Roman Cesaro - Fallen Into Darkness

Richard immediately ran to his raft to get something to hold their harvest of beans. He came back with a pillowcase and began to pick the beans. Kyle did the same. Robert volunteered to survey the area for animals to hunt. He strode down the row of beans next to the motionless irrigation equipment. He decided to walk toward a ravine bordered with trees. He noticed a buzzard circling over the ravine, and, as he got closer, thought that the treed area might have game to hunt. Near the tree line, he paused and stared into the greenery. Robert stood quietly for several minutes as his eyes slowly scanned for any motion, then he heard a noise. There was a slight movement in the short grass and a ground squirrel emerged. Robert remained still and the ground squirrel did not appear to notice him. Robert did not want to damage a good arrow on the little morsel. He thought that maybe the blunt tip of a cane arrow might be sufficient to stun the rodent. He slowly put the crude arrow to the string and pulled back. The ground squirrel stood on its hind legs and stared at the man curiously, unaware of its impending fate. The blunt tip of the arrow struck the ground squirrel in the chest. The impact caused a high-pitched squeak from the creature. Robert picked up the pathetic little animal, held it up for inspection, and said to himself, “Beggars can’t be choosers.”

He was able to retrieve his primitive arrow before he began the walk back. As he walked away from the ravine he looked closer at what he had earlier thought was a large stick on a flat rock. It was a large black rat snake warming its body in the sunlight. Robert positioned himself behind the snake and used his bow to pin the snake’s neck to the rock. The captured snake was at least three feet long. Still pinning it to the ground, he cut the snake’s head off with his knife. He put his arm and head through the strung bow to carry it across his torso, so he could carry the decapitated snake in his right hand and the ground squirrel in his left. The sun was getting low in the sky and it cast his shadow across the ground. He saw the silhouette of a primitive hunter-gatherer. Robert knew that this was how it would be from now on, kill or be killed. The world had new rules now and he had better learn fast.

Back at the campsite, Kyle and Richard had gathered an enormous pile of immature green soybeans. Robert held up the two creatures and shrugged his shoulders at the two men. No one who was as hungry as they were was going to complain. For supper they boiled beans with the squirrel and snake. Their meal also included the last of the food from the hotel. Before bedding down for the evening, Kyle and Richard picked more beans for their journey. The huge pile of beans they gathered was impractical, but understandable. Their hunger was a motivating force and Robert decided to say nothing because it was a harmless way to feel like they were coping with the situation.

Not having room in Richard’s raft for the two of them, Robert went toward the irrigation system with a tarp to hang over a horizontal pipe and a blanket to keep him warm. He brought his bow with him because it was comforting to sleep with a weapon.

Robert curled under his wool blanket, the bow in front of him and a few of the good arrows by his side. He closed his eyes and listened to the river meandering its way across the landscape. Within minutes, he was dreaming of his family. Later in the night, his pleasant dream turned into a nightmare, and he woke up sweating. In an effort to regain his composure, he emerged from under the tarp, which he had draped over an irrigation pipe. Standing by the tarp as it gently flapped in the breeze, he could still see the glowing embers of the campfire. Suddenly, he saw something move at the campsite. Rubbing his eyes, he blinked, trying to clear them, and stared again toward the camp by the riverbank. Robert saw something moving around, so he grabbed his bow and the arrows. He nocked an arrow on the string and crouched low as he walked back toward the camp, stopping every few steps to glance behind himself. He stayed low at the edge of the bean field. The bushy plants kept him completely camouflaged. Slow moving clouds obscured the full moon, so he continued to strain his eyes, peering into the darkness to see what was down at the camp. As he edged further down the bean rows, the clouds drifted away from the moon. Through the filtered moonlight, he saw exactly what was down there. A large mule deer had walked along the river and was eating from their pile of beans. He really wanted to shoot that deer. It would be quite a feast, and he thought they might dry some of the meat for their journey. He quietly took his boots off. The wind was in his face so he had an advantage over the deer; the wind would carry his sent away. The beans occupied the deer, so Robert slowly crept forward on his bare feet. The deer’s head was down as Robert slipped toward the side profile of the deer. He was now less than twenty yards away. Robert raised the bow and leveled the arrow at the deer. He was close enough to see exactly where he should place the arrow, right behind the shoulder blade. At this distance, he hoped the arrow would go through both lungs. He took a chance and stepped a few yards closer. In the darkness, Robert stepped on a stick and the snap of the twig sounded like dynamite to him. The deer was startled, and spun its head toward Robert, focusing directly on him. Robert stood motionless, except now his right hand pulled back on the string. He felt the bowstring touch his cheek. The adrenaline was coursing through his body and it was everything he could do to keep his hands from trembling. He forced his body to remain calm, adjusted his aim, and released the arrow. The arrow flew precisely into the side of the deer, behind the shoulder blade, and the deer made a deep grunt and bolted forward. The placement of the arrow was so good that the deer collapsed almost immediately. Kyle was startled from a sound sleep and jumped from his raft, brandishing the pistol.

“It’s me! It’s me! Don’t shoot!” yelled Robert.

“What the hell is going on? Why are you standing out there with your bow?” asked Kyle.

Robert looked at Richard’s raft and saw him peeking from under the tarp. “It’s safe to come out, Richard. I shot a deer, a big deer, so get out and look.”

Richard got up and Kyle put the pistol back in his raft. The men walked over to the deer, now dead and lying on its side.

“What are we going to do with this monster?” asked Richard, as he was running the palms of his hands down the length of the dead animal.

“Let’s gut it right here,” said Robert. “I’ll need you to help me hang it from the irrigation pipes to bleed it the rest of the night. When it’s daylight, we’ll eat as much as we can and try to make jerky with the rest.”

Richard woke Robert at daybreak, shaking him lightly on the shoulder. “Hey… wake up… wake up… let’s get this going. I’m starving again, and so is Kyle.”

Robert opened one eye, stared at Richard, and then spoke sarcastically. “Oh, hello Richard. I thought I should let you know something. The past couple of weeks have been somewhat rough for me. I think the civilized world has come to a screeching halt and I was about a thousand miles away from my family when the world decided for that to happen. I’ve been floating myself down a river to get back to my family and I’ve had to kill people to stay alive. What was so important you needed to wake me up after I spent the good portion of the night killing and gutting a large deer for all of us to eat?”

“Nothing.” Richard sulked his way back down to the campfire.

After a few moments, Robert realized he should not have been so angry with Richard. They were all in this bad situation together and needed to practice patience and cooperation. He decided to walk over to the camp and apologize. Near the fire, he saw his companions creating flat racks out of green sticks. His curiosity made him forget to apologize to Richard.