by Saxon Andrew
Andy started shaking his head, “Linnae, you don’t love me; you don’t really know me. How can you be so sure I’m the one for you?”
“I’m not sure…yet; however, I really think that once I take the time to really get to know you, I will. Love comes after respect. I’ve seen what’s inside you and I respect what I see. You’re not selfish or pompous; I really think that you are someone I could trust with my feelings and that you would never betray me. No one else in this cave holds any interest for me after I’ve seen you interact with the leaders here.” Linnae paused and smiled, “I thought about approaching you by batting my eyes and touching your arm and flattering you; but you deserve better than that. You deserve honesty without deception; to do less would be dishonest.” Linnae stood up, “Let me know what you decide. We should get started.”
Andy watched her walk away and was shocked into silence. She was so beautiful…and she didn’t use it to get his attention. She walked right up and asked for it. He still hurt from Loree’s betrayal, but…for the first time since that night he caught Loree and Brian together, his heart beat differently. He watched Linnae walking into the crowd and several men approached her. She smiled and declined their offers. Maybe…just maybe.
“Andy.”
Andy was startled and turned around; he saw Joshua and Akira standing behind him. He wondered if they heard the exchange between him and Linnae, “Yes.”
“The groups have asked for a meeting. We’ve decided what course we want to follow.”
Andy stood up and smiled, “Lead the way.” Andy followed them to the center of the cave and sat down between two of the groups. Joshua looked at him and said, “Would you mind moving into the center of the circle?”
Andy looked around and said, “Why?”
“So that everyone can see and hear what you have to say.” Andy shrugged and moved into the center of the groups. Joshua said, “We’ve discussed the situation we’re in and all of us have reached a consensus. Before we tell you what we decided, would you answer a question for us?”
“If I can.”
“Do you honestly think we’ll cause massive harm to the future if we choose to survive?”
The six interpreters stood up and faced their groups waiting for Andy’s answer. Andy sighed and said, “There is a possibility that it will happen.” Andy paused after the speakers finished talking and said, “However, after some thought about it, I doubt it will be a problem.” The six speakers were shocked silent. People in their groups started asking what Andy said and they gathered their wits and told them. Everyone in the cave stared at Andy.
The Leader of the Romans said something and Joshua listened and said, “Maxus asks why you had us discuss this problem if it’s not a problem?”
“Because I honestly don’t know if it’s not and we should make our decisions taking into account all the possible outcomes.” The speakers spoke and the Samurai Leader said something. Akira said, “Togawa wants to know why you don’t think it would be a problem.”
Andy stood up and looked at the people sitting around him and said, “Please translate what I’m saying in the best manner possible. I’ll pause to allow you to keep up.” The six speakers told the gathering what Andy requested. Andy sighed and said, “I’ve struggled with the notion that if we go out into this new world we find ourselves in, we would harm the future from where we came.” Andy waited a moment. “Then a few minutes ago it dawned on me that we were very carefully selected to be brought here.” Andy waited again. “All of us were taken a moment before we were supposed to die…that has to be important and it has to mean something about why we were selected. It caused me to think about what would have happened in my time after I was taken here. I realized that everyone would have thought that I was killed by the shark, even though there wasn’t a body. I would not have any impact on events after that moment. Life would have just continued…without my participation. I want all of you to think about that. Why did they have to take only those that were about to die?”
Andy sat down and after a moment the speakers stopped talking. Silence filled the room. Linnae said, “Time won’t be affected by our being taken.”
Andy smiled, “Go on; why do you think that is true?”
Linnae’s eyebrows lowered and she said, “Because none of us had any further impact after that moment. All of us were assumed dead. That means we could be moved to another time without causing damage to the future. If they took us in the middle of our lives, our actions after taking us wouldn’t have happened and the future would have been affected.”
Andy nodded, “There had to be a reason why whoever put us here had to select those that died in their normal time stream. I believe that taking those people would not endanger the future. I think that, if one could look at time, it would have shown us being taken by whoever brought us here. If we were taken before we had done things in our lives, the future would have been changed because we wouldn’t have done them. We had to be taken when we were not going to do anything else.”
Maxus spoke and Joshua nodded. He turned to Andy, “So you think we’ve been put here for a reason?”
“I do.”
“Do you know what it is?”
“I do not. However, I don’t think those that did it are bad or evil.”
Ayo said, “How can you say that? We were forcibly taken out of the world we knew and brought here against our will.”
Andy tilted his head and smiled, “Ayo, if they hadn’t taken you, what would you be doing at this moment?” All of the Romans, Samurai and Vikings started laughing. Andy looked at them and turned back to Ayo, “Warriors know that being saved from certain death is a blessing.”
Ayo stared at Andy and after a moment nodded, “You make a good point. I hadn’t thought of it that way. I would be dead.”
Joshua felt his shirt tugged and he saw Maxus nod. “Andy, we’ve decided to move forward and try to make a place for ourselves here. All of us have agreed that you should be the one that leads us in this endeavor.”
