Date: Sat, 3 May 2008 16:00:54 -0700 (PDT) From: Pear III David Subject: Crash Survivor Chapter 9 CRASH SURVIVOR By Drake General Disclaimer and copyrights: This is just a fantasy work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons or places is a coincidence. If you aren't old enough to read this in your country, don't read. If it's a criminal offence to read this in your country, don't read. If male to male relationships and sexuality offend you, don't read. If you think the story will be lame and boring, don't read it either. All rights reserved. NOTE: Hi guys! It's been a long time since my last post and I'm sorry about that. I never wanted to let you guys down in the middle of the story. It's just that a lot of things happened in my life and I wasn't able to catch up the pace and keep everything up to date. I must confess that I needed a lot of help from my editor. This chapter wouldn't have been posted if he wasn't there to give me a big help. Thumbs up to David of Hope. I'd like to thank each of you that had taken the time writing me. I always read all your emails with great delight. Drake From last chapter: After our long walk, we arrived at our camp in a complete darkness, the last torch giving its last breath fifteen minutes ago, and no more fuel to soak another one. Thanks again to Matt, with the dim light of the quarter moon, we saw the pile of rocks he'd made earlier and just followed the path we'd made on the ground. After we removed our back packs, our clothes and went for our last pee, we all climbed into the raft for a needed rest. We were all exhausted from the day we had, and felt asleep easily. Tomorrow would be the start of a new life for all of us... -------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 9 Crap!! Why is it that whenever you need do something outside, it's always raining. I should give the guy who'd invented the Murphy's Law a good chastisment, I mean Mr. Murphy himself! Normally, we were used to picking our activities in relation to the current weather and it never caused any problems. Today was kind of different. I knew the boys couldn't wait to get back to the military base with all of our belongings, but with the strong winds and high waves pounding the shore, it was out of question to put the raft in the ocean and to drag it by walking on the shore. I'd been awake for about an hour, trying to figure out what to say to the boys, knowing that they'd probably be upset and disappointed. Then Jake awoke from his state limbo. "Hey Dad! Wazzup?" he asked me. "Hey yourself Jakey..." I replied. "It's raining..." he stated sadly. "Yeah... I know..." I sighed. "We're still going over to the base today, aren't we?" he asked. "If it's pouring like this, we won't be able to float our raft securely... It may not turn out to be a good day to go back there." I replied. "Kind of boring..." Jake said. Then thinking a little, he added, "but that's the way the rain drops dribble..." "Yeah... anyway, now we'll have time to make a solid rope so we can drag the raft and I think that'll keep us busy for a good part of the day, what do you think?" I asked. "Like you said dad... If it was a sunny day, we'd have to make the rope anyway. So maybe, it doesn't matter if it's raining. We'll just have some more time to make a better rope." Jake said with a warm smile. "Thanks son, I wasn't sure you guys would accept the fact that we can't get there today." I said. "Oh... I'm disappointed, but we can't fight nature..." Jake replied seriously. "Will you wake up those two?" I asked. "I've gotta take a leak." "Wait, I'll come with ya dad!" he replied as I was leaving the tent to go to our usual pee tree. We did our duties and came back near the camp, completely soaked. The rain didn't bother us because it was like a luke-warm tropical shower. In fact, it was a particularly hot day. I took the opportunity to check Jake's condition before entering the tent. He was healing faster than I'd expected; the biggest wounds that would normally have had some stitches with average medical help, were completely closed now. I stretched his legs to their full extension and kneaded the skin near the scars to ensure that it would have some flexibility if Jake needed it. He relaxed and enjoyed the moment, under my attentive care. Finally, we woke Wil and Matt. They were somewhat disappointed to know that we wouldn't get back to the base because of the rain storm, but they agreed with Jake, saying that we'd have more time to prepare our expedition with all our belongings. After their morning duties, Wil and Matt joined Jake to get some fruits for our breakfast. Meanwhile, I filled some bottles with rain water because we had none left. Wil surprised us again, before leaving the military base, he remembered to take a few cans of SPAM with an opener. I could tell that we all appreciated his move. After our breakfast, we all started to make the rope to drag the raft with. With the tools Matt and Wil had made earlier, it was easy to string