Chapter 7: Fighting Fire with Counterfire

Departing, Ty recalled his reprisal fears. With his crossbow, animals and survival knife, he wasn’t worried. Yet it was easy enough determining who the most recent strangers to a village were, so he needed to alert everyone to be alert and on guard.

Glancing around, he didn’t note any likely observers, so issued their usual bird call, three times. One a warning of potential danger, so he hoped it conveyed, ‘get your asses back, as time is nigh to depart’. Anna looked at him, gracing him with a sad grin, guessing his intent. He hoped the others would too. They could easily defend themselves, yet as his earlier encounter demonstrated, it’s easy for a single individual to be blindsided, which is why he preferred they acted as one, rather than each going their own way, as happened earlier, when he was laid out unexpectedly.

Both strategies had advantages, though not when someone was trying to undermine or punish you, when safety is paramount.

Giving another quick call, a short greeting, trusting they’d figure out the meaning observing them leaving. Afterwards, they’d head back, hopefully meeting the others or maybe the others would contact them by then.

The danger wasn’t imminent, it was persistent, so an attack could come at any time. The need for a defendable village redoubt more vital than ever.

Reaching their agreed meeting location, he repeated the short chirp again, getting a couple answers. It didn’t take the initial ones long to reply, everyone especially cautious. Confident, yet alert, rather than skittish and edgy.

Ty and Anna still had no idea how one typically ‘paid’ for lunch here, though when someone approached, noting the kills draped over his back, they quickly arranged a barter to feed them all, as hunting and the resulting fresh meat wasn’t reliable here.

The shop’s mistress was so excited, explaining again how difficult it was keeping their food fresh for long, their growing group quickly convinced her into joining their new village, likely drawing ever more customers from the whole Tri-ford region. She quickly informed her staff, who hurried home to tell their families and their new numbers continued to rapidly multiplying.

They noted again, it’s better speaking to the individuals who were more easily enticed, than confronting the current powers to concede their control over the whole village. Obvious lesson, forgotten and relearned, hopefully not too late.

Since no one had heard from Ta, they sent his sister and Tiss to find him, expecting trouble. Luckily, just as with their encounter with the Toggle, their smaller stature and the culture’s presumptions made them inclined to underestimate them, despite their superior weapons. Still, they thought mere girls incapable of inflicting serious damage with any weapons, which made them such effective warriors, as no one took them seriously.

Di soon arrived, her two stepsons carrying her loom with some difficulty. Though small, they weren’t balanced. Something they’d need to correct. But with more people, there were more to focus on each task. They’d need guidance, though hopefully not too much. They needed both depth and breadth of knowledge, not more complications. Di also promised, her other relatives were on their way, arriving soon.

Ty pressed her concerning any potentially easily-defensible locations nearby. Of course, they had to define those terms, yet she quickly grasped what they wanted, suggesting the same area they were already considering. West of Tri-ford, as the trail connecting it was high enough to be usable, as the ground was higher, oft draining into Tri-ford itself. Thus, it was sufficiently higher, more easily defended than Tri-ford.

Though, as the immediate danger from the current chief remained, they’d need a consistent guard, especially since they had no huts of any kind, leaving them open to attack, though the huts were impossible to defend, as a strong breeze could easily topple one.

That’s when Ty considered flammable arrows. They didn’t have access to anything petroleum-based, nor possessed any bows, yet was easy enough for two girls to slip past unnoticed, set fire to a few huts, forcing the attackers to retreat to save their families.

Those were easily implemented, just needing rapid implementation. Ty was sure they’d prevail, easily disappearing into the surrounding woods. Picking off any foes one at a time, undermining the attackers’ confidence. Yet they needed to understand the requirements, so any of them could launch a counteroffensive when required.

With much to consider, with more hands, they were better equipped than ever to meet those rising challenges. Though Anna’s warning about needing to return home remained a worry, as they couldn’t leave any new arrivals from their time alone with no idea how to survive in this one.

Meaning they’d likely need to split up once more, weakening them against potential attacks. Though again, there was a simple solution.

“So, where now?” Ta inquired, rejoining them, the other girls perking up, also interested in the answer.

Ty tilted his head towards the village path. “It won’t help heading to our new village’s site, instead we’ll backtrack to the stream, where we lie low, unnoticed and undisturbed, able to hunt and collect new creatures to our heart’s content.”

“And then?” Ta pressed.

“Then, we split up. Anna and I need to return, checking for new arrivals, while you focus on preparing the new village, unnoticed by Tri-ford itself.”

“Uh,” Ta glanced around, searching the other’s faces. “Does anyone know how?”

“That’s more complicated. With a higher location, anyone attacking would easily be dissuaded by a relatively small force. We’ll need to determine how many trees to remove, without anyone nearby noticing. The best approach isn’t chopping them down, but cutting back the smaller growth. Even better, living among the trees, as we do while camping. The Tri-ford natives won’t venture in, uncomfortable in the wild, natural surroundings.

