159 Blood and Guts (1/2)
The new colonists weren't so upset any more about being treated like a train of donkeys. Donkeys and people shared an important trait: they could both get used to anything, anything at all.
It was a cloudy day; it looked as if it would rain later. Samir hoped it wouldn't happen until the afternoon. He'd calculated that they'd reach Madan's old settlement if they kept walking steadily for seven hours. Well, they'd have to take a couple of breaks: eight hours.
They had set off just as the sun's rim rose above the horizon, bathing the world in an orange glow. They could make it by the middle of the afternoon.
Reaching Madan's old settlement quickly was a necessity, because they had no food left. There wasn't any waiting for them there, but from past experience Samir knew it wouldn't be hard to get. He'd fished with Madan on a couple of occasions, and knew where the best spots were. It only took a couple of casts to catch a fish even when using an old, holed net. Madan had told Samir he'd even caught a few fish with his bare hands.
”They're so thick there that when they try to escape they bump into each other and completely lose their stupid little fish minds,” Madan had said, in a tone that indicated that unlike the fish, he was possessed of a god-like intelligence.
In addition to the fishing spots, Samir also knew the location of two primitive salt pans Madan had dug out on the beach. They were little more than hollows where water flew in at high tide, and evaporated to leave a thin residue of salt. He could safely send a couple of his new colonists to scrape up whatever salt they could - all they'd have to do was walk along the beach for a few hundred steps, there and back. While they did that, Samir, Neil, and the remaining recruits would catch a few fish.
And there was a good coconut grove nearby too: after such a long human absence a dozen nuts lying on the ground were virtually guaranteed. They'd eat well that evening. It was important that the new colonists ate well. From Samir's experience, people who ate well were much more cooperative than people who didn't.
He was proud of his plan. Around mid-morning, he revealed it to his new colonists. He was forced to do that because the moaning started. They didn't complain any more, they moaned.
The teacher moaned that her life was coming to an end. Her husband prophesied his own end was coming a little later, after he'd suffered more than she ever would. The wife's brother, the former electrician, reminded everyone that he'd warned them something that started badly would end badly, too. He'd stayed mostly silent until that moment, and whenever he did open his mouth he spoke a basic, simple truth with the air of someone who had just discovered time travel.
He was very crafty about it. He said:
”I told you I am going to test you. If you cannot go without food and rest for a few hours, you're useless. If you pass this test, you'll get a reward, a reward that will exceed all your expectations. A settlement of your own, all built and ready and waiting for you. Located in the perfect spot, with fresh water and plenty of food around. No one will bother you there. I have an army. And I protect my people.”
The moaning stopped instantly.
”A settlement of our own?” asked the former school caretaker.
”Already built, with plenty of food?” asked the wife.
”It sounds too good to be true,” said her brother.
The teenagers were silent. But their faces began to glow with hope and when Samir saw that, he knew that he'd succeeded. Old people's emotions were the same as young people's. The only difference was that old people filtered their feelings through the masks they were wearing, the masks life had taught them to wear. The teacher, her husband, and her brother were as full of hope as the kids.
They all walked on with a new determination, and by two in the afternoon - give or take half an hour - they were getting near. Samir recognized the clump of coconut palms from a distance; the abandoned settlement was just a few hundred steps away from the grove.
He led the group towards the coconut palms. He would let his new colonists rest there. They'd split a few nuts open and drink the milk and eat the hard white flesh, and they would start feeling better about things. While they did that, he would take Neil and conduct a quick reconnaissance. He'd pay a visit to the settlement, and take inventory of what was there, what was not, and what was needed.
He knew something was wrong even before he saw the buildings. A couple of wild berry bushes were growing next to the path leading to the settlement. They had been picked clean.
”Look at this,” Samir said to Neil, and pointed.
”Maybe the birds ate them,” Neil suggested.
Samir shook his head.
”There were always a few left,” he said. ”Look sharp. By the way, do you remember that smoke you saw just before we met and took in the new people?”
”Yes.”
”They say they didn't light any fires. That if there was a fire, it was started by someone else.”
”But they came from that direction!”
”I know. But they insist they didn't start that fire. And I believe them, because they had no means to start a fire with them. No flint, no kindling... And they had no reason to start a fire, either. They didn't have anything that needed cooking.”
”So it had to be someone else,” Neil said.
”Yes.”
”That means there are many new people in the New World.”
”Yes.”
”You think we're going to run into some now?”
”We may. Let's exercise caution. Keep behind cover if we can.”
They took care to make as little noise as possible. They darted between bushes, trees, and rocks, always stopping to look and listen before moving again. When they heard a male voice asking some sort of question and another answering, they became even more cautious.
The few primitive buildings that comprised the settlement were arranged in a semi-circle around a big fireplace. Samir led Neil to the right, and behind the back wall of the primitive shed Madan had built for storage. The voices fell silent and they crouched there, waiting for the conversation to resume. When it did, things immediately became unpleasant.
”There's someone hiding behind that shed,” a strong, male voice said.
”You're joking.”
”I'm not. I heard something. Let's take a look.”
Samir immediately grasped Neil's arm and they retreated a dozen steps. It didn't go unnoticed.