L Akers - Fight Like a Man

Tarra laughed. “They’re all special trees. Most of them are good for something. This one is a Birch. They’re everywhere in this area. Plenty of water. Just have to make sure you don’t drain too much from one tree and that you cover the hole. Otherwise, you’d kill the tree.”

“That’s so cool. I want to learn how to do that.”

“Google it. There’s tons of YouTube videos that show you how,” Tarra answered, and then laughed, letting him know she was kidding—sort of.

“Tarra,” Tina admonished her. “She’s kidding. It’s easy to do. First, you need a Sycamore, a Birch or a Hickory Tree. Then you just find a small stick to use as a spout—or a tap—you’ll need to carve it down to flatten it on each end so the water runs smoothly off of it.

Then find a flat spot on your tree and angle your knife up and give it a firm smack to imbed the tip of the knife into it about two centimeters. Give it a little wiggle. If you did it right, you’ll see water right away running down the knife. Then you drive your tap up into the hole with the flattened end you made, making sure it’s pointed down. Keep messing with it until the sap rolls down the stick instead of the trunk of the tree and position a container under it. It takes about an hour to get a full bottle, but works every time. Just be sure to cover the hole really well when you’re done or you’ll kill the tree, like Tarra said. You can even get sugar sap from Maple trees this same way if you need a sugar spike, or if you want some pancake syrup.”

Jake nodded. “Impressive. I’ll have to try that.”

He looked around at their campsite. They’d built a solid lean-to against a large fallen tree and covered it with layers of full branches, still green, and even plugged the holes with moss. It looked cozy enough. From the opening, he could see two good sleeping bags stretched out with travel pillows and pads underneath. Between their beds, there was a small sawed-off log being used as a table. A lantern sat on the table beside a solar charger, not being used at the moment, with an emergency hand-crank radio/flashlight combo.

“You picking up anything on the radio?” he asked.

“Not yet,” Tina answered. “Maybe soon, though. We keep trying.”

Outside their lean-to shelter, they’d built a nice campfire ring with stones. One side had a make-shift rock oven of sorts. The other side held two racks made of sticks between two forked branches. On one of the racks a small pot of soup hung, bubbling, and on the other side a rabbit was slowly browning. It smelled delicious and Jake’s mouth watered. Stacked on a nearby log they were using as a table were camp-plates, two spork combos and actual condiments; salt, pepper, and Texas Pete. A half dozen more bottles of water were lined up next to it.

Tina stepped up and expertly turned the rabbit on the spit.

A sizable stack of firewood lay cut and split, all ready for burning, and an axe lay leaned up beside it. The campsite was neat, functional and cozy. He looked around in awe.

Definitely not shrinking violets. He was impressed. Maybe they didn’t need his help after all? Heck, maybe he and Grayson needed their help.

He took a deep breath and gave it another thought. The least he could do was offer. “I’m headed to my brother-in-law’s homestead down the road a piece. Y’all are welcome to follow me there if you want.”

Tarra and Tina exchanged serious looks.

Jake hurried to answer their unasked question. “Gabby and her sisters are hopefully on their way. They were on a beach trip when the lights went out. They might even be there now.”

“Who else is there?” Tarra asked suspiciously.

Jake held his hands up, palms out. “I don’t know for sure, but I assume just my brother-in-law, Grayson. He’s married to Gabby’s twin sister, Olivia. He’s harmless. We both are,” he finished, followed with a nervous laugh. “We’ve got plenty of food and water there. You two can hold up until we figure out a way to get you home, if you want.”

Tina and Tarra exchanged another look with each other and then looked around their camp. They were unfazed. They had what they needed right here, obviously.

Tarra shrugged. “We’ve got plenty of food and water, too. We actually eat pretty well between the small game and the vegetation out here. We can get bigger game if we need it. I got that rabbit today, but yesterday Tina trapped two squirrels and we had squirrels and gravy for dinner. We’re not going hungry. But a bath would be nice.”

Tina laughed at her friend and then nodded. “Agree. A bit more company would be cool too—and we’d both love to meet Gabby. How about you draw us a map, and we’ll talk about it between ourselves. Maybe we’ll head that way. Maybe we won’t. But we really do appreciate the offer.”

Jake nodded, relieved. “Sounds good. It’s no more than an hour’s walk. I’ll write it down if you have some paper.”

Tina crawled into the lean-to and grabbed a huge backpack, and conveniently pulled out a pen and notebook.

Of course she did.

Jake took a few moments to map it out and then shook both of their hands, promising to give their regards to Gabby, if they didn’t show up themselves to say hello. He wished them well and hurried back to his ATV, in a hurry to get to Grayson’s—as well as to get out of the woods alone with two pretty women… just in case his wife should happen that way all of a sudden.

Crazy times and all that…

He noisily forced his way back through the woods, feeling like a bull in a China shop. When he saw the road, he expected to see his 4-wheeler. Somehow, he must’ve got turned around.

It wasn’t there.

He turned in a circle. Behind him, he could just barely see the women deeper in the woods. He was in the right place…

Stepping out of the woods into the road, he looked first one way, and then the other, just in time to see his—actually, not his—4-wheeler hauling ass and kicking up dirt behind it as the thief high-tailed it out of there. Tucker wasn’t going to be happy with him.

“Damn it!” he yelled, taking Gabby’s hat off and slapping his leg. He couldn’t care less about the 4-wheeler, but he and Gabby’s wedding picture was in his bag. And they took that, too.

Tina and Tarra jogged out to find Jake stalking up and down the road, swarping and swearing at his loss. They gave him his space and talked quietly until he noticed them.

Jake faced them with a red face, still spitting mad. “Took my damn bag. My stuff. My water. My gun . And me and Gabby’s wedding picture for fucks sake!”

“You didn’t have your gun on you?” Tina asked in amazement.

“No! I hate guns. Damn thing isn’t even loaded.”

He stomped off and paced back and forth another minute and then turned back to the women and took in a deep breath. He held it for a moment and then apologized. “I’m sorry about my language, ladies. I’ll be heading out now.”

He turned to walk away.

The women whispered to each other, and Tarra spoke up. “Wait. Give us time to break up camp. We’ll walk with you.”

“You’re coming with me?” Jake asked, confused.

Tina shrugged. “Not much choice now. You showed that thief where our camp was. He’ll be back for more, probably sneaking in tonight after it gets dark. We don’t plan to be here when he does. And you… well, someone needs to watch your six.”

MEI WATCHED AS GABBY, Olivia and Emma all lined up for training by Elmer. He was teaching them how to shoot a shotgun, while she sat on the porch step watching them closely. He insisted the girls take the gun with them, just in case. They were going to finish shooting, and then get on the road, hoping to be home by nightfall.