all the twines and braid them to make a sturdy rope. By noon, the rain was starting to ease off and our rope was over twenty feet long, enough for what we needed to drag the raft. I was amazed to see how many simple things we used to buy normally were so long and difficult to make without any resources. Within a few weeks, we'd learn how to do make or gather everything we needed, from water and food to ropes! As we started to prepare our lunch, the rain finally came to a stop and the sun started to make its way through the clouds. The waves on the ocean went to their calmer, normal state. The timing was almost perfect because I had no idea how to keep my boys busy for the afternoon. "Do you think we go now dad?" pleaded Matt with his puppy eyes. I looked to all the boys, who were patiently waiting for my answer. "Stop looking at me like that... you already know the answer son!" I chuckled as I dug my fingers into his ribs to tickle him. "Stop that dad!" he giggled while squirming. "Stop that, I'll pee myself!" he added. "Ok, ok, enough water for today!!!" I chuckled as I released him. "Ok guys, it's time to pack the raft with our things.... the waves have dropped enough so we can float the raft securely. We'll need first to drag it near the water, and then I want all of you to fill it with our belongings." I said. "Right on dad!" they replied in unison. "I know it may be difficult for you boys, but try to fill it intelligently so we'll have enough space for everything." I said with a small grin. Wil was the first to catch my joke. "Daaaaad!!!! You're so dead!!!" "Promises, promises..." I teased him. "What are you guys talking about?" Jake asked out of nowhere. "He said we weren't intelligent!!" Wil replied with a grin of his own. "Huh? No!! He just said that it was difficult to..." Jake started to say, but then realizing what I'd said, he asked: "Wil? You need help to catch him?" pointing at me with his finger. "Ok, kids!! Enough fooling around... we have to go now, no need to say that it'll be a long haul pulling the raft behind us!" Matt stated with a smile. "Want a spanking for calling me kid?" I asked him, still playing the game. "Hmm, maybe no... Bye dad!" Matt replied, faking to go to hide himself in the forest. "Ok, ok guys! Stick around, now it's time to move, so shup-shup, everything in the ugly raft! Soon, the boys and I had the boat completely filled to the brim with all our belongings, our tools, and the remnants of the other raft. You never know when it might come handy. I gave a final look around our dismantled campground. The place looked as if no one had ever lived there, apart from the area we used to make our campfire, the chairs dug into the sand near it and the yellow grass at the base of our watering tree. Jake and Matt attached the new rope to the raft and a pull bar made from a wood stick at the other end. As they were doing that, I gave a look around me, to see that we hadn't forgotten anything. I saw Wil standing still near the shore, looking to the ocean. I approached him quietly and went beside him; some tears were running down his cheeks. Seeing that my presence wasn't changing his mood, I gently took him in my arms, trying to soothe him. I didn't know why he was so sad. Moving to the military base, with everything we may find there was a new adventure for us to look forward to, so why he was crying? "What's going on son?" I asked him, trying to figure out how to help him. As an answer, Wil just shrugged his shoulder. "May I help ya?" I asked. "No... ya can't... It's just that... that... Ahh Jeeeze, it's so stupid!" he said. "There's nothing stupid with our situation here... you probably have many good reasons to cry..." I said trying to soothe his emotions. "Will you laugh if I say I'll miss this place?" he asked me, wiping the remaining tears under his eyes. "No Wil, I'd never laugh about something like that," I replied. "May I ask why you'll miss this place though?" "Hmm, 'kay... It's just that I think that my new life started here. I'm not the same guy anymore. A better life is coming up for me, don't ask why, but I know it is. This land and this place obviously saved us from death. Selfish as we are, we're about to leave this place as if it didn't exist, all too happy to go to a better place to stay." Wil explained. While listening to Wil's thoughts, I started to understand what he was trying to say. It was like this place had part of his soul, and we were about to leave this wonderful mate without saying him our last goodbye. "Well that's true. I never thought about it that way. I think grown-ups tend to forget these kind of things. You're really a sensitive boy Wil, more than you'll ever know..." I said. "I think we should do something, like leaving our mark here..." he stated. Jake and Matt who'd just joined us agreed. We all became a bit emotional at that point and each of us shed a few tears, probably because we'd come close to death, and now, we were all happy to be alive. This small encampment