Chapter 2 - Shelter 1

Mik:

I may have tried to razz Tom, but I am so fucking relieved there was someone with more experience to take charge. I may have trained to lead a squad, but these people aren’t military so I’d be lost. He’s not only officer but a civie teacher to boot, best choice.

Keeping my eye out for good sticks and that cat from hell is a little difficult with the lovely, uncovered behinds in front of me. The gals range from Teresa, who’s a petite little Japanese doll to Ahana who’s got some nice, large curves. But the play of muscles in her legs as she walks tells me she ain’t a fatty. All good looking women, a string-bean like me with buck teeth better be nice if I want a chance with any of them.

I do keep my eyes going back and forth like on a patrol, just like they trained me. The trail we’re following ain’t very wide and the trees are close on both sides. That cat can’t be what it looked like, they all died off a long time ago and all I seen are skeletons in museums. But those fangs looked right. Shit, what the hell have we been dropped into?

Then I spot a broken branch that looks good. “Hold up in front,” I call out.

Tom looks back and I toss my head to the side with a motion like I’m pounding with a hammer. He nods and I move in carefully in case there’s any nasties. A little work and I get not one but two good clubs out of the pile. I give one to him and keep the other as I take up tail-end-Charlie again.

Before we reach the cliffs Sean finds another one and the chick who looks Native American finds a fourth that she keeps. There’s a jumble of rocks at the base but I don’t see one thing I’d call a cave. Tom’s moving his head, peering at the wall in front of us.

“What’cha looking for?” I ask as I come up next to him.

“Sometimes a cave entrance isn’t readily apparent. I’m seeing if there are shadow changes.”

“Makes sense,” I shrug.

Then he huffs and looks at me. “Nothing here. So we split up.”

“That wise?”

“I could pick a direction and have us all go that way, but what if there’s a good one just a little bit the other way? We could spend hours instead of finding something quick. How good can you whistle?”

“Pretty shitty.”

“Ya, I can hold a tune but it ain’t loud.” He turns to the others and asks, “Who here can give a loud whistle?”

Sean says, “That’s how we keep track of each other in the woods when hunting. I can be heard a mile or more.”

“I’ll challenge you to that,” Jennifer chuckles. “Father says I can bust eardrums.”

“Alright,” Tom says. “You two are our signalers. Mik, you take Sean, Teresa and Carla that way,” he waves to the right. “I’ll take Jennifer and Ahana the other way. We’re looking for a cave at best but a good overhang that’ll keep rain off of us will do. Find something, send a whistle.”

“Why you split us that way?” Sean asks with a bit of sneer.

“Right now we have four armed people, so two in each group,” Tom says.

“Can chickie there use that thing or is it for decoration,” Sean snickers.

“Oh I can swing it, we play Lacrosse a bit rough in the Nation. Want a lump on your skull for proof?” Jen asks, hefting her club.

Sean’s face goes hard and he hefts his club. “I don’t gotta take no shit from a squaw.”

He’s going to be trouble and I’m about to pound him from behind when Tom steps between them. “Knock it off, both of you,” he says. He ain’t yelling, but something in his voice causes them both to blink and me wanting to come to attention again ... damned command voice, like my Major uses.

He looks between them and says, “I don’t care what kind of personal issues you have. If we don’t work together and at least try to get along, this place will kill us. Bury any kind of bigotry you have deep and leave it there. Got it?”

Jen relaxes and shoulders her club again. “You’re the chief,” she says.

He looks at Sean and for a moment I think the big man is going to take a swing at him. Then he huffs, shoulders his club and growls, “This place sucks.”

“Maybe so,” Cap says. “But it’s what we got and if we’re going to survive long enough to get out, we have to cooperate.”

Sean makes a disgusted sound and stalks off a few paces. Jen gives Tom a shrug then moves the other way a little bit. I come up to him and say low, “He’s going to be trouble.”

“I know,” is the quiet response. “Keep your eye on him.”

I nod then in a louder voice ask, “How long do we search?”

He looks up at the sky. “Well, the sun’s a bit higher now, so it’s morning and not evening. I’d like to find something good but we got a lot of work even after we find shelter. Lets go for an hour or so, if we haven’t found anything by then, we’ll look at setting up something on the edge of the woods.”

I glance at the line of trees, the path we came up was an animal trail I think. The rest is thick with trees of all types with heavy brush under. We got space here, maybe ten yards of scattered rubble then another ten of tall grass before the trees start. Thinking back to my training for tactical situations in woods I say, “Harder to defend if that tabby from hell comes nosing around.”