxes of tampax

• 6 bars ivory bath soap

• 2 9 mm Glock pistols with belts and holsters

• 1 laptop computer

• 3 pairs of jeans, size 40 waist

  When this story gets more text, you will need to Log In to read it