A few weeks ago

"Everything was normal for a while now. I had been here for half a month by then, these two came a few days after me. At first, we had no problem living in this place. It was dangerous around the river, but that was that." He said.

He then pointed up the cliff and asked, "Can you see that? Around 30-meter marks." 

Alex looked at where he pointed and saw marks of something. He couldn't make it out exactly due to it being so high up and the moon wasn't at an angle to hit the walls of the cliff yet. 

"What is that?" Alex asked. 

"That, my friend, is the remnant of the trees that used to grow there," he said. "Before the boss came here, there used to be trees around those marks. Numerous fruits hung there, and those who were punished would stay around here, hitting the tree in hope of making it fall." 

"We were still punished, but life wasn't terrible. But then, he arrived, the boss."