by BJ Bourg
I skirted the edges of the meadow—careful not to make noise and attract attention—and set off into the forest on the opposite side. It wasn’t long before I came to another meadow that was located at the edge of a high cliff. I strolled along the edge of the cliff. It was lined with tall pine trees, and I searched for a way down the steep wall. It was impassable. I turned away from the giant pines and surveyed the meadow. There were no pear trees and I cursed my luck, but only for a minute.
Tall grass and bushes blanketed most of the meadow, and I saw them for a few minutes before I realized what they were—patches of wild blackberry bushes. I hurried to them and began picking the blackberries three and four at a time. Careful not to smash them, I plucked hundreds from the prickly vines and stuffed them into an outside pocket of my bag. A picker would occasionally stick my hand and burn, but I ignored it. While I worked, I sampled the groceries. They were good, but not as good as Mom used to make them. She would place the blackberries in a large bowl and sprinkle a healthy quantity of sugar on top and refrigerate them for several hours. As I bit into the thick juicy berries, I imagined they came from that bowl and thought I could actually taste the sugar.
A noise sounded behind me, and I turned in a panic, reaching for my spear. I was relieved to see a squirrel darting up the side of a pine tree. The tree was huge—about six feet wide. Without giving a thought to what I was doing, I quick-drew Jezebel and threw her directly at the squirrel. I grunted when my slash wounds ripped open again—but that was the good news. To my horror, Jezebel flew completely off course, glanced off a piece of tree bark, and disappeared over the cliff. I rushed to the cliff’s edge and dropped to my belly to stare over the side. The trees and underbrush were so thick I couldn’t even see the forest floor. Jezebel was gone—and with her, our only chance to kill meat. I turned onto my back and covered my face with my hands.
“You idiot! Why’d you do that?”
I must’ve stayed there for thirty minutes cursing myself. When I moved to stand up, I winced at the aching in my back. Every joint seemed to scream with pain. I’d felt a light version of this same aching in my bones earlier, but it had subsided soon after I ate that Tylenol. Now it was back with a vengeance. I grabbed my rucksack filled with blackberries and my spear and made the return trip to our camp.
When I arrived at the cave, I sank to the floor inside and closed my eyes. The weakness was returning. The aching in my joints intensified. I shuddered. I felt my forehead with the back of my hand, like Charlie had done earlier. It was burning hot. I thought about getting up to get another Tylenol, maybe splash water on my face. I even visualized myself doing it, but I never moved. Instead, I closed my eyes and slipped into a troubling sleep. I dreamed of monster bears, raging rivers, killer squirrels, Joy, and Leaf Creature. I was caught somewhere between a deep sleep and being awake, much like David Banner felt when he had gotten stuck between being a human and being the Incredible Hulk.
* * *
It was dark when I woke up. I was still shivering, and I could feel a tremendous amount of heat emitting from my face, especially when I’d breathe. A familiar smell greeted my nostrils and it took me a while to realize it was fish. I lifted my heavy head and looked toward the cave entrance. The two fires burned bright. In the orange glow, I could see Charlie bending over the makeshift rock grill.
“Charlie, what’re you doing?” I asked. The words felt like bricks. They seemed to slip out of my mouth and drop to the ground in front of my face. My neck was tired. I rested my head against the rocky floor and tried calling Charlie’s name again. He heard it on my third try.
“Hey, don’t try to talk,” Charlie said. He walked into the cave and knelt beside me. “You’re coming down with a fever again. Here, take this Tylenol and drink this water.”
He placed the Tylenol on my tongue and, cradling my head, dumped a stream of water into my mouth. It felt cool and soothing against my dry and cracked lips. I sucked down the water, swallowing the Tylenol with it, but not before the bitter taste made my mouth involuntarily scrunch up. “God, that’s awful.”
Charlie nodded, and I saw a strange look on his face. Even in the dim glow from the fires I recognized that look. It was the same expression he’d had when his mom walked into his room while we were playing video games two years ago and told him his grandpa—the last living connection to his own dad—was in the hospital on life support. Through the blur, I wondered what had happened that made him look like that.
