by S A Ison
Their pelt stack was growing, and Sarah was using the brains and ash to work into the skin side of the pelts. She’d read something about it, though she didn’t know if she had to use urine, but figured she’d use the brains and wood ash first. So far it was working, he helped her scrape the skins, by first stretching them out on the ground and pegging them down.
They’d taken sharp rocks and the shoulder blades of the small deer as scrapers and scraped the membranes and other grizzly bits off the skin. It was a long process and then they took the brains of the animal, this Aiden had to do, because Sarah started gagging. Once he boiled the brains down a bit, he added ash to it. By then, it was a gray mess and oily, but she was able to handle it without gagging. They rubbed the brain solution into the skins and took them back to the cave to dry.
“I think we have to do it a couple of times, and then I think we have to smoke it. I think that sets it. It should be waterproof by then. Then I think we have to work the skins with our hands or with something like a round rock. Something to rub into it and make it soft and pliable. We can do it each way and see which is better. When we go to visit, I want to trade for something we can uses as a needle or an awl. I want to try my hand at making a cloak or something. I don’t know if it gets cold here, but the nights are getting cooler and maybe I can also make us a blanket.”
Aiden shook his head, “you are freaking amazing. How do you know all this stuff?” he laughed, and kissed her head.
Sarah glowed pink with pleasure, “When I first started trying to get into survival, I read a whole lot of books and articles on living self-sufficiently. Most of it I honestly don’t remember and some of it I half remember like this. I also read that the native Americans did something similar to this. I just know it has something to do with brains. I’m now thinking urine has something to do with dyeing fabric and setting the color. But again, I’m not really sure.” She shrugged.
“If it does get really cold here, it will be nice to have something warm.”
“I was also thinking about using some of the berries, maybe make a stain with it and color the leather. Then I can use the urine.”
“You just want to use pee, that’s all, you’re a very sick woman, you know that.” He laughed as she began to beat him around his head and shoulders. He held her off and away from him, sniggering and saying, “you’re gonna make me pee, stop it, stop it.”
She gave him a final shove, “I just wish I didn’t get gaggy with the brains. But sorry, Ewwwwww.” Sarah laughed.
“Brains get you but pee pee doesn’t?” he said innocently, his eyes large and he blinked several times.
“You’re going the right way for a smacked bottom buster, unless that is what you want, you sick puppy.” She grinned.
“You’re just lewd.” He said primly his lips pressed together and she laughed and launched herself at him.
Much later, “I think Marla will be glad to learn how to make hides that will be useable, as well as the rest of them. I’m really excited about the plates, those are works of art. We can also share that with them as well. Maybe we trade your knowledge for the needle or awl, maybe a few more items.”
“Let’s hope so, I hate to say it, but I really like being self-sufficient. Are we going to eventually join their group?”
Aiden had been waiting for that question and he hoped she would agree with him. He chose his words carefully. “I’ll be honest Sarah, I’m happy where we are. I’m happy that we are here by ourselves, without the others. I’ve grown to care about you deeply and I don’t know if I want to share it with anyone. It’s so nice here and peaceful. I don’t mind going there to visit and trade, but honestly, I’d rather stay here, alone with you.” He waited to hear what she had to say to that, he hoped desperately that she felt the same.
He watched her face bloom into a wide grin. His heart lifted with joy.
“I agree, I’m happy here with just the two of us. We’ve spent so much time here alone and I don’t miss them, I don’t really miss any of them. I think that I like our privacy, doing what we want and answering to no one. I like discovering our life on our terms.” She said and she hugged him.
“It is like our world is how we make it here. Without the distractions of the others. I’m glad, I really didn’t want to go live there in the main camp.” He said, relief heavy in his voice and Sarah laughed and hugged him harder.
“We’ve built our own construct; the way we see our lives and the way we do things. I also think that Leo likes being a leader and I really don’t see you being under his leadership.”
