15 days before Winter

Sewing the final pieces of rags together, grabbing a cup made by carving wood with a makeshift knife. That I made from a long piece of scrap metal, reshaped after heating it with fire. Scooping up the liquid I was boiling in a pot, I gulped it down. This has been my only source of food for as long as I can recall. Don’t understand it, but I seem to feel my stomach being filled whenever I drink it.

Thanks to this warmth, I can survive the winter. I made even further suitable shelter for myself. A ventilating cave for the cold weather that I am currently in…

Is what I would like to say, if only the many holes in my camp were covered. But it can not be helped after waking up all of a sudden. Out in the open I saw groundhogs gathering their food supplies hastily.

I am weak. I can barely pick up the tarp while struggling, so all I can do is drag what materials I find back to here…

Managing this much in the two weeks that I spent. Sipping some more of the liquid, I slept from my arduous chore. I thought to myself this sucks...the situation I am in...after all I am the only human being left alive… I dozed off closing my eyes to await the next morning tasks.

A rabbit comes pouncing out of its hiding spot from the bush, to nibble on a laid out crop. Looking in every direction it searches for potential threats. From the left a stream of a river, from the right other critters such as itself foraging for food. Behind the rabbits is its bush house. On the front there is nothing but laid out crops, perfect for the rabbits needs. Slowly moving forward testing the waters, the rabbit further nibbles its nose. Sensing no potential predator it goes further close to the crops. The little rabbit did not know where these crops came from. Why is there delectable food near my house though the rabbit? Sniffing the crops to see if it belongs to any of its fellow critters. It would be rude to take something that is not rightfully mine, the little rabbit thought to itself again. Sniffing and sniffing again it seems that these crops are indeed no ones to claim. Gleefully the little rabbit decides to nibble on the crops. Nibbling and nibbling it finishes one crop. Being overjoyed with its bounty it closes in on the other remaining crops.

Snap*

A trap had triggered! The little bunny panics and attempts to scurry. No matter how much it struggled his legs just couldn’t touch the ground. Because one of its hind legs was caught tied in the air, high up into the air.

“Haha, another one falls for the bait.” The figure comes closer to the rabbit. The rabbit in despair, started huffing at an abnormally extreme rate. The figure kept crept closer. It realized that it was a man. This mysterious being, what does he want with me? The rabbit thought to itself. Calming down it’s breathing pattern becomes normal again. The hunter came and grabbed its pocket knife, slitting the rabbit's throat. Staring at the human being entranced the rabbit, so that when he got his throat slit, all he could do was look at the human in awe. Slowly as blood drips out, the rabbit loses its consciousness. His breath slowing down, the light starts to fade on him. The man then prays to the rabbit for his nutrients and the prolonging of his survival.

“Erghh…”

Waking up I recall from last night's dream, maybe I could use that to help me catch meat. The most desired taste. What does it taste like? Seeing the dream made me crave for it…

I begin cutting tree barks down and gather them in a pile. Once I had the certain amount, I started to boil the one I stripped in water, in hopes that I could stiffen them later. Cutting strips of the tree fibers, I grabbed two strands. Twisting the strands and then looping one end over to make them nice and tight, then repeat the process until I connect them together….

“Ugh” screaming in agony once finished. I then made a loop around the hole. And made sure to secure it tightly.

Making a looped loose knot I went to hang the rope on a tree. After doing a test, I have realized that I am missing a trigger to activate the trap. I believe I need something heavy to act as a counterweight. If I remember it must be something that is heavy but viable for it to trigger the rope to immediately react to it. Through some digging I had no luck, but maybe I can just use a bunch of rocks to do the trick. Gathering a large cloth I stored some rocks in, to makeup for the lack of materials.

Once I set it up I triggered the rock to see if the rope would cause a reaction, so far nothing.

“What the hell, why didn’t it work?”

Recalling from the dream I remember another set of ropes connected to the rope that was looped into a noose. Let’s see if I remember doing this to the string and make this stick a trigger it should work. It worked but I have to keep it in place somehow. Banging two branches into the ground I completed making a snare trap that would activate when the stick gets triggered. Testing it on myself I understand that this will guarantee to catch something.

Covering up the sticks and rope in leaves, I leave to work on other tasks. Right now I should prioritize making a survival knife for myself. Especially since I might potentially need it for the meat that is going to be in my belly soon.

Looking at the areas I see that there are remnants of metal objects that I could recycle back into an iron bar. Thank god I don’t have to look far, too.

Dragging back all these metallic broken objects I found lying around was a pain. Once I returned I immediately placed a pot I conveniently found in a broken building. I then made a fire and let it heat up the pot for a few minutes before melting the metals. Making a cloth I wrapped it around my nose to prevent myself from breathing in any poison from the metals chemicals.

Gathering all the broken objects I first melted the small thin objects. It took awhile but some metal is melting at the moment. Grabbing some wood I made a box and filled it with dirt. After patting it nice and tightly I carved a small hole in the middle to reshape the metals into a bar when it’s ready. Once I made another holding place for the bottom layer I used the remaining dirt as the leftover. Again patting everything including the edges so none of the metals are seeping through the dirt when I pour it.

When the pot melted all the metals I poured small amounts into each of the blocked shapes I made while waiting.

Letting the air do the rest of the work with the liquid metal to cool off. I began looking for whetstone and more cloth.

Making sure to keep the fire constantly burning I add more fuel with whatever it could feed on. I gathered more wood, twigs and some leaves which all should last the fire for a while. To increase the heat of the fire I would need to add more oxygen. A fan would be great but with what I could only find I used a plastic board I found to fan the flames. Getting it at the right temperature I carefully place a block of metal into the fire. Using a long tong I found in a building next to me I ready myself to use the Tong the moment the metal bar starts glowing.

3,2,1….immediately snatching it in place on the ground and started whacking the metal bar with a hammer I made. It was simple to make the hammer. I just needed to specifically make a hole in one of the blocks of metal and a thick branch.

Lengthening the block I carefully keep hitting it until it all becomes smooth and evenly stretched. I begin shaping the block into a blade to protect myself. Using a whetstone I grind against the edges of the blade, so it doesn’t look jagged. Wetting the blade I continually make the blade sharp and clear enough to see my reflection.

With the length of the blade I cut part of the side to add a handle on the bottom. Sadly I could only use rags as the handle. Wrapping the rags around the blade, I was able to prevent my hands from getting cut should I need to grab hold of the hiltless blade.

I have finally prepared everything, my chances of survival is 5 percent. I believe….

Chapter 1 end