Village E3: Survival of the Human Spirit (9 page)

As they started out on their journey,
John started to jog. "Come on, let's run for a while, and see how we
do," he said, looking back. Reluctantly, the two women followed his lead.
They maintained the same pace for a hundred yards or so, then Katie sprinted
past Hailey. Not wanting to be outdone, Hailey tried to catch up. They both
streaked past John, before he knew what was going on. They sprinted for several
hundred yards.

It took John a while, but he did
finally catch up. Not long after, the three of them stopped running and began
laughing, as if drunk on their newly discovered athletic ability. They were
barely winded.

"I think it's right over
there," John said, pointing across the clearing. "We might as well
run," he said, taking off before getting the last word out of his mouth.
Without hesitation, Hailey was right behind him, with Katie hot on her heels.

When they reached the edge of the
other side of the clearing, they stopped. "Hear it? Does it sound a little
louder than last time, Hailey?" asked John. "I think it does,"
said Hailey. "Maybe we can hear better too." From here they walked
till the stream came into sight.

Katie was first to see it.
"There it is. Over there," she said. As they got closer, they could
see fish swimming in the shallows. As they neared the water's edge, the fish
slowly moved out to deeper water. The water was very clear and the deeper water
had a bluish green tint to it.

As they walked downstream, little
frogs occasionally jumped in front of them. A small fish suddenly began to jump
out of the water, in a series of short jumps, in a straight line. As it entered
shallow water, a larger fish came into view, right behind it. The water got
shallower as they both approached the shore. Totally focused on escape, the
smaller fish jumped completely out of the water. John walked over and picked it
up. "Well, that was an easy one to catch," he said.

A few feet from the edge of the
water, John scooped out rocks, making a small pool of water, then put the fish
in it. "He should be OK here, till we get back," said John. They
continued to make their way down stream.

Around one corner, they spooked a
flock of about twenty ducks. "Oh man, I wish we could have one of those
for dinner," said John. A little farther downstream, they reached a place
where the water had dug out an area that was separate from the main stream.
"Cool, our own swimming pool," said Katie. The water was only about
four feet deep, and very clear. They could see the stones on the bottom and there
were even a few very small fish in it.

Katie walked into the water, and once
she got to the middle, she sat down, allowing her head to go under. She popped
right back up. "I'm in," said Hailey, as she walked in to where Katie
was. She too dunked herself below the water and as she came up, she
instinctively reached for her hair, or where it once was. "Well, at least
I don't have to worry about washing my hair," said Hailey. "Let's
move here," said Katie. "I'm ok with it, if you guys are," said
John. "Sounds good to me," said Hailey.

They spent at least an hour playing
in the pool. It was the closest thing to actual fun, that they had experienced
since they had been here. Showing no inhibition, Katie took her clothes
completely off, and began washing them. She made no effort to hide from John.
As if trying not to be outdone, Hailey followed suit. "Guess I might as
well join the party," said John, as he took off his filthy boxers, and did
his best to clean them. In the clear water, there was nothing left to the
imagination. They had all seen each other now.

After splashing and playing, they all
sat in the shallow water. They were in a shady spot, so there was no hurry to
leave. "You are both fine looking ladies, hair or no hair," said
John. "Seriously, let's move here," said Katie. "Ok, if we are
really going to move here, we need to find a spot to build our home," said
John. "Let's get going then," said Katie, as she walked out of the
water with her clothes. As she dressed, Hailey and John got out of the water
too. They were a little more self-conscious about being naked than Katie was
and both turned their backs as they got dressed.

They walked slowly, as they went
downstream again. The rocks in some places were
large enough to hurt their feet. In other places, they were smaller, and easier
to walk on. Carrying his knife, as he always did, John stopped and sharpened a
long stick. The fish were so plentiful that he thought he might be able to
spear one. "I wish we would have brought our spear," he said as he
finished his whittling. There were so many new things to look at, that the
three of them acted like children on a field trip.

They checked out each new pool of
water, looking at the fish, and pointing at this and that. "If we are
going to find a place to live, don't we have to get out of the streambed?"
asked Hailey. "How about we go a little farther, and then pick the spot on
the stream that we all like," said John. "That sounds all right,"
said Katie. "I really liked our swimming pool," said Hailey.
"Why don't we look around back there?"

John stood there, not saying
anything, as if he were thinking. "I'm getting pretty thirsty, so let's do
something, and head back home soon," said Katie, heading back in the
direction of their swimming hole. Hailey followed her lead, with John trailing
behind.

In a short time, they were back at
the place where they had played in the water. One side of the stream had a
steep bank. The other side had a sloping bank. John started walking toward the
slope, using his sharpened stick to aid in walking. The vegetation was thick,
but not too thick to walk through. As they reached the top of the bank, the
trees thinned out. There were smaller trees, but not larger ones, as if it had
been cleared at one time.

At one edge of the area, which had
fewer large trees, there was something that caught their eye right away. It
looked out of place with everything surrounding it. "What's that?" asked
Hailey. "Let's go see," said John, immediately walking toward it. It
looked like a large clump of vines, that was about ten feet high or so. As they
got closer, one feature stood out above all others. It looked like it had a
square corner, which was a shape that was almost never encountered in the
jungle.

As they stood and looked at it, they
each knew what it looked like, but none of them wanted to be the first to say
it. John stepped up, grabbed some vines and pulled them away exposing a board.
It was very rough looking, but it was a board. "It's a cabin or
something," said John. "This doesn't make any sense. Where did they
get boards here?" He continued to pull away more vines, finally exposing a
door.

The door had an old wooden latch,
like those seen in some old western movies. John pulled the latch up and pulled
on the door, but it was stuck at the bottom. He pulled harder, and finally it
came open. It was hard to see inside at first, but as they slowly walked in,
their eyes adjusted. It looked like a log cabin.

