by Kip Nelson
“And thank you for coming back in one piece. I’ll hereby designate you the official scout for our little community. You can take the bike out and try finding out more about the surrounding area. I think one trip every couple of days will suffice, and maybe at some point you can go out farther and expand our reach.”
“I’d like that,” he said.
Darren was glad that Brent hadn’t been fazed by the sight of the bodies entombed in the car and knew well that Brent was right. It easily could have been them trapped in a car, but by the grace of God they had managed to steer clear of that.
Darren glanced toward JR, who was still with Tara and Michelle, and thought about the nature of the divine. Darren still scoffed at the idea that any of this could have been planned. It seemed far too chaotic. That certainly wouldn’t have been any comfort to those who were dead, but his family had been blessed with the skills to survive. So much of this world could be decided by a coin flip, and there were so many things that could have gone another way. There had been many brushes with death, and they had survived so many that it seemed as though there was another force working, a more powerful one than random chance.
Darren wasn’t arrogant enough to think that he was one of God’s chosen few, but he had suffered tremendously through his life. And for all of that he had continued trying to do the right thing, much like Noah. Darren considered himself to be quite close to that man of legend and myth, the reluctant survivor who was spared from a terrible fate because he was pious and good, while the rest of humanity was cast into the sea. Given what he and his family had been through it felt right that they should be blessed and that, even amid this the bleak, cruel world, they still could find a way to live. It gave him hope that they could progress to a brighter future where they didn’t have to worry about living from day to day.
They settled about making soup for dinner and seeing how long they could make the vegetables last. Tara and Michelle turned up their noses at the thought of eating these vegetables, but JR told them a story about how vegetables had made people big and strong. He told it with a gleam in his eye, because the last time Darren had heard the stories of Samson, he hadn’t derived his strength from eating vegetables, but it seemed to work on the girls.
“I thought you said you never lied,” Darren teased.
“It’s not a lie, it’s an adaptation,” JR said with a smirk. Darren didn’t mind too much. Sometimes you had to tell little white lies to kids. It helped them understand the world a little better.
A little later on, while they all were huddled around the fire, the mother mountain lion returned. She came back in, limping, looking ragged and sorry for herself. The cubs brightened when they saw her and came up to her, but Darren could tell that something was wrong. She hadn’t returned with any meat. The cubs would have to go hungry tonight. The mountain lion turned toward them and bowed her head, ignoring them as she went toward the middle of the cave and slumped down, crashing with exhaustion. Darren pitied her. For all the joys of his day, the mountain lions were suffering.
“She looks sad,” Betsy said.
“I’ll see what’s happened to her,” Darren said, and got up from the fire, turning his back to the heat.
The cubs looked up at him playfully as he approached. The mother was breathing deeply and opened her eyes to look at him, but she made no sudden movements. Darren moved forward slowly, carefully, not wanting to startle her at all. Although they were living together, he never had been this close to her, and he didn’t particularly like the thought of being in such close proximity to this beast.
However, he set his fear aside, and with every moment that he was able to stay closer to the mountain lion, his fear subsided. He crouched down and tried to position himself so the light from the fire illuminated the animal, but it was difficult to see in the dim light. It was clear, though, that the mountain lion was bending its leg into its body.
The closer Darren looked the more easily he was able to see a wound on her leg. It was a deep gash on one of her hind legs, and he was amazed that she was able to walk. He reached forward, trying gently to ease her leg down so he could get a better look. He wanted to help. But as soon as his hand neared her wound the mountain lion snapped her head toward him and roared. The bloodcurdling sound filled the cave and the girls began crying. Darren held up his hands and reared back dramatically, not wanting to get himself hurt by the mother mountain lion, who was clearly in distress.
“I just want to help you,” he said, but the mountain lion wasn’t listening to him. She glared at him and bared her sharp teeth. Saliva dripped from the top of her jaw to the bottom, and hot, fetid breath washed over him. She didn’t want his help, was too proud for his help. He backed away and left her alone.
Chapter Six
All through the night the mother mountain lion moaned and groaned, meaning that none of the Dawkins clan got any sleep. Darren listened to her wounded mewling and grieved for her. It tugged at his heart strings and he wished he was able to help. Even a splint might be enough to see her safe through this grim time. He only could imagine the pain that she was in, and it would only have been second to the pain that came with the knowledge of not being able to feed her cubs. With a leg as wounded as the one she had she wouldn’t be able to leave the cave, and the cubs would have to go hungry.
Darren couldn’t allow that to happen. When the sun rose and the Dawkins family climbed out of their restless slumber, they shared a few nuts for breakfast and talked about the day. Darren glanced over at the wounded mountain lion and sighed. He watched as she staggered up. The cubs were mewling too, but their plaintive cries came from a place of hunger. They nagged and nudged their mother for they didn’t understand the strain she was placing upon herself.
