Waypoint Alaska

by Shauna R. Schober[thriller]

  “Oh, they’re coming in also?” Ben questioned.

  “Of course! With this type of a storm, they’ll die.” Katie answered as she lifted a small bundle of fur and snow and walked back to the snow cave. She placed the dog in the entrance of the cave, then instructed Megan to go to the back of the cave to help situate the dogs as they brought them over. One by one Ben and Katie moved the dogs, and Megan tried her best to organize them in the small space. As the dogs cuddled down they formed a pile, all huddling together to stay warm. Ben brought the last sled dog over, then carefully squished into the cave with Megan and the dogs. Katie was retrieving something from the sled.

  “Okay,” she said as she carefully slid down into the hole. “You guys cuddle up with the dogs, I’ll block the door here.” Katie then tossed a small bag to Megan, “Those are the dogs treats, it’s just moose jerky, so you and Ben can eat it too, but you’ll wanna ration it.” She leaned up against the wall of the snow cave and settled in. Megan noticed she didn’t seem to be shivering at all, even though she was partly exposed to the outside storm.

  “Aren’t you cold, Katie?” Megan asked.

  “I’m okay, not much bothers me.” Katie smiled.

  “It’s actually not too bad in here,” Ben said as he curled up closer to the dogs.

  “Yeah, your body heat combined with the dogs will keep you guys warm enough, it won’t be hot, but you’ll survive,” Katie wiggled a little bit then opened her jacket revealing the pup she had nestled inside. “Ben, can you hold this guy please, he needs to be a little warmer I think.” Ben reached over took the pup and pushed him inside his jacket, the two puppies rubbed noses and pawed each other.

  Megan unzipped her coat and scooped the puppy up in her hands, “Wow, look Ben, he’s got blue eyes, so so cute!” Ben looked over, then he looked back to Katie, something told him this wasn’t a coincidence.

  Lacey paced back and forth in Sarah’s small cabin, “We have to go look for them, they’ll freeze to death!”

  “We can’t go now, the storm is too bad, if we go now and get lost then we’ll all end up dead, the dogs know how to get home, they’ll come back I promise, and your niece and nephew will be fine.”

  “So you’re telling me you can’t take me to find them, no matter what.” Lacey scowled at Sarah.

  “Pretty much, it’s just too dangerous, I’m sorry Lacey.”

  Lacey flung herself onto the small loveseat, then pulled her phone out of her pocket and held it into the air trying to find a good cell signal. She stood up and wandered the cabin still looking for a signal, finally she went outside. The cabin door flung open in the wind. The freezing wind stung her eyes, but she continued to walk into the pelting snow. Finally, she had enough of a signal to make a call, she dialed quickly, not sure of how long she had before she would lose the signal again. The phone rang twice, then a familiar voice picked up, “Hey are you guys ready?” Trent asked. His voice was breaking up as the signal grew weak.

  “No, we lost Ben and Megan, their dog sled went off the path up North, can you fly in this storm?”

  “No way, I’m so sorry, but as soon as I can I’ll let you know. If you hear anything from them, let me know too, have you tried tracking Megan’s phone?” He asked.

  “I haven’t yet! Thank you, that’s exactly what I’ll do!” Lacey hung up and immediately dialed Megan’s number. There was no answer, either Megan’s phone had no service or wasn’t turned on. She tried tracking the phone with the United Cellular Latitude mapping program, again there was no signal, a question mark was the only thing to appear next to Megan’s name on the map. Lacey sighed heavily then marched back into the cabin. She sat on the loveseat again and started to cry.

  “Tea?” Sarah asked as she pushed a streaming mug close to Lacey’s face.

  “Why not.” Lacey said solemnly, she wrapped her cold hands around the mug and actually stopped crying, as she sipped the tea, she became more and more confident that Ben and Megan would make it, she prayed that somehow right now they were being taken care of.

  After an hour of resting on the couch Lacey had fallen asleep. Sarah went outside to check on the dogs and give them warm water to help them stay warm. They were all curled up inside their dog houses, each came out, welcoming the warm water and the scratch on their ears that Sarah always treated them to.

  After taking care of the dogs, Sarah walked over to a small space below a towering pine tree, she visited this space often. She knelt down and with a gloved hand scraped the snow off of three stone slabs, each had names etched into the white marble. “I wish you were here to help me right now, Dad.” she said to one of the stones, her words disappeared into the wind. She paused, almost wishing for some sort of response, she knew she would never get one, but suddenly jumped as all the dogs rushed out of their dog houses and howled. Their howls cut through the wind, louder than she had ever heard before. She turned to see what they were howling at, there was nothing there, just the snow and the wind. The dogs returned to their dog houses, and Sarah turned away from the headstones. She walked back, over the frozen earth, to the cabin. She paused as she heard something in the distance. Through the wind, she recognized the sound of her other dogs, the lost dogs, howling. She couldn’t be sure where they were, or how far, she knew at this point the only thing she could do, was wait.

