by Ike Hamill
With the next surge of water, Lisa was dunked. She could see Ashley clearly for a moment. Their eyes met. They were both trapped. Lisa’s hand shot out and Ashley grabbed it. The raft broke free of its snag and dragged the pair of them with it.
It bounced down the rapids, bobbing and thrashing like it was possessed. With her arm trapped, Ashley was flung up and down. The second time that Lisa hit the logs, she managed to grab onto a rope, so at least she wasn’t pulling at Ashley’s free arm.
The raft toppled over another drop, again threatening to flip. Instead, it plunged straight down into a pool, dunking them once more and then launching straight up. Lisa threw her body to the side so the raft would land right-side up.
It worked.
Lisa pulled herself back up toward the center of the raft as Ashley finally freed her arm. They were spinning in quick circles in the fast current. The raft picked up speed. Ashley wretched and coughed up gallons of water back into the river. Lisa kept spinning her head, looking for the next set of rapids. Her pack had torn open and a shirt was floating away. Lisa’s hands shook as she tried to zip the pack back up. Her hand kept reaching for the rope again. It looked like they had made it through the worst of the rapids, but she still couldn’t force herself to let go of the rope for long enough to zip the pack. She did the best that she could with one hand.
“Where’s Tim?” Ashley asked after wiping a long line of spit from her mouth.
Lisa shook her head. “Don’t know.”
Ashley began to yell for him.
“The poles?” Lisa asked. The question was useless—the poles were clearly gone. They were at the mercy of the river as it took them around a sweeping bend. When it looked like they would get pretty close to the southern shore, Lisa moved to that side of the raft, tilting it until Ashley balanced out the weight.
As if to mock them, the river moved the raft back toward the center of the river a moment later.
“We should swim for it,” Ashley said.
“That’s crazy,” Lisa said.
“Listen.”
Once she heard it, Lisa wished that she hadn’t. From somewhere up ahead, she heard the sound of a massive machine of churning water. The sound was so enormous that she figured it must be where the world would end.
“Yeah, okay,” Lisa said. “You’re right. We swim.”
“No. You were right. It’s too late.”
The two of them began to move toward the center of the raft.
“Just don’t hold on too hard. Don’t get yourself wrapped up with the raft. If you start to fall—kick away from it,” Ashley said. “Keep your hands and feet up. Don’t get snagged in the rocks.”
Lisa nodded.
They both straightened upright, trying to get enough elevation to see what was coming downstream, around the next bend of the river. The drop was sharp enough that all Lisa could see was a line where the water seemed to disappear. The raft spun slowly as it worked its way toward the drop. Lisa and Ashley spun their heads and tried to see over the edge.
The water in the distance came into view and Lisa didn’t want to believe it. It was way too low. Ashley seemed to realize the same thing. As soon as the young woman saw the river in the distance, she sucked in a surprised breath and leaned over the edge of the raft, frantically paddling at the water.
“Help me,” Ashley said.
Lisa shook her head. “It won’t do any good. Just get to the center of the raft and hold on.”
Lisa heard a bark. The way the sound echoed in the valley, it was difficult for Lisa to put a direction on it. Ashley pointed and then Lisa saw. Penny was on the southern bank, where the ground was flat for a bit before it rolled up into a green hillside.
“We should have swam for it,” Ashley said. The churning water absorbed the sound of Penny’s barking.
Lisa nodded.
For a moment, the raft paused at the top of the falls. It was shallow enough that Lisa could see the rocks under the smooth surface of the rushing water. Then, they were shot over the top, picking up enormous speed before gravity could even take hold of the raft.
Lisa and Ashley, holding on to the ropes and vines that lashed the raft together, leaned way back, trying to keep the thing upright. It wasn’t working. As they fell, the back end of the raft flipped forward. Lisa and Ashley let go and pushed away so they wouldn’t be trapped under the flipped raft.
She hit the water and the sound of the rapids became a low roar. The rumbling thudded in her chest, trying to drive out the small amount of air that she had managed to keep in. There was a deep pool at the bottom of the falls, ground away by the enormous quantity of water. Lisa was pushed to the bottom, wishing that she had held onto the ropes.
Her strength was nothing compared to the force of the water. Driving her legs into a rock, she tried to propel herself upwards. The pressure keeping her down was too much to fight. Figuring that it had to go somewhere, Lisa reversed her strategy and went with the current. It looped off the bottom and then began to rise again.
Her head breached the surface and Lisa realized that the water was pulling her back toward the cascading falls. A moment too late, Lisa recognized that the water was churning in a loop, and she was about to make a second circuit. With a deep breath, she was driven under once more. The impulse to fight against the flow was strong. Lisa ignored it and went with the water until the end. As soon as it shoved her back up, she struggled downstream to free herself from the cycle.
Clawing at a rock just below the surface, Lisa managed to roll into the downstream current. She bobbed in the water. Shallow breaths were all she could manage. There was water rattling in her lungs. Lisa fought the urge to cough it up.
The world contracted and expanded as she bobbed up and down. Banging her feet against the bottom a couple of times, Lisa finally remembered to raise her feet. She also remembered the fish and prayed that they wouldn’t find her.
