“Is it Lili?” was Jared’s first reaction when Ian poked his head out of the doorway a moment after Kyle had headed off angrily toward the river.

Ian narrowed his eyes slightly as he noted that Kyle was no longer outside with Jared, “No, was just wondering what the racket was about out here.”

Jared sighed slightly, not having time yet to figure a way to accurately try to explain himself to Kyle, let alone Ian, now, as well, “Kyle’s a little upset with me.” Jared attempted to begin as he stood.

“That’s specific.” Ian returned, glancing over Jared skeptically.

Then Jared took a long breath, “I had a vision that I didn’t get around to telling you guys about cause I was a little too worried about other things, and I just started to tell Kyle about it and he was a bit pissed that I didn’t before. Stormed off toward the river before I could even try and explain.”

Ian raised an eyebrow as he continued to watch Jared, “Was anyone hurt or dead in it?”

“No, of course not.” Jared quickly answered.

Then Ian sighed, “Guess I’ll just have to go get him. Who knows where tho---the wolf went.” he quickly corrected himself, which then caused Jared to return a bit of the skeptical look, having already been told that Ian was editing the night’s events, himself, earlier.

“You mean you don’t wanna hear about the vision too?” Jared forced himself to ask, though quietly.

“I’m sure Kyle will tell me all about it.” Ian replied as he checked the gun at his side before heading off to follow after Kyle.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of.” Jared mumbled, “You only hearing his take on it before I can try to explain.”

“More important things, right now.” Ian returned with a slight nod back toward the shack as he moved away toward the river himself, leaving Jared to sigh worriedly once more before heading back inside to check on Lili again before they returned, and he would inevitably be forced to deal with both their angry reactions.

----------------------------------------

After a few minutes, Ian located Kyle sitting a ways down the river bank and managed to stealthily approach and easily snatch the knife Kyle was holding in his hands, causing the younger boy to jump a bit at the interruption. Though Ian didn’t offer any words, he just took a seat next to Kyle after having slid the knife onto his own belt instead.

“That’s mine.” Kyle argued weakly as Ian took that seat next to him at the river’s edge that night.

“And who gave it to you in the first place? I figured you’d remember that day. You jumped pretty quick.”

“Give it back.”

“Why?”

“Cause it’s mine.” was Kyle’s only response.

“We covered the technical aspect of whose knife it actually is in the last sentence, didn’t we?” Ian returned smartly.

“So now you want it back all the sudden?” Kyle scoffed.

“I’ll give it back to you, eventually.”

“And when’s eventually?” Kyle complained in annoyance.

“When you’re not havin some pissy fit.” Ian returned as he skimmed a stone across the water, his tone remaining calm as he spoke.

“So, you just took it off of me cause you’re afraid of what I might’ve been doing out here then?” Kyle scowled.

“Sitting out here in the dark alone, all pissed off, holding a knife. I wonder why I’d think that?” Ian returned with a subdued sarcasm.

“Well, you’d be pissed too if you just had the conversation I did.” Kyle retorted.

“Maybe, but I wouldn’t be doing that.” Ian just shook his head, then continued, “Besides, hasn’t enough blood been shed for one fucking day?” he added more quietly as he tossed the next stone with more force, causing it to sink rather than skip across the water’s surface as the last had. Kyle just let out his own sigh as he shook his head. Ian then moved on, “You’re slipping. Figured the mind reader would have known I was behind him and about to take away his little knife.” he added smartly.

Kyle just shook his head at the comment, “I never tune into you. I never have to. You always say whatever the fuck is on your mind, all the time, anyway.” Kyle pointed out.

“True.” Ian smirked, then added, “I’m refreshing, aren’t I?” he then looked back over at Kyle another moment, “Now you can pick and choose who you tune in to?” he asked with raised brow.

“I am almost eighteen.” Kyle mumbled, then continued, “Besides, I had to pick and choose on the ship, where there were only nineteen people out of sixty-thousand who I couldn’t read if they didn’t want me to. If I didn’t filter, I would’ve gone nuts.” he pointed out.

“Would’ve?” Ian scoffed playfully.

“Shut up.” Kyle returned with a slight roll of his eyes, “Besides, don’t you wanna know why I’m so pissed off tonight?”

“I’m sure you’ll tell me.” Ian mumbled as he skipped another stone.

