by Kip Nelson
“Alright, girls and boy, I think we’ve been out here enough for today. Let’s go check the water supply. Then we’ll head back to the cave and see if those lions have left our home,” Darren announced.
Brent had begun setting up a makeshift water system, using the empty food cans to collect the rain water. They could boil this water and, while it wouldn’t be very tasty, it would at least be another source of water. Darren didn’t like the idea of traipsing all the way to the stream every day, especially not when it was stormy like it had been recently. He was eager to check if the system had gathered enough water to make it a viable option. He hoped it had. They could use a win.
Darren, Betsy, and Brent gathered up the wood. They ended up having to leave some behind because they had gathered and stripped too much. Brent looked sheepish, and admitted he may have gotten carried away. Darren told him not to worry about it. It wasn’t as though there was a scarcity of wood, and the practice would stand him in good stead for the future. Tara and Michelle stuffed the nuts and berries in their pockets and both were very proud of the work they had done.
Because they were carrying the wood, Darren, Betsy and Brent weren’t able to guide Tara and Michelle by hand, as they usually did. Darren told them to walk carefully because the ground still was treacherous, and it would be easy for them to slip. He constantly had to remind them because all they wanted to do was skip around and go run in the mud. They seemed to find it amusing how the mud squelched in different ways depending on how they stepped on it. At one point Michelle jumped with a lot of force and managed to send mud spraying everywhere, at which point Darren had to get a little stern. After this, Tara and Michelle were subdued and walked more carefully, a few paces ahead of the others, but still within sight.
Carrying wood was a cumbersome task and Darren made plans for the future. Hopefully the mountain lions would leave soon. Then they could have full access to the cave again, so they could arrange the bags properly and bring them out when they went foraging. He could see Brent straining, and at one point he stumbled and a chunk of wood fell from his arms.
“Don’t worry about it, just leave it,” Darren said as he watched Brent try twisting his body so he could keep hold of all the wood while still reaching down to pick up the chunk he had dropped. Betsy had turned around as well, and then there was a scream.
“Daddy!” Michelle cried out.
Darren twisted around and his face paled as he saw Tara slowly sinking into the mud. He instantly dropped the wood he was carrying and ran toward the two girls.
“Step back from there, Michelle,” he yelled.
Michelle was trembling and couldn’t move. Darren reached her and pulled her to one side, sending her to stand with Betsy and Brent, who quickly were rushing forward.
“Do you need any help?” Brent asked.
“Stay back!” Darren called out urgently.
Darren could hear Betsy gasp, but he couldn’t turn around to assure her that everything would be okay. That would have to be Brent’s job. Darren had to focus on Tara. He took a quick sweep of the area and immediately realized what must have happened. The ground was so uneven and had been abused by the storm so badly that some areas were basically sinkholes and one wrong step could lead to the swampy ground sucking you up. That was exactly what had happened to Tara. The girls never would have expected the ground to give way beneath them, and now the world had its grip on Tara.
The little girl was wailing and thrashing around. She was waist-deep and sinking fast. Her small hands were clawing at the ground around her, but she only was finding mud, and her fingers swam through the thick earth like it was melted chocolate. Tears streamed down her face. Tara fought with all her might, but it was a fight she was going to lose unless Darren could help her.
He had to be careful, though. If he started sinking too his mass was such that it would doom Tara, and the others would struggle to get them back.
“Try to stay still, Tara. Moving around is making it worse. I know you want to fight back, but listen to my voice, okay? Just keep listening to me and try to breathe. In and out, nice and deeply,” Darren said, breathing along with her to demonstrate.
Tara stopped thrashing, although she still was sobbing. It was hard for Darren to listen to her being in such distress. He stretched out his leg and felt the ground with his feet. When he was certain it was stable he stepped forward, getting ever closer to Tara. He wanted to move quickly as time was of the essence, but he knew he couldn’t afford to be reckless.
He creeped forward ever so slowly until his feet found the beginning of the hazard. Thankfully, it didn’t seem to be too wide, and Tara wasn’t out of reach. The mud had taken her down to her stomach now, and she had to lift her arms in the air to prevent her hands from being submerged.
“You’re doing great, Tara,” Darren said, shouting encouragement to the young girl as he steadied himself on the uneven surface and prepared to reach forward.
Tara was looking at the mud and undoubtedly fearing the grim fate that presented itself to her; sinking into the darkness, being suffocated by the thick, sticky mud. Darren stretched out his legs and bent down, reaching out with his hand. Tara was straining toward him with both her hands, but she remained inches away. Darren was leaning forward as much as he could. His feet slipped forward and his toe dipped in the mud. It slithered over the toe of his boot and threatened to drag him down along with Tara.
Darren focused himself and locked his feet in position, straining with everything he had to lower his torso. His abdomen ached and his spine was begging him not to bend forward anymore. But Darren grit his teeth and braced himself against the pain, determined to rescue Tara.
