Saturday, 28 February 2009 - 3:02 pm

Message

There was a crackling this morning that scared the crap out of us. It’s funny now, looking back on it – we thought that something had crawled into Ben’s pack and was trying to get into his food. So we were all shouting, and I was freaking out wondering what the hell was in there, and Nugget looked alarmed in case Jones had got zipped in somehow.

Ben waved us all back and opened up his bag, cautiously in case something leapt out at him. Once it was open, we could hear the sound more clearly and some of us laughed. Definitely not something alive – it was the radio sputtering. Ben dived in after it and immediately started fiddling with its little knobs.

He wound up having to take it outside before the signal would clear up. And then there it was, Sax’s calm voice repeating our names patiently. When Ben interrupted him to say hello, his response was, “Well, it’s about time.”

We all shouted hello, and then listened as Ben asked him how things were. He said they were okay – there had been a little bit of movement around, but no-one had bothered them. We should keep an eye out for another group, if we haven’t already seen them (it wasn’t until he mentioned it that I realised we haven’t seen much of anyone around here).

He asked when we’d be back, as their supplies were getting low. A couple of days, we told him. If we can keep the truck running that long, it shouldn’t take any more than that. Sax grumbled a bit and gave us instructions to keep the radio charged.

 

The good news is that the boat’s radio is working and the other part of our group is okay. I’m not so sure about Sax’s message. It’s not what he said so much as what he didn’t say. He thought we’d be closer to returning than we are. Or hoped we were closer. He didn’t say why. He didn’t say much about Sally and Masterson, either, except that they were still there.

I shouldn’t read too much into it. They’re all right and waiting for us – that’s all that matters.

Share