by Dirk Patton
Lungs burning, I kept struggling, breaking into the air again and taking a ragged breath that felt like there was a fair amount of water in it. The roar was louder now, deafening, and the turbulence that had kept me pulled under was subsiding. That was the good news. The bad news was it felt like I was accelerating as the water sped towards whatever was making the din.
Then I remembered Titus telling me all of the storm drains fed into a single giant tunnel that disappeared underground, supposedly filling a reservoir for the air base. Was that the roar? Were we about to be swept into an underground storage tank where we’d be trapped and die?
Fear surged anew and I fought harder, trying to reach anything to grasp onto, hoping to stop our progress. But the tunnel walls were smooth and there was nothing for my flailing hands to grip. Just blank concrete.
The water was smoother now, flowing very fast as we approached the bone shaking roar. I looked for Katie, but there was no light. Only perfect darkness. Kicking to keep my head above the surface, I grasped the sling and started pulling. At first I didn’t understand why it was jerking, then an elbow slammed into my face.
Reaching out I grabbed Katie’s arm, intending to pull her to me. I was caught completely unprepared when she yanked it away and grabbed my arm with both of her hands. She was alive!
But she was infected and immediately began pulling herself to me. A hand brushed my neck and I realized she was attacking. Or trying to attack. Using both hands I shoved her away from my body, feeling a hard tug on my belt when she reached the end of the sling.
I don’t know if she tried to continue the attack. Perhaps it wasn’t an attack at all, rather an attempt at survival. I never found out. Without warning the world dropped out from beneath us and we were falling.
We were still in the water, and it took me a moment to realize we were in a waterfall. Would there be a deep pool beneath us or would we crash onto rocks or perhaps more concrete? Were we about to be sucked into an underground storage reservoir that was full to the ceiling? There was time for those thoughts to run through my head, then I was plunging deep into more cold.
Struggling against the force of the water falling on top of me, then a tug on my belt as Katie struggled, I thought I was done. My lungs were on fire, spasming from all the water I’d inhaled. My body wanted nothing more than to cough, expel the bad air and take a deep breath. With a supreme effort of will I controlled the urge as I was pushed deeper.
My ears popped from the pressure before the downward momentum ceased, finally allowing me to move farther away from the tons of water falling into the pool. Fighting a current, and now what felt like Katie’s dead weight pulling on my belt, I stroked for the surface as hard as I could.
Another current caught me and dragged me along as I ascended. After an eternity I broke through, sputtering and coughing. There was a hard tug from the sling that pulled me back under as I was drawing in a breath. What felt like several gallons of water came with it, causing my lungs to seize up and rebel. Madly fighting, I reached air again, racking coughs expelling partially inhaled water through both my nose and mouth.
There was another tug on my belt, not as hard, and I realized that Katie was unconscious again. Or drowned. Panic set in and I frantically pulled on the sling until I could grip her arm and pull her to me. She was limp, head flopping lifelessly to the side when it cleared the surface.
The surface of the water was smoother than it had been in the tunnels, growing calmer by the moment as the strong current swept us along. It took me a second to realize I was able to faintly see Katie’s head, wet hair obscuring her face. Glancing up as I kicked to keep us on the surface, I was surprised to see a night sky. Not stars and the moon, and I noticed there was a soft rain falling, but even with the cloud cover there was enough light for me to faintly see in a few shades of grey. We were above ground in a river!
There wasn’t enough illumination for me to be able to see far enough to spot either bank. I assumed the current was close to the middle, so I made it simple and struck out in the direction I was already facing. I had my left arm around Katie’s chest and snaked under both of her arms. I held her on her back, tight against me with her face out of the water as I swam.
My body was battered, cold and numb. I couldn’t feel much and everything I could feel was hurting. I didn’t think I was moving faster than a slow crawl, but I refused to let my limbs stop moving. If I stopped, we’d be pulled under and it would be over.
I have no idea how long I kept at it, fighting the current and the dead weight of my wife’s body. It could have only been five minutes or five hours. I was operating in the mode I remembered from Special Forces selection and training. The body has gone farther than it wants to, farther than it thinks it can, but the mind refuses to allow it to stop.
Until you’re dead, there’s always that one more ounce of fight in your limbs. As long as you believe you can go on, you can. Give up and fail, or be determined and succeed. In selection and training, giving up just means you don’t pass. In the field it will usually mean you’re going to die.
With awareness of nothing other than focusing on continuing to swim, I was surprised when my feet struck bottom. I had made it out of the current and reached the shore, finally looking up and seeing a narrow strip of rock studded sand only a few feet in front of me. Trying to stand, my legs wouldn’t obey the command from my brain and I wound up on my knees.
Crawling forward, I dragged Katie through the water and finally succeeded in pulling both of us onto the bank. I was panting, shivering and nearly delirious as I turned and began performing rescue breathing on her. The first couple of breaths were almost more than my tortured lungs could take, eliciting deep coughs that didn’t do her any good and just made me light headed.
Calming myself, I put my hand under her neck to tilt her head back, bent over and pressed my mouth tightly against hers. I breathed for her, growing dizzier with each exhale. I kept at it, the world around me shrinking with each breath into her body until it completely closed in and everything went dark.
