Without further ado, here it is:
Installment #3
"Run!" I hear a thousand voices
speak as one. Young and old. Strong and weak. Yells and whispers. The voices of
eternity warn me of impending danger, and I heed their call to flee. I open my
eyes to see a teeming village. Thousands of people, emaciated and reserved in
their mannerisms, swarm around me. Everyone has dark skin and black hair, and
are covered in tattoos. 'Where am I?' I question. I look at my hand. It's a
deep brown colour. I hold my suddenly shoulder length hair in front of my face. It
is straight and black. I realize I'm wearing a sleeveless buckskin tunic and
beaded moccasins rather than the pullover sweatshirt and shorts I'm accustomed to. Looking at my upper arm there's tattoos covering it. Just
like the rest of these people. I feel tired and hungry. I look up, and I see
nothing but towering redwoods. The sky is black. At first I think it's night,
but then the sun peeks through the darkness, then is swallowed yet again.
'That's smoke!' I exclaim to my inner self, and desperate for answers, I try
and speak again to the voices in my head. I close my eyes and whisper
"Where am I?""RUN! NOW!" the voices thunder in my skull, and I drop to my knees cradling my shattered ears. I am knocked over by a passerby, and rather than move around me, people begin to trample me into the dirt. A child begins wailing, and then another, and another. It goes on till all I can hear is the screaming of children and the heavy breathing of the masses surrounding me. I begin to shove my way upwards, clinging to the wretchedly torn buckskin tunics of the passersby, attempting to claw my way to my feet. Once I'm standing on my own two feet, I begin to push and shove my way out of the crowd away from the volcano.
BOOM
I look up to see the sky covered in flurries of flaming teardrops hurtling toward the earth. They harden into stone on the way down, and crush down people left and right. I grab a man wandering aimlessly, who is so skinny and sickly I lift him above my head with ease despite my own frail condition. Using the poor soul as a human shield from the giant earthen bullets falling from the sky, I rush towards the raging seas. Ash falls like snow as the trees around me ingnite from embers drifting from the volcano. As I near the open area of the pebbled beach, a river of lava emerged from the flaring trees and slowly made its way into the ocean, forming an embankment of rock as it came into contact with the icy waters. With my human shield peppered with holes from falling rock and lava, I drop his lifeless body in favour of diving beneath the waves with hopes of either shelter from the liquid fire or a quick death from hypothermia. As I make the final leap towards the water I look back to see the agent of my demise - a flash cooled chunk of razor-edged obsidian. Just as I hit the water and the obsidian crashes into me, I feel no pain...
I awake to Apex holding me down the ground, my pants wet and my limbs flailing."Holy shit Rashido, it was just a dream, calm down!" I hear him say this, fear in his voice, concerned eyes looking down at me from all angles. It appears I've awakened all of Carnivora. Slowly, I exit my frenzy of panic to see that other people from around the camp have come over to see what was going on. 'Damn it... There's going to be trouble today... Having a spaz attack and pissing my fucking pants isn't the best show of leadership...' I think to myself. Thankfully, most people simply look concerned, rather than that hungry gleam that comes into the eyes of the ambitious when a leader is taken down a peg. I sit up and look around. It's just after sunrise, and a slight chill inhabits the air. My clothes are soaked in sweat, and my hands feel incredibly clammy. I stand, looking around to see literally the entire camp staring at me. The girl I talked to last night looks incredibly worried, along with most of my friends. The other people here have mixed looks of disdain and worry gracing their features, but most are too numb from our ordeal to truly feel concerned. "What's everyone staring at? Let's get going!" I yell, with a solidarity in my voice that surprises both myself and the people around me. "We need to get moving before those bodies are eaten. Or we'll be next." I say with a glance at the beach. The tide is incredible, having dragged the remains of the ship almost completely out to sea. At my words, an absolutely massive brown bear directs it's attention towards our camp, and bellows it's dominance as it returns to it's meal of a bloated corpse.
"I'm inclined to agree. How are we going to move the wounded?" Wild Dog says, as eager as I am to get away from the sight of this carnage. I turn to Theropod and say, "How many hand axes were you able to make last night?" Eagerness enters his eyes, and he makes excited hand gestures as he speaks of his craft. "I was able to make about 19 decent ones. With 3 metal knives and a bunch of hand axes we can clear that cane reed in no time if every able bodied person participates." I reply, eager to get to work despite my aching muscles, "All right, who wants to volunteer?" A number of people from all the groups comply, including most of Carnivora, some of the college girls, and a few of the older men. "Theropod, if you'd kindly give everyone a quick lesson on how to use these, we can get on our way." I say, looking him in the eye and nodding. He understands my insinuated request to make sure we don't get any cut hands or the subsequent infections. 'Modern people are useless...' I say to my inner self. As Theropod begins his quick lesson, I catch the eye of the girl I conversed with the previous night. She smiles at me, and I reciprocate happily. 'Shit, what was her name... I don't think I even asked... Damn...' I reprimand my self for being so inconsiderate, but she breaks contact and returns her focus to the lesson. I turn around towards my gear by the fire to find the annoying older guy I confronted previously looking up at me.
