by S A Ison
She’d do it again if need be. For a few minutes nothing happened and then his body twitched a bit and then it relaxed. She stepped forward and placed her fingers on his neck. His pulse was very thready, and then nothing. She held her fingers there for a moment longer, still feeling nothing. She then pulled his lids up and checked his eyes, nothing. She let out a long low breath and closed his eyes.
She walked out of the tent and saw William, Leo and Marla’s heads all turn toward her. She gave a slight nod, letting them know he was gone. Then she walked over to join them. She sat in one of the camp chairs, and sighed heavily. It was easily done, but it did weigh heavily on her. She’d never intentionally killed anyone before, nor accidently for that matter. It was a weird feeling, a melancholy feeling, but she knew Christian was no longer in pain, nor was he suffering.
“Did he suffer?” Marla asked softly.
“No, he never regained consciousness, it was over very fast.”
“That’s good, we already dug a grave about five hundred yards away from here, we can take him in a bit.” Leo said quietly, his voice almost reverent.
“I don’t mean to be horrible, but you might want to take his clothing. What we are wearing is all we will have for the rest of our lives. Once our clothing wears out, we’ll be wearing pelts.” William suggested, and everyone turned to look at the deer hide that was hanging to dry and then back at William.
“I’m trying not to be squeamish about things anymore. I’m trying to be practical in all matters.” Muttered Marla, wiping a hand over her mouth.
Diana smiled, “I’m sure any of us would feel the same and in fact should I die, you’re all welcome to my clothes and possessions. I here so declare and will it to all of you.”
That brought a small chuckle from the group. They’d not seen or heard anything from Connor’s group for over a week. Leo had set up early warning systems around the forest with some of the wires and cables from the camera equipment. They all took turns taking watches at night. There were two guarding the camp at all times.
Since the raid over a week and a half ago, all had been quiet, too quiet, but there was nothing they could do but be vigilant. The smell of roasting meat was in the air. Some of the meat was being smoked for future use. They were slowly building up their food stores, everyone had agreed to eat leaner in order to put more food away for uncertain times. The new spears were coming in handy. They had all been practicing with them. Each day they planned what would be done, be that fishing, hunting or gathering.
They’d found several clusters of wild grapes and had picked them and dried them into raisins. They’d also found several nut trees, but only picked the ones off the ground. They went back every few days to gather more that had fallen. Diana was trying to make pemmican, she had a vague idea on how to make it. She knew she needed a lean meat, and she had taken some of the deer meat.
She had then dried it out, in thin strips, and she had also smoked some strips as well. Then she took the raisins and had combined it with the meat, grinding them together and then squishing them into small balls. She’d taken a little of the fat rendered from a rabbit and had poured it over several of the balls. She then wrapped each ball in paper. The balls were now sitting in Marla’s tent. Each day she sniffed them, and put a mark on a paper. She wanted to see how long it took for them to go rancid.
She knew that native Americans had done this and had even seen PBS specials and National Geographic shows. She had an idea of how to do it, just not the exact recipe. And so, she’d fixed them several different ways, some smoked, others sundried, and some had a light coating of fat put on them while others were wrapped as was. If they could use this long term, they’d have meat when they needed it.
“When Sarah comes back, I’ll tell her what I’m doing. Maybe she knows how to make it and maybe with some of the herbs and plants, we can make variations of the same thing.” She’d told Marla, who had wondered at the meatballs decorating her tent.
Diana looked over to Sam, he was sitting with Hunter. Hunter had become very protective of him. Sam was pulling his weight and had apologized to everyone for his foolish and stupid behavior the day they found out that it was an EMP that took everything out and stranded them all here in China. It had taken a better part of a week for everyone to accept him, they were suspicious and rightfully so. But he was proving to everyone that he could be trusted and he worked hard and diligently as did everyone else.
Leo and Gabe were working on spears and the launchers. It was like a new toy for everyone and everyone wanted to try them. She smiled at everyone around her.
“What are you thinking?” Marla asked, everyone having gone back to their jobs.
“Just that things are starting to come together. Everyone is working together to survive. No one is slacking, so there aren’t any hard feelings. We are building reserves, and I don’t know, I think things are going good.” Diana said shrugging.
“Sure, I’m just sorry for Christian, but now he is at rest and isn’t suffering any more. He gave his life to protect others in this group. What time do they plan to bury him?” Marla asked.
“More than likely pretty soon. I don’t think we want his body getting overly warm. The health risks from the nasty bacteria and infection can spread, so we’ll want to be careful. Make sure who ever handles him washes with warm water and the soapberries.”
“Okay, I’ll talk to Leo and see that he takes a few people to help him, I just don’t want to leave the camp unsecured.” Marla worried.
Diana nodded her head in agreement and left to go clean out Christian’s belongings. They would see and inventory what he had and make use of what they could. They didn’t have the luxury of being sensitive about handling things. Their lives and comfort now depended on what they could salvage from what was around them. Everything was useful in some form or fashion. All of his clothing would be used, and it looked like he’d brought quite a bit. That was good.
