Pushed Back

by S A Ison

  “That’s a great idea.” He laughed and I brought out a handful of leaves, eating a couple as I went. He did as well. I then got several strips of the seaweed snack and put them with the leaves and shoved it in the body. I handed the fish to Harper.

  “How much do you think that fish weighs? It is pretty big.”

  “I’d say this bass is about six pounds. It is way bigger than what we have in our time. I think because we have fished the areas so much, they just can’t grow this big anymore. We catch them before they can reach a good size.”

  He covered the fish in a big glob of mud and laid it into the trench. Then he raked the coals back over the area, covering the mud encased fish. I got up and went to the river and washed the bowl out and refilled it with water. Bringing it back, I slid through the narrow gap in the boulders. I was glad we found this place. Tonight, I planned to sleep soundly.

  We both went into the woods to take care of our needs. Did I tell you the broadleaf plantains make good toilet paper? Well they do. So, a nice double application for the plant. Going to the stream, I used the gravel and sand to wash my hands. Then I headed back to pick more leaves, for dinner and other things.

  Harper came back with more wood. By now it was getting to be early evening. I was tired, but I wasn’t afraid. It felt good not to be afraid. No one ever tells you, but I will, being constantly afraid makes you feel weak and tired. It drains all your energy.

  Harper went to the river bank and scraped and deboned the other two fish. He brought them back and sliced them into thin strips. He hung them on a branch and set it close to the fire. This way the heat dried the fish. It was nice to also know there wasn’t any mercury in the water or the fish. Sad, our world was so polluted now a days, this world was pristine.

  I scooped up the heated stones and dropped them into the water, one by one. Soon, the water began to boil. I used the towel once more and dipped into the hot water. I cleaned my face and hands and gave it over to Harper, who did the same.

  “You know, with this bark bowl, and the leaves and meat, I can make a soup. We would have to drink from the bowl, but it is something to think about. Maybe if we look for natural bowls, we can figure something out.”

  He laughed and leaned over and pulled out a flat piece of bark. He’d washed it. “Will a plate do for now?”

  “Awesome. Maybe you can carve some spoons and forks.” I grinned, waggling my brows.

  “I’ll do that right now while we wait for the fish to bake. It’ll take a bit of time.”

  We drank our fill of the water, once it had cooled a bit and I went to refill the bowl. I heard bullfrogs beginning to bellow and other insects chirp. Walking back to the fire I sat down and stared into it. I felt peaceful. Yes, I said it, I felt peaceful. The thought of food and a good night’s rest, it made me feel good.

  I watched as Harper carved away at two sticks and in about ten minutes, he handed me a fork, it only had two tines, but it would do the job. He set about carving his fork and I added more wood to the fire. I could smell the fish and my stomach growled loudly.

  “Sorry.” I laughed.

  “No worries. I’m hungry as hell. I’m glad you found those leaves. It will really help. We’re going to be eating a lot of protein, so it’s good that we have something else to add to our diet. This meat is lean, and so we’ll need to think about adding some fat to our diet.”

  “Isn’t this some kind of Hollywood diet we’re on now?” I laughed and shook my head. I’d give anything to eat some fast food right now.

  “Yeah, something like that.” He sniggered.

  He dug the fish out of the fire with a branch, and we pulled it away. He cracked open the hard shell of the mud and steam came out, hitting me in the face. The skin of the fish was stuck to the mud, so all that was left was fluffy white meat. Yeah, it was damn good.

  “I have to say, this is some damn fine food.”

  “Yeah, and the greens taste really good with the fish flavor along with the seaweed.” I said, it really was.

  I added more stones to the water and in a short time, we drank hot water. It wasn’t coffee, but it was good. The night air around us was cooling down rapidly. The water warmed our bodies. Harper went to refill the water and we both sat back, deep within the recessed wall. He checked on the fish strips. He took the ones that were ready off the stick and let them cool. Then he put them into the sandwich bags with the snake steak.

