Darwin's Quest: The Search for the Ultimate Survivor

by Jonathan P. Brazee

  Later in the afternoon, Hamlin stood up, and instead of going back to the ammonia-saturated air of the toilet, he walked over to the edge of the cliff and peed over the edge. I felt an ominous premonition and half got up, spear in hand, heart pounding, but nothing showed itself. He shook himself dry, then turned around, nonchalantly walked back to us and sat down. We all stared at him, not saying a word. He gave a half-shrug, then leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.

  “Wake me up if anything nasty comes,” he simply said.

  As evening approached, our stomachs were starting to growl in earnest. Yash brought back up the idea of going for some more trout, and a few of us seemed willing to give it a try.

  “Look!” whispered Ratt. “Over there! Something’s moving!”

  Yes, we could see some low bushes momentarily shake. Whatever was doing that wasn’t very large.

  “Now is about the time we should start seeing some action as they come out to forage. And the clearing gives them grass. So let’s see what happens.” Lindadawn stood as she said that, shading her eyes with her hand against the setting sun.

  We all joined her. We kept waiting for something to happen, but as the minutes dragged on, we sort of lost hope. So when the squealing hit us, it took us by surprise. The bent twitch-up tree was still bent, so if that was a rabbit, it had to be in a drag noose. Right then, I realized we hadn’t thought of a plan on how to retrieve anything we might actually snare, and with that squealing, something big was bound to be attracted.

  Yash suddenly took off.

  “Yash, stop! Wait!” yelled Lindadawn.

  He paid her no attention. We surged to our feet, spears ready. We all were getting better at crossing the bridge, so he was over it quickly and running across the clearing. He plunged into the underbrush, drawing his knife. We could see him bend over and make a slashing motion. Turning, he clutched something to his chest and came bolting back. Using one hand to guide him, he hurried back across the bridge and into our midst, holding the still struggling body of a rabbit.

  He had slashed the noose, and the rabbit was still ensnared, struggling and squealing. Alfhid took the rabbit from him, and with a quick twist of its neck, silenced it.

  Yash stood there, lungs pumping, a huge smile on his face. Lindadawn stepped up and punched him in the chest.

  “You idiot! What if that T-Rex had been out there? You could’ve been killed!” The worry was plain on her face.

  He rubbed his chest where she had hit him, nonplussed. “But it wasn’t there. If we waited longer, though, it might have come. I knew we had to move fast.” He put his arm around her. “Don’t worry. I made it.”

  She gave him a hug. “Well, next time, wait for us. We need to go together on these things, OK?”

  “OK, I will. Don’t worry.”

  We went back to the campsite and butchered the rabbit. Like all the other survival skills I think most of us crammed before we got here, being taught is different from doing, and the carcass was pretty mauled in the process. But we cooked it over the flames, savoring the aromas which rose from it.

  Mike held the end of the noose which had snared the rabbit. “You didn’t have to cut this, you know. Now we have an empty trap out there.”

  Yash looked embarrassed. “Yea, I know. But I was freaking, and all I could think of was to get back.”

  Hamlin spoke up for the first time in some while. “There’s still a little light left. I say we go put this back. “

  None of us wanted to go out there as darkness fell, but it made sense. We left Alfhid as the cook, and Lindadawn picked up the rabbit bladder she had been saving since we’d butchered it. Crossing the bridge wasn’t bad, but as we approached the undergrowth and trees, it seemed that every shadow was a T-Rex waiting to snap at us. Lindadawn smeared the rabbit bladder around the trap and tied the noose back in place. We quickly got out of there and back to camp.

  It still took forever for Alfhid to declare the rabbit ready, and we burnt our fingers cramming our small portions into our mouths. But it was delicious, and we licked our fingers clean.

  Chapter 16

  One medium-sized rabbit was not enough for the eight of us, and when I woke up in the pre-dawn darkness, I discussed this with Lindadawn and Mike, who also woke up early.

