Chapter 4
I have not spent a lot of time exploring nature. I mean, I hiked some trails with John, and we would ride bikes, but that wasn’t this. The world seemed so big. It would be easy to get lost. I wanted to keep our hill-home in sight, but John assured me he could track us back. We assigned the flow of sun from east to west out of convenience. The river flowed to the ocean, from north to south. We could see fish in the ocean. A sea turtle. A zombie. It made gurgling noises. I did not like that.
“I told you it’s not safe,” I said.
“We’re safe,” John said, studying the zombie below. “I guess the water protects it from the UV.”
“UV?”
“Ultra-violet radiation,” John said. “Do we need protection?” I asked.
“I think we’re okay,” John said.
“Why does a beautiful world have monsters?” I asked.
John looked at me. He shrugged. He took my hand we walked further down the beach.
“Is the zombie a human?” I asked.
“These guys look pretty similar to humans,” John said.
“How did they become zombies?” I asked.
John shrugged.
“Will we become zombies?” I asked. “No. I am confident on that,” John said.
“Why?” I asked.
“I got bit. I didn’t turn into a zombie,” John said. “Then again, I did die and got re- spawned.”
“Does dying hurt?” I asked.
“It wasn’t pleasant,” John said. “So it hurt?” I asked.
John sat down on a rock to be eye level with me. “Eston, people die. Pain is subjective. That means, there are things that bother me that might not bother you. You know how you don’t like shots or needles, but you have seen me get blood work done and it doesn’t bother me?”
“Like I am good at the dentist and you’re not?” I asked. John nodded.
“What bothered you about dying?” I asked.
“Mostly, the thought of leaving you in the tree alone. Not being able to protect you. That bothered me more than any injury I sustained from fighting zombies and skeletons,” John said.
“Maybe that’s why you came back?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t trust it. We should avoid dying,” John said.
“I don’t want you to die,” I said.
“Well, thank you,” John said. “I will do my best to stick around.” He looked at me warmly. “I will die a million times and again to keep you safe.”
“A metaphor?” I asked. “Love,” John said.
We walked some more along the beach. There was mountain in the distance, snow on the top. We stopped and gathered some wood. I picked some blue flowers. John handed me an apple. It was a really good apple. Funny, hunger can make things taste better.
“Why are you and mom unmarried?” I asked.
“You ask more questions than Eddie,” John said. “Who is Eddie?” I asked.
“Google it,” John said.
“We have no ether, remember?” I asked. “Help me take out this tree,” John said.
John climbed up into the branches, knocking them out probably in hopes of finding more apples. Did you ever notice when parents don’t want to answer a question, they change the subject? I knocked out the branch under him and he fell.
“Why did you do that?!” John asked. He was pretty sore. “Because I love you,” I said.
“Don’t do that,” John said, and climbed back into the tree.
I took out the trunk. I heard a noise and turned to see wolves taking down a sheep.
“John, help, Lalo!”
John was suddenly beside me, pushing me behind him. “Why did they do that?” I asked.
“They’re wolves. The eat sheep, cattle, animals in general,” John said.
“They didn’t even eat it all. What a waste,” I said.
“No. Nothing in nature is wasted. The wolves eat their fill, and then other animals will eat what’s left, and the blood and bits of bones that aren’t eaten by animals are eaten by bacteria and the grass, and the life cycle goes on,” John said. “We humans forgot that for a long time, and we would put our leftover foods in plastic and landfills. Many of the deserts on earth were human made because we didn’t give back and we restricted the flow of energy. Now, we work with nature. Humans make enough extra that we have turned the entire world into an oasis. We just had to learn to share first, not hoard.”
John can be a little preachy. Kind of like Captain Kirk and Picard rolled into one. “I don’t like that Lalo died,” I said.
“I know,” John said. I collected some bones as we walked by them. “You were born into a world that can grow meat in a machine and nothing is killed. The lawnmower is the hamburger helper machine. I grew up in a time where I could go to the store and buy it, not kill it. Both my grandfathers, your great grandfathers, lived on farms and they had to kill to eat…”
“Ugh, time traveling again?” I asked.
“Yes. Pay attention. You and I, we still have to eat and give back to the land,” John said. This is how it is. Stay here.”
“Where are you going?” I asked, taking his hand.
“I am going over there to collect the wool and the meat that wasn’t eaten,” John said.
“Don’t leave me here,” I said.
John agreed. We walked towards the free lamb chops and wool together. The wolves had withdrawn to the forest. One looked at us and bounced away.
“Poor Lalo,” I said. “Remember the lessons?”
“Wash the wool, dye the wool, spin the wool, knit the wool,” I said.
We finally drew close enough that our tech could grab the items and store them in the inventory. John spied something dark next to an outcropping of granite. He dragged me with him.
“Coal!” John said. He started at it with stone pickaxe right away. He dug down into the earth, taking out blocks of coal. “OMG! Iron!”
I turned to face a low growl. A red eyed wolf was staring at me.
“Hello there, little buddy,” I said. I had some bones in my inventory. Dogs like bones. I offered it one. It ate it. I threw it another one. I imagined seeing hearts. Its eyes were no longer angry or fierce. It barked.
“Eston!” John said, pulling me back. “It likes bones,” I said.