  The air was redolent of fish and I hoped no bears would find their way here. I added another large stick to the fire. Now I was double glad, we had this protected enclave tonight.

  “Do you think we’ll draw bears?” I asked nervously, looking out into the dark night.

  “We might, but with this fire, it should keep them away. Fire means death for them. In our time, our bears were used to campfires. Not so much here I would think.”

  “I sure hope you are right.” I said.

  “I hope so too.”

  We both stared into the fire and after a while, my eyes began to grow heavy, my blinks becoming exaggerated. The warmth of the fire on my face felt wonderful. The air was now cold.

  “Why don’t you sleep. I’m still wide awake and I need to tend the fish and the fire for a while longer.”

  “I feel bad, I should really be helping more.” I said, a pang of guilt ripping through me. I really wasn’t used to all this. Between walking for hours and the constant fear of becoming bear food, it was wearing on me.

  “No, you’re doing just fine. Trust me. We have enough wood for the night. If you wake up, just add more to it. I’ll do the same.”

  At some point during the night, I was woken by a hand covering my mouth. It jolted me to wakefulness, my heart slamming into my chest painfully. For a moment, I didn’t know who had their hand over my mouth. But then my brain jumped into gear and I knew it was Harper and my body relaxed, a little.

  “Be very quiet, I hear a bear snuffling outside the boulders. Get your spear, and get ready to shove it in its face, but don’t make a sound when you do. I don’t want it knowing what we are, as in food, I’m hoping the fire will mask our scent. I’m going to add wood to the fire, make it brighter and hotter.” He whispered softly into my ear. I nodded my head and he let go of my mouth.

  My hand slid over to my spear, and I got into a small crouching position. I’ll tell you now, I was so frightened that I didn’t think things could get much worse, but when that thing stood up and looked over the boulders, I nearly pissed myself with terror. The bear was well over eleven feet tall, and its head was massive. Its upper lip and nose seemed to have a mind of their own, like a questing anteater. I could smell its musky scent, and its rotten breath, it stank bad, if my nose could have sunken into my head, it would have.

  I looked over to Harper, who had his spear in hand and at roughly the same time, we jabbed our spears up and into the bear’s face. I caught the bear under its jaw. And let me tell you, I shoved as hard as I’ve ever shoved anything in my life. I know my adrenaline added force to my strength. I worked out at the gym four times a week. I used free weights and so I have good upper body strength. When my spear hit the under jaw of this creature, it was like ramming a stick into concrete.

  I felt the painful jolt run all the way down my arm, slam into my elbows and on up into my shoulders. But I was so terrified, that I kept ramming that spear up and up. Harper’s first jab missed and then he quickly hit inside the nostril of the bear. The bear screamed and jerked back and away. We heard it running, and breaking branches and rocks flying as it got as far away from us as it could, grunting and squealing all the way.

  I slumped to the ground, shaking so badly, I dropped the spear. I could feel Harper gathering me into his arms for a hug and I guess I must have been crying, because I felt him take his shirt tail and wipe my face. I looked up at him and saw how pale he was. My face crumpled again and I cried harder.

  “That’s the biggest goddamn bear I’ve ever seen.” He said, his voice shaking.

>   “Do… do..do you think it’ll be back?”

  “No, I shoved that spear inside his nose pretty good and they are very sensitive there. Combine that with the fire, I don’t think that boy will be back anytime soon.”

  I began to calm down, and pulled back, wiping my face. I got up and slid out from the rocks.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I have to pee really bad, I hope you don’t mind, but I’m doing it right here.” I said, and almost didn’t care, I was about to pee in my pants.

  FIVE

  It took a while, but I eventually got back to sleep. Though it wasn’t a deep sleep. I woke up from time to time and added more branches to the fire. I listened, but heard nothing. I knew Harper was awake each time I woke. In the morning, I was tired.

  “I think today, we need to find us a home, a cave. I don’t think we should cook until we do. The smell of the fish is what brought that bear, or at least I think it was. Also, from now on, I will clean our kills away from us. Maybe down river a little way. That way, the kill’s smell won’t be near where we’re sleeping.”