  Megan and Ben both jumped as the dogs in the cave all howled at the same time, in the small space the noise was almost unbearable. Just as quickly as they started, they all stopped and closed their eyes and returned to their deep sleep.

  Megan looked at Ben, “that was random,” she said.

  “Beyond random, that was just weird.” Ben settled back next to the dogs he was curled up with and closed his eyes. He was cold, but somehow not shivering, the dogs were creating a surprising amount of heat in the small, icy space. Just as he was dosing off to sleep, a small howl broke the silence and he opened his eyes. Ben looked at Megan trying to track the noise. There perched on her chest was the small wolf pup with the blue eyes. He howled again, a tiny baby howl, sounding like the cry of a human infant, rather than that of a fierce predator. Megan patted him on the head trying to shush him,

  “No one can hear you, little guy, it’s okay, settle down,” she tried soothing him. The pup continued to howl for another minute and then turned around and returned to the warmth of Megan’s coat. “So sad,” Megan said, “He misses his mom.”

  “It’ll be okay Megan,” Katie interrupted, “Sometimes the tiniest voice, is the one that is the most commanding.” Megan looked at Ben, confused.

  Ben shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes once again, then quietly whispered to Megan,

  “Megz, get some sleep, you’ll need your energy for tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, if we make it until tomorrow, this is just an epic fail!” Megan whispered back. She relaxed against the wall of the snow cave, wrapped her arms tighter around the pup in her coat and closed her eyes. Sleep came easily, as did more and more snow. Neither Ben nor Megan knew that by morning—they would be buried alive.

  19

  As Ben opened his eyes, a crystal blue light seemed to seep through the snow and into the cave. He looked around, eyeing all the cave’s inhabitants. There was Megan, resting next to several sled dogs, with the small wolf pup tucked under her neck. The ten sled dogs were all cuddled up in a heap trying to remain warm, and then Katie, who was resting next to what was the door. This morning there was no door and only snow. Ben began to panic, had it snowed that much the night before that they were now snowed in? How would they get out? Was there enough oxygen in this small space with all of these inhabitants to maintain life?

  He began hyperventilating, “Katie, Katie, wake up!” He nudged her with his foot.

  Her eyes opened and she looked around, “Shoot, it did snow a lot didn’t it!” she said loudly which in turn woke Megan and all the sled dogs up. “We better start digging, it looks like it may be sunny out there.” Katie started pushing on the snow tha
t had covered the entryway to the cave. Ben handed the two pups that were in his coat to Megan and then began helping Katie dig. They continued to push snow, but found themselves getting stuck, it seemed that the original hole they had dug to build the snow cave was now full of snow, so their entry point was no longer available. “Ben, we’ve got to get out of here, lay on the floor and start kicking at the ceiling,” Katie commanded him.

  “But, but…won’t all the snow cave in on us?” He questioned.

  “Yes, but there will be a better chance of surviving that than running out of breathable air,” she responded. Ben did as he was told. Megan squished up against the furthest wall with all the dogs. Ben got into position and then as hard as he could began kicking the ceiling of the cave. The surface was icy, from the condensation of their breathing all night long. As he kicked, little pieces of ice broke off and fell on his face, finally he was through the initial ice layer and hitting actual snow. As he kicked more and more, larger amounts of snow were breaking loose and falling into the cave. Finally, he had broken through and created a hole to the surface. From the inside of the cave it looked as though about three or four feet of new snow had fallen in the storm.

  Ben continued to kick around the small hole. More and more snow fell and then suddenly, there was a cracking sound, right after the sound the entire roof of the cave came crashing down. Everyone was crushed to the floor. The dogs all began yelping and squirming, their whines and whimpers were the only sign of life.

  Sarah and Lacey were busy harnessing up all of the dogs to their dog sled. They knew they must hurry, their plan was to ride the trail then exit where Ben and Megan’s sled team had. Lacey was receiving a good signal from Megan’s phone, she hoped that finding them wouldn’t be too incredibly difficult. They attached all of the dogs, grabbed some extra water and food, and hopped onto the sled. Sarah called out to her team and they took off, running through the thick fresh snow.

