by J. T. Cross
He pulled his backpack close and went through it, looking for any water that might be left. He rummaged through his climbing rope, tools, and down jacket. At the very bottom was a bottle with a little water left. He pulled it out and drank it down.
It felt good to wet his mouth, but the one thing they needed most was a satellite phone, and Victor had taken that from them.
As he sat there thinking, he noticed his knuckles were throbbing. He reached up and touched the side of his head where Victor had pounded him with his elbows and winced. He hoped that Victor’s head and jaw hurt at least as much as his did.
He decided to stick an ear out the hatch door and listen for any sounds that might signal danger before the others woke up and things got noisy.
He moved to the hatch window and looked outside. He could see what he assumed was Victor’s backpack lying in the middle of the clearing. Seeing it gave him hope that the wolves had finished him off. If Victor could have retrieved it, he probably would have.
He picked up the survival knife from the cabin floor and shoved it in the sheath on his belt. He went to the hatch door and slowly unlatched it, pushing it open. Looking around the clearing, he listened to the early morning sounds. He heard no sign of wolves, just birds chirping in the trees.
He jumped down and quickly walked over to the backpack. Picking it up, he ran back to the helicopter, jumped in, and latched the door.
He sat the backpack down and unzipped the top flap. He quickly sorted through the items. Inside was a pair of binoculars, a night vision scope, some protein bars, and best of all, a satellite phone. This was just too good to be true, he thought, as he pulled the phone out.
He examined the phone. It was a new model. On its side was a Dymo label. It read: Property of Scott Miller.
Turning on the phone, he extended the antenna. He went back out to the clearing. A red light at the top of the phone was blinking and the display read:
Searching for
Network...
He waited several minutes then turned off the phone. He went back into the helicopter and latched the door then put the satellite phone in his backpack.
It had been a long, tiring night and he was glad it was over. Glancing at his watch, he saw it was 6:30 and decided he would wake the others. If Victor was still out there, it wouldn’t hurt them to get an early start while he might still be sleeping.
He went over to Kate and softly whispered, “It’s time to get up.”
She opened her eyes. “Is it already morning?”
“Afraid so.”
“I’m so tired, Luc. Can we sleep a little longer?”
“No time to sleep. We need to get moving.”
“I’m so hungry. Is there anything left to eat?”
Luc went over to his backpack and pulled out a protein bar and handed it to her.
“Are there any more of these for the kids?” she asked.
“There’s plenty.”
She quickly unwrapped and ate the bar.
“I could eat another ten of those,” she said.
“Me, too.”
He woke the rest of them up and handed out protein bars to everyone. As they ate, he decided to fill them in on his plan and moved to the back of the helicopter where they sat around the small conference table.
“I’m concerned that Victor may still be in the valley, so I want to head in a direction he won’t expect,” he said.
“Which way?” asked Chuck.
“I saw a high mountain to the northwest. We’re going to head to the north and then cut back to the west. My plan is to climb to the top of that mountain.”
“Why? What’s the point?” Christie asked.
Luc smiled. “When I get to the top I’m going to try and call for help with this,” he said pulling the satellite phone out of his backpack.
“Oh my gosh, Luc, where did you get that?” Kate asked, her eyes round with surprise.
“I found it with Victor’s stuff. It’s even programmed with the number of the helicopter.”
“That’s fantastic,” she said.
“I also found a pair of binoculars, a night scope, and a few other things that might come in handy.”
When they had finished eating, they pulled their things together and packed them in Luc and Victor’s backpacks.
“Mommy, I’m thirsty,” Kelly said.
“Me, too,” Stuart said.
“When we get down to the river, we’ll have plenty of water to drink,” Luc said as he gathered up several empty water bottles from the inside the cabin and stuck them in Victor’s backpack.
Luc looked around the helicopter and didn’t see anything else he thought they should take. “I think we’re good to go,” he said.
“I’ll carry that,” Chuck said, picking up Victor’s backpack and putting it on.
Luc checked his watch. It was 7:30, past the time he had wanted to leave. He opened the helicopter hatch and jumped down then helped Stuart and Kelly down.
After the others filed out, he closed the helicopter hatch and latched it. “Before we leave, we should try and find the pistol I kicked into the trees last night,” Luc said. They immediately set to work searching in the trees, close to where Luc had fought Victor.
After five minutes of looking, Luc called off the search. He had the strongest feeling they needed to leave as soon as possible.
“Everyone, gather around,” he called out. He waited as they gathered around him.
“I have a suspicion that Victor is still alive and very dangerous. I think we need to get into the trees and stay undercover as long as possible,” he said as he walked over and picked up Kelly.
“If Victor is out there, he’s probably waiting for us to hike to the river then head west, so we’re not going to do that.”
“What do you have in mind?” Kate asked.
“I think we should stay within the cover of the trees and head east, parallel to the river. Once we get away from this area, we should be able to come back out on the riverbank and make better time.
