Village E3: Survival of the Human Spirit (10 page)

Dropping the blanket to the ground,
he put downward pressure on the knife, trying to poke a hole in it. When that
didn't work, he pushed down hard, causing the knife to go into the ground to
the hilt, taking part of the blanket with it. He pulled out the knife, then
pulled the blanket out of the ground and saw that it was undamaged.

"Damn, this is indestructible,"
said John. Placing all the items on the blanket, except for the saw, he brought
the corners together and fashioned a bag to carry them. Because of its size, the
saw would have to be carried separately. Before they left, John went to the
door and tried to close it as securely as he could. "I wish I knew their
whole story," said Hailey, as they took their first steps toward home.
"Me too," Katie agreed.

Over the course of the next several
weeks, the three friends made daily trips to the spot where they were building
their new home. As the days passed, they became a cohesive unit. A full day of
work was many times followed by a dip in their
new-found swimming hole. They spent less time talking about their old lives, as
their new lives became more tolerable.

With an abundant supply of fish and
other food in the area, they were even starting to gain back some of the weight
that each of them had lost since being here. The location of their new hut was only yards downstream from the cabin which held
the remains of Sarah and Thomas. They hadn't visited there since the day they
found it, but planned to return once their home was finished.

Finally, the day arrived when they
would be leaving their old hut for the last time. Beginning that night, they would
be sleeping in their new hut, which was larger, and held a platform which they
called the bed. It was large enough to hold the three of them. They had never
slept together as a group before, so they were about to enter uncharted
territory. John had been flirting with them both and had snuck kisses from each
of them, when the other was out of sight or busy,
but kissing was as far as it went.

This morning, Katie woke first and
started the daily chores. She had just put the first pot on when Hailey and
John both came out of the hut together. "Today's the day," said
Katie. "I think somebody is excited," said John. "I am,"
said Katie. "Me too," said Hailey.

Even though it had been weeks since
they lost their hair, the regrowth on their heads wasn't much more than
stubble. Each of them had also developed increased muscle tone that was clearly
visible. They were not only faster, as they discovered on the first trek to
their new home, but their strength had increased greatly. Their new-found
physical prowess served them well while building their new hut.

They each drank water in preparation
for the hike to their new home, and had a couple of pieces of fruit each that
they had picked the day before. After drinking his fill of water, and scarfing
down his fruit, John began gathering all of their possessions: the bag, knife,
spear, cooking pot, cup, fishing pole, bag, plastic water container, blanket,
and other items from the cabin.

"When you ladies are done
eating, I'm ready to go," he said with a grin. "Look who's excited
now," said Katie. "I have to pee first," Hailey said, walking in
the direction of the hut, with Katie right behind her. They walked until the
hut was between them and John, so he used the opportunity to empty his bladder too.

Placing most of the items in the
blanket, John threw it over his shoulder, as Katie picked up the spear and the
knife. Hailey carried the water container, and the tools were already at their
new home. They had walked this route so many times that a well-worn path was in
the tall grass.

Walking up to the doorway of their
new hut, they placed their items on the ground. They had already constructed a
nice fire pit with neatly laid rocks in a circle all around it. On one side of
the pit was an area for boiling water. The rocks were the exact distance apart
needed to hold their pot. On the other side of the pit, were more rocks spaced
for cooking fish, using skewers.

They already had a nice supply of
wood, and had gathered some fire starting material, which they had stored in
the hut. Everything about this place was an upgrade from their old home. Using
the saw that they found in the cabin made building the hut much easier than it
would have been otherwise. They also used the saw to cut wood for burning.

"I'll catch some fish, if
somebody wants to get a fire going," said John. "I'll get it,"
said Hailey. The stream was only about fifty yards from their new hut, so John
set about catching fish bait. With Katie helping him, they soon had enough bugs
and grubs.

As always, John was afraid of losing
his hook, so he fished near the surface while Katie prepared a limb stringer to
hold the fish. Before she had it ready, John already had a fish on his hook.
"Got one," he said. "OK, hold on," said Katie, as she
stripped the last few leaves from her newly fashioned stringer. In about thirty
minutes they had nine small fish and wasted no time gutting them and started
back with their lunch.

Katie carried the fish, and John
carried the fishing pole. They could see the smoke rising from the fire that
Hailey already had going and could smell the familiar scent of burning wood. In
the hut, they already had a nice stash of fruit, so food would be plentiful
today. "Wow, you two did good," said Hailey, as Katie held their
catch up for her to see. Hailey had two long limbs ready to hold the fish.
"I think I'll cut another limb," she said, getting up from the rock
she had been seated on.

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 and 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.