try for an underground one, if you can dig really fast,â he said.
âI canât dig really fast.â
âA lean-to then?â
âSure.â
âDo you know how to make one?â
âI canât even visualize a lean-to,â said Henry. âIâm picturing something, but I think itâs a teepee.â
âWe may be screwed on the lean-to idea then.â
âWhy didnât you look it up before we got here?â
âI thought they were going to teach us survival skills! I purposely didnât look up how to build a shelter because I thought the instructor would appreciate me being a clean slate! Otherwise, I wouldâve been all like, âNo, no, thatâs not how Wikipedia says to do it.â Why didnât you look it up before we got here?â
âWe canât turn against each other,â said Henry. âThatâs what Erik and Stu and maybe Jackie want us to do. Weâve got to work together. If we work together, what do you think the odds are of us finding a cave?â
âPoor.â
âI agree. Okay, so however we build the shelter, weâre going to need branches. Letâs get lots of branches.â
Randy nodded. They searched for the nearest branch-producing object, which was not a time-consuming task since they were in the woods.
Henry found a tree that had at least twenty or thirty accessible branches that looked perfect for building the shelter he couldnât visualize. They didnât have a chainsaw, hacksaw, machete, pocketknife, butcher knife, steak knife, tin can lid, sharpened teeth, or anything else that would help them to saw off the branches, but suddenly, Henry got an idea.
He walked over to where Max and Jackie stood, watching them. âSir?â
âYes?â
âCan you spare a grenade, sir?â
âWhy?â
âIn a survival situation, having a grenade to blow off a bunch of branches can save time.â
âI like the way you think,â said Max. âBut a criminal level of irresponsibility can only be taken so far and I have to say no.â
âWell, sir,â said Henry, not giving up, ânothing would be a greater honor than to watch you explode the branches for us.â
âAre you patronizing me, you little puke?â
âNo, sir. Iâm here to learn.â
âPig, horse, and bull crap. Jackie, sabotage their shelter.â
âThey havenât started it yet, sir.â
âThen pee on the ground where theyâre going to build it.â
âI donât have to go, sir.â
âForget it then.â Max looked at Henry and then cracked his knuckles in such a way to clearly send the message: Pretend that my knuckles are your neck. Or your spine. Either one works. âDo not try to outwit me. Iâm smarter than I look. And Iâm smart enough to know that youâre thinking, âThatâs not very hard to do.â Go on. Think it if you werenât already.â
Henry was already thinking it. It was extremely difficult to keep his face from giving that away.
âI could probably pee now,â said Jackie.
âNah, save it. Henry, get back to your shelter.â
âHe wonât let us blow up the tree,â Henry said, walking back over to Randy.
âOh well.â Randy had only gotten three branches off. They were going to have to work faster than that if they expected to win, although Henry didnât say this, because it could be interpreted as a similar comment to the âWhy didnât you look it up before we got here?â one, which had been poorly received.
Randy had laid the cloth out on the ground. The bird chirped. Henry wasnât sure if the bird was offering moral support or insulting him.
Henry grabbed one of the lower branches. âOw,â he said.
âWhat?â
âNothing.â
âYou shouldnât grab the poky part.â
âI didnât know there was a
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