I don't know how long I had been living in the hunter's cabin but it had been years since I had seen another human since the radio had worked. The world had gone dark and silent. I was relying on the skills I had been taught to survive. The first snows of the year had come last night and I was out gathering supplies for the day. It would take the better part of the day to gather enough wood for the day and night.
I had just gathered my last load and was going to gather water to fix dinner when I came across an injured ape. He was covered in many scars, one was across his eye, blinding him. He was bloodied and unconscious. His breathing was shallow and darkness would fall in about an hour and the temperature was falling fast. I couldn't leave him here to die. I unrolled my tarp and put the ropes through the holes so that I would be able to pull him.
I rolled the ape onto the tarp and tied the tarp to my waist and shoulders. I wasn't far from the river so I went ahead and refilled my water containers and then headed back to the cabin with the injured ape in tow. I made it back it back just before the sun disappeared below the horizon. I lay some furs down and pulled the tarp on top of them. He was still out cold. I put more wood on the fire and grabbed my first aid kit.
I turned my attention to him and cleaned him up and wrapped some of his wounds before eating some dried meat and fruits. I left the ape a plate in case he woke up. I had to also splint his leg and put his arm in a sling. His shoulder had been dislocated and his leg broken. I wondered what happened to him. Once everything was set I left him to rest, he was still out.
I knew that an ape colony had lived in the woods but I had never come across them before. I wondered if they were still here. Why was this one so far from the others on his own? Why weren't they looking for him? I went to sleep in my furs next to the fire as the wind howled outside.
When I woke in the morning my guest was sitting up and growling at me. He couldn't get up because of his leg. "Get over yourself, if I wanted to hurt you I would have done so when you were out or left you to die."
"Humans only hurt," he replied. The fact he could speak shocked me but I guess it wasn't surprising. I had heard the apes were no ordinary apes.
"Not all of us, I'm sorry if those were the only ones you ever met." I got up and added more wood to the fire and brought another fur out and went over to my guest, "Here," I said laying it in his lap. "You hungry?"
"Poison," he replied.
"Why would I poison my own food supply?" I gathered some food and water and brought it back and handed it to him and sat down to eat with him. He just stared at me. "If you want to heal you need to eat. You won't get far on that leg." He growled again.
"What happened anyway? You're pretty beat up," I asked.
"Fight with ape," he said.
"Your group?"
"Yes," he growled.
"Sounds like we're both on our own. You're free to stay, I would at least until you're healed. I know I don't have to tell you winter is coming." I got up and put my boots on. "I'm going to gather more water and some fish. I'll be back in a few hours." I grabbed my spear and a basket along with the water containers.
True to my word I was back in a few hours with fish and plants I had in my cellar and freshwater. My guest still sat in his make-shift bed. I started a stew for dinner and worked on the fish for lunch. My guest grunted at me, "Name?"
"Charlie, yours?"
"Koba."
A few months passed and my guest was almost healed and winter had set in. He still wasn't fond of me but I knew he put up with me as he couldn't fend for himself right now. I was at the moment hunting a deer, I had had enough food stored for me, but I wasn't planning on having to feed a second individual. So now I had to hunt about once a week to make sure we had enough food to survive. I was slowly making my way closer to the herd, waiting for a deer to separate and get closer to me.
I had been here for a few hours getting close enough to this herd to make a kill. Finally, a lone deer moved close enough for me to lodge my spear into its heart. Once it was dead I brought it back and Koba helped prepare it.
When spring finally came he was fully healed and he was free to go if he chose. "Koba stay with Charlie." I smiled at him.
"I would like that."