Until she heard the dog barking again, Lisa didn’t realize how close she had come to giving up. She had let the river carry her downstream without paying attention to anything except keeping her head above water. That whole time, she should have been paddling toward shore.
Penny barked and Lisa rolled to her side and swam toward the sound.
Her lungs ached, but she kept to shallow breaths and avoided coughing. Once she started coughing, she knew that she would be incapable of stopping until her lungs were clear. She couldn’t afford the effort it would take.
Looking toward the shore slowed her down and took too much effort. Instead, she closed her eyes and concentrated on pulling herself toward the sound of the dog. The barking combined with a human voice, urging her on. Lisa figured it must be a hallucination, so she kept her eyes closed.
Reaching out, her hand struck mud and then a hand clamped around her wrist.
Lisa opened her eyes and saw Ashley’s bloody face.
Ashley pulled as Lisa churned her legs against the mud. The moment she flopped on the bank, the coughing started. Water spilled from her mouth and nose, burning its way up until black spots appeared in her vision from the effort. Ashley held her hand. Lisa felt Penny’s warm breath on her face.
“Where are we?” Lisa asked, realizing the absurdity of the question as it left her lips.
“South shore,” Ashley said. “Raft is hung up over there.”
She pointed upstream. Lisa tried to lift herself up enough to see. It was too much effort. She collapsed back down to the shore and looked up at the sky. Penny hovered over, her blocking out the sun. Lisa smiled and reached up to pet the dripping dog.
“I’m going to go get it,” Ashley said.
“No, it’s not worth it,” Lisa said.
“All our supplies.”
Ashley didn’t want for a response.
Lisa managed to push up to her elbows and blinked until her eyes focused again. Upstream, Ashley was wading out. The raft was caught on something. Dangling ropes twisted in the current. That’s what Ashley was after. Only g
oing waist deep, Ashley snagged a rope and came back to shore. Lisa could hear her grunt and struggle as she tried to free the raft by pulling it against the current.
Lisa staggered to her feet, thinking she should help. Before Lisa was steady, Ashley was finished. She walked the raft back down to Lisa, using the rope as a leash. She tied the raft to a tree branch that was leaning out over the water.
“Be careful,” Lisa said as Ashley stepped out onto the raft.
“I’m just getting the backpacks. They’re soaked. I hope the plastic bags inside are okay. I hope my matches are dry.”
Lisa sat back down. Standing was too much effort.
“There’s a flat spot down a little farther. I’ll spread our stuff out in the sun while we go back upstream.”
“Upstream?” Lisa asked.
“To look for Tim. I’m sure he didn’t go by. I bet he got to the bank upstream of us.”
Lisa squinted at the falls in the distance, still amazed that they had survived. After what they had just experienced, Lisa had no doubt that Tim was dead.
Chapter 49: Brad
“We have to get indoors,” Brad said, squinting at the sky.
“Bullshit,” Romie said. “It can’t be that far to the next car. We can walk, or find bikes.”
“Romie, we don’t know what that is. We don’t even know if the light coming off of it is going to burn our skin. Let’s get inside until it stops.”
“You’re such a…” She didn’t finish the thought.
“That house,” Brad said. “Run for it.”
“I’m too old to run.”
They were both too old to run, but they did their best. Halfway to the house, Brad wished that he had brought his bag. It had water and some food. The thought crossed his mind to turn around, and it was quickly chased away. The light flared, sending multiple strange shadows out ahead of him. He thought he could feel the back of his arms and neck tingling as he followed Romie through the long grass.
He nearly tripped on the weeds, but caught himself on the rusty railing. The screen door groaned as Romie pulled it open. Brad pushed by it as Romie shouldered her way inside. As soon as he was inside, Brad slammed the door shut, blocking out the light.
“Ugh,” Romie said. “What a mess.”
Brad ignored her. Compared to most, the house wasn’t in terrible shape. There was a big circle of a water stain on the ceiling. Somewhere along the way, the roof must have gone bad. He pulled the curtains on the front window, closing off the strange shadows. The light was a peculiar shade of yellow, and some of the shadows were different colors than the rest.
The smaller window had a thin muslin curtain. Even through that, the light outside hurt Brad’s eyes.
Romie disappeared deeper into the house, saying, “Yuck!” as she rounded a corner.
Stairs to the basement were right next to the coat closet. Brad descended. The basement was finished and only had a couple of tiny windows on one side. Down there, the light was tolerable. The smell was bad though. It had flooded at some point and he could see black mold on one of the walls. Romie would never go down there.
Brad went back upstairs.
“I think it’s getting better out there,” Romie said.
It clearly wasn’t. That was just Romie’s way of saying that she didn’t want to be in the house any longer.
“I’m staying here until the sun goes down. You can go try to start the car again if you want.”
“There are bikes in the garage. We take the bikes and we head for the nearest emergency car. They’re all over the place, right?”
Brad moved toward the back of the house, away from the light that was leaking past the curtains.
“Every twenty miles or so,” Brad said. “You don’t seriously think we’re going to last that long out there, do you?”
