After the shipwreck, it is Ryl and the former soldier who has promised to help him reach his destination and find the Phrenics. The wilds have savages that seem to hunt and kill all life. They gather their positions, but Ryl realizes the medicine that was supposed to help him on the trip is all water logged. He has only so much time to reach the others before he feels the withdrawal effects of the drugs.
The walk by day and during the night the creatures get braver. They try to spend their nights in caves and switch watches. The problem is Ryl is getting sicker and what was one, then two is now four of the hunters after them. During the nights, they are getting braver and coming closer and closer to the caves. As Ryl gets sicker and sicker, the hunters have amassed a large number and are poised to attack. Ryl is too sick to help and one former soldier against many of these hunters, they won’t stand a chance.