The Trek: Darwin's World, Book II (The Darwin's World Series 2) (22 page)

"Besides, you want stink you oughta smell what it was like after I took a dump! I'd been eating buffalo mostly and sometimes I had to about rassle that crap before it would come out! But I got 'er done. No stranger to bein' like that, even if it was from a different cause back before I got here. Sittin' on a John Deere seat for ten or twelve hours, it sure-enough packs your gut tight!

"Saint Peter brought me here, but this don't seem like any heaven I ever heard of. I expected maybe I'd meet somebody if all them preachers was right, but after I tried to kill myself I figured I might not like where I ended up. But I wasn't gonna argue with the feller that dropped me off. I couldn't even walk before, but like I said, Saint Peter fixed me right up. I spent most of the time right after I got here running 'stead of walking just 'cause it felt so good."

"You tried to kill yourself, Tex?"

"Yep. Thought I'd finally managed it, too. Feedin' me through a pipe in my gut, tube in my mouth keepin' me breathin', that ain't no way to live. Druther just get 'er over with. I could'a lasted for years that way. Worst thing that could 'a' happened, I'd 'a' stopped breathing when I bit through that tube. I was already weak as a newborn calf, figured I'd be dead in a minute or two. So I bit down as hard as I could on that tube in my mouth, spit out what I could bite off, did it again and just waited to die.

"Next thing I knowed, Saint Peter woke me up and started stuffing my head with some dumbshit ideas. But I could walk, and I prob'ly wore a hole in that floor walking around the little ol' room they had me in. You don't know how good it feels to just walk until you can't."

"You said something about a horse before?"

"Yeah, danged ol' hoss stumbled. I was doing all right 'til he fell. Hell, I can ride 'most anything with hair, but he fell on me and broke m' neck. Worse than that bull that stomped me. The docs stapled me up after that wreck and I was back good as new in a few months. I had enough points that year to get to the nationals in bull-riding. Hell, depending on the draw, I could'a' won. But then that ol' hoss got a burr under his tail and I woke up with more plumbing than one of them Vegas hotels, all of it sticking out here and there. Breathing tube, feedin' tube, tubes in m' arms, tube in m' dick, machine hummin' and clickin' off to the side.

"Maybe I could 'a' stood it longer, but the ol' gal that stuck that hose up m' dick, she was plumb ugly. Must 'a' been sixty if she was a day. More wrinkles than a fresh-plowed Arizona melon patch!

"I worked in one of them, late summer it was, after I got out of the hospital that first time. No life for a cowboy, ridin' a John Deere. Ranches weren't hiring, and I wasn't in shape at the time to go back to rodeoin'.

"Soon as I was able, next spring it was, I quit farmin' and got my saddle back. I borrowed money from a feller and he held onto my saddle 'til I could pay him back. I saved my pay from punchin' that tractor and paid off the loan.

"Next thing you know, I was signed up for a rodeo in San Antonio. That was in February. Figured I'd make the circuit, take it easy for a while to make sure the staples didn't pull out of my gut. No more than a rodeo every week, see how things were goin’, maybe pick up the pace later on. I had enough entry-fee money to get in, but if I didn't start winnin' pretty quick I'd have to quit. I was hopin' one of the ranches would be takin' on help if that happened.

"Then that hoss fell on me. I was ridin' pickup, some old boy didn't show up and they needed another pickup rider. I had a pretty good draw for the next day, a bull that was rank enough to get points if I could hang on for eight. Never got to try him, though.

“I never figured on bein' stashed in a white room waitin' on th' angels!"

"No angels, Tex. No saint either. The man who picked you up came from the future."

"That's what he said, but I figured he was joshin' me. People think cowboys are dumb and rodeo cowboys worse’n that, so they try all kinds of stuff on you. Make fun of you 'cause you don't dress like them or go to college."

"No, he meant it. You're here, live or die. I named it Darwin's World, not that Darwin ever heard of it. If you're not fit to survive after the Futurists drop you here, you won't. Mess up here, that hospital room might look pretty inviting."

"Nope, been there, didn't like it. Hell, I purely hated it. I'd rather just cash in and be done with it."

