The hole in the rock was only a bit over half the size he wanted it, even so it was already much easier to look through and get a better sense of where it was located. He crawled closer and looked over the edge, only to quickly pull back. If anything his initial estimation had been under as he was more than half way up the cliff. Whatever the case it was a long way down he had never been one to fear heights and still even that brief look had freaked him out. Crawling slowly closer again he stuck his head out again only this time refraining from looking directly down, instead he looked to the sides looking for his camp so he could get an idea of where he was in relation to it. He found it far below and off to his left, he couldn’t see it in detail at that distance but could make out the platform, the remains of the felled tree and on the far side what could only be his shelter.
Gar shifted positions so he was sat cross legged by the hole not right on the edge but close enough that his knees and feet were getting wet from the rain. With one of his writing sticks he started to draw. From his position for the first time he had a view of the entire cenote. While he couldn’t see everything in detail it was still good enough to see the main features of the area, so he was making a map for the first time of the entire hole. It was something he had wanted to do the entire time he had been there he had just thought he would do it by exploration on foot, it was only upon finding this opportunity that he realised this way was infinitely better. It also helped him assuage some of his lingering fears that he was making a mistake. He had been pretty sure he was in a hole but there before him was the proof of it, it wasn’t just some weird valley or something he hadn’t considered there was no easy way out on the other side cliffs surrounded him on all sides. There were also no manmade structures anywhere; no buildings, no roads, nothing to indicate any help.
It meant that he had made the right choice in exploring the caves. He sat and drew adding details to his map until it grew too dark to see by, his dark vision let him see the map and what he was drawing just fine the problem was it didn’t have the range to let him see what he needed to add to the map.
The next morning Gar was up early the previous day had shown him that escape was nearing he had a way out that seemed much more realistic. He got to his climbing practice with a bit more enthusiasm than previously maintaining a big smile as he climbed. It was another dry but grey day so he started a fire and boiled some nuts and pods for breakfast. It was simple and didn’t require his constant attention.
He had been thinking about his final climb out, the rope was good except with no way to attach it from above he would need a way to fix it and himself to the rock as he climbed instead. It needed to be simple enough that he could do it while holding onto the rock face while still being strong enough to hold him should he fall. Drilling into the rock was not going to work, he had no drill and even if he did he wouldn’t be stable enough on the rock face to do it. It needed to be kept it simple. He was reminded of a trip to a museum where he saw some old climbing gear; the safety equipment included a set of what looked to him like metal spikes he remembered wondering at the time how they worked. It was looking up at the cliff face that he realised that he had been thinking about them wrong. The cliff was covered in cracks and crevasses, he had even been using them in his climbing to wedge his hands or feet into to climb up. The pieces he had been remembering weren’t spikes meant to go into the rock but metal wedges, hammer them into the cracks and they could hold. A hole in the wide end of the wedge to attach a rope too and you had safety while climbing simple enough to do even half way up a rock face.
Gar was happy with the idea it was worth at least taking the time to test it. The problem was metal. To make metal wedges he would either have to sacrifice some of his tools for the metal or try to mine some ore from the caves and whichever of those he chose he didn’t have the tools or the knowledge in how to shape metal. Simply getting a fire hot enough to work metal would be a challenge. So while metal was out the idea still held merit he just needed a different material to do the job. Wood could be shaped but would not be strong enough and would squish or split when hammered into the cracks. Stone was a resource that he had plenty of he even had tools to shape it, the problem would be how thin it would need to be. At a size thin enough to fit into most cracks the stone would be brittle and liable to break or shatter. So with wood and stone his most plentiful resources out, as well as metal he had to look at what he had left. Looking at Bodger stood nearby he briefly considered bone, it might work but it was quickly dismissed as he didn’t know what bone was like to work with and the only bones he had where the badgers and they were using them.
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Next considered was the piles of carapace, it was a strong and shapeable material he had excess of. The problem Gar could see with it was how thin it was he didn’t think it could hold his weight and even if it did the bend it had when pressure was applied could cause it to pop out of any crack although it could also potentially help hold it in. It would be ideal if it was just a bit denser and thicker, it was the first material he was considering testing as he didn’t have an immediate reason to dismiss it. Rummaging in the pile of solider ant parts for a few good pieces to test he came across something that seemed ideal.
