The cave felt smaller once the entrance was sealed, but it was a good kind of small. The kind that felt like a shield.
After the troller was offloaded and the heavy hides were wedged into the gaps of the entrance, the space grew quiet. The only sound left was the muffled wind whooshing angrily outside.
We worked in a steady, comfortable silence for a while, just moving things around to make it feel less like a hole in the mountain and more like a place where we could actually live.
"There are no other ways in or out, Little tiger," Noah said as he walked back from the deeper shadows, wiping dust from his palms. "The back is solid rock. Just us and the squirrels."
I nodded, leaning against a flat boulder. I felt a heavy, dull ache in my lower back—a constant reminder that I was carrying a lot more than just my body.
"That's a relief. I don't think I have another 'defend the perimeter' moment in me tonight." I said, chuckling dryly.
