Maggie was acting like Bryce’s mom. She kept her head up, ears pricked, and nose constantly sniffing at the wind. Bryce’s mom held her leash, and she would follow her when she would pull in a particular direction. It worried Bryce; dogs weren’t supposed to lead.
Eventually, Bryce’s mom gave up on the cave.
“We’re going south,” she told them as she pulled out a compass. “Everyone will meet us there.”
When Bryce asked, she said she wasn’t sure how a compass worked. When Bryce then asked if he could see it, his mom said no, and not to ask so many questions. As they walked, Bryce and Larson fell back just far enough so that Bryce’s mom couldn’t hear their whispering.
Larson started by saying, “Your mom’s acting strange.”
“I know.”
“And where’s my dad?”
“At the cave, I guess.”
“Do you think he’ll head south?”
“Of course he will. Why wouldn’t he?”
“I just have a bad feeling is all. Like, you know, when you have to recite something in front of the class, and your stomach gets all flip-floppy?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s what my stomach feels like right now.”
“My stomach is hungry. We didn’t get breakfast. What time is it?”
“I don’t know. My dad made me leave my watch behind.”
“I had to leave mine behind too.”
“What are you boys talking about?” Bryce’s mom suddenly looked back over her shoulder. For a moment, there was a wild and frightened look in her eyes. There was something else too; something that Bryce came to believe was the sickness.
“I’m hungry,” Bryce told her.
“We’ll eat in a little while; we have to go farther before we stop.”
“Jus! Jus!” Becky grabbed the hem of Bryce’s poncho and started tugging. She recognized the word hungry. “Jus!”
“Becky wants some juice, Mom,” Bryce informed her.
“In a while. When we stop.” That wasn’t like Bryce’s mom at all. She was usually very pleased whenever Becky wanted something to eat or drink and was always ready to feed her. Bryce too. If he mentioned he was hungry, and dinner wasn’t going to be ready in the next ten minutes, she would find a snack for him, even if it were just a cookie or something.
They walked on for what felt like twenty more minutes. Becky had bothered Bryce for juice half the way and their mom the other half. Bryce’s mom’s response was to pick her up and carry her. This also resulted in them walking faster. Bryce wasn’t used to walking so much, especially in the woods. The branches kept grabbing at his poncho and hair, while mud sucked at his shoes. His feet were cold and wet, the socks clinging to them and feeling disgusting.
“Jus!” Becky began to cry. “Mommy! Jus! Nom-ma!” Nom-ma was her word for food. Their mother just continued walking. Becky turned her face to look at Bryce over her shoulder. “By! Nom-ma! Nom-ma, By! JUS!”
“Mom!” Bryce complained, hiking over a rock to get closer to her. “We have to stop. Becky’s hungry, and so am I.” Tears began to well up in his eyes. He was frightened by his mother’s behaviour.
Bryce’s mom turned and looked. She saw Bryce’s tears before he could wipe them away.
“Oh, honey.” The fright on her face suddenly morphed into compassion. “You’re right, we should stop. What was I thinking? Look for a clearing, preferably one with a rock we can sit on.”
Within the next five minutes, they found a good place to stop. There was a break in the trees, and a large, flat rock sat in the middle of it. Due to the overcast skies, the rock hadn’t dried yet, but by sitting on the tail of his poncho, Bryce kept his butt dry. Their breakfast was minuscule. They had crackers, cheese, beef jerky, and an apple. Becky got a fruit bar.
“Why can’t I have a fruit bar?” Bryce complained. Other than the apple, his meal wasn’t very good and was very dry.
“Because your sister can’t eat most of this other stuff,” his mom explained. “We need to save them for her in case it takes us awhile to get to where we’re going.”
This was the first time Bryce considered how long they might actually be out in the woods. What if they ran out of food? “How much longer should it take?”
“I don’t know.” His mom shook her head and looked back down at the compass.
Bryce moved closer to her. “Why aren’t we looking for a road?”
“Because it’s dangerous.”
Larson moved to Bryce’s mom’s other side. “Why’s it dangerous? We can just walk next to it, can’t we?”
“We could, but cars aren’t what’s dangerous about it right now.”
