Masters of the Arches

Vincent knew that he had past out while lying on the ground between his two women. He was on his side with his head resting against his arm when he returned back into the reality of his world. He must have move while he was unconscious, but he didn't remember anything. He was now only half aware of his situation since his mind was still partly out of focus because of his having past out for such a long time. But in spite of that, he knew that he was in great danger and that he had to act fast.

He turned his head in every direction to look around, of course noting was moving, but when his eyes came to rest on Nika, he discovered that she had change position since before he had lost consciences. Even now as his eyes focused on her, he could hear her mumbling words that he couldn't make any sense off. She was now resting on her belly, whereas before he had passed out she had been lying on her back. More important still, her body was a dozen feet closer to the river now.

This suddenly gave him courage. If only, he told himself, he could drag her body to the river. Why not roll her until she was in the water, she was less then ten feet from the river now.

With much pain and a tremendous effort of will, he got back on his feet. He stood over Nika's body for a while then he bent over and placed a hand under her left shoulder and the other around her waist. He gently lift her shoulder while at the same time he pushed on her waist until he saw her turn over on back.

Again and again he repeated this. Sometimes Nika would regain consciousness for a few seconds and cry out in pain as her aching body was forced to move. But Vincent didn't pay any attention to her loud protest since both of their life depended on how fast he could make her reach the river.

At last, after what seemed to be a long time to him, she was only one turn away from the water. Vincent then forced his own protesting body back beside Verla. He could actually feel his own strength leaving him, it took him twice as long to roll her and it did caused excruciating pain in his aching muscles and joints, but he was able to roll her near the river also using the same method he had used on Nika.

As soon as both women were near the river, he focused his mind on the next step. There was no question of pushing both unconscious bodies into the river since they would drown immediately. He even doubted very much his own capacity to keep his own head out of the water in the exhausted state that he was now. He needed something to help them float so that they would not need to exert efforts all the time to stay above the water. But in this barren place there was only the yellow grass around them.

At last his eyes came to rest on their supplies which were in a pile just a short distance from where the fire had been burning less than ten hours previously. Yes, he told himself, there was something he could use there.

He experienced more pain as he slowly walked toward the pile and he took out the two water bags that used to belong to Kwola. They were made of the hide of an antelope-looking animal that Kwola said was called a balu. After the skin of the animal had been dried in the sun for several days, it had been coated with the same rubber-like resinous paste that had been used to make the canoe waterproof.

Vincent poured the water out of both bags then he blew as much air as he could inside them. Then by mean of a short strip of leather, which he cut from the rope, he tied the neck of each bag as tight as he could. On his way back toward the river he felt and when he tried to stand back on his legs, he soon discovered that it was impossible for him to do so since he was now too weak.

On his hands and knees, he was finally able to get to the two unconscious women. He used leather strips from the rope and he tied both bags together. Next he tied both women together also by passing the rest of the rope under their arms. With the two air bags between them, he next wrapped the rope around them and around the bags.

As soon as this was done, he pulled himself into the cold water of the river and he proceeded to drag the bodies of the women. Had the slope along the bank not been as steep, he wouldn't have been able to do this, but gravity did help him and once Verla's body was in the water, the slight pull of the current made it easier for him to pull Nika into the water.

Once both unconscious bodies were floating on the water, he placed one hand around the rope holding the two air bags together and he felt a certain satisfaction as his body became numb due to the fact that the water of the river was very cold.

The current slowly carried them downstream as a single mass. Beside reducing the pain in all of his joints, the cold water made him want to sleep and more than once he was tempted to submit to the relaxing sleep that every cell of his body was craving for. He did close his eyes once and his grip relaxed on the rope and he was immediately jerked out of the soothing sleep when his head became submerged.

A few times he had to pull one of the women's head out of the water, he did this by pulling them by their long hair.

Gradually, after what seemed to Vincent like hours, the river carried them toward the forest. By noon, when the sun was directly over his head, he saw the first trees growing near the bank of the river. By that time he was so weak that he didn't even try to pull himself on the dry sand. Instead, he used his remaining strength to concentrate on the task of keeping one hand around the rope and his head out of the water.

Hours later, he felt a sharp pain on one of his kneecap. The pain was intense enough to jolt him out of his half unconscious state, it seemed that he had hit his knee on a rock. Even after realizing that he was not dead, it took his mind many long seconds to understand where he was.

They were no longer moving. They were all very immobile in the shallow water of a section of the river that was much wider. Both Nika and Verla were still bounded together with the air bags in-between them, but as it was with him, their bodies were only half submerged since they had somehow become anchored to a piece of wood stuck into the bottom of the water. Vincent also noticed that it was getting dark, and then he passed out completely.

When he recovered part of his senses much later, he felt pain in every muscle and joint of his body. The instant that he tried to move, it ached terribly and he remained still for a long time. On the other hand, when he didn't move, it was as bad since the pain seemed to come from every square inch of his flesh, even his bones seemed to sending signals of pain to his blurred brain.

