Eden Reset Ch 02

axThe wind off the desert had a bite to it, Katey snugged the large cloth wrap tightly around herself as she worked her way down the rocky hillside.

She wasn't frightened, but she was being very careful. The desert Dogs were out there, one or two of them she knew she could handle but if she got the attention of a large pack it would be a problem.

She reached down and touched the huge blade that hung from the belt she had made from the wirebrush strands. She tugged on it, it still felt strong. Wirebrush was everywhere, it had taken over quickly after the time of the dark clouds that had signalled Earth's end.

All of those years she had sat at the Dan Father's feet and listened to him tell the stories of the times before slid through her mind.

The Mary Mother and Sara mother had also spoken from time to time, adding in moments of past to fill her mind with visions of what was before.

Before seemed to Katey to be a wondrous time, the idea of so many of the others everywhere was something her mind just could not really grasp.

But she had seen the places where the others had lived before, they were so large and seemed to go on and on. They had all lived a mostly orderly life together, not like the way it was now. There had been so many, now there was almost no one. The five family members in their own little band had struggled to survive, now there was just herself. Somewhere out there was her brother Marty, and her sister, Marilee.

The only others she had ever seen had come to try and take them, always after the women. Dan father had fought them, refusing to become part of their pack.

Katey knew why the others wanted her and her sister Marilee, Dan father had told her so. She didn't really understand that, the dark clouds had made almost everyone who survived sterile, so why would the others want the women?

"You choose who you become one with, Katey." Dan father had said. "Let no one force you."

She had not completely understood what that meant either until one day she saw that she had begun to bleed while out doing her toiletries. It looked just like the time a Rabbit caught in one of their traps had turned and bitten her on her leg. It had the same red color she had seen before when she was scratched or cut. But from there? She knew something was wrong, so Katey ran to Sara mother crying, afraid. She had no real idea what could have happened to her there. Whatever it was made her feel ill, her stomach hurt.

Mary mother and Sara mother had talked a long time with her quietly, explaining. Katey remembered thinking that they should have told her before. The truth was that they had but Katey was a bit of a wild thing, a tomboy and spent most of her time trying to keep up with or top her brother Marty. They often scuffled, and even with Katey being much smaller, Marty could barely manage to control her.

Things changed after that, she began to hide from her brother Marty when she felt the time coming.

She had no idea why though, except Mary and Sara mother had explained what men do. Marty had acted differently the first few times towards her when her time came. She knew what he was thinking at those times, and somehow it was not right so she learned to keep to herself.

Katey had no idea how old she was when Dan father passed quietly one night. He was there for dinner but did not awake the next morning. Mary mother and Sara mother lifted the now light old man's body and took him somewhere, returning after a few hours.

They had both been crying. Katey cried also, Marty did not. He seemed to suddenly become taller, stronger. He took Dan father's blade and hung it from his hip, then went to the watch rock to check everything.

Katey could see him up there, his powerful shoulders and arms bare but for the vest he had made from a Lion's hide. Marty's hair was long and flowing, stark white even though he was young. They all assumed it was due to the exposure to their parents from when the dark clouds came. Even though Dan father and the women had stayed fertile, something had changed.

Katey's hair was darker, more brownish yellow than white, although she had strips of white in hers, also.

From then on Marty was the leader, the strong male figure. He was very powerful, nearly six feet tall and heavy in the chest and shoulders.

His going up to the watch rock was a sure sign of his accepting his family leadership. Mary mother simply allowed that with a smile, and both she and Sara mother obeyed when Marty asked them to do something.

Nothing was coming their way of course, nothing ever did any much anymore. Not after the time Dan father had had enough of the constant attempts at raiding them and they all went down to the other's camp. Katey had stayed behind, hiding up in the cave where no one could ever find her.

The others were all sleeping, their reactions were far too late.

No one spoke much of that time after that, but there were no more attacks. Only rarely did they see a dust cloud in the distance as someone moved across the desert.

