I stayed in the tree for a few more minutes, until my breathing was steady and my heart felt less like a bass drum. My mouth felt like sandpaper, and I tried to work up enough saliva to alleviate the feeling, but without luck. The dead sprint down a sandy beach hadn't been pleasant, though I suppose it was more pleasant than dying horribly. I warily made my way down from the tree, hopping the last few feet to the ground. I tracked the top of the tower, eyeing the area I'd chosen as a safe haven. The tree I'd been in was huge, easily as tall as the tower itself, and it's trunk and roots filled most of the small hill I stood on. The top of the tower itself had three small hills at the points of a rough triangle shape, with a flat surface in the middle. The tree I'd been in was the largest, but other smaller trees graced the top as well. Shrubs and bushes fell at intervals, and the grass between my toes was soft and green. I could see that I'd gotten lucky, as the way I'd come up was the only real way to reach the top, with sheer rock on the majority of the sides. If I could find a way to block off that path, I'd be as relatively safe as I could be for the time being. I walked the perimeter of the area, double checking ways up, and found nothing. A small protrusion of earth and rock jutted out in rough circle at about the middle of the tower, but was only accessible from the path I'd taken up. Isolated, high up, and defensible. I smiled despite myself. At least I had something going for me.
I spent another few crucial minutes surveying the landscape around the tower. I didn't see any other raptors, though as fast as they had been, I didn't doubt they could easily make it out of the trees and attack before I could react if I wasn't careful. The triceratops i'd passed was gone. I couldn't see anything else through the dense jungle around me, besides the mountain stretching up. I checked the position of the sun, and determined that the mountain was to my west. I eyed the canyon the river flowed through, but didn't see anything of note. I cautiously made my way back down the path, being more mindful of my steps. I paused at the sudden turn I'd made, and eyed the surroundings again, being as careful as I could. Nothing moved, though I heard plenty of bugs and sounds of the forest. I made my way slowly down the hill, until my feet met sand again. A small stream of the river flowed a few feet away from the path, and I quickly knelt down to sate my thirst, my eyes tracking every small motion of the forest.
Luckily, no monsters rushed me, and I was able to drink my fill. I quickly climbed the tower again, and settled myself under the large tree. The grass felt surprisingly comfortable under my bare skin, and I sighed lightly.
"Silver linings." I muttered to myself, and started to think, numbering my situation as I always did when there was too much on my plate.
Priorities. I had to think of priorities, or things could get complicated. Well, more complicated, at any rate. I had grown up as a geeky little kid, and had been a boy scout for years, where I learned a good amount of survival skills. I'd spent most of my adult life in the military, and had honed those skills further. I could survive in the wilderness, for a time anyways, but it wasn't going to be easy. Survival hinged on a few key factors. Water, food, shelter. For the most part, everything about surviving in any environment requires those 3 key points.
Water was easy enough. The stream I'd drank from was crystal clear. While it could potentially be hazardous from a bacterial standpoint, at the moment, it would suffice, and I didn't think I'd die from drinking it. Might spend several hours puking and shitting myself, but it's still better than death.
Food would be more difficult, but for the moment, I could manage without. An average grown man could last for roughly 3 weeks without food before he starved to death. Longer if a person is bigger, and has stores of fat to supply their body with energy. Also not a big problem. I'd seen some large fish during my dead sprint next to the river, and could fashion a spear to catch them with.
Shelter was my biggest obstacle. The weather was balmy at the moment, but depending where I was, or a turn of the weather, it could drop to freezing over night, and I wouldn't last till morning in conditions like that. I needed some form of shelter, and a fire to keep me warm.
I glanced at the sun again. I hadn't ever had to rely on that to determine the approximate time of day, but I estimated I had maybe 5 hours until it was too dark to work. 5 hours to build a makeshift shelter and start a fire. I felt myself grinning in spite of my situation, and let out a low laugh.
"Nothing like a deadline I suppose." I muttered to myself. Better get to work.
***
I didn't waste time. The easiest shelter I knew how to build was a simple lean-to. Literally just stack sticks against a solid surface, layer the top with tree boughs, and that's all you need. Given the time I had, it was my only realistic option. Fortunately, the giant tree on my tower had plenty of branches, and the green needles were spaced well. They'd provide a good cover. The hardest part was going to be getting thicker pieces of branch to serve as supports.
I quickly searched from broken branches on the ground, and was able to scrounge up half a dozen from the grounds of the tower, and along the trail itself. I dumped them by the big tree, and descended again. Once on the ground, and being mindful of my surroundings, I searched near the stream until I found a decent sized river rock, smooth and grey from however long it had sat undisturbed. I found a larger rock on the beach with a flat surface, and placed my chosen rock upon it.
After another minute of searching, I finally hefted up a rock larger than my head. Dead lifting it up, I brought it down hard onto my rock, jumping back with the motion. There was a loud popping crack, and as it rolled off, I saw that my rock had split. I inspected both sides, brushing small chips of stone out of the way, and found both had a decently jagged edge. Wouldn't be a perfect cutting tool, but it would do the job. I scanned the area again, ensuring the sound hadn't attracted any undue attention, before climbing the tower.