"It might happen yet. I guess we've waited long enough. Let's get the rest of our weary warriors on their feet. José, that Spanish man we collected after the fight, figures we're at least a day, day and a half away from the raider's village."

"You've been pushin' these folks pretty hard, Matt. Some of 'em ain't lookin' too spry."

"They're not used to this much running, trotting most of the time really. I'm surprised they made it this far before I had to stop. You're doing pretty good, Tex."

"Like I said, I realized I had my legs back and even if I didn't have a hoss, I wanted to see some country. I run a lot, walked when I had to. I headed up north from where that feller dropped me, looked like northwest Texas. I got all the way to the mountains. They're not like the mountains I saw, back when I worked in Texas before. More like the Rockies, though they're not up to the Grand Tetons. But I growed up in north Texas before and there were no mountains like that anywhere around.

"Everything else fit, though. Had to be Texas, but colder than I remember it bein' when I was a kid. You been to the mountains yet, Matt?"

"No. I was dropped off in the woods east of here. That's where I grew up, downtime. Headed north after a while, found some people and ended up trying to keep them fed and safe. That's about it."

"How'd you get that rifle? You mentioned it, but we were some busy at the time."

"I got it from a raider. He killed the original owner and took the rifle, but I don’t think he knew how to take care of it. Anyhow, he got hurt in that fight with us and dead after that. He didn't need the rifle."

"I'll bet that pissed 'em off more'n somewhat, the people that had it first. They know you've got it, them future men?"

"Not that I know of. Anyway, there's Lee, coming back now. He's been having a look at the trail we're following, east of here."

Lee found the two and blurted out his news.

"Matt, there's tracks ahead of us. Not just the trail we've been following, but one man going the other way. We might have missed him when we went around looking for wounded slave raiders. Maybe he hid, or maybe we just overlooked him. Bodies were scattered around, easy enough to miss one. But I'm guessing he's east of us by a few hours now, following the same trail we are.

"He's heading back to the village. Soon as he gets there, they'll know their raiding party lost the fight. He might have been watching us when we collected the heads and stacked them on that slope, too."

"Just one man. You're sure of this, Lee? If he saw us, it won't be good for the people they're holding. José knew those people, and he said they wouldn't hesitate to kill the remaining captives and take off."

"I didn't find any other tracks. He's walking, not running. He might have been running before, I think he must have, to get as far ahead of us as he is. If he was walking all the time, we'd be on his heels by now, considering how fast we've traveled."

"How far to their village?" Tex asked.

"Depends on how fast he can travel, Tex. If he's walking, sleeping at night, maybe two days. If he's running for a while, walking, then running again, maybe a day or a little more."

"Well, hell, if that's what he's doing, lazing along like that, I can catch him."

"Lot of running, Tex. You up to that?"

"Shore. Done a lot of it over the last ten years or so. I'll catch him."

"Tex, Lee's a pretty good runner too. So am I. For all we know, he might get to someplace he could warn them another way, light a signal fire or something. There might be more than one raider by the time we catch up. Three of us are better than one."

"Think you can keep up, packin' that bow and the rifle and spear too?"

"I'll leave the spear with Colin. He can bring the rest of the tribe up. We kill that one ahead of us, scout the village until Colin gets there. Soon as our people are ready to fight, we hit them. What I mean is, if our guys are exhausted, we'll let them rest before we attack. We can rest unless the slavers are warned and start killing prisoners, anyway. That would force our hand.

"Make sure you've got enough food for a day and your water bottle is full. We don't know if we'll cross a creek or find a spring on the way, the water we carry might be all we'll have until we catch that one ahead of us."

"My drinkin’ water's down a mite."

"We'll top off our bottles from what the others are carrying. Colin can take time to find a spring along the way."

"I doubt any of us will get thirsty, Matt. There are a lot of springs around, artesian ones, too. Water just comes shooting up out of the ground. It's good water, too."

"I hope you're right, Tex."

"Aw, I hunted all through here, must be seven years ago now. I killed a mammoth that fall and lived on him most of the winter."

"You killed a mammoth, Tex? You're not joking, are you?"