Later, while his eyes were only half opened, he saw the shadow of someone's head just a few inches from his face. But with the sun in the background it looked like a ghostly apparition and as for the face he couldn't even see enough to identify its owner. After a minute of this he once again passed out.

The third time that he regained consciousness, it was dark again. He waited and looked around without daring to move his head. But only the silhouette of the tops of the trees in the background was in his line of sight. He didn't dare twist his neck since he still recall the terrible pain he had endure when he had tried to move the last time. He did remain conscious long enough to think about the fact that it was now dark and that he was experiencing only a dull ache all over. He knew that he was still extremely weak and most of all he wanted to sleep which he soon did.

It was late afternoon when he awoke. He was able to move his head sideways without too much pain and he saw the shape of his two women just a few feet away from him. The three of them were now on dry ground. How had they gotten there, he had no idea.

He then remembered the blurred image of the face he had seen the previous day. Yes, someone had been in the process of pulling him out of the water at that time.

With his mind now fully functioning he began to analyze his situation. Because of the fact that they were now away from the radioactive zone, the Rad Virus was probably repairing his dying cells and replacing the dead ones. He also knew that they were all going to be as fit and healthy as before if they were given enough time. Even the pain was almost completely gone now.

Half an hour later, he was able to get up and walk a little. Nika's was lying nearby, she and Verla were both stretched on the sand and they were still sleeping. All around them, he could see footmarks in the sand and after a closer examination it became evident that both women were responsible for these sand prints since there didn't seem to be any traces of strange footmarks.

He carefully walked over to Nika and he bent his head above her. She immediately opened her eyes. The moment that she realized that he was standing over her, she threw her arms around his neck and she hugged him without saying a word.

"How do you feel?" Said Vincent.

She kept on hugging him for long seconds then she looked at him. It was quite evident that she was very glad to see that he was in a much better shape.

"I am much better, Verla is also doing well. We thought that you were dead a few days ago."

"Have I been unconscious for a long time?"

"This is the second day that we have been taking care of you. As for how long you were out before that time, we have no idea since we were both in a similar unconscious state also."

"So Verla is doing find then?"

"Yes she is. I was the first one to become aware of our uncomfortable position in the water. It took me over half a day to find enough strength to drag myself on dry ground. By then Verla was also coming out of her death-like state and when she was strong enough to walk a little, we both managed to pull you out of the water. This was two days ago."

Verla must have heard them talk and she was soon standing next to them. She also threw her arms around Vincent and she kissed him passionately.

"I am so happy that you are going to be well again, for a while we were not sure if you would recover."

"Don't worry, I feel much better now. But we still have the problem of finding food, and judging by the emptiness in my stomach, I think it is a very urgent problem."

"We found some dry berries still clinging to the branches, here eat this it will help you."

Verla gave him a small bundle wrapped in a large leaf. Inside were brown-red, wrinkled berries. When Vincent ate one he thought that it was the tastiest fruit he had ever eaten in his life. It took him only half a minute to swallow the two dozens berries.

"We must eat something more substantial and fast, otherwise we will lose most of our strength and we won't even be able to walk after a while. We mustn't be more than a few hours walk from our food reserve of smoked fish. I will rest until tomorrow and then I will go back there and return as fast as I can with our supplies."

"Why go back to that death trap?" said Verla. "Let us forget the food and go away immediately, we will find food on the way."

"You seem to forget that everything we own is over there, the map, the knives and the food of course. No I will go tomorrow."

"Then we will go with you." Finally said Nika.

Vincent knew that it was asking too much to expect them to wait for him while he went back there, beside he doubted very mush that in his present weak state if he could carry back all of their supply.

"Very well then, you can come for half the distance, the rest I must walk alone."

They all agreed to this compromise and the three of them began to plan their trip for the following day.

The sun had barely risen the next morning when they got on their way. They followed the river upstream for over two hours. After entering the forest, they noticed that the height of the trees was gradually decreasing as well as their number the closer they got to the radiation zone.

Finally they abruptly arrived at the edge of the yellow grass plain.

Vincent was stunned to see that the current of the river hadn't carried them further away while they had been in the water. He estimated that they had walked only about six to eight miles in the last two hours. After walking half an hour over the yellow grass, he was able to see in the distance the position of their camp as well as their supplies.

Of course he knew that their food and supplies would be contaminated to some degree by the radiation emitted from the ground. On Earth, just eating a few bites of the smoked fish would be dangerous, but not in this world. Sure enough many of their cells were going to be destroyed by the contaminated fish, but not enough of them that the Rad Virus wouldn't be able to replace fast enough. The important thing was to get as quickly as possible away from this highly contaminated ground.

"Stay here," he said to his two women, "I will go alone the rest of the way."

Before they had had a chance to protest he was walking away toward the middle of the clearing where their camp had been. It took him less than fifteen minutes to get there. Everything was as he remembered them to be. He had brought the rope with him and he immediately began to tie the smoked fish into two bundles. Then he gathered the rest of their gear and he tied them together also.

