by Nate Johnson
Erik wondered if the man had ever been punched in the face before.
Circling, Erik started to work him over with quick jabs. First a right then a left and back to the right followed by a jack hammer to the solar plexus. What little color he had, dropped from Combs’ face and his legs began to buckle.
“No you don’t, not yet,” Erik said. There was one more thing he needed to do. Holding the man up with his left hand he pulled his right back and let her fly, trying to drive the man’s nose through the back of his head.
His hand felt like it was going to erupt into a thousand pieces but the pain was buried by the satisfaction of seeing the nose explode and then crumble. No matter what, the man would never look perfect again, at least not until they got back to somewhere that could fix it. Erik wondered if that was the worst thing he could do to the guy.
Stepping back he watched the man crumple into a heap. Turning on the rest and asked “Anyone else?”
Twelve heads quickly shook no. Professor Breat continued to stare off into never never land. Erik nodded his head and limped to the Shuttle door and slowly pulled himself into the ship. He made it half way in before collapsing.
Chapter Twelve
“You know, you really need to stop this kind of thing,” Nora said as she wiped the blood from his face. He had been able to drag himself into the shuttle before he had grabbed a seat back and tried to lower himself into a chair.
She had been there before he could get all the way down and had the first aid kit out within minutes. They had long since used up all the ointments and salves, but Jo had found some Moss type stuff that helped with burns and a purple flower that acted as a weak aspirin, enough to take the edge off of the pain.
The Nanos would take care of any major damage, but he was on his own for the minor details such as pain, gore, etc.
She kept shaking her head as her tender hands did their work. “Do you want me to try and fix your nose for you,” she asked.
“Is it that bad?”
She raised an eyebrow as she studied the appendage then nodded. “It won’t make you any less ugly, but yeah, you should probably get it fixed.”
He snorted and the bloody moss she had put there shot out his nose and onto the ground. He laughed again and shook his head.
“Do you know how to do it?”
“Nope, but I can learn.” Her eyes drifted off in the universal sign of someone accessing their data pad. Smiling she nodded her head. “No big deal, you ready?” she asked.
He looked at her, she appeared way too excited about this. Taking a deep breath, he gave a quick nod and closed his eyes.
He felt her gentle hands come to rest on either side of his crushed nose sending a warn thrill and a soft tingle throughout his body. Then a bone chilling crunch, followed by a small sun exploding in his head.
The pain shot blinding lights through everything and he instinctively jerked back.
“Jesus, was that necessary?” he yelped, sounding way less congested.
“Yes it was,” she said, reaching up to turn his head from side to side. “Yes, a definite improvement.”
Erik gave her a weak smile and levered himself back up. “Where are you going?” Nora asked.
“I don’t know, you got any ideas?”
“I think you need to sit down and rest for a moment. I’m pretty sure you have a concussion or two.” She gently pushed him back into a chair.
.o0o.
Erik pulled the vine between his hands to remove the leaves. James had found the stuff up river.
“There’s more than enough for what we need,” he said, his eyes shining like beacons with excitement.
Erik had followed him to the spot and smiled. Long green vines, thin and tough.
“Have you tested it?” he asked the boy, who nodded in return. They gathered arm loads, slicing the vines at the base and wrapping them into balls that looked like a medusa’s head.
One problem solved, a thousand more to go Erik thought to himself as they trudged back to the camp.
Everyone was once again gathered around the fire. Tian and Sarah were bent over a stew cooking in one of the hard helmets. Probably a fish blouses Erik thought as he dumped his armload of vines.
James had un-woven one of the chair covers, unwinding each thread into individual lengths about three or four feet long. He had then braided them together creating a fishing string about twenty feet long. The thing was strong enough to lift about twenty pounds.
Jonathan had gotten a cotter pin from the shuttle’s air handler motor, and they had fashioned a hook. Sharpening it on a stone all night and the two of them set off for the river early that morning. That’s where James had discovered the vines and told the group when he returned with three large fish.
Erik’s stomach rumbled as he caught a whiff of the cooking fish stew. Retrieving his cup from the shuttle he got in line and waited his turn. It had been three days since the fight, and they were still giving him a little bit of distance. Nothing overt, but they always seemed to step back whenever he came close. Only Nora and Jonathan seemed to treat him the same as before. James was beginning to come around.
Jo ladled a steaming soup into his cup. Refusing to feel like an outsider, he stood next to the shuttle and took a sip. They had mixed in the leek like bulbs from the marsh and Creshington beans. Seasoned it with salt from the beach. It would rival any bouillabaisse on Tenor or even New Kansas.
“Good job, Tina, Sarah. Thanks, this is great,” Erik said, most of the others quickly nodded in agreement as they waited for seconds.
Now was as good a time as any he thought, he couldn’t put it off any longer.
Taking a deep breath, he said, “We have to think about moving, the game is getting harder and harder to find.”
They stared back at him with blank eyes, looking as if he was lecturing them about the physical property of a Higgs field. No, if he had been talking about a Higgs field their eyes would have lit up like kids at Christmas. That they could get excited about. But the idea of moving seemed to refuse to sink in.