"Hi, Rashido is it? Where I come from we don't trust people who don't go by their real name, but I guess there's not much room for leeway there?" His voice is laced with an abrasive southern drawl that makes me want to claw my eyes out. I shake my head, my guard up, ready for a fight. His nonchalant stance reveals he has no desire to fight. I relax slightly, but keep ready for anything. He continues, "I'm sorry about last night, and I just want to let you know there's no hard feelings on my end." He smiles and his voice is pleading, but the look in his eyes is cold and insincere. I go along, and shake his outstretched hand. Despite his true intentions, a wave of relief passes through him. Body language doesn't lie. I know I can't trust him, but all the same I too am slightly relieved there won't be any more bloodshed, at least for a little while. I walk to my pack and grab what little gear I have, which consists of a waterproof lighter, solar powered watch, first aid kit from the ship, and my kukri machete. It isn't a true kukri, but rather a long knife in the shape of a kukri that I forged myself. The handle was tightly wrapped paracord around the tang of the knife, and comfortable but strong. I tuck it into my belt and shoulder the first aid kit. "All done!" Theropod yells from his place by the central fire. I walk up to him and notice his slumping stance and bags under his eyes. "Get some sleep," I say to him, concerned, "You're obviously bone tired and trust me, you did more than your fair share standing watch and making all those tools. Let us do the grunt work." I finish with a smile, and my good humour is returned. "All right, thanks." he replies. "No worries man. Get some rest." he nods and I turn to the assembled party of about 20 of the fittest people. I make my way to the front and say to Wild Dog: "Lead the way."
He nods firmly and sets a brisk pace for the rest of us to follow. No one speaks until we reach the patch of cane reed. I break the silence, saying "This will do nicely. Everyone, remember to cut near the base of the reeds so we can retain the stalks for tools and building materials." The group mumbles agreement and everyone gets to work. I get in there among the rest, hacking away at the thick, strong reeds furiously. After about ten minutes, we already have almost a third of the cane reed cleared. However, due to improper use of the hand axes, a few are already dull or broken, and those who broke them are just wandering aimlessly. I stand, and, try to think of something everyone would know. I begin, "I don't know about you guys, but the thing I miss the most, even only after one day, is music. Does everybody know 'The Drunken Sailor'?" About half the assembled people raise their hands or provide another method of confirmation. I spot FishFreak among those with their hands raised. "All right, FishFreak, you lead the song." He agrees shyly and tentatively beings, "What do we do with a drunken sailor, what do we do with a drunken sailor, what do we do with a drunken sailor, early in the morning?" in a nice singing voice. Slowly, those who know the song join in, and those who don't quickly catch on. Cutting to the rhythm of the song, the work speed increases. I break away from the group of workers and stride towards the people with broken tools. "Come with me." I say, leading them towards the stream. Pacing up and down a small length of the bank, I quickly find what I am searching for. A large, brightly coloured crawfish waits in an eddy, grabbing passing debris and bringing its tiny hands to it's mouth in one fluid motion. "See that?" They nod. "That's dinner." One man, about 40, begins to wade into the river, but I grab his arm and hold him back. "That's a good way to get hypothermia. The water is deeper than it looks, and cold. If you slip you're as good as dead. Fishing lesson #1: Don't jump in." They chuckle, and I turn towards a small stand of willow saplings. "One of you go find some sort of cord. The rest, come with me." A college girl goes off in search of cord, while the rest of us make our way to the saplings.
I quickly chop down a perfectly straight sapling, about 8 feet long, and we all return to the stream. The college girl is waiting with a bunch of thick, tough moss. "Perfect." I say with a broad smile, looking her in the eyes, and the girl blushes in good humour. I quickly take the top of the sapling and split the tip into four pieces, tying the bottom with moss to keep the tree from splitting. I then strip the bark of the willow tree in long strips, for later use as a supple and strong cordage useful for many things. I take a bit of the willow bark and tie it around the four pieces, separating them with a substantial gap between the tips. I look up to see the bystanders looking on with interest. I hold it up, complete. "This is a crawfish spear." I say, with a small amount of triumph lacing my words at the fact that I was actually able to successfully make the tool I'd only seen before on YouTube. "It's useful because with decent aim and a little practice you can get all the crawfish you want without even getting close to the water. I'll show you." I walk at a comfortable pace back to the stream, casting a glance back towards the group of people still cutting cane reed. Another third of the way done, Black Ice managed to get everyone to arrange the cane reed into neat piles for later use. I acknowledge his presence with a nod of my head, and he returns the gesture, with a questioning look and a raised eyebrow at the... unique looking tool in my hands, returning to work. I laugh under my breath, and stay my course to the stream. I find the big crawfish again, and I quickly take aim with my spear. A quick lunge and splash of water later, the crawfish is held between the multiple rounded points of the spear.
