by Nikki Lewen
As night turns to morning, the only sound coming from Sadie’s area is the roar of fire and the crackling of burning wood. Gunshots can still be heard from the other home and Sadie begins to fear something’s wrong. She sees her dad running between positions while issuing new orders. When he reaches Sadie, her fears are validated. Some of the Splitters weren’t in the homes and they’re fighting back.
“You and Markus stay together…head south. Take position on the hill…keep watch. Not sure how many are left…but I think we’ve got ’em cornered,” he tells his daughter.
Robert leaves, just as quickly as he appeared and Sadie doesn’t like it. Her gut insists she follow, but when Sadie looks over, she sees Markus running towards her. She joins her husband, and they settle into their newly assigned position. The hill provides just enough elevation for them to see both burning homes and where the remaining Splitters have holed up. Sadie knows her dad sent her here for two reasons. First, it offers a clear view of anyone coming towards them, giving Sadie and Markus a huge advantage, and second, it’s further from the gunfight and therefore, a much safer place.
Watching from their high ground, Sadie and Markus see Ned making his way towards the Splitters. He moves, from cover to cover, until he settles into an attack position. He tosses two grenades, waits for the explosions, and then tosses two more. After they go off, he charges into the area while releasing non-stop bullets. Close behind follows Robert. Sadie, knowing her dad is risking too much, starts after him.
“Sadie! Sadie! God damn it!” Markus can’t get her attention and runs after her. He catches up and tackles Sadie to the ground.
“What are ya doing?!” she screams at her husband.
“Your dad said stay put…and hold this spot! Wha d’yah think you’re doing!?”
“Look,” she points to her father, “he needs cover!”
“No! Stay here.” God, he’s so mad, but the look in his wife’s eyes isn’t one that can be stopped. She’s so damn stubborn. Unhappily, he agrees, and changes tactics. “Fine…lets go.”
Together they run down the hill, pausing first behind a small group of trees and then behind an old car. They’re close enough to see Ned running from Splitter to Splitter still shooting. He’s on a rampage, and continuing to fire bullets even into the obviously dead bodies. Behind him, yelling for Ned to stop is Robert.
“Ned! Ned!” Robert’s calls have no effect.
When Ned runs out of ammo, he pulls out his hunting knife and starts towards another body. Two Splitters are lying crumpled together and as he approaches, Robert finally catches up.
“We got ’em. Ned! We did it!” Robert continues yelling, trying to get his friends attention.
Instead of stopping, Ned turns with his knife raised, making Robert take a step back.
“Ned, it’s me…Robert. It’s okay. Look…we got ’em all.”
Ned stills as recognition slowly settles in, but as he lowers his knife, a final bullet fires. The sequences of events that follow occur in a dreamlike trance. Markus and Sadie burst from their position, as Robert takes three steps backwards and drops his gun. Ned turns and leaps onto the Splitter trying to get out from beneath his dead companion. As the two fight, Markus runs towards them with gun held ready, while Sadie goes to her father’s side.
“Dad!” she yells, getting his attention.
“It’s okay, Sadie. I’m alright,” he instinctively responds.
“No…it’s not.”
Sadie and Roberts’s eyes meet and then, together, they look down. Robert touches the tips of his fingers to his stomach and then stares at the blood on them. He sits down and Sadie, alarmingly, examines the damage. There’s an entry and exit wound, but the bullet has pierced his abdomen and they both know it’s serious.
* * *
The tears, filling Sadie’s eyes, suddenly snap her back to the present moment and to her perch above the ocean. Realizing she’s stopped way too long, she hops over to another section of broken pavement, as thoughts of her father linger and she wishes her dad could be here now. Missing his company and help, she lifts her face towards the sky.
“I miss you Dad,” she says, aloud.
