Without Law, page 8
I made my way to the library carrying a few things from the dining hall with me. The sun had just started to peak over the horizon as I setup the small propane camp stove and started a simple pot of cheap coffee. The library was filled with a rich aroma as I made my way to the bank of computers set against one wall.
I spent the next part of the morning pulling open the machines and pulling out, and stripping wires. These would come in handy later, so I tucked them into my side pocket and returned to the meeting area as I heard the library door open.
“Do I smell coffee?” Rolly asked as he entered the library.
“Yout bet,” I said and I poured him a cup and slid it to him as he took a seat at the conference table.
“Thought it might make the morning easier,” I said as I filled a cup for myself. “Are the girls close behind you?”
“Yep,” Rolly said before he sipped at the coffee. “Liquid heaven.”
Before I could respond I heard the front door opened again. Anna, Paige, and Bailey stepped inside.
The redhead came down the stairs first, and her tight braid bounced with each step. She had on a fresh pair of black running pants with a white stripe on the side, a blue under armor tank top, and plain black running sneakers.
Paige looked more prepared for the outdoors in her baggy jeans, hiking boots, and red flannel pulled over a white tank top with sleeves pulled up to the elbows.
Bailey brought up the rear in her same pale green tank top, a fresh pair of skinny jeans, and a matching pair of pale green high-top shoes.
“What is that heavenly smell?” the athlete asked as she took a seat.
Paige pulled up next to her and licked her lips as she spied the cup of coffee in Rolly’s hands.
“Oh man, I am not even a huge fan of coffee but can I get a cup?” Bailey asked.
I filled a styrofoam cup for each of them and grinned as they basked in its steamy aroma.
“What did we do to deserve this?” Anna asked after she took her first sip.
“I just thought you might enjoy a pick me up this morning,” I said with a shrug.
Tara came running into the library carrying a mesh bag full of soaps, shampoos and washcloths. Tara skipped along with a grin on her perfect face. She had on black yoga pants, a bright pink sports shirt that only served to draw attention to her breasts, and sneakers that looked like they were pulled fresh from the box this morning. She took a seat, tucked her bag under the chair, and smiled at me with shining white teeth.
“Good morning,” I said before I slid her a cup of coffee.
“Morning,” the platinum-blonde said as stared into the bitter black liquid and wrinkled her nose. She leaned in and took a tiny sip, shook her head, and pulled away before she noticed that everyone was staring at her.
“Not a fan of coffee huh?” Anna asked.
“What are the chances that we can make a latte?” Tara asked as she looked up at me.
“Unless you know where we can find a cow it’s just black coffee for us,” I said with a grin.
“Darn,” she sighed. “I hope the power comes back on soon.”
“You know it won’t,” Paige sighed.
“Yeah, but I can still hope,” Tara said, and the other girls all nodded as they stared into their coffee.
I stretched, downed my cup of coffee, and started to pace in front of the whiteboard. Then I gave everyone a few more moments to sip on their coffee before I spoke up.
“Our water needs are covered for now, and as long as we keep making trips every few days we will be fine,” I said. “That means today we can focus on other concerns and resume water runs tomorrow. Most importantly, food.”
“I thought we were okay on that for a while though?” Anna asked.
“We are, but we don't want to wait for it to become an issue before we actually find more,” I replied.
“Speaking of, I found a book on edible plants,” Paige said as she held up the blue tome.
“That’s good, but we need more than plants to survive this, we need meat,” I said as I wrote that on the board under the category of food.
“Then we are totes fine. You are, like, enough meat for all of us,” Tara joked. “Even you would eat that meat, wouldn’t you Bailey?”
“Maybe,” she said as she turned bright red, slipped lower into her seat, and refused to make eye contact with me.
“You don’t eat meat? Why didn’t you say something sooner?” I asked as I raised an eyebrow.
“I dunno, I didn’t think it was a big deal I guess,” Bailey said as she shook her head. She still refused to look in my direction.
This could be problematic going forward, but there was no point in making a big deal out of it here.
“Rolly, I am going to take the girls back into the forest for a while today,” I said. “While we are gone can you see about setting up a simple smoker using whatever wood we have lying around? Could be useful in the coming days if our ventures prove fruitful.”
“Sounds fun,” Rolly said with a slow nod.
“Wait, we won’t be killing anything will we?” Bailey asked.
“How else would we get meat?” Paige asked.
“I… I don’t know,” Bailey stammered.
“Look, this might not be what you want to do but it is how we are going to survive,” I said as I walked over and set a hand on her shoulder. “I will teach you the right way to hunt, and to trap so that the creatures will not suffer.”
“I still don’t like the idea,” Bailey whispered as she looked up at me.
“I know, but we don’t have much of a choice anymore,” I said. “Meat will be our easiest source of protein and fat, and we need that to stay strong enough to do stuff like lug water.”
“I-I’ll do what I can,” The dirty blond said as she forced a smile.