The solider ant mandibles, as much thicker and denser pieces he thought they could be just what he needed. He picked up a pair to experiment with, they didn’t have the line about heat in their inspect results but they seemed to be made from the same material so Gar dropped them into the fire anyway. While they heated up Gar collected his conrex knife and his bigger knife, as well as a bucket of water. By the time he had sat back down next to the fire Gar was happy that enough time had passed so he pulled one of the mandibles out of the fire.
It was hotter than the carapace pieces had gotten, still not too hot to handle. Gar started stretching out the mandible pulling it from its curved shape into a straight rod whilst smoothing the bumps and protrusions that were meant for grabbing back into the main shaft forming a straight and relatively even rod. After another heat Gar laid it on a flat stone then used his large knife to cut the mandible into three separate pieces, he dipping the knife into the bucket between the two cuts to draw out the heat from it and to protect the metal. While the material was still soft Gar pressed it between his large knife and the flat stone to create a thin wedge with a wide end. Putting down the tools he used the tip of his finger he opened up a hole in the wide end then manipulated the material to widen the hole until it was large enough to fit his rope through. Using his finger he smoothed it over so there were no rough edges to catch the rope on, taking particular care on the inside of the hole where the rope would pass through. The final step was flattening the wide end to create an area to hit with a hammer. He left it to cool and harden then it was time to test it out.
Taking it over to the wall he found a crack and slid the wedge into it then using a rock, as he still hadn’t put a handle on his hammer, he hammered the wedge in. Gar wiggled the wedge, it did not move. He tried pulling a bit harder, still nothing. Threading a rope through the hole and holding onto it he lifted his legs, it held and Gar was hanging there. The wedge held his weight it seemed to be working Gar just had one more test to do. He held the rope tightly then jumped dropping all his weight onto the wedge at once trying to simulate the jerk it might get if he fell. The wedge held he fell to the length of the rope where he was holding then hung there. He was happy to have tested the concept worked.
Only he was going to have to trust the rest he made without testing each one as no matter what he tried he couldn’t get that first wedge out again without breaking it. In some sense it was good as it showed how well it held, in another sense not being able to test something he was going to trust his life to made him nervous. With a proof of concept done and tested he spent the remainder of the morning using up all his Mega-ra solider ant mandibles to make more of the climbing wedges. He took his time making sure each one was smooth and perfectly shaped with evenly sized holes perfectly sized for his slumbering vine fibre rope. By the time he was done he had fifty-nine of them not including the one he had tested. If his estimates where right it would mean he had enough to put one about every ten meters which he hoped meant he would never be falling too far should he slip.
Gar got up from where he sat gathered his spear and the badgers and headed into the forest he wanted something other than berries and nuts for lunch he knew he had things to do and couldn’t spend the time trying to get a fish so he was going to make do with something he enjoys but had been going without recently as he was confident he could get it quickly. A short walk into the woods and he found one of what he was looking for, a pine tree similar to the one he had cut down. A few swings of his spear and he was able to cut down several small branches full of fresh green pine needles. Then gathering them up it was back to base for some pine needle tea. He sat and made his tea as he ate a lunch of nuts and berries. The tea was good but the meal was just repetitive by that point, Gar sighed and accepted it as part of a survival situation he couldn’t be picky he was lucky he had as much as he had.
As he finished his first cup of tea he already had water boiling for a second. He let the pine needles sit in the water as he set about putting a handle on his hammer. He had chosen the claw hammer head to use as it had a bit more weight to it than the ball hammer but wasn’t as heavy as the mallet head. It went together much the same as the other tools he had put handles on just on a smaller scale. So he sat by the fire and drank through the pot of tea he had made as he worked. He gave the hammer a few good swings then tapped it against a rock just to test the head was on secure and to get a feel for the handle. It was the second one he had made as he had gone too far and made the first one too short to be comfortable that second one seemed to have done the trick.
