Civilization

by Stephen Drake

  “About what?” Reyes snapped.

  “About the future of humans on this planet. Have you given any further thought to what I said before winter? About a civilized mindset verses a pack mentality?”

  “What about it?” Reyes snapped again.

  “From what I’ve seen, the people on this last transport pod have divided themselves by skillset, more or less. You have very few, if any, farmers or metal workers and the group downriver has lots of farmers, but few metal workers, as an example. You’d think there could be something traded to the benefit of both.”

  “And who would be determining who trades what?” Reyes questioned.

  “Not me. It would be up to the leaders of all the groups to figure things like that out. You all need to co-operate, the harsh winter should have taught you that.”

  “It taught me to get tough and get organized. It taught me to gather as many resources as possible to prepare for the next year. It also taught not to rely on you!”

  “And I should have shown you that your compound isn’t as safe as you think it is.” Murdock motioned and Heather came over with venison for himself and Reyes.

  “I see you have a slave, now,” Reyes said as she bit into the hot venison.

  “I have no slaves,” Murdock corrected stoically. “What we do have is co-operation. Take Heather there,” Murdock said indicating Heather. “She is one of those that you wanted Bass to exact your revenge. She can’t hunt or track, yet, but she is quite good at fires, cooking, and helping. She is unafraid of trying something new. For that, she is well treated and well fed. If you noticed, she has put on some weight, all of it muscle, since you last saw her, while you, Liz, have lost considerable mass.”

  Reyes became caustic: “And what of her two companions? As I recall, there were three of them. Where are they?”

  “They murdered innocents and were executed,” Heather said stoically.

  “There are no innocents,” Reyes smirked.

  “Okay, how about a newborn and a to-be-born,” Heather said.

  “Serves you right,” Reyes said as she glared at Murdock. “That’s what you get for interfering!”

  “Are you finished with your beratement?” Murdock asked speaking softly. “You were brought here to try to get you to see reason—”

  “I’ll never be reasonable with you,” Reyes spat. “I lost thirteen good people because of you, so I’m done!” She stood and intentionally dumped her venison into the fire. As she walked toward the terrace edge, she dropped to the ground. Then she was levitated to the ground below the terrace.

  “I was wondering how long you were going to take her guff,” Heather asked with her back to Murdock, trying to fish the meat out of the fire.

  “What now?” Annie flashed to Murdock as they all sat close to the fire.

  “We proceed to the last group and work our way back,” Murdock responded.

  “What are you trying to accomplish?” Heather asked after sitting in silence for some time.

  “I’m trying to get the others out of their pack mentality and to think about being more civilized,” Murdock said quietly. “Right now, they’re all attacking anyone outside their small groups, like a pack of wolves. I’m trying to get them to act civilly with everyone and to co-operate with each other.”

  Heather looked puzzled for a long time and then said, “I don’t know if you’re naïve, ignorant, or undauntedly optimistic. I’m sure your pod gave you a briefing when you arrived?”

  “It did,” Murdock responded quietly.

  “As of the time I was taken, the Earth was over-run with arrogant, self-serving, egocentric individuals. No one helped anyone unless they were compensated, in some way. Everyone thought they were right, especially if they weren’t. People never got along for more than a few minutes and you had to watch what you said and who was around to hear it. Islamophobia ran rampant. The term micro-aggression was thrown at everyone for everything you thought, said, or did, and no one took responsibility for their actions.”

  “I know. I was there. What’s your point?” Murdock asked impatiently.

  “My point is those people were pulled from that environment and dropped here. They’ve had no time to unlearn anything or lose their biases. They haven’t experienced how wrong their own prejudices are. They went to sleep there and awoke here. Do you really expect them to act any differently?”

  “I’m just trying to get them to build a human civilization here,” Murdock said after some thought.

  “Personally, even though that is a lofty and admirable goal, I don’t think it’s attainable. In the entire history of mankind, there has been no ‘civilization’ to speak of. Just new and different ways to steal, kill, and enslave one another.” Heather sat quietly after she had run down and tended the fire.

