"Hey, get over here. This one is heading in the right direction and the back door on the trailer is open." Sky called out.

Dan winced. Who knew a shoulder injury would be such a killer. Everything he did was twice as hard and sent pain rushing down his arm and into the center of his back. He would give anything for a good massage and serious narcotics, but this was Mexico. Drugs like that were an automatic jail stint with no way out. Especially now that they were in drug cartel country.

He put his right foot into Sky's cupped hands and his buddy boosted him into the semi's loaded trailer.

"It's damn dark in here. We're gonna have to find a way to keep that door open for air and light."

Sky swung the pack up. They sold the tent and tarp just after leaving Ojinaga to a group of drug runners camping close to the depot. The bedrolls and cooking gear went before checking in at Manuel Benevides. The pesos they'd received were spent on water, jerky, and trail mix. Sky re-read the contest rules, and there was nothing about acquiring money along the way. They just didn't get any at the beginning of their trek.

They spent the best part of the last twenty four hours in the back of farmer's trucks and in one case, a couple from Idaho with a beat up old Winnebago picked them up taking them over the last range of mountains on the way to the east coast of the Bay of California.

He remembered the meal they'd shared with satisfaction. First time he'd been full since they'd polished off the MRE's after they'd run from the train yards in Ojinaga. Joan, the woman was an ER nurse and she iced his shoulder and put him through some range of motion testing. Nothing completely torn, according to what she'd found. But see a surgeon about it anyway. He needed to make sure.

Her husband suggested they grab some sleep while he drove. No one was going to check to see if they were wearing seat belts in the back country. He fell asleep under a light blanket with an ice pack draped over his blue and green shoulder. It was healing.

Joan had them charge up their batteries, including the camera glasses. It amazed him to find such kindness. So different from the war zones where they didn't know the enemy from the good guys. Sometimes both sides of the Iraq problem blamed the American soldiers.

"Pull the door closed for now," Sky said. "If we're lucky, he won't notice it isn't locked and we can prop it open."

Dan sneezed, "What the hell is in this truck?"

"Don't know for sure, but I think this one is running drugs along with his cargo. I smell pot." Sky said confirming his worst fears.

"I'm allergic. Remember?"

"Yeah. How bad?"

"Sneezing and stuffy nose. Nothing I can't handle. I wish I could catch a break. We have to tell the authorities at the border crossing. And we'd better be off this damn rolling pothead's dream before we get too far into the line up. Otherwise we're toast. They'll arrest us as quick as the shithead driving."

"Can we get custom's attention? Maybe if we tell them which truck to pull over, it'll make easier on us getting across. We're going to reek of this crap."

"Do you have your passport?"

"Still in my money belt, along with my copy of the contract we signed with the network."

"I'd say let's eat up what we have in food here, then be ready to ditch this ride. If we use our flashlight it should have enough in it for us to see what we need to."

"We might be done. We might not make it back to LA if we turn this guy in."

"We're going to be done anyway if they smell us. They're going to strip search us."

"Maybe not. If we get lucky, we'll get a veteran and they'll recognize us from our CC cards." Sky was always the optimist.

"With the way my luck is running you better find a bale of four leaf clovers in here." Dan said with a wry grin.

He watched Sky separate his trail mix into little piles. Smarties in one, raisins, and then all the different nuts, leaving the sunflower seeds in the bag. He just shoved the mix into his mouth, chewing it into a pulp before he swallowed following it with a couple swallows of water before he dug in for another handful.

He placed a bet with himself and snorted when he saw Sky pour the sunflower seeds into his mouth first.

"Still doing it the same way." He commented.

"Hell ya, and the red smarties go last." Sky grinned at him, completely unoffended.

"Nice to know some things never change." He pushed the off button on their flashlight and stowed it in his jacket pocket.