Suddenly, the sky lightens and grows brighter. The marine layer thins and the sun appears. Sadie keeps her face tilted upward and closes her eyes. The sun’s rays provide encouragement and the rarity of the moment isn’t lost on her as she feels the connection with her father and absorbs its positive influence. The entire coastline clears as the fog burns off, giving Sadie the chance to examine it completely. For the first time, she can clearly see where the land ends. A section of the island juts out, far into the ocean, making the land appear to continue south. The clear skies above reveal the true nature of the area, and now Sadie understands her original confusion. The observation gets her back on track, as she returns to her current reality.
Sadie, fueled by curiosity and no longer distracted, hikes along, allowing the sunshine to lift her spirits. It’s such a rare occurrence and she makes sure to appreciate every second of it. She can see the edge of the marine layer, hanging offshore, and she wonders how long it’ll last. As she continues heading east, the terrain grows steeper, causing Sadie to focus on her footing.
As she nears the section of land that turns south, it becomes harder to climb, but Sadie works upward and slowly makes it to the top. The slope levels and she’s able to walk south, attempting to see how far she can go. The vector of land she travels is narrow and in several places, Sadie’s able to see the Pacific on both sides of the landmass. To her left, out in the ocean, are giant, mesmerizing sea stacks, and all that remains of the land to the east. The giant masses of land protrude from the water’s surface, some only barren, rocky outcroppings, while others support small clumps of redwoods and ferns.
Then, abruptly, she stops, unable to continue. There’s a gap, and the land further south is, actually, another small island. At one point it was all connected, but now the space between prevents Sadie from continuing. She contemplates tossing her backpack across and jumping over, but standing there, Sadie suddenly grows cold, as the fog rolls back in. It comes in fast and thick, causing Sadie to pull on another layer of clothes, before she decides to head back and play it safe. The thick marine layer makes navigating a challenge and she nearly stumbles over an edge when her footing gives way.
She alarmingly falls sideways, grabbing a tree root for security. Even though it wasn’t a bad fall, it’s enough to scare her. Sadie settles between the trunks of two redwood trees and regains control of her breathing. “How stupid would it be, to fall off a cliff?” she thinks, especially with everything she’s endured over the years, only to have it all end in a hiking accident. “Ridiculous,” she remarks, taking it as a sign to slow down.
The fog is too thick for Sadie to safely travel back to the where the peninsula starts, it’s too narrow to allow her to hide off to a side, and it’s a dead-end. She’s trapped herself, and Sadie grows upset at such a stupid mistake and it doesn’t help, that soon, it’ll be dark. Getting caught up in the curiosity of exploring, she failed to think ahead. Her frustrations aren’t helping, so, taking another deep breath, she tries being logical.
First, she reminds herself, there haven’t been any signs of anyone this entire journey. Second, with dark approaching, if any Splitters were around they’d be setting up camp for the night. And lastly, if, for some reason, they were out and about, the fog would also be limiting their movements and visibility. These thoughts ease Sadie’s frustrations just enough to get her back on track. She scouts a little further ahead and settles on what’s available.
She tucks her pack beneath a cluster of giant ferns and settles herself in a larger patch only twenty yards away. She rips off handfuls of fronds from the bottoms of several ferns to clear just enough space so they won’t poke her while lying down, then, she crawls into her sleeping bag and tries to rest. The night is silent and eerily still, but just as Sadie starts to drift off, a faint rustling draws her
attention. She isolates the noises location and determines it’s coming from near her pack. From the sound of it, something’s chewing on her stuff. She slowly sits up, and her movement causes the rustling to stop.
Sitting in the darkness, Sadie begins to think she scared off whatever it was. Then, it starts again. She feels around on the ground and picks up a couple of small stones. She tosses one in her pack’s direction and once again the noises stop. A pattern develops. Sadie sits and waits in the quiet and when she hears it, another rock gets tossed. Only two things change: she’s able to pinpoint the location better in the dark and she’s running out of things to throw. Her last attempt must be close, as she hears something small scurry away.
“Finally,” she whispers, trying to get comfortable enough to sleep.