The newly assembled crowd begins to clap quietly, and I take a gracious bow, laughing all the way. Despite the modesty of my action, everyone appreciates fresh seafood. I look to the reeds and see that nearly all been chopped down. "Remember this one guys?" I address the present members of Carnivora. Wild Dog speaks up first, "Yeah, didn't you link a video once?" I reply, "Indeed I did. A useful little apparatus if I do say so myself." I smile yet again, knowing how important public relations can be and what a big difference it can make. 'If I have to keep this up, my face might fall off...' I think to myself. Seeing the group in tattered clothes amidst the tall redwoods with a backdrop of tree ferns, deciduous trees and a volcano takes me back to my dream, and a dark look is cast upon my face against my will.
Looks of confusion spread across the crowd, and Black Ice questions my two-faced behaviour. "You alright man?" he asks. "Yeah, no worries dude." I reply. A short but awkward silence ensues, and I begin to walk toward the cleared reed patch in an attempt to break the tension. As I near the area, the ground quality shifts below my feet from the thick grass to hard but moist bare earth. I call out, "We won't be able to sleep on the plain dirt here, it'll give us all a cold. I know it doesn't sound like much, but that's all it takes to kill you in a survival situation. We can take some of the smaller reeds and lay them out to act as a floor." I look at the piles of reeds with a critical eye. "Lord knows we have enough of them. We can take the some of the sturdier ones, remove the clothes from the wounded, and use the resulting materials to make stretchers to comfortably move them." I walk to the piles and select a reed of about an inch in thickness and turn, saying, "Reeds this width and smaller can be used for the floor until further notice. The damp ground should keep them relatively supple so after we work out a better floor we can re-use them. Start laying them out. Wild Dog, Adamantus, and Apex come with me. We'll take the larger stalks and return to make stretchers. Oh and guys don't forget to leave gaps for fire pits." I say to the mob of people around me. As people file away to grab the reeds I pull Black Ice aside for a quick talk. Before I can say something, he quietly quips, "I don't know why they're listening to you, but I'm glad they are." I mumble agreement and say, "I think everyone's still in shock, and they just need to do something. I'm surprised they're doing as well as they have been." Our trains of thought have obviously converged, and he says "Same here. On some deeper level I think they've realized there's no room for fooling around. We can't just sit on our asses eating burgers and watching TMZ all day anymore." I laugh, but continue on a serious note, "Just keep them in line, ok?" He replies sarcastically, "Got it boss!" I grin and head off back to camp with the others I selected.
2 hours later...
"We're back!" Adamantus calls out, causing heads to turn towards the approaching party. Wild Dog and I carry Coherentsheaf on a cane reed stretcher, with ApexPredator and Adamantus hauling Cidermaster on another stretcher. A look of gratitude flashes across my face as I see a comfortably floored area of cane reeds bunched together in straight, even lines. Wyvax sweeps his hand in the general direction of the clearing with a gentle bow, and jokes "Welcome to our humble abode!" I lightly laugh, and see that they even lined the fire pits with rocks. "Great job guys. All we need now is a trench to boil water in and we'll be set!" I say. Black Ice speaks up, "Already done guys." He points to a trench about 2 feet wide, 2 feet deep, and 4 feet long, lined with a waterproof parka held down with more river rocks. "Awesome. We brought fire!" Wild Dog says, grabbing a torch from one of the the other people from the original camp. A college girl walks forward and holds up the other major prize of the day. Vodmeister's eyes go wide and he says, "Is that a camping backpack?!" I speak up, "Indeed it is. Brittany over here found it." I say. Black Ice turns an approving eye on the girl, and her cheeks flare into red. Wild Dog sighs exasperatedly, and pushes me forward to the floored area so we can set down Coherentsheaf. Adamantus and Apex follow suit.