I returned to the whiteboard, but knew today would be difficult for Bailey. Though it would be foolish to let her skip this trip, because even though some people were going to be better at a task than others, it was essential that everyone knows the basics of every job in case of emergency.
“Alright, here’s the plan,” I started. “The five of us will be going back to the stream. We will all bring a one gallon jug, and our backpacks. After we fill the water jug, we will go out and check the area for game trails, and animal tracks.”
“Wait, we aren’t going to take a bath then?” Tara interrupted.
“You do get to bathe,” I assured her. “Once we hit the stream, we will leave two of you to take a bath while the other two stick with me. After a little while we will rotate out giving all four of you a chance to bathe.”
“Fuck yes!” Tara exclaimed.
“I wouldn’t mind getting a bath in,” the gray-haired man said.
“I figured that would be the case. That’s why you and I will head out there tomorrow morning,” I said.
“Much appreciated,” Rolly said as he nodded and smiled at me.
“Alright, everyone grab your packs, your soap, and your spears. I’ll make sure we have water, and some food for our trip,” I said.
I followed everyone out of the library but split away as they headed upstairs in the dorm building. I prepared several empty gallon jugs, grabbed water bottles for everyone, and even tossed some candy bars into my bag.
The sound of heavy slow footfalls drew my attention, and I looked up to see Rolly approach me as he fastened his tool belt on again.
“Knew you’d be good for us the moment I laid eyes on you,” he said. “Oh sure, we were trying, but I doubt we would’ve made it to the end of the month without your intervention.”
“Well, I am just glad I could do some good,” I said.
“No need to be so humble,” Rolly said as he chuckled.
He adjusted his toolbelt and checked that everything was in place before he gave a nod. “Well, I’m gonna get to work,” The handyman said. “You be safe out there today.”
“Thanks, we will be fine,” I said as I hefted my backpack into place before slinging the rifle on over it. With my gear packed I grabbed the empty water containers and headed outside to wait for my team.
Five minutes later, the five of us were entering the forest. Each one carrying a backpack, a gallon jug, and a weapon. Each of the girls kept their spears out as we once more traveled the trail towards the stream.
“Anyone volunteer to clean up fir--” I began to ask as we walked.
“Me!” Tara yelled before I had even finished asking.
“I’ll stay with her if that’s okay with the rest of you,” Anna said.
I nodded.
“We will fill up on water first then leave the jugs by the stream. We can grab them on the way back. Bailey, Paige, we will check the immediate area, and I will teach you how to set up some snares.”
“Why do you have to use snares? Wouldn’t shooting them be faster and more painless for the poor creatures?” Bailey asked.
“Guns are not only loud, but they also require ammo,” I said. “The noise would drive off any wildlife in the surrounding area, and I would rather save ammo for more desperate situations.”
“But what about the animals?” Bailey whimpered.
“Hey, I promise you that we will go about this in the most ethical and humane way possible,” I said as I turned towards her.
“I know it’s uncomfortable, but Tav is only trying to do what is best for all of us,” Anna said.
“I know,” Bailey said with a sigh. “If Tara can eat mushrooms then maybe I can snare some animals.”
“The mushrooms were totes better than I thought.” Tara giggled.
“Who knows, maybe you will come to enjoy it,” Paige said as she offered Bailey a smile.
“I would never!” Bailey protested with a gasp.
“Okay, okay, sorry, I was just trying to be positive,” The brunette said as she pushed a stray hair back into place.
“Let's worry about it once we get to that point. For now just enjoy the walk and keep your eyes out for signs of animal activity,” I said.
Our smaller containers took almost no time to fill once we reached the stream, and I had only just screwed the cap on my own when I noticed Tara pulling off her shirt.
“Wow, not even gonna wait for the others to leave huh?” Anna asked as she pulled out her soap and shampoo.
“Nothing you babes haven’t already seen,” the busty platinum blond said before looking up and giving me a wink. “And I kinda want Tav to see me.”
“Whatever,” Anna said with a shrug. Then she pulled off her own shirt and revealed a well-toned torso and perky breasts compressed into a gray sports bra.
“Tav, if you’re gonna watch just don’t be a creeper and, like hide in the bushes okay?” Tara asked with a giggle. “You should make yourself useful and wash my back.”
“Alright, come on,” Paige said with a grin as she grabbed my arm. “I would actually like to learn stuff today.”
I was led away just as Tara unbuttoned her bra though we were out is sight by the time it came off. It took all my willpower not to join them in that creek, but I let Paige drag me away.
“I dunno, maybe he should stay. At least then we wouldn’t have to go find poor defenseless animals,” Bailey said while she followed along and stared at the dirt.
“We already went over this,” I said as I grounded myself back in our situation. “This is an important skill, and we will do it as clean as possible.”
“I just...” she trailed off quietly.
We stalked through the forest as quietly as we could as I pointed out possible game trails, and signs of wildlife.
I stopped and knelt next to some faded tracks pressed into the dirt. I motioned the others to my side and pointed them out. “See these? Looks like deer. You can tell by the depth, the size of the track, and the very obvious split hoof pattern.”
