<div class="floatleft">(https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S8nWEwDHoLo/VuctPJcFklI/AAAAAAAAZzE/LH_CQD1cWsM-36_em_H4CNSfKPtAAs7xg/s1600/tumblr_napkpgrAjV1qb647qo4_1280.jpg)<br/></div>"Don't worry, I'll clean up," Jim said.   "You take it easy, Lucas.  You've had a long day."<br/><br/>Jim watched Lucas lay down to sleep next to the fire.  He took a deep breath, stood up, and then started collecting the remains of the half-eaten frogs, even going as far as fishing the frog that Lucas had tossed into the small pyre.  They needed bait if they were gonna fish.  And manoman, frog was bait gold.  He stuffed the carcasses in a plastic container that once held a small med kit in his MOLLE vest's front pocket.<br/><br/>The young man tried to be quiet as he began walking around the perimeter of the riverboat with his rifle ready.  He would check the anchor on every third circuit and periodically stoked the fire to keep it small but hot.  It was after checking on the fire that he had noticed that Arlene was working on opening a door on deck.  Jim had walked by that door a number of times, but he had never realized that it was actually a door.  He stood by as she opened it, then descended into the belly of the boat with her.<br/><br/>"...  Unbelievable," he said in astonishment.  How many amazing things had he walked past because he hadn't<em>seen</em>it?   "This might just be the best day of my life."  He then stared at Arlene for a long moment, started to say something, but left it unsaid.  Instead, he walked back on deck, saying softly,  "I'll get Lucas down here."<br/><br/>Jim approached Lucas, woke him up, and said:   "Arlene managed to get below deck.  There's some beds down there.  I'll take care of things up here."  Jim then proceeded to put out the fire and to clean up the mess, before continuing his watch.<br/><br/>***<br/><br/>Jim didn't fall asleep until the morning hours.  Although he had observed some crawlers in the distance, the riverboat had not attracted their attention.  It was strange, this feeling.  He felt safe.  When he descended downstairs, he was careful to be silent and chose an empty bed to get some shut eye.<br/><br/>He woke up in a panic at the crack of dawn like clockwork.  Jim searched the bed for his rifle, found it, and clutched it to his chest as if he depended on it.  He took a deep breath to calm himself.  And then he got up and went to the main deck, where he found Arlene searching for Lucas's fishing poles.<br/><br/>"Good morning, Arlene," Jim said, wiping sleep from his eyes.   "How'd you sleep?"<br/>