With my makeshift knife in hand, I started the tedious process of cutting branches from the smaller trees along the tower. Have you ever tried to cut wood with a rock? Here's something you probably already knew. It sucks. A lot. My arms were burning from the effort after a solid ten minutes of smacking the damn tree, but there was nothing for it but to keep going. Tired muscles sucked. Being dead would suck more.
It took me an hour before I was finally satisfied with the quantity and quality of the branches I'd gotten. My right hand had several blisters from the effort, and I'd worn my rock down a bit from the effort, but I had the wood I needed for my shelter. I collected all of the cut branches and hauled them over to the large tree. I had two dozen branches in total, most with a good supply of needles. Those would be crucial in keeping the weather out, and hopefully keeping the heat in. A lean to is fairly simple to make. I selected the straightest branches I had, and spent a while stripping them down, giving me four barren sticks in total. I sharpened one end on all of them, leaving the straightest and thickest to the side. That would be my primary tool for defense, although a sharp stick wasn't going to get me far against one of those raptors, it was still better than nothing.
I drove the first two into the ground, using a hand rock as a makeshift hammer, until I had them driven down far enough that they weren't wiggling. Next, I collected thin vines from one of the small trees on my tower to use as makeshift rope. I quickly lashed my last pole across the two support branches, leaving me with a decent support structure. From there, I started stacking the unstripped branches, laying them at an angle across the top, overlapping the needles. I covered both sides as well, and most of the front, stopping only to go and cut more branches. By the time I'd finished, and was satisfied with my work, the sun was low on the horizon, and I was running out of time.
I crawled into my shelter though an opening in the branches, and went to the furthest corner from the entrance. I quickly dug out a small pit with my rock tool, and spent a few minutes collecting rocks to line the fire pit. From there, I collected as much wood as I could realistically fit into my shelter, along with smaller twigs and some moss that I found growing on one of the larger rocks of the tower. Finally satisfied, I stood before my shelter in the dying light, and grinned. I was almost done, I'd made my time limit, with a bit to spare. I hurried down the path of my tower, and quickly sated the thirst I'd been feeling from the work I'd done, before returning to the top. I still hadn't seen any more nightmarish creatures, though the woods were thick enough that they could easily be close enough to attack. There just wasn't enough time to do more than I already had, and the night was coming on quickly.
One of the skills I'd learned, yet never actually thought I'd need, was starting a fire with friction. The principle behind it is actually really simple. Friction creates heat, heat creates fire. Everyone knows the image of someone rubbing a stick back and forth between their hands. It's not really any more complicate than that, but it is a bit more strenuous than one would expect. I selected a relatively flat piece of wood from my fire pile, and used a sharp protrusion of my rock to grind in a small hole. Collecting dry moss was easy, as there was plenty on the rocks of my tower, and a piled some loosely on top. It took me a bit longer to find a stick of the proper length and straightness, and eventually went back out to cut a new piece from the large tree, and sharpened one end into a dull point. From there, the rest was simple. After a few minutes and another few blisters, I had smoke, and after some slow, gentle breaths onto the moss, fire bloomed. Tears stung my eyes a bit, and not just from the smoke coming from the moss. I settled my starter into the branches I'd piled in my fire pit, and within a few minutes, I had a small but genuine fire burning.
Spending a few minutes tending the fire gave me time to realize that I was hungry. Not starving by any means, but the low rumble in my belly wasn't easy to ignore. I eyed the sky outside of my shelter, and decided I had enough time to try to catch a few fish. I piled a few larger branches onto the fire to keep it going while I was gone, grabbed my spear, and headed down. Keeping a wary eye on the woods around me, I slowly made my way down the sandy beach, towards the bend of the river where I'd seen a collection of fish. I walked in a half crouch, eyes and ears aware, my body tensed, ready to bolt at a moments notice. It was the most stressful walk of my life, even if it was only a span of about 200 feet. Naturally, nothing came to eat my face off, and I reached the bend without issue. As before, several large fish swam leisurely in the crook of the river, oblivious of their surroundings. I inched forward slowly, my spear held ready. I stood still and silent for several moments, waiting for the right time before striking. A miss would disturb the water, scaring the fish into swimming away, and I didn't want to move any further from my shelter than needed. I had to get it right the first time.
A decent sized fish swam close, idly picking at the riverbed, it's blueish scales glistening in the water, reflecting the dim light of the sunset. I tensed, waiting. When it was within range, I moved as quickly and swiftly as I could, lunging forward with the motion. The sharpened stick went clear through the fish, piecing the ground behind it, kicking up silt and sand. The sudden motion and disturbed ground caused the other fish to panic, swimming away in a sudden rush of motion. I lifted my spear from the water, and the still squirming fish upon the stick wiggled fiercely for a few moments, it's lips gasping in the air, before it finally went still. I eyed the fish for a moment, before I felt a small smile tug at my lips. Dinner. Good.
