You’re not seven years old!

“Dickens. Psssst, Dickens.” That was Mike’s last name. “Are you awake?” He woke up, looked at me, and then turned towards Chad. “Hey, we’ve got a problem”, Chad said. He explained to Mike the issue with the radio and what he needed to do. He handed Mike the GPS and a compass. He marked Team 2’s site on the GPS so Mike could find them easily in the dark. Mike was strong and fast. He left all of his gear with us and took only water and cold-weather gear. The temperature had dropped to the level that we called “Balls Cold”, but it was less than a kilometer so he’d be back in no time. Chad relayed our plan to Team 2 over the Walkie Talkie and sent Mike on his way. It was a little before midnight when he left. 

“Pssssst, Cisco!” I opened my eye and looked at my watch and then at Chad. There was no one in between us and the empty space meant less warmth. A big guy like Mike does a lot to keep the site warm with his body heat. “It’s balls cold,” I said, “Where the fuck is Dickens? It is almost 0300.” Chad sounded worried when he said, “I don’t know! He should be back already. Team 2 said he left their site a while ago. He should have made it back by now.” We shut up when we heard the twigs breaking and the leaves crackling. Something was coming. I hoped that it was only a turkey and not a coyote. Chad said, “Dickens, is that you?” Mike didn’t answer. Then we heard, “Hey, is that you guys?” Mike was just a few feet away but couldn’t find us because our site had been too well camouflaged. He finally found us and walked up saying, “Cisco, were you snoring? I heard you and it helped me find my way back.” He crawled into the hole with us and the warmth began to return.

Mike began to tell the story of what had happened to him. He had to cross some of the roughest terrain on the back 40 to get to Team 2’s site.  He made it to their site without too much trouble. However, the return trip was a different story. The cold had started to sap his strength and the darkness seemed to get even darker the deeper he got into the woods. He was in a wooded area that he’d never been in before. The shadows were moving, there were noises, rustlings (perhaps mice or a raccoon), and Mike was all alone. He began to think about the things that could be out there. This 6’2″, 210 pound alpha male was scaring himself. My teeth were chattering as he was telling us the story of how he stopped himself in the woods and said, “What’s the matter with you? You’re not seven years old! There are no Sabre Tooth Tigers in these woods waiting to eat you!”

Chad and I howled with laughter as our new teammate solidified his place in our small group with his tale of woe. He wasn’t a cherry any longer. We knew he was strong and tough, but he’d proved it without a doubt that night. The Tantric Sex Gods slipped into the past and the era of the Sabre Tooth Tigers had dawned. From that moment in our team’s history we became inseparable what one of us did we all did. We were not alone.