He strained himself so hard it felt as though his arm was going to leave its socket, but Tara was straining too. She reached out to him with all the strength her tiny body could muster. Thankfully, Darren felt her fingers touch his. As soon as he felt this he grasped her hands and pulled her up. As she drew closer he ran his hands along her wrists and forearms, getting a better grip, and then hauled her up, fighting against the mud’s resistance.
Tara cried out in pain. She was the object of a tug of war between Darren and the world, and Darren was determined to emerge victorious. It was as though the whole struggle of this apocalyptic world was encapsulated in this moment. One man trying to keep a child safe against a world that wanted to pull her into hell, but today that one man was going to win.
Darren roared and snarled as he summoned all his strength and yanked Tara free of the mud. There was a huge pop as Tara broke free and fell into Darren’s arms, clinging to him desperately.
“It’s alright now, you’re safe,” Darren said, breathing in deeply.
His arms were shaking from the exertion as he held Tara tightly. The others came up to him and he reminded them to be careful so they didn’t suffer Tara’s fate. Tara was utterly shaken and scared. Betsy dropped all the wood she was holding and comforted her sister. Later, she would apologize for wasting the wood, but Darren didn’t blame her one bit.
“Thank you for saving me,” Tara said when she had regained her senses.
Darren said that she was welcome, and he always would do his best to protect her. In Betsy’s arms she soon seemed to calm down, although her bottom half was absolutely covered in mud. Darren didn’t quite know what he was going to do about that. He thought he still had some spare clothes of Michelle’s to use, although he’d have to clean those clothes. They couldn’t afford to have all their clothes dirty.
That was just another thing to add to the list.
Darren noticed that Michelle was subdued, and before they reached the cave he dropped back with her and allowed the other three to keep walking. He crouched down so he could look his daughter in the eyes.
“Are you okay, Michelle?” he asked. From the way she turned her face away he knew she wasn’t. One of the good things about young children was they weren’t adept at hiding their true feelings.
“I’m scare
d,” she said.
“What are you scared of?” he asked.
“What happened to Tara? It looked like she was going to die.”
“I know it did. It was a scary moment, I was afraid too.”
“You were?”
“Of course I was. I didn’t want anything to happen to Tara.”
“But you still did something.”
“Well, being scared doesn’t mean you don’t do anything. That’s what being brave means. There are lots of times in life when we have to do things that we don’t want to do, but we do them anyway. Because if we let our fear rule us, then we’re not going to be able to help the people we love.”
“I don’t want Tara to die. I don’t want any of us to.”
“I know, Sweetie. Me neither. As long as we all take care of each other we’re not going to, okay?”
“Do you promise?”
“I promise.”
“Good. Because Tara is my friend. I like Betsy too, and so does Brent,” she added the last part in a whisper, which made Darren smile.
He told Michelle to catch up with the others but looked around him at the fallen wood. Brent was the only one to keep hold of the wood. It meant they would have to come back for more later, but it was a small price to pay for Tara’s safety.
Chapter Seventeen
The family trudged home, their steps becoming more labored as they grew closer to the cave. The surrounding area was a complete wreck, but the fortunate thing was there were no signs of any human activity, only the mountain lions.
Darren cast his gaze in the direction of the city, wondering how people there fared with the storm. Being in some type of storm shelter was something to inspire envy within him, but he didn’t like the other risks associated with the city. He also spared a thought for the people he had met on his travels. He hoped they had managed to endure the storm, although the sad fact was that most of them would be dead sooner or later. Not all of them had shown the same foresight as Darren and prepared a shelter for just such a grim fate. Hopefully they could put off the inevitable for as long as possible. In the end, that’s all any of them could do.
Darren gestured for Brent and Betsy to wait as he took the lead again and moved closer to the cave, trying to see if the mountain lions still were there. He didn’t want to make any loud noises that would startle them. So, he crept up as quietly as possible until he was in a position where he could peer into the cave.
They largely had done away with all the cave’s defenses for the time being. After the water had drained away, and the bramble had been torn away by the frantic winds the cave entrance now was easily accessible. In time they would have to erect another barrier to prevent random people coming into the cave. But for now it was open to anyone, although the mountain lions were probably more of a deterrent than anything else had been.
At first, he saw nothing but darkness, and he thought the mountain lions had moved on. He was about to call out for the rest of his family to join him when something gleamed in the darkness. The faint light from outside caught something inside, and the reflection of the mountain lion’s eyes soon became visible.
The mother mountain lion prowled forward, her body looking lean and dangerous. The cubs were behind her, mimicking their mother, but without the intimidating aura. Darren gulped and held out his hands, hoping she lion wouldn’t attack. If she, did he never would survive.
For the first time, he doubted the bond he had formed with the animal. It must have been all in his head, and that strange dream had played with his mind. He swallowed his fear and exhaled deeply, trying to remind himself of what he had told Michelle. He didn’t want to show any sign of fear or weakness in front of the mountain lion.
“Remember me? I’m the one who got here first,” Darren said.