Kyle just shook his head, “Jared had another fucking vision, months ago.”

Ian waited only a moment, then shook his head, “So, you gonna finish the sentence, or…?”

Kyle scoffed again, “In his vision we were still stuck here, living by this fucking river, no ship to be found.”

“And?” Ian returned, still not sounding all that moved by anything Kyle had said thus far.

Another shake of his head before Kyle clarified the reason for his upset, “And Jared said this vision was three years from now. Three years!” he repeated more forcefully, “Months ago, he had a vision that we still hadn’t found the ship after three more years here, but he just let us keep looking, this whole time? It’s pretty easy to see why I was having a ‘pissy fit,’ as you call it, now, isn’t it?” he added angrily.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Ian was quiet for several long moments as he continued silently staring out at the gently flowing river, not adding his own thoughts just then, which of course irked Kyle. The younger of them just shook his head at Ian’s silence and waited another moment for some response on the part of the older man.

“Yes, everyone was ok, including the baby.” Kyle answered quietly a moment later, which caused Ian to finally glance back at him.

“Thought you didn’t tune in to me?” was Ian’s only reaction.

“Well, when you get all quiet, I guess I have a reason to. It’s just never happened before.” Kyle added in a mumble, “And you’re upset too, so why the quiet?”

Ian sighed softly, “How is raging on about it gonna change anything?” was his only explanation.

Kyle was a bit caught by that response as he took a moment to find his own, “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought I was talking to Ian. Do you know where I might find him?” he retorted smartly.

Ian just shook his head as he looked down, “I don’t know. I’m sure there’s a reason he didn’t tell us about it. Did he say what else was going on in the vision?”

“So, the king of react first, question later, is actually arguing on the side of ‘there must be a reason?’” Kyle just shook his head again, “Apparently there are aliens here, cause I think you’ve been body-snatched.”

Ian just continued to shake his head before moving on, “So, he didn’t tell you anything else about the vision?”

“So sorry, I got stuck on the three years part and had to walk away before I punched him.”

Ian then raised an eyebrow, “Sounds like my usual reaction. You’ve apparently spent too much time with me.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” Kyle added, then shook his head again, “Which is why I thought that you would have some reaction beyond assuming there must be a good reason for him to have left us out there, away from Lili, for months on end, risking our lives, and not even bothering to tell us that every bit of it was all in vain!” Kyle added more forcefully.

“So the tech guy wanted to punch him before letting him finish, and the soldier wants to hear the rest of the story?” Ian shook his head, “Maybe we’ve both been body-snatched.”

Kyle just sighed heavily again, “Seriously, what good reason could he have had to have left us out there risking our lives all this time?”

“I never said there was a good reason.” Ian denied, though quietly, “But if he thought that we needed to be out there still, for some reason…then I just don’t know.” Ian just shook his head again, “But nothing we do now will change the last five months anyway.” a slight shrug, “So maybe we need to hear about the rest of this vision and go from there. Didn’t you say he started to tell you about it before you took off?”

Kyle scoffed again, “So, you’re ok with this?”

“When did I say I was ok with it?” Ian denied as he stood, “I just said that there’s nothing we can do about it now. Past is over and done, now we gotta worry about present and future, even more so now. So, with that in mind, I think we need to hear about the rest of the vision, don’t you?” he returned, gesturing for Kyle to rise as well.

Kyle sighed again as he rose, “I didn’t figure that you’d wanna hear it, anyway.”

That was when Ian looked back from where he had started to move back toward the shack, “Why wouldn’t I wanna hear it?”

Kyle sighed again, “Cause, the reason he started telling me about the vision at all is cause we were talking about…it apparently has something to do with…” another sigh, “With the shit that went down tonight, with the wolves.”

That caught Ian as he narrowed his eyes, “You told him about the wolves?”

“Well, you obviously didn’t wanna hear it.” Kyle mumbled, which caused Ian to glare back at him.

Ian let out an angry scoff before responding, “So, does Jared share your little theory about the baby having some crazy ability, too?”

“Now you do wanna hear it?” Kyle returned sarcastically.

“You know, I am feeling that urge to punch someone after all.” Ian told him angrily, “Answer me.”

