Story: 'Night Trials', VI

We're settling into 2013 now, funny people, and it's time to get back down to business. After a busy day of LaTeX and coding I've settled down and produced a new episode in Night Trials, my epic and somewhat silly Western story. I wish you joy in the reading of any other thing but this. Well, it's probably not quite THAT bad.

When last we checked, Sheriff Bob was on the run from an energy-spewing alien after escaping his imprisonment. For more detail, check the previous instalments.


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Night Trials: Part VI
(Parts V , VII)

For the first time in this bizarre interlude, Bob realised he had avoided being knocked out or incapacitated. This, he thought, was progress. Now he was on the run from the deeply dubious slime aliens instead of being knocked out.

Looking back on the grand mystery of the aliens he realised that he was in the most dangerous of positions. Yes, he was scarpering through the desert with no clear objective in mind, a limited supply of food and an even more limited supply of water. Suddenly he realised there was a natural objective. Bob adjusted his course as he ran through the rubble of Bubble Ravine, looking for a very special exit. A rattlesnake almost caught him with the vicious bite but he dodged behind a boulder and kept going.

What could be done about Wandering Yip? How could he know what to do? The next nearest town was the unfortunately named Lame Moose and it was too far across rough country to travel by foot in high summer. He would need a horse and water, the water much sooner than the horse. Still, that's why he was heading this way.

An hour passed.

Edwin's Hole was a natural water hole, far off the regular trails, that had been neglected in recent times. The water was brown and dull but drinkable. Bob scooped out water with his hands and doused himself and indulged in some of the food he'd brought with him. Then he thought hard again. He was alone. If the aliens could do one thing he didn't understand then they might be able to do others. Could they find him? They had waited until daylight to come and see him before, so maybe they disliked the dark? There were still five or six hours of daylight left, so that had no immediate application.

He was going to need a way to survive, an objective, and finally a plan. He would need a horse to get to Lame Moose, but would do little good there without some evidence. He could lie to them just to come out, he supposed, but knew his ability to deceive was minimal. He therefore added evidence to his list of necessary items and then one more item: He would need a base.

With nothing else to do he checked that he was secure and settled down to wait for nightfall. At some point he fell asleep, and finally rested in the natural way, but his brain whirred on through it all.


To be continued...