by Scott Todd
Jan looked up at me mortified, and I could tell she had already pieced together what happened. "That other car in the parking lot," she said, and I quickly agreed. "Yeah, that was probably them." I quickly grabbed the flashlight- now my worst mortal enemy- and handed it right over to Jan. "We better have a look," I said. She looked at the flashlight and then looked up at me with a slight smirk as she took it.
We made our way back down the hill towards where we had found her, and started looking around in the trees. It didn't take long before we found what we feared. And a grizzly sight it was. "Oh my God!" Jan freaked, and broke down into tears. I was not too far behind. For we were looking at the fresh remains of a person, badly eaten nearly down to the bone. The poor person's head was just gone, completely.
I quickly grabbed her by the arm, and carted her off, straight back up the hill to our post. "Don't worry," I tried to comfort her saying, "That was probably the one Ben shot. It's dead."
As I tried my best to keep her calm, as well as myself, darkness began yielding to faint light. The sun had started rising, and I knew the worst sight of all was still yet to come. We were going to have to look out over the mountain, and stare straight down into our fate. We knew it was there, but just couldn't see it. Not until now. I put off the inevitable, and refused to look, instead staying with Jan.
I wondered about the woman, and if she was going to be ok. I had no medical training whatsoever, and I had no clue if anyone else in our group did either. The thought that I really knew nothing about any of them kept resurfacing. And I swear there was just something strange about Ben at that point. He was being awful quiet, and continued to be struggling with something, it appeared. I could not put my finger on it, but I didn't dwell on it too much. After all, there were probably a few strange things about me too. About all of us.
"Aren't we going to look?" Jan finally said, simply too worn out to cry any more. I glanced at my watch. It was nearing 8 am, and the sun began erasing the darkness. I really didn't know if I wanted to, as the sheer magnitude of the devastation around us was plain enough to keep me pensive and silent. Most of the trees all around us had fallen or were wilting badly, and I thanked the higher powers that one had not fallen on us while we were in the woods. As if right on cue, one fell in the distance with a thud.
Chapter 13: A New Harsh Reality
"Even if we tried to look, the observation deck is in ruins, so all we'd see is trees..." I pointed out to Jan. "I don't think we can get up high enough. But maybe through the fallen trees we could see something. I don't know. I am really more worried right now about what we can do for that nasty gash in her leg from those claws."
"I don't know," Jan said with sadness. "I don't know much at all about first aid. Maybe Ben or Terry does."
"Yeah, maybe we better get them up and see," I replied. "It might make a difference."
The sound of footsteps interrupted us, as we turned to see Terry coming up the hill. Jan rushed up to her, asking "You know anything about first aid? We found a women who was attacked by a bear, and she's in the tent over there."
The sentence shocked her out of whatever sleep was still in her. "The bear Dad killed?" Terry countered, nursing an injured elbow.
"We think it might be that bear...Yeah, but we can't be sure," I interjected.
"Well I did get some emergency survival training, back before Dad and I went on a long trip once," Terry said, jarring her memory. "It was a long time ago, and I don't remember much. But there was this one thing that always grossed me out, about how to treat an open wound with urine... Yuck, I'll never forget it."
Jan and I just looked at each other, confused and disgusted too.
"Yeah," she continued. "If you don't have any water, you can use fresh urine to clean it." Turning towards the tent, she motioned for us to come along. "So let's go see," she said.
Realizing that she might have a good point, and knowing that what water we had would be precious, I inquired within to see if I might muster that bodily function. But to no avail, as I just didn't have to go. And then I wondered perhaps if it would be best to use the woman's own urine...
"God, that looks awful," Terry said, examining her leg. "But we definitely have to clean it, or it will probably get infected. And now might be a good time, since she's still passed out. Anyone got some scissors or a knife? We have to cut away that material."
"Yes," answered Ben to our surprise, looking into the tent. "Hold on..." He left back to his car, and returned with a pocket knife. Terry proceeded to cut away the loose material around the gash, and then looked up. "Anyone got to go?" she asked. "I need that." Ben looked confused.
"Yes, it just so happens I do," said Jan. And down the hill she went, in search of a container. I explained to Ben what had happened, as Jan returned a few minutes later with the goods in a used Burger King cup.
"Well, here it goes," said Terry, completing the task. I was thrilled at her bravery. "There, that should do it for now..." But a startling scream penetrated our bones, as the woman woke up in clear agony. "God DAMN that hurts," she cried. Terry and Jan tried to comfort her, telling her it was going to be ok.
She was an interesting looking woman, with long blonde hair. She was well proportioned, and was wearing jeans and a loose red shirt. Once again, the bra problem surfaced, as one look down gave a fine, defining view. I just didn't understand it. And again I realized this was my problem, and not any of theirs. I was getting tired of trying to understand it, and now was the perfect time to damn well get used to it. This wasn't civilization as we knew it any more, and I was determined to push a permanent reset button on the issue. I wondered if Ben could too.
