“Looks like your comb works great, your hair looks smoother. Is the tea ready?”
“It does work pretty good, but I might have to dull the spikes a little more, it kind of rakes a little too hard when I comb, but at least I can comb. And yes, tea is done and cooled.” She grinned up at him.
They had to drink from the small pot since they didn’t have any cups. “I was thinking about trying to make some stoneware. I’m not sure how to do it, but I figure if we can make a small kiln, we can try. I would have to find some mud that would work. I saw a YouTube video about this guy who makes all the primitive houses and things. It’s so cool, he even made tile for the roof of a hut house.” She said.
“Yeah, I think I know who you’re talking about, I think it was called primitive technology. I saw some of the videos, really cool stuff. I think we can do that. I can use green wood to maybe make a housing frame and build a fire in it, maybe we can dig a pit to hold the heat in better. We can put your stoneware in it and then cover it with hot coals.”
“Yep, I think that was how they did it. Now I want to do it.” She laughed, her cheeks turning pink and her eyes shimmering in the light.
He looked at her and thought she looked like she belonged here. How was it that she was so at ease, and that Carol and Vana struggled and Abby killed herself? What was the difference? Was it because of him? Because he brought something to the table as well as she did? Their combined knowledge helped both of them. They balanced each other out, and though each day would bring struggles and challenges, Aiden knew they’d make it, deep in his gut, he knew they’d make it.
“You know, it’s good to hear you laugh, not because you haven’t but because you can. I was thinking about Carol, Vana and Abby. They seemed so miserable here, and yet, you, me, and some of the others seem to do better. Do you think it is because we hold some knowledge on how to survive?” Aiden asked, he was curious to know what she thought.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I’m afraid, but I’m only afraid of the people, not of our surroundings. I know if push came to shove, I could survive out here by myself, we have water, and food, though you bring the meat.” She grinned, and she took a sip of the tea and continued, “but I also think that maybe the others came here only for the money, not really expecting to have to work at surviving here.”
“They would have tapped out in the first few weeks, and of course me, you, Leo and the others would have just kept going. I think it is also about the human spirit, the desire to survive. Here we are drinking tea, as if it were a nice Sunday afternoon. We have a full larder in the cave. There isn’t a lot of extra junk, but it is healthy filling food. Maybe they thought that someone else would get them through the competition.” She speculated.
“Maybe, but Connor and Matt confuse me, I’d spoken with both before we’d even gotten to this place and both seemed capable. Yet you saw how they looked. Do you think they were just bullshitting me?”
“I don’t know Aiden, but maybe they, like Leo and the rest, didn’t have knowledge about some of the plants. There are snakes galore and we could live off of those, so I just don’t know. Maybe they are too lazy to get out there or maybe they just don’t know how to work together, it’s just beyond me.”
“I guess we should head to main camp, I brought the empties with me, so we can fill up on water on the way back. How is your stone knife?” He asked, and watched as she took it out. He’d made her a four-inch stone knife. The shape of the rock he’d found had been right. He had hammered it with a bigger rock to chiseled it down to something more lethal and though it wasn’t perfect, she could still use it.
It wasn’t all that sharp, because the edges weren’t thin, but she could stab the shit out of someone and it could cut, but it would leave a very jagged wound, which wasn’t too bad if you’re wanting to hurt someone. He’d taken the hide of the rabbit skin and he’d attached the wet hide to a stout piece of wood. The rock fit into a small depression in the wood and he’d wrapped the leather around it. Once the skin had dried, the rock was seated firmly in the wood handle. It was incredibly crude, but it would work. He’d shown her some self-defense moves in close combat, the day before.
“If someone is coming at you, let them get close enough to ram the knife up into their throat. The gut would be harder to do, since that knife isn’t sharp enough to penetrate muscle. But hit the neck and throat, and your chances are better. Then go for the eyes as fast as you can. An attacker can’t hurt you if they can’t see you and they will be more concerned about their eyeballs being torn out than hurting you.”
“Show me again.” She’d said and she had attacked him over and over and he had attacked her. He also showed her if someone came up behind her and put their forearm around her neck.
“You grab their wrist with the closest hand, and put the other hand under their elbow. Pull down on the wrist and shove like hell on the elbow until you hear is snap.
