Chapter 3

Present – Jens – At the cabin

When I wake up Maria and Linus, Maria explains, "Jens, the water was poisoned and we absorbed it through our skin."

I answer, "Yeah, I just figured that out."

The next thing I know I'm shivering and shaking! I look and both Maria and Linus have started shivering too. I demand to no one in particular, "What the hell is going on with us?"

Linus answers, "I don't know, but we need to get to the medical plane as quickly as possible."

I begin to stand up but I'm weak as hell and I admit, "I don't know if I can walk."

Maria tries to stand and has the same problem; Linus can barely stand but offers, "I'm going to get some help."

I look at Maria and she says, "It's almost as if..."

Present – Masha and Jack – In the medical plane

I am thankful this medical plane is here. I bring Jack into the facilities which are incredible as a doctor comes up and asks, "Did he drink the water?"

I reply, "Thankfully no, however he was bitten multiple times by the rats and is exhibiting all the symptoms of rat bite fever."

The doctor questions, "Do you know if they were American or Asian rats."

Jack says, "I have no fucking idea, I didn't ask to see their passports."

The doctor takes us to a gurney, has Jack lie down, takes a look at his bites and says, "Well, you've done a good job keeping the bites clean."

He looks at a nurse and orders, "Let's start and IV and begin him on a regimen of penicillin."

Jack motions with his head and says, "Look, the bastard is in here. I thought Linus stopped him from drinking the water...

Yes, it's most curious that Glen has been affected by the water since he did not drink it...

Present – Glen – In the medical plane

I wake up from a hell of a nightmare the fucking water gave me and the doctor says, "It looks like about a quarter of the men are down with this."

I question, "Do we know exactly what this is?"

He shakes his head, "Not until I get a sample to analyze."

I begin to shiver and ask, "Doctor, what's going on with me now?"

He comes over, begins to examine me and guesses, "It must be something residual from the drug."

Todd runs in carrying a water filter looking device and signs...

Present – Todd – In the medical plane

I run into the medical plane see Glen is awake but is shivering. I sign, "Doctor, this device was hooked into the water supply and is probably responsible for all the men that are down."

He answers, "Thanks, I will start analyzing it immediately."

I add, "It appears that all the men that have been stricken are now shivering like Glen."

Glen swears, "Are they weak as hell too?"

I sign, "They seem to be."

Then Glen becomes slightly irrational and says, "Doctor, I really need a drink of that water."

I speculate and sign, "Doctor, could the water have been laced with the drug the cartel is producing?"

He states, "Well it could be, but it looks to me like Glen is suffering from withdrawal symptoms and that shouldn't happen this quickly."

I add, "But Jennifer's sworn enemy, Megan, supposedly added compounds to the drugs to make them more effective and addictive."

Glen orders, "I don't the hell care about any of this, I just want a glass of water."

The doctor orders, "We can't let any of the men have any of this water until I can test it. Please make sure the affected men are restrained to keep them from drinking any more of the tainted water."

Then Glen starts acting like he's insane, he froths at the mouth, jumps off the gurney and goes after the doctor who is holding the filtration device...

Present – Jens – At the cabin

Linus leaves to get help, I look at Maria and she says, "Jens it's almost like we're going into withdrawal."

Then it makes sense and I swear, "That bitch Megan! This is her doing! One dose of the drug in the water made us junkies."

Maria says, "But I was having such a good dream. Linus and I were on a mission together."

I add, "Yeah, I also had a wonderful dream - I dreamed Ben and I had just gotten married."

Maria licks her lips and suggests what both of us are thinking, "Perhaps one more taste of water would be enough so we can have those great dreams again."

I giggle in agreement, "It surely can't hurt."

We crawl over to the faucet, turn it on but nothing comes out. I swear, "Damn, Todd has the pumps turned off."

Maria suggests, "Well, can't you turn them back on?"

I say, "Help me over to the terminal and I will turn them back on..."

Present – Todd – In the medical plane

I run up behind Glen, put him in a sleeper hold and wait until he passes out. The doctor says, "Thanks! He was irrational as hell and I bet the others that are affected are doing the same. We have to make sure none of them drink the poisoned water."

I remind him, "Well, with the device out of the system there is no way to get any water and I made sure to purge the pipes in the tunnel."

We put Glen back on the gurney and strap him down. The doctor says, "Well, someone needs to take charge and I'm going to be too busy trying to figure out what the hell this stuff is."

I sign, "I will find Linus, and tell him he's in charge."

I head outside of the plane and see pandemonium...

Present – Linus – At the cabin

I head outside and all hell is breaking loose. It looks like about a fourth of the men are fighting like hell with the rest of the men. I wonder where the hell Glen is then I realize ... I got water on both of us when I tackled him so he's down too.

All I know is I have a hell of a craving for more of the water ... oh shit! Whatever they put in the water is addictive and we're all going through withdrawal.

Todd runs up to me and signs, "Linus, Glen is down and you're in charge."

I say, "Hell Todd I'm not doing any better than Glen. I just woke up a short time ago and feel like shit."

Then I feel intense pain in my head, like my brain and all my nerves are on fire! I clutch my head, fall to my knees and begin to scream...