3
Rachel dragged herself out of the water. She was shaking from the cold, teeth chattering as she got on her hands and knees and tried to make her way up the sandy bank. The wind was blowing from the north, instantly leaching away even more body heat than the dunking. She raised a shaking hand and shoved dripping hair out of her face, trying to see her surroundings.
She was on a steep embankment, the roiling surface of the river only a few inches from her boots. Shivering hard, she wanted to curl into a ball and rest, but knew that if she didn’t find a way to warm herself she would die of hypothermia. Maybe there was some shelter from the wind if she could make it over the top of the bank.
Pushing on, she caught her breath when a figure silhouetted against the dark sky suddenly appeared over her. She had no weapons, having lost the rifle when she jumped through the manhole. Her mind screamed at her to fight as hands reached out to grasp her arms, but her body refused to respond. She just stayed where she was, not really feeling the strong grip on each of her upper arms.
“You have to stand,” Irina said to her.
At first Rachel thought she was hallucinating. Irina? How was she here and able to be up and moving around? It must be an infected that had grabbed her! She tried to resist, tried to pull away, but the hands were too strong.
“Rachel! It is me, Irina! We have to get out of the wind!”
Irina pulled hard, finally lifting Rachel’s upper body until she was resting on her knees. She stared back with vacant eyes, a flicker of recognition passing through when the Russian woman put her face close.
Pulling hard, Irina got Rachel to her feet, wrapping her arms around her body to keep her from tumbling back to the ground. Guiding the taller woman, Irina helped her reach the top of the bank. The wind was stronger here and Rachel began shivering uncontrollably and would have fallen if not for Irina’s support.
“You have to walk or we are going to die
,” Irina gasped, taking a step and pulling Rachel with her.
It took them several minutes to cross forty yards. Both stumbled several times, somehow managing to stay on their feet. Irina was heading for the leeward side of a small bluff, the wind steadily decreasing as they approached. They finally made it into the shelter of the terrain, both women collapsing to the sandy ground.
Rachel immediately curled into the fetal position, her entire body racked with violent shivers. Irina was cold, her extremities numb, but she was also proudly Russian. From early childhood she’d delighted in participating in annual polar bear plunges. Competitive to a fault, she would stay in the ice choked water until all the rest of the participants had returned to shore and donned warming cloaks. This water was cold, but it was far from what she’d done for fun when she was growing up.
Despite her ability to endure the cold, Irina knew that Rachel was already in trouble and she, too, would be soon if she didn’t do something quickly. Looking around, she moved to check a darker shadow at the base of the bluff, but it wasn’t what she hoped for. Continuing her stumbling walk she paused at a small hole, getting on her knees to peer inside.
The hole opened into a cramped cave. She couldn’t see into the darkness, but pushed herself through the opening anyway. She had to make sure it was large enough for both her and Rachel or it would be a waste of time to go get the other woman. Finally satisfied there was room, she crawled back out and made her way to where Rachel still lay shivering. Irina could hear her teeth chattering before she could see her on the sand.
“You have to get up. I have found us shelter,” Irina said, pulling hard on Rachel’s arms.
It took a lot of effort to get Rachel on her feet. She was taller, and weighed twenty pounds more, but Irina was persistent. Twice they crashed back to the sand when Rachel’s frozen legs wouldn’t respond, but eventually Irina’s determination paid off. With her support, Rachel was able to begin walking.
Reaching the cave, the next challenge was to get Rachel inside. As soon as they stopped, she sank to the ground and tried to curl back into a ball. Irina had to settle for grabbing her wrists and slowly dragging her inside. Once she had Rachel lying against the rear wall, she went back out and gathered brush to conceal the entrance, piling it up as she backed into the cave. She had no idea how well the camouflage would work, but it was the best she could do.
Rachel was shivering so hard her muscles were beginning to stay clenched. Working as quickly as her numb fingers would allow, Irina removed the other woman’s soaked clothing. If the wet garments remained against her skin, they would continue to draw out her body heat.
With Rachel stripped bare except for a pair of cotton panties, Irina quickly took off her own wet clothing. She pressed her body against Rachel’s bare back, the skin so cold she momentarily shrank away. Steeling herself for the discomfort, Irina wrapped her arms around Rachel and adjusted her hips so her pelvis and legs were tightly spooned against Rachel. Together they shivered, Irina concerned that their bodies wouldn’t warm up.
Irina squeezed tight as she began shivering. This told her that the small amount of heat that had remained in her body was being sucked out by Rachel’s frigid skin. Together they shook, Rachel drifting in and out of consciousness and Irina struggling to remain awake.
She was frightened that she would fall asleep. If that happened she would relax and her body would shift away, allowing cold air to circulate and rob both of them of the precious warmth. As she lay there, her mind went to thoughts of the past few hours.
The deaths of Scott and Martinez, both defiant to the end. She grieved for Scott who she had grown to like, but thoughts of Martinez brought a profound sense of loss. Tears flowed as she thought about what might have been.
