They slowed down as they approached the main camp; they could see everyone standing around waiting for them. Disappointment was stamped on all their faces and Christian and Diana began to cry. Aiden watched as Christian disappeared into the woods. William hugged Diana and whispered to her.
Aiden stopped and nodded to Sarah to get the bottles while he talked to Leo and Marla. She disappeared and he turned and stuck out his hand.
“Me and Sarah are heading home. We’ll come back in about a week. I figure Connor’s group, now down by two, will be a lot weaker. If he can’t pull his head out of his ass and figure out he is the only one that can save himself, then you won’t have him for a problem much longer.”
“Thanks for coming with us Aiden. And thank Sarah for showing us the tubers and the nuts. I’ll show our people and send them out to hunt for them.” Leo said, holding out his hand to shake Aiden’s.
“You might want to stockpile what you can. I don’t know the growing seasons here. I don’t know how long things will last, so go cautiously.” He suggested.
Marla walked over and hugged Aiden, she had tears in her eyes. “Thank you, Aiden, and thanks to Sarah. I know you two won’t stay with us, but know you are welcome whenever you want to come here.”
Aiden hugged her back hard, he hoped she and the others could survive this. There were so many of them. He didn’t know much about the others, he’d not been able to get to know them well, but he did hope they survived as well, perhaps not Connor and Matt he amended. He joined Sarah who’d already walked up and away from the group, waving to them.
He waved as well and ran up to meet her. They turned and left the main camp heading to the west, to throw everyone off their true course. When they’d gone about a mile in, they turned east and headed back to their cave. From time to time, they stopped and waited, listening for anyone who might be following.
Sarah found a cluster of wild grapes and they ate silently as they waited nearly a half hour before continuing on toward home. It was peaceful.
“I think I will try making raisins with these. Over by the pond is a sunny place, I can lay these on flat rocks to speed up the heating process and see if we can’t get long term use out of these.” She said putting a few more grapes into her mouth and munching.
He smiled down at her and nodded, then looked around them. He saw nothing but verdant forests and large rock formations and numerous waterfalls. He saw several hawks soaring above, there were clouds gathering, and perhaps a storm coming, but all was quiet and peaceful.
¤¤
Connor was fuming, he walked back and forth, looking down into the gorge and then back across. His jaw hurt like hell, that god damn Leo had sucker punched him. Bastard. Joey and Matt just stood there like two stupid idiots, completely useless. He’d meant it about less mouths to feed. He was so fucking hungry, all he could think about was what a loss, they could have cut up Abby and had a fucking feast. He’d not even been surprised by the thought of it, when it came to him. He was so hungry now.
God damn Aiden and Leo looked like fat cats, and so did the women. They looked a bit thinner, but nothing like his group. All he could find were fucking worms and it was all he could do to choke them down. The green stuff wasn’t even filling, they needed meat. He had set snares and traps, but nothing had been caught. He’d found the traps sprung, but nothing inside. He’d found blood on one, but something must have taken his prize.
These two fools were absolutely useless, Matt had said he could fish, but had nothing to use for fishing. He’d tried to catch fish with his hands but had completely screwed it up and scared the fish away. Thank Christ for all the waterfalls, they at least had fresh water. It had taken them four hours to get a fire going, because Carol had let the fire go out, he’d wanted to beat the shit out of her, and all she did now was cry and it was wearing on his nerves.
Even Sam was crying, the two were pathetic. Vana just stared into space a lot, zoning out. She refused to go hunting or even gathering food. He’d had to smack her around to make her go out. She came back with some useless grass.
If Carol wasn’t crying, then she was bitching all the time, and he was sick of her. It was like fucking a bag of bones. Vana was the same, both useless to him. Maybe they could harvest the girls, he’d have to talk the guys into it though, he knew they’d throw a shit fit. Well, maybe not Sam, he was a bodybuilder and he was losing muscle mass quickly. He’d see about talking Matt and Joey into it on their way home. He looked up the trail and was surprised he didn’t see Leo and Aiden. They had just disappeared.
“Where the hell did they go?” he asked both men.
Joey and Matt looked at each other and shrugged, “They started walking back. Guess they didn’t want to hang around.” Matt said sullenly.
“Let’s head back too, there ain’t shit none for us here. I have something to bring up and before you guys say no, I want you to think about it.” At their nods, he continued.
“If I’d have known Abby and Dan were