had been part of the equation. We never thought about it until today. We embraced each other with those memories intact, and then Wil finally broke the hug and went toward the forest line. He was looking for something on the ground. He finally found a small sharp rock. We followed him as he went toward the trees then started to carve something on one of them. We didn't say anything, but just watched him. When he'd finished, we could read : ______________ With our respect of this place forever William Paterson Matthew Morris Jacob Campbell Greg Murray 2006 ______________ "Sorry... I never meant to damage the tree" Wil said looking down. "Not to worry," I assured him. "It's a big tree and I'm sure it can take it considering all the sticks and branches that have hit it from the winds we've had here. "That was really sweet man..." Jake finally said. "Ya think?" Wil replied with a shy grin. "Yeah, you're the only one who thought about such a nice thing, you really should be proud." Jake told him as he took Wil in his arms. "Thanks, but I don't want to take all the credit, I'm the person I am now because of all of you guys. I've changed quite a lot in the few past weeks. Before, I was a jerk with you guys and shy with everyone else. Instead of denying me or letting me alone, you did everything to make me part of the gang, all of you here helped me to be a better person, outing myself to all of you. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have happened if I'd been at home." Wil said still being hugged by his friend. Without another word being said, Jake and Matt looked to each other and then kissed Wil on his cheek, one boy on each side. I understood what Wil meant. We were in a unique situation, where we needed to bond with one another, where we needed to work on ourselves to sort the good from the bad and to be able to survive. I could tell Wil was the one who needed to make the biggest adjustment, but he'd progressed quickly and was now a young man of good integrity. "Sorry to break the kissy-kissy thing boys, but I think we should really leave now if we want to get to the base and setup our camp before it's dark." I said. "Yes dad..." Matt finally said as his lips left Wil's smooth skin. "I was just enjoying the moment..." he added. "Hey, you're MY boyfriend remember," Jake said with a sarcastic tone. "Oh. Hmm? That... Oh, it never hurts to look if the neighbor's grass is greener than our own," Matt replied with a kind of shy grin. "Then?" Jake asked. "Can't say... Too hard to tell..." Matt grinned. "Yeah right..." Jake smiled. "Hey, don't fight over me you love birds, I love you both and you both love me. That's it!" Wil said. "Wil, let me tell you... You have such a way to solve everything." Jake chuckled. "Probably, but before all you become too 'excited'," I said emphasizing on the last word, "I repeat that we have to leave." I added. " 'Kay!" they all replied in unison. "I think we need to inflate the raft... if I remember right, it was almost out of air the last time I checked it..." Wil said pointing to the raft. "I already did and everything's ok. We can leave now..." Matt said. Then we walked toward the raft and started to drag it into the water. I thought it would be easy to pull the damn thing into the water, since we were at only few feet from the shore, but we were all exhausted after the effort. The raft wasn't that heavy, but its own weight combined with everything scattered on its big surface made enough friction on the sand to break our valuable efforts. Pretty soon, with more extended effort than we'd thought initially, the raft was floating on the water again. Matt and Wil decided to take turns pulling the raft. The boys told Jake not to even think about doing any pulling because he was still healing from his encounter with the shark. They asked me to help steer the rear end of the raft with a blunted stick. After two test pulls to see if the rope strength was enough to bear the stress we were about to apply, we were gone. I looked back sometimes, without being noticed by the boys, seeing our rescue place starting to disappear far away. Really, Wil seemed to see this coming, as I let go a tear myself, thinking about all the good moments we enjoyed there, and the fact that this land was our only hope for survival. Then there's also Jake, our cutie guy, that wouldn't be with us if it hadn't been for Wil's little walk down the beach. Lots of memories for such a short period; life seemed to be going a hundred miles an hour since we got here. As we progressed, I saw that we were much slower than I'd expected, the raft always trying to beach itself as the boy were pulling it. The water was too deep to allow the boys to walk too far from shore, so they had to stay near the beach. Jake picked up another wood stick and helped to steer the front end of the boat, without stretching his torso too much, pushing the front toward the ocean. I was aware that it could open his wound, but no, after checking it a few