The mountain lion stared at him for what seemed like an eternity, but this actually gave him confidence. He was sure that if she intended to kill him, she would have done so already. So, all he had to do was keep moving slowly and wait to see what she did. Darren held her gaze, and something about him must have won her respect. She turned her back on him, which he took as a sign for his family to enter.
He waved them forward and, one by one, they entered the cave. They went straight to the group of rocks near the fire, avoiding the mountain lion and her cubs. Brent deposited the wood by the fire and looked warily at the animals. Darren tried to act as if they weren’t there, although it was increasingly difficult since the cubs became more active and started wandering around the cave. They seemed intrigued by the humans, but didn’t come too close. Perhaps they had been warned away by their mother, just as Darren had warned Tara and Michelle to not get to close to the wild animals.
The first task was to get Tara out of her muddy clothes and dried. Tara wriggled out of them and started shivering, so they wrapped her in new clothes. Michelle was all too happy to share whatever she could. Darren took the mud-stained clothes. He wasn’t quite sure how he was going to clean them, but first he needed to scrape off the excess mud. Some of it had fallen away as Tara was walking back, but there still was a lot clinging to the clothes.
They also had to check on the water system that Brent had fashioned. So, Darren and Brent did that while Betsy and the other girls stayed inside and arranged the firewood neatly, as well as sorting out the nuts and berries that had been gathered, along with the other food. For their protection, Darren had given Betsy the gun. He didn’t want to take any chances, in case the mother lion decided to become a threat.
Darren held the clothes at arm’s length, not wanting to get too wet himself. He’d quite frankly had enough of getting wet, and was hoping he could stay dry for the foreseeable future.
“How’s it looking?” he asked.
Brent had taken a number of the empty cans and arranged them around the area in various positions and angles, intending for them to catch as much rain as possible. He had used vines and twigs to attach them, but sadly not all of them had been strong enough to withstand the storm. Most of them had fallen down and rolled around the ground. Some had been taken away to places unknown, swept up in the storm’s chaos.
“I wonder where they ended up?” Brent asked.
“Someone somewhere probably had an odd experience of seeing some empty cans dancing in the wind. It reminds me of a funny story…I think it happened somewhere in South America… where it actually rained frogs.”
“What? There’s no way that happened,” Brent scoffed.
“Oh yeah, it’s a real thing. What happened is that there was a storm, probably much like the one that passed through here, and the winds were so hectic that they actually brought up water from a lake, and the contents of that lake with it. So, the frogs all found themselves carried away by this storm, which happened to pass through a nearby town, and all the frogs rained down on it like crazy.”
“Wow, I can’t imagine what that would be like, looking up to see it raining frogs. I guess maybe somewhere the same thing has happened with cats and dogs as well,” Brent said with a smirk.
“Maybe,” Darren said, and went back to inspecting the cans.
There were a few that had remained, although they showed a little wear from being buffeted around by the rain and wind. The cans were dented where they had been buffeted against rocks, but there were no holes, which meant no leaks.
“This is the moment of truth,” Darren said as he pulled the cans down and looked inside. He raised his eyebrows as he looked in each one, and then passed them to Brent, who was more disappointed.
“I thought there would be more. There should be, given how much rain there was,” Brent said.
“Don’t forget that all these cans would have been dancing around out here. Any rain that fell in would have spilled out just as easily. So, it’s a bonus that we got anything.” He looked around. “You know, we might have more luck if we place them underneath trees so they catch the water that trickles off them, and the morning dew. It might be better than relying on a rainstor
m.”
“Maybe,” Brent said. He sounded despondent.
“Hey, come on, Brent, this is a good thing here. It’ll take some work to refine it, but we’ve got a good idea here and we really can make something of it,” Darren said. Brent nodded and looked a little happier, but it was clear he still was disappointed with his efforts.
“And now I have to find a way to deal with these,” Darren said, looking down at the sodden clothes. Brent had no suggestions either, but Darren wasn’t about to be defeated by something as simple as this.
He thought about hanging them over a branch and waiting for the mud to slip off, but without any clothes pins there was no certainty the clothes wouldn’t just fly off and fall to the ground. Then they’d be even dirtier. He spent a few moments wracking his brain, as he didn’t want to go all the way to the stream, not right now anyway. He’d been walking around enough today. Then, it hit him, and he had to laugh at how simple the solution was.
He tightened his grip on the clothes, brought them back, and then slammed them against the rocks just outside the cave. They made a loud slap and left a mud splatter. Darren had to recoil to avoid being hit with the mud, but he couldn’t prevent a few flecks from landing on him. He did this a few times before Brent called out to him and asked him what he was doing, afraid that his father had gone crazy.
“It’s the only way to get the mud off. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before. Don’t you remember when we used to go hiking, or when you used to play soccer and it was really muddy? We’d come back and slap the boots against the wall outside and all the mud would just fall away. The same principle applies here,” he said, and proceeded to slap the clothes against the rocks again. At first, the sound had come out of nowhere and shocked Brent, but now that he was aware of the source he wasn’t as taken aback.
