THE EXPEDITION

George spat the blood from his mouth before he rubbed the side of his face. The punch had been fast and totally unexpected and he tried to figure out why Paul had hit him. He could see him a short distance away, kicking over the supply boxes, spilling their silver packages onto the sand.

They were many miles away from civilisation, on an expedition deep in the desert, a quest to find the lost city of `Kulimara` and the treasures it held. Paul had been planning this for seven years now; poring over every map and document he could find in order to calculate its exact location.

George had been responsible for finances and supplies, something at the time he’d felt was a little beyond his experience but he’d done his best. He’d organised the tents they had at base camp to be shipped over and set up, he’d organised the lift from the airport with all their supplies, and he’d manage to save some of their precious little money on the supplies, by buying them over here.

He stood and started to walk over to his friend. “Paul!” he called. “What the hell was that for?”

“What?” Paul stopped kicking the supplies and looked at him, “You’ve ruined everything, George, everything.” He picked up a food packet and angrily threw it at him.

“Why have I ruined everything?” George picked up the packet as he walked closer. “I got us here didn’t I?” He waved the packet of dehydrated potatoes as he spoke. “I organised the hotel we stayed in, the Tents and the transport just as you asked me to.”

Paul dropped to his knees and screamed at the sky before squeezing his head in his hands in despair. “Okay, George.” Paul didn’t look at him as he spoke. “The Hotel was good, the transport was good and the tents are good, I’ll give you that.”

“What’s wrong with the supplies?” George walked over to the boxes and opened the first one, taking one out. “I don’t get you; we’ve got dehydrated supplies, enough to last us three months out here.” Paul stormed over, ripping the packet from his hand before tearing the top of it open and tipping the contents out.

“What the hell is this?” he asked.

“That’s Dehydrated Peaches.” George stood watching him as he took another packet and did likewise.

“And this?”

“That’s Dehydrated Cabbage.”

“How the hell are we supposed to eat these?” Paul stood almost nose to nose with him now.

“Don’t be stupid.” George tried to smile. “You can’t eat these as they are.” He opened a box stacked behind him. “You add one of these.”

“And what, is that?” Saliva started to appear as Paul spoke, and George wasn’t sure if it was a trick question.

“It’s a packet of Dehydrated water, the guy I got it from said it would save us loads of weight.”

“And that is why I did this.” Paul said as he punched him again.