There was no mercy from the sun and every step had become an agony. He reached up and adjusted the strip of t-shirt he’d tied around his face. He couldn’t breathe through his nostrils anymore as Valiant had told him to do, they were seared from the scorching heat. Sand and dust might not gather on the road, but it did on the thousands of boys, men, and tigers running alongside the wagons, and in turn rose as each step shook the dust from them and filled the air in a cloud that choked every breath. During the first part of the morning, there had been shade next to the wagons they each took turns running next to, but now the sun was directly over-head and not even that small comfort was available. If this really was the Land of the Dead, he wasn’t in the good place. He choked a painful laugh and mumbled to himself, ‘I should have been nicer to Luca, I’m in the bad place now’. He saw cubs jumping down from the wagons to take turns running beneath the wagons in the only shade to be found and give the horses some relief from the weight. He still hadn’t figured out where the cubs had come from in a population of only female tigers. The shimmering figures of thousands of Jacks wavered and wobbled on the road ahead of him, stretching out in a long column of bobbing heads. He lifted his water bottle to his cracked lips, but nothing came out. He stared at it, confused, wondering where the water inside had gone. A shadow moved across the road and caught Jack’s eye. He looked up – vultures. They knew a battle was coming, and with it they hoped would come their next meal. “Jack, can you hear me?” “Aya?” “You need to get on the wagon and take a rest, Jack.” “I thought computers didn’t work here.” “They don’t, Jack, I’m just a shadow in your memory.” “It’s so hot, Aya.” “Get on the wagon, Jack.” “I love you.” “No, you don’t. You’re not able to love a machine the way Luca does, but I still love you with all my heart and I am happy you found Mara, she’s someone you can love. I will watch over both of you forever. Now get on the wagon, Jack.” He felt hands lifting him, then lying him down and something wet placed across his forehead. He could feel the road rolling by beneath him. Several of his grandfather’s hovered in a blur over him. “Dang fool, he doesn’t have the years of walking and running we have,” said his grandfather’s voice. “He’ll toughen up, just give him time,” said another of his grandfather’s. “Give him an hour to rest, then put him back on the road,” said his father’s voice. “We won’t be doing him any favors coddling him.” Someone put a water bottle to his lips and the cool liquid spilled down his throat with a cough. Good, he thought, the water was back, and wondered where it had got off to, it really needed to stay inside the bottle and not wander away. He closed his eyes and drifted into a semi-conscious sleep with a hazy dream playing at the edge of his mind. He saw the first Mara in the Survey Ship as Aya flew her into the Event Horizon of the tear in time and space. He heard Aya talking to him. “You’re not the last Jack,” said Aya. “What?” Aya was saying something, but he couldn’t hear her over the roar of… His eyes flew open and sat upright. He could hear something in the distance roaring. “Take it slow,” said a voice. “You had a touch of heat exhaustion.” “What’s that sound?” asked Jack. “The Desert Walkers are getting closer,” replied one of the elderly Jacks. “I don’t think we’re going to make it to the river, we’re all going to die.” Another of the elderly Jacks gave the first man a shove. “Seriously, Pessimist, you’re always the life of the party, we’ll be fine. Hey there Dreamer, I’m Optimist, are you ready to get down and re-join our fun little desert run.” “Yeah, I’m good now,” said Jack crawling to the back of the wagon. “What the heck are those?” “Those are our little friends, aren’t they darlings?” said another of the elderly Jacks. “I’m sure we’ll be juuusssst fine.” Jack grinned at the man. “Sarcastic Jack?” asked Jack. “Pleased to meet you, Sir,” said Sarcastic. “And you would be… Captain Obvious?” Jack laughed and rolled off the wagon. He took a moment to stare at the Desert Walkers. They were still about ten miles away, but coming fast. The creatures were the size of sky scrapers, and didn’t look like anything Jack had seen before. It was as if the Universe had dipped its hand into the primordial ooze of creation and pulled out the genetic material for dozens of species, then rolled it all into a mud ball with legs. He turned away and re-joined the desert run. Mara was next to Valiant, the senior tigress, and glared at him as he came alongside her. “Are you okay?” asked Mara. “I’m okay, don’t worry, I learned my lesson. I’ll get on the wagon before I get that far gone again. How far is the river?” Valiant replied. “Three miles, but we won’t get everyone across in time. Our company is last in line, so we’ll set up a defense position while everyone gets across. We might lose some wagons.” Jack looked back over his shoulder. “Can’t they just cross the river and chase us?” “They hate water, they won’t even walk through a mud puddle,” said Valiant. “Is the river on the other side of those cliffs?” asked Jack. “Yes, that canyon between the cliffs ahead leads to the river,” said Valiant. Jack laughed. “Well, this just got easy. We won’t need to fight at all.” The