  “So, you’re saying that we aren’t civilized?” Annie asked after a long, thoughtful pause.

  “As individuals, yes, we can act civilized, from time to time, but taken as a whole, humans are hairless apes that are scared, most of the time, and destroy everything that comes their way,” Heather stated.

  “That seems rather negative,” Annie said.

  “Can you name me a single instance of that not being the case?” Heather asked.

  “Why don’t we see what we can do to change that,” Murdock added.

  #

  Three days later, Murdock, Annie, and Heather were sitting around a fire with the people below the third terrace downriver. They had arrived earlier in the day. Murdock had helped them by harvesting a few fish.

  #

  Heather had done her part by helping the women grind some of the grain they had left-over from the long winter.

  “Is this wheat?” Heather asked as she squinted at the handful of kernels in her hand. “Or is it barley?”

  “It doesn’t look like either, that we’re used to,” Kathy Watkins answered. “Once it’s ground and cooked, it tastes like a mixture of the two.”

  As Heather watched, Kathy picked up a rock that was roughly pan-shaped with a slight ridge running around the outside and placed it across her legs and put a few handfuls of grain on the rock and, picking up a roughly rounded rock, began to crush and grind the grain. She would periodically stop and pick out husks from the crushed grain. It took Kathy some time to work it into a powdery consistency.

  “You don’t pound the grain,” Kathy explained as she put more on the rock with the powder. “It’s more of a rolling, grinding action.”

  “Mind if I try?” Heather asked. Kathy nodded and passed the grinding rocks to her. As she began grinding the grain, she started to get a feeling for doing it. To her, it had initially looked easy, but it wasn’t long before she could appreciate how much hard work went into this simple, and ancient, chore.

  #

  Annie had spent her daylight hours tending to a few people who had minor injuries.

  “So, how did your group fare during the winter?” Murdock asked aloud to no one in particular. He had noticed the sod huts built against the ridge wall.

  “We did okay,” Markus Lantz answered. Murdock had been informed that he was the temporary leader while they waited for Jeffery Carter. “We had planned for the cold and snow and had a lot of the wild grain stored.”

  “You’re coming up on a year being here,” Murdock informed all in the range of his voice. “I bring it up because you lasted a year and the higher chances of death through misfortune come in the first year. As long as you all keep your eyes open and your wits about you, it’s unlikely that many of you will die by accident.”

  “We’d figured that out already,” Lantz condescended.

  “Have any of you been on the other side of the river?” Murdock asked, a bit put out with Lantz’s attitude.

  “A few of us have,” Lantz replied, “for wood and possible game.”

  “I’d be very careful going over there, if I were you,” Murdock stated. “Palmer was killed, just before winter, by a huge cougar across the river. It had cubs,
so a word to the wise.”

  “How big was it?” Lantz asked as his eyes widened with surprise and curiosity.

  “I’d guess four hundred pounds, about the size of a Bengal tiger.”

  “We’d heard he was dead, no loss, but we didn’t know how he died. Who found him?”

  “I did. The cougar almost got me, too. It looked like it let the cubs feed on him while he was alive.”

  “That sounds ghastly!”

  “Ghastly?” Murdock paused. “Ghastly. Yes, I’d say that was exactly what it was, ghastly. Anyway, we came to see how you all fared and to see if you needed anything or if there was something we could do for you.”

  “We are mostly farmers, here, so I’d like to know how to deal with the cougars or any other pests,” Lantz said.

  “Pests? Huh. You do have wolves and cougars to worry about,” Murdock responded. “I doubt they could be classified as pests, though. As always, you don’t venture out too far from the majority of the group and have effective weapons.”

  Heather brought over a plate of food for Murdock as he was talking. When he looked at it, he was surprised to see some kind of bread with some hot grain meal and hot venison. He tasted the bread and his eyes went wide.

  “What happened to Phylicia and that group?” Lantz asked as he ate as well.

