They followed the faint road for at least an hour. The landscape didn’t change much, with just the reddish-brown grass and dirt, barren hills, and occasional trees the only scenery. Spence didn’t see any animals or even birds flying. The light continued fading, with little evidence of the actual location of the sun. The air grew colder as the light disappeared. It seemed like a dreary December day in Colorado. Spence was used to the harsh Colorado winters, but he was prepared there with insulated boots and gloves, layers of clothes, hats, and ski masks. His robe and crude boots could only do so much. Having just come from a hot, sunny desert made it that much worse.

Caleb eventually stopped walking and turned to face the others. “It’s going to be dark soon, and we have no idea how far the town is. I say we make some type of camp while we can still see.”

Spence had been excited to reach the town, but now he was exhausted. The stress of the situation, plus the battle, had taken its toll. His legs were also tired and achy. He assumed it was from the lack of use over the past few months, but he hadn’t exercised much since he had survived tenth-grade gym class. He nodded assent to Caleb. Morgan and Trey didn’t protest.

“There are a couple of trees at the base of that hill,” Caleb said, pointing to the south. “Hopefully, there is something useful in these packs.” He strode toward the trees, with the others trailing close behind.

Caleb unslung his pack when they reached the trees, knelt beside it on the ground, and hastily rummaged through it. “Rope, tinderbox, tarp, pouch of coins, and a necklace with like a ruby pendant on it.” Caleb withdrew the necklace and hung it around his neck.

Trey removed his fanny pack and searched through it while still standing. “A whetstone, something that looks like an emergency blanket, coins, and a necklace with a blue pendant. It seems kind of gay, but I might as well wear it. Maybe it’s magic,” Trey said and placed the chain over his head.

Morgan scowled at Trey and then searched through the pouches on her belt. “Bandages, two small, round containers, coins, a vial of red liquid, and an amethyst necklace.” She, too, donned her necklace.

Spence placed his pack on the ground and squatted to peer inside. “Sweet!” He pulled out a silver chain with an emerald pendant. The pendent was warm and even seemed to vibrate faintly. He had no idea of its purpose, but judging by his staff, it might be powerful. He slipped it over his head and around his neck. “It looks like there is a tarp in here, rope, coins, and two vials of a white liquid. Dang.”

“What?” Caleb asked.

“None of us have food or water,” Spence replied.

“Fatty hungry?” Trey asked.

“Shut up, spaz,” Morgan replied for Spence.

“Everybody focus,” Caleb said. “Trey, let’s take these tarps and ropes and make a shelter. Morgan and Spence, see if you can find some dry sticks. There won’t be much wood, but hopefully, we can get a small fire going. Morgan, if you see something edible, shoot it.”

“I don’t kill animals,” Morgan snapped.

“I hope you will if it’s between that and starvation,” Caleb said.

“I don’t think any of us will starve tonight.” She turned and walked toward the next closest trees.

Spence watched her walk away. He was a little disappointed he wasn’t the leader after his shining moment of slaying the wolfosaurus. But he was tired and liked the thought of being away from Trey for a few minutes. He mostly forgave Morgan for her earlier comments since she had come to his defense. He left his pack, grabbed his staff, and hurried to catch her. She appeared menacing with her dark hair and tunic in the dim light. “Crazy day, huh?”

“I know, right?” she replied.

Sarcasm was something Spence did know about Morgan from school. “I don’t think we’re dreaming.”

“We can still hope.”

“Well, maybe we should just embrace it. I mean, we get to be on a quest in a strange world, full of monsters and different races. How many people can say that?” And I can walk again.

Morgan turned to stare at him. “Embrace it? We’re four freakin’ high school kids trying to fight monsters! We might have survived the first one, but there are at least four more. We’re all not going to survive this—if any of us do. And don’t take this personal, but I can’t think of any three people I’d less rather be stuck with in this disaster than you three.”

Spence swallowed hard. “That didn’t sound personal at all.”

They gathered sticks and small tree limbs from the few nearby trees and returned to the camp with two armfuls. Caleb and Trey had tied a rope between the two trees and placed Caleb’s tarp over it. Then they had cut some stakes out of tree limbs and staked the backside of the tarp to the side of the hill and the front corners to the ground, leaving a doorway in the front and a protected shelter within. They had spread Spence’s tarp over the floor inside the tent.

Spence and Morgan dropped the wood in front of the shelter. Caleb went to work with the flint from the tinderbox and his dagger and had a flame going in just a few minutes. He added more limbs to it and soon had a nice size campfire. The four sat on the ground around it.

“I guess this would be better with some food to cook,” Caleb said.