“You’re right about that, being in the navy for so many years, I understood that there was a chain of command. I wasn’t at the rock bottom, but I wasn’t at the top either. Here, you and I are at the top. We make our own rules and our own decisions. We already know what we have to do and we just do it. I like Leo a lot and I respect him, but I don’t want him to make decisions for me or that affect me.”
“That and I really like our cave, it is feeling more like a home now. It is safe and snug. Soon we’ll have throw pillows, curtains.” She giggled.
He rolled his eyes. “Silly girl. I agree, I like our home, it is humble, but it is dry, it is safe and it is private. Sometimes it feels like we’re the only people on earth. That is kind of nice. And if or when we want company, we go to them, keeping our home private and secluded.”
“You’re right and I don’t even mind the three-hour walk, it is just nice and relaxing.” She sighed and smiled.
“It’s funny, I’d never have thought a six-hour walk would be so pleasant. I don’t think I’d want to do it every day, but every few weeks, I can do that.”
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Grayson sat atop the escarpment of a massive rock edifice. The wind was wilder up here, and blew across his face, drying the tears. From this vantage, he could see the gorge, and the river and its meandering course. He saw no man-made structures, only the vast wilderness set before him. Around him were macaques, a troupe inhabited these slopes and rocky crags. They were now used to him, and dotted the ground and promontory.
His eyes weren’t on them however, they were looking westward, dreamy and sad. Up here, he could not hear Carol’s sorrowful cries, here, the wind blew them away with his tears.
He felt hands on him, small but strong. It was one of the macaques, one of the females. She was grooming him, he could feel her dexterous hands in his hair. He didn’t know why she was doing it, he didn’t know why she would dare to come near him. He could easily kill her, but he hadn’t killed Carol.
He could have killed Carol, but he didn’t kill her, did he? No, he didn’t kill her but he watched her die. Yes, and that was why Carol was crying. But here, among the macaques, he could not hear her. In another hour the sun would go down and he would descend and then the night would be filled with her weeping.
For now, he felt at peace, the tiny hands working away his own grief. He felt movement in his lap, but he didn’t look down. It was a juvenile macaque. It was trusting, he thought it was the same one that always came to visit. There were several and he never moved, he was good at being still. He could kill it easily, but he didn’t, and he didn’t kill Carol. He didn’t need the meat because there was other prey that he found easily, but he wouldn’t eat their meat, nor would he eat Carol’s.
He felt the heat of tears slide down his face, and with each tear, a little of the madness left him. He felt a tiny hand grab his finger, and felt a soft smile curve his mouth. Then another body entered his lap, there were two now. There were never any male macaques to come near, they knew he was a big predator, but the females didn’t fear him. He didn’t think Carol feared him, she didn’t fear anything anymore, but she certainly cried a lot, but here, he could not hear her weeping.
In a little while now, he knew the macaques would leave to their sleeping places and would sleep and dream macaque dreams, of eating leaves, grooming, maybe they dreamed of him. A smile once more curved his face, how nice that a macaque would dream of h
im. He dreamed of Carol, she never left him, except for here. Here, he felt her slip away from him, along with his madness. Another tear slid down and was dried by the wind that blew around him.
He didn’t kill Carol, though he could have, but he didn’t and he saw who did. He thought perhaps if he killed them, maybe Carol would stop weeping and she would stop visiting him in his dreams. He would still come here to sit among the macaques though. Here the wind blew away the madness, and it blew away his sorrow.
Another female approached him, he didn’t move. He never moved. The two in his lap were fighting, but it was only for play. He wondered if tonight these small macaques would dream of him. Maybe he would dream of macaques tonight instead of Carol.
CHAPTER TEN
Diana, Gabe and Sam walked through the forest. It was a cool morning and Diana noticed that the mornings were increasingly cooler. She wondered how cold it would become there, it was supposed to be a tropical place, but she knew some regions did become cold, how cold remained to be seen.
Gabe was ahead of her and Sam was behind. Gabe was getting out more and socializing with everyone once more. They were all worried about him. There were so few of them, they needed to take care of each other.