“Look,” Charlie said. “You’re going to have to eat something.”
I lifted a weak hand and pushed at him, shook my head. “No…food. I’m not…not…hungry.”
“Listen, Abe, if we expect to get out of here, you’ll have to get your strength up. You have to eat something.”
I shook my head, closed my tired eyes and turned over. I drifted in and out of consciousness. I had visions of Charlie fussing over the bandage on my arm…grilled fish on the rock grill…Charlie rubbing a cool wet rag over my face and neck…bears attacking our camp…blackberries and sugar…Leaf Creature shooting at us…my mom crying.
* * *
I opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was the jagged ceiling of the cave. It was so well lit I knew it had to be a bright day outside. I sat up. My head spun a little, but the chills were gone. Squinting, I tried to see through the glare of the outdoors. I could make out only shadows at first, but the surrounding rocks and trees finally came into view. And there was Charlie, shirtless and squatting on his heels near the fire. I shook my head to clear it and looked back in his direction. He looked different. Darker than I remembered and maybe more muscular. I rose to my feet and stood still for a second, trying to get my legs under me. Charlie noticed the movement and hurried to me.
“Hey, dude, how do you feel?”
I nodded. “I feel good. A little hungry.”
Charlie laughed and helped steady me as I walked to one of the large rocks near the outside fire. “You should be hungry. You haven’t eaten much of anything in four days. I was able to force some pear juice and blackberry juice down your throat, but that’s about it.”
Four days? I sat on the rock. My breath was shallow, my head light. I couldn’t believe how tired I was from just walking eight or nine steps. “I’ve been out for four days?”
“On and off. You never really woke up, like good, but you’d stir a little and talk in your sleep.” Charlie smiled, and I could almost see the relief in his face. “You said some crazy stuff.”
“Like what?”
“Well, at one point you thought I was your mom and you were telling me not to cry. I tried to explain to you that it was me, Charlie, but you said Charlie was a mountain man now and wouldn’t be coming home.”
I felt my face heat up and turn red. Since I wasn’t running a fever anymore, I knew it had to be embarrassment. “I said that?”
“You also kept saying we had to build a gun to fight Leaf Creature because he was attacking us, but you were calling him Nelson Vincent. You’d sit up in the middle of the night screaming like crazy that Nelson was outside with a gun and that he was going to kill us like he killed Brett and Joy.” Charlie shuddered. “It would scare the crap out of me. I mean, one minute you’re snoring, and the next minute you’re screaming like you’re on fire. I’m surprised I didn’t have a heart attack or—”
“I don’t snore.”
Charlie nodded. “Like a thunderstorm.”
“I don’t remember any of it.”
“I won’t lie to you…I was scared. You were so delirious and your fever was so high I really thought you were going to die and leave me all alone out here.”
“What would you’ve done with my body?”
“What do you mean?” Charlie asked.
“Would you have buried me? Fed me to the bears? Dumped me in the river? What would you have done?”
“None of the above.” Charlie pinched the skin on my upper arm. “You lost a bit of weight, but you could’ve provided enou
gh meat to keep me alive for at least a week.”
I laughed as I scanned the area. “Speaking of food—was I dreaming or did I smell fish?”
“That wasn’t a dream. I’ve been eating fish for a few days now.” Charlie stood and walked to the river, knelt and stuck his hand in the water. After feeling around in the water for a few seconds, he grabbed a piece of rope and reeled it in hand-over-hand. When he pulled the other end of the rope out of the water there were five or six live fish attached to it. They flapped around, smashing into each other and kicking up water as they wriggled helplessly at the end of the rope.
“What…where…I don’t understand,” I said. “How’d you catch them?”
Charlie dropped the fish back into the river and pointed at his shoes. “Remember my safety pins you made fun of?”
I nodded.
