Chapter 1

If you ask anyone who it happened to, you'll get a different answer about what really happened that day. Me, I think it was some kind of aliens. Others will say it was God or some unknown natural law. Hell, I don't really know and I can't see anyway to prove the matter, so I'm going to say it was aliens. The only thing everyone can agree on is that we were doing whatever we normally did one moment and the next moment we were here, wherever or whenever here is.

If you're reading this I better explain what I'm talking about, since the kids have never known anything but the way we now live. I'm going to bury this record in the hope sometime in the future they will learn what happened to us. My name is... I guess that's not really important anymore.

Here I'm called Mike. I was doing my morning run when suddenly I was standing in a field of tall grass and unfamiliar trees instead of on the sidewalk. When I looked around I was convinced I was having a hallucination.

I mean what would you think in a situation like that? I tried the old standby of pinching myself and it hurt, but I figured if I was having a hallucination then I could also hallucinate hurting when I pinched. I don't know how long I would have stood there wondering what was real when I heard a roar behind me. My instincts took over. I ran for the nearby trees and climbed one of them before I looked back. A fucking lion was walking across the field!

I was in California for God's sake! One thing I wouldn't hallucinate about was a lion. I hadn't even seen a lion in the zoo for more years than I want to think about. I certainly wouldn't hallucinate about the smell or the sight of a lion dragging what looked suspiciously like a human body. I watched from the tree as the lion continued through the field and disappeared into a copse of trees on the other side.

When I finally stopped shaking, I decided that hallucination or not, I would keep a close watch on everything around me. Let me describe myself at that time. I was 24 years old, 6 feet tall and somewhat overweight for my size. That's why I was running; I constantly fought my weight at that time. I was in fair shape, and some women thought I looked alright. I had gained some notoriety because of my being a pitcher in a minor league ball club being groomed for the majors. This required me to keep fit and I worked out most of the time. I had gained ten pounds over Christmas and I had been told to lose it before I showed up for spring training.

I was wearing my normal attire for running, a windbreaker, sweatpants, headband and running shoes. I was carrying my keys, a credit card, a water bottle and my Ipod. As I looked around I saw an arid landscape of trees and grass. I didn't recognize any of the trees or bushes. The open areas looked like bunch grass interspaced with cattail looking grass standing from half a foot tall to over three yards tall. I couldn't imagine anything more different from downtown Fresno where I had been running.

I wish I had a gun. After all, when things like this happen in stories on SOL, the hero always has one. I would have settled for a bat right now. Then it struck me, a bat was a refined club and I was sitting in a tree. Grabbing a handy branch, I started to pull it back and forth until it broke off. I looked around and seeing nothing, dropped to the ground. I swung the branch against the trunk to break off the protruding side branches; leaving me with a stout club with splintered stubs where I had broken off the smaller branches. I looked around for rocks but couldn't see any in the grass. Giving a mental shrug, I headed in the opposite direction the lion went. I don't know why I was so casual about the situation I was in. I would have thought I'd be having some sort of hysterical fit. That's why I think it was aliens, because I was too calm.

I made sure I kept close to the trees as much as possible, leaving their protection only after I made as sure as I could that it was safe. I quickly learned not to go through the tall grass. The edges are like razors and I cut my hand on one of the leaves when I tried to push through. My progress slowed as I had to hunt out passages around it. I tried to save as much water as I could, hoping that I would find a safe source before I ran out. I kept my eyes out for fruit or anything else that looked edible. I wasn't hungry yet, but I knew I would be before long.

I must have walked along the tracks for several feet before I realized what they were. Car tracks from someone trying to stop! I ran in the direction of the tracks hoping to find someone who could tell me what was happening. I ran through the pushed down grass and around several trees following the swerving tracks. I entered another field and found the car. They must have been driving at a high rate of speed before they got here because the vehicle was wrapped around a tree on the driver's side. I could see where the blood had seeped out of the door and dripped on the ground at the juncture of the tree and the crumpled side of the vehicle.