"So what's your name?" Ben said, after the situation had calmed a bit. "Sandra," she mumbled. Her tone sounded like she was a native type when she talked- a woman from the back woods, perhaps? She just had a certain roughness to her. But it was clear I was going to have to have a private conversation with Ben on the breast issue, as he was in heaven, staring straight at them. Jan detected it, and so did Terry, but neither said anything, just rolling their eyes.
"Well I'm Ben, and that's Terry my daughter and Jan and Brian," he said pointing around.
"What in the hell happened?" Sandra replied, slowly coming out of her daze. "First there was this huge earthquake, and then....Well all I remember after that was this huge bear coming out of nowhere, and...and..."
"Shh, just take it easy," Jan said sweetly and trying to calm her. "We know what happened, and we're so terribly sorry." Jan briefly explained what we knew so far to Sandra.
"I don't remember most of that," Sandra reflected, and then she got visibly angry. "That damn bear. I hope you killed it good. That was my husband. We were just having a little... Well... you know. But damn. Just damn. I'm gonna miss him so bad."
And then another strong tremor rocked us all back to reality, and again the sound of water sloshing around permeated our senses. Ben and I looked at each other, and with no further words needed, headed up to the perch, looking for a break in trees. Eyeing a spot, he motioned me over.
"Look right down through there, and I think you can see it," he said.
And down through the thin line of sight he had found, roared the vista of open ocean, twisting and turning, some thousand feet below us. The cumulative events of the past hours rose up in me again, in one single feeling of pure hopelessness and doom. I refused to accept it in panic, and spotted a leaning tree on the other side of the hill. I was determined to climb it. I just had to see more.
Making my way branch by branch upwards, the view became a lot clearer, and much more frightening. When I reached as far as I could go, I gazed down all around us, to see what no mortal should ever have to witness. We had clearly escaped not only death, but an entire cleansing of nature. For down below us in every direction, all I could see was ocean, except for a few mountain peaks still standing above the water. Vast, never ending ocean all the way to the horizon. I froze, completely consumed by the vision.
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br /> Tearing myself away, I rushed back down. I tried to get Ben to go up, but he wanted no part of it. "I believe you. And I don't want to look," he said with a morbid dread. I explained what I saw to the others, and faced once again disbelief and breakdown of human beings to raw naked cores, fearful of impending death. Brooding silence ensued once again, as we all contemplated whether we wanted to carry on.
Chapter 14: Hacksaw at 6,000 Feet
The silence was long, and no one cared to break it. Jan was despondent, and even Sandra had quieted down, after taking six painkillers. We were all looking at the ground, just sitting in morbid contemplation.
I thought of the little food and water we had. And the lack of any real land to grow anything. And what of the animals? The birds? Was there anything left worth living for? I imagined they were wondering similar things.
Then I thought of Jan, and tried to really question myself about her. Yes she was damn good looking, but I really knew nothing about her. I wondered if maybe she could be a reason for me to keep going. I wondered if pasts should be buried with pasts. Every day really IS a new beginning- only those that choose to, still live in yesterday.
And no question that this was a new beginning, even if it was the end.
I did want to know one thing though- if that was the only bear. The last thing we needed was another one- cause they were bound to be starving and extremely dangerous. Then it struck me that I might be able to tell if that WAS the one that killed Sandra's husband. I got up and slowly headed down towards the parking lot, wondering if it really mattered anymore.
But upon inspecting the bear's massive mouth, I found what I was looking for. A small piece of clothing, stuck in its teeth.
"You find anything?" said Ben, coming down the hill after me. I showed him the bloodied scrap of material.
"It was in its teeth... So it probably was what attacked that poor guy," I replied with a sigh. "Let's just hope there's not any more."
"Well they're pretty territorial. So it very well could be that there isn't another one anywhere around... And especially since... Since there isn't much territory left..." he concluded, with somber realization. "But I am thinking we might hike down to the water line. I want to mark it on a tree or something. It's possible it could start to recede over time."
"That mean you want to try and keep going?" I said looking up at him with a weary eye.
"Well we're not dead yet, and you never know just who might appear," he continued. "I mean we can't be the only ones who thought of coming up here. It's a long shot... But what if a plane was to find us or something... Or even a boat... Although I know that sounds impossible at this point."
"Yeah, maybe," I responded, but my tone betrayed my attempts to sound hopeful. "Well alright, let's go take a look at that water line then. That's a good idea. But let's at least get the pistol first, and leave the rifle with them."
A nod of agreement, and we were off back up the hill. But the women were uneasy with the idea, and wanted one of us to stay. That seemed a reasonable compromise, so Ben volunteered, and suggested I take his pocket knife for marking. Then Jan decided she wanted to go, but agreed with her limp she'd better stay. Terry was game, but she really wanted to tend to Sandra.
