Mummer of voices awoke me. I looked around the room. Kevin, Howie and AJ were up talking.

"'Morning." I yawned.

"'Morning." They all replied.

I looked around the shelter. Nick was still fast a sleep as usual, though he was no longer using me as a pillow.

"Anybody know how cold it is outside?" I asked sitting up.

"Yeah, and as you would say," Howie started.

"Don't go out there!" Kevin did the best Ace Venture impression he could.

I smiled, "That cold huh?" I asked.

They all nodded.

"Well, I gotta go out." I said and pulled my pants on.

"Why would you have to go outside?" AJ asked, "It's freezing!"

"Yeah well, when we built this shelter we didn't think of a bathroom." I got up, grabbing a blanket, wrapped it around my shoulders and went outside. It was almost as bad as the stream.

When I got back in Nick was up, sorta. His eyes were open, that's about it.

"What day do you think it is?" Howie asked AJ.

"Probably the 23rd or 24th." AJ replied.

I heard Nick sigh but didn't think too much about it at that time. I wasn't thinking too much of anything except to stay warm. Suddenly a cold wet nose nudged my bare side.

I jumped a little as the pup wormed his way under my arm and settled down. Must be cold. Or hungry. I thought. Or have to go out too.

"You gotta go out boy?" I asked the little face.

He barked and ran to the door.

Nick sat up; "I gotta go out anyway." He got up.

"I'd put some clothes on if I were you." Howie warned.

Nick mumbled something that sounded a lot like "Well you're not me." Then opened the door and stepped outside. In only boxers that would cool him off…

I glanced at Kevin. He still looked a little mad but not as much as last night. "Give the pup a chance Kevvy." I said.

He shrugged. "If he keeps Nick out of our hair guess he can't be that bad." I noticed Kevin now called Cloud a he instead of an it.

Nick returned. He was shaking uncontrollably, and his lips looked a little blue.

"Cold?" AJ asked calmly, with an 'I told you so' look on his face.

Nick gave him a look.

I wrapped a blanket around Nick's shoulders.

"Is anyone hungry?" Howie asked.

"Yeah." We all agreed.

"Luckily we stocked up on everything last night." AJ grabbed the pot and dumped one of the water bottles into it.

Howie hung the bottle over the water.

Cloud whimpered as if he knew what we were doing.

"Sorry boy. You'll have to have berries." Nick patted the pup's head.

He looked back at Nick with puppy eyes. What else was he going to look at him with?

Cloud's coat was pure black. He looked like a small German Shepherd. His eyes were almost white with a hint of blue along the edges.

"The fish is outside!" Nick said.

The pup looked forward and into the fire then sighed.

Nick suddenly winced.

"You alright?" Kevin asked.

"Yes." Nick said protectively.

"You're sure?" Howie asked this time.

"Yeah, just stiff and cold." Nick replied.

I looked at where the branch had once been. The infection had gone down now that Nick had been cleaning the wounds everyday. But they were still red and sore. Nick always made excuses saying he was just cold or stiff.

We stayed inside the whole day. It was pretty boring but we were warm and had food. But every so often Kevin would snap at a remark Nick made or Nick would snap at Kevin. Finally Howie, being the peacemaker shut them up.

"Look, we don't know when we're going to be helped here. So until that time you two better start getting a long!" He said.

Nick looked away from Kevin. I knew why he was so grouchy but Kevin I wasn't quite sure about.

"Fine, Nick, I'm sorry." Kevin sighed in defeat.

"Apology accepted." Nick said. He was hugging his knees.

"Nick…" Howie was waiting.

Nick sighed, "I'm sorry too."

"Apology accepted." Kevin said.

"Good! Now that that's done and over with," Howie started, "Now what do we do?"

I wanted to talk to them all. We hadn't done that in a while but how do you start to do that?

"What are you guys all feeling right now?" I asked.

They all looked at me confused.

"I mean, we all have our problems, that's why Kevin and Nicky kept going at each other. We used to talk everything out…" I started then stopped.

"I just want to go home." Nick sighed. I had already known that.

"We all want to go home. Get healed and be warm." AJ said.

"You know what I have had a craving for, for the longest time?" Howie asked.

"What?" AJ and Kevin asked. Nick and I looked at him.

"A big cheese pizza! Even McDonald's!" Howie smiled.

"Yeah, I could go for Mickey D's now." AJ agreed.

Nick stayed quiet the rest of the day. He usually kept things in and we were all used to it. But under the circumstances, that was probably the worst thing he could have done.

Finally as the fire grew low and everyone was peacefully sleeping, Nick sat up and just starred at the fire. I hadn't quite fallen asleep and I watched him. As he stared at the fire two tears slowly slid down his face.

It hurt to know he needed something but couldn't get it.

"You okay Frack?" I slowly sat up, startling him. He quickly turned away and wiped his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said still with his back turned to me.

"You can cry you know." I said crawling over to him.

"Cry? Why would I do that?" He asked, finally turning around. "I just got dirt or something in my eyes."

"Look," I sat down beside him, "We're all gonna get through this. And we're gonna get home."

"But when?" He asked, the hard expression on his face slowly fell as his eyes became glassy again.

"I don't know." I said truthfully.

Nick leaned his head in his hands and silently sobbed.

I put my arms around his shoulders and hugged him. "You gotta be strong Frack. We all do."

Nick rested his head on my shoulder and sniffed. "Thanks Frick." He whispered.