Present – Todd – At the cabin

Linus clutches his head, falls to the ground and screams in agony. I look and verify that everyone that was affected is now in the same condition. I can't imagine the hell they are going through but the doctor needs to do something about this.

I run back to the medical plane and see that Glen is writhing in agony on the gurney, I sign, "Doctor it looks like everyone has this symptom."

He shakes his head and apologizes, "I'm working on this as fast as I can."

A Marine walks in and reports, "Sirs, Mabel sent me to inform you she has food ready for everyone."

I demand with vigorous signing, "Mabel? Isn't she screaming in pain?"

The Marine says, "No Sir! Oh, we were all a little sick but then Mabel gave us some tea."

The doctor looks at him and orders, "Take me to this Mabel immediately!"

Present – Jens – At the cabin

I make it to the terminal on the wall, Maria helps me to stand, I enter my code, it beeps at me and says, 'Unauthorized User.' I complain, "What the fuck! I built this system! Unauthorized User my ass."

Maria reminds me, "Jens you gave Todd control of the system..."

I interrupt, "That bastard! He locked me out of my own system."

The next thing we know it feels like our heads and all our nerves are on fire! I fall to the floor and I'm not sure who is screaming louder, Maria or me...

Present – Todd – In the tunnels

We follow the Marine into the tunnels to find Mabel after witnessing the hell that's going on outside. The men that had been affected by the drug are in extreme pain, they are lying on the ground, screaming and writhing in pain.

We run into the kitchen and see a normal looking Mabel and all of her cooking assistants. The doctor questions, "How do you feel?"

Mabel replies, "Well I felt like hell so I made some of my special tea - after that we felt fine."

The doctor questioned, "Did you use the contaminated water?"

Mable laughed, "Hell no! I used the stored water, I ain't no fool."

The doctor asks, "Mabel, how much of that tea can you make because right now we have close to one hundred men in agony from the drug?"

Mabel states, "Land sakes I will make a batch right now! It's just a combination of peppermint, comfrey root, ginseng and meadowsweet."

The Marine complains, "It really tastes like shit but hell it worked on all of us."

Mabel says, "Here's a little I have left from the first batch."

The doctor looks at me and proposes a course of action, "Glen first."

I nod in agreement and sign, "Then Linus."

We take all the tea she has and run toward the medical plane.

The doctor says, "Wouldn't you fucking know it! Some sort of home remedy fixes this problem."

Little did he know! I put more faith in 'home remedies' and eastern medicine than I did in all of his medicine. Yeah, it was traditional treatments that cost me my voice and almost cost me my life. Thank God that Japanese woman found me on that deserted island and took mercy on me. But that is a different story for another time...

We reach the medical plane, Glen is writhing so badly all the veins are standing out on his head, the doctor says, "If this doesn't work, he's going to die."

The doctor lies, "Glen, we have some of that special water for you."

Glen greedily grabs toward the cup and orders, "Give it to me." He takes a big drink and looks like he's going to spit it out so I close his nose, which forces him to swallow it and he complains, "What sort of bullshit was that, it was vile tasting."

The doctor explains, "Something that we hope will cure you."

Glen begins to convulse and sweat profusely, the doctor complains, "Shit, I think this is killing him."

However, I recognize the process as the drug being flushed from his system. Glen then wets himself, defecates and I know it's finished. I sign, "Doctor, you might not understand, this but this is eastern medicine and it worked on Glen. However he needs to be cleaned up before his men see him. I will leave you with that job while I find Linus."

I find Linus and sign, "Drink this and you will be well."

He agrees, "Any damn thing is better than this." He chugs down the last of the tea and I wait beside him for 'it' to happen. And I remember back to the Chinese island I was stranded on, where master Liu taught me so many things...

Present – Linus – At the cabin

I literally thought my head was going to explode and thought several times about putting a bullet in it to end the unbearable pain.

Todd gives me this tea that tastes like – well ass! It's all I can do to hold it down but the pain gradually reduces. When I piss and shit myself then I quickly feel better. I grab Todd's hand and say, "Maria and Jens, you have to help them!"

He signs, "I will heal them."

The phrase seems a funny thing to say, I mean sign...

Present – Todd – In the tunnels

I run toward the room Jennifer and Maria were using and I have a problem: All of Mabel's tea is gone, however I promised Linus I would heal them. I arrive in the room and see they are both in dire straits. Either because they are female or for some other reason their pains seemed magnified. I can actually fell the pain emanating from their bodies - it is very unsettling.

I look in my pack and verify I have enough of the herbs from the Chinese island I was stranded on left to take care of their problems. I pull out the herbs, grind them in a small mortar and pestle heat some water pour it over the fragrant herbs, hold it up to Jennifer's lips and force her to drink half of it. I move over to Maria, put it to her lips, hold her nose and she drinks the remaining potion. I look at the pestle, wipe my finger around it to make sure I do not waste a single drop and realize soon (no very soon) I must unfortunately return to acquire more of the medicinal herbs.

Unlike Mabel's cure which is brutal, Jennifer and Maria fall into a deep slumber. I know this slumber having been there all too many times. When they awaken they will be better than before. Until then I will stand guard. I acquire my bow and nock an arrow...