times, Jake's condition was quite normal. I was relieved because with him steering the front, it became a lot easier and faster to make the raft follow the right path. We stopped each hour for a rest. I was really aware that the boys might collapse with all effort they needed to exert themselves to pull the raft. Our diet was enough to keep us alive, but not nutritious enough to sustain long term physical efforts. Jake started to get a little sore, so on one of our many stops, I told him to lay down and I kneaded his shoulder, his back and his torso. He was probably the weakest between all of us because of his encounter with the shark that had taken some of his vital energy for the healing process. I looked to him - Jake was so beautifully proportioned, his six pack starting to develop, some muscular tone everywhere, but now, it was just plain bones, no fat, no muscles. There was no sign of undernourishment but, without the proper level of protein in our diet, it wasn't good enough for him in his condition, and for the rest of us too. Knowing that he paid particular attention to his health and his body, it was kind of alarming to see him in that condition. During the early afternoon, the sun had become hotter than normal and the humidity level was higher than usual because of the rain storm in the morning. Anyway, we stopped, drank a little, and ate some coconut each time I saw that the boys were getting tired. Aware that it may be too difficult for them to pull the raft all the way up to the military base, I asked them if they would like me to pull it for a while. "No way!" Matt answered. "You're too old for that... no way!" Wil snickered. "Ok guys, I get it... I just didn't want you to get exhausted. You know, you two look like two scooters trying to tow a bus..." I mocked. "Daaad!! You're so dead!!" Matt said. "Words, words, words.... Never attempt to catch me, ya won't be able to..." then looking defiantly to him, I chuckled, "Those short legs are nothing compared to mine..." The boys came to a halt, Matt looking devilishly at me, grinning from ear to ear, the handle bar still in is hand. As soon as he dropped it, he started to run toward me. Instead of fleeing, I ran as fast as I could toward him, confusing Matt somewhat, then I jumped on him and pinned him to the ground. I started to tickle him, poking his rib cage with my fingers. "Da-a-a-ad... Sto-o-o-op i-i-i-it!" He managed to say during my tickle attack. "I told you wouldn't be able to catch me! I'm the one who caught you!" I said. "But you didn't run from me... That's not fair!" Matt said, a little disappointed. "I never said I'd run from you... Maybe I'm an old fart, but I'm smarter than you! You can't catch me if I catch you first." "Ok, I get the point..." Matt chuckled as he released from my grip. "Dad? If you two are done, we should get back to work, otherwise we won't get there before dark." Wil said. "Okay boys, let's go!" I replied. Matt resumed his position with Wil on the pull bar, Jake and I steering, and we all continued our walk along the shore toward the base. As we approached the entrance to the military base supply road, I looked at the sun in the west sky and figured we still had enough time to be able to travel the road from the beach to the Quonset hut before dusk. "How can we drag everything up that road dad? Jake asked. There's too much weight in the raft for that!" "Yeah, you're right... Actually, I was thinking it would be a good idea to hide the raft in the bushes near the entrance anyway. That way, if we needed to use it on the water, we wouldn't have to bring it all the way back here." "Okay... but we still have a problem. We'll have to carry all our things in our hands. We don't have any bag, so it'll be difficult to bring more than two or three things each one of us! It means, we'd have to make several trips back and forth.... and I don't think we have time before it gets dark." Wil said. "Wait-wait-wait-wait!!!" Matt said, his eyebrows furrowed. "Got an idea?" I asked him. "Yeah... Dad? Do we need to keep the tent top?" Matt asked. "As long as the Quonset hut is weather proof, I'd say no... Why?" I said. "Hmmm, I was thinking we could make a kind of stretcher with the remains of the tent top. That way, we'll be able to carry everything on top of it just in a single trip. The only thing is that we need to find two long sticks that are strong enough to handle the weight." Matt explained. "That's way too damn kewl!! How do you do think of all these tricks babe?" Jake asked. "I dunno, it just comes to me sometimes. I really never thought about it until Wil brought it up." Matt answered. "Hey guys, look over there, I found a stick that might do!" Wil said as he got near the forest. "Just one more to go!" "And I found another one," I said pointing in the opposite direction. "Good, that makes two good poles to attach to the vinyl." Matt said. The boys helped Matt to construct a makeshift stretcher. They removed the tent top from the raft, and then folded