“No, I won’t do it.”
The Speakers translated Andy’s response and Maxus stood up and started talking. Joshua translated as he spoke. “Why are you being so selfish? You know you are the best one to lead. Do you care so little for us?”
Linnae looked at Andy and saw him stare the Roman down. Andy was certainly brave. Maxus was dangerous.
“I won’t lead you because you really don’t want me to lead you.”
Joshua said, “Why wouldn’t we?”
“Because I will demand things some of you won’t want to do. I will turn everything you know upside down and you’ll curse the day you asked me to do it.”
The room was silent. Finally a huge Viking stood up and stared at Andy. He started speaking and Linnae translated, “It seems to me that we stand a better chance of not being killed again if you lead us. All of us in this cave are in a new world where everything we’ve ever known has been erased. My world has already been turned upside down. I don’t see anything you could do that would make me feel differently.”
Andy said, “You will never be allowed to feud over honor again. If you harm or kill another person because they bring dishonor on your family, you will be put to death and there is no acceptable reason to defend you.” The huge Viking’s face showed his shock; then anger.
The Samurai said, “What would you do to shake up my world?”
“Every person in this cave will learn how to kill that beast that stuck its head in our cave.” The Samurai smiled until Andy said, “And that includes the women. They will learn how to kill and will be on an equal standing with the men.” The Samurai’s smile disappeared.
Maxus said, “And me?”
“You will have to follow the orders of a woman.” Maxus’ face turned red. Andy looked around the room and said, “I told you that I am not the one to lead you. Choose someone you feel more comfortable with.” Andy stood up and walked out of the center of the circle and went to his normal spot again
st the wall. The volume rose and Andy closed his eyes and hoped they’d quiet down. Suddenly the room grew silent and Andy heard a woman’s voice. He opened his eyes and saw Linnae in standing in front of Maxus yelling as Joshua translated, “There are only four hundred of us here. Do you think we stand a better chance with all four hundred fighting for our survival or just the two hundred men? Are you so set in your ways that you can’t see that we can learn to use that bow to defend us. You belittle what we can contribute.”
A woman said, “I don’t want to fight.”
Linnae looked at her with disgust on her face, “Then you should walk your behind out of this cave and see how far you get. It’s no longer about what you want; it’s about doing what has to be done to avoid being killed.” She pointed at Maxus, “It’s not about what you want.” She turned to the Samurai, “Or what you want. It’s all about what we have to do to survive. If we manage to live, and that’s a giant if, we can look at doing it another way. As far as harming another person…” Linnae looked around the room, “This is all we have. We can’t afford to lose any of us and certainly not to each other. You men disgust me.”
Linnae walked over to the Vikings and stared at the huge Viking leader; he held up his hands and smiled. Andy looked across the room at Linnae and she caught him looking at her. She stared at him and he smiled and then nodded slightly. No one noticed the exchange; everyone listened to the warriors arguing about women using weapons. After two hours Joshua yelled, “We will discuss this tomorrow. Let’s get some sleep.”
Andy sighed, “Silence at last.” He started to lie down but saw Maxus’ wife standing close and pointing her finger in his face. He looked across the cave at Togawa and saw all of the women around him had deliberately walked away and turned their backs to him. He spoke to one of them and she ignored him. He spoke again and she still refused to answer. He stood up and went over to her; she whipped around, pulled a dagger out of her belt sash, and held it under Togawa’s chin. Andy smiled. He didn’t need an interpreter to understand the woman was telling him to stay with the men whom he obviously preferred.
Soon the cave was filled with yelling again and Andy sighed. The noise disappeared when Linnae stood up and yelled, “SHUT UP!!!” Everyone turned to her and she smiled sweetly, “Which one of you brave leaders are going to go out and bring us back something to eat? If you don’t want him, then show us how you’re going to feed and clothe us.” Linnae sat down and everyone in the room looked at the others as the interpreters told them what she said. Togawa got up and walked over to the Roman with Akira. Maxus and Joshua motioned the Viking Leader over with Linnae and they started talking. Andy thought it was immensely funny. Togawa pointed at the opening to the cave and held up the sword he was holding. It was clear he wanted no part of an Allosaurus if all he had to use was a sword. The Roman motioned one of his troopers over and took the ten foot long pike from him and held it out in front of him. The Viking actually laughed out loud. Togawa smiled and pointed to the opening with an open hand inviting Maxus to have at it. Maxus turned to his troops and all of them stepped back and shook their heads. It was clear they weren’t going to face a three ton reptile with pikes. The men stopped talking when Linnae said something. They stared at her and Andy knew she had said something incredibly stupid. He stood up quickly and walked quickly over to the group. The men were staring at Linnae saying nothing.
“What did you just tell them!?”
Linnae turned around and saw Andy standing behind her, “I told them that I will go out in four days and kill one of those beasts.”
“And just how are you going to do that?”