“The fish aren’t going to be enough. They’re excellent, and I really appreciate it James” Erik said, giving the boy a smile. “But they are not enough. We have to move to where the animals are.”
“How?” Brenda asked.
“What about the Yarks?” Ahmed said, his broken jaw made it sound like a garbled mishmash of words, but they all knew what he was talking about.
He had their attention now. The mention of Yarks always seemed to focus the thoughts. “We’ll need to get everything useful from the shuttle and take it with us.”
“We can’t leave the shuttle,” Ann said her stark white face exposing her fear.
For the first time, Erik realized that Ann never ventured far from the shuttle. She tended the fire and did most of the cooking but always remained no more than a quick hop and jump from the shuttle door.
“Damn It, we don’t have a choice,” James said, looking at the group with an intense expression. “Don’t you get it? There isn’t going to be any food much longer. Hell, even the Creshington beans are getting harder and harder to find. We act now or starve later.”
“But I don’t understand,” Brenda wined. “You were able ….”
“The food has moved, this isn’t a grocery store out there,” Billy said, surprising everyone with his comment. He had been very reticent since the fight. Doing his assigned tasks but keeping quiet and to himself.
Erik let the group argue and discuss the issues. He knew how things would end up, but they needed to go through the process.
Finally, when the heated discussion seemed to slow down and finally came to a stop with everyone lost in their own thoughts about what it would mean. The Yarks, the living away from the shuttle. And there was no telling what new and wild things they would find out there.
“What about when the rescue ship comes,” Combs said. “How will they find us? Every survival guide says to stay put and let the rescuers find
you. Not to move around and become completely lost. Once we leave the shuttle, we become just another bunch of warm mammals walking through the grass. Impossible to distinguish from the Cairns and Yarks.”
This new issue seemed to open up the floor to all the things that could go wrong.
Erik could feel the group drifting into denial. It was almost as if they had been looking for an excuse to not do it. Erik pushed himself off away from the shuttle and said, “We don’t have a choice, accept it. As for the shuttle? We will leave word with the shuttle and blaze a trail for them to follow. Believe me, they won’t have a problem finding us. It’s not like were moving across the continent. We only have to follow the game as they move south.
“I say we take a vote,” Nora said, surprising him. She looked back at him and said, “This is too important, too big a thing. It should be up to all of us.”
Her eyes were pleading with him to trust her. He could tell she really thought this was necessary. It may be setting a bad precedent, but it was probably the only way to quickly get them going.
“Okay, let’s vote,” Erik said, his stomach rebelling at the thought.
Nora asked the question, “Who thinks we should move, to follow the game?” She shot Erik a quick glance silently asking if it was the right question. He smiled and nodded back.
“Those in favor of moving, raise your hand.”
You had to give her credit, he thought. Once a majority had lifted their hands, the others quickly followed making it unanimous with the exception of Professor Breat who continued to stare into the fire, his hands wrapped around his cup of uneaten soup.
An excited energy fell over the group once the decision was made. They seemed to come to life with ideas and possibilities of new adventures.
Erik shook his head. Would he ever figure these kids out. Moments ago they had been sitting around listless and scared of their own shadow, and now they are getting ready to set off into the unknown wilderness.
.o0o.
The group took three days to get ready. Teams gathered every Creshington Bean within walking distance. Others used James’ fishing line to empty the river of as many fish as possible.
Erik led another excursion to the beach to gather salt. He smiled as he passed what he would always consider Nora’s rock. He caught her smiling back at him when they both passed it then she slugged him in the arm and laughed.
He assigned Combs the job of making four travois. They cut long poles and used the vines to tie thin logs into a platform that could be dragged by two people and picked up by four to cross the river. They would tie what meager supplies they had to the travois or carry them in crude backpacks made from the Kairn skins.
Still, others were assigned to making spears, Erik wanted dozens of them. The thought of being caught out on the open plain without access to a source for weapons was enough to make him shudder. The damn things had a habit of breaking, and there was no telling if they would be able to replace them.
Finally, on the third morning, they were ready to go. A sorrier band of pioneers had never existed he thought.
Gaunt faces looked at him for the word to go.
What are you doing Erik? he thought to himself. All of the doubts about what he had gotten himself into returned with a vengeance. Flooding him with fear.
They aren’t all going to make it he realized. Which ones will die along the way he wondered looking them over? Their hair was oily, their faces dirty with black soot and just plain dirt. They smelled of wood smoke and hard work.
Shaking his head he resigned himself, there was no getting around it. He cared what happened to these people. He cared more than he ever thought he would. And he knew he would fight to the death to protect them. Not because it was his duty, but because the thought of losing any of them was unthinkable.
Turning away so that they couldn’t see the emotion flooding into his face he stared out across the river and over the plain. Nora came up to stand next to him, placing her hand gently on his arm. Giving him the support he needed.
He could feel her warmth and a rush of rightness filled him. Taking a deep breath, he looked at Jonathan.
“Move on out, you scout, take us across and then up along the river.”
