by J. T. Cross
“I remember those from the vision. I think it was here that I felt myself pulled up the embankment and went into the woods.”
“Then we should go up there,” she said looking up at the line of trees.
He gunned the engine and headed up the side of the riverbed. He felt the rear wheels spinning as they tried to grab onto the damp earth. Slowly, they began to gain traction as he climbed up the embankment and headed toward the trees.
He looked back and saw that Kate was right behind him. When he reached the trees, he discovered that most of them grew too close together to allow the quads to pass through.
He stopped and took off his helmet. She pulled next to him and he climbed off and walked over to her. She took off her helmet and looked up at him.
“We should find a place to hide our stuff. If there’s anyone following us, I don’t want them to find the quads.”
He got back on the idling machine and rode slowly as he looked for an opening between the trees. He finally found one that was wide enough.
He carefully drove in between the branches, pushing them out of the way as he went. He went in as far as he could until he was totally blocked. Kate followed after him.
She shut off her engine and climbed off. “Don’t you think you’re being a little bit paranoid?”
He looked at her. “Maybe.”
He grabbed his small backpack and put it on. He pulled the rifles out of the boots and handed one to her. She took it and looped its strap over her shoulder and he did the same.
He walked back out with her. As they stood just outside the woods, he suddenly thought better of leaving all their supplies on the quads.
“Wait here. I’ll be back in a moment. I forgot to take care of something,” he said. He decided he didn’t need to justify any more of his actions and quickly walked back to the ATVs.
When he reached them, he pulled his larger backpack off the front utility rack. He carried it deeper into the woods. A satellite phone, some climbing equipment, protein bars, and matches should be better protected, he thought. He didn’t know why he felt so paranoid, but he decided to go along with the feeling.
He spotted a tree that looked like it had been struck by lightning. He climbed up into its branches and hid the backpack. He immediately felt better and climbed back down. He cut a small branch off the tree and quickly walked out of the woods. Using the branch, he did his best to cover their tracks as he walked back to Kate.
“I’m pretty sure we need to make our way through these woods in order to get to the helicopter,” he said.
“I guess this is the moment of truth,” she said.
He walked back along the tree line until he was exactly even with the three rocks in the river and then walked into the woods with Kate following close behind.
The woods were rich and moist and their feet sank into the ground as they walked. After several minutes, they heard the sounds of chirping birds all around. It was a cheerful sound, he thought. The woods somehow seemed friendly and welcoming.
In the vision, he remembered traveling in a straight line. However, he found it impossible to walk more than a few yards until they had to turn and go around a tree. Still, he did his best to maintain a straight path, as Kate stayed close behind.
As they wove their way deeper into the woods, the daylight began to fade. The sounds of the birds they had heard earlier were gone and he began to feel like they were utterly alone in the world. Suddenly, the woods no longer seemed so friendly.
Chapter 10
Christie and Marcus stood in silence looking at each other. She looked again at the log cabins.
“I can’t believe they’re deserted,” Christie said.
“They may be deserted, but they could provide some protection against the wolves. I’m going to check the one on the end,” Marcus said, jogging toward the far side of the clearing.
Christie took Kelly and Stuart by the hands and hurried to the nearest cabin. Even before she got there, she could see the door was missing. She stopped in front of the cabin and let go of their hands.
“I want you two to stay right here and don’t move. Okay?”
They nodded. She walked to the entrance and looked inside. The cabin door was lying inside on the dirt floor with its large rough wooden hinges rotted away.
She stepped through the doorway and looked around. There were bones scattered about on the dirt. The dim interior smelled of rotting timber. Evidently, animals had been using the structure. A chill went up her spine and she walked back out.
She looked for Marcus. She saw him about to enter the smallest cabin on the far end of the clearing.
Feeling more and more frantic by the second, she ran to the middle cabin. There was an entrance was on the left side of the front. As she approached, she noticed a crude door made of small vertical logs was still attached to the left side of the opening.
She stepped inside and quickly looked around. Just like the previous one, the interior was empty except for bones scattered on the floor. She grabbed the edge of the door and tried to close it. To her surprise, it still moved freely on two wooden hinges until it reached the middle of its swing.
She was trying to figure out what was keeping the door from closing as Stuart and Kelly walked in.
“I thought I told you two to stay put,” she said.
“I can hear the wolves, Mom,” Stuart said.
“I don’t like the wolves,” Kelly said, beginning to cry.
“We’ll be safe if we can just get this door to close,” she told them.
She tried several more times to push it shut, but it kept stopping in the middle of its swing. On the last push, she noticed the bottom of the door catching on the ground beneath it. She looked closer and realized dirt and debris had built up under its path of travel.
She got down on her knees and began trying to remove a layer of earth from under the door. The dirt was hard and compacted, impossible for her to clear away with her bare hands. She got up and ran out into the clearing.