Dan father spent quite a long time off by himself after dealing with the others, it was like he was talking to someone. His face was drawn and gray, it was a long time before he smiled again.

Katey learned to fear the idea of the others, she took every precaution to avoid them.

Then Sara mother became ill, over several days she became weaker and weaker, one day she sighed and was gone. It was during that period that little Marilee had simply vanished. Marilee was always into something, always wandering off exploring. While their attention had been diverted, Marilee was simply gone.

She was barely 15 years old when she disappeared. Children were valuable in this new world of mostly sterile survivors, there was always the chance one could breed. Katey's family were not sterile for some reason.

Marilee was a strange child, she almost never spoke. She had to be watched constantly since she was afraid of nothing and curious about everything. She was already close to 5 feet tall by the time she was barely 10 warm seasons old, and her hair grew in jet black with a strip of pure white in the front. By the time she was 12 her hair had reached her waist, she absolutely refused to let anyone touch it or try to cut it. Now as she had begun to bud out and become a woman her long hair had seemed to reach all of the length it was going to.

Rather than carry the large blades that all the rest of them used, she had several smaller, thinner ones. She had practiced throwing until now she could hit a Rabbit on a dead run with them.

One day while out gathering wood they had been confronted by a large white Cougar. Somehow a few had survived the dark clouds, hiding in their dens. Marty had stepped in front of Marilee, drawing his heavy blade. Katey had stepped aside with her sling at the ready also, the huge animal showed no sign at all of retreating. Then a blade had flown past Marty's shoulder, the big Cat had dropped in it's tracks with the razor sharp knife sunk to the hilt in it's throat.

Marty wore that hide now everywhere he went, Marilee had sat crosslegged for days stripping and curing the hide to make a parka for him. She chewed the tough hide until it was soft and pliable, then stained it with the bitter and peppery wirebrush berries in patterns.

Marty could almost not be seen when out in the brush. He moved like a shadow, there and then not even though in plain sight.

Marty had hunted for days afer Marilee came up missing, looking for signs. He had worried at first that she had run into a pack of the desert dogs, they would take her in an instant if they could. But he had found instead the tracks of a large solar powered machine, and he knew.

That was rare, all of the other machines had long since failed, the battery packs refused to take a charge. But someone had one that still worked, Marty looked out across the desert at the tracks fading in the distance.

He also found the spattering of blood, whoever had taken Marilee had ran into a struggle, she was deadly with her knives.

There was nothing he could do, yet he fretted all the time. He began to skip eating, instead he went and stared out across the desert.

Then one day he spoke with Mary mother, Katey saw her nod and reach out to hug him, the next day he was gone.

With no one left but Mary mother and Katey it was obvious that it would not be long before something had to change.

Change came quickly. It was just a few weeks before Mary mother became ill, it was like she had whatever Sara mother had.

The outcome was obvious, and soon Katey was alone.

Some of the others came when the next warm season arrived, they searched for her for a long time. But Katey knew about the cave up the far side of the canyon, she hid inside for a long time, her blade at the ready in the narrow passage. It was so dark that she could not see but she could hear. The tiniest sound told her what was there, she heard them outside, searching. But they never found the cave entrance.

After they exhausted their fruitless search, Katey packed what little remained and headed out in the direction that Marty had gone. Marty had been gone for a very long time, but she had no other options.

There was just nothing else left to do, she knew she could not stay at their home by herself.

When she approached the hard path, the sign Dan father had hung so many years before stood silently as a witness, hanging at an angle by one fastner. "Eden" it read, the letters still clear. Katey stopped, and used a piece of wirebrush to hook it back in place.

She glanced back as a gust of wind knocked it loose, it hung again at a steep angle.

That was almost like an omen, Eden was now gone.

She moved quietly across the desert away from the hard path, slipping from large patches of brush to rocks, checking carefully before moving on. The wind caused the now tattered flaps of the vehicles shoved over to the sides of the hard path to move, but there was nothing else. There were a few remains of the others from the world before, the grey bodies were mostly buried, just shells of what was once a living thing.