  “I think that is a good idea. I still can’t believe how huge that thing was.” I said.

  I set to boiling more water and we drank the water from the bottles. We ate dried fish and snake, along with a few raisins and wilted dandelion leaves. After the water had cooled, we made sure the fire was out and began our search for our new home.

  “How are we going to find a cave? Don’t we have to go up into the woods?”

  “I’m thinking that along the bank, we should be able to see rock edifices, or openings like the one we spent the night in. Though ours was dirt, I’m hoping we can find one on higher ground and maybe if we are lucky, it might be a real cave.”

  We were cautious as we walked, the bear having left last night, we were afraid it might be in the vicinity. We had looked at the bear tracks, which were massive. Harper had placed his foot inside the bear’s paw print, and his booted foot looked small. A primeval shudder went through me.

  Δ

  Within a couple hours, the topography was changing, some of the land was flattening out, while higher bluffs began to surround us on both sides of the river. We were entering into some kind of lowland valley. We stayed by the river but looked toward the bluffs. We found our first cave, it was about five feet off the ground. It wasn’t very deep however. It was about eight feet deep and six feet wide. It also smelled of an animal. It was a no.

  We walked on, taking in the changes around us. There were more stands of oak saplings, and other broadleaf trees. The pines were left behind, though there were still plenty of conifers. The evergreens were massive and I could only guess at their age. There were wild grasses, plenty of dandelion and broadleaf plantains. Here and there, we found patches of tiny strawberries. We paused in our trek to graze on the delicious sweet fruit, the strawberries weren’t big, but they sure were packed with sweetness.

  The sky was a cerulean blue, and there was not a cloud in the sky. The day was beginning to warm up. At the water’s edge, there were clusters of small yellow butterflies. Around patches of cattails there what looked like waterlilies in areas that were protected from the main flow of the river, inlets and coves. Large boulders and rocks cut into the water, making small pools. There, a plethora of plant life flourished in the crystal depths.

  We came across another cave. This one was higher up, and it took a bit of doing to get up into it. The opening was roughly ten feet high and about four feet wide. It was a long and narrow cave. It smelled heavily of ammonia, and looking back into the cave and farther up, we saw hundreds, if not thousands of bats. We crossed this one off our list. We climbed down and kept on with our trek.

  There was a waterfall, though it was only about twenty feet high. We made our way to it.

  “I think this water is safe to drink.” Harper said, raising his voice over the noise of the rushing water. The water fed down to the river. I nodded and was glad for the break and the drink of cold sweet water. We filled up our four water bottles. We drank and refilled. Staying hydrated was thankfully not going to be a problem if we stayed close to the river.

  “Will we live by the river?” I said loudly.

  “Yeah, going inland would mean more work. If we can find a cave near this area, we would have unlimited fresh water, from this waterfall or the river. Why don’t we cross the river go along that bluff and see what we can find?”

  “Sounds good to me.” I said. We took off our shoes and we began to hop from rock to rock. The water was shallow here, but still fast and it was cold. I didn’t want to fall into it. Harper grabbed my hand and we got to the other side. We walked along the bottom of the high bluff. There were huge trees that were at the bottom edge of the bluff, and many bushes, but it wasn’t dense. The bluff ran from roughly ten feet high to as high as nearly forty feet high. It was as though a huge glacier dug this small valley out, leaving the topography split.

  We found another cave, it had a rock outcrop and was about three feet off the ground. We were disappointed however. The cave mouth was big, but the cave itself was shallow, only about three feet in. We kept walking. Some areas of the bluffs were dirt, and at different levels of it, some dark and loamy, some sandy. Some areas were sheer rock. While other areas were boulders jutting from the dirt wall.

  “Do you think that a glacier sliced through this place during the ice age, oh, I don’t know, two years ago?” I said laughing.

