I am a place you can still get to

“I don’t have anything on me,” Nic goes on, his voice picking up speed. “This is what I wore to bed wearing last night. It was really early in the morning. I was standing in the woods – walked until I found a trailhead. Got a ride to the ranger station from these two white hunter guys in their fifties with a confederate flag bumper sticker on their truck. The station is closed on Tuesdays, for some reason, so I borrowed a cell phone from these hikers. I told them I’d gone camping with my girlfriend and she broke up with me and ditched me here. I don’t know how I got here.”He shrugs, looking helpless. He’s distracted by Strand, who’s momentarily been struck speechless, moving his jaw up and down.Strand settles, eventually, on: “Aren’t you freezing?”---Dr. Strand listens to Tanis. He has some reservations. As he gets pulled into the Black Tapes' orbit, he also gets pulled, or lets himself fall, a bit into Nic's.