Tim's face wrinkled with disgust at the thought of eating one of the bugs. [color=0054a6]"Julius, I realize I don't know you, but; I think i'm starting to." [/color]Tim said laughing. [color=0054a6]"Takes a man with stones to think so logically in the face of this kind of terror. If you had pointed ears I'd probably nickname you Mr.Spock."[/color] Tim gave Julius a hearty slap on the back as the group continued into the night. 

The hours slogged by and Tim's energy drained with every step. The bugs seemed ever present always there, always watching. Dead on his feet, time was almost meaningless his walk had slowly dropped to slow shuffle moving ever forward. Completely unprepared for it, his foot caught on something and he fell face first to the ground. He opened his eyes and realized he wasn't looking at sand. Sitting up he turned around and saw the root that caught his foot. Looking up Tim saw a dense dark canopy blotting out the sky. Remembering his companions he jumped to his feet looking around for them. He back tracked and found Julius face down in the sand snoring softly. Tim couldn't see any sign of the insects or Sophia. Tim managed to get Julius to his feet and, arm under shoulder, get him to a tree. Julius immediately fell back to sleep.

His own eyes puffy from lack of sleep Tim stumbled back out into the sand looking for Sophia. He jogged for about 5 minutes when he found her weaving tracks in the sand wandering off the direction. He started sprinting along her tracks and almost plunged headlong into a giant hole, nearly 15 feet in diameter. He and the hole were at the edge of tree line about half a mile north of where he left Julius. Tim could plainly see Sophia's foot prints leading right into the hole. Tim dropped to his knees and peered over the edge. it was so dark out and his eyes were so blurry that all he could see was blackness. [color=0054a6]"Sophia!?!?!"[/color] He called into the pit several times. Right before he was about to give up he heard a moan.