"Nope. Some of them big wolves was worrying at him, gnawing on his legs like. He'd killed a couple of 'em, I did for the rest. That was the bow I had before I made Ol' Slick here. Pretty good bow, as says so myself. Anyway, he was trying to limp off and I run around to the side and put an arrow right behind his eye. He just went down and I made sure he was dead, my last arrow right beside the first one. But he never twitched. I knowed I couldn't move all that meat, so I built me a hut right there, close enough to keep the wolves and bears off. One of the bears didn't take the hint so I got him too. It was already pretty chilly and it got downright cold right after that, natural icebox like. I collected the hide off that bear, cut it down the middle of the back, and it kept me warm all winter. I had a bunch of nuts I took off a passel o' thievin' squirrels, too. Pignuts and some other kinds, persimmons too. I could'a used some bread, but except for that, I lived pretty high that winter.

"Tell you this, though. If I never eat another mammoth steak it'll be too soon."

"Yeah, I can imagine. We're ready.

“Colin, you bring everyone up as fast as they can make it. I might need my spear, so don't lose it. We'll watch for you, somewhere before you get to the village. You worry about the rest, but Lee, Tex and me, we'll be all right."

#

Lee led off. Matt followed, Tex soon passing him and running alongside Lee. Matt watched and tried to match their pace.

It was a struggle. He pushed on, weary legs maintaining the constant pace. One stride at a time, do it again. Remember the counting method he'd used downtime when he'd been a soldier.

Slowly breathing in, controlled breathing out; Matt counted as he ran, each number a stride. The counting took some of his attention and kept exhaustion at bay. One-two-three-four while breathing out, five-six-seven-eight as he breathed in.

By the end of the first mile, Matt was breathing on a count of three. One-two-three while sucking desperately for air, four-five-six as he slowly breathed out.

Two miles later he was breathing on a two count, one-two then breathe out, do it again. He was able to maintain the pace set by the others, but it seemed as if the two ahead were breathing easier than he was.

Tex said he'd spent a lot of time just running. Lee had done a lot of cross-country traveling too, being on the move ahead of the tribe during most of every day. It was to be expected that the two were very fit.

Matt wondered if he'd gotten a little soft; he hadn't done nearly as much running or hunting since becoming trek leader, then tribe leader. When this was over, Colin could handle things while Matt and maybe Laz went hunting. Lee would be needed as Matt’s replacement, so he could stay with the tribe!

It had taken a lot of effort and pain, getting himself into the shape he'd been in when he found the cabin. Wintering in the cabin had begun the process of losing that physical edge. Living as part of the tribe where someone else did most of the hunting and all of the daily work had clearly sapped his endurance.

In fact, all the tribespeople needed to be in better shape. Otherwise, they wouldn't survive whatever challenges Darwin's World handed them. The stragglers and footsore people the three had left with Colin to follow along behind made that obvious. Matt thought the problem through as he ran and counted off the strides, one-two and three-four.

Concentrating on what he planned to do kept him from feeling the growing pain in his legs and feet.

Still, he was ready to stop when Lee finally held up his hand and slowed to a trot. Breathing heavily, Matt matched their pace.

Lee held up his hand again and they slowed to a walk. Despite his talk, Tex too was showing the strain.

"You run pretty good, boy." Tex panted.

"Don't call me boy. My name is Lee. I haven't been a boy since I fought that bear with a spear and killed a man later on. Wolves and a cat, too. That good enough to get me off the boy list, or do I need to kick your butt first?"

"Wal, you're feisty, I'll give you that. All right, Lee. You run pretty good."

"You too, old man."

Tex grinned, still puffing a bit but clearly he relished the exchange and Lee's show of spirit.

"He don't look very old but you've brung him up right, Matt."

"His mother and father did that before I ever met him. His father was killed by raiders, maybe from the first bunch we fought or maybe from the ones we fought at the ridge. I guess we can't rule out the idea of another bunch of raiders, but you'd expect that there wouldn't be three such groups operating in a region with only a few people. There are more people here than I saw when I lived in the woods east of here, but more doesn't mean there’s a lot of people.

“One of the groups that raided us had been assembled by the future people, mostly to keep them from raiding their mine workers but also to keep animals away."