“So, you want to hike north along the forest path again?” Chuck asked.
“Yes, except that when we exit the forest this time, we’re going to head west toward the mountains.”
Luc looked at each person and waited for any comments. No one said a thing.
“Let’s go,” he said then walked across the clearing. They followed him into the trees as he headed toward the river. After thirty minutes of hiking through the densely treed woods, they came to where the forest met the river. Luc brought everyone to a stop.
“We’re going to stay inside the trees for now,” he said. He began slowly making his way east through the trees. As they hiked, he kept his eye on the river to make sure they stayed on course. It was slow going, not having the advantage of the riverbank to hike on, but they did their best.
They had been hiking for a while when Luc felt that they were far enough away that they could risk walking in the open. He moved to the edge of the trees and searched up and down the river with the binoculars for any sign of Victor. If he was out there, he was hiding himself well, thought Luc.
He led them down to the river and they pulled the empty water bottles out. He passed them around to everyone and they began filling them up. One at a time, they stored them in the backpacks, splitting them between Chuck and Luc. Then they continued their hike east.
Back on the riverbank, they immediately began to make better progress. A short time later, they arrived at the log bridge. They quickly crossed the bridge and began the hike north on the natural forest trail. This time, as they hiked through the forest, there was very little talk.
Chapter 25
Victor pulled back the bolt on his rifle and loaded a shell into the chamber. He advanced into the last few trees before the clearing, careful to avoid making any sound that might alert Moon’s people that he was there. Not far from where he stood sat the helicopter with its hatch door closed.
He waited patiently for some sig
n that Moon’s group was still in the helicopter. After a few minutes, he became impatient. Maybe they were still sleeping, he thought. He decided it might be a good time to get closer and take a look in a window.
He moved out of the trees and to the rear of the helicopter. He quietly moved up to the rear window of the helicopter cabin. For a moment he listened carefully, and hearing nothing, peeked around the edge. He didn’t see anyone.
He was beginning to wonder if Luc had once again beaten him to the punch and already left. He bent over and moved to the hatch door. He slowly rose up and looked into the window. He saw no one.
He could feel his frustration and anger begin to skyrocket. They must have left earlier and were probably already traveling west along the river, making their way out of the valley. How could he have not seen them?
He turned and ran back into the woods, heading for the river. They wouldn’t have dared to leave before the sun came up, not with all the wolves roaming about. They should have been in plain sight. He must have missed them when he was sitting on the ATV eating his breakfast bar, he thought.
He broke out of the forest and ran down to the riverbank then moved west as fast as he could over the small round stones. At the marker rocks, he climbed up the riverbank and raced into the trees. When he reached the ATV, he slammed his rifle into its boot and started the machine. He rode back out to the riverbed and headed west at as high a speed as he could manage over the small, rounded river rocks.
He looked at the odometer and did a quick mental calculation. There was no way Moon could’ve covered more than five or six miles since the sun had come up. If they had gone in this direction, he would reach them in the next six miles.
The six miles came and went as Victor realized they must have gone another direction. But which direction? He turned the quad around and raced back to the east. After a few minutes, he raced past the spot where Luc had hidden his ATVs. He had covered another half mile when he saw tracks leading from the forest to the riverbank.
He stopped the quad and shut off the engine. He climbed off the machine and ran up the bank and into the trees.
He began following the tracks in the soft forest floor and found they led back in the direction of the helicopter.
“Damn Moon,” he screamed. That’s why he hadn’t seen them—Moon had headed east along the river but had stayed hidden in the trees. He hated the man more than ever.
Maybe Moon was taking his group to the east where the log bridge would allow them to cross over to the north side of the river, he thought. He raced back toward the quad.
He climbed on the machine, turned the key, and pushed the start button. The engine turned over but didn’t catch. He waited a second then pushed the button again. The engine cranked and cranked but it wouldn’t start. He took his thumb off the starter.
He had a sudden sinking feeling in his stomach as he realized he hadn’t put any gas in the quad’s tank since the day before. It must have been almost bone dry before he had even started it that morning.
“Damn, damn, damn!” he screamed as he climbed off the machine and put on his backpack. He pulled the rifle out of its boot and took off toward the east, jogging along the riverbank. He would be damned if he was going to let them get away from him.
As he jogged he began to put the big picture together. Moon was going to head north through the forest and when he got out... Which way would he head?
He certainly wouldn’t take them east. That would only take them deeper into the valley. He also wouldn’t lead them north. Why revisit the place where he had gone over the falls? No, that didn’t make any sense. The only direction that made sense was to the west.
Victor figured they must have at least an hour’s head start over him. That was fine. They had little ones and two women that would slow them down. He, on the other hand, could jog for hours before having to slow down. And then, there was the scope on his rifle.
He noticed it was beginning to mist. A few minutes later, it turned into a light sprinkle. He smiled as he realized the wet earth would make it easier to follow their footprints. He would find them and make Moon suffer before he finished them off.