The air bags had deployed and I was hoping that someone had survived the crash. I hurried over to the uncrushed side. There was an older woman in the passenger seat but she was dead, her neck broken in the crash when she hit her head on the side window. I could see an older man in the driver's seat with his body against the tree. His head had hit the tree, and I could see he had died immediately. They hadn't been there long because the blood was still somewhat liquid.

I felt angry about the people dying before they could answer my questions. I then realized how stupid that was. I felt that I should do something to mourn their deaths and stood silent looking at them for a moment trying to remember any prayers. I thought about burying them but I didn't have any tools and I worried about keeping watch for danger while I tried to dig a grave. The car would make an appropriate tomb. I would mention finding the accident and the deaths if I found someone in authority.

I found the trunk release and decided that I would see if there was anything I could use in there. They must have been going on a trip because I found their luggage in the trunk. I felt guilty for robbing the dead but felt that my needs were greater. Besides the usual things one takes on a trip, I found a small Swiss army type of knife and some snacks that I figured would last me for several days if I was careful. My most welcome find was several bottles of water, one of which I drained immediately.

I hit the jackpot when I checked out the wheel well. They had an old fashioned jack with a jack handle. When I picked up the handle I felt a lot safer, even if it was a delusion. I tried to find something to make a fire with, but all I could come up with was some cotton balls that I figured would serve as kindling. I stuffed the snacks and water in a pair of pants and used the legs to tie it around my neck.

I was reluctant to leave the car. Even if they were dead, they were people and I felt so alone. It looked like it would be dark soon so I decided to climb a nearby tree and spend the night if I couldn't make a fire. I was sure I'd be able to make a fire. After all, I had done it before using a flint and steel in the scouts. I tried to start a fire by making sparks using the jack and some rocks I found near the trees. It was harder than I thought to find a rock that wouldn't just break apart whenever I struck it. I finally found a rock that would create sparks when hit with the jack handle and spent an hour trying to get a fire started. The sparks went everywhere except where I wanted them to. The few sparks that landed in the cotton died before I could blow on them. I finally gave up and climbed up the tree. It got cold after the sun set on the hot day. I decided that I would take along some of the clothing from the luggage to sleep under tomorrow.

In the dark, I became convinced that I was nowhere near California. There was no moon and I didn't recognize the star formations. I was used to the California wilderness, where usually the only sounds were those of human activity. Roars, chattering sounds, clicks, and rustling sounds surrounded me on all sides. I tied the jack handle around my wrist with a piece of cloth and tried to sleep. I might have gotten a couple of hours of sleep, but it was scattered between the times when my eyes strained in the dark trying to see what was making the particular sound that had woken me up this time.

When first light finally came, I could see some sort of animal around the wrecked car. I didn't recognize them and they left before it got light enough to make them out clearly. They looked dog like, but didn't really look like dogs, if that made any sense. When I could see clearly, all that was left were indistinct tracks that told me something had been there. Where the blood had been on the ground there was a hole where something had dug it up. There were marks on the passenger side of the car that reached to the top of the cab. I measured the size of the marks with my hand and whistled to myself. The marks were almost as big as my fist. I decided that whatever made the marks was something I didn't want to meet on the ground.

Picking up my club and putting the tire iron in the waistband of my sweatpants, I filled the rest of the pants I was using as a pack with clothing. I began to walk slowly in the same direction I had been going yesterday, hoping to find water or people. The day rapidly heated up and by what appeared to be noon I was sweating heavily. The trees were becoming thicker and I hoped that meant there was water around. I had drained two of the water bottles and worried about finding more. In the distance I saw animals moving around but couldn't make out what they were. All I know is they didn't look familiar. I hadn't seen anybody else since the car and that was several miles behind me. I was beginning to wonder if I would ever see another human again.

I had put several rocks I had picked up on my walk in my windbreaker pockets. Every so often I would throw one at a tree to practice my aim. They were nothing like a baseball, but I gradually began to hit what I was aiming at. I kept a lookout for any nearby movement and climbed a tree whenever I saw anything until I could determine that it was safe. I saw several animals during the walk and did my best not to come too close. I couldn't tell you what they were. For convenience sake I began to call the animals by familiar names, lion, dog, cat, deer, etc.