the vinyl to a rectangular shape. They poked some holes on the longer sides to be able to feed the poles into each hole, alternating between them. Then they used the rope we'd made to fasten everything in place. Soon, we had transferred all our things into the stretcher. I wondered if we'd be able to carry everything; it appeared to be much too heavy. Anyway, we deflated the raft, exhausted all the air that remained inside, rolled it up and packed it into its bag, protecting it from the sun and rain. We hid the pack in the bushes near the entrance. That was somewhat unnecessary because I was sure no one would steal it, but it seemed more natural to think like that, kind of like the way we remembered how life was for us before in the so-called 'civilized' world. It was already decided that Matt and Wil would handle the stretcher at the front, each end of the pole on one of their shoulders. I would be at the end, with the pole resting across my shoulders. Jake was told to relax and just help us by healing. God, Matt, and Wil really cared for him. The moment of truth came as we took the stretcher poles. We counted to three and pulled it up on our shoulders. It was a lot lighter than I'd expected. I guess that the raft weighed more than I thought. Matt's idea was going to work out just fine. We started our trek up the abandoned supply road, following the path that some guys had cleared a long time ago. Jake opened the way by removing the heavier brush that sprouted in the path during the last fifty years so we wouldn't stumble on it. It was really an easy walk even though my head was pointing to the ground with the pole slung over my shoulders, a bit like I was being crucified. Maybe we could have brought the raft too, but who knows. Anyhow, we were there now. The sun was still sitting above the top of the horizon as we arrived at the barracks Quonset hut. We stopped at the entrance, and then lowered the stretcher and its contents to the ground. "We should get some oil to put on the torches before it gets too dark," Jake said. "Yeah, good thinking son." I said. "Do you know where it is babe?" Matt asked. "Hmm, where you were, in the geriatri... you know... the generator room?" Jake said. "Yeah. I left a funnel near the right tank. Just use it to put some oil in those bottles," Matt said as he gave the bottles to his lover. "Thanks Matty." He said. "Just thanks? No kisses?" Matt asked. "Aww c'mon! Those two will look at us. I don't want to show off and have them make fun of us." Jake replied pointing to Wil and I. "Okay guys, we get it. We won't look, will we Wil?" I asked with a grin. "Noooooo!" Wil replied shaking his head slowly with a smile. "Yeah right... Whatever..." said Jake as he kissed his boyfriend passionately. Right away Wil and I started our wolf whistles - teasing the boys as we laughed. "Wow!!! That was... that was wild man, and just for three bottles!" Matt stuttered with a big smile. "I don't want to know what you'll do for me if I make your bed!" Jake laughed as he went inside. "Knowing you, you'd probably undo it for some reason, I'll never know!" he chuckled. Then he was gone. "Ok boys, while Jake's getting oil, we should remove everything from the stretcher and put it inside near the door... and that'll be enough work for today, we'll sort everything tomorrow. Right now, I'd better clear a place to make beds in the barracks, we're all exhausted from today's trek and a good sleep is going to be welcome once we have a bite to eat." I said. "Yeah... Will you help me Wil?" Matt asked. "Mmm'kay" Wil replied. "While you're at that, I'll have a look to see if I can find something we can sleep on." I said. "All right dad." Matt replied. " 'Kay dad. Just try to find me a good pillow, I need one really bad!" Wil said. "I'll try. Otherwise, you may use my shoulder as usual!" I said as I walked inside. "Hey THAT'S a good idea!!!" Wil yelled. As Matt went outside, he yelled back to Wil, "Hey Wil, is that your bird." Distracted, I followed Wil outside. "Yeah!" Wil exclaimed. "Hey Henry! Comere fella!" With that, Henry swooped across the short space and landed on top of our belongings. "Henry's a good boy!" the parrot exclaimed. "Hi Henry, it's Wil." Wil said slowly in a quiet distinct voice. "Rrrraaaawk," the bird bellowed. "Wiiil!" he finally squawked. "Good boy!" Wil said quietly as he picked up a folded backpack and put it on his shoulder. "You wanna help me put this stuff in the workshop?" The bird twisted his head and looked up at Wil, then jumped onto his shoulder. "Henry's a good boy." he said quietly. Now that Wil had found his friend again, I smiled to myself as I went back into the barracks area and opened what windows I could. This place needed some fresh air really bad. Then I set to the chore of finding something for us to bed down on for the night. Jake came out of the generator room carrying three unlit torches and three bottles filled with fuel into the bunk room as I'd opened the last window. "Hey Dad! Wazzup?" he