So off on my own I went, heading down through the parking lot and following the descending park entrance road best I could with all the damage. I saw a sparrow on the way, and then saw a hawk- and I wondered how long they would last as I made my way carefully. An injury now would be very bad, and I kept reminding myself of that.
The road had collapsed and slid down in many places, so the going wasn't easy. I had to stop when the road was gone, and covered in dirt from what looked like a landslide. So I turned around and went back up the road some, not thinking anything else about it.
But I was determined to get to the water line, so I stepped off the road to the left and started descending into the woods where it looked like I might make it down through all the damage. I finally made it.
I was startled to find the water had carved a chunk out of the mountain on that side, leaving me looking out over a newly formed cliff of sorts.
This was insane. I could only imagine the power of that wave, considering I was sure that it had initially impacted on the southern side of the mountain. But with all the upheaval and curvy roads, gauging direction was difficult. I was uncertain and disoriented. I looked up for the sun, and estimated I was probably looking westward or maybe northward.
Since I couldn't really mark the waterline on a tree, I eyeballed the water level with the cliff, and wondered why I didn't see anything but water out there. No debris... No nothing. Just water.
As I made my way back up, I remembered the tremendous pressure that much water could exert, and figured over 5,000 feet of it had probably crushed and disintegrated everything under it. And if there was water a mile deep here, then how big was the wave and water level closer to the event? Damn! I couldn't even comprehend it. But that thought remained etched in my mind, and I really needed to talk to Ben.
I wondered how many times this had happened before, without the benefits of technology to warn them. Or even- with it. But surely there must be some more people left somewhere I mused, cause if the water came this way it had to leave land exposed where it came from. Maybe Ben had some ideas.
When I finally got back I told them of what I saw, to mixed reactions. And then I realized how hungry I was. And everyone else was too. We were ravenous.
"Well there should be some food in our... In the car, and I think it's open, but here's the keys," grunted Sandra, seriously mad at that bear and handing them to Ben. I remembered seeing the car intact, still in the parking lot on my way down, which for some reason did not take as much damage.
"We were going to have a picnic, but well... We decided to have a little fun first, and that's when..." She couldn't finish.
"I brought some food too," interjected Ben, "But we really should gather all of it together and ration it out. And that bear. We should try to do something with that, and plan this best we can to make it all last as long as possible."
"Well great, you can be the new town manager," I attempted to jest, but it did not go over well. I surprised even myself with the remark, and had no idea where it came from. It was just too damn soon for anything of the sort.
Ben traded me his rifle for the pistol, and took off down the hill after the food. Terry stayed with Sandra. Jan and I went after what we could salvage from our wreck, and found most if not all of it- either in the car or strewn about. We set everything we could find out at the deck ruins, including tools and other things we all happened to have.
"That parking lot's a mess," Ben said when he got back. He did a mental inventory and put considerable thought into what to eat first. He handed me just half a well made ham and cheese sandwich- but asked me to split it with Jan. "This isn't going to be easy," he reminded us. "Now, about that bear..." And he held up my hacksaw.
Chapter 15: One Million Dots of Death
"We're going to need some salt to help preserve that meat," Ben continued. "And hopefully we can extract some out of seawater, if we can find a container." Sandra pointed at the cooler we had salvaged from her car. But now we were faced with a dilemma. That cooler was helping to keep what meat and cheese we had cool. How could we take it to get sea water? Ben looked as perplexed as I did, contemplating the problem.
And then Jan emerged from the ruins of the observation deck. "I've been looking around, and there were some things in that storeroom under there," she said, holding up a shovel and a large metal bucket. "I'll get the sea water, so we can get that started... Evaporation, I presume?"
Ben looked at me and I glanced back, realizing that there was more to Jan than just a pretty face. "Absolutely," said Ben, with a nod of agreement, "And we can accelerate that process by boiling off the water. We also have to find something to strain it, and some kind of lid that we can funnel the evaporated water down into another container. And we're g
oing to need a fire."
"Oh, I got THAT!" exclaimed Terry, holding up a lighter and puffing on a smoke. Ben was shocked. "YOU SMOKE???!!!" he fumed.
"Well you have a gun, so yeah, now I smoke! Couldn't tell you all these years, or you would have killed me," Terry lamented. "But bet you're glad now, huh!"
Ben returned to Terry the look she had given him in the car when she found out Daddy was holding out on her with the rifle. Shaking his head in disbelief, he quickly returned to the business at hand. "The fallen stones from the deck... We can use those for a fireplace."
"Let me have one, please?" grunted Sandra, looking at Terry. "I got two whole cartons in the car." Ben looked further disgusted, but went back to thinking.
"I'll get the water, Jan," I said. "That's too nasty a trek down the hill with your leg like that. And besides, I'm going to have to look for a place where we can even get it, cause what I saw was a cliff at least 100 feet high. Maybe on the other side. I don't know yet."