“I think we should make some kind of door or barricade while we aren’t here. I don’t want some animal getting in here and getting to what ever food we’ve managed to secure.” Aiden said, as he and Sarah were drinking ginger and berry tea. She had made a batch of it as he was settling everything. His voice bounced off the walls, and he lowered his voice, shrugging with an apology.
“I can look for some vines and maybe tie stout straight branches together. I was thinking, when we go back to the main camp in three days, I want to dig through their garbage again and get the rest of those bottles. We can fill up at the waterfall on our way back.” Sarah suggested.
“Good idea, but I think we can find a small waterfall around this area, I saw some lush growth about a half mile from here, it is in a kind of valley, that usually means water and because of all these cliffs and rock faces, I’m hoping there is something there we can use. After we drink this, lets go and take the soapberries and wash our spare clothing at the small pond we passed. That way, they should be dry by tomorrow. Maybe we can find watercress as well. And aren’t cattails edible?”
“Yes, depending on what part you are wanting to use, you can eat the top, before it turns brown. You can use the pollen on the top stick part and the tender shoots inside are good fried. Some of the people where I use to live.” She paused and swallowed hard, looking at him, blinking rapidly to fight the tears. After a moment, she continued, “people would gather that in the early spring and also fiddleheads, off of new ferns. We can check for those as well, in the spring. We can pull up some of the cattails and strip away the outer leaves and get to the tender shoots. We can also use the interior fluff of the cat tail as well.”
“Did I ever tell you how glad I am that you’re my partner?” he laughed, shaking his head.
“I forgot all about that, with all this going on, I’d forgotten about all the uses and that we could eat it. Also, I can use the leaves to weave the door for the cave. What do you think everyone is doing?”
“I’d hate to even think about it. I’m sure the ones who took the MREs have eaten every single one of them and so now they have nothing and no one they can steal from.” Aiden said, the last part had a bit of sting to it. It still made him angry to think about their behavior, it wasn’t even minutes before Connor and Matt had dove into madness and violence.
“How long do you think they will live? Especially if they really can’t figure it out fast?” She asked.
“Maybe a few weeks, I suspect that Leo will need to watch his back. If he and the others can team up, they might have a chance. They will have to guard everything day and night. Connor and Matt will be sneaking in there to steal what they have, I’m sure.”
“Do you think we will ever join them?”
“For now, I’d say no, it is just the two of us and if we stay hidden, we’ll be safe. We can sleep easy at night and not worry that someone will kill us for the food we have. There is plenty of water, especially all the small water falls that pepper this area. But if they can’t get their shit together to either hunt or gather food, they will start dropping like flies in about two or three weeks.”
“I would also guess that the violence will also escalate with the desperation factor. I have a feeling that Carol and Vana won’t last long, they are already thin as hell. They have almost no body fat, and pre-apocalypse that is fine, but now, I would almost say it is a death sentence. I will never bitch about my fat ass again.” She said seriously, causing Aiden to bark out a laugh and she shot him a dirty look. He held up his hands defensively,
“I personally think your ass looks great.” He said and ducked when she took a swing at him and he laughed.
“You’re right about the violence escalating though. That was the biggest reason I wanted to get the hell out of Dodge, everyone will be a target for exploitation. Each day that passes, it will become even more grim. I wouldn’t even go down in four days, but I have a small piece of hope in me that I’m wrong about the EMP and that the porters will be there waiting for us.” He shrugged helplessly.
“I do too, but I’m not holding out hope, that can’t just be a coincidence of everything going down at once. Maybe the phones or tablets running out of juice, but all the camera equipment at once? No, I think you’re right Aiden, and no matter how bad we want it to be otherwise, it isn’t. I’ve always been a realist and I’ve always wanted the truth, good, bad or ugly. I guess this is as ugly as it gets.”
¤¤
Connor laid in the small cave, he’d gone looking for Aiden and Sarah this morning and hadn’t found them. He looked around their site for food, but found nothing. The ginger he’d found had been useless, it was too strong to eat. He’d thought it was some kind of tuber. But when he bit into it, he had to spit it out. He’d eaten all the MREs last night and was sick and had thrown it all up. He was so
