<div class="floatleft">(https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S8nWEwDHoLo/VuctPJcFklI/AAAAAAAAZzE/LH_CQD1cWsM-36_em_H4CNSfKPtAAs7xg/s1600/tumblr_napkpgrAjV1qb647qo4_1280.jpg)<br/></div><br/>Arlene really wanted Jim to have the Cheez-Its, didn't she?  Looking tentatively at her, Jim pulled out the bag and looked at the nutrition facts on the back.  A hundred and fifty calories, seven carbohydrates, and 230 milligrams of sodium.  He took a deep breath, opened the bag, and took about ten or so crackers before passing the bag of crackers to Lucas.<br/><br/>"Have some," Jim whispered to Lucas whilst he was talking.  Jim put one cracker in his mouth, let it melt on his tongue, and nearly had a religious experience.  It was so good!  So salty!  The first carbs he's had in about a week.  He nearly had to stop working because he was just so elated.   "I really missed carbs," Jim said longingly.  But he continued working on his fire by making a little tinder nest and getting his spindle stick going.  It took about seven or eight turns rubbing his hands together up and down the spindle stick to get smoke going underneath the tinder.  Jim then lifted the tinder nest, blew into it once, then blew into it again, and finally, on the third try, Jim got the tinder nest to catch flame.  Jim then placed the lit tinder nest underneath the firewood stack, and began to place twigs on top of the nest in a tee-pee-like structure.<br/><br/>Pretty soon, the three were sitting in front of a decent little fire.  Jim impaled the frogs on sticks and distributed a frog to both Arlene and Lucas each.<br/><br/>"The last time I was drenched..." he said thoughtfully,  "was probably when I had to swim across Gray Lake to get away from crawlers.  I was part of a group of survivors and we were looking for supplies at an old brewery when we encountered another group of survivors.  Well, as you prolly know, sometimes things don't end up too well when you meet the livin', an' that's what pretty much happened then an' there.  We had ourselves a pretty decent gun fight, meaning that we were pinned down for two hours or so while those crazy sons of bitches were taking wild potshots at us.  Lost a few friends that day."<br/><br/>He took another Cheez-It and kept talking.<br/><br/>"Before anybody got the jump on anyone, we got outmaneuvered from the south by an army of crawlers that chased us clean to the lake.  It was the first time I got close to a crawler.  Anyways, I was the first one to hit the lake.  Almost the last, too, seein' as to how the crawlers massacred us.  I had to wade out there from dusk til' dawn while those crawlers watched me from the shore."<br/><br/>After taking another bite, Jim then looked around and asked:   "I'm gonna get you somethin' dry to wear, Lucas.  Can I get either of you some water?  It's not fresh, but it's potable."