“With the land cleared, we’ll build a larger public hut, attracting travelers, easily defended by us hidden by the trees. Laying some traps, just off the main path leading to it, if we force them off it, they’ll tumble in, easily eliminated.”

“Wow!” Ta’s eyes again widening, with much to consider while Ty and Anna gone. They’d likely spend it planning, to implement it swiftly once they were ready. With luck, he and Anna would return before they did any serious work.

Now, they needed to move everyone, set them up and head back without wasting time, ensuring they could soon return. They also needed to replace the two spears they’d bartered away and likely several more for future trades or their newest additions. Thus, they needn’t explore nearby swamps now, allowing them to first scout each out. Tims was likely to return as quickly as possible with waiting orders.

Once underway, sticking to the wider main path, they heard a loud whimper, turning, saw an odd yet familiar sight. A fox, identical to those of their future Earth, fleeing from a larger, more aggressive creature. The other girls spread out, readying their spears as Ty prepared his crossbow.

The fox scampered past between them, and as its attacker neared, almost on them, undeterred by their presence, he loosened his dart, killing it instantly. It’s body skidding to a stop, mere feet from them.

“I’ll get this, the rest of you get started,” he suggested. The girls glanced at each other, unsure whether they should leave him behind or not. However, Anna reassured them without voicing a word, crouching by her brother, though not actually assisting.

After cutting a few slivers, he left the partially cleaned carcass, heading back along the trail, searching. He soon spotted the fox, cowering in the woods. Kneeling a short distance away, he tossed a small sliver towards it.

Hesitating, anxious and terrified, yet obviously starving, it soon ventured out, grabbed it, backing up before wolfing it down nearly whole. Ty tossed another, nearer him. Still skittish, it again slowly approached, stopping well short to again wolf it down. Yet this time it didn’t retreat. Ty tossed it yet another before backing away. Instead of quickly wolfing it down, preferring the safety he offered rather than escaping into the wild in this strange and terrifying world. Observing the whole interaction, Anna smiled broadly.

Ty repeated his usual training process, before returning to his earlier kill, the fox patiently waiting. After gutting and cleaning it, he tossed the entrails into the woods by the trail, so the various creatures could dispose of it. They didn’t need a passing skilled hunter alerting others. Done, Ty lifted the carcass, heading after the others, their their first dinner ready for a cooking fire where it wouldn’t be noticed. This time, Anna carried the spare chunks of meat, continuing the fox’s training.

“So, what’re you calling it?” she teased, “Foxy, foxy?”

“Nope, Phil the fox. We Earthling returnees need to stick together, because no one else will until we personally convince them too.”

“So, this raises an obvious question. Did Phil escape the clearing we both appeared in, running ever since, or...”

He shrugged, unsure of anything at the moment. “It’s possible, though it’s also conceivable other animals were sent, independently of us. Unless we find some tool which fell off, we’ll likely never know. Though I can’t figure why they’d bother sending a lone fox, arguing against the ‘intelligent agents’ conjecture.

“We may find it once we return.” She shrugged. “Then again, we may not.”

Afterwards, they continued rather than checking in with the others. They’d easily find plenty of creatures, this was their dinner, allowing them to continue with minimal delays. The sooner they returned, the sooner they’d return, helping execute their plans.

Before the main trail narrowed, they headed down the embankment to the stream below, Phil easily beating them both, growing nervous once there. Despite no recent rains, the stream appeared fuller and faster than ever. Never venturing this far, it made sense.

After getting clocked the last time, Ty was leerier, shifting his carcass from one hand to the other, his crossbow always at the ready. Better safe than sorry, even if he mistakenly shot someone. He’d obviously regret it, though disposing of bodies was easy enough, since no one was likely to notice or report it, since there was no one to report local or more remote deaths to.

Still making significant progress, the training continuing over the intervening miles. After a quick pee break, Ty gathered dry leaves and kindling, lighting a fire and setting up an impromptu grill with larger logs, less likely to catch fire, resting above the fire. Phil was eager for the cooked meat, rather than eating it raw, which Ty could certainly relate to, reaffirming Phil was not from this age or planet. The meat was satisfactorily cooked long before the longer pieces were singed, so extinguishing the fire, they continued their trek.

Since it was a long journey for a lone fox, Ty again encouraged him to ride on his shoulders, where Phil too insisted on climbing his skull to see everything around them, making better time than otherwise. Perlina wasn’t please, hissing her displeasure, staking her exclusive claim, yet never physically threatened him, perhaps also sensing another lost soul.

Finally spying their remaining huts, they cut through the woods, not wanting to address any awkward questions concerning the girls and Ta. Reaching the familiar clearing, they both scanned the area when Anna pointed a lone, unconscious figure. Lifting his finger to his lips, Ty held his left hand up, so Phil, imitating his other animals, sat and waited rather than racing forward.