“I shaped one of them into a hook and tied it to a shred of that nylon rope you brought with you.” Charlie walked to the edge of the forest and picked up a rotten piece of log. He broke it open and pulled a fat grub from inside, held it up. “These little babies make excellent trout bait.”
“But won’t your shoes fall off?” I asked, laughing.
“Nope, I’ve got plenty of them.” He pointed from one to the other and counted out loud. “One, two, three, four, five, six…seven more. I could have eight fishing poles.”
“Got any cooked fish?”
“Who needs fish when we’ve got these?” Charlie tossed the grub in his mouth and ate it.
I gagged. “Are you for real?”
“They’re really good when you get used to them. Heck, the bears love them.” He walked to a piece of rock that had a large leaf over it. He pulled it back and exposed a couple of thick slabs of fish meat. “I put a portion aside for you each night, hoping you’d be well enough to eat.” He brought me the fish from his latest meal and then retrieved a bottle of water. “Enjoy.”
I took a bite of the fish and chewed on it for a full minute before swallowing it. My throat hurt, but I almost didn’t notice—the fish was that good. “Charlie, you really are turning into a mountain man.” As I took another bite—this one bigger—I glanced at his face to confirm my thoughts. “But you still can’t grow a beard.”
After I ate, I felt a little stronger. I could tell it was early in the day because the sun was low in the eastern sky, but I had no clue what day it was. “Do you know what day it is?”
Charlie shook his head. “I’m not positive, but I guess it’s Sunday, so we’ve been here for over a week. I’m sure your mom called the cops, the FBI, and the army by now and they’re all probably looking for us.”
“Have you scouted the area? Seen anyone?”
Charlie nodded. “Yeah, I saw this nice man and lady hiking two days ago. They offered us pizza, Coke, and a helicopter, but I turned them down. I was having too much fun rubbing you down with cold water to leave just yet.”
I puckered my eyebrows. “Why on earth would you rub me down with cold water?”
“To keep you from bursting into flames.”
“Flames?”
Charlie nodded. “You were that hot. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out you suffered some brain damage.”
I began thinking back to the last few days, testing my memory. Satisfied my ticker was still calibrated, I said, “So, did you scout the area?”
“I didn’t want to leave you alone for very long,” Charlie explained, “so I stayed close by. I walked a few hundred yards in all directions.”
“And no search party, eh?”
“Would we still be here?” Charlie asked.
“I guess you’re right. Look, if you want to head out and do some scouting, feel free. I’m feeling good right now. No more aches, no more fever”—I raised my right arm and flexed my hand several times—“and I don’t even feel the pain much in my arm anymore.”
Charlie hesitated. “You sure?”
“Dude, I want to get out of here just as bad as you do. The sooner we start scouting the area, the sooner we can find some help.”
“Okay, I’ll go.” Charlie grabbed his spear and rucksack. He started to walk downriver, but paused and turned back to me. “Will you be okay without Jezebel?”
I frowned, reached down and touched the empty sheath on my belt. “I guess so.”
“What happened to her anyway?” Charlie moved back toward me and sat on a rock.
“I don’t know.”
“When I came back from my hike Wednesday, I found you passed out in the cave, your rucksack full of blackberries, and Jezebel gone.”
“Oh, the blackberries.” I puckered my brow, trying to think back. There had been a second meadow, blackberry bushes, and—oh yeah, that squirrel. “Now I remember. I threw Jezebel at a squirrel and missed. She flew over a cliff and fell pretty far. I looked to see if I could get it, but it was too far down.”
“A cliff?” Charlie was suddenly alert. “Could it be the cliff we were on that first day? By that big river?”
“I’m not sure. I didn’t see a river at the bottom and nothing in the area looked familiar.”
“Where’d you find it?” Charlie asked.
I pointed in the direction he was headed. “Go down the river about a hundred yards and take a right. It’ll be right where the forest becomes clear of underbrush. Head straight into the forest from the right side of the river and it’ll be the second meadow you come to. But be careful. Oh, and Charlie.”
“Yeah?”
“What about Leaf Creature? Any sign of him?”
