Village E3: Survival of the Human Spirit

by James Holler

  They spent the next several hours eating, talking, and laughing. There was something special about this place, making it feel like home, even before they had spent a night here. There was one task they needed to do today, that the three of them had agreed on weeks ago. "Are we ready to go to the cabin?" asked Katie. "Might as well," said Hailey.

  They needed to give Sarah and Thomas a decent burial. Using large clam shells, they had already dug some shallow graves near the cabin and had made two crude crosses. John spread out the blanket and removed the things that it contained. They walked down to the stream, and then worked their way upstream along the stream bottom. As they neared the cabin, talking stopped and a feeling of reverence came over them. This was a solemn task, which none of them relished, but all of them were determined to complete. As John pulled back on the door, it completely fell off. "Oops," he said. "Oh well."

  They entered slowly and approached the bed that contained the bones of the two people who once lived here. John carefully laid the blanket flat on the floor next to the bed and they stood silently as tears flowed from Katie's eyes. Noticing that her friend was upset, Hailey put her arm around Katie while emotions started overtaking her as well. "This will be us some day," said Katie, as she wrapped her arms around Hailey.

  None of them had ever mentioned it, but they all knew how Thomas died. The blood stain on top of the blanket, and the knife near his bones said it all. John wanted to get on with it, but he respected the feelings of Katie and Hailey, and also didn't want to seem like an uncaring jerk. Once Katie and Hailey separated, John gave it a few more moments. "Ready?" he eventually asked.

  John reached down and grasped the shoulder area of the skeleton that was on top. "Someone grab the feet," he said softly. Hailey hesitantly complied, and as they lifted, moving toward the blanket on the floor, a bone gave way in the foot, then another. The weight shift caused the skull to fall, and they let the rest of the bones drop with it.

  Sarah's remains were more intact, and her bones were positioned much as they were the day she died. Next, they tried to lift her bones, as Katie stepped over the bones on the floor and tried to support the weight in the center of the skeleton. This time, John supported the skull with his forearms, while holding the shoulder area with his hands. To their surprise, not a bone became separated this time. John held the corners of the blanket near the heads as Hailey and Katie each took one of the corners near the feet, as they slowly eased their way to the door, and out to the manmade graves.

  Once they cleared the door, they moved much as if they were casket bearers at a funeral; slow, careful, and respectful. Placing the blanket near the already dug graves, they first put Sarah's remains in, and then those of Thomas. With the same clam shells with which they had dug the final resting places, the three of them covered the bones of Thomas and Sarah. When they were nearly done, Katie walked over to the cabin and returned with two flowers that she had picked on the walk there and placed one on each grave.

  "I hope you had a good life," said Katie, wishing she knew more about this mysterious couple. Mysteries were nothing new here, because their own lives were mysteries. Why are they here? How did they get here and who brought them? What will happen to them next? Those were just a few of the unanswered questions they had.

  After several minutes of silence, John went back to the cabin and retrieved the wooden box. Their walk back home was quieter and took much longer, with each of them wondering if their future here would end like that of Sarah and Thomas. Who would go first? What about the children....what happened to them? There always seemed to be more questions than answers.

  In talks they had, John was always adamant about not bringing children into this world. Hailey and Katie both agreed with him. That is one of the reasons that there hadn't been any sex between them yet. John felt the urge often, and on the few occasions that he had kissed Hailey, or Katie, he wanted more. He could tell that they did too, after all, none of them were virgins.

  As Hailey and Katie walked ahead of him, John admired the curves of their bodies, and how they each had slim waists that nicely accentuated their rounded, but not too large hips. They both had cut their pants into shorts long ago. While checking out their nicely shaped legs, John's mind wandered to tonight. He had fantasized about how the night might go, but knew he couldn't wish for that. I hate this place, he thought.

  Once they got back home, they sat silently for a few minutes, then Hailey asked, "Want to take a dip?" "Might as well, we are caught up on everything," said John. Swimming, bathing, and washing their clothes in their own private swimming hole, was their main form of recreation. They had done it often enough now, that they were used to seeing each other with no clothes on.

