Dark Titan Journey: Wilderness Travel Read Online Free PDF Page B

said, dreaming about the possibilities. Then a thought hit him. “Nathan, do you know any martial arts?” he asked.
    “Yes. Black belt in three forms. I’m studying two more right now.”
    “Can you teach me?” John asked hopefully.
    “If you want to learn,” Nathan said.
    “Me too?” Amanda chimed in.
    Nathan laughed, turning his head back and forth and looking at them sitting on each side of him. “If you’re serious I’ll do it, but at any time I see you’re not I’ll quit and won’t start back up.”
    “Okay,” they said together.
    “After we work out in the mornings we will have a class,” he promised them. John just looked off, dreaming of being super cool. Amanda just wanted to be able to beat the crap out of someone. Finished eating, they hit the road and Nathan continued with the lessons, making them pass the map back and forth to find the places around them. During the afternoon break he showed them a bend in the road.
    “If we are separated this is our rally point. If you get lost you know what the area looks like. Go to this area and wait for two days. If no one shows, they’re dead,” Nathan told them. “Every morning at breakfast we will set up a rally point of the day,” he added.
    “Why do you keep saying dead?” Amanda asked with a pissy voice.
    He looked at her and put his arm around her. “It’s possible Amanda, and you have to remember that. If you try to act like it’s not then you will lose focus and it will happen. I’m sure those bangers never considered the possibility of them dying,” Nathan said.
    “But we’re with you,” she pointed out.
    “That is an edge, but I’m not Superman. It doesn’t take something make believe to kill me. That is why I’m teaching you,” Nathan said gravely.
    She smiled at him, “It’s going to take years for you to teach us what you know. So you can’t die till then,” she said.
    “I’ll make a special note in my project book,” Nathan said. “Ares is trying to get the bunny in your bag,” he told Amanda.
    She turned around, seeing Ares pawing at the zipper of her backpack. “Ares, no,” she said, and he looked at her like, ‘Well you don’t want it, it’s in here.’ She reached over and petted him then hugged his neck. Picking up his bowl off the ground, she poured out the water then folded it up, putting it in his pack. “Ares, here,” she said and he trotted over, still looking at her pack. “You carry yours, I’ll carry mine,” she said, putting his pack on and buckling it.
    With gravel crunching underfoot they continued on. It was around three when the mosquitos swarmed in. Struggling on down the road, after soaking down each other in bug spray, they finally made camp. Setting out the ThermaCELL they started getting a reprieve. Even Ares learned that if he stayed near the little things the biting things left him alone.
    Getting out his folding shovel, Nathan showed them how to dig a fire pit and build a fire. The two loved the fire since it seemed to help from being eaten alive. They cleaned up and washed clothes as Nathan pulled out some aluminum foil, placing the bunny meat in it. Using the plants that they had gathered through the day then washed, Nathan cut them up, added them to the meat and sprinkled some spices all over. Then he wrapped the concoction up in the foil; when the fire died down he dug out the coals, laid the foil in and raked coals over it. Then he covered the pit with dirt.
    “Why can’t we have a fire at night?” John asked.
    “It’s too easy to spot and smell. Remember, we don’t want to be seen,” Nathan said.
    “How are we going to avoid being seen going through town tomorrow?” Amanda asked.
    “Oh, we’ll be seen but we’ll just blend in,” he said. “Or we can take a twenty-one-mile detour,” Nathan added.
    “No, let’s go through the stupid town,” she said. “Are we stopping for anything?”
    “Not if we can help it,” Nathan said.
    “What did the President