Unfit For Survival (Ark Fanfic.)

Chapter 5: This Tribe Is My Tribe, This Tribe Is Your Tribe

Three days passed since Benedetto and I arrived at the tribe but nothing really happened in that time. I got my wrist properly wrapped and a splint was added to it and now it was in a sling around my neck for a while. Benedetto had been in and out of consciousness for the first day and a half but now he seemed to be on the upside of his fever. He was finally keeping down the food I was feeding him. I figured he wouldn't mind if I was the one taking care of him. I figured that once he woke up and was back on his feet then I'd no longer have any debt to him.

I wasn't allowed to roam around the area and was basically confined to a small room that Benedetto and I were sharing. Fish was locked in a cage in the corner. It was the only way they would allow me to keep him with me but I felt bad about it. I hadn't known the little guy long but I could tell he didn't like his situation. They had tried muzzling him at one point but that backfired the second they got within two feet of him. One guy ended up with a deep gash on his arm and another got sprayed in both his eyes and mouth. His eyes recovered well enough but I heard that his tongue was still swollen and he was now on a diet of only liquids. Everyone else kept their distance after that. Mikey was tied up outside but I could see him from the small window in the back of the room. Some people gave him some food but I could tell that he too was a little sick of being tied up. He may enjoy laying down but he needed to stretch his legs more than they were allowing him to. 

My gaze traveled down to Benedetto who was sleeping on the bed. He had been washed up when he got too sweaty from his fever and now wore a full set of clothes just like I had too. We even both had a pair of shoes by the door. 

"Howdy, Miss Isabella. Yeh doin' alright? I got some yeh somethin' teh eat if yer hungry." Clay showed up every day with food. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Sometimes even a snack if he had time. He was surprisingly busy in a world filled with dinosaurs.

"Yeah, come on in." Answering his words with my own, I did my best to smile.

"Leslie outdid herself this time, I swear it. Sit down an' I'll get Ben teh eat too." Setting the steaming food on the small table, Clay crossed over to where Benedetto was lightly snoring and shook him a little more aggressively than I had expected. 

While the two bickered- it was mostly Benedetto that was complaining while Clay just laughed and helped him up- I spread out the food on the table. We had stew with some sort of meat in it. I didn't ask, too scared of the answer. There was also some bread rolls and a small jar of honey. The smell of all of it was filling the small room and made it feel less empty than it was. Funny how food fixed most things including loneliness. 

"I got yeh yer apple peeler back. The doc said yeh can have yer belongin's back but yeh ain't got much teh begin with." Clay placed a bag on the other bed that I used and reached into one of the pockets where Benedetto's knife was. The spear was there along with the two blankets that Clay had lent us and my canteen.

"Good. We're leaving before nightfall." Without a word of thanks, Benedetto sat at the table and began shoveling the food into his mouth. If I had expected his attitude to disappear with his fever, damn was I disappointed. 

"Leavin'? Why? Yeh got somewhere teh be?" Though he had just given us our stuff back, Clay seemed confused by Benedetto's words. I wasn't. I would have been fine staying but the people, aside from Clay, didn't seem too welcoming even though they helped us to heal. They didn't chat with us, didn't come too close, and when they did see us, they avoided eye contact.

"Not your business. You brought us our stuff now go." Barely taking his eyes from the food he was literally inhaling with minimal chewing, Benedetto's grey eyes moved towards the door. Raising his brow, he gave Clay a look that accompanied his words.