“What is?” Bryce asked.
“Do you remember the monsters you saw?”
Bryce nodded, his mouth suddenly more dry than when he was eating the crackers. He took a sip from his fruit juice box.
“Well, they’re more likely to be on the roads than in the forest. We’re safer in the trees.”
“Is that why Maggie looks worried?” Larson wondered. “Because of the monsters?”
“I don’t think she’s worried,” Bryce’s mom assured him, “she’s just keeping an eye out is all.”
Bryce started shaking uncontrollably under his poncho. His mom had always said that there was no such thing as monsters, that they weren’t real, that they were just in the movies and in his head. Now though, she was saying they were real, and that they were dangerous.
“Bryce? Are you alright?” His mom noticed his shaking.
“Just cold.” Although that wasn’t the reason, it would do. In fact, even soaking wet and overcast, it wasn’t that cold out. It was still the middle of August after all.
“Why don’t we take a longer break and try to dry some of our clothes? I’ll make us a fire if you boys can find some dry wood.”
The wood wasn’t easy to find—everything was so damp—but Bryce’s mom managed to coax a fire out of it using a barbecue lighter and some paper from a notepad in her bag. Bryce was happy to take his shoes and socks off and set them by the fire. He wiggled his chilly toes against the rock. He also took off his poncho and put on the sweater his mom told him to pack. The sweater would probably get too warm, but he wanted to keep up appearances; he had to make his mom think he was chilly so that she wouldn’t worry too much.
“By!” Becky called from near the edge of the rock. Everyone kept a very close eye on her, making sure she didn’t try to leave the rock or get too close to the fire. “By! Dirty!” She was pointing to something they couldn’t see.
“We’re in the woods, Becky. Everything is dirty.” Bryce tried to explain.
“Dirty!” she called again. When Bryce didn’t walk over, she came to him and grabbed his hand. She was very insistent.
Bryce got up and walked with her to see what was up.
“Dirty,” Becky said again, pointing to the same spot as before.
When Bryce looked over the side of the rock, he nearly threw up. There was a deer there, but it had been mutilated by something. Blood and guts were strung through the low bushes. Flies were buzzing all around, swarming its still open eyes. An odd-coloured tongue poked out between its lips. The stench was like nothing he had ever smelled before. Even Becky’s dirty diapers had never smelled this bad. They hadn’t noticed from where they were sitting because they were up-wind.
“Dirty.”
“Mooom!” Bryce called, his voice rising in panic. “Moooom!”
Bryce’s mom got up in a flash and ran over, Larson and Maggie following closely behind her. She gasped, a hand flying up to her mouth. Maggie whined, stepping between Becky and the deer corpse, although she looked like she didn’t want to be there. Bryce’s mom scooped Becky up, turning her away from it. She placed a hand on Bryce’s shoulder and pulled him away. When he looked at Larson, he saw his cousin had gone very pale.
“Was it the monsters?” Larson whispered as they went back to the fire.
“I don’t think so,�
� Bryce’s mom said this in her authoritative voice, but the fact that she wasn’t sure was troublesome. “It was probably wolves or a bear.”
Whatever it was, they decided to pack up in a hurry and put out the fire. Bryce’s socks weren’t totally dry yet, but he didn’t want to put on his fresh socks only to stick them into his muddy shoes. After the warmth of the fire, his shoes felt extra cold.
They didn’t go anywhere near the deer when they left.
It was while they were leaving the clearing that Bryce’s mom had started coughing for the first time. It wasn’t much, just a few times as if something were stuck in her throat. Bryce didn’t think much of it then.
As the day wore on, Bryce’s legs got sore. So did Larson’s though, so he didn’t feel like a wimp. Becky ended up having to be carried in her papoose carrier because she got so tired of walking. Besides, it was her naptime. Bryce’s mom continued to wear her poncho, so that Becky would be nice, warm, and safe from bugs underneath it. As the day dragged on, it got progressively hotter. It didn’t matter that the sun was behind cloud cover; it got hot enough that Bryce had to take his sweater back off or else he risked sweating to death.
“Damn bugs!” Larson slapped another mosquito on his arm. The bugs had begun to swarm them not long after breakfast. Without something like the deer carcass to distract them, the humans became their food source.
