“But you said that Galmine was also mean to you.” I scooped another hunk of clay into the basket and turned my head around to check the beach. Bob didn’t look fidgety, but I still wanted to stay alert.
“Not as mean as Trel, but still mean.”
“Can you give me an example?” I was trying really hard not to roll my eyes.
“Just the stuff she says.”
“Galmine? Are you absolutely positive that Galmine says mean stuff to you?” I stared into Kacerie’s blue eyes.
“Yes, they are all mean to me.” She fluttered her eyelashes. “Look, Victor. I appreciate you saving me, I really do. You are handsome and capable. Strong and smart. I just can’t deal with the other women in the camp. They won’t leave me alone.”
“So what is the solution?” I was trying my best not to get mad at her, but I wondered if some of my anger came through, since she waved her hands and kneeled on the ground next to me.
“Nothing major! It will be easy! I just need my own hut, and maybe a pass from you for some of the work stuff. I’m just not suited to making pots or cutting animals or anything. I’m fine making cordage. I’ll just do that all day while I stay in my own hut.”
“Your own hut?” I did my best not to laugh. “You know we don’t have room for that.”
“You have Hope inside the walls, just kick her out and then build me a new hut in her spot.”
I took a deep breath and tried to think of a correct response. Part of me wanted to tell her that she could go fuck herself, but that was just going to strain our relationship more. In reality, I needed her, but not as much as she needed the three women I’d come to love and me.
“Kacerie, I have no problem building you a new hut, but we have a lot of shit to do before we get there. Once we have the new walls built, we’ll have plenty of room.”
“But that’s going to take us six weeks,” she moaned. “I need my own place now.”
“Sorry, we can’t always get what we want.” I shrugged and then put the last scoop of clay in the basket.
“That’s bullshit,” she snapped angrily. “The other women get what they want because they sleep with you.”
“Ahhh, no,” I said as I stood up with the filled basket. “No one gets what we want, or we’d all be home. Everyone is working their ass off to survive. You need to step up your contribution if you want special treatment.”
“Oh, I get it,” she said. “When you say contribution, you really mean that I need to start fucking you also.”
“No,” I growled as I walked past her. “That came out wrong. Hold on, let me put this on Bob.” I tied the basket on the parasaur’s saddle.
“You don’t need to explain, the men from your planet are the same as on mine. Here is the thing, Victor, I’m willing to do what I need to do. I just don’t want you to think that--”
“Stop,” I interrupted her as I turned around. “You’ve got me wrong. You are beautiful, but I don’t really care about having sex with you. Galmine and Trel keep me happy. I don’t really give a shit about how you think the other women are treating you, or how unfair you think everything is. You’d be dead now if it weren’t for me. Now, that doesn’t mean you owe me your life, but it does mean you need to stop whining and just work. You haven’t contributed anything useful to our group since you got here. If anything, you’ve just cost us more time because we’ve had to teach you shit instead of just doing it ourselves.”
“What?” she hissed. “I’ve done plenty in the camp that no one else has done.”
“Like?” I asked.
“Well, I put up with you and Galmine and Trel just having sex all the time. I’m working when you three are using the hut.”
“Fucking shit you are stupid,” I sighed and rubbed my hands over my face.
“Excuse me?” she gasped. “What did you just say?”
“You are stupid, and I’m sick of you. You keep talking shit about my friends. I saved your ass and then brought you into our home. Now all you do is whine when we ask you to help us and then complain when we use our room to have sex.”
“I can’t believe you are calling me stupid. If I had my Lance ready, I’d--”
“What? You’d kill me?” I laughed and shook my head. “I risked my life to save you because you had that ability. Now you threaten me with it. That sucks.”
“You are treating me like a second rate citizen. I’m very important in my community. My salon is booked three months out and--”
“I don’t care,” I sighed as I climbed up on top of Bob. I suddenly felt exhausted, and for half a moment I missed my tiny apartment, my Playstation, my Xbox, my cheap ramen noodles, and my shitty job. The sensation only lasted a few moments though, and then I focused on the shit I needed to do next. We had to survive, and I needed everyone on my team pulling at the rope as hard as they could.
“Wait, where are you going?” Kacerie asked when I spun Bob around to point toward the distant herd of parasaurs.
“I’m going to go tame one of those dinos,” I said. “Then I’m heading back to camp.”
“Okay, I need to get on.” She stepped toward Bob, but I turned my head down to look at her.
“No,” I said. “You aren’t coming.” My heart was slamming in my chest, and I felt my stomach twist when the beautiful woman’s face paled.
“What?” she gasped. “Why? I’ll die out here if you--”
“Because you just said you’d use your Lance on me.”
“No! I didn’t say that. Victor, stop joking around. You can’t leave me here.”
“I can,” I said with a shrug. “You aren’t helping us, and now I’m worried that you are going to try and kill us once your Lance powers up. Sorry, I have three people I care about, and I need to protect them and myself. Good luck to you, Kacerie.”
“I was joking! I’m not going to use it on you. Please! Don’t-- Victor! No!”
I had tapped my heels to Bob’s flanks and the large parasaur started jogging forward on his hind legs. Kacerie’s screams became more frantic when I was about fifty yards away, but I didn’t turn back to look at her.
“Fuck,” I sighed as I tried to force my clenched stomach to relax. Leaving Kacerie out here was pretty much the same as killing her, and I struggled with the decision. Her Lance ability was incredibly powerful, and the woman seemed capable of working hard, but she just didn’t want to. I wasn’t that skilled at understanding women, but the way Kacerie spoke hinted at her personality. She was trying to manipulate me against Trel, Galmine, and Sheela. I wasn’t going to put up with it.
Surviving was going to be too difficult without everyone cooperating. I had to worry about building a fort, finding food and water, protecting everyone from dinosaurs, and then whatever other tribal threat might be out there.
I couldn’t afford for Kacerie to try and poison us with her words and actions.
But damn it, we really did need a lot of help. The thought of just the four of us again felt like a step backward.
Her screams faded with the wind, and I pushed Bob a little faster so that I’d put more distance between us. The group of parasaurs was in almost the same spot I had tamed Bob, and I circled the shore of the lake so I could make my way toward them. It meant that I was almost on the other side of the small lake as the fingers, and I saw Kacerie’s pink hair flutter in the breeze as she kneeled on the distant shore. The sight was a bit heartbreaking, but it would have been more heartbreaking if she’d killed Trel, or Sheela, or Galmine, or me with her Lance.
There were only six parasaurs in this group. My Eye-Q identified one of them as male, but I really didn’t need my eye computer to do that. The male had a bright shade of red on his underbelly that was more colorful than the females. He was also a good foot or two taller at the shoulders and much bulkier. This male was actually larger than my steed, so I approached the pack carefully.