Beyond the Portal

Martin sat on the rocks watching the boat, as it disappeared over the horizon then wandered back across the sand to his box.  Although the undisturbed sand indicated that no one used the beach, he felt very exposed in his position between the trees and the sea.  Lifting the end of his box he dragged it until he was almost under the trees.

Opening it, he looked to see what had been left for him, pots of food, an implement for cutting branches, rope, a large container of water, a knife, torch lighters and a change of clothes.  Then there was the box he had to give to Sinna when he returned.  Looking at the sealed container he wondered what was in it and as seemed so important, why hadn't Thorn given it to her himself.  Putting the container carefully in the corner of the box, he put the knife in his belt and took the branch cutter to gather wood.  From previous experience, he knew how quickly camp-fires burned wood and he didn't want to go prowling round in the dark.

As Thorn had said there was no wildlife and no need to cut down branches as the undergrowth was littered with dead wood.  He made several large neat piles of timber so he knew how his stock was lasting.  He then dug a toilet trench but no matter how much he worked in the area, there was still something that made him feel uncomfortable.

The big red sun rested on the sea, there was still plenty of light but the land of the dead was not the place to live alone.  Martin lit the fire and made sure everything was where he could find it.  His knife gave him comfort, why he did not know, as there was nobody there and you certainly can't kill dead people.