The Extinct

CHAPTER
49

Eric walked next to William as they followed the group. They didn’t appear like the other tribe. They didn’t speak to each other, or sing, or look around at their surroundings. They were focused and serious. So much so that the intense heat didn’t seem to bother them.

The women were in the center of an oval with the men taking up the spaces outside. Eric noticed they had feet like leather, thick skin with thin sandals.

They navigated through the plains well. It was amazing that they knew where they were going at all, considering they barely glanced up from the ground. They seemed to have an innate sense of where they were.

“What tribe are they?” Eric whispered.

“I don’t know. I have a book on the different indigenous people and I don’t remember seeing a group like this other than gypsies. There is a Chenchu tribe out here that still hunts for subsistence and it could be them. But there’s apparently over a hundred languages spoken in India so I’m sure they’re from somewhere here.”

They walked until dusk and then stopped on a patch of lush green grass. The group sat down in a circle and Eric and William sat on the outside. The group made a space and Tuu’ motioned for them to sit. They moved up and sat next to him.

Some of the women took out a black liquid from little leather pouches and began applying it to the tips of the spears. The men sat cross-legged and closed their eyes. They began humming at first, a low rhythmic sound varying in pitch from high to low. They kept it up a few minutes then stood and began clapping their hands in rhythm. One of them let out a shout and a few others followed.

One of the men walked to the center of the circle and began speaking, describing a story with animated movements and facial expressions.

Each man took their turn in the center of the circle as the sun began to go down. They passed around a small bottle, each taking a sip before giving it to the man next to them. The climax of the ritual was prolonged yelling, nearly to the point of going hoarse. The women rose and walked next to them, kissing each one on both cheeks before stepping away and sitting back down. Some rifles were brought out and it looked like the men were given a choice between them and the spear. Each man chose the spear.

The men turned and began a slow jog to the north. Tuu’ motioned for them to follow again. They rose slowly and tried to keep pace.

“I can’t run,” Eric said.

“Just walk as fast as you can.”

The men galloped far ahead of Eric and William but because the land was so bare they never lost sight of each other. Eventually they came across a herd of deer and the men stopped and ducked low. By the time Eric and William had caught up, two of them were already crawling on their bellies toward the animals, spears held tightly in their left hands.

Tuu’ held his hand flat in the air with his palm facing down and lowered it until it touched the ground. The rest of the men silently got to their bellies and Eric and William followed.

The deer didn’t seem agitated though it’d be hard for Eric to tell. They grazed and let their young wander around without adults near them. A couple were neighing and butting their necks against each other, nipping at their bodies with dull teeth. Tuu’ pointed to one of them and the men rose and began going in that direction.

“Should we stay here?” Eric said.

“He didn’t ask us to follow. I think they only wanted us to come so we would be away from the women.”

The two men who had gone off on their own crawled in the opposite direction of the rest of the group. Eric could see that they were heading toward a young doe that was grazing by himself. The rest of the group slowly made their way across to the fighting males. The males were too distracted to notice the approaching hunters.

The two lone hunters slowly rose to their knees, both holding their spears over their shoulders. They looked over to the rest of the group and waited until they had done the same.

It seemed almost in unison when they threw their spears. They moved too fast to be anything but a blur and the animals reacted too slowly to move out of the way of the oncoming projectiles.

A high pitched squeal rang through the air as panic gripped the deer. The doe was wounded but was still running faster than the men who’d begun chasing him. One of the spears of the larger group had struck a full size buck, but the wound was superficial and the spear quickly dropped from its flesh as it sprinted away.

Eric watched as the doe became sluggish. It seemed disoriented and began running in a wide circle. The men were walking casually a few dozen yards behind it. The doe neighed and shook its head vigorously as it spun around, bucking and kicking. It stopped abruptly, watching the two men, and then fell to the ground with a loud squeal. The men approached and one took out a long blade. He grabbed the animal by the head and slit its throat. The blade was too dull to do it in one or two motions so he had to saw at the animal’s neck until blood began to pour into the dry earth.

The rest of the men gathered around the dying creature. Tuu’ brought out a small bowl from a pouch and held it underneath the stream of blood. He brought the bowl to his lips and tilted his head back, guzzling with obvious pleasure. He refilled the bowl and passed it around to the other men.

They drank their fill until the animal had died and then sat around him. Tuu’ closed his eyes and began a chant that Eric thought sounded like a prayer. The men appeared serene as they joined in, their faces calm with blood stained lips. Tuu’ began rocking back and forth as if in a trance. He opened his eyes suddenly and was looking directly at Eric. His eyes were distant and unwavering, like two gems set in his skull. He turned around as the other men chanted louder and slit the creature’s belly, thrusting the bowl into the wound and filling it once more with dark blood. He rose and walked over to Eric and William.

Tuu’ offered up the bowl to William first. William looked to Eric and then to the bowl. The blood wasn’t as thin as it was right after the kill. It was syrupy and almost a dark purple. William took the bowl with both hands, and put it to his lips. He lowered it after a second and handed it to Tuu’.

It was Eric’s turn next. He took the blood and looked down into the bowl. He could see his reflection, wavy and indistinct in the daylight. Bringing the bowl up, he took two deep swallows.

The blood was warm, almost hot. It tasted like rancid meat and had a thick, slimy texture. It had already congealed a bit and he had to chew the last portion and swallow.

Eric tried to hand the bowl back to Tuu’ as vomit spewed forth and over his shirt. Eric kneeled down and started puking bile and deer blood. The smell of the concoction made him doubly sick and he dry-heaved; his stomach empty.

William’s eyes widened and his hand reached for the rifle that was slung across his shoulder. He couldn’t be sure that such an insult wasn’t an executable offense. But Tuu’ just stared, and eventually his eyes softened. He smiled and began to laugh. His laugh was deep and took over his whole body. Leaning his head back, he exposed small white teeth and a light pink tongue. The other men saw what was happening and they too began to laugh. “I don’t think they find you very manly,” William said. “How the fuck did you drink that?” Eric said, gagging. “I didn’t, I just put it to my lips.” Eric looked at him banefully and then dry-heaved again.