* * *
Luc wiped the water out of his eyes. It had recently begun to sprinkle and now everyone was feeling wet and even more miserable. He walked next to Chuck.
“Do you think you could carry Kelly for a while?” he asked Chuck.
“Sure, hand her over,” he said, reaching out his hands. Luc immediately began to feel better once he was no longer carrying the extra weight. He couldn’t afford to use up all his strength. He would have a mountain to climb later that afternoon.
After another half hour, they broke out of the forest. Luc gazed out across the rocky barren area. He remembered passing through this once before as they had followed the mammoth to the cavern.
He pulled out the binoculars and scanned the areas to the north and west. For some reason the trees didn’t grow in the barren area, not even to the west. It was comprised mainly of rough landscape, rocks, and small brush.
“This is where we start to head west,” he told the others.
He looked at them carefully. They seemed exhausted. He led them a short way to where several small boulders sat. He looked at his watch. It was 12:15.
“Let’s rest for a few minutes,” he said taking off his backpack.
He laid it next to a small boulder and then sat down. He heard the others sigh as they sat down, and he could tell that Christie and Kate needed the rest. He knew neither of them had ever been much for hiking long distances and this day would push their endurance to the limits.
Chuck sat down next to him. “You’re really workin’ us,” he said with a reserved smile as he slipped off his backpack and sat down on another small boulder.
“Sorry about that, but I’m worried about Victor. He could be trailing us right now and with a high-powered rifle...” Luc shook his head.
“Ooh, I’m not complaining. I’m up for it,” Chuck said as he tightened the laces on his boots.
Luc looked up at the cloudy sky. He was glad the sprinkling had stopped. It would make the hike to the west easier to bear, he thought. He kept his eye on the time and when fifteen minutes had passed, he stood up.
“I’m afraid we gotta go. Grab your backpacks,” he said. He pointed to a mountain to the northwest. “That’s our destination.”
They all turned and looked but appeared to be too tired to make any comments. He picked up Kelly. In a few minutes, they were heading toward the mountains to the west.
Chapter 26
Victor broke out of the forest trail and gazed out at the barren landscape before him. He remembered it well from the last time he had been there.
He studied the ground carefully. The footprints in the moist earth were easy to spot and clearly headed north. He followed them for about fifty yards and noticed they spread out around several small boulders.
Tired, he took off his backpack and went over to one of the medium-sized boulders and sat down. He had jogged the entire way through the forest and needed to rest for a while. He pulled out an energy bar. Peeling back the wrapper, he began devouring the chocolate and peanut butter meal.
As he sat eating, he realized that Moon and the others had probably rested in this very same spot and that was the reason for all the footprints.
His mind wandered as he thought about how at one time he had been a lot like Moon, many years ago. He recalled handing out food to the homeless in Los Angeles, thinking he was doing something good for humanity. He would never have thought of killing someone.
But that was before a couple of ex-cons had kidnapped Sophia as she walked home from high school. Somehow, his sister’s rape and murder had freed him from having to play by the rules. Now, he made up his own rules, and he liked them.
Maybe that was why he hated Moon so much, he reflected. Maybe he reminded him too much of the way he used to be.
After he finished the bar and drank a bottle of
water, he rested for ten more minutes then put on his backpack. Picking up his rifle, he removed the cover from the scope and slipped it in his pocket. He stood and looked through the scope, searching the area to the west. He saw no movement.
He glanced at his watch. It read 12:50. He had hoped to catch up with Moon and the others by this time. It just wasn’t meant to be, he thought.
He took off to the west at a fast walk, following the damp footprints.
* * *
Luc set a fast pace for the group as they headed east toward the mountain Luc had pointed out to them earlier. By 2:00 in the afternoon, the day had warmed up and the ground was beginning to dry out.
He stopped and looked behind them. Their tracks easily stood out in the moist earth. They probably extended all the way back to where they had exited the forest, making them easy to track. If Victor was back there somewhere following them, they were making it far too easy for him, Luc thought.
He moved close to Kate and Chuck. “I think we should head north to the forest.”
“But we’re making such good time,” Kate said.
He knew that this proposal was not one that the group wanted to hear, considering how tired they were. “I can’t shake the feeling that we’re being followed. We should head north and go into the forest and try to lose anybody that might be tracking us,” Luc said.
“If he was tracking us, don’t you think he would’ve caught up to us by now? I think the wolves got him.” Kate said.
Luc shifted Kelly to his other arm. “We can’t take that chance. We can always come back out later and make better time then,” he said.
Christie walked over to them. “Anything we do so that animal doesn’t find us again is fine with me,” she said.
Luc could tell she was still shaken from her encounter with Victor. God, he hated that man.
Without saying anything else, he began hiking north. Within an hour, they had reached the edge of another forest. Next to where they stood were several fallen and rotting tree trunks. Chuck walked over to one of them and sat down.