  Once they reached the pool, they wasted little time stripping off. John was wearing shorts that he'd made from his jeans, since the elastic in his boxers had finally worn out. They had a routine now; first they washed their clothes and bathed, then it was time to swim and play if they felt like it.

  After bathing, they sat in the shallow water for a while, just resting. John ran his index finger along the brow, above his right eye. "I'm not sure, but I think my eyebrows are coming back in," he said. "I still don't have any whiskers though," he said, rubbing his hand along his face. "I'm OK with that. You look better without a beard," said Hailey. "And you two look better without hairy legs," said John, with a big grin. "I like that part of it, but I'd like to have my hair back," said Katie. Even though it had been weeks, the hair on their heads had barely started to grow and they still had no body hair at all.

  "Why don't we give our new fish net a try," said John. It wasn't really a net at all, but was more like a woven mat. Using very thin flexible limbs, Hailey had woven a square that was about five feet by five feet. Along each edge she had placed vertical sticks and then had woven more thin limbs, creating sides to the flat mat. Along two sides of the mat, she had secured long, heavier limbs that extended past the mat, which served as handles.

  They had talked about how to use it, but they hadn't put it to the test yet. "Sure, I'm ready. Don't worry though, it's going to work," said Hailey. She got out of the water and put on her dripping wet clothes, then ran up the bank to their hut, where the mat was. In a few minutes, she returned with it as Katie and John were getting dressed.

  "I'll put it in place," said Hailey, walking into the stream where the shallow water flowed into a deeper pool. The water was about two feet deep where she placed the mat. It wanted to float, so she weighted it down with two rocks.

  During their exploration up and down the stream, they noticed that many fish were quick to investigate any insect, or small object that happened to fall into the water. John gathered two large leaves, and dropping one to the ground, began tearing the other into very small pieces.

  In a few minutes, they had several hands full of leaf pieces. Giving the fish a few minutes to settle down and get used to the mat in the water, Hailey and John then carefully and very slowly eased into the water. They each reached toward the bottom of the stream and located the handles. Their chins were just above the water, with the water covering their arms up to their shoulders.

  "OK, I think we're ready," said Hailey. As a test, Katie threw a few of the leaf pieces into the water. They floated on the surface for a few seconds, then small fish began to peck at them. She then threw a handful, and it was as if she had thrown real food in the water. Fish began splashing, as if they were in a frenzy. "Ready?" John asked Hailey. "Yes," she said. "OK. Go," John shouted.

  They lifted up as quickly as they could, although the weight of the rocks and the resistance of the water made it harder to lift than they anticipated. They missed many of the fish, but not all of them, and had three fish flopping on the mat as it cleared the water. One of them was larger than any they had ever caught on their pole. "Yes!" said Hailey, excitedly. "Yeah," yelled John, as if his favorite football team had just scored a touchdown. Katie laughed, partly because she was happy they had just caught supper a
nd also at how excited John and Hailey were. "That's a big one," said Katie. John lifted the biggest fish up with one hand, by the lip. "Supper," he said. "You're welcome," joked Hailey.

  Placing the fish-catching mat on the shore, they each carried a fish to the edge of the water. John took the knife, and cut open the largest one, and then handed the knife to Hailey. She cut open the fish she held and passed the knife to Katie. Neither of the women had ever cleaned a fish before waking up on the beach, but now they were very good at it and didn't even give it a second thought.

  In very little time, they had the fish gutted and threw the guts into the water. Small fish quickly attacked the bloody mess and began playing tug of war over their prize, as they each washed their fish in the stream. "If you guys want to start supper, I think I'll try to find some more wood," said Katie. "Sounds good," said John. Dropping the fish on the mat, Hailey took one end of the mat, and John took the other, as they started up the bank, toward home.

  As Hailey got the fire going, John cut some limbs for cooking their catch, then cut the largest fish into three pieces to reduce the weight, and make cooking easier. Even though this would be their first night at their new hut, it already felt like home.