“You think the statue would have packed us dinner,” Trey replied.

“Well, hopefully, the town isn’t far away. We have money to buy what we need,” Spence added.

“I just thought of something else,” Morgan said softly.

The other three turned to her.

“Where’s the bathroom?”

Caleb laughed loudly, with Trey and Spence joining in. “Haven’t been camping before, huh?”

“In a camper with a bathroom,” she replied, glaring at the three boys.

“Just pick a spot and squat,” Trey said. The three laughed harder.

Morgan glowered at them. “What about toilet paper?”

“Well, that’s a little trickier. I guess hand or leaves. Oh, but you have to dig a hole and bury it, or wild animals can find it—and us,” Caleb said.

“Or scoot your butt across the grass like a dog,” Trey added.

Morgan stood. “You may all kiss my ass.” She turned and stomped off into the darkness.

Spence chuckled. He was glad he wasn’t the one getting teased, though he hated anyone had to. Of course, getting teased about using the bathroom wasn’t the same as being teased for being a nerd or crippled. And Morgan could more than fend for herself.

“Shame we couldn’t have gotten stuck with a hot chick,” Trey said.

“I think she’s pretty hot,” Spence replied.

“You think your right hand is hot,” Trey said. “What about you, Rambo?”

Caleb looked up and stared across the fire at Trey. “If you’re addressing me, it’s Caleb.”

Trey glared and then flashed a slight grin. “What about you, Caleb?”

“I guess she’s OK. I haven’t really noticed.”

Morgan’s footsteps approached from the darkness, made darker by the light of the fire. She reappeared, sighed, and sat between Spence and Caleb. “Well, that sucked. And a tree limb almost became part of me.”

The other three laughed. “You’ll get used to it,” Caleb said. “My dad and I camp all the time.”

“You can piss standing, though. What’s your story, by the way?” Morgan asked. “I hear lots of rumors.”

“I wouldn’t believe everything you hear. We enjoy camping and spending time outdoors. That’s all,” Caleb replied.

They didn’t speak for a few minutes. Trey dug the whetstone out of his pack and began running it along the blade of his ax. It made a loud grating noise in the silent night, and occasional sparks leaped off the metal.

“I doubt it needs sharpening,” Caleb said.

“Sounds cool, though,” Trey replied.

The fire kept the cold away, although Spence guessed the temperature continued to drop just beyond its reach. He spent the quiet time reflecting on the events since they had teleported to Nibiru. The more he thought, the more he realized something wasn’t right, other than the obvious. “Something doesn’t add up about all this.”

“So, you’re saying something doesn’t add up about getting transported from the desert to another planet, you walking again, fighting a wolfosaurus with medieval weapons, and being assigned a quest by a talking statue?” Trey asked.

Spence breathed deeply and tried not to let Trey get his blood pressure up. “Well, it’s all weird. But someone brought us into an arena to kill the wolfosaurus as a test. Now, we must kill four monsters separating these different races. Why would someone from this world need four teenage kids from Earth to do that, especially one that’s paralyzed? The Nephilim, dwarves, elves, and Draconians can’t defeat them? Enki and the other gods can’t defeat them? The Sumerian gods were very advanced in the myths and even created humans. They also had powerful weapons, including what sounded like nukes.”

“It does sound like a pretty weak plot,” Morgan agreed.

“Nothing makes sense about any of this. The only hope is we wake up in the morning in our own beds,” Caleb said.

“I bet Mrs. Stephenson is freaking out,” Trey said.

“And the school. And our families,” Spence added.

“I hadn’t even thought of that. However, we haven’t been gone too long. They’re probably just thinking we wandered off and became lost,” Morgan said.

“You know, you’re always hearing about people going missing across the country, and sometimes they’re never found. What if they were brought here? Or other places like it?” Spence asked, a whole new group of thoughts racing through his mind.

“The Bermuda Triangle?” Morgan said.

“Hey, I bet we find Amelia Earhart,” Trey said, laughing at his joke.

They fell silent again. Spence considered the possibility of never leaving this world. He assumed the others did too.

“Well, the quicker I go to sleep, the quicker I can find out if this is a dream. And I won’t be wishing I had something to eat or drink. I’m going to bed.” Caleb stood and disappeared into the shelter.

“Gee, sleeping in a tin can will be cozy,” Trey said, following Caleb.

Spence and Morgan also moved under the tarp. They had to lie on the hard, cold ground with no blankets for cover, although the tarp on the ground gave them a little protection. They used their packs for pillows. The fire had warmed it up decently inside the makeshift tent, though. Spence tossed and turned and worried that he might not be able to go to sleep, but he entered a night of fitful dreams before he knew it.