Hungry

The young man drives along the trail with the rest of his group. They've been out in the bush for several days now, looking for their quarry. Their automatic rifles carry at least 20 rounds each. Whether they'll use them to bring down their quarry or defend themselves against the rangers, they won't know until they get to that point.

The young man himself twiddles his thumbs and looks all around for something on the horizon. The four men he is with are all experienced poachers. They know exactly what they're doing. Compared to the young man, who just joined the troop, they are experts in tracking game species. He will need them if he is to get what he came for. The money he can get for premium elephant ivory will get him and his family through at least a month.

Today is going to be another day without their quarry, however. It's getting late in the day and the sun is just a few hours away from setting. One of the older men suggests that they stop and make camp for the night and the rest of the band is forced to agree. The driver stops at the edge of a scrub forest and the men unload their truck.

Precious food and water is kept in the truck for safe keeping. The men know that there are all too many animals who'd like to get their jaws around it. Hammocks and tents are unloaded first. Rest is essential for planning a hunt. As the rest of the men hang the hammocks and pitch the tents around them, one of the older men approaches the young man.

"We're out of firewood," he says, "Head out into the bush and grab some more." The young man stares sheepishly into the forest. His legs don't move from his position.

"Are we really gonna do this again?" the older man asks. "You have a gun, you know how to use it, move!" The young man takes another look at the older man and goes out into the forest with his rifle. The undergrowth is lacking in cover and there's plenty of dried sticks and branches for him to grab. The man still keeps his eyes as up as he can, his ears ready to pick up the slightest sound. Every bird call is a surprise to him. Every snap of the twigs he steps on sends shocks to his brain. Had he known it'd be this terrifying, maybe he would have thought twice about signing up. The next branch he picks up suddenly doesn't feel like a branch. Branches are rough and lukewarm. This was smooth and cool. And moving.

The feeling in his arm hits like a hundred tiny needles breaking the skin. In one movement, he rips off the snake and sends it back into the forest. He holds both his arm and the wood and bolts back to camp. He's been bit. The skin is broken. They're miles from any help. If it was venomous, he might never make it back alive. The young man bursts into camp, spilling the wood all over as he stumbles over to the older man who sent him out there.

"What is it? What happened?" he asked.

"A snake!" the young man yelled, "A damn snake bit me!" The older man grabbed the arm. It was bloody red. Too bloody to see the wound. The man grabbed a first aid kit and took a pack of gauze out of it. Wiping away the blood, he saw two thin lines of needle-like points converging to form a crescent shape.

"We gotta get to a hospital!" the young man said, his breath speeding up. His legs were like noodles. His stomach hung like a stone in his abdomen.

"Relax," the older man said, annoyed. "Look, no fang marks. The snake that bit you was non-venomous, probably just a python or a sand boa." The young man looked again. It was true. Just regular old snake teeth marks. No fangs.

"No venom?" he said.

"No venom. Just make sure to get that cleaned. You get gangrene, you may lose that arm." The older man walked over to the pile of spilled firewood and got to sorting it. The young man took a moment to calm down before taking some peroxide out of the first aid kit and tended to his wound.

One of the other men set up the fire and started it with an old flint and steel. The dried grass and twigs caught easily and the fire was roaring in no time. Others got the food out from the coolers in the truck and began to prepare them over the fire. The darkness soon overcame them as the five men began to eat and drink what they could spare.