That afternoon Nick and I went out to gather more berries. We had eaten the last ones for lunch. I didn't even know what kind they were. Nick had said something about blackberries but I didn't know. We silently followed the path we had taken to find the berries. Once in our little 'garden' filled with berry bushes and snow we filled a bucket the guys had also found along with the pot and water bottles, with berries. We filled it as full as we could. As we were just filling it full Nick stopped.

"What?" I looked at him.

He stood motionless watching one of the bushes intensively.

"What is it?" I asked.

He put his finger to his lips and went, "Shh." Slowly he moved over to the bush and quietly got down on his knees.

I suddenly noticed the bush move. There was no wind so that wasn't the case.

"If it's that porcupine tell him thanks." I said sarcastically.

Nick was moving slowly probably not to scare the creature in the bush. Suddenly he quickly grabbed the animal in the bush. "Gotcha!" He said as he pulled the animal out.

It looked like a small dog. Probably just a pup. It was shaking, and was very thin. Dry blood clung to its fur in various places on its back. It whimpered and tried to get away from Nick.

"It's okay." Nick whispered, carefully petting its head.

"He looks starved." I said as Nick held the pup in his arms.

"I know." Nick replied, standing up. "He's hurt too."

I sighed, "Kevin's gonna have a fit. But I'll carry these, you bring the mutt." I had known Nick long enough to know he wasn't going to leave the dog in the middle of nowhere with no food or shelter from the cold.

"Thanks." Nick walked behind me. It took about an hour to get back to the shelter. Nick seemed amused at me calling it a dog but I didn't think anything of it until Kevin spotted it in Nick's arms.

"Why the hell did you bring a wolf back to camp?" Kevin asked.

A wolf? I was shocked. I thought it had been a dog. But now that I thought about it some more, it didn't make sense to find a puppy out in the wilderness.

"He's hurt Kevin." Nick looked at Kevin.

"He's a wolf!" Kevin hissed.

"He?" AJ, Howie and I asked at the same time. The two ignored us.

"I don't care! I'm not going to leave it out in the cold!" Nick yelled.

"It's a wild animal." Kevin argued.

"He's a baby!" Nick said defensively.

"What about it's mother?" Kevin asked.

"She's probably dead." Nick looked at the small body in his arms; "She would have been with him."

"Fine! But you feed it and take care of it." Kevin walked away.

"Fine." Nick said.

"Brian, ya mind helping me a minute?" AJ asked.

"Sure." I went over to him. He was still working with the bow and was now ready to put the string on it. He was using some of the fishing line Kevin had found but there was still enough to use for the fishing pole.

I helped AJ bend to bow enough so he could tie the line on. It took a few tries before we could get it tight enough so it wouldn't snap or one of the knots wouldn't come undone. It took about an hour. Then I went over to help Nick with the net. He had been quiet for a while.

I could see that he was mad. "Kevin's just worried Nick." I said.

"I know." He sighed as he tied another knot in the rope.

The pup lay under Nick's leg fast asleep. Nick and I finished the last of the knots and checked to make sure they were tight.

"Should we try it out?" Nick asked.

"Yeah…maybe we'll even catch something." I said as we got up. The pup looked up at us and yawned.

"Common Cloud." Nick patted his leg calling the wolf. It got up and followed us.

"Cloud?" I asked.

"Yeah… Cloud…Final Fantasy VII." Nick said as we traveled through the snow.

He's really homesick. I thought. Nick naming the wolf Cloud was almost a dead give away to someone who knew Nick as well as I did. He missed his game system.

We followed the path made from gathering water.

Finally we reached the waters edge. At this part the water was moving pretty fast. Nick and I had found a better part of the stream that was kind of like a small pond over to the side. The water wasn't as rough there.

"So how do we do this?" I asked, "Just throw it in and bring it back?"

"That's about it." Nick nodded.

"Okay…" We both took hold of the net and threw it out into the water. Nick held on to the end of the rope. He waited a few minutes then pulled it in.

When it was on the ground we looked at what we had caught. We had hit the mother load! About 30 fish were in the net!

"It worked!" Nick laughed.

"Good work." I joined him. We did a little victory dance then gathered up the net and our prize and started to lug it back up the hill. Even Cloud tried to help by pulling with us.

"What took you guys so long?" Howie asked.

"This!" Nick and I held up the net.

"Geez! We'll be eating for a while." Kevin looked at the bunch.

"We can all thank Nick for his idea of the net." I said.

Kevin looked at Nick, "Now if that mutt would come in handy."

Nick ignored Kevin and went into the shelter to clean his wounds. Cloud followed him.

"Give him a break Kev." Howie said.

"It's a wild animal." Kevin hissed.

"But he's also starving, like us, alone, like us and cold, like us." I said.

Kevin glared at me.