The only boards were on the door. On
one wall hung a saw with two handles, one on each end. Beside the saw, was a
sharp blade with two handles that John recognized as a type of tool that his
grandfather had in his garage, as part of his antique tool collection. "I
see how they made the boards now," said John. "Man, that would be a
bunch of work."

As John checked out the tools, Hailey
and Katie were looking around the rest of the small building. Katie suddenly
let out a small shriek. "Oh God," said Katie, walking backwards.
"What is it?" asked Hailey. "A body," said Katie, grabbing
Hailey's arm. John walked over to where the two were standing. They all crept
closer to the pile of bones.

The bones were on what was left of a
crude bed. On the bed was a blanket, and on top of the blanket, were human
remains. The skull was in full view, with some hair still on it, and partially
visible under the hand bones of the skeleton, was something rusty. John
cautiously pulled out an old knife which was covered in rust, but otherwise
intact. He tried to hand it to Hailey, but she refused to take it.

There was something odd about the
blanket. Other than a thick layer of dust, it looked to be in very good
condition. John picked up the corner of it and tested its strength with his
other hand and found that the fabric felt strong, with no sign of rotting.

They have had many nights when a
blanket would have been nice to have. As he lifted the corner of the blanket
higher, he saw the bones of another person. The bones under the blanket were
more neatly positioned than the set on top. The arms were folded, much like a
corpse in a casket. "There's another one," said John.

He folded the blanket over, so Katie
and Hailey could see the bones underneath. This skull had a little more skin,
and the hair was much longer. "Let's get this blanket. Grab the other
end," he said, motioning for Hailey to help him. They each raised up on
the ends, and the bones began to tumble off, onto the bones beneath.
"Let's take it outside and look at it," said Katie.

Once in the sunshine, they could see
what appeared to be dried blood on the top side. Looking on the bottom however,
there was no sign of a stain. They shook it vigorously and most of the dust,
and even much of the stain came off. Taking his knife, John scraped at what was
left of the stain. It easily flaked off, with almost no effort.

"I don't know what this blanket is
made of, but it is some pretty good stuff," said John. "That's for
sure," said Hailey. "Soft, but strong. I like that," said Katie,
feeling the blanket with her hand. "We should go in and see what else we
can find."

Without any more discussion, they
walked back into this partially rotted shack in the jungle. John went straight
for the tools, then took them off of the wall and put them near the door. Katie
walked over to where the bed was and stood over the bones. Hailey walked slowly
around the room, looking for anything they could use.

Inside, there were several shafts of
light, which penetrated the darkness, through holes in the roof and walls. Set
free after being undisturbed for years, thousands of particles of dust danced
about in the light, making it hard to see. As Hailey was easing along, she
noticed what looked like writing on the wall. "Come look at this,"
she said.

Katie and John rushed over to see
what she had found. They had to strain to see it, but one thing they could
clearly make out, was the name Sarah. Beside it, and harder to make out, was
the name Thomas. "At least we know that there were people here before
us," said Katie. "This place is amazing, if the two of them built it
alone," said John. "I can't get over the fact that they made
boards."

John walked over to the door and
forced it open a little wider, to let in more light. Now they could see better.
Below the names of Thomas and Sarah, were the names William, Charles, and Mary.
"Are those their children?" asked Hailey. "Who knows for
sure," said Katie. "This makes me feel better about this place. Maybe
we aren't the only ones here," said John. "Let's hope," said
Hailey.

They continued to slowly survey the
room for anything useful. "Look at this," said Hailey, as she stood,
looking in one corner. In front of her was a small wooden box. Katie and John
walked up behind her, as she bent over to take a closer look. The box had a lid,
with hinges that were made of what appeared to be old, dry, cracked leather,
laced through some holes in the wood. Hailey slowly lifted the lid and reached
inside, picking up the first thing she saw. It was a wooden, hand carved
figurine.

"It's a doll," Katie said.
"What else is in there?" asked John. Hailey reached in, and pulled
out a small, round container, then another. She handed them to John and Katie.

As Hailey checked for more contents,
John struggled with the container, trying to open it. It had a lid, so he was
trying his best to unscrew it. He wasn't sure if it was made of metal, or
plastic, but it didn't feel like either. Failing to unscrew the lid, even using
all of his strength, John tried tapping it on the floor. It still wouldn't
budge, so he then turned the container upside down, and hit it against the
floor. The lid popped open, and was attached by a small hinge, which was only
visible when open. John closed the lid and gently pushed down on it, and it
easily popped open again.

Katie opened her container, which
opened the same way as the other one had. "This one has something in
it," said Katie. "It looks like rocks," she said as she pulled
one out. "Writing," said John. There were carefully scratched words
on the smooth flat stone. Katie read them out loud. "The children are
gone. Sarah doesn't want to live." Katie pulled out the second stone. She
read it also. "Sarah is dead. I'm going to join her."

For what seemed like minutes, they
were all silent, as they contemplated what had taken place in this cabin.
"Is that all?" John asked, in a soft voice, not wanting to abruptly
change the mood. "Yes, just the two stones," said Katie. "That
is so sad," said Hailey. "I think we should give them a proper
burial." "That might have to wait," said John. "We have to
get back home and talk about what we are going to do." "Are we going
to take this box home with us?" asked Katie. "We might as well wait
till we move, if we are going to," said Hailey.

Carrying the containers, the carved
doll, and the tools, they went outside and placed their finds on the blanket.
Kneeling on the ground, John firmly grasped the blanket with both hands and
pulled with all the strength that he had. He then poked at the blanket with the
tip of his knife and found it wouldn't penetrate. "I can't get over how
strong this is, after all this time."