Free Village E3: Survival of the Human Spirit by James Holler Page A

beach? We haven't checked
there yet," said Hailey. "Sounds like a good idea to me. Maybe we can
take a dip and wash up while we are down there," said John.
    The evening before, they had left the
pot, pan, and their cup out to catch rain. Hailey picked up the cooking pot,
which was half full, and drank about half the water in it. She then handed it
to John. Boiled water from the pool was safe to drink, but the taste was awful
compared to rain water. "Man, that's good," said John, after
finishing off what was left in the pot.
    After completing their daily chores,
they set out for the beach. The day was warming up quickly, and with the added
humidity from the rain, they both were sweating before they were even half way
to the beach. "Judging by my smell, I'm about a day overdue for a dip in
the ocean," John joked. "Well, I wasn't going to say anything,"
said Hailey, playing off of his quip. "OK," said John, pretending to
be offended.
    They finally reached the beach and
sat in the shade of a tree, before going on. "We could probably cover more
ground if we split up and go both directions at once," said John, pointing
with his fingers. "OK, but let's not get out of each other's sight.
Hopefully we can find some of Katie's footprints if she made it this far,"
said Hailey. After catching their breath, they headed down the edge of the
beach, in opposite directions, both inspecting the sand for any sign that Katie
had been there.
    As they walked away from each other,
John and Hailey each checked over their shoulder often to make sure the other was
still in sight. John occasionally went out to the middle of the beach, just to
make sure he wasn't missing anything. As time slipped by, the distance between
them kept growing and they couldn't go much farther without going out of sight
from each other. John was thinking about turning back, when he looked back for
Hailey, and realized that he couldn't see her. He felt as much panic as he felt
on his first day here.
    He turned and began to run as fast as
he could, and in less than a hundred yards, he was out of breath. His side was
hurting, but he continued to run, while focusing on the last area he had seen
her. His greatest fear now wasn't the fact that he was here, but it was being
here without Hailey. He thought of his high school years, when he could run for
miles and not rest. Now, he was in pain after a short run, but his fear was
stronger than the physical discomfort that he felt. He pressed on despite the
pain, and just when he thought his heart would burst, Hailey appeared. She
stepped into sight from out of the trees, looked up, and saw that John was
running, so she began walking in his direction.
    John felt a similar feeling now that
he felt the day he sighted Hailey and Katie. He stopped in his tracks, put his
hands on his knees, and struggled to breathe. Not sure what was going on,
Hailey began to jog towards him. Seeing her running, he lifted one hand to
signal her not to run. They were a great distance apart still. As John began to
catch his breath, he started walking toward Hailey and couldn't take his eyes
off of her now. As they got close enough to hear each other, Hailey yelled,
"What's wrong?" "I couldn't see you. You scared the hell out of
me," said John.
    "I had to pee," said
Hailey. When they finally reached each other, John walked directly up to her
and wrapped his arms around her. She was surprised at first, but then joined
him in the embrace. "I couldn't live without you now," said John. Not
saying anything, Hailey squeezed John a little tighter. "I'm serious. I
didn't realize it until I couldn't see you. I thought I was going to die,"
said John, not wanting to relax his hold.
    "I think you're pretty much
stuck with me now. Let's wash up, and go home," said Hailey, gently
pushing away. As they walked toward the water, Hailey reached out and took
John's hand. It was just the kind of gesture that he was looking for. He wasn't
sure how Hailey felt, but now he knew she