"Where are we going to put all these fish?" Howie shook his head staring at the fish.

"We should build a box or something and cover them with snow." AJ said, "That's what that kid did in that story."

"It's a story!" Kevin suddenly said, "Don't start depending on what that kid did!"

"All of it made sense Kevin." Howie said.

Kevin shook his head, "How'd he even get there then?"

"His plane crashed and he was the only survivor." Nick returned followed by Cloud.

Kevin shook his head. He was going to need time to cool off. He walked away.

We all watched as he disappeared into the trees.

"Nick, come and help me." I said as I started to open the net.

Nick came over and helped and together we emptied the net and buried the fish beside the shelter. Except for the ones we were going to eat that night. The rest we covered them with snow so they'd freeze.

When we had finished Nick grabbed the fishing pole.

"Where're you going?" Howie asked, "We already got fish."

"Kevin's not going to let me feed Cloud anything from our stock." Nick said as he climbed down the drop.

I looked and Howie and AJ who were both looking at me. Nick was right.

While Nick cooked the fish again, Howie and I started working on a door. We had gathered supplies and things we'd need while Nick was fishing. Now we were putting them together.

"Ready." Nick called as he took the last fish out of the fire.

Kevin was back by then and quietly sat down with the rest of us. Nick handed out everybody's meals then picked up a piece of wood. It wasn't flat but it's wasn't the shape of a bowl either. In it was part of a fish.

Nick sat down away from us. He was still a little mad at Kevin. Kevin hadn't cooled off either.

He had cut the fish up into small bites and started feeding them to Cloud. Cloud gulped them down as if he hadn't eaten in weeks. The way I considered it he probably hadn't. Nick had also crushed berries for himself and filled a bowl with water. It was the only way he could eat.

When we were finished Howie and I started to work on the door again. I spotted Nick and Cloud playing fetch at the end of the clearing. Pretty smart pup.

Kevin and AJ were testing out the strength of the bow and how sharp the arrows were. The arrows were carved fully. Not just like a pencil. They looked more like a pencil that had been chewed up. All ridged at the tips, perfect for shooting rabbits…at least we all hoped they were.

It was starting to get dark faster than before. It had actually only been 6 days since the crash but it had seemed like forever.

They must be looking for us by now. I thought as Howie and I fitted the door to the shelter. It was the perfect fit.

"Good, maybe tomorrow we'll be able to sleep in." Howie said as we attached it.

That night Howie, AJ, Kevin and I went into the shelter. It had gotten extremely cold and was probably going to get worse as the nights went on.

Nick and Cloud were running around everywhere. For a little guy Cloud had a lot of energy.

Just like Nick. The thought made me smile.

Then when it got too cold and they got too tired Nick and Florida came inside as well. Or tried to.

"He's not staying in here." Kevin said as Nick stepped in.

"Why not?" Nick asked, speaking for the first time since supper.

"Because. It's a wild animal." Kevin said sternly.

Nick looked at Kevin, then to all of us. I didn't agree with Kevin but I couldn't say anything.

"Fine." Nick finally said, "He stays outside, then so do I." Nick crawled back out and closed the door.

After a few minutes of silence Howie finally spoke, "Kevin, common. Nick'll freeze."

Kevin looked at the closed door; "He wants to be like that let him." He laid down and covered his head with a blanket.

I sighed, "We don't need this right now!" I said, "We're in the middle of nowhere! We don't have time to fight! We have to survive!" I got up and went out into the cold night air.

Nick was nowhere in sight.

"Nick?" I called. No answer came. "Nick!" I called again but this time louder.

"What?" Nick's head suddenly appeared by the drop off.

"Common, get inside before you freeze." I said, motioning toward the shelter.

"So what?" Nick shrugged and ducked back down.

"Just get in. Bring Cloud too." I said.

"Kevin'll just kick him out again." He hissed.

I sighed, he was probably right, but I didn't want to have Nick spending the night outside. "Look, get in, I'll talk to Kevin. I don't want to have to come out here tomorrow morning and find a Nickcical." I said.

I heard him sigh then he got up, carrying Cloud. Then followed me back inside. Howie and AJ were already trying to sleep as well. It was pretty warm in the small room. I stripped out of my pants for the first time in days and laid them beside the wall where I was sleeping. I laid down under the blanket I had been using.

Nick also undressed and lay down. He moved back so his head was resting on my stomach again. He then lifted the blanket up and patted the ground beside him. Cloud crawled in; laid down, snuggled up to Nick, yawned, then closed his eyes. Nick covered him with the blanket and also got comfortable. "Goodnight Bri." Nick whispered.

"'Night Nick." I said.

I was tired, but I couldn't fall asleep. I was trying to figure out what day it was. It had been the 17th when we crashed and then was it 5 nights? No…I was too tired to think after all. I slowly closed my eyes and fell asleep.