asked. "Well Jake, somehow I have to scramble something together rather quick for us to sleep on before it gets dead dark. Looking at the mess in here, I think I'll have to grab a few of the mattresses from the lower bunks and take them outside and beat the dust out of them before we can lay on them. Maybe if we're lucky, I'll be able to find some pillows too." "OK, I'll drop these off for Matt and I'll come back and give ya a hand." "Good deal!" I said as I started looking for the best of the worst pile of stuffing I'd ever encountered. There was little I could make from the twenty-eight mattresses for tonight, but I grabbed the three best ones and hauled them outside one at a time. Wil and Matt had most of our belongings arranged in the workshop area on the floor. Henry was perched on top of one of the shelves being very attentive to their every move. "Matt... Wil, could you find a shovel or stick to beat these a bit to get some of the dust out of them? I requested. "I've got to see what we can do for a bottom sheet. I wouldn't want us to lay on those in the raw." "You bet Dad... it might even be fun." Wil replied. "Matt, if you can hold them upright I'll be able to beat them." Matt's face took on a stunned look. "NO!" he exclaimed. "You hang on to them... I'll beat them. Honest, I can't have anyone come at me with a stick again. Please.... I just can't." Matt was almost in tears. Wil grabbed Matt into a hug. "Hey it's OK Matt, I didn't think it would remind you of those things. You can do the beating. Man, I'd never hit you with a stick or anything. You're my friend. You know that don't ya?" "Yeah, I know," Matt replied, "it's just that I've had enough of being beat for this lifetime." I thought I'd better leave them to it and let them settle their emotions on their own. "Jake, let's see what we can get done inside to make room for our bed tonight." Jake looked a bit worried about his boyfriend. "You gonna be OK Matt?" He asked. "Yeah, I'll be fine... it was just a thought that sometimes comes into my mind." Matt said with a smile. "Did ya get the bottles filled up?" "Yeah. I left them on the bench in the workshop... I made up some torches too." Jake said with a grin of his own. "Good! I think you'd better go help Dad..." then, after giving his boyfriend a peck on the cheek and with a small laugh, "I'm gonna beat the shit out of Wil and these mattresses. I think they've got it coming." "Who?" Wil laughed. "Me or the mattresses?" "It's OK Wil," I said, "the mattresses need it more than you do. He won't harm a hair on your head. He remembers what it feels like." I smiled at Matt. "Come on Jake, let's see what we can get done in the bunkhouse. It's going to get dark soon." Between Jake and I, we did manage to get the rest of the mattresses off the bed frames and into three piles. Then I checked the shelves and found several blankets that appeared to be in good shape until I unfolded them and they almost disintegrated in my hands. I added that mess to the piles of mattresses. I thought, 'Yup, they'll make good torch material.' Fifty years ago, they didn't have the fabrics that we use today; no such thing as polyester and good cottons that might withstand the test of time. While I was doing that, Jake started going through the lockers that lined one wall. "Hey Dad, have a look at this, " he said. I looked inside the locker and was surprised. Then we opened all the lockers. A DOZEN LEATHER FLY JACKETS! Why would they have been left here? Oh well, the leather was still in good shape, although the linings were rotted and the stitching disintegrated somewhat when I took them off the hangers. One by one, Jake and I took the jackets off the hangers and disassembled them, throwing the ragged linings and stitching on the mattress pile. It only took a few minutes, but we ended up with a large pile of small leather remnants that may come in handy for something else, if we ever found a way of stitching them together again. For tonight though, Jake and I rolled them up in a tube-like fashion, and they were going to be our pillows. That accomplished, we went outside to see how Matt and Wil were making out with the mattresses. Before we got outside we could hear them coughing on the mini-dust storm they'd created. "OK boys, quit and rest," I said, "I don't want you to get lung cancer from all this dust." "It's OK Dad," Matt said, "that's the last one. If we beat them anymore, there'll be nothing left of them." "Good, because I want us to have a quick gander at that building over there." I pointed to a small building about 20 feet by 40 feet that was situated about halfway between the barracks building and the smaller hanger. Considering what I hoped was a water tank on top of a four sturdy stanchions that stood beside it, I suspected the building might be the latrine. With Henry tagging along on Wil's shoulder, the first thing I noticed as we got closer was there was still a wet spot at the bottom of a pipe that came off the top of the tank above. "You