  This area was more open than where they had their old hut. One large tree shaded the hut most of the day, but there was much more sun that made its way to the ground here. "I think I'll go help Katie," said Hailey, after standing by the fire for a few minutes. "OK," said John. "I'll watch the fish." I'm a lucky man, he thought, remembering the desperation and loneliness that used to be part of his daily life.

  Once the fish were almost done cooking, John decided to cut some fruit, so they could have a feast to celebrate their first night at their new home. The type of fruit he was cutting had firm flesh, much like an apple but with really thick skin. He liked to cut them in half and eat the inside, leaving the skin. He placed each half on a large flat rock, which they used as a makeshift table.

  As the sharp edge of the knife reached about the middle of the last piece of fruit, it went from firm, to mushy. Before he knew what had happened, John had a deep gash in the palm of his hand. He dropped his knife, and grabbed the wound with his other hand, trying to stop the bleeding by applying pressure. "Son of a bitch," he said, in an angry tone. "That was stupid," he said, as if scolding himself.

  Caught up in the intensity of the moment, John didn't notice that Hailey and Katie had walked up behind him with their arms loaded with wood. "Are you OK?" asked Hailey, noticing how John was holding his hand. "I cut myself. Could you go get the bag? I have a first aid kit in there," said John. "How bad is it?" asked Katie, as Hailey ran after the bag. "It's plenty deep enough for stitches," said John.

  Realizing they would need to wash the wound, Katie got the water container. Hailey returned with the bag and started digging through the contents, until she found the little bright orange first aid kit. She took out some gauze and some medical tape, as Katie held the water ready. "Let's take a look," Hailey said. They could all see the blood on both of John's hands.

  Hesitant at first, John slowly exposed the cut. It was gapped open, but to their surprise, had already stopped bleeding. "Oh God, that looks awful," said Katie. John held out his hand and Katie slowly poured water over the cut, while Hailey used a small piece of gauze to clean around it. In their past lives, this would have meant a trip to the emergency room, but they did not have the luxury here. They looked at the cut for a few moments, realizing they didn't have a good plan for this situation.

  "I'll squeeze it together, and then you put some tape on it. That's as close to stitches as we can get," said John. Hailey carefully started on one end of the cut, which was about two inches long, and placed four thin pieces of tape, evenly spaced apart. She then applied tape across each end of the thin pieces, to ensure that they didn't come loose.

  Once she was satisfied with how the tape looked, she covered it with gauze and then added more tape. "You're going to have to be really careful with this for a while," said Hailey, after adding the last piece of tape. "Damn that was stupid," said John, still angry with himself.

  "I'm going to go get some more water," said Katie, while walking toward the stream with their pot. Hailey noticed the fish were starting to smoke a little so she went to check them. "Great, did I burn supper too?" asked John. "It's OK, just a little black on the outside," said Hailey. Katie soon came back with a pot of water and positioned it over the fire, while Hailey was taking the fish from the fire, and checking it.

  They sat around the fire and prepared to eat. Hailey started to hand a limb with a fish on it to John, then hesitated. "I know, I'll sit next to you, and hold the fish. You can pick off what you want with your good hand," she said, taking a place on the right side of John. She peeled away the skin, exposing the perfectly cooked meat inside. John reached with his left hand once, but was quickly scolded by Hailey. "You need to keep that clean," she said. "Yes, mother," John sarcastically retorted.

  Katie sat quietly eating her fish, a little jealous that Hailey had so quickly taken over the role of caregiver. The odd number three was still the elephant in the room that they never talked about: one man, and two women. Although both women had kissed John, neither had seen the other kiss him. They were thrust into a reality that none of them were comfortable with but each struggling with how to proceed, and none of them had any idea what the future held. John wanted them both, and they each wanted him, but neither Hailey nor Katie wanted to share a man. Life was rough enough here, without being so complicated.

  Hailey noticed how quiet Katie was, and astutely realized what the problem was. "Can you take over here, while I go to the bathroom," said Hailey, not even giving Katie time to reply, as she handed John the stick with the fish on it, and jogged off to the other side of the hut. Katie got up from her rock and sat next to John. She took the stick from him and held it, as they shared what was left of the fish.