As Sadie begins to drift off, the rustling returns. Pissed, tired, and done with the whole ordeal, Sadie stands and heads toward her pack. She hears the animal run off, grabs her bag, and takes it back with her. “So much for that strategy,” Sadie thinks, realizing keeping her gear separate from her won’t do much good if an animal tears through it. In the darkness, and without using a light, she runs her hands over all the compartments, trying to detect any damage. Without finding any, Sadie places the backpack next to her and settles in, to at last, get some much-needed rest.
FIFTEEN
Sadie rolls over, striking a leg on her backpack. She lies still before getting up, and then, she checks the area. It’s still foggy, but it’s not nearly as thick as it was the evening before. She returns to her makeshift bed to gather her things and now that she can see, she closely inspects the damage to her pack. The chew marks suggest a small rodent and whatever it was, it left a tiny hole in the bag’s side compartment to get at crumbs remaining in an old food pouch, she shoved in there out of convenience and forgot to dispose of.
Usually, Sadie’s ultra-efficient when it comes to these types of things. She painstakingly re-purposes items until they literally fall apart and are no longer useful, and then, she’s careful with their disposal. When things wear out or can no longer be used, she shreds and buries the garbage, allowing it to decompose over time. She does so now with most of the remaining wrapper and thoroughly checks the rest of her pack. The hole isn’t ideal, but it’s not bad so she slings her pack over a shoulder, adjusts the straps, and gets moving.
Still leery from her poor decisions the evening before, as well as itchy from a few bug bites, she moves with the utmost of caution. She finds relief in leaving the narrow peninsula and mentally notes the sensation it elicits before dismissing it just as quickly as it arrived. Making it back to the main section of the island, Sadie’s not sure of the best route to take. She stands atop the remnants of what was once the tallest ridgeline in an expansive series and thinks it might follow the entire eastern coast but, further along, it could become impossible to descend. If so, she’d have to backtrack all the way to where she climbed up the day before.
Continuing along it, she decides the advantage outweighs the risk, especially since the ridgeline provides views both inland and along the coast. It’s densely forested, providing excellent cover, and she can chart the unfamiliar land below. Throughout the day, Sadie stops regularly to add new details to her evolving map of the island and she hopes the sun will again appear and open up the views, but she knows yesterday’s sunshine was a rarity. As late afternoon nears, the ridgeline veers inland, matching the coastline, and then it begins to descend.
The ocean, still a steep drop beneath her, is astonishing. Massive sea stacks dot the view and Sadie’s amazed at how much the landscape has changed since the earthquakes. Halfway down the slope—and of great concern—she detects the smell of smoke. Checking the wind direction, she decides it’s coming from the canyon below. She scans the area with her binoculars, but is unable to locate its source. The slope she’s descending dips into a box canyon, and from the looks of it, the entire area is bordered by extremely steep terrain.
Sadie knows the source of the fire must be found and more importantly, the people who lit it, but she’s hesitant, concerned with staying undetected. She needs to find a safe location to better observe from, so, instead of descending further, she stays parallel to her current elevation and continues hiking around the south, and then the west side of the canyon. As she travels, Sadie also scouts possible areas to shelter for the night.
When she locates a grove of old growth, she quickly goes to work. Out of all of her gear options, Sadie chose the pack she carries specifically for this journey. Its larger, providing far more room for supplies, and it’s incredibly versatile, offering several attachments called vectors, for what best fits her needs. For this journey she chose the day vector and is thankful to have it now. When removed, it’s actually another self-contained backpack, only smaller, and perfectly sized for day hikes. Sadie keeps it supplied and ready, so when needed, the transition to it is fast.