Charlie shook his head. “Not a peep. I think he’s gone.”
I nodded absently, then suddenly remembered something. “Hey, did I miss your birthday?”
“Yeah, two days ago. It was my best birthday ever.”
The sarcasm was obvious in his voice. I frowned. “I’m sorry this is how you had to spend your eighteenth birthday.”
“At least out here I have a cave to call home.” Charlie stood and turned to walk away.
CHAPTER 15
I waited until Charlie was out of eyesight before I stood. I swayed slightly. Although I’d never been drunk, I imagined that might be what it felt like. I walked back to the cave entrance and sat on the ground facing the river, with my back leaning against the outer wall. My breath was shallow; my heart beat rapidly. Although I felt better, I couldn’t believe how weak I was—and tired. Although I tried to fight it, I dozed off several times. When I’d wake up, I would feed the fires and return to my seat, dozing and watching and waiting for Charlie to return.
It was late in the day before Charlie got back. He slipped stealthily into the camp and was nearly on top of me before I knew he was there.
“Hey,” I said, “where’d you learn to sneak up on people?”
He shrugged, dropped his rucksack to the ground and walked to the river’s edge. The rucksack looked heavy and lumpy. “I had a lot of time on my hands the last few days, so I practiced stealth walking.”
“You got pretty good at it.”
Charlie nodded, as he stared off into the forest. He seemed lost in thought.
“What’s in the bag?” I asked.
Charlie didn’t move. He just stood there at the edge of the river, motionless.
“What’s in the bag?” I asked, doing my best impersonation of Brad Pitt’s character from the movie Seven.
“Um, what?” Charlie turned, stared blankly at me. “What’d you say?”
I pointed to the rucksack. “What’s in the bag?”
“Oh…just more pears and some blackberries.”
I reached in, grabbed a pear, bit into it. “It’s good.”
“Yeah.” Charlie turned and walked into the cave. “I’m a bit tired, Abe. I think I’ll call it a night. You want to take first watch?”
I swallowed a big chunk of pear and nodded. “Sure. I’ll keep an eye on the fires.”
Charlie stretched out on the cave floor and tucked what was left of my sleeping bag under his head. I couldn’t i
magine how tired he must’ve been. While I’d been sleeping for days, he’d been working hard. Tending the fires. Catching fish. Making sure we were safe. Keeping me alive…keeping me alive. I frowned. There was no way on earth I could ever repay Charlie for what he’d done. I owed him my life.
Before long, Charlie was snoring, and I was fighting to keep my eyes open. I got up several times to stoke the fires. The last time I fed the fires, I decided to walk to the river and splash cold water on my face. Although the riverbank was within the fires’ glow, it was dark and lonely, and I could almost feel dozens of pairs of eyes on me. I dropped to my knees, keeping a careful eye on my surroundings. A chill reverberated up and down my spine as I scooped up water with my cupped hands and slapped myself in the face. When I stood, I caught a glimpse of the moon in the rustling water. It added to the eerie feel of the place, and I hurried back to the cave. I was gasping for air when I reached it and sank to the ground, exhausted.
“I’ve got to get my strength back,” I said out loud.
“You will.”
I jerked and turned to see Charlie sitting up. He rubbed his face. “It’s my turn to watch. Why don’t you get some sleep?”
I nodded, moved deeper into the cave and lay on the hard ground. Before I knew it, I was dead to the world and dreaming of better times.
* * *
When I woke up, the sun was just creeping over the trees and shining down on the clearing along the river. Charlie was sitting cross-legged on that same slab of rock from several days earlier when he’d been killing the ants, except this time he was motionless, staring out into the forest like he’d done the evening before. I stood cautiously and picked my way across the cave until I was standing beside him.
“What gives, partner?” I asked.
Charlie didn’t look up. “We need to talk, Abe.”
Curious, I sat on the rock beside him. “Shoot.”
He paused for a long minute and finally said, “If you had a chance to get out of here, would you take it or would you stay?”