They were out hunting with their new spears. Leo and William, who was a part time carpenter made the spears and the launchers. Each person had their own custom spears and launchers. They had practiced hours and hours, perfecting their throwing technique. She and Gabe were the best shots, then Sam, and then Hunter. She was trying to learn how to reload the launcher faster, but it was awkward, but she kept at it. She also had her stone knife. She’d seen Sarah’s and tried to copy it. It had taken her a bit to find the right stone for it. It was in her back pocket, though the shaft was only three inches.
Diana had volunteered to go out with Gabe and Sam to hunt for a couple of small deer. It was becoming clear that with so many mouths to feed, the occasional rabbit or snake wasn’t going to cut it. They’d killed one deer, and though they had made jerky, the rest of the animal hadn’t lasted long with so many. Her experiment with the pemmican was going well. So far, no signs of decay.
She would see about having William make wooden containers to store the pemmican once it was perfected. They were going out daily now, and so far, no luck in finding the elusive deer. They were going farther afield as well. They had killed a monkey yesterday, but there hadn’t been much meat on the creature. To Diana, it was strangely off-putting to eat something that was somewhere along their genetic lineage. They’d all talked about Connor’s group and their cannibalistic ways.
It was grewsome and what nightmares were made of. She didn’t think she herself could do that. She was glad, she didn’t want to think what she would do if she were so desperate. They were collecting a lot of nuts and grapes, berries, and tubers, but they desperately needed the protein of meat. She was glad there were plenty of snakes. They had also used wiring from the equipment to set snares. They ate a lot of stews, because of the scarcity of larger prey animals.
Henry and Gabe had caught fish and were very good at it. Diana thought they would be in serious trouble by now if they weren’t good at fishing. But everyone was wanting meat from the deer, something substantial. They had come across several other plants and tubers that they were now incorporating into their diet. But still, meat was high on the list. They heard the snap of a twig and everyone froze. Diana turned her head this way and that.
Listening and looking, she hoped there were several deer, they could use the extra meat. Then she heard a horrible scream, and the hair raised along her arm and down her back, her eyes widened and she looked frantically around her. There was a blur to her left and then she saw Joey going for Gabe, before she could say anything, Joey took a large branch and bashed Gabe in the head. She watched in horror as Gabe fell boneless to the ground.
She screamed as Sam turned and Connor rammed a long spear into his abdomen, she started running forward when her head exploded and she was gone.
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Aiden and Sarah paused at the waterfall to drink their fill of the cold water. It was refreshing and the day was hot. Aiden could smell the resin from the pines around them. Once more the thought of making a hardening resin came to mind, that was something they needed to experiment with. He grinned and splashed Sarah and she laughed and stuck her head into the rushing water. He joined her and stole a kiss.
He felt like a young kid again, silly and goofy. He wasn’t sure if it was love, but it sure felt like it. It was the first time in a very long time that he’d felt this happy and free. Being with Sarah was like the shedding of an old heavy coat, he felt lighter. He laughed more and most of his bad dreams had stopped. Now his dreams were filled with tasks and Sarah.
They continued on down the path, which was becoming well worn. They had taken another route today, going nearly a half hour out of their way to come in from a different direction. Aiden knew he was being paranoid, but with Connor, he didn’t feel safe taking the same route every time.
They’d not seen Grayson, and Aiden figured he was out in the woods, self-tormenting. He understood only too well, and hoped that one day, Grayson could forgive himself and rejoin the others. As they drew near, they noticed that something was off. There was activity, but it seemed strained.
Leo and Marla came striding forward, “You didn’t happen to see Diana did you, or Connor?” Marla asked, her voice filled with fear and worry.
“No, what’s happened?” Sarah asked, her face clouding over.
“Gabe just dragged Sam back two hours ago, they’d been attacked by Connor and his boys. They almost killed Sam. Hunter and William are taking care of him right now. They knocked Gabe out, nearly bashing his brains in. He’s okay, but has one hell of a knot on the back of his head. William put a couple stitches in him.