The two women hadn’t particularly cared for each other at first, but over the past few days they’d had an opportunity to talk and come to know each other. Irina sobbed as she replayed the last moments of Martinez’ life in her head. She couldn’t say that she had fallen in love with her, but it was closer than she’d been in many years.
“Are you OK?” Rachel’s voice startled her.
Irina was surprised that Rachel was awake, then she realized that she had lost all track of time and had been in a state of near delirium as she reminisced about Martinez. Both of them had stopped shivering. While she was definitely not cozy, she recognized that they had warmed enough to be out of immediate danger.
“I am fine.”
Irina raised her face from the tangle of Rachel’s long hair, realizing she had been crying into it.
“I think you saved me,” Rachel said, gently lifting Irina’s arm off her body but not scooting away from the warmth of the other woman.
“No more than you would have done for me,” Irina replied.
“How did you find me?” Rachel asked a moment later, sensing Irina’s mood.
“I was already out of the water and saw your head bobbing. I ran along the bank after you until you made it to shore.”
“Thank you, again,” Rachel said. “I haven’t exactly been kind to you. I’m sorry for that.”
“Emotions have been running high,” Irina said, finally releasing her hold on Rachel and sitting up. She scooted a foot away and crossed her legs.
“Did you see John and Katie?” Rachel asked, sitting and turning to face Irina who crossed her arms to conceal her bare breasts.
“No. I do not even know if they made it into the tunnel. It is fortunate that I saw you,” Irina answered.
“We need to look for them.” Rachel reached for her wet clothes.
“If you put those on they will draw out your body heat,” Irina warned. “We must wait until they are dry.”
“We don’t have that much time,” Rachel said. “They could be in real trouble, just like I was.”
Despite Irina’s warning, Rachel dug through the pile until she found her pants. Rolling back on her ass, she stuck her feet into the legs and pulled them over her knees. That was as far as she got before peeling them back off.
“Oh shit! They’re freezing,” she breathed. “Can we start a fire to dry them?”
“With what?” Irina shrugged her shoulders without removing her arms from over her breasts.
“There’s ways to start a fire without matches. Aren’t there?” Rachel asked in a plaintive voice.
“Yes, there are. But those ways only work if you have dry wood, tinder and a source of heat. We have none of that.”
Rachel stared back at her, finally shaking her head.
“Then we should put them out in the wind. They’ll dry faster.”
“It is still raining,” Irina said.
“You’re not helping,” Rachel grumbled even though she realized the Russian woman was right. “But we can’t wait.”
“Wet clothes in the wind will drain body heat very fast,” Irina said, reaching out and placing a restraining hand on Rachel’s arm when she reached for her discarded pants. “We cannot help them if we are incapacitated by the weather.”
Rachel cursed, knowing Irina was correct, but still reluctant to give up. She racked her brain, trying to come up with a way to dry the clothes faster.
4
I came awake feeling like I was frozen to my core. My hands were so numb I had no feeling and I was shivering violently. At least I didn’t feel warm, which would have meant my body had shut down and I was about to die.
It may have been seconds, or minutes, but the current situation finally dawned on me and I tried to sit up. Tried. The mind told the body to do it, but the body told the mind to go pound sand.
The side of my face resting on the wet ground seemed to have some feeling, but the other side was fully exposed to the rain and wind and all it registered was… numbness. I couldn’t even tell it was still raining by feel other than when an occasional drop splashed into my eye.
Finally, I forced my battered body to start moving. Slowly, with every tiny motion causing a cry of agony from a muscle or joint, I
managed to lever myself up onto my hands and knees. Behind me the water was still rushing. I was lucky it hadn’t risen and washed me away while I was unconscious.
I turned my head to check on Katie, momentarily confused when I didn’t see her. Confusion turned to panic and I frantically checked the sling that was attached to my belt. It was still there, the loop that had been secured around Katie’s wrist pulled open and lying on the sand. She had freed herself?
Standing up as fast as I could, I looked around, failing to see her. Forcing my feet to move, I clambered to the top of the embankment. Spinning through a slow circle, I shielded my eyes from the wind and rain with my hand. The landscape was bleak, nothing more than sand, rock and scrub in every direction. And there was no movement.
Turning back to the water I tried to look for Katie, but it was still dark. All I could tell was that the river was very straight. Too straight to be natural. It must have been a flood control channel for the water coming out of Mountain Home.
Perhaps the underground reservoir was full and it was being diverted? Or maybe there wasn’t a reservoir and Titus had repeated a rumor. Regardless, the water was running fast. If Katie had gone back in, she’d be miles away by now. But I doubted she had.
There was still enough intelligence in there for her to loosen the sling loop and slip her hand out. That meant it was very doubtful that she’d make a decision as bad as going back into the water. And I was still alive!
I’d been out cold, but she hadn’t attacked or killed me. Why not? Were there still some memories in there? Enough to override what seemed to be an uncontrollable urge to kill?
I’m generally a pretty logical guy. I don’t normally fall prey to unfounded theories or suppositions, but the faint hope that Katie wasn’t completely gone pushed all logic aside. Right then and there I accepted the idea that she was still capable of love and reason, otherwise why was I not a rotting corpse. Now I just had to find her so I could help her.