“Watch your language,” Bryce’s mom warned him.
“Sorry, Aunt Jenna. Just these bugs won’t lay off.” He slapped as one more landed on his arm.
“Sorry, I forgot to bring bug spray.”
“It’s not your fault, Mom,” Bryce defended her.
Larson mumbled something under his breath, but Bryce didn’t catch it. He was probably cursing at the bugs.
They walked through lunch, eating on the move. It consisted of the same food as breakfast. A few times, they took a break, Bryce and Larson getting a chance to rest their legs, but most of the time, it was just walking. It was boring. In spite of Bryce’s fear of the monsters in the woods, he got bored. There was nothing to do while they walked. He and Larson couldn’t even keep up a decent conversation because they were saving their breath for walking. Marching was more like it, even when their pace slowed down due to Becky walking on her own again.
At least Becky seemed to be having a great time still.
***
At dinnertime, they set up camp. Bryce’s mom was coughing even more by then, but Bryce tried not to acknowledge it. He tried to pretend that she was just getting a summer cold due to the rain, but way deep down, he knew better.
They found a relatively dry spot up on a hill and set up the tent. Bryce and Larson got to do it themselves because it was easy. They laid it out flat, hammered the bright, plastic pegs through the loops, then crawled inside and pushed up the middle until it snapped into place. Becky loved the tent. It was bright yellow, and she was fascinated by the way the whole world seemed to glow when you were inside it.
While Bryce’s mom made another fire and cooked tinned food, Larson and Bryce laid out the sleeping bags and hid from the bugs. They had placed their shoes by the fire again, hoping to dry them out completely this time. Although Bryce wasn’t keen on walking around shoeless, it was okay in the tent. Actually dry now, and with a screen between him and the bugs, Bryce felt almost comfortable.
“Soups on.” Bryce’s mom brought the food, which wasn’t actually soup, to the tent. It was pork and beans, and it managed to look worse than it smelled. Bryce didn’t want to eat it.
“Come on, Bryce, at least try it,” his mom tried to persuade him.
“It’s really not that bad,” Larson commented. “See?” He stuck his tongue out with a wad of partially eaten food on it. It didn’t look much different than before he chewed it.
“Larson, that’s gross,” Bryce’s mom said but with a hint of a smile.
Becky ate a little, but after a few bites, she didn’t want anymore. She got another fruit bar.
“Becky doesn’t like it and she gets a fruit bar, but I have to eat it anyway?” It was unfair.
“Becky actually tried some,” his mom pointed out. “Also, she’s still a baby. I thought you were grown up enough to handle food you don’t like.”
Larson grinned at him, planning to use that later. Bryce could already hear him calling him a baby.
Bryce took the can and started eating. It was as disgusting as he imagined and he nearly threw up at one point, but he kept it down and finished the can.
“Thank you.” Bryce’s mom gave him a kiss on the head. She then had another distressing coughing fit.
“What about Maggie? What does she get to eat?” Larson gestured to the golden retriever lying just outside the tent, with her leash attached to a tent stake. Her ears perked up at the sound of her name, and then fluttered as she swatted mosquitoes away from them.
“Your dad should have put some dog kibble in your bag. Let’s take a look.” The night they had run, Larson hadn’t packed his own bag, his dad had. With the rush they were in, and all the walking they had done that day, he never got a chance to find out what was in it. Bryce’s mom found several plastic bags, each with enough kibble in it for a meal. She gave one of the bags to Larson and let him take it outside the tent to feed Maggie.
Bryce watched as his mom looked through the rest of the contents of Larson’s bag. She took a dark, hand-sized object out of it, but he couldn’t make out exactly what it was. She shielded it with her body and quickly hid it amongst her own things. He thought about asking, but another coughing fit distracted him.
“Are you okay, Mom?”
“Of course, sweetie,” she said, placing a hand on her chest when she was done coughing. “All this fresh air must be confusing my city-adapted lungs.” It was a poor attempt at a joke, but Bryce let his mom draw a chuckle out of him anyway. “Why don’t you go outside and play with Larson and Maggie for a bit before the sun goes down? You can check on your shoes while you’re out there.”