There were no clothing stores. She held up the shirt. Christian had been six feet tall. Leo was about six feet one, Bruce about five eleven, so the clothing might fit them. It certainly could fit her and Marla, though it would be big on them.
She hoped it would be a while before she was required to wear the dead man’s clothing. He did have socks, and a couple extra pairs of shoes, she checked, size ten. She smiled, she wore a size ten. Dibs on the running shoes. There were handkerchiefs, useful. Condoms, eeewwww, she thought, and wondered what he was thinking. Ewwwww. He had some toiletries which was nice, comb, and clippers, very handy. He’d been sharing his tent with Hudson and Tom, but now she figured Gabe or Henry might move into it.
They had all built or constructed some kind of dwelling. Henry was good with building and had promised to figure out a way to make them better and more permanent huts.
Speaking of the devil, Henry stuck his head in. “How’s it going?”
“Okay, finding some good things. We can definitely use a lot of this stuff.” She said, holding up the nail clippers.
“Nice, I never was a nail biter.” He grinned.
“How is Gabe doing today?” she worried, Gabe had gone into a depression, but seemed to be coming around, and was smiling more.
“Better, he’s starting to wrap his mind around it. Told him it was okay to grieve.” Henry shrugged.
“Good, I just feel so damned bad for him. I’ll keep him in my prayers.” She smiled.
“Thanks. Hey, gonna go fishing, you wanna come?”
“Sure, I’ll get back to this later. I could use some fresh air and fish stew sounds good for dinner.” She grinned and both walked out of camp.
¤¤
Connor was pacing back and forth, he was angry, Vana had died early last night and no one knew about it. He was afraid to salvage her body, but they had no choice. They were all starving and looking to him to make the decision as to whether to butcher her up. He didn’t know how long a body could sit before eating it. He’d never heard of anyone eating road kill.
Both Joey and Matt were watching him, their bloodshot eyes angry. Why the fuck are they angry? He wondered. He looked once more at Vana, her gut bloated and she looked nine months pregnant.
That couldn’t be good. He looked at those around him and shrugged.
“Let’s start with her legs, roast those, I don’t think we should open her gut, that shit looks like it is ready to explode.” Connor said, his face clinched in revulsion.
“Who are we going to fuck now?” Joey asked angrily, his voice almost a whine, which jumped on Connor’s last nerve.
“Go jack off numb-nuts, I’m not your fucking pimp.” Connor snarled, lifting a machete threateningly.
He turned and went to the body and began hacking at the leg. Luke turned his head and Connor sneered to himself. The ass was eager to eat it but not butcher it. He watched the others as they built up the fire. Joey had brought up a good point however.
There were only three women left. All of them out of reach, maybe they should do a raid, pick up a woman and supplies. It was something to think about and plan. He knew they’d have to be careful. The others were a hell of a lot stronger and they now had more numbers. Not only that, they’d not want to give up their women so easily and there would more than likely be some kind of retaliation.
He, like any red-blooded man wanted a good screw, but he wondered if it would be worth it. Then what would they do with her? Maybe they could hold her hostage, barter for food, maybe keep her as a prisoner, and make them feed her and them. That was a pleasant thought. Have them bust their asses and he and his guys reap the benefits.
That was sounding like a great idea. They had tried again to fish and hunt, but they’d failed so many times. He thought surviving would be easier than this. They made it look easy on TV. He should have known they would have Hollywooded it up. They had to do something. They weren’t going to survive much longer. Vana would be the last of their meat unless he killed one of the guys. But then they would turn on him and end up killing him. It was a no-win situation. He needed to think more on this problem.
¤¤
Aiden sat watching Sarah, she was braiding long strands of grass. The crinkle between her brows looked cute and she looked up and grinned at him. She was now a deep golden color; the sun having enhanced her face. She stared back at him, her hands going still. His heart hammered into his chest at the look she was giving him. His mouth twitched, he wanted to smile, but his face felt frozen. She stood up and walked toward him, her eyes not leaving his.
His mouth fell open, as he watched her approach him. She had a soft smile on her lips. She walked up to him and knelt down in front of him. Aiden wanted to say something but he couldn’t seem to speak, his mouth gone suddenly dry. She took hold of his shirt collar on each side and pulled him into her and kissed him.
His hands slipped up to her face and cradled it. Her face was sun warmed, and she smelled of wild grapes. Her mouth was soft and sweet, it had been so very long for him. He’d not even trusted himself to meet another woman after Becka. He was afraid who ever he met would change and become a nightmare. But Sarah had remained her sweet self. His mouth possessed hers and he pulled her down on top of him. She moaned softly, “I’ve been wanting to do that for a while now.”
He still couldn’t find his voice and so he simply kissed her and held her. His hand going down her back to rest on her hip. He pulled her closer to him, his legs locking onto hers.
“I want you, I really do.” She said softly, raising up. He rolled her over and laid across her, his hand going to her hair. He smoothed it back, his hand tangling in the fiery strands. He dipped his head and kissed her once more. He felt her hand going to his shirt and he grinned as she began to unbutton his shirt.
¤¤
Sarah laid on the ground watching Aiden sleep. A soft smile curved her kiss reddened lips. He was so strong, he had been her rock, when he was with her, she wasn’t afraid or unsure. She felt safe in his presence and she felt confident as well. She didn’t know when she had started caring for him, she knew it was happening fast, but not here in this strange place.
