Zombies to Ponies in Ten Seconds Flat

by 8r0ny

3. Establishing Camp

We didn’t have to wait long before the others came through the portal. They were walking side by side so they all arrived pretty much simultaneously. Camden was the first to come through the portal. He stopped and stared at me and Nyjill.

“The cart behind you?” I asked him, knowing full well it wasn’t.

“No…” He said looking around. “Where are the others? They were right beside me.”No sooner than he said that Cody came through.

“Where’s the cart?” He asked us all. We just shrugged as Camden started to get worried. Next came Mathew and he to asked where the cart was.

“I don’t know! It’s not here.” Camden said starting to really freak out. Nyjill and I looked at each other worried.

“Didn’t think he’d flip shit like this.” I whispered to Nyjill.

“Makes sense though.” He whispered back.

“What’s that?” Cody asked pointing at my Staff.

“Well funny you should ask.” I said taking on an intimidating stance. “BEHOLD! My Staff of Light Bringing!” I shouted as I tapped the crystal causing it to light up. It was getting later in the day now so it was a noticeable amount of light. I brought it down to the ground dramatically holding my dramatic pose for dramatic effect. Everyone looked at the ground where my staff hit but I continued on in a nonchalant tone. “I found it on the ground over there and...what are you looking at?”

I looked down and saw there was a circle of light on the ground below the staff.

“That’s new” I said dumbfounded as I tapped the crystal to turn off the light. As soon as the crystal went out the circle went away.

“Shawn, what did you make?” Nyjill asked looking at me shocked, as were the rest of them.

“Thought you said you found it?” Cody said.

“No I was just messing with you guys, the cart is behind the portal and I made this.” I started. “We think time is different here. Like one second back home is about a minute here. I’ve been here for two and a half hours while Nyjill has been here for one and a half.”

Camden looked behind the portal skeptically and saw the cart. He visibly relaxed but then turned to us. “It is possible that the portal transported us somewhere that time passes differently, it was just never thought of.” He said looking around at the clearing.

“Well now that the cart is here we should get set up. I got here a few hours after noon and now it looks like we only have a few hours before the sun goes down.” I said gathering everyone by the cart. “First we need a way of securing the perimeter. I’ve explored some and haven't seen anything but that's not to say we aren’t being watched or the baddies are just nocturnal hunters.”

“That will be easy.” Camden said. “See those black tubes on the side of the cart? Take them and lay them next to each other and connect them together. There are four corner pieces as well.”

We all took a pipe and walked to the perimeter. “I marked where I think we should build the wall in the dirt so just set them on there.” I said directing everyone. “Camden do we have a door for whatever wall we’re building?”

“I have it in my hands now.” He replied. “Is there a specific location you would like it?”

“Yah, North of here is a stream. I feel like we’ll make runs there a lot so it makes sense to point our door that way. Also an entrance facing north just feels right.” I told him.

We set up the perimeter of pipes and I looked to Camden. “Now what? That won't do much.” I said as he dug through the cart.

“I’m looking for the control unit.” He said as he looked. “Here it is. Plug this into the door unit.”

Ok...” I said hesitantly, but I did it anyways. “There's only one button on this thing. Should I press it?”

“Yes. Just be sure no one is near the base units.” Camden replied.

I pressed the button and all the pipes whirred to life as a wall inflated out of the perimeter. It rose up ten feet into the air and made another noise as if it were sucking the air back out of the walls but the walls stayed firm. After the commotion stopped I looked at Camden quizzically.

“I think it's gonna take more than an inflatable wall to-” I stopped as I touched the wall. It was completely solid and didn’t give at all. “Ok, never mind. This will due.”

I could tell Camden was about to talk science but he started before I could shush him.

“Well the pipe is filled with a special composite made up of several elements that has the consistency of foam when in a vacuum. Once introduced to air, or more importantly the moisture in the air, it takes a mere twenty seconds to solidify into a material as hard as kevlar. After this chemical reaction takes place the air is then removed from the carbon fiber lining making the composite inside even stronger than before.” He happily explained.

“Fascinating.” I said, letting him have a moment.

“Now we just need to bolt on the door made of the same material and the wall will be complete.” He finished.

A few hours later we had the perimeter up, a large tent as an impromptu kitchen, another larger tent as our science workshop, a solar array setup to provide limited electricity, and a water collection system in case it rained so we could get more fresh water. It had gotten dark and we were now setting up our sleeping arrangements. Everyone else was setting up their cots in individual tents. But I knew of the superior sleeping method and brought my own stuff. My stuff consisted of a military tent like the others but instead of a cot I had a hammock slung between the boards holding the cloth roof up. Hammocks are really the way to go, they’re just so cozy! While the others had sheets and blankets I had my mummy bag, it's one of those sleeping bags that have that place for your head and are good down to negative twenty degrees and are also waterproof. If we had been in the woods I would have just used tarps instead of the tent but whatever, this was nice I guess.

“I don't know about you guys but I’m getting pretty hungry.” Matthew said sticking his head from his tent.

“I'm down for some grub.” I said from the flaps of my own tent.

There was a murmur of agreement from the others as well so we went to our kitchen tent and each grabbed a MRE.

“As I stated earlier today, there is a stream North of here so if y’all want fish we can get some tomorrow.” I said while I waited for my chemical heat water to ‘cook’ my meal. “Also while we’re eating let's talk about scouting the area and general security.”

