“We should take a count on the gear that survived the crash.” Suggested Roberts, “Wash, how ‘bout you?” “I’ve got a water bottle and my .380, Simon?” “I have my med kit, the XD, and two knives that Steve gave me, Jayne what do you have?” Jayne was sharpening his bowie knife and answered without looking up. “There’s my revolver, and this here knife. Oh ya, I grabbed a rifle stock when we crashed. Well, Steve, what did you manage to get out?” “My backpack.” Jayne didn’t look up as he muttered “ Fat lot a good that ‘il do us.” Steve pulled out his bayonet and gave a remark that made Jayne look up this time. “I also have my .44, my boot, survival, and bowie knives, and a few other odds and ends.” The survival knife was a 13 inch long knife. with a double sided blade. About halfway up the concave tip, the straight metal changed to saw-like serrations. It sported a paracord wrapped handle that was hollow to allow to allow for the storage of survival items or it could be lashed to a pole to make a spear. Steve had gotten it before the war, along with his bowie knife, and had used it for hunting and wilderness survival. The Bowie’s 11 inch long blade was razor sharp and could easily put an end to a struggle. Even Jayne was a little intimidated by the 16 inch long piece of cold steel, which wasn’t surprising since he had personally seen Steve cut short the lives of three Reavers in just as many seconds. Jayne was glad that Steve was in this mess with him. Apart from Shepard Book, Roberts was pretty much the only friend he had on Serenity. He had also managed to keep the Doc’s moon-brain sister occupied with that dog. It kept her out of his way, butcher knives out of his chest, and blood stains out of his shirts, well, some blood stains out of his shirts. The truth was it was pretty hard not to like the guy, admitted the mercenary. “We best find some cleen water and try to get some food.” Suggested Jayne. “Wonder when the others will come looking for us.” Steve was the next to speak. “Jayne’s right, we need water.” And without another word he drew his knife and, using the saw on the back, cut a limb off a nearby tree “Lets go.” Was all he said as they headed off to find some water and, maybe, food.

* * * From the shuttle Mal and Zoe could see everything. They could see the crashed shuttle, and the formidable army moving towards it. “What’s the plan Capt’n?” Inquired Zoe. Mal’s response was not exactly what she wanted to hear. “We go back to the ship, get supplies and guns, maybe try to load the mule up. There’s no way us three can do anything to help em Zoe, the way were set up. We’ll contact the law an tell them the problem, mabey thell be willin to lend a hand.”

* * * They had reached a small brook filled with clear, cool water, located at the edge of the forrest. Jayne was cleaning his revolver with nothing short of his usual consentration. Simon was filling a make shift water pouch that he had made from the plastic lining of his med kit. He had also filled every empty syringe, pill case, and water tight container he had. Following Steve’s suggestion, Wash was busy building a small fire. Having been raised on a planet just outside the core, he knew how to make a decent fire. “Wash, were did you learn to make a fire?” Inquired Simon, “I always thought you were from a central planet.” “I was, just not so central that my Dad and I wouldn’t go fishing and camping on the weekends. After he taught me how to cleen a fish, he showed me how to make a fire. What about you Simon?” “I went camping with my Dad once, we put too much lighter fluid on the firewood and almost burnt down the tent.” Wash chuckled at this little bit of information, and then yelped when two dead rabbits fell right next to him. It was Simon’s turn to laugh as Steve proceeded to clean his kill, cooking the rabit meet over the fire. “howd ya do it, Steve,” asked Jayne without looking up from his gun, “I didn’t here any gunshots, so how did you kill them rabbits?” In answere, steve held up a forked piece of metal tubing with an alastic band between the fork. “Slingshot, had it in my backpack.”

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Hope yal enjoyed it, constructive critisism would be right shiny!

would have posted more, but I'm trying to keep this from getting too long for most people.