  “We may be able to get one rabbit a day, if we are lucky. But that assumes we put up more snares, and how far out do we want to go? GBC wasn’t going to spend more than they had to, so the number of constructs wouldn’t be that many, I would guess,” put in Lindadawn.

  “Yea,” I countered, “but squealing rabbits would be like beacons for them, drawing whatever is out there in.”

  “There are still eight of us, you know,” Mike said. “If that Hell Pig is still out there, I think we could bring it down. And that would feed us for a month.”

  “You want to face that thing?”

  “No, I don’t. But starving to death is an alternative I don’t want to face, either.”

  Lindadawn harrumphed. “And that’s considering it’s a biobeast and not a golem. And that we can kill it. And that we can smoke it without messing up this time.”

  “Oh, I’m pretty sure it’s a biobeast. That would make the most sense financially. But you’re right about the smoking. I am still pretty confused about the venison. It sure looked like it was smoked correctly, and then it spoiled so quickly.” He looked up at the sky, lost in thought again.

  “Hey, Earth to Mike, or should I say Mars to Mike, come in!” Lindadawn snapped her fingers, getting his attention back. “So what do we know about Darwin’s Quest and food? Let’s think this through.”

  “In every season, there is always food, right?” I asked. “The cast finds out about where it is from the challenges, like we found the fish, right?”

  “Yes, and we know where the fish is. We just aren’t sure that with only eight of us, we can catch them. That’s probably why it was an early challenge.” Mike looked at me.

  “Don’t you get it? The food is out there. Like the rabbits. We just have to figure out where. I don’t think we’re going to find a McDonald’s ready to serve us, but there should be fruits, tubers, eggs, whatever. We just have to think like the set designers to figure out where they would have put them.”

  They both looked at me. “You know, Mr. Genius here is right. The food has to be there,” Mike said.

  “What’s up guys?” Yash joined us, stretching his back until it creaked.

  “Just discussing food. It has to be out there. We just have to figure out where and how to get it,” Lindadawn told him.

  “Have you looked at our snares yet?” he asked.

  While we were talking, it had moved from pre-dawn to true dawn, and there was enough light to see.

  “Not yet, but let’s go take a quick look,” Mike said.

  The four of us walked over to the entrance and peered to where the traps had been set. It was hard to tell at first, but then there was movement as the sapling jerked. Something was caught. We could hear a very soft and short squeal over the dull rumble of the river below us, nothing like the squealing when the previous day’s rabbit was caught.

  “It looks like another rabbit. But it’s barely moving,” Lindadawn said. “I would guess it’s been there for awhile. It looks just about done in.”

  “And nothing came to investigate a free meal?” I asked.

  “So we’re lucky this time,” Mike said.

  Yash started walking to the bridge. “Let’s go get it. We can use it for breakfast.”

  “Wait!” Lindadawn grabbed him by his shirt. “Let’s get the rest up, then go get it.”

  As we started back, Mike moved up close to me. “There’s something else. Take a look at your transponder.”

  I lifted up my short. The rose glow was still there, but it seemed faded.

  “Not as bright, right?” he asked.

  “Yea, I you’re right.”

  “They’re losing power. Normally, the battery inside powering t
hem gets recharged every time we cross a transmission line. But if the power is out, no more recharging. And now the batteries are running out.”

  That didn’t sound good. The transponders were our safety blanket.

  “But what about the golems? Aren’t the powered the same way?”

  “Yes, but they probably have more efficient and bigger batteries. But you’re right. They should be powering down too. But let’s just keep the transponder issue between us for now. No use upsetting the others until we have to.”

  We got back and started kicking the feet of the others. “Rise and shine,” I shouted. “Time to go get breakfast!”

  It took five or ten minutes, but we were finally up and ready to go. We moved to the bridgehead and went over each of our tasks and positions once more. The rabbit was still, hanging from the snare. Everything else was quiet.

  “Do you think it is safe?” asked Ratt.