“Marcus, I need your help!” she yelled out.
She watched him exit the small cabin and hurry over to her.
“What do you need?”
“If we can get the door of this cabin to close, we can keep the wolves out. I need your help to clear the dirt away from under it. It’s too hard for me to do with my bare hands.”
She showed him the raised area on the ground. He took his backpack off and unzipped the flap. Reaching in, he pulled out the survival knife.
He immediately fell to his knees and began scraping and digging the dirt away using the sharp blade. Within minutes, he had cleared enough dirt that the door was able to swing closed.
She looked around the inside of the cabin. There were several small slits cut through the sides of the walls that probably functioned as windows. One of them looked directly out into the clearing. Thank God they were small, she thought.
She began to hear the sounds of yapping and yelps. The wolves were closing in on them, she realized.
“We need to find a way to block this door closed,” Marcus said. He shut the door and looked for some sign of a latch. There was none.
“Maybe there’s something in here we can jam under the door to keep it from opening,” he said and began looking around the interior of the cabin.
Christie noticed a wedge-shaped piece of wood in the corner behind the door. She picked it up and wondered if it could be used.
“I found something,” she said and handed it to Marcus.
“It looks like somebody made this on purpose,” he said.
She watched as Marcus examined the edge of the frame around the door.
“I think I know how to use this,” he said and pushed it into a slot cut into the frame. It stopped halfway in, snugly jammed into the slot. The other half of the wedge blocked the door from opening.
“It’s a crude deadbolt,” he said looking at the wedge. “I’m not sure it will be enough to keep them out, but I have an idea. I�
��ll be right back.” He opened the door and ran out.
She waited in the cabin with Kelly and Stuart, wondering what he was up to. When he returned, he was carrying a large rock.
“We can use this to block the bottom of the door. It might help. One more and I think we’ll have a chance,” he said setting it on the ground.
Christie looked out the door and gasped. A massive dire wolf walked from between the trees into the clearing and began sniffing the ground.
“There’s no time, they’re here,” she said.
Marcus spun around and looked out into the clearing.
She watched the wolf turn its head toward the cabin. It lowered its head and began to growl, approaching the cabin as a second wolf entered the clearing.
Christie slammed the door shut as Marcus grabbed the wedge and shoved it into its slot in the jamb. Just as the wedge hit bottom, they felt something slam into the door. Christie screamed.
“Damn, they didn’t waste any time,” Marcus said, picking up the large rock and placing it against the bottom of the door.
“They’re trying to get in,” Kelly screamed and started crying. Christie went over to her and held her.
“They can’t get in, honey. The door’s locked.”
Her crying continued as the sounds of wolves yapping and growling outside grew louder.
“Kelly, you have to be quiet. We don’t want the wolves to hear us,” she said.
“Stuart, I need you to hug your sister and help her be brave.”
Stuart walked over and put his arms around Kelly. “We’re safe in here, Kelly. The wolves can’t get in.”
Christie stood and went to the small window cut into the front of the cabin. Looking out, she was shocked to see the area filled with wolves walking around anxiously, as if they were looking for something to eat.
She jumped back from the tiny window, as the door was slammed inward and rattled back and forth.
She went over to Marcus, who had his arms around Stuart and Kelly trying to calm them, and whispered in their ears, “We should be as quiet as possible. They might get bored with us and leave once they find out they can’t get in.”
“This little excursion sure was a bust,” Marcus said.
“Yeah, but it seemed worth a try,” Christie said, trying to make him feel better.
“We should head back to the helicopter when the wolves leave,” Marcus said softly.
She nodded, feeling too drained to respond.
They sat quietly together on the dirt floor listening to the wolves outside. A noise by the door caught her attention. She began to hear digging sounds.
Marcus stood up and stared at the door. “Crap, those freaking wolves are trying to dig their way in.”
Kelly began to cry again. “I’m afraid of the wolves, Mommy,” she said between her sobs.
Chapter 11
Victor was beginning to doubt that he would be catching up with Luc Moon anytime soon. Since the initial sighting of the tire tracks, there had not been a hint of Moon or the others. That meant one of two things, thought Victor. Either Luc had crossed back to the other side of the river or the small river rocks were completely covering their tracks.
Not knowing where he stood was frustrating. He didn’t want to make another mistake, and nothing bothered Victor more than having to accept the fact that he had made one.
His decision to use an inadequate amount of explosives to effectively take down the helicopter had been an unfortunate miscalculation on his part. In retrospect, he should’ve gone to the ends of the earth to get enough C-4 to blow it into tiny pieces.
He was beginning to think there might have to be a change in plans when Turner, the man closest to him, yelled out, “Up there!”
Victor spun around and stared at him as he pointed up the riverbank. He followed the man’s gaze. On the bare dirt, right after the small river rocks ended, were knobby tire tracks.