“You can’t be doing that,” John said. “Doing what?” I asked.
“Wolves are dangerous. Also, we could use those bones for bone meal,” John said. He tracked the sun. “Come on. We got to get back.”
As we walked, the dog followed us.
“I think he likes us, now. Come on, little buddy.”
“Stop encouraging it,” John said.
“I tamed it. It’s mine. We’re obligated,” I said.
“How do you figure?” John asked.
“I fed it. It’s tamed. You have to help me feed it and wash it and clean up any poop from the yard,” I said.
“Hypothetically, if it were tamed, you’re obligated,” John said. “And it likes lamb chops, which means, I will have to kill some lambs.”
“Maybe it can eat zombie meat,” I said.
“I would like to get that out of the inventory,” John mused. He looked back at the dog. “How many bones did it take to tame it?”
“Two,” I said.
“You’re good boy. Isn’t it a good boy? Come on, Little Buddy.”
“Who taught you the phrase ‘little buddy?’” John asked.
“I don’t know,” I said.
“Must be a Californian thing,” John mused. “Is it bad?” I asked.
“No. I just haven’t heard ‘little buddy’ since Gilligan’s Island,” John said.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“It’s a comedy. You’d like it,” John said. “Better than Peppa the Pig?” I asked.
“Immensely,” John said.
The sun was about to set. John quickened our pace. We could see our hobbit home because of the torches on top of the hill. It was dark before got there and we had to rush around the hill. We made it back and inside before any of the monsters got to us, with one exception. As we entered the fence, a spider jumped off the hill, attacking me. I screamed. John bolted for the spider with an axe. The dog attacked the spider and killed it. John fell on me, checking me for injuries.
“I told you it wasn’t safe!” I snapped.
The dog came up beside us, wagging its tail.
“Yes, you’re a really good dog,” I said.
“Okay, you can keep the dog,” John said. “What shall we name it?”
“Chester,” I said.
John and I both quoted, “The world’s greatest dog!” The dog whimpered.
“Is it hurt?” I asked.
“A little,” John said. “Let’s go inside.”
The dog followed us inside. John offered it some zombie meat from the chest. It was suddenly better, the spider bite disappeared.
“Wow,” John said.
“So, we can eat zombie meat?” I asked. “It will heal us?”
“We’re not eating zombie meat,” John said.
“Chester eats it,” I said. “We’re not,” John said.
John started cooking lamb chops with the coal he collected. I played with Chester. I told it to sit. The dog sat. I stood it up and tried to get into the corner. It followed me around the room. While the lamb chops cooked, John made a bed for me. It was a pretty sturdy bed, based on the fact it didn’t collapse when I jumped on it. John told me not to jump on the bed, it’s not safe. “I am just testing it.” I landed on my butt and sat on the bed. I continued to bounce. John told me to stop bouncing. “I am burning calories.” He motioned me to the center of the room where we sat crisscross apples sauce. He served me lamb chops and he ate with me. It was good. It filled us. After we ate, John asked me to get some sleep, while he smelted the iron he had collected.
I laid in bed, but I didn’t sleep. Chester sat there, watching over me. Good dog. The ‘bestest’ dog in the whole wide world. John was studying the inner workings of the toolbox, probably reading ingredient requirements. New ingredients unlocked new menus. He had enough to make an iron pick axe and sheers.
“I think I hear a spider,” I said.
“You’re imagining it,” John said.
“No, I hear a spider,” I said.
John went to the door and looked out.
“Yep, there is another spider.”
“I told you! You never believe me,” I said, sitting on the bed.
“I am little deaf from my years in Space Force,” John said.
“I don’t always hear what you hear.”
“But I told you,” I said.
“Yep. Stay inside,” John said.
“You can’t go out there!” I said, sitting up in bed.
“I need another string to make a fishing pole,” John said.
John opened the door and charged the spider. I went to the door and slammed it shut. I then put a block of earth in front of it. I spied john from a whole that would be a future window if we had glass. A dark, shadowy, giant of an entity arrived between me and John. It was holding a block of earth. I yelled! John turned towards me and it disappeared. It made a strange noise when it popped out of existence.
John came back struggled with the door, broke the door down, and then had to take out the earth.
“Why did you do that?!” John asked.
“Because I love you,” I said. I mean, what else can you say?
“You could have left the door open! I was coming right back,” John said.
“What if you died?” I asked.
“I would still need to come inside,” John said. “What was that?!” I asked.
“I have no earthly idea,” John said. “This place is not safe!” I snapped.
“It is not,” John agreed.
“You should stay inside when I tell you to!” I said.
“It is not safe, but we have to take some risks to survive,” John said.
“That thing could have ended you!” I said.
“Yeah,” John said. “Well, fortunately, Ender men are too tall to fit in our home.”
“Ender men? I asked.
“It could have ended me, Ender,” John explained.
“Do you think there are small Ender men?” I asked.
“Oh, God, I hope not,” John said. He shivered.
“It reminds me of the shadow people. Anyway, I am back inside. I am safe. You’re safe. You should get some sleep.”
“We would be safer in Texas,” I said.
“Fair enough,” John said.
“Maybe I could sleep if you were to sleep with me,” I said.
“In bed, now,” I said.
I went back to bed, but I didn’t sleep.