As darkness set in, the time had come for the three adventurers to leave the familiar confines they had grown to know so well. The early excitement of finding pastures new had, over time, turned to trepidation. A journey into the unknown lay before them as they stepped out onto the main street, guided only by a thirst for more.
“Be careful”, said Watkins, “we do not know what awaits us. Keep your wits about you, and stay alert”
“I…I want to go back”, whimpers Greene, as he turns to face the door slam before him. “NOOO! Let me in, LET ME BACK IN!”
Watkins grabs him by the shoulders and violently shakes some sense into him. “Pull yourself together man! There is no going back!”
“Go easy on him, eh”, pleads Dunnegan, the biggest of the three, “he’s just a lad”
“He knew what he signed up for”, says Watkins, letting him go. “Come on, we don’t have much time”. Watkins takes the lead and marches on.
“Don’t worry about him lad, he’s just thirsty is all”, and with a pat on the back, Dunnegan and Greene follow.
The three men make their way down the street with caution, carefully surveying their alien surroundings. Sounds of laughter and screams echo up around them, and from behind, a sudden burst of footsteps running at a great pace. Greene turns around but is too slow to react, as a charge of young men rush into him, knocking him to the ground. As Watkins and Greene jump to pick him up, the youths run on down the road. “Sorry man, no harm!”, they shout back behind them, but to little consolation to Greene, who is shook by the encounter.
“An accident, nothing more”, says Watkins.
“Dammit man, your thirst is going to get the boy killed!”, Dunnegan shouts in frustration.
“MY THIRST”, retorts Watkins, “IS ALL THAT’S KEEPING US GOING! Turn back now if that’s what you want, but you’ll be on your own!”
“No, no”, says Greene, “I want to keep going. I’m…I’m thirsty too”
Excitement returns as they reach the bottom of town. The bright lights, the sounds, everything hits the three men at once. Throngs of people file around them and past them, taking little notice of the three outsiders at all.
“We’re here…”, says Watkins with a sigh of relief, “we made it”.
“You son of a bitch…”, says Dunnegan, “you were right, it’s beautiful”
“They’re all so…young!”, Greene says, barely able to keep his tongue inside his head.
“Remember the mission, we’re here for more drink, nothing else. Don’t touch anything, or we’ll all be arrested!”
“You think they have law enforcement here?”
“Only when absolutely necessary. Come on”
With that, the three men found a spot in the corner somewhere. And although the music was too loud, the place was too busy, and they looked like three creepy uncles at an eighteenth birthday party, they were able to convince themselves that they had a good night. And as the sun rose upon the vomit and broken glass laid out on the street before them, they made their journey back home, safe in the knowledge that somewhere, deep down inside of them, they still got it.
