Chapter 2

As Jason looked back at this small group of strangers the young Arab man broke into a chuckle. The giant of a man glared at him cutting his chuckle short but he showed little fear. The giants eyes swiviled back to Jason with his customary glare. The old man cut in saying "Its nice to meet you Jason. My name is Bob. Bob Lacker. Let's introduce ourselves before anything else." The old man was gifted at conflict resolution it seemed. Probably a byproduct of his age.

The young Arab boy spoke up. "My name is Samire Amari. It looks like we are all in this together so let's try to be calm and work together." His voice was like water. Clear and precise. He showed little emotion and looked to be a deep thinker. He had an aura around him that seemed to say he doesn't panic easily. Almost unaffected by what was happening. Almost. The Indian or Pakistani woman spoke next. "My name is Prisha Batra." No further words where forthcoming. "My name is Angela Weaver does anyone know what's going on?" Noone gave an aswer and simply looked at the scared girl. The gaint seemed to have a glint in his eyes that spoke of lust as he looked the young girl up and down but only Jason noticed. Lastly the giant broke his eyesight from the young girl and said "My name is Derek Johnson. Seeing as no one knows where we are or what's happening we should make someone the leader of our group. I think it should be me as I'm obviously the strongest." His words and demeaner where steeped in arrogance.

Samire looked at the giant "Why would strength matter for a leader. We should choose based on judgment and intelligence." He said while pushing his glasses up. The old man Bob chimed in. "We barely know each other yet and it's still too early to speak about leaders. We should be trying to figure out where we are and look for rescue right now. We shouldn't be competing for leadership." Derek gave his possibly perminant glare to the old man. The old man stood his ground with commendable grace. He looked back at the giant with steel in his eyes but no aggression. The old man was unaffected by Darek's rage. Jason found himself liking the old guy already. Darek kept the glare and said "you better watch your words old man. You should just hope we don't leave you behind." Jason looked around the group. Samire was unaffected by Darek's threats to the old man not caring in the slightest and while Angela seemed afraid, the mature woman Prisha stared at the back of Darek's head, her gaze containing daggers. She disliked Darek as much as Jason it seemed. Jason hid his dislike better though.

Jason was using all of these subtle social ques to gauge the people in this small group just as his grandfather taught him. The giant Darek was trouble in his eyes. Men like that where always trouble. The old man Bob was quickly gaining respect in Jason's eyes. The young man Samire couldn't be evaluated just yet. Angela seemed afraid of everything and probably useless but he reserved judgment. For now. Pasha was another like the old man that Jason believed might be helpful in their present situation.

Darek spoke again. "We have to start a fire. We need to signal for rescue." Samire cut in "are you stupid? If we start a fire It might attract that beast." He had zero emotion in his words. "At least he is level headed." Thought Jason. Darek shouted "don't call me stupid you mother fucker!" Taking two large steps forward he attempted to menace the young man. In unison Bob and Jason stepped between the two cutting off Darek's advance. "Lets not fight" repeated the old man Bob. Doing his patting the air gesture again. Darek thought about his odds versus two young men and one old and decided against violence for now but the anger in his eyes stayed there. "The dragon is gone. And we need rescue. We should start a fire." Repeated Darek. Jason spoke with a calm voice. "Rescue isn't very likely." Darek glared at him. "How do you know that?! Stop speaking out your ass!" Jason's only answer was to point up. Everyone followed his finger with their eyes and looked up. "Dear god!" Said Bob. The others quickly realized why.

In the slowly darkening but not yet dark sky hung two moons. One smaller and one larger. "What the fuck?" Darek mumbled. A shakiness in his vioce. "We are not on earth anymore obviously and rescue is a pipe dream as I see it." Jason concluded in a tone that spoke of dark humor. "Th...Thats impossible." Angela spoke her voice seeming to break and stutter. Her denial further enforced as she burried her face in her hands and began crying. Noone cared about her crying as their sight stayed locked on those two moons. "So what should we do now?" Prisha spoke up. She was the first to break sight of the moons and regain sanity. She looked at Jason then the old man Bob followed by Samire. Samire cleared his throat and said "we need shelter and water. Those are the first things to do in any survival situation. Food can come later." Jason nodded his head in approval. "Yeah my grandfather said a man can survive weeks without food but water and shelter are absolute necessities." Prisha also nodded her head in agreement with Samire and Jasons words. "So that's the plan then?" She asked. Bob thought for a second and showed agreement. Darek seemed mad at being left out of decision making and Angela was still crying.

"Its getting dark. We can't wander the woods in the dark especially because we don't know what's in there. So let's camp here for the night." Jason looked around the group. "Any disagreement?" Noone disagreed with his word. "Alright lets find some concealed area to rest and let's try to be silent. We don't want to attract any predators." Everyone once again either agreed with him or stayed silent. They spread out to look for concealment and a place to rest but Darek stayed put. Angela stayed for a second as well but then looked at the massive brute Darek with fear in her eyes and attached herself to the side of Prisha like a lost puppy who found her owner.

Shortly after Samire could be heard in a low yell. "Over here. There is an opening in the center of this group of bushes." Jason walked over and checked it out. "It will do. It's getting dark fast." A scream in the distance shattered the silence of the quickly darkening sky. Everyone froze. "What was th..." Angela started to speak but was cut off as more screeches and screams and roars followed closely behind the first. The sounds came from a good distance off but that fact did nothing to soothe the small group. Angela shot into the cover of the bushes and started qwivering. The rest of the group joined her in short order. All eyes where wide in fear save one set. Prisha noticed Jason glaring out into the darkness with vigilance. She had an approving look in her eyes. The old man Bob noticed as well.

Prisha and Angela where together on one side of the small cramped clearing with jason and bob close by. Angela clung to Prisha her head buried in Prisha chest. She was obviously terrified. Samire had his own spot a little further away and seemed to be regaining calm quickly. Darek was left alone as far from the group as can be in the small clearing that couldn't have been more then 10 or 12 feet wide at most. He did not seem pleased that everyone avoided him. He stared at the two women of the group. Jason could see the lust in his eyes and inwardly cursed. "Damn he is really going to be trouble."

The screams roars and screeches continued through the night. The sounds where varied and wierd. They could hear clicks and odd sounds as well. The only comparison to some of the sounds Jason could make was the sounds raptors made when communicating in the jarrasic park movies. "Please don't let there be dinosaurs." Jason thought without much hope. Noone was sleeping tonight. That is except Angela who passed out from fear at one point or another. "Good. Some rest might do her well." Said Bob. "She isn't taking this well." "Noone is taking this well" stated Prisha. Nobody disagreed. The Night dragged on. It felt like an eternity but eventually light began to gather in the sky in one direction. Day was coming. Jason welcomed the light. The roars and screams that came and went as they punctuated the night forest had come to a halt about an hour before sunrise.

As the sky further brightened Jason looked up into the sky growing blue and thought "A new world..... Why am I excited? I must be losing my mind." The truth was somewhere deep inside the shock and terror of it all was exciting to Jason. Not to say if he had a choice he would choose to be here over sleeping in his bed but the possibilities of this new world both scared and exited him. He felt a fire burn in his gut and his instincts came alive.

"What's waiting for me out there?" Jason thought.