This got everyone's attention, scouting an unknown area on an unknown world excited some of us but worried others.

“We should have someone on watch during the nights to keep night predators from getting the jump on us.” I instructed, “If there are any. There may be people here but if not we are completely in the dark to what kind of wildlife to expect. We need to start scouting around to see if there is intelligent life and if they want us dead or not. Also it would just be good to get to know the area.”

Looking at my friends I made a decision about night watches. “Camden and Cody, because there's a lot of this operation riding on your skills you guys will be watching only at dusk or dawn. So the equivalent of staying up late or getting up early.” ‘And because I don't trust you guys to really hold your own in a fight.’ I thought. “Nyjill, Matthew and I will take turns with the rest of the night. Any questions?”

“How long are the shifts?” Matthew asked.

“Cody and Camden’s shifts will be 3 hours a piece. Our shifts are a little longer but we only do it one of three days.” I explained. “Our shifts will be...well honestly we don't know how long nights are here so not sure.”

Nyjill and Matthew didn't look to happy about that so I figured I’d be an adult and solve the ‘who goes first’ problem before it started. And I did that by standing up with my plate of ‘food’ and started to walk out.

“Where are you going?” Camden asked stopping me.

“I’m going to stand watch. You or Cody can join at the scheduled times but it doesn't really make sense to try to sleep for 3 hours and then wake up and sleep and wake up. So I’ll be out all night tonight.” I explained while trying to put the next part delicately. “Also we don't know what’s out here so we should be on high alert until we do know.”

I grabbed a chair as I left and went to the front gate/door. I set my chair down and put my food on top of it and went to my tent to grab some stuff to keep me occupied or to fend off possible animals or locals. So I grabbed my Staff of Light Bringing, my quiver still full of bolts and crystals, my crossbow, and my backpack with various survival stuff in it. Now ready to do more science, I went back to my chair and set my supplies beside it while I sat down and finished my meal.

Camden came out shortly after I finished eating with a chair and a backpack of his own. Guess he figured it would get boring too and brought stuff to work on. His science was no match for my science but I digress.

“Sorry I took so long.” He said sitting next to me. “I wanted to get some stuff to occupy my time so I wasn't just sitting here staring at a wall.”

“But it is a really nice wall, wouldn't you agree?” I jested. “But really if you want to stare at something, look at the stars.” I said looking up. I always had a thing for the night sky. It’s just so calming and beautiful. And this sky was different than the one I was used to. It was daunting but fascinating at the same time.

“Well that's one of the things I planned on doing.” He said pulling a telescope out of his bag. “By looking at the stars I may be able to tell where we are in relation to Earth. That is if we are in the same galaxy. Can only see so much through this little telescope. But there’s the possibility we’re not even in the same universe. Meaning we’re the first of our kind to achieve inter-dimensional travel and that's fascinating.”

“Yup, ok, that's way too much info to process at once.” I sputtered out. “Did not think that through. Just focusing on surviving.”

“Well that's actually a relief.” Camden said, explaining when I gave him a pointed look. “As in you were so focused on your job that you didn't think about any unnecessary details.”

“Thanks I guess?” I said trying to piece together if that was a compliment or an insult.

“I’m just saying we all have different jobs. For me I need to think about these things.” He continued. “What if this world has different physics because of its location. I’d need to know that to adjust my equations and calculations to make the portal work better.”

I still wasn’t really convinced and he knew it so he added on, “And if it's any consolation I didn't even think of night watches until you mentioned it so you got me there. You’re good at security and plans and I’m good with science.”

“Your puny science is no match for my crystal science!” I said triumphantly as I whipped out my Staff of Light Bringing and tapping it on. “Behold!”

“I’ll admit those crystals you found are definitely worth studying.” Camden said reaching for the staff.

“No.” I said slapping his hand away. “Bad Camden, only I can wield the Staff of Light Bringing.” Seeing his dejected look I sighed. “Give me a sec.” I said looking through my quiver. “12, 13, 14, plus impromptu torch and Staff so 16. Ok, you can have one I have enough” I said holding the quiver out and letting him grab one.

“Have enough for what?” Camden asked while grabbing a crystal. It lit up in his hand and he looked at me confused. “How do I stop it?” He asked.

“From what I learned they light up from contact with skin.” I told him. “So throw it into the air and catch it or set it down and grab it. Just break and remake contact. And for the ‘enough for what’ question, I’m making light things. Nothing too difficult.”

Camden and I fell into a silence as we started working on various things. He studied the crystal, looked at the sky and did other stuff and I made light things. Figured I'd make seven hanging lights with some wire and crystals for the tents and 9 torches to place around the camp to light it up. The torches were basically 8 shorter version of my Staff of Light Bringing that we could attach to our perimeter wall made with the smaller crystals and the largest one was put on a stick about 7 feet tall and stuck in the middle of camp. With all of them on the area was fairly well lit. I couldn't help but be reminded of Mine Craft and trying to keep the light levels up so nothing spawned.

“Well, it's been three hours.” Camden said as he stood up and stretched. “Guess it’s time for me to get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Ok, goodnight” I said walking back to my seat. “You know now that I think about it, the rest of the wall is just as likely to be attacked as the door...so why am I sitting here?”

“Force of habit?” Camden said shrugging and walking to his tent to get some rest.

Author's Note:

Camp has been established. Huzzah!

Comments

[Brandenburg]

This is so silly... I rather like it.