think that might be an overflow pipe from that water tower? I asked Matt. "If it is," Matt observed, "the tank is full." I dipped my hand in the small pool of liquid that had gathered in a small rut in the ground and then tasted the drop from my finger. It was water. The tank had overflowed recently - probably from the storm that had just passed this morning. The door that had closed in the building entrance was now only a remnant of rotted wood lying askew on its hinges. Just then, Henry let out a squawk. "Sithouse!" For some reason he had a hard time saying, 'SH'. However, that answered any doubts as to what the building was used for. As we turned the corner from the entrance, we could immediately see a row of sinks on one wall, followed by six urinals. On the opposite wall, were four shower stalls and eight toilet stalls. The wood partitions between the stalls were in as bad shape as the entrance door was. I thought that would make good firewood some day. Windows were non-existent - just openings to the outside. Looking at that, I was surprised that birds or some other vermin hadn't nested in this building. "Boys, be careful," I said, "I'd imagine that most of the metal plumbing is well rusted and won't be usable. If we break a tap off, we won't be able to stop the flow until that tank up there is totally drained." "Well, we could try to free some of it up with some oil from the workshop or diesel room, couldn't we?" Jake asked. "We could try that, but I'm not sure if it'll work." I replied. "Hey Dad," Matt called out, "There's water running in this toilet!" I thought I'd heard water running, but attributed it to the fact that Wil was taking a leak in one of the urinals. I checked the other toilets and they were dry. The one that Matt was standing in front of definitely had water running through it. I looked at the method of how these toilets were flushed. There was no tank or release valve like you see in most public washrooms, just a tap that would turn the water on and off. I tried turning the tap for this toilet and it did turn slightly into the off position, but it didn't turn the water off completely. I assumed the rubber washer had long since deteriorated. Then I tried turning it on full and that seemed to work. I turned it off to the fullest extent possible, so there was just a trickle coming through. A simple way of flushing a toilet, but it worked. I was only glad that someone had left this one turned on before they left the base. "OK fellas, we have a working toilet that we can have a dump in." I said. "It sure beats having to go out in the bushes like we have been." "But we ain't got no toilet paper!" Wil exclaimed. "Well what were you using before?" Jake asked. I started to smile, wondering what the answer was going to be. "I'd take a big leaf off a plant nearby and use it." Wil replied. "What did you use?" "Oh I'd use my fingers and then wipe them on a leaf on the plant nearby." Jake laughed, "Maybe that's the leaf you ended up picking and used too." "Jake! That's gross!" Wil said indignantly as the rest of us laughed. "OK fellas, this is what we'll do for toilet paper," I began. "Before you go for a dump, go pick a leaf and use it like you have been, but DON'T flush them down the toilet. They may not decompose in that holding tank so well. You'll have to carry them back out into the bush where they can decompose naturally. Think we can do that?" "Yeah, I guess that'll be OK, but maybe we should dig a hole that we can drop the used leaves into." Jake suggested. "Yup, that'll work. I don't want to use Jake's no more!" Wil laughed. "OK guys, let's get back to the barracks," I said. "We've got beds to make and torches to light. Tomorrow, one of my jobs will be to find out where the overflow for the sewage holding tank is." As soon as we arrived back at the entrance, I grabbed a mattress and left the other two for Matt and Wil. I put mine down on the floor, and then I grabbed the one from Matt and placed it beside it. They still smelled musty, but there was little we could do about it. We decided to set up our little bed near the doorway to the workshop for tonight. When Wil brought in the third mattress, he also brought the raft canopy with him. He winked with a smile. "If we take out the tension rods and flatten down the centre, it may make a good mattress cover." Sometimes the imagination and intelligence of these boys overwhelmed me. I felt pretty confident that they were going to make good survivalists, but for tonight, we had to maintain a schedule and get as much done as we could before dark. "OK Wil," I said, "Let's you and I work on that while Matt and Jake work on getting the torches started. We don't want to get caught short without any light.... and we've got to have something to eat pretty soon." "Right on Dad," Matt exclaimed. "Come on Jake." As we started working on the raft canopy, we heard Jake say through the open door between the workshop and the barracks, "Hey Henry, you better go get Wil. We don't