Chapter Four: Survival
Abby sat tiredly at the entrance of the small makeshift shelter that had protected them for the past few days. Claudia's concussion had taken a toll on the older woman, leaving the responsibility of safety, food and drink down to Abby. Her platinum blond hair was now coated with the thick mud, allowing her to blend into the background. This had come in useful whilst scouting for food.
There were predators in the forest. Small carnivores with teeth wandered though the tightly packed conifer forest looking for prey. The air was hot and wet. She'd stumbled across a large clutch of hatched eggs, but a dinosaur had got there first. She'd watched, unmoving as the animal ate the dead hatchling. The creature itself was about her size and paid her no attention. He was happily eating his food using his short front arms and teeth to grip the meal
There were larger creatures also traversing the forest. Abby had done her best to disguise their shelter but she knew it stood little chance if discovered by a determined predator. Finding food was a struggle. The foreign landscape left no clues as to what plants they could eat. She'd taken a chance with some berries which appeared to have been harmless and some tasteless leaves. Rain water was found in vegetation and she had carefully transported the fluid in a large leaf for Claudia, who was unable to eat for the first two days due to nausea.
Abby watched her friend as she slept restlessly. She was nearly recovered from the concussion but her wound was showing signs of infection. The antiseptic was nearly gone, and they were on their last sterile bandage.
The stillness of the forest was broken by the sounds of rushing feet, large and small. Something was wrong. Leaving the shelter, she ducked back in as a large two legged carnivore tore passed her, but the sharp toothed creature didn't look back.
Then she smelt it. Smoke. Wood Smoke. To the west of them, the sky was red and orange, not just with the sun. Smoke rose in a wave, from the forest. A large long neck, a juvenile that had not left the safety of the forest yet was slowly making its way toward her, as was a Stegosaurus, moving faster and charging into the corner of the shelter, missing the now awake Claudia by inches.
Claudia crawled out of the vegetation to join her friend.
"I think we should move." Abbey told her. "In a compact forest like this, that fire will move fast."
They both winced as they heard the distressed sounds of animals closer to the fire, and quickly gathered what they had. Claudia moved slowly but steadily trying to move under her own steam for as long as possible.
The forest began to thin out and the grassy plains became visible though the trees. Carefully they crept out of the forest, trying to keep themselves hidden from the beasts, the tall grass giving them little camouflage.
It was frightening. Giant, majestic animals, larger than they could comprehend marched away from the burning forest. Two big carnivores who stood on two legs, were tucking into one of the small long necks that had hurried from the compromised shelter of trees and into their waiting jaws.
Claudia looked behind her. The flames were still some distance away but they were moving fast. Her muscles in her wounded side screamed in protest as she attempted to speed up.
"Oh! Please!" Abby nearly stopped. A sudden glare of little had momentarily blinded her. As it cleared she saw an almost welcome sight. It wasn't in the same place as the original and only God knew where it lead, but the anomaly hovering in the distance could be their way out of there.
Abby felt Claudia put on yet another burst of speed, amazed that the other woman was still upright but certainly not complaining. They had no way of knowing how long this anomaly would say open.
It could not have taken more than twenty minutes (ducking and hiding from the dangerous creatures around them), but it felt like hours before they reached the fragmented fracture in time. They wasted no time entering it, holding their breaths in anticipation…
Only to let it out in a painful gasp as they were hit by a strong cold gale that winded them both. It knocked them sideways into deep, fresh snow. Fighting to sit up, Abby looked at their surroundings with a heavy heart. They were on a hill side, covered in snow, with nothing insight. A few leave-less trees the only decoration in sight, nothing they could use as shelter. Abby stumbled to her feet, hauling Claudia up with her, intending to return back through the anomaly. She turned back an froze in dismay, to find nothing behind her. The portal had closed.
She sat down in utter despair, shivering, too exhausted to even cry as she stared at where the portal had been. She closed her eyes and wished that she was back in her overheated flat with Conner, trashing him on the play station whilst Rex glided happily overhead. Not here, in an ice age.
"Abby," Claudia's shout was only a whisper to her by the time it had reached her though the wind. Claudia had pulled herself up using a rock jutting out of the ground and was also taking in the desolate sight.
"We need to move."
"What's the point!" Abby argued "Where do we go."
"Get up"
"Why" Abby was shaking with cold and anguish "We're as good as dead."
"So your giving up? Abby we've got to get up. Maybe we can find shelter."
"And prolong the inevitable?" She argued back, angry now.
Claudia's eyes flashed with fire, a slightly similar look to the one she only got whilst arguing with Cutter. But her reply was lost as another sound reached them. A child's cry.
Standing still they strained their ears till they could pinpoint the direction then made their way slowly toward it. The cold wind was biting, their clothes soaked though and exhausted.
Abby was right Claudia thought, we're as good as dead.
Abby was walking slightly in front her, until the ground seemed to disappear under her. Claudia managed to grab her arm but was dragged to the ground with a jarring thud. Somehow she had managed to hold on to the other woman's arm. A brief but taxing struggle and Abby was back on solid ground, and they had found the source of the cry.
Abby had almost fallen down a manmade pit. Sharp wooden stakes were erected, pointing skywards. It was a trap. It looked like the mammoth trap in a TV programme her nephew had made her sit and watch. Before.
A small humanoid figure sat on the bottom of the pit, a child about the size of a twelve year old back home. Even from the distance they could tell see differences in the face, a larger boarder nose than was typical of the average modern human.
The child's face looked up at its possible rescue. He or she then huddled against the wall, in fear of the strangers. The two woman exchanged glances. The child was obviously stuck. Claudia stretched out and reached down to the child, Abby copying her. They could feel the cold seeping further though their thin layers of clothes and into their skin. But they refused to budge, afraid of spooking the child who slowly reached up to grab the offered hands.
Slowly and painfully they hauled the child out of the pit. By the time the child was safely out, Claudia was ready to pass out, but the smaller hands suddenly pulled urgently at her. The child was in some distress gesturing and pulling at them, ordering them to move with verbal sounds they could not recognise.
Reluctantly Claudia put some effort into moving, but relied heavily on Abby and the child who dragged her behind a large outcropping of rocks. Minutes later they hear the sound of large feet and the almost familiar sound of elephant trumpets. From their spot behind the stones Abby and Claudia forced back the effects of the cold to watch in wonder at the sight of the huge woolly animals marching past them.
And then there was a loud, desperate trumpet. Claudia closed her eyes in realization. One of those beautiful woolly mammoth had fallen into the pit. The child was excited, Abby and Claudia slightly sickened although they knew that it was way of the world. People needed to eat. The mammoth hurried though after that and suddenly the sound of yelling could be heard.
The child rushed forward as soon as her path was clear and ran to the group of prehistoric men, who ran toward the pit. They could see the strangers and looked as if they were about to attack before the child started gesturing and talking. The men approached the sorry looking pair.
They weren't tall men, but it was hard to see how big due to the layers of warm fur around them. They walked around the women who still shock still. They all seemed to be waiting for an order from the man who was talking to the child. He tilted his head and studied the pair for a long moment before jerking his head. The child walked forward and grabbed Claudia's arm and started to pull her forward.
Claudia managed three steps before she collapsed.
Sorry it's been a few days.
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