Each moment and each minute seemed like a lifetime in this strange place. There were no distractions here, there was only the present and planning for the morrow. Each day seemed like a week and each week like a month. They’d been stuck here for over a month now, and it felt like it was so much longer. Their time spent in each other’s company had been the longest she’d ever spent with anyone. They had gotten to know each other so intimately and now even more.
She had dated a lot of guys but she’d never been serious. There had always been something that had doomed the relationship. One drank too much, one smoked. Another was unfaithful, and so on. She also thought perhaps it had been her. She’d never thought of herself as a fussy person. Yet each man she dated fell short in some form or fashion.
With Aiden, he lived up to who he was. He was a simple man, but not simple minded. He was brave, but had control over his strong emotions. He would fight, but wouldn’t go looking for a fight. He asked for her opinion and listened to her, really listened to her. He’d never blown her off. She really appreciated it.
He was patient when teaching her things, and he wanted to make sure she could protect herself. She liked that. He looked at her as an equal, and maybe that was why she’d been so dissatisfied in the past. The men that she’d dated had never treated her that way. Many were nice, some condescending, some patronizing. But she never once remembered them treating her as their equal. Perhaps that was why she’d come to this competition in the first place? And because of that, she had indeed proven herself but she’d also met a man who treated her as his equal, who treated her as she’d always wanted to be treated.
She looked around the clearing, all was quiet. She felt safe in this place. They’d been careful coming back here from the main camp. Their last visit had been two weeks ago. They had both agreed to stay away for a while, since Connor and his bunch would hopefully die off quickly. Aiden shifted and blinked, and she smiled down at him. He smiled back at her and sat up.
“I don’t think I’ve slept that good for a long time.” He laughed, his face turning a little red.
“I wore you out I think.” Sarah laughed.
“I think you did. That was wonderful, you’re wonderful.” He said, leaning toward her to kiss her. She leaned in and kissed him back.
The smell of wood smoke reached them and she looked over to the small kiln that Aiden had built. They were trying their first stoneware experiment.
“You think the cup might be ready? It has been baking for about nine hours now.”
“There’s only one way to find out, let’s pull it out and see.” He said and got up. She joined him and both squatted down in front of the kiln. Aiden had dug a pit and built a wooden wall with green sticks around the hole. They’d lit a fire and let it go down to red coals and then placed the soft clay cup onto the coals. Then they’d coved the cup with damp grass and built another fire above it, adding thick sticks to keep it going.
There was a lot of smoke and heat, and they let it burn hot for over two hours, feeding the sticks. Then let it burn down to cool. Sarah used a stick to move the warm coals out of the way. She dug gently with the stick and felt it touch the cup below. She shimmied and moved the stick until she unearthed the cup.
Gently lifting it out, she let it settle on the ground. She put her hand over the cup and could feel the heat of it, it was black and looked burnt.
“It looks good, let it cool I guess and we can try some water in it.” She said, grinning at him. She saw his eyes darken and grinned and shook her head laughing.
“I guess we have some time to kill while we wait.” And she leaned over and kissed Aiden, her hands going back to his shirt to unbutton. She could feel the vibration of his laughter in his chest and she grinned while kissing him. She pushed him over and sat atop of him, looking down.
“You have the most sexiest eyes I’ve ever seen.” She said, bending down, her
red hair becoming a curtain around his face. She felt his hands around her waist and laughed and felt him roll and flip her to her back, the cooling cup forgotten.
¤¤
The cup had been a success, there were hairline cracks but the cup itself was watertight. Sarah proceeded to make several plates, a larger bowl and a few cups for drinking water. She even put designs in them, pressing leaves and flowers into the damp clay. This left beautiful designs, as the greenery burned away and the imprint was left in the plates.
She’d made very functional dishes, but there was a beauty to them. She seemed to make thing just a little bit better, a little nicer. They planned to take some down to the main camp in a few days.
It had been nearly three weeks since they’d been to the main camp and Aiden thought it would be safe to make a trip down there. He was hoping that Connor was either dead or very weak and not much of a threat. It was wishful thinking, but he wasn’t willing to go after him head on, especially if Leo’s group wasn’t going to help. If he saw Connor, he would kill him.
He’d gotten good at throwing the spear and had brought down a small deer and several rabbits. Sarah was good as well, she had built up power in her upper body and could launch the spears with deadly accuracy.
“I think I can do better.” She would say and she’d keep practicing. She was always on the look out for saplings that were straight. He’d laughed at her, “You’re just becoming a vicious killer.”
She’d poked him in the gut with one of her spears, playfully. “Don’t you forget it buddy. You’ll be able to call me Quick Draw McGraw soon, I want to perfect launching the spear and seating another and ready to launch in seconds. If I can do that, I can take down an animal, if I miss the first time.”
“You rarely miss, you’re a damn good shot.”
“Thanks babe, glad you noticed.” She’d sniggered.
He’d then carried her back to the cave. They were always frisky and it didn’t take much for them to peel off their clothes.