Kyle then gave in and replied, “I don’t know. He didn’t come out and say that that’s what he thought, but he did say that what happened with the wolves tonight, and with the goats before, that it could explain some part of his vision that he saw of three years from now.”

“What part?” Ian prodded.

“He didn’t get around to explaining that bit of the vision, before…”

“Before you stormed off?” Ian finished for him.

“I was pissed.” Kyle defended, though weakly.

“Yeah, I know that feeling.” Ian grumbled as he turned on his heel to once again head back to their camp, Kyle following quietly behind, but adding nothing more right then.

When they did arrive back at camp, Jared was once again back inside keeping his bedside vigil over Lili. Kyle was still silent as he followed Ian inside, where he checked on the still sleeping child and then took a breath before heading back toward Lili’s sleeping quarters, Kyle slowly trailing him.

Jared looked up at their arrival, his unease obvious, as he knew that neither of them were very happy with him at that point in time.

“So, plan on telling us about the rest of this vision, now?” Ian spoke up first, causing another sigh from Jared as the two took seats in the faint light of the battery-operated lamps that lit the interior of the shack.

“The rest?” Jared repeated nervously.

“Yeah, Kyle got to the three years and we’re still fucked portion of the story. Then what happens?” Ian pressed, though his voice remained even.

“And you didn’t greet me with your fist? Seemed like Kyle wanted to.” Jared added, glancing sideways at the youngest of them.

“Still do.” Kyle returned smartly.

“Well, you said you wanted to explain yourself, so explain.” Ian stated plainly.

“Believe me, I struggled with whether or not to tell you guys. I eventually came to the conclusion that if the ship really was far, far away, that maybe we did have to keep looking, even if it meant looking, for a really long time, if we were actually meant to eventually find it. And, I figured that at least if you guys were out there looking still, mapping everything we could, then maybe, just maybe there was some chance that we would find something, anything else that could help us out in any way. Be it people, or any other resources of any kind. That’s why I let you guys keep looking. I was honestly hoping that there would be something, anything, out there that could provide us with some kind of hope. It wasn’t that I thought you were ‘expendable.’” he repeated Kyle’s earlier accusation, “I was honestly hoping that there was something out there, even if not the ship.” he added, though his tone was more sad now than even nervous at this point.

The other two just shook their heads before Ian glanced at Kyle, “Like I said, it didn’t necessarily have to be a goodreason.” though that comment only caused a slight scowl from Jared before Ian returned his attention to him, “So, what about the rest of the vision? The part Kyle didn’t stick around to hear?”

Jared sighed again as he looked back at where Lili still remained unconscious, “After Kyle told me about the wolves tonight, and after how we ended up with the goats out there, it made me re-think the part of the vision that didn’t really seem to make any sense whatsoever, before.”

“What part?” Kyle prodded, though his tone was still hardened due to Jared’s earlier words.

Jared sighed as he looked warily at Ian, “In it, all was normal at the beginning. She was like three years old and outside playing as we got lunch ready. She wasn’t far off from camp, or any of us, maybe like twenty feet at the most, and suddenly, this huge cat showed up. Just came out of the woods. We were all terrified, to put it mildly…” Jared paused as the other two waited expectantly for him to finish, “Then the cat, it just stopped, it looked at all of us, like it was trying to size us up. Ian of course, you were about to go for your gun, but she…she walked right up to this cat. Terrified us all, obviously, but it just let her walk up to it. It didn’t make any move to hurt her, or any of us. As a matter of fact, it actually let out what almost sounded like a purr as she reached for it. She literally wrapped her arms around the cat’s neck like it was a big teddy bear or something.” Jared just shook his head at how ridiculous it even sounded, “I think we almost all had heart failure when she got near that cat before we could reach her or you could risk shooting at it. But it licked her face and laid down on the ground, almost like it knew her, like it always had. There was nothing but trust between that little girl and this huge, otherwise ferocious beast. It was insane. But, that’s…that’s what I saw.” Jared shrugged with a sigh, shaking his own head as he recounted the unbelievable story of his vision.

There were a few moments of silence as Ian looked down, wordlessly, Jared watching him closely for his reaction to the account, though it was Kyle who spoke up first, “Then what happened?”

Though before Jared could offer any answer, another voice interrupted, weak though it was, “Guys?” Lili breathed the simple greeting as she finally opened her eyes to find that all three of them were there at her side once again, at last.