Joe awoke to a dry pain in this throat. He reached out blindly for a water bottle but instead gripped something wooden. Opening his eyes, the first thing he noticed was the angry man with the spear.

“Two balanda wanna’ bight, eh?” The man shook the spear. Joe let go of the shaft and raised his hands, scooting further back into the alcove on his behind.

“We don’t want a fight.”

The man withdrew the spear and laughed. “Gammon!”

“Gammon?” Joe studied the man quizzically. He was shirtless but wore a pair of faded dungarees and sandals.

“No, man. gammon means ‘joking’. I was joking. Name’s Enry. Look, you don’t look like you’re from around here so I speak plain English, OK?”

“Thanks, I appreciate it. I’m Joe. This is Lawrence.” Joe nudged Lawrence awake. He murmured, then opened his eyes. He bolted upright, bumping his head on the alcove. Rubbing his head sorely, he eyed the stranger warily.

“Lawrence, this is Enry our new friend.”

“Uh…hi, Enry.”

“Joe and Lawrence.” The man extended his arms and crossed them at the wrists. “Policemen?”

Joe shook his head. “We’re not policemen. Our pilot ditched us here last night.”

“You came from helicopter, eh? VirCorp?”

Joe’s jaw dropped. “Yes, that’s where we came from. How did you know that?”

“We see helicopter last night. Big mob of people from VirCorp back at camp recognize it.”

“There are other people from VirCorp at your camp?”

Enry nodded. “When they first arrived, they came from VirCorp. But not VirCorp any more. Now one big happy family. My cousin brother used to work “Advertising” long time ago.” Lawrence stared wide-eyed at Enry. Enry was looking at the smoldering fire and skewered a scrap of kindling with his spear. “Say, you gotta burri?”

“Burri?”

Enry held two fingers together and drew them to his lips.

“Cigarette?”

“Yeah.”

“Sure, just a second.” Joe opened his bag and pulled out a carton. Enry’s eyes went wide. Joe fished out a pack and a lighter and handed them to the man. “You can have those. I have more.”

“Joe is very kind, eh? Thanks!”

“You’re welcome. Will you take us to your camp?”

“Of course! Sent me out this morning to see what happened. I’m sure dey bin very curious to meet you. About ten kilometers,” he jerked his thumb, “that way. You ready?”

Joe packed up his bag and helped Lawrence out of the nook. Standing in the sunlight never felt so good. After lighting up a cigarette, Joe offered their new companion his hand.

“Enry, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

While it wasn’t everything they had hoped for, Henry Bosak was right. They had a bright new day ahead of them.