  Harper looked at me grinning and shook his head. “Yeah, but I’d say it was a bit more than two years ago, maybe a couple thousand.”

  I snorted and laughed. I was tired and trying to keep my spirits up. There were plenty of caves, just none that were suited for us to live in, at least not long term. I stopped to pick some strawberries, there was another small patch. I also picked more dandelions and put them in the plastic bag for later. Having plenty of fruit today was wonderful. It was a small pick-me-up for my spirits.

  Δ

  Harper was ahead of me, looking around. I stood for a moment and looked across the flat land. It was stretching out before me and the river was about two hundred feet across. The river widened and narrowed. I could see farther up that it got bigger, almost like a lake. There were stunted palmetto trees and I decided to take a look at one of them. I could use some of the fronds to either practice weaving or split to make thin strips to try my crocheting. I thought if I boiled them, they would be soft enough to manipulate.

  I’d already collected tall grasses to work with. I drew up to the squat palmetto and smiled. It was about six feet high and looked like it had a barrel trunk. But what I was smiling at was, what was coming off the stems. It was loaded with a green growth of unripe palm dates. They were larger versions of the ones I knew of, but if I was right, this would be a great source of fruit. Right now, the fruit was hard and green, but it would bear watching. The fruit I remember was so delicious and sweet. I could only hope these ancient palm dates would be the same.

  “Ivy, come here.” Harper shouted, his voice sounding funny. I felt a chill, because that usually didn’t bode well. I looked at him and he was standing by a boulder that was against the rocky wall of the bluff. I didn’t see any perceivable threat, so my heart slowed down its runaway hammering.

  “What is it?”

  “Look.” Was all he said.

  The hair rose all over my body as I looked at the boulder. On the rockface I saw writing, and it wasn’t caveman writing, it was our time writing. On the boulder, someone had chipped and carved into the surface:

  24 March 2010 My name is Bill Wexler.

  There are 5 of us. 1 dead. We came

  thru time.

  We look for home. We hope we survive.

  Jasper Reynolds, Alice Davis, Mike Duval,

  Lisa Buccino. Baily Pascha Dead.

  “Jesus, so we aren’t the only ones. I’m not sure I feel better or worse.” I said, my voice quivering.

  “Yeah, but at least we know there ar
e others. Maybe more than just these guys. That was seven years ago and almost on the same day we came through.”

  “Man oh man, that means there could be a whole lot of people from the future living here. But wouldn’t we’ve have heard something on the news, with so many people disappearing?”

  “Maybe, but if it were only one or two people like us going missing, that wouldn’t raise a red flag. Also, if the years were closer together maybe. But people forget when something else pops up in the news and takes the headlines. Usually, unless they keep harping about it, the event is forgotten. But you know, people go missing every day. Maybe after we find our cave, we go out looking for these people.” He suggested. I could only nod, as I reread the writing.

  “What were you looking at over by that palm tree?”

  “I think I’ve found us another food source, this one has palm dates. There are a lot of these squat palms all around. The fruit on these trees are bigger than the ones in our time, but I think they are the same fruit. Hopefully by mid-summer, they will be ripe enough to pick and eat.” I said distractedly.

  “Wow, that’s great. We can make some pemmican.”

  “Pemmican? What’s that?”

  He laughed, “I thought you studied history. The Native Americans made pemmican, it’s made from dried fruit and dried meat. It is the equivalent of a protein bar. It is a long-term food. We can use the fruit with the meat we dehydrate and smoke. We’ll also need to get fat, since that is the binding component. We can make it and that will give us some of the vitamins and calories we need. Maybe we can mix in your broadleaf plantain leaves with it.”

  “I don’t remember reading about that. They skimmed over quite a bit in the history books, it would seem.”

  “Should we keep looking for a cave or do you need a break?”

  “I’m fine, let’s keep looking. The sooner we find a cave, the better. I want to sleep safely tonight and not worry about a giant bear sniffing me.” I laughed and he laughed as well. We both looked at the boulder one more time and began to walk.