“Christ, you were right Aiden, we should have gone to kill them all.” Leo said, shame framing his face.
“You couldn’t have known he’d be so bold, I think he’s gone crazy. And I think the people with him as well.” Aiden said, his jaw line hardening.
“We are getting ready to go and look for them. We have an idea of where to find them.” Leo said, looking around, his hand going to his knife.
Aiden looked at him and then around to the rest of the group standing around.
“I think going in there during the day is a mistake. I don’t think we could even get close, they’ll know you are going to come for Diana. I suggest you and I alone, go in and get her back. I’m assuming you’ve had some kind of survival training that involved hand to hand and have you ever killed someone?”
“I’ve had a bit of training hand to hand, not much though. No, I’ve never killed someone. I’ve really never been in a fight, maybe a shoving match, but that is about it.” Leo said.
“Then I think we leave here near dusk, get as close to their camp as we can and wait until full dark. We can slip in, maybe make a couple kills to even the numbers to our favor. You can’t hesitate in killing them, it will end up getting you or me killed and most certainly Diana.”
“I don’t know Aiden, to wait so long, there is no telling what they are doing to her now.” Marla said anxiously.
“We go in and they see us, they will slit her throat just to spite us. They obviously don’t give a damn about human life, and are just going to use her as bait and as ransom for what ever they can get and I can tell you, you’ll never get her back if we don’t do it this way.”
“I agree, those bastards are just crazy.” Hunter said coming up, Bruce was behind him with Tom.
“Is there any way that we can help?” Hunter asked.
“If we fail, then you’ll have to go in and try. One way or another, they’re going to die.” Aiden said, his voice filled with conviction.
“Why don’t you take them with you, you and Leo go in the lead, spearhead as it were, then the back ups can maybe use their spears, I know I can. I want to go and help Aiden.” Sarah said, her eyes large
and earnest.
He wanted to say no, but he knew she was right. She could hit a target from thirty feet away. She was that damned good. “Who are your best spear throwers?” Aiden asked.
“That would be Gabe, Sam and Diana, then Hunter. The rest are still trying to get the hang of it and would more than likely hit you rather than Connor.” Leo said, his mouth drawn down.
“Is Gabe up to it? Maybe Gabe and Sarah will go with us, but they hang back. Only come in if they have a clear shot. I can also cast my spear if it looks like we can take them out from farther away. Getting in too close hand to hand combat is chancy. There are of course more chances someone will get injured. It’s been a few years since I’ve done anything remotely close in.”
“That sounds like a good plan, Hunter can stand guard here with the others, in case Connor’s plan is to draw us to his camp while coming here to hit ours and take what we have.” Leo said.
“That would be a good plan, and something I would have done. Distracting everyone and then swoop in and raid the home camp. I don’t think Connor is that smart, but in his desperation, he might have cooked up some kind of scheme. The man is demented and desperate, and that is a lethal combination.
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Aiden and Leo planned to track Connor down, Aiden had the knife that William had given him. He was going to cut Connor’s throat. He was going to see the man dead once and for all. They should have tracked them all down like wild dogs and ended them. He was kicking himself for not doing it in the first place. His memories of his military career were filled with events that were both frustrating and satisfying.
It took time to execute a well-coordinated attack however, there was little time now. He was sure they were using Diana for sport and pleasure, he didn’t know what happened to Vana, but he was sure she was dead and more than likely eaten. He shuddered to think what Diana was going through and he hoped they could get her back, intact.
They had no flashlights and a torch would be seen for miles so they would have to go now, in serious stealth mode and locate the camp, though Aiden suspected they’d more than likely be able to hear or smell it well before they got there. Sam had mentioned that the camp was deplorable and filthy. He was glad the TV crew had brought hand sanitizer, they’d need it after. Aiden went into Christian’s tent, which had been turned into a med tent, he saw medical supplies stacked neatly in the corner of the small tent.