Romie rolled her eyes. “Now you’re panicking about sunlight? Hysteria is contagious, Brad, you of all people should know that. Every time someone gets the sniffles in Donnelly they all quarantine themselves. We visit there for a couple of days and you’re freaking out about sunlight.”
“It’s more than that. It’s meteors or a solar flare or something.”
“And those things prevent people from riding bicycles?”
“You didn’t feel it burning your skin when we were out there?”
“So, we cover up. Maybe there’s even some sunscreen around here. You afraid of melanoma? Wrinkles? At your age, if you were going to get cancer you probably already have it.”
She had a point.
One glance toward the windows revived Brad’s objection.
“Better safe than sorry, Romie. I’m staying here until that goes away. I know better than to try to stop you from doing whatever you want to do.”
She sighed.
In the kitchen, the wooden chairs were only a little dusty. Brad wiped one off with the hand towel that was draped over the oven handle. When he gestured, Romie took that seat. He dusted one for himself and angled it toward the rear windows. Ivy had grown up over most of the glass. A line of ants had infiltrated through one of the corners of the window. They marched into a crack behind a cabinet.
“This place is terrible,” Romie said.
Brad didn’t reply. He looked through a gap in the ivy at the shifting shadows on the neighboring house. The light coming from different angles had to be slightly different colors. There was no phenomenon that he could think of that would produce that kind of light.
“As soon as this stops, I think we have to head back,” Brad said.
Romie threw her hands up and got up from her chair to pace. “You people, running back and forth every time something happens. You think that you’re indispensable up there? You think that it’s the only place you’re going to survive? I can’t understand it.”
“I’ll go with you to the next emergency vehicle, and then we can take that together to the next one. Once you’re on your way, I’ll head back. Whatever this is, the people up in Donnelly need to know about it, whether I’m indispensable or not.”
“Fine,” Romie said, folding her arms.
“Fine.”
It took way longer than Brad expected. The sun accompanied the ribbon of fiery light down to the horizon and then held onto it, lashing it like a whip across the darkening sky. It still burned his eyes to look at it, but not nearly as badly.
Looking at the strange shadow that it cast through the front windows, Brad woke Romie from her nap.
“You think we should go?”
“Yes, of course,” she said before her eyes were fully open.
He tested the waters carefully, opening the door a crack and putting his hand out into the light. Now that the glare was diminished, he could see the ribbon a little better. It looked almost like a frozen bolt of lightning in the sky. It branched out, splitting and cutting like a crack in the heavens. From the crack, the light glowed.
“You’re sure you want to go back to Gladstone and be alone?”
“I won’t be alone. We still have neighbors down there.”
“Yeah.”
Before giving up on the vehicle, Brad limped over to it and tried the key. He didn’t get any response. It was like the battery had gone dead all at once. Romie was already over at the garage door. She had popped it from the electric opener on the inside. With a grunt, she jerked it upwards and let the spring pull it all the way open.
Romie rolled out one of the bikes and left the other one for Brad. She moved to the stairs in order to get her leg over the bicycle. Romie was good at riding, but not so good at getting on and off.
“You be careful with those tires,” she said as Brad started down the driveway. “They’re not in the best shape.”
“Okay.”
He let Romie lead the way and they rode.
The crack in the sky gave off enough light for them to navigate easily. It reminded Brad of the old streetlights from when he was a kid. It wasn’t actually making any noise, but somehow the light seemed to buzz l
ike the old orange sodium lights when he would ride his bike home in the fall.
“Where are we going?” Romie yelled over her shoulder.
“Shit,” Brad whispered. The map was still sitting on the dashboard of the car. He tried to picture it in his head. There was one more turn they would have to make in order to follow the established route.
“Macomber Street?” Romie asked.
It sounded right to him. “That’s it. Yes—that’s the one.”
After she took the turn, he saw the tire tracks in the dirt. Someone had been down this way at one point. Although, so little rain had fallen that the tracks could have been there for a bit.
“Are you sure, Brad?” she called over her shoulder. “There are weeds all over…”
“Romie!” Brad screamed. She kept looking over her shoulder when she should have been looking straight ahead. Romie was coasting right toward a major washout. “Stop!”
“What?” she asked, rolling to a slow stop. Her front tire perched right on the edge of the crumbling pavement. She looked down, startled, and pulled her bike back from the lip. “Why didn’t you just say something?”
Brad stopped next to her.
“This is it for this route then,” he said. “We should have stuck to the same way we came up. It was longer, but at least we knew that everything was intact.”
“We can get around this,” she said. “Right over there, we can cross. No biggie.”
“I can’t get a car back over though.”
“Then I guess you’re coming south with me.”
He shook his head. “I’ll figure out a way.”
They dismounted and walked their bikes through the low bushes to a spot where the creek was somewhat passable. Brad used his bicycle in place of his cane, leaning heavily on it and pulling the brakes when he needed it to be stable. Above them, the strange ribbon was still crackling. Every second, the amount of light it gave off diminished. The moon was coming up in the east. Without headlights, they would be using the moonlight to ride soon.