After a while she moved her head and growled at them, warning them to stop annoying her, but instead of staying prone she tried pushing herself up. At first Darren thought she was going to succeed, and he was willing her to rise to her feet. But when she put weight on her injured leg her entire body collapsed, and she fell with a loud thud. She groaned with pain, and Darren winced.
There was no way she would be able to go hunt. She hadn’t brought anything back the previous day. He didn’t know how long the cubs could go without food, but they already were giving off warning signs.
“I think we have a hard day ahead of us,” Darren said.
“Girls, I want you to go find some walnuts for us. Betsy and JR, I’d like you to continue gathering firewood and maybe search for some wild persimmon as well. There has to be some winter fruits growing on these trees. Maybe we’ve been lucky and the winds have blown some toward us,” he said.
“I’ve got an idea of what I want to do,” Brent said. Darren assumed that he’d want to go out on the bike again, but what Brent actually said surprised him. “I was thinking I could gather some thorns and make hooks out of them. I might be able to make them into fishing hooks, if we come across fish, or we can use them to hang things up.”
Darren praised the idea. He couldn’t remember if there was a lake nearby and, so far, he hadn’t seen any fish in the stream. But they needed to be prepared for anything, and the thought of catching fish made his stomach rumble.
“What are you going to do?” JR asked.
Darren glanced toward the mountain lions. “I’m going to make sure those cubs get fed,” he said. “I know it might seem strange to you that I’m using our time to provide for these animals, but I look at that mountain lion and all I can do is take pity on her. Those cubs never asked to be born into this world, and if they can’t eat, they’re going to die. But first they’re going to turn to the nearest source of food they can find, which is us. So, I’m not just doing this for them, I’m doing it for us too, and I might be able to get ourselves some meat to go with the stew tonight.”
“There are plenty of vegetables left in the field as well. I can make regular runs there when we start running out of the ones I brought back yesterday,” Brent said. Darr
en smiled. He had a feeling Brent wouldn’t have been able to go one family meeting without mentioning his plans for the bike.
“I think it’s wonderful that you care so much for other creatures. Man does have dominion over the fish of the sea, and the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth, after all. And I’ve always interpreted that to mean we have a responsibility to care for everything that exists in this world, no matter how big or small, no matter how harmless or vicious. But please ensure you find something. Because I don’t want us to be eaten by these mountain lions,” JR said.
“Hear! Hear!” Betsy said, which brought a chuckle from everyone.
They finished eating breakfast and then made their way out of the cave for a new day of foraging and hunting. Brent and Betsy had the responsibility of keeping an eye on the girls. And after they’d almost lost them once, they were determined not to let Tara and Michelle wander off again.
Darren took a rudimentary spear they had made, as well as the gun and a knife. He walked out into the forest, deep among the barren trees, his feet cracking the dry leaves that rested on the ground. He walked as gingerly and carefully as he could, not wanting to disturb anything if he could help it. He knew that would help his chances of finding anything that could feed the mountain lions.
The mother must have been feeling helpless by now, and her heart most likely was breaking. He knew that he was anthropomorphizing her, but he couldn’t help it. Although he was skeptical of mysticism, he was certain that animals had souls. He knew they felt pain and fear just like humans, and right now that mother must have been scared out of her mind.
The longer they stayed there the riskier a proposition it became because the likelihood of the mountain lion attacking them grew greater. He had hoped that, eventually, when the ground thawed the mountain lion and her cubs would leave for their home in the mountains. Hearing Brent’s account of the state of the mountains made Darren understand why the animals had left the mountains and come down to the lowlands. If the terrain was as icy as he said, then the mountain lions would have been slipping and sliding all over the place, and it was doubtful anything nutritious would live up there. They had been forced down, out of their homes, and once again Darren was struck by the similarities of their stories.
However, another story came to mind, that of the scorpion and the frog, where they were both on one side of the lake and the scorpion begged the frog to take him over to the other side. The frog was wary, afraid that the scorpion would sting him with his vicious tail. The scorpion promised that he wouldn’t, and the trusting frog let the scorpion climb on his back. They made it all the way to the other side of the lake, but just before they reached the other side the frog felt a stabbing pain. The scorpion had pricked him with his tail. The frog felt the life slip out of him and he turned to the scorpion, asking him why he had broken the promise. The scorpion apologized and told the frog that he couldn’t help it, for it was simply in his nature.
The story had a sobering moral for Darren to consider. The mountain lion may not mean him any harm, but at some point, her natural instincts were going to influence her, and she would strike out. Because that’s what she was born to do. How he longed for the sweet song of spring to come and thaw out this icy world, to give them hope and relief from the bleak world that had crept into their bones. But first, he had hunting to do.
He gazed in all corners of the forest, hoping to see some sign of a scurrying animal. He looked overheard, hoping to follow the trajectory of a soaring bird and wait until it landed on a branch to enjoy a rest.
He saw nothing.
In the meantime, he made his way to the stream to collect some water, because the morning dew wasn’t giving them enough water for their needs. Especially not now that they had JR with them, and Darren had been leaving small pools of water for the mountain lions to drink.