I heard a voice. I began to run toward the sound hoping to find anyone. When I entered a small meadow I found myself looking at a pack of dog-like animals that had treed someone. Whoever they had treed saw me because they began yelling. Grabbing one of the rocks from my pocket I threw it as hard as I could at one of the animals. It hit the side of one of the animal and knocked it to the ground. It slowly stood up again and the pack looked in my direction. I went temporarily nuts because I began screaming and swinging the club and throwing rocks while running at the pack. I must have looked dangerous enough that they felt threatened. After milling around for a moment they abandoned the tree and slunk off as I continued to scream and advance. I threw several more rocks to speed their exit.

Breathing heavily I stood under the tree and looked up. Looking down at me with frightened faces were two people, a man and a woman about my age.

"It's safe to come down now, but we need to get out of here quickly before they come back."

When they climbed down I could see that the man had been injured. His leg was bloody and the pants legs had been torn by something. I offered my hand but he refused the help, managing to get down by himself. The woman swung down after him and hurried to support his injured side. Angrily he pushed her away and introduced himself.

"I'm Jerry and this is my sister Mary. What's going on? How did we get here and where are we anyway?"

"I'm Mike. Let's get out of here first then we can talk."

I headed toward a clump of trees and looked behind me to see if they were following. I heard Mary tell Jerry, "Let's go. I don't want to be treed by the hyenas again."

I found a large rock outcropping surrounded by the tall grass with a clump of trees near it. It looked safe to rest on the ground and the trees were big enough to climb if we needed to. Turning around, I was going to say something when Mary interrupted me, "Do you have anything to drink? We haven't had any water since the hyenas treed us."

I pulled out the water bottle I had in my windbreaker. Jerry grabbed it and began to drink thirstily. I grabbed it back and handed it to Mary. "I only have a little water and unless you know where we can find more, we need to save it."

Mary took a deep drink and handed it back to Jerry, "There's a small waterhole about half a mile away. That's where we ran into the hyenas."

I looked at her, "You said you were treed by hyenas. Do you know where we are?"

Mary shook her head, "Not really. I had to call them something so I picked out hyenas, since they look like that to me."

"I've been calling them dogs", I admitted. "I don't know where we are either."

Jerry finished off the bottle and handed it back to me. "How did we get here? The last thing I remember us doing was walking to the store when suddenly we were standing near a waterhole in the middle of nowhere."

"I don't know. I was running when I found myself here. You two are the only people I've seen except for an older couple I found dead in a car wreck. That's where I found the stuff I've got."

"Where were you at? I mean what city?"

"I was in Fresno, California."

"We were in Oklahoma City."

I learned during our conversation that Jerry and Mary were siblings living together while they attended college. Mary was a student nurse while Jerry was a business major. The only thing we could find in common with each other was that the last date we remembered was Wednesday March 15, 20XX. Neither had any explanation of why they were suddenly here and they only had the normal items one would have when going on a short trip. I greeted with delight one thing Jerry did have; a lighter! Quickly I gathered some dry wood and lit a fire using a small piece of the cotton as tinder.

"Why didn't you light a fire to keep the animals away?" I asked.

"We didn't have time. Almost as soon as we got here yesterday the hyenas began following us; so we ran. Jerry had to help me get up the tree and that's when he got hurt while pulling himself up. We were stuck in the tree until you got there", explained Mary.

"You try lighting a fire in a tree and see how you do", Jerry said grumpily.

"Sorry", I apologized. "We need to help each other until we find out what's going on."

Mary scolded her brother, "Jerry! If he hadn't helped us we'd still be in that tree!"

"OK sis! No hard feeling, OK?" He offered me his hand.

"No hard feelings."

Mary looked at Jerry's leg. Tearing off a piece of her blouse she used a little water from the bottle and washed out the wound. I don't know what would have happened if he had been bitten. I compared Jerry's pants to ones I had taken from the luggage and they were a fair fit. I offered him one and he was quick to change into the clean pants. Using his belt, he managed to tighten it enough to hold the pants around his waist. The length was a little long but I pulled out the knife I had found and cut off the excess length.

"Can I use the tire iron?" Jerry asked. "I've never felt as helpless as when we were treed and I didn't have anything to protect us."

