Sky groaned as the vibrating thrum under his arm woke him. Tender spots on his hip screamed as he rolled pulling Dan's blanket off as he went. If he was up, then his buddy needed to wake up too. Besides, they needed to hop to it if they wanted to get themselves onto the train. The noise from the bottom of the hill was echoing against the cliff where they'd made camp on one of the terraces close to the spring.

"I'm up, get the God damn coke from the spring." Dan snarled as he began rolling up their blankets and mats.

He shivered as he worked, the fire was down to glowing coals, and he reminded himself to make sure it was out before they left.

"Head's up," Sky called as he tossed a can at him.

He grabbed the soda on pure reflex, pulling the tab and chugging in one motion. Nothing like cold coke to put a buzz in the system.

"Get some water and put the pot in the coals. There's enough heat there to boil it and we'll make some oatmeal before we go. Once it's done, bring more water to put the fire right out." Dan ordered.

"You got it," Sky grabbed the little kettle and dipped it into the tiny rivulet running through a gouge in the rocks.

Tucking the lightweight aluminium into the coals after he stirred them up, he sat down to dig into his pack for the oatmeal packets and bowls. After dumping the mix into the aluminum dishes and setting them beside the fire, he went to help Dan fold the tarp and compress the tent so they could slip it back into its bag.

"We're going to be done in good time. I wish we could stay here. I'd love to come out here and take pictures of the trains and the animals. Even the bugs would make a good photo essay." Dan said.

"How's that going?" Sky was genuinely interested.

"The photo blog is gaining steam. I seem to have a regular crew on Tumblr, who comment and like everything I put up there. I'm talking to a publisher about doing coffee table book."

"Any word from the magazine?"

"Not yet, but I've only just started to bargain with them. They're looking for some pretty specific shots."

"It won't matter if we can finish this challenge. At least there isn't a time limit. We might only have food for five days, but hey, we're trained to do more with less. I figure we can last for at least ten and make it back anyway."

"LA is a long way to go, bud," Dan reminded him as he poured steaming water into the instant oatmeal.

"Let's split a package of those nut snacks, with this." Sky said as he found them in a side pocket at the bottom of his pack.

"Sounds good."

They finished their meal in silence, scraping every last morsel out of their dishes before Sky took them to clean them up before putting the whole set of pots and pans back together and clamping the lid on it.

Dan stirred the fire with his toe, and agreed it was out before they picked up their packs. Half a dozen empty coke cans went into the top of his before he slung it up onto his shoulders.

"Time to make tracks."

As they side stepped down the last steep hill toward the rails, Dan started to shake his head.

"They've moved our cars right into the middle, we have to be careful to get by the yard hands."

"We have to crawl under these cars on our way to them. I saw them toward the north end of the yard. They're closer to the engines this time. That means they won't move them to a new train again. Easier for us to stay with them. This train finishes it's run north in Ojinaga, which isn't too far from where our check in is in Manuel Benevides."

"Duck and roll then, there's a guard walking south between these rows, and we don't want to be here when he turns around." Dan whispered as he dropped to his knees swinging his pack by the sturdy handle at the top of the frame.

They wriggled their way under two more cars, rolling out beside the one they wanted to ride as it it started to move.

"Shit, we're going to have to take what we can get before it gets moving any faster," Sky started to jog alongside of the box car as it gained speed.

"Get up there, I won't be able to keep up much longer," Dan shoved him in the ass to boost him onto the ladder.

Moving at a full run, he swung his pack up into Sky's arms and jumped with all he had snagging the side rails and sliding back down to the bottom rung as the clicking wheels beat staccato death messages into his ears.

The train's speed was enough to yank him sideways and he dangled by one hand until he felt Sky grab his shoulder and pull him into where he could grab the ladder again. Panting, he pulled himself up, arm after torturous arm length until he was on the ladder and eased himself onto the narrow platform between the cars. The gravel between the ties blurred into a grey streak as he squeezed his left shoulder.

"I think I tore something," he complained.

"I thought you were a goner," Sky grunted as he manipulated his buddy's arm. "How does that feel?"

"Fucking sore. Do we have any painkillers?"

"Nothing but ibuprofen. We've got a bottle I snuck into one of my side pockets."

"Give me a few, it might do the trick if we can stay here."

Sky opened his pack and pulled out a bottle of water. "Here, drink the whole bottle with these," he handed Dan four pills.

"We're going to have to make a run forward to the cars we want when this thing stops again." Dan said after he downed the pills. "Make sure I don't fall off, I'm gonna try to sleep."