Chương 34: PREPARATION

The walk back to camp was quiet, each of them turning over what they had seen and what they had just fought. Ava stayed close to Mark, constantly looking behind her. Even Bramble was subdued, walking slowly right next to Ava.

"That wasn't an animal," Mark said, still looking back toward the trees.

"And if more of those come out of the cave, the traps I've been using aren't going to stop them." Cora replied, "That is the first non-animal I have seen so far. Its tracks clearly show it came from the cave."

"That means that there will most likely be more in the future. My plan to reinforce camp is now my priority."

"Cora, we have room for you here if you would like me to build a shelter for you."

"I will think about it. For now I am going to go out and make sure there are not any more in the forest." With that, Cora turned around and headed back into the forest.

"Ava, when you are out checking tracks, make sure to watch your surroundings. Our traps will not work for those, and I want you to be safe."

"Yes, Mark, I will be careful. Bramble was able to sense those things and track their scent, so he will help me stay safe."

"Ok, I plan to work on camp for a while. If you're willing to help, you can help move things around. I am going to start by moving out the edges of camp, which means I will need to cut down a few trees and cut out a bunch of bushes and underbrush. That way I can put up some alarm traps that will give us time to react if something comes near camp."

"Maybe later. I am tired after that walk." Mark just shook his head and picked up his axe and started on the first tree. Five trees later, Mark was done with cutting down all of the trees he wanted out of the way. He chopped the trees into eight-foot lengths and then pulled them out into the remaining trees to make rough barriers to limit the ease of getting into the camp. Next, he went to work on the bushes and underbrush. He used the shovel to dig them up and chop out the small growth.

He moved that out to join the tree lengths. He used them to help form barriers between the trees. He was able to get enough material to block off a good majority of the spaces between trees surrounding the camp, leaving just two clear ways in and out of camp. Other than his two exits, he went and built noise traps in any location that would still allow someone to come into camp. Ava finally came over and said.

"Bramble and I are going to go check the traps west of camp. And yeah, I know, be careful." Mark chuckled as she left camp. She was handling this new threat better than he was, or at least she wasn't letting it slow her down the way it had slowed him. The last thing he needed was to make gates/traps for the two exits, but he would wait till later so he could show Ava how to disarm and open/close them. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

He walked the perimeter one more time, checking each section as he went and mentally noting where something might still slip through. It wasn't perfect, but it was better than what they had this morning. When satisfied, he sat down in his chair at the crafting table and fiddled with some of the items in the craft box, turning over what he had and what he still needed, trying to figure out what would actually make a difference if something like that came again. A short while later Cora came back towards camp.

She always just appeared between trees in the past; this time she stopped behind my makeshift barrier.

"What's all this stuff for?"

"That is a barrier to make it harder for something, or someone, to wander into camp."

"This is not going to stop anything." She then started to try to climb past the obstacles. About halfway through, one of the alarm traps went off.

"What's all the noise for?"

"That is an alarm trap that you tripped. It won't stop something, but we will hear it with enough time to prepare."

"Well, I can see a few places I could get through with out making noise."

"Great, point them out, and I will fix those locations too." Mark spent the next little while fixing up all the areas Cora pointed out to him. In the process he had to go get some more downed trees in the forest to cover some of the spots.

"Mark, that looks like you got all of them; that should make your campsite more secure." When Ava came back to camp, she showed off to Cora the items she found today.

"Great job, you're getting pretty good at doing that. I watched you clear a few of the traps, and you do it really well."

"What are you spying on me?"

"No, I just saw you while I was passing through, looking to see if there was anything else we needed to worry about." While both of them were there, Mark built the two entry/exit gates and showed them both how to set and disarm the traps. Mark turned to Cora and said.

"Would you like me to build you a shelter?"

"You can build me one, but I am not sure if I will use it, but it could not hurt to have one ready if I need it." When she was done speaking, Cora walked over to the gate and quickly disarmed it and went through, arming it as she left. Mark laughed at the fact she still just came and went, not yet fully part of the group. Mark said to Ava, "I am going to go out and gather items to make Cora a shelter before it gets dark. Can you cook us some dinner?" As Mark left, he could hear her say, "I guess if I have to."

Mark went through the forest and gathered all the materials to make Cora's shelter. When he returned, he ate dinner, and then he and Ava built the shelter for Cora. After the shelter was finished, he walked again around the camp. The area was bigger now, and there was room to grow. This morning there were only two shelters in camp. He looked very satisfied at Cora's shelter. How long do you think until she uses it? He finally sat down next to the fire, and bringing up his status, he went over it.

With the kill of the rootling, he was close to level. Maybe tomorrow he would go east and clear the traps and put up a few more heading north in the higher-level areas. With enough luck, he might level tomorrow. Closing his status, he noticed he was alone by the fire. Ava had gone to bed without him even noticing, leaving him alone to think. The camp was better now, safer and more secure than it had been that morning, but he knew it still wasn't enough.