Approaching cautiously, the figure moaned, slightly shifting, before her eyes shot open.

“Hello?” Ty softly soothed, hoping to warn rather than terrify her. Alas, she still jumped, spinning around and glaring at him. He waited, letting her decide whether to trust him or not.

“Ty?” she ventured. “Tyler Dean?”

“Yeah, that’s me, unfortunately the transition here scrambles our recent memories, so I’m still struggling to place you.”

She quickly glanced around, noting how odd the vegetation and sky were. “Where the hell are we? Are those both suns?”

Ty nodded, turning. “This is my sister, she appeared before you, so maybe together, we can figure out what’s happening.”

The woman stared, her mouth opening and closing—a goldfish desperately gasping for air. “Anna?”

She too nodded. “Yep, that’s me.”

“Damn, I wondered what happened to you both. You just vanished one day and no one knew what happened to either of you. The cops assumed you ran off together, several weeks apart, so no one questioned the assumption.”

“Look around,” Ty suggested. She did, focusing more intently on the unfamiliar, alien landscape. “We’re on an alien world, Torrol-ro, or ‘Ro’ as the locals call it. Thus I had no problem blending in, though, we’re back in its stone age, so things are completely different. Utterly different and much more primitive and challenging.”

“Though Ty has adapted exceptionally well,” Anna added. “Single-handedly teaching them things they likely wouldn’t figure out for thousands of years on their own.

“Wow, you certainly figured things out. Since you don’t remember me, I’m Tanya Reed, your one-time fiancée.” Ty partially fell back before raising his hand, forestalling her and glancing around, searching for something.

“Ah, here it is,” he said, walking a couple feet away, picking something up and raising it so they could all see.

“You’ve been wanting a backpack,” Anna noted, “and that one is perfect.”

“You’re not kidding,” Ty observed. “It’s camouflaged, reinforced and likely water-proofed too.”

“What’s in it?” Tanya pressed, intrigued. “It seems like it’s loaded.”

Ty dropped it, releasing the quick release snap and peering in, lifting out the first item, holding it up triumphantly.

“Damn, we can definitely need a decent shovel,” Anna exclaimed.

“Not just any shovel. It’s collapsible, making it both lighter and easier to carry.”

“We can finally have a decent outdoor latrine.”

“You’re excited,” Laura asked, “about trudging out in the darkness in the middle of the night.”

“Uh,” Ty responded, waving to indicate the world’s twin suns, “it rarely darkens here, and when it does, no one can see a thing.” He reached in again, finding something else of note, holding it up too. “Speaking of which, a military, reinforced flashlight!”

“So, it’ll only work for a month or two, at most?” Tanya asked.

“No.” he shook it to illustrate, “there are spares inside. Plus, there are extras, well-wrapped to last indefinitely, before we’ll need to open them. Plus, it makes an effective weapon too.”

“Someone really outdid themselves this time,” Anna noted. “This is like Christmas and all of our birthdays, combined.”

“One thing though, loaded like this, it’ll be a bitch to carry.”

Anna reached out, tugging at a loop and an attached clip. “You can also suspend your crossbow from it. They thought of everything.”

Ty held up his next discovery, apparently eight metal tent-stakes so he continued digging, “Yep, there’s what I’m assuming is either a two or four-man tent.”

“We need at least a six-man or preferably an eight-person one,” she countered.

“How many other women are you familiar with?” Tanya demanded, eyes widening, a single brow rising.

Anna coughed, “Six, mostly girls. So many, he’s warning everyone he doesn’t need any more.”

“Girls that young are ... well, they’re incredibly adaptive, though it still deeply disturbs me.” He glanced at both women. “I’d prefer someone older and more experienced, knowing more of the realities of life.”

“Gee, thanks,” Tanya complained. “Though once you vanished from our lives, I’ve since married someone else.”

Ty started choking, unable to suck in enough air, until both women started slapping his back, hard. Thankfully, he coughed up nary a hairball.

“Uh, anyone I know?” he asked, regaining his ability to speak.

“Highly unlikely, I met him after I moved far, far away.”

“Just like us,” Anna teased, winking at Tanya.

“Anything else?”

“I’m not sure, let me check under the tent. Ahh, there’s a canvas ground cover and—” he glanced under it. “There it is! A rolled sleeping bag. Yeah, that’s pretty much everything. Our future overlord masters done good this time!”

“See anything Phil may have dropped?” Anna inquired.

“Phil?”

Phil yipped as Ty stood, glancing around, searching for unexpected reflections. “Maybe,” he strode off, Phil eagerly tagging along.

“He’s also from the future, though we found him wandering around miles from here, terrified and skittish of all the terrifying creatures,” Anna confided.

“Terrifying?”

In response, Ty whistled, ordering, “Perlina, Teddy, Polly, come!” Tanya jumped when Polly screeched, flying directly towards them.

“Relax, she’s not only friendly—to us—she’s a terrific hunter too.” Anna assured her.