  John and Katie didn't realize that Hailey didn't have to use the bathroom. Hailey stalled long enough for Katie and John to finish the fish, and get another, then she returned. Hailey was confident in her emotional connection with John, but she could tell by Katie's behavior that she was insecure about how she fit in. What she did for Katie was a small gesture, but a truly selfless one.

  "Now some fruit for dessert," said John, shortly after they finished the last fish. "I don't know, I'm pretty full," said Hailey. "Oh no, see this," said John, pointing to his wounded hand. "We're going to eat that fruit, even if it makes us puke."

  Katie handed a piece of fruit to Hailey, then she carried a piece over to John. They finished off all of the fruit that John had cut earlier, then the skins were thrown in the fire, along with the cooking sticks. After a full day, and with full stomachs, they spent most of the next few hours lounging around the fire, without saying much.

  As afternoon slipped into evening, and darkness crept in, Hailey slipped down from her rock and lay on her back, looking up at the sky. "What are you doing?" asked John. "Just watching the stars come out," said Hailey. John stood up, and took Katie by the hand. "Come on, let's go watch the stars come out too," he said.

  They each took a spot on the ground next to Hailey. "I wonder which direction Earth is?" said Hailey. "I don't know, I've wondered that myself," said John. After a long period of quietly gazing upward, Katie said, "I know it's early, but I'm really tired. Do you guys want to go to bed?" "Lying here is making me sleepy," said Hailey. "OK, I'm ready," said John.

  Not sure how the sleeping arrangement would go, John waited for Hailey and Katie to get in first. Starting out, they were close together, in the middle of the bed. Then Hailey suggested John get in the middle. That was what John was hoping for. "We have something to tell you," said Katie. "What is it?" asked John. "Get in first," Hailey prompted. John plopped down on his back. "Do you want to tell him, or do you want me to?" Hailey asked Katie. "Go ahead," said Katie.

  "Well, you know we've been here for a while now, and we've all agreed
that it wouldn't be right to bring children into a situation like this. There is one problem with that. Katie and I are both late." When what Hailey said started to sink in, but not understanding how that could be, John asked, "What do you mean you are both late?" "We missed our periods," said Hailey, bluntly. "You can't be pregnant.... that's impossible," John said raising his voice slightly. "I know, it's crazy," said Katie. "We aren't one hundred percent sure, but we are both pretty late."

  John had been baffled many times since he had been here, but this had him stumped. A thought suddenly came to him. "I bet those bastards did this when they gave us our haircuts!" Wrapped up with his own feelings at first, he then thought of what this meant for Hailey and Katie. "I'm sorry, this is a heck of a lot bigger deal for you two than it is for me," he said, trying to make up for his indulgence in self-pity. "Maybe it just has to do with the changes we went through from the haircut," he said.

  He reached for Hailey and Katie and pulled them close, trying to be careful with his hand. They each laid their head on his shoulder. This moment reminded John of the night he and Hailey spent together, when Katie was missing. He was afraid, but at the same time glad he wasn't alone. Katie, enjoying the closeness, reached her arm across John's stomach and Hailey placed her hand on John's chest. John had fantasized about how this first night would go, and he could see it wouldn't come close to what he had imagined.

  Being near John worked like a sleeping pill for Hailey and Katie. Sleep came quickly for them, but for John, the news he had received, along with his cut hand, gave him a lot to think about. He enjoyed being able to sleep with Katie and Hailey, but tonight, being close to them was one more distraction, making sleep impossible. It was hours before his mind stopped going over what the future might hold.

  The next morning, even though he had the least sleep, John was up first. He had forgotten about his hand until he saw the bandage. He tested it a few times, by making a fist, trying not to wake the women, as he eased out of bed. Normally, starting a fire would be the first thing he did, but they had plenty of water, so this morning, he sat quietly, thinking. It wasn't long until Hailey joined him.