Lee saw the glistening forming across Ryan’s eyes, feeling immediate empathy for the deep plight of the man-child. He knew that Ryan’s fierce pride was straining to hold back any visible sign of weakness. Yet Lee also knew that something rigid and inflexible could be shattered in an instant when enough pressure had been applied.
Lee spoke to Ryan in as methodical and reassuring a voice as he could muster.
“We have some things to learn, probably a whole lot of things. We will simply learn whatever we have to know, to make it through all of this. There is no other choice, so let’s set our minds on this one. I have your back covered, Ryan. I’m afraid, and there’s no harm in saying so, but fear can’t stop us from getting through this unless we let it.”
“And these creatures? Do we stand a chance in a world like this, where we don’t know the first thing about what’s around us?” Ryan responded, his voice strained and shaking.
“Stop and think for a moment, Ryan. Remember, even in the world we are familiar with, the animals are stronger and faster,” Lee replied. “Even an insect can carry several times its own bodyweight. But there is one thing that took us humans to the top of the heap, so that we didn’t have to constantly huddle in fear, and hide from predators.”
Purposefully, he slowly brought his right hand up, and tapped the side of his temple firmly to punctuate his words.
“It’s this. Right in here. The mind. And we both still have that with us,” Lee said.
“I don’t see how I do. I can hardly think right now,” Ryan retorted, staring downward.
“Okay, then maybe it is best that we find something that we can put our minds to. We need to know the lay of the land, we will need water eventually, and we’d better make ourselves some kind of weapon,” Lee said, hoping that the simple logic of his words would find root in Ryan’s troubled mind.
Ryan stood in rapt silence. His expression was dour, and Lee knew that Ryan’s mood was vacillating between the opposing forces at work inside of him. Lee waited patiently on the young man. As if dragging a heavy weight, Ryan finally brought his eyes up to meet Lee’s.
“It’s worth a try,” Ryan announced rigidly.
Once the youth had said the words, it was as if one part of him was unlocked and freed. He looked intently at the ground all around them, and without a word, walked over and picked up a fallen branch off of the forest floor. Placing one knee on the branch to pin it to the ground, he began ripping away the smaller offshoots growing out from it.
When he had stripped the branch bare, Ryan rose up and started walking back up towards the summit of the hill, continuing to examine the ground. Lee followed behind him quietly, continuing to watch.
Using the stripped branch, Ryan scraped around, revealing the rough edge of a jutting rock. Utilizing the edge of the rock, he patiently worked at one end of the branch until it was crudely sharpened.
He turned back to Lee, gripping the rough spear about midway down its shaft. Ryan looked into Lee’s eyes, and something a little more firm and resolute was within his gaze now.
“Then we can start with this,” Ryan proclaimed. “Start with the weapons, and then look to the rest.”
Lee stifled a smile, proud. It was one less thing that he had to worry about in the midst of the unbelievable situation.
“Well done, a good job,” Lee commented, with no hint of being patronizing, in sincere appreciation of the young man’s fortitude.
Lee walked by Ryan, pausing momentarily to pat him gently upon the shoulder. Another elongated, stout branch, which probably had been broken off during a powerful storm, lay a few feet beyond them.
Lee picked up the branch and began to strip it.