Tent City

Chapter 4

A month had passed, since Ben and I left Tent City. Our food supplies ran out three days ago, our water supplies will run out in a couple more days. I tried my hardest to ration our supplies, and I did well considering our food supplies lasted a week longer than expected, but we needed to find something to eat very soon.

Ben has been restless and cries all the time now because he is so hungry. That's all he does, he still hasn't spoken to me outside of requests.

When our parents were alive he would be so curious and full of wonder about the world and would ask us so many questions. He would have a full conversation with us, and he would often tell us how much he loves us, especially me, his big sis. He would smile and climb on my lap or cuddle up to me when we slept, not for warmth but out of affection.

Now he was distant and only tolerated my hugs purely because he felt cold. He didn't smile, tell me how much he loves me, or ask questions. He needed help. I wished I could provide help for him. If he did not get help, I feared he will never smile or have a conversation with me or anyone else ever again.

It was the night after our water supplies ran out. We were screwed, an average human can only last around three days, sometimes in some cases up to a week without water. However, in our case, we would most likely die earlier than the three days as our bodies were already suffering due to starvation.

We were no longer within the wastelands, which was a relief. We could hide among the trees that grew through the cracks of the bitumen, through the shells of rusted cars, or beside the road. There were also groups of random rocks nestled between the trees that could also conceal us. I used what remained of my strength and hid our cart and built our tent behind a huge boulder, it was a good spot. Trees surrounded us and the Boulder shielded us from the wind.

I was exhausted, so I wrapped the blanket around me, and covered Ben in his blanket. He was sobbing quietly as he tried to get to sleep, his stomach growled and gurgled. I decided tomorrow, I would try and find some water, after all, we were no longer in the wastelands so, any water I could find had a better chance of being clean and uncontaminated.

I also decided it would be best if we stayed where we were for now, at least until we had a chance of replenishing our food and water supplies.

If we stayed, there would be less walking and movement which meant we had more of a chance of being able to survive for longer than 3 days.

Also, the trees provided shade during the hottest part of the day, and the boulder provided a wind break and protection from the weather. My first mission to find water failed, but my quest for water allowed me to stumble upon a blackberry bush. At least we would have food in our tummies tonight and maybe Ben could fall asleep without crying because he was hungry.

I collected as much as I could carry and returned to camp. Ben was still fast asleep when I left him and on my return, he remained asleep. I started to worry, Ben never slept in past 8 am, it was midday and he was still asleep. I needed to find water and fast, but for now, at least I had some food to give him.

I gently shook him awake and offered him some berries. He took one bite and tasted it, he spat it out. He hated it. He rolled over and fell asleep again. I sighed and left some berries on a plate beside him. I ate what I had collected for myself.

The berries were quite sour, so I understood why Ben had spat them out, but it was food and nutrients for my body. Nutrients that I desperately needed. Hopefully, with some sleep and food in my stomach, I could find water for us the following day.

At the moment, even though we had shade, a slight breeze, and the coolness of the boulder beside the tent, it was still hot and if I went foraging now, the heat would zap the energy from my body and dehydration would set in quickly. So I too went to sleep.