“Okay, Mom.” Bryce didn’t have much of a desire to go outside, but he did. He and Larson threw sticks for Maggie until the bugs got even worse. When they went back inside the tent, they brought both their shoes and Maggie with them.
That night, there wasn’t a storm, but Bryce didn’t sleep well anyway. That’s the night he decided he hated sleeping in tents.
***
The next day was much like the last. Lots of walking, not a lot of food. Maggie was let off her leash but she kept close by, patrolling circles around them. Becky was fussy a lot. She was now as bored of the woods as Larson and Bryce were, and wanted to go home. There was a lot of crying and babbling to Bryce’s mom.
On and on they walked. It was exhausting. Bryce’s mom’s coughing was getting worse too. She kept saying it was nothing, but not even Bryce could trick himself into thinking that. His mom was very sick. It was possible that she was dying. Bryce didn’t know how to help her, so he kept quiet and tried to keep Becky quiet too. By the end of the day, Bryce detested the rhyme he had made for Becky, and she seemed to have lost interest as well.
It was quiet that night. Bryce ate without a fuss, and neither he nor Larson was up for throwing a stick around for Maggie. Even the dog looked tired from their excursion. On the plus side, there were no mutilated deer that day.
***
Bryce lay awake, listening to his mom’s latest coughing fit. It had that body-wracking quality that sounded like she was trying to cough up a lung. Beside him, Larson was snoring, oblivious. Maggie was awake, lying perfectly still next to Becky. Her furry eyebrows shifted as she looked about the tent. Not that there was much to look at, just sleeping people and yellow canvas. At least enough morning sun was shining to see that much.
A moan came from the woods outside.
Maggie rose to her feet, keeping her head low and her hackles raised. She didn’t make a sound, but stared at the tent’s door with a fierce intensity. Fear lanced its way through Bryce, right down to the bo
ne. Somewhere in the woods behind the tent, a branch snapped with a dry crack. Now Bryce’s mom was awake, sitting bolt upright. Her chest hitched. She wanted to cough, but wouldn’t risk making a sound. She looked down at Bryce.
Moving carefully, Bryce’s mom gently picked up Becky and snuggled her into her papoose carrier without waking her. The two year old stirred but stayed asleep. Bryce’s mom gestured for him to sit up and he obeyed. She strapped Becky onto Bryce’s back as if she was a pack, and then gently woke up Larson. Larson looked terrified the moment his eyes opened and took in his surroundings. It was obvious that something was happening. Larson was helped into his own backpack, more things like diapers being quickly stuffed inside it, and then Bryce’s mom got them to put their shoes on.
“Listen to me,” she hissed in both their ears. The way her chest hitched and her voice croaked, the need to cough must have been overwhelming. “When I open the tent flap, you boys run. Run as far and as fast as you can.”
Bryce shook his head, his eyes going wide. The way his mother spoke suggested that she wasn’t going to run with them. She looked into his face and nodded, smiling. A single tear rolled down her cheek. Bryce’s eyes responded with tears of their own. She kissed his head, then Becky’s, and then Larson’s, before moving to the tent flap.
Slowly, painfully slowly, she unzipped the zipper. Bryce kept shaking his head. He couldn’t leave his mom. When the zipper was open, another loud groan came from the woods, even closer this time. The tent flap was pushed open, revealing the greenery beyond.
“Look after your sister,” Bryce’s mom whispered to him. “No matter what happens, I love you both more than anything in the entire world.”
“I love you too, Mom.” Bryce wrapped his arms around his mom’s neck in a tight embrace. He never wanted to let go, but she made him.
“Go, run now.” Bryce’s mom reached next to her and plucked a gun out of her open bag. Bryce thought that maybe that was what she had removed from Larson’s backpack. The boys hesitated. “Run!” she shouted, pushing them out through the tent flap.
Bryce stumbled before he found his footing. Shouts, not all of them his mother’s, came from behind them. Some of them sounded terrible, coming from the throats of mangled things. He knew the sounds were coming from the monsters, and he didn’t dare turn to look. He didn’t want to see them and his mother at the same time.
Adaptive Instinct (Survival Instinct) Page 36