"That wouldn't have done you much good. We need something we can use from further away."

That's when Mary spoke up, "What about spears? We could harden the tips in the fire and tie a crosspiece on them."

I would have liked a bow, but I had only a vague idea on how to make one. I remembered something about needing to taper it and something about heartwood facing the shooter but that was all. Jerry carried the tire iron and I carried the club with several rocks and in a group we walked around looking for straight saplings. When we found one I tried to break it off. If I didn't manage to break it easily, Jerry and I bent it over to the side as much as possible while Mary cut the stressed side with the knife until it broke. When we had about eight staffs, we returned to the fire. There Jerry and I took turns putting on a point on the spears and placed them in the fire where we burnt off the limbs. Mary turned them every so often and pulled them out to scrape the points on the rocks. We used the knife to cut the torn leg from Jerry's pants into strips which we used to tie on a small crossbar behind the point about a foot back.

We left off the crossbar on four of the spears, and tried to see if we could hit anything when we threw them. They kept tumbling in the air until Mary suggested we tie small stringers of cloth to the end. That helped but we never were able to throw them hard enough to do much damage. Both Jerry and I found that we were much more successful throwing rocks. While Jerry couldn't match my speed and accuracy, he and Mary got good enough by the time we stopped to hit things within 10 yards with enough force to give most things pause.

Mary used some of the socks and filled them with smaller rocks and gravel until they were half full. She gave each of us one to use like a sap. I tapped the one she gave me on my arm and winched when I felt how hard it hit. She took Jerry's old pants after I complained that we didn't have anyway to carry enough rocks and cut a leg in two pieces. She then tied off the ends with a piece of rag to make bags for rocks. I sacrificed the drawstrings from the windbreaker to tie them around our waists. By this time we were starving and reluctantly I pulled out the snacks I had found and shared them. Tomorrow we were going to have to look for water and find something to hunt.

That night was just as noisy as the one before but I felt comforted by having someone with me. I took the first watch and woke up Jerry when I couldn't stay awake any longer. I closed my eyes and slept until just before dawn. When I woke up I found Mary was watching something moving around just outside of the light of the fire. She had a spear in her hand and looked like something out of a prehistoric picture. I sat up and grabbed the spear next to me. Without taking her eyes off the moving shapes, she spoke up, 'They haven't gotten any closer than this for the last three hours. I throw a new piece of wood on the fire and they draw back. You can go back to sleep."

I was wide awake now and sat by her. "How long have you been up?"

"Jerry woke me up about two hours ago when he couldn't stay awake any longer. He told me about the animals."

"Why didn't he wake me up?"

She replied in matter-of—fact voice, "You needed sleep as much as we did. Besides you need to tell us what to do. Jerry and I talked about it when he woke me up. Someone needs to be the boss and make quick decisions. We argue with each other too much for either of us to be the boss."

I didn't want the responsibility but I had to agree. We would probably run into situations where we needed to make a quick decision. I considered what we needed to do today. We needed to hunt, since the snacks I had found would be gone after one more meal. I didn't know what vegetation was edible and I doubted the others did either. We would have a better chance to kill something around the waterhole Mary and Jerry had found, but other predators would also hang around. Would it be better to wait around there or hang back a little ways and try and ambush something going to or away from the waterhole? In any case we needed to get some water to refill the water bottles. I shuddered to think about drinking the water straight from the waterhole. Who knew what was in it. Luckily we had the fire now and empty cans from the snacks I had found in the car to boil the water in.

Together Mary and I watched the sun beginning to rise. The shapes wandered away as the sun came up and by full light nothing was around. I woke up Jerry and we gathered up as many rocks as we could fit in the bags Mary had made for us. Carrying the spears we had made we began heading toward the waterhole. While she was on watch Mary had managed to create a small pack to carry the water bottles.

We found ourselves walking in a triangle formation as if by instinct. Jerry led the way toward the waterhole while Mary and I kept an eye out for movement from the sides and back. I began seeing game trails though the trees and soon afterwards we found ourselves approaching a fairly large waterhole. Jerry started to move forward when I held his shoulder.