I started back to my tower, my dinner still on the spear, when a cracking thud came from the forest to my right. I froze instantly, head snapping to the sound, staring intently. The branches of the trees further in the forest were moving, groaning away from the motion of something large moving towards me. Panic wanted me to bolt back to the safety of my tower, but depending on what was coming, there was a good chance I wouldn't make it in time. Instead, looking around quickly, I dropped to a crouching run and moved behind a large rock jutting from the ground, settling on the far side from the motion in the trees. Curiosity overruled caution, and I peeked over the top of the rock to watch. It took a few minutes, and my heart pounded painfully in my chest the whole time, but eventually the creature appeared. It's head and neck came first, and I sucked in a breath of recognition. The head was squat, leathery, with a bulge prominently over it's forehead. It was connected to a long, muscular neck, with what looked like short, dull spikes at intervals on the back. Oh, and the head was easily forty feet off the ground, within a good reach of the top of the large trees that were predominant in the forest. It's body came next, and it was huge. It almost resembled an elephant, with thick, dark skin, legs like tree trunks, and large circular feet. Instead of a rope like tail that an elephant would have, it had a tail easily as long as it's neck, tapering down from it's body to an almost delicate point. The peak of it's body would easily be twenty feet off the ground. It was a behemoth of a creature, and I knew it's name. Brontosaurus, one of the most well known dinosaurs.
I watched the huge creature move slowly through the trees, occasionally pulling leaves from the trees around it, chewing lazily. I was no expert on dinosaurs by any means, but I knew that the brontosaurus was an herbivore, and not likely to come after me for a meal. Didn't mean the thing could crush me like a beer can, but so long as I didn't agitate the giant, I should be fine. I took a steadying breath, before standing and walking steadily back towards my tower. The creature didn't pay me any mind, and kept going about it's business, as i quickly, but quietly, made my way back.
I stopped at the base of my tower and drank my fill from the stream, before climbing up again, making my way back to my shelter. The fire was still burning strong, and I climbed in my lean-to, pulling the last few branches over the entrance to seal myself in. There wasn't much space inside, but I was able to sit comfortably next to my fire. I added a few branches to my fire, before I started working on my fish. There wasn't much to do, as I didn't have any tools to be able to do much with it, but I pulled the spear from it's side, and instead ran it through the fishes mouth. I used my rock tool to drive a smaller branch into the ground next to my fire, and leaned the spear into a handy crook of the stick, leaving it over the fire to cook.
I sat for a while, just staring at the fire, trying not to jump at every sound coming from outside of my shelter. The fire popped and crackled, as crickets started chirping away outside, a noisy call to announce nightfall. I rotated the stick occasionally, trying to evenly cook my dinner, as I considered my predicament. The initial danger from the Raptors, then the almost muscle memory response of needing to move and work to survive kept my mind from wandering, kept me from thinking. Now, there was nothing to do but wait until morning, and plenty of time to think.
I thought of my wife, and how she must be panicking. I could imagine her calling the police to report me missing, to the despondent look in her eyes. I thought of my daughter, so little and so innocent, not understanding why her daddy isn't home, why mommy is crying. I thought of my workmates, friends, who would be worrying, trying to continue the job without me. I thought about the very likely scenario that I'd die in this place. If there were raptors, brontos, triceratops, then it was likely that there were the carnivores too. I shivered lightly despite the warmth. T-Rex. God help me if I ran into one of those.
I didn't realize I was crying until I felt the first drop hit my hand. I stifled a sob, and rubbed my eyes. I might never see my family again. Never see my friends. There's an enormity to that realization, one that I had never thought of before. Death isn't ever something to take lightly, but it was always something that people generally avoided thinking about without good reason. I'd never been faced with my own mortality before now, but the realization that being in this place meant my likely death, probably soon, was a very sobering reality to face. My tears fell, and I didn't try to stop them. Hell, if there was ever a time to cry, it was now.
I shook my head, pushing those thoughts aside. Screw those kinds of thoughts. Sure, I could likely die here, but I sure as hell wasn't going to make it easy. I had the skills to survive. I could live, for a time at least, until I could figure out a way to escape, to find civilization, to find someone that could help.
Unless you've dropped through a wormhole into the past or something science fantasy shit like that, I thought to myself.
I pushed that thought out of my mind too, and lifted the spear holding my meal. The scales were burnt, and flaked off easily. It looked done, and I spent a few minutes eating, considering my options for the next day. The scales weren't easy to get out of the meat, and the small bones were a pain in the ass, but the meat itself was tender enough, if fairly bland, and I ate as much as I could. Once done, I lifted the branches covering the entrance of my shelter, and chucked the remainder of the fish out, over the edge of the tower. Wouldn't do well to have some scavenger coming looking for a free meal.
I settled the branches back, arranging them to my satisfaction, before adding more branches to the fire. I laid down in the slopped portion of my shelter, with my upper body closer to the fire to maintain my core's heat. I didn't expect to sleep any time soon. Too much was running through my mind, and besides, predators could easily find my shelter. Best to stay awake, try to last through the night. Keeping the fire going would maintain my warmth, and I could make a game plan for the next day. As those thoughts were running through my head, I felt my eyes drooping. I groaned low in my throat as I laid my head back. Maybe I'd just close my eyes for a minute, let myself relax. Sure, just a minute. Just a...