Katey had seen them many times before, she was hardened to that.

As she walked along, she spotted a mark on one of the vehicles. It was in a wild scroll, and looked something like the letter "M".

Her heart leaped, it was Marty's sign that he had left for them before when he went hunting or fishing. He marked rocks with a piece of the whitestone that he carried in his pocket. The next mark was to the left, the city was the other way. Katey had never been down that way, it seemed odd but Marty left the signs so she followed.

After several days following Marty's signs she came to a mark that had a line underneath, a circle on the end of the single line. Katey looked, then turned and headed out across the desert floor towards....nothing.

The ever present wind had covered most tracks, although in a few places she could make out a sign or two of where a machine had passed.

She went on total faith, Marty was months ahead of her but he was telling her which way to go. Katey checked her water, she had just two quarts left and had been out of food for over a day.

But she had her blade, and she knew about the sticky water plants that grew in the desert.

When it got close to dark time, she settled in close to a water plant, and made a snare from wirebrush strands. She made a simple loop, placed it where the creature would likely pass between two rugged plant stalks, and attached each end, knotting them securely. When the animal tried to slip through the noose it would tighten. She had seen the well used trail heading off over a low bank, kneeling down she saw the burrow. The tracks looked to be that of one of the big rats, that was food, she knew.

Plus a hide, which she needed to repair her sling, now worn from many hunts.

It was very dark when she heard the squeal, she hurried up and went over to her snare, following the sounds.

Her blade made quick work of the animal. She felt her way back to her camp. Picking up the sticks she had set up before, she pressed it down and spun it in the little pile of fine shavings she had placed there. Her practiced hands soon had a trail of smoke, then flame. She nursed the flame into a nice fire, then using her blade she skinned and cleaned the animal.

It was a nice fat little Rat, she placed it on some coals she brushed back from the fire, turning it constantly.

Then she ate ravenously, even cracking the skull open to suck out the brains before discarding and burying the remains. She didn't wish to attract a pack of desert dogs. Afterwards she buried some coals, covered them and slept soundly in the soft warm sand, curled up near the glowing fire. It warded off the night time chill nicely, she woke up refreshed. The Sun shone brightly in the clear blue sky, Katey stretched, dug up the remains, then used her blade to strip the hide of hairs and tissue.

Sitting cross legged, she cut the hide into strips, began to chew it to soften it. Finally satisfied, she used her blade to cut a section from a nearby wirebrush, trimming the ends into a long handled fork.

It was stout, she pulled on it with all her strength trying to break it and could not.

Sitting down again, she tied the strips of hide to one side of the fork, then tied a small pad of hide to the center of it. Selecting a pebble, she loaded the tool and spun it, releasing it at a nearby water plant.

She hit it dead center, blowing a hole all the way through the plant and out the other side.

Katey grinned, stuck the sling in her waistband, then gathered a half dozen nice sized pebbles she placed those in her pouch.

Then she went and found a nice hard sandstone rock, and carefully sharpened her blade. Checking the edge, she knew it was keen, so she hung it from her belt, wrapping a piece of the left over hide around the blade. She discarded the worn piece she had been using, carefully burying it to leave no sign. Then she covered her fireplace in the sand. Checking the Sun to get her bearings, she headed out again.

Abandoned vehicles were now scarce, but she came upon several at a narrower hard path. Once again, there was Marty's mark, she found the one with the line and the circle, and headed off again after checking all of the vehicles for anything she could use. She did cut a section of tattered canvas from one of them, folded it and took it with her.

That was all there was, she had flipped the switch on each one, all of them were dead.

It was four days later when she saw the hazy outline of a city. Getting closer, she could see the buildings were tall. She came to a stream, drank greedily. It was cold and clear.

Then she made a camp away from the edge of the stream, well aware that the small little brook could become a raging torrent at a moment's notice. It was nice and cool, there was a lot more vegetation, trees nearby. She sat down and stripped a long piece of wirebrush carefully until she had about 10 feet of thin strand. In her pouch she had some metal hooks, Dan father had collected them years before from the town, she always carried them with her.

