It had been nearly a week. Michael drove the UTV through the forest. It was slower than the highways, but it was safer. There were still drones patrolling large open areas and highways, after all. Kinthragor had been in and out of consciousness. At first, Michael wasn't sure how he could help the alien, the extensive injuries were one thing, but the aliens physiology was a question that Michael couldn't answer on his own. Unfortunately, there were several questions that he needed answers to, and Kinthragor was the only one who could give them. After the first full day, Michael found a spot to camp. They had traveled around 80 miles so far and had over 900 left to go before getting back to Louisiana, back to Michael's family. Kinthragor regained consciousness as Michael finished building camp. It was dangerous to build a fire, but he needed to boil some water, and a hot meal would be nice. He had picked a spot near a small river; it made sense; they needed water and food; it was a one-stop shop. Michael wore a bracelet that could be taken apart and repurposed to a long length of rope or chord. After that, he found a small piece of metal in the back of the UTV and fashioned it into a hook. He dug a few small holes until he gathered some earthworms and started fishing. After a few hours, he had caught a few white perch that would be enough make a meal, so he walked back to the camp. He saw Kinthragor sitting with his back against the UTV. There was a small machete resting in the fire in front of him. "Human, why have you saved me?" Kinthragor asked without even turning his head toward Michael. Michael approached the fire and knelt to begin gutting and cleaning the fish. "You never harmed me, Kinny. You talked a lot about what you were gonna do, but you and I were in the same boat back there. I guess I figured the enemy of my enemy and what not," Michael said as he continued cleaning the fish. "What does this mean?" Kinthragor asked, grunting as he felt the piece of rebar still sticking from his side. "It's just an old saying. We were both in the same situation. The lizards had jailed and tortured us. We aren't allies, but we had a common enemy. I know you talk about honor and everything the word means to you. I guess I couldn't see the honor in leaving you there to die if I could do something about it," Michael said. "I don't understand this. You should have left me, I would have surely left you, Michael Dawes."

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. "Well, lucky for you, that isn't how I operate. I intend to try and help you with your wound and then let you go do whatever you need to do. I hope that you will see that there is no need to kill me or my family," Michael laid the fish on the ash close to the fire to cook. He eyed the gruesome wound in Kinthragor's side, "We gotta do something about that rebar sticking out of you and then try to figure out how to get food you can eat," He said as he walked over and knelt beside the large alien. "My gut biome has been genetically altered to extract nutrients from most alien ecosystems. Your Earth food will suffice," Kinthragor said. "I see you are ready to try and cauterize the wound. You are gonna need my help with that, but first, I need some reassurances," Michael said as he grabbed the red-hot machete. "What kind of reassurances?" Kinthragor asked as he wearily leaned back against the UTV. "I could kill you right here, Kinny, but I won't do that. I need the same in return from you. Can you swear that you will let this honor-killing business go? You can find a way to get back off Earth and go home, hell just tell everyone that you couldn't find the Dawes family or that they were all dead already. Can you do that?" "It seems that I have no choice, Michael Dawes. It is either that or die slowly, and I have no desire to die here on this planet." "Well, that's good. Figure I better go ahead and tell you that this is gonna hurt, so don't go all crazy and start trying to tear me to pieces," Michael said as he reached down with one hand to put pressure around the rebar. Michael grabbed the bent, rusty piece of metal with his other hand and jerked it out of Kinthragor's side. Black blood oozed from the wound that Michael was pretty sure was infected. Kinthragor let loose a blood curdling howl as the hair on the back of Michael's neck stood up. Michael quickly took the red hot machete and pressed it against the open wound as the flesh sizzled and popped under the hot blade. A sweet, sickly smell emanated from the cooking flesh as it closed. "All done, Kinny, try to get some rest, and I'll have some food for you when you wake up," Michael said. With that, Kinny passed out and dreamed about the dishonor he would face upon returning to his home planet. Kinthragor, the weak, pathetic brother of the slain warrior Anthragor.

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