  “It’s still early,” Mike replied. “It’s probably too cool yet for any dinosaurs to be up and about. They need the sun to warm up their bodies. It takes more energy to run a cool golem than a warm one, so in that, they’re probably like real dinosaurs, not getting too active until later in the day.”

  “You heard the professor,” Yash said. “Let’s go.”

  Moving across the bridge, we waited until everyone was in place, then moved forward to the edge of the clearing. Hamlin and Yash moved in, Hamlin on guard, Yash to collect the rabbit, its dull, glassy eyes staring accusingly at us.

  We all watched eagerly as Yash worked the snare loose and pulled the rabbit free. He turned around to hold it aloft to us in triumph, a huge smile on his face.

  He was still smiling when a huge head materialized from behind him, slashing down to clamp around his shoulder. We had all been looking at Yash and the rabbit, but it seemed impossible that something that big could have been hidden so close to us.

  The huge head lifted, taking Yash off the ground. It had to have been at least three or four meters high, and it stared at us with yellow eyes, Yash in its jaws. It looked like the same dinosaur that had chased us through the tunnel. Hamlin ducked down and jumped forward, thrusting his spear. Although only a fraction of the thing’s mass, his 120 kilos were concentrated on the very small spear tip, and it easily plunged deep into its belly. Galvanized, I jumped over a low bush and scrambled into the attack. Alfhid and Ratt were moving, too, and I tripped over Ratt. On my knees, I pushed my spear into it as well, feeling the stone point part flesh.

  I was knocked flat as Yash fell on me, dropped by the beast as it raised its head to roar out in anger. I pushed Yash off me, grabbed his collar, and dragged him back the four or five meters to the clearing. Lindadawn and Borlinga helped me drag him free.

  Risking a glance back, I saw the bright red and black beast as it tried to lower its head to bite Hamlin, its small, two-fingered arms grasping at the spear which he used to lever the thing up. Three more spears were sticking into it, but it was Hamlin’s spear which was being driven deeper as the thing struggled. Black blood leaked around the spear shafts as Hamlin let go his spear to grab one of the others and push it deeper. A big man, Hamlin was still dwarfed by the dinosaur, yet he was imposing his will on it. Its struggles got weaker until with a huge exhalation of air, it stopped moving.

  While Borlinga and Lindadawn struggled to staunch the blood flowing from Yash’s neck and shoulder, Hamlin took the spear out of the beast, carefully sighted it to the thing’s eyes, and plunged it home. There was no reaction.

  Ratt and Alfhid grabbed and pulled out the other spears as Hamlin stood motionless, staring at the huge corpse. Ratt shook his arm, and he suddenly seemed to come to his senses and extracted the spear still sticking onto the thing’s eye socket. Mike moved forward and put a finger in the black blood, then brought the finger to his nose to sniff if.

  “Golem,” he announced before turning around and joining us standing around Yash.

  Yash was gasping for air. He looked up, fear evident in his eyes. Borlinga was putting all her weight on his terrible wounds, but blood was still coming out between her fingers.

  Ratt sat down and held his hand, tears in her eyes. She looked up at Mike. “I thought you said it was safe!” she cried.

  Mike said nothing.

  Yash tried to say something, but nothing came out. Lindadawn, covered in his blood, reached up to cup his chin. “Easy, Yash. We’ve got you.”

  And Yash went, his eyes going glassy and dull, matching those of the rabbit, which he still clutched in his hands.

  Ratt started sobbing, and the rest of us looked on in shock. Lindadawn leaned over to kiss his forehead, the stood up. “We’ve got to get back. This’ll bring something else. So move it!” she said, her voice cracking at the last. She pried the rabbit from his hand.

  “We’re taking Yash. There’s still time to resurrect him if they come quickly.” Hamlin was adamant, but no one was disagreeing. I took his legs and Hamlin hooked his arms under Yash’s chest. We got him back to the bridge somewhat easily, but getting over that one rope was difficult. With Yash slippery with blood, and me needing two hands to hold him, Alfhid had to come up behind me and use one arm around my chest to steady me, her other arm holding onto the bridge. Mike did the same with Hamlin, walking backward.