  “I already told you about Palmer. Phylicia and Kimberly had a hard time of it before they died. Other than that, I don’t know who you’d want to know about,” Murdock said between bites. He was watching Lantz as the two men ate.

  “At the time we left, there were quite a number of other people that were left behind, as I recall. What happened to them?”

  “I’ve already told you of the ones that are dead, that I know of. Where the others are,” Murdock shook his head slightly. “Who can say? You are our second stop, so far, so there could be much I’m unaware of.”

  Lantz nodded slightly. “We managed to only lose seven to exposure this last winter. We are planning on being better prepared this coming winter. Where can we get a few bows and arrows?”

  “You can either make them yourself, or try to find someone to trade you some,” Murdock stated flatly.

  Lantz looked at him oddly: “That seems rather obvious, so I’m not sure if you’re serious or not.”

  “If I were joking, you’d know. Out here, a range weapon is highly prized. If you have some artisans, I can let them inspect my bow or arrows or spears. If not then you could be in for more difficulty.”

  “Do you know where the other groups are?” Lantz asked.

  “Of course, I made the rounds before winter to all the groups.”

  “There used to be a number of metal workers in the group at the landing pod, but I have no idea where they went. Do you?”

  “You go up the terrace and cross the river. When you get to the mountains, I’m sure they’ll let you know,” Murdock said with a slight chuckle.

  Lantz sat staring into the flames and nodded for a while. “You’ve been here a while. Have you domesticated the deer for draft animals?” he asked finally.

  “No, I don’t seem to have the time,” Murdock chuckled. “By the looks of your clothes, you’re all going to need to make some leather clothes and probably could use the venison. That may be an enterprise for someone to try.”

  “Catching one is going to be the problem. We tried trapping a few in a coral type of enclosure.”

  “What happened?” Murdock asked.

  “It wasn’t high enough and they jumped over the enclosure walls.”

  “They can be quite slippery to trap. Ever seen one get a good run before jumping?” Lantz simply shook his head. “They are very fast, very strong, and can jump higher and further than you’d think. If someone tries to trap one, I’d have medical personnel handy. They’re going to need it!”

  #

  On the day that Murdock, Annie, and Heather left Lantz’s group, Keith Rogers, Gary Carpenter, and Jackson Hornsby set out to find Raymond Tutt and the group of miners that had gone with him. Gary Carpenter appeared to have come through the winter unscathed. Rogers appeared sallow from his long, self-imposed, incarceration.

  From what Carpenter could see, the black patches on Hornsby’s face were replaced by scars of pale skin mostly on his cheek and forehead.

  “Is something bothering you?” Hornsby asked testily when he caught Carpenter scrutinizing him.

  “You seem to have come through your winter ordeal with minimal damage,” Carpenter stated as he looked away.

  “You don’t get the right to say anything like that to me,” Hornsby snapped. “My feet still hurt!”

  Rogers put a hand on Hornsby’s chest to interpose himself between the two men. “Jax lost a few toes to the frostbite,” he said quietly to Carpenter. “Let’s try to be respectful of each other for the duration of this trip, shall we?”

  “Sorry, to hear that, Jax,” Carpenter apologized. “I didn’t know.”

  All three men were outfitted similarly with fish, two machetes — a twelve-inch and an eighteen-inch—, a six-inch knife, and a water skin. Hornsby had fashioned himself a seven-foot walking stick to help with his balance.

  “Do we know where we’re going?” Jax asked with some impatience.

  “All I know is Tutt headed off toward the mountains,” Rogers responded. “Don’t know if he found them or not.”

  “He did,” Hornsby responded reflexively.

  “How would you know that?” Carpenter asked as he looked at Hornsby suspiciously.

  “I’d like to know that as well,” Rogers said.

  “I know someone who found Tutt and told me a little about it,” Hornsby said. “That was before I was admitted to your group.”

  “So, what do you know?” Carpenter asked.

  “I told you. That is all I know.”

  “So, where are they located? Do they have weapons? If so, what kind?” Carpenter asked in rapid-fire manner.