He dipped the bottles into the stream and felt the cold water bubble over his hand. He checked for fish, but there were none. Although he thought that perhaps if they followed the stream down, they might find some there, if they hadn’t all frozen to death. The water was icy cold, which was a shame. He could have done with a dip in the stream, but his skin broke out in goosebumps after one moment in the cold water.
Once the bottles were filled, he brought one to his lips and sipped the cold water, shuddering as it trickled down his throat, like drops of ice freezing him from the inside out. He walked away and continued his journey through the forest, searching the scenery for any sign of an animal, finding it ironic that he was willing to kill one animal for the sake of saving another. Life was filled with contradictions, and he wasn’t about to try figuring them out now.
Eventually, he heard the bushes rustle and stayed still, carefully taking his time to look for the source of the sound. He soon found it, a squirrel scuttling around, foraging for some food. It wasn’t much, but he hoped it would be enough to satisfy the cubs for the time being. He’d have to find something else, though, if he was going to feed his family and JR as well.
Darren wondered what the mother mountain lion had been hunting that could have caused her such grievous harm. It was a long, deep slash, and must have been come from one hell of a fight. He hoped that he wouldn’t come across anything like that while he was out here. A squirrel was just about enough for him to handle.
He took careful aim of his quarry and watched it carefully as the squirrel went about its business, seemingly ignorant of Darren’s presence. He wasn’t going to use the gun because he didn’t want to scare away any other wildlife that was lurking around. So, he brought the spear up and took aim carefully. Using such a heavy spear for such a small creature was overkill, but he wanted to make sure he came back with something.
He counted to three and breathed slowly, then hurled the spear with all his might. It hurtled through the air and slammed into the squirrel. There was a brief squeal, followed by a rustle as the impact took the squirrel into the bushes. Darren ran toward his target and was pleased to see that the squirrel had been hit. The spear had landed right in its neck. Darren pulled the squirrel off the spear and placed it in his sack. He’d skin it later.
That was the first animal done. A few more of the same size and the mountain lions would have quite the feast. He continued walking around carefully until he heard voices in the distance. He ducked behind a stump and peered out cautiously, careful not to give himself away. Two men were strolling around with heavy packs on their backs and bows slung over their shoulders. They were laughing and seemed in good spirits.
Darren found this surprising and was slightly envious of them. They were walking through the world without a care, and it didn’t seem right that people should have their attitude. He was filled with the urge to go up to them and shake them until they admitted why they weren’t gripped with despair or on the edge of madness. What right did they have to be happy when there were so many dead, and so many dying a slow death?
He wanted to approach them, but he didn’t. He decided in that moment that he wasn’t going to approach anyone he didn’t have to, and only would talk to people outside his family circle if they approached him, like JR. The example of JR certainly made him more amenable to the idea of welcoming strangers into his home, but he wasn’t ready to extend the courtesy to anyone.
Perhaps it was a misjudgment. Because these people certainly knew how to survive. And they might have been able to lend their expertise to the Dawkins clan. But he wasn’t ready to risk their safety by calling out to two strangers. More than likely he would have startled them, and they would have turned around and skewer him with an arrow from their bow. Or they would take his squirrel from him, and he had worked hard for that squirrel.
He kept his breathing quiet until the two men faded into their distance, their voices becoming one with the wind. Darren waited until it was completely silent before he emerged. There was no sign that anyone was aware of him. Those two men were living their own lives, and had their own storie
s to tell. At that point Darren was struck by a profound sense of the world being far bigger than he ever had imagined. It was the same kind of feeling he used to get when he was driving people around; that their lives intersected briefly but they had entire universes within them, universes that he never would be privy to.
But as quickly as the scope of his thoughts expanded it snapped back to focus on his own life, his own universe. He clutched his spear in his hands and stalked through the forest, trying to channel the spirit of the mountain lion upon whose behalf he was hunting. He ended up finding a few more small animals, and also spotted a wild boar, but the boar disappeared from view before he had a chance to hunt it. He had to be satisfied with the kills he had made.
He returned to the cave, but stopped before he entered, deciding to skin the animals outside to prevent Tara and Michelle from having to see cute animals being skinned. It was something he’d explained to them before, and something they were going to have to get used to at some point, but he wanted to protect their innocence for as long as possible.
He’d just finished with the last animal when he heard a terrified scream coming from inside the cave. It was Michelle, and she was in danger.
Chapter Seven
Darren ran into the cave fearing the worst. Of course it was Michelle who had screamed, his little angel, the girl for whom he would give his life to protect. She had a heart of gold. He easily could imagine her wanting to ease the lion’s suffering or make friends with the cubs and try distracting them while their mother was wounded. It would have been easy for Betsy and Brent to get distracted, and for all JR’s kindness, he wasn’t used to being a parent and wouldn’t know how easy it can be for kids to get into trouble.