  I slipped twice, one leg falling to dangle in space, the other bent underneath me, but Alfhid pulled me up, and we finally made it across. We took Yash and laid him on ground by the log bench. His pale face and beard were flecked with blood, his eyes staring sightlessly to the sky. Ratt tried to close them, but the lids would not stay completely closed.

  Lindadawn had given the rabbit to Alfhid, and soon it was cooking over the fire. The smell didn’t seem so tantalizing this time. When it was done, she handed out pieces of charred meat. I don’t think any of us were really hungry anymore, but at Lindadawn’s urging, all of us except for Ratt managed to get our portion down. Ratt refused to even try, so Lindadawn eventually left her alone.

  Chapter 17

  I was with Mike, over near the toilet. The reek of it was pretty strong, but we must have been getting used to it. Or maybe we were just too tired to care. None of us had gotten much sleep.

  Ratt had ignored Mike all the rest of the day before and all night as well. She blamed Mike, and Mike blamed himself as well. I was trying to console him, but only with limited success.

  “But it was my fault. I was the one who said it was safe.”

  “How were you to know? I sure didn’t.”

  “No, I might not have been able to know, but I should’ve kept my mouth shut. But, as always, I have to show off. I have to show I’m smarter than everyone else.”

  “Well, you are pretty smart,” I countered.

  “About some things, maybe. But I always have to be right. And that killed Yash.” He paused for a moment. “I’ve been showing off my knowledge of dinosaurs since you first ran into the T-Rex. I thought it was great. I could show you guys and the viewers how smart I am. I’m not as strong as you guys. Hell, even Alfhid is stronger than me. So I had to do something to show I was worth winning. But these things aren’t real dinosaurs. They’re the creation of some guy over at DreamWorks. They’re what they think the viewers want. Blue and gold so they show up on the holo? No problem! Able to move around in the cool air so they can work a morning challenge and the holo can be broadcast in prime time? No problem!” He sounded bitter.

  “But how were you to know that?”

  “That’s just it. I didn’t know it. But instead of just acknowledging it, I had to come down from on high, the all-knowing Michael Takechi of Mars. I can’t leave it alone. If I don’t know something, I can’t admit it, and I just say what I think might be right.”

  I didn’t know how to respond to that, so I didn’t say anything, and we lapsed into an uneasy silence. Finally, I stood up and clamped him on the shoulder before moving back to the others. Mike would have to work this out for himself. And we needed him to.

  It was
Borlinga who got him out of his shell, at least temporarily. When we had shoved our spears into the dinosaur, an Albertosaurus, Mike called it, we had broken off the stone tips. So she carried the four broken spears to him and dropped them at his feet.

  “Your skill is this. Now you use your skill. These you fix.” She walked away.

  Mike stared at them for a few moments before standing and picking them up. He brought them back toward the fire, then started scrounging among the rock pile for good pieces. Before too long, he was humming as he flaked the stones. Lindadawn smiled at Borlinga who winked back at her.

  I looked over to Yash. His skin was bloating, and we could begin to smell him even over the stench of the toilet. It seemed that his body shouldn’t be decomposing so quickly, but there it was. No one wanted to say it, but it was probably too late for him to be resurrected. And we couldn’t keep his body here forever. But a little longer couldn’t hurt.

  We were getting pretty hungry, and as Mike quietly knapped new spear heads, our talk turned to food. Lindadawn repeated much of our conversation from the previous morning, and we were trying to figure out where food might be. Alfhid seemed to recall slipping on some fruit-like things during our initial rush toward Haven, but she didn’t recognize what they might be. Borlinga mentioned that birds liked to nest on rocks, and since there were birds on the Reservation, that instigated a rush of us climbing over the rocks of our small Haven, looking for nests and eggs. We didn’t find any, and Alfhid almost fell off the rocks above us forming our little amphitheater-like camp, so we stopped that.