Once the injured are secured and comfortable, and the others are busy building fires, Black Ice and I share a meaningful glance, and turn to our respective women of interest. "Hi." I say, striding comfortably up to the girl I had talked to the night before, and she spins around with a wide smile, and says "Hey, hows it going?" "Good, and yourself" I say. She replies with a slight look of displeasure, "Things could be better..." I look her in the eye and say, "No kidding. It's too bad we didn't meet under different circumstances." A small, fleeting smile crosses her features, and my heart warms for reasons I don't quite understand, nor am I sure I want to. "So," I begin, "I feel like an asshole, but I'm afraid I didn't catch your name last night." She replies, "It's ok, we were both a little overwhelmed. I know I still am. You seem to be doing okay though. Anyway, my name's Emily." Now that things are more familiar, I suddenly take in the full sight of her.
She has dark brown hair, not unlike my own, and large hazel eyes, considerably lighter and more welcoming than mine. "Well, Emily, I'm very pleased to meet you." I say with a smile, stressing the word very. I take her small hand in my own, and lift it to my lips gently kissing the back of her hand in the way people used to do back in the 1920's. Her cheeks flare up, and I grin from ear to ear, slowly letting her hand down slowly, maintaining contact. She says, "The feeling is mutual." with a coy smile. Unfortunately, I feel the intensely disapproving gaze of Wild Dog scorching the back of my skull. As I turn, I see Black Ice has made similar progress. Wild Dog calls out, "Let's get something productive done, ok?" I roll my eyes jokingly, prompting a giggle from Emily, and call back, "Sure dude, relax a little." He sighs in annoyance and I grab Emily's hand. "Care to go on an adventure?" I say, with laughter and excitement in my eyes. "Sure!" I grab my crawfish spear, somehow still holding a live crawfish from the stream, and on our way to the stream I deposit the crawfish in the cooking pit, still waterless, and fortunately he (I assume it's a he for some reason) is incapable of climbing up the slick walls of the thick smooth parka. We pick up speed, reaching a light jog, and go farther down the river, away from sight...
1 hour later...
"We're back!" Emily calls, and a number of eyes turn toward us concerned. Adamantus says accusingly, "Where were you guys?" I hold out my shirt, which currently holds about 15 crawfish of varying sizes. As he takes it and opens it up, his eyes widen. I smugly state, "Fishing." A few laughs echo around camp, but not too many, just a few within earshot. I continue, "It's enough for a few people, but to feed all of us we'll need to be out there for a while longer." I gesture to a few crawfish. "Emily caught those." I turn to her with a sly grin and say, "Took her long enough though..." She gasps, pretending to be offended, and says, "It's harder than it looks!" I say, "Sure, sure..." laughing lightly, and she gently slaps my arm. I take back my shirt from Adamantus, and walk to the cooking pit to deposit the new crawfish. I see that they've filled it partially with water, just enough to keep the crawfish alive. Wild Dog looks upset, and says, "We were about to go searching for you guys! We didn't know where you went." Movement catches my eye directly over his shoulder, and I hold up one hand, while reaching for my knife with the other. "What are you doing? Don't tell me to be quiet!" He rants, really peeved about something or other. My focus is on something else. When my kukri knife is in ready position, I slowly draw back my arm. "You had better not throw that at me!" His eyes widen as I fling the knife forward through the air, passing his ear in it's flight. He ducks, eyes alight with fury, and begins to rage "ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY?! YOU ALMOST KILLED ME YOU SENSELESS BASTARD!!!"
I simply walk by him to a tree. I run up the tree trunk a little, and jump from about a foot up the trunk backwards, grabbing a branch around 9 feet off the ground, and using this momentum, throw myself up onto the sturdy oak branch. My feat of agility stuns some, but cannot compare with what Black Ice can accomplish. I make my way up to about 18 feet up the trunk, to where my knife impales a tree-dwelling porcupine. I quickly make my way down, jumping off my starting branch, returning to earth with a roll to absorb the shock, yet again surprising many of the bystanders observing the whole affair. I pluck two quills from the back of the spiny rodent, and clack them together. "Chopsticks." I say with a grin, relieving the formerly palpable tension, inspiring laughs and even a small grin from Wild Dog. He addresses me, "Don't do something like that again, ok? Tell us where you plan on going." I respond, "We didn't really have a plan, but next time I'll let you know. Sorry." He says, 'It's ok." With that, he turns around and goes back to treating Coherentsheaf's wounded leg. I approach, and remark, "That looks bad." He says, "Yeah, not much we can do though. I did what I could, but ultimately it's up to his immune system." We stand and I walk away to the new Carnivora fire. I settle down to rest, planning on taking first watch. FishFreak approaches me and inquires as to the nature of my actions, and I tell him my plan, asking him to pass the info on to Wild Dog and the others. As I lay down, I turn my head towards the stream, and see Emily walking with some other people, I guess to teach them how to use the crawfish spear. As I fall into a dreamless sleep, the last thought to cross my mind goes along the lines of 'Damn. Nice ass.'
I get that there's some issues with pacing, but other than that I'm pretty pleased.
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