Walk the Plank Read Online Free

One or two for every one of us.
    EL-MASRI: We lost fourteen people to the pack early on before we learned not to wander too far into the woods alone. We go out in groups of four or five and always go armed. They seem to have gotten good at recognizing rifles. We don’t see them as much as we used to.
    DAMANIS: They made up for it with us. They went for the injured ones first, went right for their necks and open wounds. There was nothing we could do for them. Some of the less injured tried to run or crawl, but the pack went for their injuries, too. Like they knew that was going to cause us the most pain and drag us down so they could have us. Then at least a couple dozen got into a smaller pack and headed toward those of us who we still uninjured. Some of us tried to run, and didn’t notice that there was another small pack flanking us. Nadeem was one of those; he went down fast and six of them were on him before any of us could do anything. Then the rest of them came right at us.
    SPURLEA: How did you manage to escape?
    DAMANIS: I didn’t at first. One of the pack things bit into my calf and took a chunk of it. I managed to kick it off and then ran as fast as I could in the other direction. By that time the rest of the crew was down and I guess the pack decided there was more than enough where they were. They didn’t need to follow me. I just kept running until my leg gave out on me.
    EL-MASRI: Do you remember which direction you mostly ran? North? South?
    DAMANIS: I don’t know. Mostly south? I remember the sun being to my right when I could see it, and I think it was morning here when we landed. So, south?
    EL-MASRI: What happened then?
    DAMANIS: I rested, but not too long, because my leg was already beginning to hurt, and I didn’t want it to stiffen up on me. I kept heading south, and after a while, maybe ten minutes, I came to a stream. I remembered reading somewhere once that if you ever get lost in the woods that you should find a stream and then walk downstream, because sooner or later you’d find civilization that way. So after I drank some water and washed out my wound, I just started walking downstream. I walked and then I would rest for a couple of minutes and then I would start walking again. Eventually I came out of the woods and saw your colony. I saw a couple of people in a field.
    SPURLEA: That would be the Yangs. They found him out in what was supposed to be their sorghum field.
    EL-MASRI: Go on, Malik.
    DAMANIS: I tried yelling to them and waving my hands, but I didn’t know if they could hear me or not. Then I passed out, and when I woke up I was here, and Doctor Spurlea was trying to fix my leg. That woke me up.
    EL-MASRI: I don’t doubt that.
    DAMANIS: And that’s everything, sir. That’s everything I know.
    EL-MASRI: All right. Thank you, Malik.
    DAMANIS: You’re welcome, sir. Can I have my painkillers now? I’m really going to start crying soon.
    SPURLEA: Absolutely, Malik. Give me one minute to talk to Chen here, and I’ll come right back and hook you up.

     
    [Door opens, closes.]

     
    EL-MASRI: Well, at least now we know how he got the Rot. That pack bite would do it.
    SPURLEA: And if it didn’t, washing the wound in the stream water did.
    EL-MASRI: You can’t blame him for not knowing that the stream is packed with the Rot’s bacteria.
    SPURLEA: Believe me, I don’t. His blood work just pinged, by the way.
    EL-MASRI: Bad news?
    SPURLEA: Don’t make it sound like you care, Chen.
    EL-MASRI: Just tell me.
    SPURLEA: He’s got it in his blood. He’s got about twenty-four hours before the septicemia blows him up from the inside.
    EL-MASRI: We don’t have enough painkillers for you to let him ride out that whole time, Aurel. That’s how we got into this situation with the painkillers in the first place.
    SPURLEA: I know.
    EL-MASRI: You’re going to take care of this, then.
    SPURLEA: When I go back in I’ll give him enough to get him to sleep. I’ll take care of it from