“Finally,” he said loudly as he turned and headed up the embankment. He followed the tracks until they ended at the edge of a wooded area. He looked up and saw his two men approaching and signaled them to stop. The last thing he needed was more tire tracks to contend with.
They got off their quads and walked over to him.
“Stay back. If you walk over their tracks, you’ll make them harder to follow,” Victor said.
The tire tracks appeared to lead to the east. He began to follow them but found they suddenly disappeared after he had gone a short way.
He examined the area closely and found marks in the dirt where the tracks had been brushed away. They had probably used a branch, he supposed.
It was clear they had tried to cover their tracks. That implied they knew they were being followed. He wondered how would have they known that.
He began to slowly move east along the tree line. As he walked, he looked for any indication of quads being ridden into the trees.
He hadn’t walked for more than a minute when he spotted a crushed flower. He walked several yards into the trees and saw more knobby tire tracks. He continued farther into the woods and discovered two ATVs.
He reached down and touched one of the engines. It was still warm. Two backpacks were left strapped to the utility racks on the machines.
He took out his knife and cut the fuel lines to both ATVs and watched the gas begin to drain onto the ground. He then cut the sparkplug wires and tore them off the plugs. These machines weren’t going anywhere, he thought, smiling.
He walked away from the quads and threw the spark plug wires as far into the woods as he could then went back and grabbed the two backpacks. He walked back out of the woods.
He sat the backpacks down and quickly rifled through them. He found flashlights, extra clothing, protein bars, and a few other things.
He walked down to the river and emptied their contents into the rushing water, watching, as they were swept downstream. He then threw the backpacks into the water and walked back up the embankment to his men.
“I found their ATVs. Their machines have suffered some mechanical difficulties,” Victor said grinning at them.
“Any idea where they went?” Russell asked.
“No, but I don’t think they have much of a head start,” he said.
He thought about his options and decided on a strategy. He looked at Turner. “I want you to walk to the east and search for any sign of footprints.” He turned to Russell, “You walk the other direction and do the same.”
“I’ll be searching just inside the woods for any depressions or crushed plants. Start the timers on your watches. We’ll meet back here in exactly ten minutes,” Victor said then walked between two trees and into the woods.
He began a methodical search of the edge of the woods. He started east of where he had found the quads and slowly worked his way west.
He had been intensely searching the ground for what seemed like only a few minutes when he looked at his watch. The ten minutes were up.
Damn, where did the time go? he wondered, just as he caught sight of a broken branch. He picked it up. It looked to be covered in a layer of dust. He felt the end where it had been broken off. It was wet. There was no doubt in his mind that he had found the branch they had used when trying to cover their tracks.
He began a spiral search pattern from the point of the branch and within minutes, he found footprints in the soft forest floor that led to the south.
He looked for something to mark the spot. He spotted a rotting tree trunk lying on the ground. He picked it up and carried it over to the footprints and leaned it up against another tree. He walked back and looked at it. He thought he could find it again without too much trouble. He walked back out of the woods and found the men waiting by the quads.
“I found their tracks,” he said then pulled a rifle with a telescopic sight off the back of his ATV. He pulled the lens cover off the end of the scope and looked through it at a large rock in the river. He imagined it was Luc Moon’s head for a moment then turned back to the me
n who were still sitting on their quads. “What the hell are you two waiting for? Get your rifles.”
He turned and quickly walked back to where he had exited the woods and stood waiting. Turner and Russell jogged after him. Before they reached him, he marched into the forest, heading for the marker.
When he reached the log, he began carefully following the tracks and bits of crushed vegetation that led to the south.
It didn’t take long for them to get into the thick of the woods where the canopy above cut out much of the daylight. Victor pulled out his compass and determined the tracks were taking them almost directly south.
He turned to the men. “I think we’re close. If we can catch them all in one place, we’ll be able to end this quickly and get back to the helicopter. Keep your eyes open and be quiet.” Pushing a branch out of the way, he examined the ground for a moment then continued on.
* * *
Kate struggled to keep up with Luc as he led them through the shadowy woods. Ever since Chuck had disappeared, she felt like all the strength had been drained out of her. She couldn’t get the thought of Chuck out of her mind. She should have never asked him to help, she thought.
Luc came to a stop. She watched him, looking one way and then another through the woods. She didn’t have a good feeling about this. She had to tell him what she thought.
“This can’t be the right way, Luc. It keeps getting darker and harder to get through. We’re lost, aren’t we?”
“I’ve never been lost, and I’m fairly sure I can find our way out of here. That’s not the problem.”
“You look like you’re lost,” she said softly.
“To be honest, I don’t remember the trees being this thick in the vision,” he said glumly. “But then everything seemed so different.”
“I say we turn back and try and find another way through,” she said.
“Let’s give it another ten minutes before we turn back. Okay?”
She didn’t want to give him another ten seconds, let alone ten minutes. “Sure, whatever you say.”