“Can we follow them?” Paige asked with a wide grin.
“No point,” I said as I shook my head. “You can see here that these tracks are old. Notice how soft the edges are, and how there are bits of dirt and debris already in the track.”
“So does this tell us anything then?” the blond hippie asked.
“Yeah, we know that deer travel this area. I bet if we look around we can find a trail through some of the thicker parts of the forest leading towards the stream. A source of water is just as important to them as it is to us.”
I stood and scouted the area for a couple minutes before finding a couple broken branches that led to a break in some bushes nearby. “This would be what a deer trail looks like. You will find signs of their passage higher up.”
“So how do we go about trapping a deer then?” Paige asked.
“We don’t. It’s possible but when it comes to big game the better option is to hunt it with spears or guns. We want to snare birds or rabbits.”
“Rabbits are so cute, I couldn’t possibly trap one of them,” Bailey said.
“We all need to contribute though,” the brunette said as she walked over to her friend. She draped an arm over her shoulder. “How about you setup the snares, and I do the dirty work?”
“You would do that for me?” Bailey asked.
Bailey would need to get her hands dirty at some point, but this might be a good solution for the immediate future. We had plenty of hands already willing to see this task completed and forcing someone into this might just cause greater tension.
“Of course,” Paige said.
As they talked, I continued to check the area and found some more deer tracks as well as signs of smaller creatures. There were empty walnuts shells under one tree, and rabbit droppings close to a dense patch of underbrush.
“I think this might be a good place to set up some snares,” I called out.
Paige gave Bailey a small squeeze then rushed over to me. As she crouched a large smile already dominated her face. She pulled off her pack and rummaged through it a moment before pulling out some of the wire I had provided.
“Excellent, how do we do that?” she asked.
“Well, let's make sure this is a good place first,” I said as I gently lowered my face to the ground and inspected the underbrush.
It was indeed traveled by small animals. The foliage mostly hid the small ruts that had been worn into the earth, and the tunnel they led to.
“Take a look down here,” I said as I motioned to the girls to join me. Bailey knelt low while Paige dropped to her belly for the best view.
“This is a small game trail. These small round pellets are rabbit droppings but that does not mean they are the only creatures to use this path. Keep an eye out for disturbed brush down low like this as we continue on. These are the best sort of places to set up our snares,” I instructed before I shifted into a seated position.
I pulled out my own wires and started to sort through them. Most of them were thinner than I would have liked and the couple that weren’t were not long enough for catching rabbits. Though I found a good piece just over a foot long that would have to do.
“Alright, so here is what you want to do,” I started. “Take your wire and make a small loop of it around your finger. It’s important here to give yourself a couple inches of overlap so that you can wrap that back around the wire kinda like a noose.” I stopped and demonstrated the process by making the small loop around my finger and twisting it until I had almost a small metal noose.
Bailey struggled with it for a moment but Paige was done before I had even given the demonstration. Despite the glare on her wide rimmed glasses I could see her eyes fixed intently upon me. She had an eager grin on her face, and I felt a bit of excitement about teaching her a new skill.
“Next,” I began, “we will take the other end of our wire and string it through the loop we just made. For rabbits we want to make this loop about six or seven inches around. Though the diameter can be larger or smaller depending on what we are trying to catch.”
As the girls followed that very simple step I started to collect various branches from around the area. After I had gathered a few, I took one roughly eight inches across and sat down with it.
“There are a few types of snare that all start with the same very simple technique we went over here,” I began. “Though for this pathway I think we are going to set up a hanging trap. It's a little more complicated but we have the tools and the time.”
Bailey held up her metal loop and stuck her finger in it. She pulled slowly and watched as the wire constricted until there was little space left around her finger. She winced and frowned.
“You sure this is not going to be too painful on the poor creatures?” She asked.
“What we are making will catch the creature around the torso. This means their fur should help it not hurt as much when the wire constricts. The simpler version of what we are doing here are leg snares. Though they are so painful and dangerous to the animals that they were illegal in some states before things shut down.”
Bailey’s frown deepened, and she looked back to the wire bound around her finger. She freed herself from it and let out a sigh.
“So what’s next?” Paige asked with obvious excitement.
The next fifteen minutes were spent lashing three branches into an archway and adding two diagonal supports before securing my wire slipknot to the top of the arch.
“Last thing to do is to install the snare. We will sink the two sides and the supports into the ground until the snare itself is sitting six to eight inches off the ground.”
“That seems kinda high,” Bailey said. The last fifteen minutes had done little to lighten the usually happy hippie girl’s mood. Though she had helped at every step and even turned out to be fairly good at lashing.
“The snare is meant to match the rabbit midair,” I said. “That way it is harder for them to get all their feet on the ground and run out before the wire tightens.”
“That’s so cool,” Paige said as she started to dig small holes to sink our assembled snare into.
Bailey sniffed and blinked back oncoming tears. She nodded and pitched in to help Paige get the whole thing in place.