The boy’s chest puffed out and he threw Brenda a quick smile before opening the gate and stepping through.
Erik turned and looked back at the shuttle. Why did it seem that they were always leaving, always taking a step back? First, it was leaving New Terra, then the Intrepid, and now the shuttle. Every time they gave up more security, more comfort. Would it ever stop? And could they ever get it back?
Someone had painted something on the side of the shuttle, using the foul tasting Edgar Berries as a die to scrawl lavender letters several feet high, “CROATAN.”
He glanced at Nora and raised an eyebrow.
“I couldn’t resist,” she said and laughed, flipping her hair over her shoulder and following the rest out the gate without another look back at what she was leaving behind.
Chapter Thirteen
Erik made sure to keep the group together as they trudged up the side of the river. He had sent Jonathan ahead to try and find a place to camp for the night and had assigned James to the rear. The boy was like a natural sheepdog, cutting back and forth to make sure no one fell behind.
The gaggle had settled into a pretty steady pace after only an hour. He raised a hand and called a halt. The bearers dropped their poles and gathered around for a drink. They had stripped every tube and hose out of the shuttle and filled them with water then wrapped them over one shoulder and under the other arm. Creating almost a quart per person. It would have to hold them until they stopped for the night when they’d be able to refill the tubes before tomorrow’s march.
Nora’s was stretching and rubbing the small of her back. He had noticed how she had helped pull her travois almost the entire time. She caught him looking at her and smiled.
I think she is enjoying this, he thought. Not really surprised. Shaking his head he checked on the other members. Making sure their feet were holding up. Telling Brenda to wrap her hands in a piece of cloth before she took up another pole. And generally encouraging.
The rest of the day went that way until they had travelled almost ten miles from the shuttle. The country had started too changed. A few more trees, an inviting stretch of green grass along the river and then a couple of low rolling hills covered in sparse brown grass. The sun was its typical hotter than hell, and the wind had unfortunately decided not to hang around.
Erik scanned the group once again and then walked over to relieve Nora and Brenda of their load. He had been watching, and they had both been doing more than their share. Taking both poles, he set off at a brisk pace.
“Come on, were almost there,” he said over his shoulder. Nora skipped to catch up and fell into step next to him. Neither talked, the day had taken away energy for socializing.
His comments about almost being there had given everyone a second wind and they picked up to match his pace. They fell in behind and followed him to a dry wash and then to a slight overhang.
“Its a little ways from water, but I think this is the best place to help us against the Yarks,” Jonathan said.
Erik dropped his load and then his pack. Bending to stretch his muscles, he noticed that everyone was looking at him, Jonathan looked like he was going to wet himself he was so nervous. All of them were waiting for his seal of approval.
The ground was a soft sand left for eons of flashfloods, the cliff had to be at least forty feet high, nothing could get to them from up there. The overhang was about thirty feet long and over six feet deep. Not a lot but enough for now. There was really only two ways to approach, and a feeling of contentment settled onto his shoulder. Yes, this would do. He smiled to Jonathan and smiled while nodding.
“Yes, this will do, good job.”
A collective sigh of relief went up from the group as they began to drop their loads.
.o0o.
Erik watched Nora arch her back and massaged her lower lumbar. God, she oozed tiredness. But no bitching.
They worked together well, doing what needed to be done without being told. A team, Erik thought as he watched. Jo and Billy gathered wood. Britney helped Professor Breat to find a comfortable spot beneath the overhang, out of the sun. Others grabbed helmets and walked to the river for water while still others got a small fire going.
Even Combs helped in setting the sleds into a windbreak and small fence. It wouldn't keep a Yark out, but they might slow it down.
"You can take some satisfaction in that," Nora said as she joined him in watching the others. "A couple of weeks ago they'd have been lost. You’ve got them pulling together."
Erik ran his hand over the back of his neck and nodded. He had to admit that Nora was right, as usual. "They’ve come a long way, but we have a longer way to go. But yeah, I’m happy about how their pulling together. But if we don't find food soon, it's not going to matter; they'll turn on each other like a pack of feral dogs.
"Jesus, Erik, don't you ever see the good stuff? it is so depressing."
"I see it, I just don't rely on it sticking around."
She arched an eyebrow at him, then shook her head before stomping over to the fire to help prepare dinner. Erik watched her go, his eyes were naturally drawn to her swaying hips. She's lost weight, he thought, they all have. Except for Jonathan, he was adding muscle like a spring colt.
They didn't look sick or weak, but the softness had melted away. Replaced by an animal leanness. Not weak, no definitely not weak. But there wasn't any room for error. That civilized buffer zone had disappeared.
Shaking his head, he shivered then joined them in getting the camp set up. There never seemed to be enough time, and never enough hands qualified to get things done.
.o0o.
Nora shivered in her half-sleep then twisted her hips to skootch in next to Erik’s warm back. To hell with what anyone thought, she was freezing. No matter what she did, she couldn’t seem to get to sleep. His leathery, smoky smell and the biting cold just wouldn’t let her relax enough to fall off into the deep end.