Detaching it and strapping on her sleeping bag, Sadie hides the main pack in a group of trees sprouted around an old hollow stump that has an opening in its side just big enough for the pack to slide in and sit to one side, so it can’t be seen. Sadie continues looking around the area and returns to the stump carrying two large flat stones. One of the stones she places inside, next to her pack, and the other, outside, behind a small gap in the decaying wood. Carefully, she lifts an edge of each stone and balances them on two sticks notched to angle together. From her pocket, she pulls out the small remaining corner of the food wrapper she saved, including bits of the crumbs that didn’t get eaten the night before. She sprinkles them onto, and around, each angled stick, and then leaves.
Sadie scouts every possible location that might offer a better view of the canyon below, but she’s unable to find the fire’s location. When the wind shifts, she loses the smoke’s scent, and several areas, too steep to climb, force her to go further around. It’s getting late and soon, she’ll need a place to keep watch for the night. Resting with her back propped against a tree, she’s made it nearly halfway around the canyon and decides the bit of view she has will have to suffice.
For hours, Sadie sits scouting with the binoculars until it’s just too dark to see. Beginning to tire, she looks up one last time and immediately straightens, trying to focus her vision. Keeping her eyes glued to the spot, she lifts the binoculars, peering intently. A soft orange glow is barely detectable and Sadie marks its direction with a stick, then, she carefully moves through the dark. Slowly, she works, setting three more markers—each twenty to thirty yards apart—before returning to her original position.
She sleeps intermittently and each time Sadie wakes, relocating the fire takes precedence. After her second catnap, the fire’s soft glow disappears entirely, and she never finds it again. With the approach of morning, Sadie closely rescans the area where the glow came from, but still failing to detect its source, she quickly heads back to where she hid the rest of her gear. When she arrives, she finds both stones have been knocked over. She checks her main pack, removes some food, and slides the bag back in its hiding place. Adjusting the angle and notches of the sticks, she resets the stones and heads back to the markers she placed the evening before.
Arriving at each marking stick, and in hopes of pinpointing where the fire might have come from, Sadie uses the directions of their placement to align her sight with what visual indicators the terrain offers. By the last stick, she at least has an idea of where to search and continues to circumvent the canyon. Traveling along the north slope, she reaches an area that opens up to a much better view. She rests to eat and notices a small puff of smoke.
Scanning the area below her, Sadie locates what she thinks could be the corner of a roof. She’s amazed at the discovery and looks for a better position to spy from. From a closer location, Sadie’s able to see most of the cabin and the area surrounding it. The home’s construction is unique as three sides are built with giant redwood logs, while the back of it butts directly against the slope of earth behind the s
tructure. The cabin’s roof extends out from the slope it sits against and is covered in ferns, moss, and other small plants that succeed in blending it into the area. Although extremely old, it appears well maintained. Along with the dwelling, there are small outbuildings, many well-manicured paths leading in several directions, and what appears to be an extensive garden system.
The smoke, Sadie first noticed, is coming from an outside fire ring. Above it hangs a large cast iron pot and piles of wood are neatly stacked nearby under a covered structure also made from redwood logs. Sadie finds herself appreciating the craftsmanship of the home, shed, and other hand-hewn buildings, along with the usefulness of everything’s layout. She gets the sense it’s a peaceful place and holds to that notion, hoping Splitters won’t appear, as the door to the cabin opens. An old woman emerges and goes to the fire, where she stokes the coals and adds a few items to the cauldron hanging above the flames. The woman moves with ease and wanders down a trail, carrying a basket.
Sadie wonders if there’s anyone else around and keeps watch for the rest of the day. She only ever sees the elderly woman who continues going about her business. As night approaches, Sadie decides to get a closer look and make contact. She leaves her lookout spot and hikes the rest of the way into the canyon, trying not to make any noise. Sadie heads into the garden area before curving around a tiny greenhouse and as she nears the cabin, the woman suddenly opens the door and looks straight at Sadie, but instead of instinctually raising her crossbow, Sadie greets her.
“Good evening. Sorry to trespass, I saw your fire and hiked down. My name’s Sadie…Sadie Mae Larkin,” she says, standing there.