“You are going to teach me how to shoot one of those bows.”
“Linnae, it takes a lot longer than four days to learn how to fire a bow accurately.”
“Andy, this is a critical time for our new society. They have to see that women are capable of doing the things necessary to survive. I have to do it and you know it…besides, you’ll be there to make sure nothing gets out of hand.”
Andy started shaking his head, “Linnae, shooting one of those lizards with its head stuck in the opening is completely different from facing one out in the open. Those things are fast and work in packs.”
“How do you know they work in packs?”
“I saw ten of them around the one I killed and they weren’t attacking each other. That means they have to be cooperating.”
“Well, you have four days to teach me.” Andy blew out a breath and the other men started smiling. He saw they knew he was against a woman facing the beasts; they thought he agreed with them. He knew Linnae was right but this was suicide. Linnae said, “We have to go outside this cave…quickly.”
“Why?”
“When was the last time you had something to eat?”
Andy looked around and saw the entire community was standing around them listening to the exchange. He hadn’t even noticed the interpreters speaking; they had become background noise in his consciousness. “You’re not being fair, Linnae. There’s no way you can do this in four days.”
“It has to be done, Andy.”
“You’re cutting me short on time.” Linnae’s eyes narrowed. Andy said, “You gave me a year and now you’re trying to back out.”
Linnae’s eyes softened and she sighed, “This isn’t only for the men, Andy. The women also have to see that we can do it.”
The room had grown silent; Andy took a deep breath and blew it out. He looked around the room and Togawa said something. Akira said, “He says that if she is brave enough to go out and face the beast, he will remove his objection to training the women to fight.”
Maxus listened to Joshua translating and looked over at his wife. He spoke and Joshua said, “He will also remove his objection. However, he doesn’t think she will achieve victory over that monster. Even the men don’t stand much of a chance.”
Andy stared at Togawa and Maxus and they saw his anger at being forced in to sacrificing Linnae. Both of them began wondering just who was the most dangerous person in the cave. Andy said, “We’ll go out in two weeks.” The crowd started talking and Andy held up his hands. The crowd grew silent. “I keep hoping someone in here will start thinking. It appears none of you are.”
Joshua said, “What do you mean?”
“I would think that anyone even thinking about leading us would think this thing through. It appears no one is even looking around to see what we have.” Andy looked at Maxus and Togawa. “If we can assume that the ones that put us here aren’t bad, do you think they would just drop us off without some means of feeding us?”
Everyone started looking at each other and Joshua said, “There’s nothing here to feed us.” Andy shook his head and walked through the people around him to the wall where he had made his home. Everyone followed him and Andy put his hand into a small indentation in the wall. He felt a lever with his index finger and he pulled it; suddenly, a section of the wall disappeared. The inside of the room was filled with titanium arrows and compound bows. The sudden intake of breath was loud. Andy walked down the wall until he found an indentation with nothing in front of it; he put his hand in it and pulled the lever. The wall disappeared and everyone saw boxes stacked to the ceiling. Many wondered what material was used to create the box; they had never seen cardboard. Andy pulled a box out and opened the lid. He took out a clear container and inside it was corn. Andy pulled the top off and used his hand to take some out and put it in his mouth. The crowd started moving forward and Andy held up his hand, “Stop!”
The crowd stopped and Joshua said, “Why?”
“We don’t know how much we have in here. We don’t know if this is the only room with food or if there are others. Whoever leads us is going to have to develop a plan to use this to feed us until we learn the behaviors we’ll need to survive. We can’t allow this to become a reason for us to fight each other to possess it. We have to work together to make sure we use it wisely.”
Maxus listened to Joshua i
nterpret and said, “How long have you known this was here?”
“I saw the indentations as soon as I woke up. I suspected there were things we would need to survive inside the walls but if they were revealed before all of you realized the situation we’re in, what do you think would have happened?”
Maxus stared at Andy. The large Viking said, “We would have fought each other for it.” Maxus looked at the Viking as Joshua interpreted and grudgingly nodded.
An Indian yelled from across the cave and Joshua said, “He says the wall doesn’t work for him.”
Andy’s eyes narrowed and he walked across the cave to where the Indian was standing. He put his hand in the wall and nothing happened. He smiled. Joshua said, “What?”
“The doors will only open on a scheduled basis. Our captors will not allow us access to everything at once. I’m sure there are things behind some of these doors that we’ll need later…if we manage to survive.”
Maxus said, “I will accept you as our leader with no reservations. We will follow your orders without complaint or hesitation.”
Togawa said, “We will follow you as well.” The Vikings were the last to swear their support as the large Leader said, “We will place our honor aside and not allow other’s remarks to tarnish our family. Our feud is with the creatures outside this cave.”
Andy sighed and said, “Good, Linnae will not have to go out and face the Allosaurus.”
Maxus and Togawa shook their head. Maxus said, “Yes she will.”
Andy looked at him and said, “So you’re challenging me on my first decision?”