  “I have no idea. Like I said, I knew someone who went there. They didn’t tell me all the little details.”

  #

  “So, what did you think?” Murdock asked after they had gained the top of the terrace and had taken a rest at the river.

  “About what?” Heather asked.

  “About the farmer group. Was it somewhere you’d like to stay?” Annie asked.

  “Honestly, it was a little creepy,” Heather responded.

  “In what way?” Murdock asked as he prepared to push on.

  “I was half-expecting them to jump us for our weapons,” Heather said. “The way Lantz was eye-balling us and our equipment, I could see he coveted them and it gave me a creepy feeling.”

  Murdock came over to Heather. “I need you to trust me and to keep your eyes closed,” he said in a reassuring tone. Heather immediately complied without question. “Okay, open them,” Murdock said a few seconds later.

  Heather looked around a little and seemed to be indifferent to the fact that the river that was in front of her, was now behind her.

  “Nothing to say?” Murdock asked.

  “About being levitated over the river? Why would that surprise me?” Heather asked with a shrug.

  “What makes you so sure that’s what happened?” Murdock asked in disbelief.

  “How else? You moved the transport pod, the base of the longhouse, and me, several times. You did that all by yourself, so you are either a god or you can levitate. Knowing you, I vote for the latter,” Heather explained.

  “You never cease to amaze me,” Murdock said to Heather with a chuckle and a grin. “I can see that you perceive more than most people would think.”

  “Did you see how that bread was made?” Annie asked

  “Yes, and I ground some of the grain,” Heather answered, “so I know what the grain looks like raw and what it takes to prepare it. I do remember seeing a picture of someone grinding grain on a small grinding wheel, once. It was two smaller stones together and one turned around on the other with a handle sticking up
on the top stone. The top stone also had a hole to put the grain into.”

  “Well, try to remember any details you can and we’ll see about making our own, when we get home,” Murdock said. “The bread was good, even if it was unleavened.”

  “It would make the meat go further and give us some grain in our diet,” Annie offered, “but I’m more of a nurse than a farmer.”

  “That could change,” Murdock chuckled.

  After several hours of walking in silence, Murdock, Annie, and Heather decided to make camp. They were well past the terrace edge where Palmer was buried, but Murdock could see they had some distance to go to reach the mountains.

  #

  After a day of walking, Rogers, Carpenter, and Hornsby decided to make camp for the night. They had no protection from creatures or the elements and seemed blissfully unaware as they sat around their fire.

  #

  Raymond Tutt had arrived at the over-look, per Ted Wagner’s request. “What did you want?” he asked as he came up behind Wagner.

  “We have company coming,” he said without turning around. He pointed in two different directions. “You can see their fires from here.”

  Tutt looked out over the flat plain and clearly saw two bright lights where Wagner had indicated. “I want you to intercept them before they get too close,” Tutt ordered. “Take what armed men you think you’ll need.”

  “Okay. They’ll be here sometime tomorrow,” Wagner said.

  25

  After breaking camp the next morning, Murdock, Annie, and Heather continued the trek toward the mountains. Murdock was out in front with his bow, leading the two women by fifty yards. Heather was pulling the cart, and Annie, carrying a spear, was watching for threats from the rear.

  As they walked, Heather began to worry. With every step she felt that something was wrong and there was trouble close at hand. With each step she turned her head from side-to-side looking for anything. I know what to do, in case of an attack, Heather thought. I am to drop the cart and get under it with my twelve-inch machete drawn to defend myself. I am to use the solid wooden wheels for cover and a place to strike from with my machete. That was all she had to worry about. She was told, repeatedly, that Murdock and Annie had their own procedures and she wasn’t to worry about theirs. Two arrows stuck in the ground around the cart and a giant unseen hand grabbed her and placed her under the cart. Annie followed quickly behind her as an arrow struck the cargo area of the cart and penetrated the wood, causing the two to yelp in surprise and Annie to inhale through her teeth as the arrowhead penetrated her thigh.