She had spotted a small rotten tree down by the stream, so she went down and dug into the soft wood. Sure enough, there was an Ant's nest with large white eggs. She put one on the hook and dropped the line into a small pool at a bend in the river.

The line twitched, she tugged and was rewarded with a small fish flipping out on the bank. She caught six of them, all about 8 inches long before a larger one bit and snapped the strand.

She was upset with losing the hook, but she had a dozen more of them. She was hoping she could find more in the city, and perhaps more things she needed.

As long as she didn't run into a pack of the others.

That night she cooked and ate the fish, they were delicious. But she made a mistake, leaving the remains out. Her belly was full and she needed sleep so she simply curled up next to the glowing coals, once again burying some to warm the ground.

Katey woke with a start in the dark to see several sets of eyes glowing at her, reflected barely by the fading fire.

Desert Dogs!

Rolling up to her feet and waving her arms, the animals didn't back down. She drew her blade, just in time as one darted in to attack. She brought the heavy blade down, there was a yelp and they all retreated a short distance.

She grabbed her sling and loaded a pebble, spinning it and releasing it. One of the Dogs stumbled and almost fell, letting out a howl. They vanished into the darkness.

Then she backed to a nearby tree, climbing it she settled in on a branch fork. She leaned back and waited for daylight, Desert Dogs would never try to attack in the daylight.

Katey slept fitfully in the tree, she wasn't worried about falling off, she had slept in trees before.

When the Sun came up, she climbed down. The Dogs had eaten the remains of her fish, and had dragged her pack off and torn it up. She recovered that, gathered what had spilled out. Finding a wirebrush, she stripped off some threads and made the repairs, using the portion of canvas she had salvaged.

She really hated those Desert Dogs, she knew she had killed the one, having found it's body lying a dozen feet away. The rest had come back in the dark and fed on it, but a lot still remained. Her heavy blade had bitten deeply into the back of it's neck. The marks showed another one was dragging a hind leg, she grinned at herself when she saw that. She knew the rest would turn on it when dark came, one less desert dog to be concerned about.

She skinned the carcass, stripped out the meat. Building a fire, she piled rocks to shroud the coals, then sprinkled wood chips on the fire to make smoke. Wetting the remains of the hide, she lay it over the rocks to keep the smoke close in to the meat.

So much smoke made her nervous but she needed to cure the meat for later. She smoked the meat until it was fully dry, then stripped out the hide and cut strands for ties.

The larger portion made a fine soft parka for her shoulders after she scraped off the now crisp fatty tissue and thoroughly chewed the pelt.

Once again she stripped out some wirebrush, selecting a stronger thread to make line from. She didn't need food so she coiled the line and put it in her pouch for later.

Then she headed out towards the city, following the stream. It meandered but seemed to be heading that way. Finding a small rise at nightfall, she went up and watched carefully, checking for movement. There wasn't any, so she climbed down and made camp, checked to make sure a nice tree was nearby in case she needed it.

She slept well, nothing bothered her that night. The next morning she made a meal of the dried meat, finishing it off with a drink from the stream.

She knew she was going to have to cross the stream, so she removed her heavy boots. She didn't want to get them soaked, they were the last pair that Dan father had brought home, and she had already repaired them dozens of times. She didn't really need the boots, the soles of her feet were like leather, but in some of the climbing the boots made it easier.

Moving upstream to a riffle, she crossed to the other side. She kept her blade at the ready, not sure of what if anything might be in the water but nothing showed.

Katey spent a full two days approaching the place of the others. She checked constantly for motion, anything that might mean trouble. She had long since lost track of the marks Marty was leaving, that worried her. She had seen nothing since leaving the stream.

Finally mustering her courage, she moved up close to a building. There seemed to be a wide hard path heading into the city, staying close to the edges she moved ahead. Coming around a corner, she was delighted to see one of Marty's marks.