older tiger glanced at Jack. “Explain.” “I saw two water barrels on the wagon,” said Jack. “Does every wagon have two?” “Yes,” said Valiant. “All we do is set all the water barrels spread out in the canyon so they can’t walk around them. They’ll step on the first barrels and it’ll be like water land mines. They won’t follow us through the canyon.” Valiant stared at Jack incredulously for a moment at the simplicity of the solution, then took off like an orange streak of lightening towards the front of the column where Warrior was leading. Jack and Mara, his Mara, continued to run, the threat was still behind them and closing the gap quickly. Jack noticed the cubs were no longer taking turns running under the wagon, their young strength having been sapped by the brutal sun. Jack ran another two miles, but he was still weak from his brush with heat exhaustion and hopped on the nearest wagon for the last mile before the canyon. When his wagon reached the entrance to the canyon, water barrels had already been off loaded from the wagons ahead of him. Jack jumped down and helped push the barrels into strategic positions. He could see the Sand Walkers only a mile away now, and they were even more horrifying up close. The ground trembled as they neared. Jack and the others fled into the canyon, ensuring the barrels were ready. The sound of the Sand Walkers as they walked were like explosions against the ground. He couldn’t see when the Walkers stepped on the first barrels, but the result were some angry beasties. The ground rolled as the Walkers pounded their feet in frustration. Jack was one of the last to arrive at the river. The crossing was already well under way with wagons slowly moving across a natural ford in the river. Everyone had gotten off the wagons to lighten them for the crossing. The Jacks and tigers big enough to swim were already moving across the river in a long line; the Jacks with a cub in their arms, and the tigers carrying a cub by the scruff of the neck, or clinging to their backs. Jack saw a last lone cub running back and forth on the bank of the river in a near panic. Jack went over to where Scholar and Valiant were helping a wagon get ready to cross. “There’s a cub left behind,” said Jack. “Ah, there you are, and another brilliant escape by Jack the Dreamer, well done.” Scholar glanced at the cub. “His mother was killed a few weeks ago, and none of the Jacks want to carry him because he always panics at river crossings and scratches. I’ll get him when I’m done here.” “I can get him,” said Valiant. “Okay, but I need your help with this first,” said Scholar. Valiant grabbed a rope and pulled so Scholar could tie a knot and secure some supplies to the wagon. “It’s okay, you guys are busy, I’ll get him,” said Jack. Jack went to the cub, knelt, and held his arms out, the cub didn’t hesitate and jumped into Jack’s arms. “They leaving me,” squeaked the cub in a terrified voice. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you’re not left behind,” said Jack as he stepped into the water. The cub tried to climb up and sit on Jack’s head. “Don’t drop, don’t drop,” pleaded the little cub. “I’m not going to drop you. What’s your name?” asked Jack, wincing at the sharp little claws digging into his shoulder. “Dash,” replied the cub. “It’s not deep, the water doesn’t even go above my chest,” said Jack wading out into the river. “You long legs, I short legs,” cried Dash. “Is that a shark?” asked Jack. Dash made another attempt to scramble on top of Jack’s head. “Where?” “Oh, never mind, it’s just a stick,” said Jack. “That not funny,” said Dash. “A little funny,” replied Jack. “Silly, it not a stick, it a snake,” said Dash. Jack nearly levitated out of the water. “What!” Dash giggled. Jack reached up and tickled the little tiger. “Funny guy, huh?” Dash gripped Jack’s hair like his life depended on it. “No tickle, no tickle, I fall.” “You won’t fall in the water. Do you know why?” “Why?” “Because we’re across the river, that’s why.” Dash’s head whipped back and forth. “Hey, how you do that?” Jack grinned. “Magic.” “Really?” said Dash in a hushed tone, his eyes wide with wonder. Mara was shaking herself off when Jack and the cub arrived. “Hey Mara, look what I found, his name is Dash, his mother was killed a few weeks ago, poor thing.” Jack lifted the little cub down and placed him in front of Mara. Dash lowered his head and pushed his forehead against her legs while Mara sniffed at the cub. Valiant chose that moment to appear. “Oh, good, you got Dash across safely. I’ll put him with the other orphans,” said Valiant. Mara’s head raised up and her eyes blazed. She bared her teeth at Valiant and roared such a ferocious roar that Jack took a step back. Mara swept her paw around Dash and pulled him in close. Valiant didn’t flinch from Mara’s roar, but she did turn around and glance at Jack with what Jack recognized as a tiger grin. “Don’t try to touch Dash again until Mara says you can,” warned Valiant. “We might be sentient, but our instincts are still there, buried just beneath the surface. Just keep your distance like a proper tiger father until she allows it, or she might rip your arm off. Jack’s eyes widened. “Tiger Father? What? You and Scholar set me up!” Valiant walked past Jack with a mischievous swish of her tail. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”