want a barbequed parrot for dinner when we light these torches." Hearing that, Wil called to Henry several times. Almost immediately, the bird squawked, and with a flutter of his wings, he was at the doorway, following Wil's voice as he trotted on his feet through the passage. "Henry's a good boy." Wil said calmly as we continued working with the canopy stitching. The bird let out a long squawk, and then said, "Henry! Wil..... Wil a good boy!" Then he squawked one more time. Through a few giggles, I said, "Yes he is Henry, a very good boy. Wil, that parrot is a real treasure. I'm glad he found us." "Ya hear that Henry? You're very special to all of us." Wil said with a smile as he continued to concentrate on his work. "You must have been one lonely bird for the last forty or so years. Hey Henry, you gotta a girlfriend parrot?" Henry flapped his wings a few times and jumped up on the pile of mattresses, then let out a wolf whistle. Wil and I started laughing. Then Henry started imitating our laughter. The bed arrangement was nearly complete. Three mattresses would form a big bed for all of us. We didn't have any sheet to cover us yet, so we used our old stand-by again to keep everyone warm. We just laid down on the ground in the nude (as usual) then covered ourselves with all of our clothes which we attached one to the other. That way, we could share body heat and keep it under the makeshift sheet cover. Once we had the mattresses covered and the leather jacket pillows in place, Wil and I went into the workshop to check on Matt and Jake. "All ready to light them up dad," Matt said with a bit of pride. "OK then, let's grab some chairs from the barracks and take them outside and have a bite to eat." "Great!" Jake exclaimed. "I'll get the food ready, Matt take the torches outside and get them lit. I'm hungry." With that, Wil and I went back into the barracks and got four chairs to sit on and in passing, I grabbed some of the rotten blankets that were on top of the mattresses. Might as well burn them. With the torches standing in three used oil cans that Matt found in the workshop, and all the rotted blankets smoldering away with some of the oil left over from the torches, we sat around the fire on the runway and enjoyed our meal of nuts, fruit and spam watching the sun make it's final decent under the horizon. "Tomorrow, we'll have to go hunting for more fruit," Jake said. "We still have some nuts and coconut, but this is the end of the fruit." "That'll be an easy job for you, won't it Jake," Wil asked. "Sure," Jake answered, "and I want to try to free up a tap or two in the shithouse. What are the rest of you going to do?" "OK my boys," I began, "tomorrow we have two big jobs in front of us. First, we have to get those moldy mattresses that we aren't using outside and then I want to investigate the control tower. It should have some more radio equipment in it." "Don't forget the sewage holding tank overflow," Wil said with a yawn. "Right!" I replied yawning as well. "Matt, maybe you can give Jake a hand with the oiling of the water valves in the latrine." "Oh I might be able to give him more than a hand," Matt said with a giggle. "But tonight I'm too tired. Can we just go to bed and sleep?" "Yes boys, I think we should.... it's been a long day." I replied as I started to get up off my chair. As we walked back into the barracks, Jake asked, "What's a latrine?" With Henry on Wil's shoulder, he squawked and said, "Sithouse!" With a roar of laughter from the four of us - well, five, including Henry - we carefully walked through the workshop by the dim light coming through the doorway from the torches and the moonlight coming through the skylights in the barracks. Wil carefully let Henry off his shoulder onto the pile of mattresses and we all said good night to him. His reply was a quiet, "Henry's a good boy." Once we got onto our makeshift bed, ending up spooned together - Matt in front of me, Jake in front of him and Wil nestled at the other side. My mind was a bit of a slushy blur as I listened to Jake, then Wil start a light snore. Then slowly Matt said, "Gen.... er..... aaay.... ter," just before he slid into a quiet snore as well. Just as my closed eyes were reaching the blessed state of slumber, my mind drifted, 'Yeah... a great big torch.... more.... help.... on... the.... runway.' Then I felt the happy, comforting abyss of sleep totally overtaking my exhausted mind and body. I did wake up a couple of times through the night with something poking in my back, but it was ok, it couldn't have been harmful. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To be continued... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Many thanks for reading this little story. If you wish, I'd appreciate your feedback. Just send me an email and put Crash Survivor in the subject line so I won't think it's spam and delete your message. As usual, I'd appreciate knowing where you're from and how old you are! ;-) Cheers, Drake drakanian32@yahoo.ca