“I honestly don’t know. But I guess we’ll find out.” He said. About twenty minutes later they saw the main camp below them. He could see Leo and the others and smiled. At least they were alive, he was afraid Connor and his group would try some sneaky shit. When they arrived, they saw Marla and Christian, both looking a little worse for wear. He walked up to Leo and shook his hand.
“How is it, any trouble with Connor and Matt?” he asked.
“Yeah, they tried to sweet talk their way in, but the camera crew and Hunter and William showed them that there was no sweet talking.” Leo laughed.
Aiden looked around, “Where are they, I figured they’d be here to go to the gorge to see if help was coming.”
“They already left, but we’re leaving the majority here. Me and Marla are going there. We’re afraid if we all leave, they could double back and steal everything that isn’t hidden or nailed down.”
“Good thinking. Christ, what a shit show. So, it is just you eleven? How are you holding out with the food situation?” Aiden asked, as Sarah walked up and joined them. She smiled up at Leo.
“So far, we are making it. With eleven of us, it is a lot of mouths to feed. I’d ask you to join us, but I know you won’t.” He grinned.
“Here Leo, here are some nuts to look for. They are good and high in protein and fats. Here is a tuber, the leaves are fat, so look for them in shady spots. That should help with your food colleting.” Sarah said, handing the food items over to Leo.
“Thanks Sarah, I appreciate it, I’d seen the trees up northwest of here, but wasn’t sure about them. I’ll have my people collect them.” He laughed then, “My people, Christ, I still can’t believe it. I’m hoping you’re wrong about the EMP and this is just some bullshit, but I know deep down that it isn’t. I am thankful that I didn’t leave a wife and children behind, poor Gabe is broken up about it. He is coming to terms, but he’s been devastated. I hope you two didn’t leave loved ones behind.”
Both Aiden and Sarah shook their head, their faces solemn. “No, we have our parents and siblings of course, but they are all grown and living their own lives. It still doesn’t seem real, I keep waking up in the morning and thinking, is this really happening? Then I feel the hunger in my belly and know it is really happening. Is everyone pitching in.” Aiden asked, his eyes drifting to Christian, who was talking to Diana.
Leo laughed low, “Word has it Marla threatened to kill him if he didn’t pull his weight. That boy has been busting his ass since.”
All three sniggered and looked over at Christian, who looked to have lost some of the pudge around his middle. “That’s good, you don’t need dead weight. When are we leaving for the gorge?”
“We were waiting on you, so I guess we’ll leave now, here comes Marla.” Leo said and grabbed his backpack. Aiden admired the long knife at Leo’s hip, it was a good tool for defense as well as cutting things. But he preferred his machete. They had been truly transported to the stone age, if they wanted more tools and weapons, they would have to make them from the rocks and wood around them.
The four of them left the main camp and began the two-hour hike to the gorge. Sarah and Aiden brought up the rear.
“I got five more empty bottles in my pack. I can’t believe they didn’t use them. The garbage is filled with empties.” She whispered, patting her backpack.
“On the way back, I’ll pick out a few more, that will be less trips we have to make to the waterfall.” He said, thinking of the small waterfall they’d found. It was almost a mile from their cave. Not a bad hike, but if they had to do it every day, that was nearly an hour out of their day they had to devote to getting water. They had a good collection of water bottles now, safe in their cave.
They would refill their new bottles on the way home. He was sure Leo would eventually figure out to use the rest of the bottled water and keep the empties, but for now, Aiden wanted to make sure he and Sarah were fixed up the best they could be. Everything they had would have to last them the rest of their lives, thirty to fifty years, bar any accidents, murdering teammates and disease. He almost missed a step at that thought, fifty years here, never to see others, to watch those around him dwindle away.
It made him feel very small and insignificant. He looked over at Sarah, her face was relaxed and a small smile curved her lips. He thought that perhaps she was relatively happy, despite their situation. And he was surprised, because he too was happy and contented, at least at their cave.
The threat of Connor and Matt didn’t make him happy one bit and kept him on edge when he was near the main camp site and in or near Connor’s vicinity. But he was happy and he was adjusting very quickly to the thought of living here the rest of his life. It was beautiful and peaceful.
Sarah called both Leo and Marla over to look at the broadleaf common plantain, she told them what she’d told him about it and both seemed very pleased to have a new food source.
“They are very high in vitamins and you won’t need to worry about scurvy. I would also hazard a guess