When Vincent had rolled both women into the river when they departed half dead from the camp the last time, only a soft pelt had been covering their body then, all the rest of their clothing as well as the pelts they were using as blankets were still there. It was much too cold now to go around almost naked and he was more than happy to get back their clothing.

The pouch containing the knives, guns and map that he had taken from Kwola, was exactly where he had last left it, and this he also took of course.

With the bundle of fish neatly tied on his back, the pouch and clothes over his shoulder, Verla's spear and Nika's bow and arrows in his hands he began walking back toward the waiting women. He hadn't been in the clearing for more than half an hour now and yet he thought that he already could feel signs of fatigue in his body.

Before they got half way to the edge of the forest, both Nika and Verla had to help him since he was getting weaker by the minute. Having gone deeper into the contaminated land, his body had absorbed much more radiation than his two women.

By noon of that day, they were back near the river at the exact same spot they had started earlier in the morning. But now they had plenty of food and more important still they had their weapons to defend themselves if they should be attacked by men or beasts.

After their first decent meal in a long time, they rested for the remainder of the day and by nightfall they were all feeling much better. Vincent figured that it would be much preferable to wait a while and give a chance to the Rad Virus to use the nutritious elements in the food they had eaten so as to repair their damaged body cells.

The next couple of days they moved south again but they made a wide detour so as to avoid the radiation zone, but in so doing they had to cross a mountain chain. Even though the path they took was relatively easy to travel, they kept climbing higher and higher and the temperature of the air became much colder. Then one night they had their first experience with snow and they spent a very miserable night in each other's arms trying to keep warm and dry.

It would have been easy to built a fire since there was an abundance of broken branches everywhere on the ground, and both Nika and Verla knew how to start a fire using a round stick and dry twigs, but the smoke would have given away their position if someone was after them. Even at night there was always the chance that someone could smell the smoke it not actually see the flames. They had been lucky so far since they hadn't seen any indication that they were being followed and Vincent didn't want to stretch their luck more than necessary with a camp fire.

The following morning they ate breakfast and once again they undertook their trek south in the search for Valdo. On the two inches of fresh snow that covered the ground everywhere it was easy to see their tracks, but it didn't worry Vincent since the snow was already beginning to melt and he knew that in a couple of hours there would be none left.

By mid-day they began to see small animals here and there, but nothing bigger than a rabbit. Had they seen bigger games, Vincent wouldn't have hesitated one second to use one of the handguns in his pouch to paralyze it. He had practiced himself with the use of the hand gun the previous night and he knew exactly how to use it even if he didn't understand how it worked.

A couple of days later they were able to eat roasted rabbits. Nika had managed to kill two of them using her arrows, and since they were able to find a small cave by late afternoon, they decided that a fire could be lit inside the cave. By burning very dry wood they were able to limit the amount of smoke to a minimum.

It was the best meal they had eaten in many weeks and later they felt warm and cozy inside the cave. Late that evening, the three of them stretched themselves near the fire and Vincent made love to both women. Now that his stomach was full and since they were all feeling good again, his urge to make love was back.

For two more weeks they traveled in the general direction of the south. Sometimes they had to make detours to cross a river or simply to go around a steep mountain blocking their way. Twice they saw a barren clearing covered with the yellow grass, on these two occasions they were careful to stay well away from these radioactive areas.

Vincent figured that there must have been some kind of war long in the past and owing to the fact that it had taken place so long ago, all traces of the civilization that had once flourished there, were now completely obliterated either by the heat of the bombs or by time.

Judging from the electronic map, they had barely covered three hundreds miles southward in those two weeks time, and even though they were moving south, the temperature was still getting colder because of the height. Worst still, there was now a permanent thin coating of snow on the ground which was a dead give away of their passage if someone should happened to cross theirs tracks.

The rabbit pelts – they were now eating rabbit meat almost all the time since there were plenty of them everywhere – wrapped around their feet did prevent them from walking bared feet in the snow but it was not adequate and they had to change them often. Vincent felt very sorry that he had been made to leave behind his heavy-duty boots and clothing on the recommendations of Brumelle – the computer underneath the mountain.

He realized now that he should have kept his riffle also; they could have carried their clothing and supplies wrapped in a bundle and away from the eyes of the natives. Beside, now that Valdo knew of their presence in this world, he could have use all of these items since it no longer mattered anymore if the local natives saw them with these weapons from Earth.

One day, in their third week after their narrow escape from the death from the radioactivity, while still walking through the mountain, they saw in the distance – from the height of a high peak – a wide valley that was completely bared of trees and covered with the same yellow sickening grass in some places while in other places the yellow grass was completely missing.

In these places, bared even of the yellow grass, the ground was whitish in color. It seemed that whoever had set out to obliterate what had been there, had been extra careful to do a good job of it. In the distance he could well distinguish four different overlapping circles of desolation where even the yellow grass wouldn't grow. A light green moss was covering these areas instead and the whole valley had a terrifying appearance of desolation.