  Lacey was impressed with how smooth this ride was compared to the one the day prior. With the wheels on the sled the ride was bumpy, and although the dogs could easily haul them even through the soggy earth, today they moved much more freely. The weight seemed to be lifted from the team, they moved in unison and the sled easily slid over the surface. She prayed once again that Ben and Megan would be okay, with everything they had been through, this couldn’t be where their story ended, could it?

  Ben was roused by the movement of all the dogs. He felt snow being tossed around, large pieces hitting his body and then he felt the pain in his chest, he tried to breathe and only got a mouth and nose full of icy snow, he tried moving his arms, they were pinned under the snow’s weight, he was trapped. As the thought occurred to him, he began to panic even more and suddenly he realized that if he was trapped, then so was Megan. Suddenly, he got a wave of adrenaline and began kicking and moving, even the slightest bit was giving him even more space to maneuver. He moved and pushed more and more snow away, his lungs burned, his head felt dizzy and painful, he knew soon the lack of oxygen would be too much, if he wasn’t fast enough he would surely pass out. Using all of his strength, he took his fist and punched upward as hard as he could. He could feel his hand exit the snow, fresh air wasn’t that far away! He moved his hand around more and more and then took his other hand and punched through the surface with it. Then he wiggled his legs under his body and used his last bit of strength to push the top half of his body up.

  As his head and face broke through the snow, he could feel the icy shards slicing his lips and cheeks, he brushed the snow from his eyes and inhaled deeply. He looked around and saw the mess of the cave-in. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a small bump in the landscape where the dog sled had been. It had snowed so much the dog sled was completely covered and would take ages to dig out.

  He wrestled with the snow more and more and moved over to where he thought Megan should be, he began digging as fast as he could, throwing large chunks of ice and snow over his shoulder. Finally he found a tail. He grabbed onto the dog’s tail and yanked as hard as he could, he heard a muffled yelp and then saw the snow move more and more as he pulled the dog up and out of the collapsed cave. Once he had one dog out, others used that exit point and began clawing and fighting to get out as well. The hole became bigger and deeper and Ben continued to dig, using the dog’s movement and disruption in the snow pack to aid in his rescue effort.

  By the time Ben’s hand hit a hard rubber surface, it felt as if too much time had passed. His tears froze on his face as he dug around the grey colored snow boot. He pulled more and more snow out of the way, calling out Megan’s name with less and less sound behind his wails due to his lack of energy. Finally, he had followed her leg up to her waist, he continued digging. Once he uncovered a gloved hand, he grabbed on as hard as he could and began pulling, the snow was so heavy he couldn’t get enough weight to force Megan’s body out.

  He yelled at the dogs who were now prancing and eating clumps of snow, “DIG!” When he yelled this he really didn’t think they would understand or do as he requested, it was a moment of desperation, but every single dog ran over and next to Ben began digging. Their paws cut through the snow much faster, their strength was unmatchable. Second by second, as snow was being throw behind each dog more and more of Megan was being uncovered. Once there was only about a foot of snow covering the top half of her body, Ben once again, using all his power pulled on her arm. The snow above her broke free and slowly fell off, as her body slid out from under it.

  Her skin was blue, her face torn from the snow. Ben removed his glove and carefully placed two fingers to her neck, trying to see if she had a pulse. She did not. Ben froze, he didn’t know what to do, suddenly all of his training in first aid was forgotten. He grabbed onto her face and yelled at her, he lifted her blood stained head to his chest and rocked back and forth.

  As he did this all of the dogs came over and began licking her face, some jumped onto her body to get closer. “Get back!” he yelled at them, thinking they were only licking the blood from her wounds. But with each lick color was coming to her face, Ben saw what was happening and felt under her neck once again there he felt the softest of thumps. Her heart was beating. Ben moved her around more and more, he knew he had to get the blood moving faster through her body.

  He sat her up and tried to move her arms and legs and then all of the sudden a sound escaped Megan’s lips, “Kaaaatiiieee,” she whistled softly. Ben got closer to her face,

  “What? What Megan?”

  “Katie, don’t leave me,” she said softly and slowly.

  Ben looked around, he had totally forgotten about Katie. He motioned to the dogs and said,

  “Help me find Katie!” Ben and the dogs ran over to where he was motioning. The dogs sat and looked at each other, not knowing what to do. Ben saw their hesitation and yelled again, “DIG!” the dogs quickly began to dig, and they got deeper and deeper in the snow, but found nothing. Ben got down on his knees in the deep hole they had created, right where the entrance to the cave had been and continued lifting chunks of snow away, there was no one there.

  Ben yelled at the dogs once again asking, “Where is she?” There was of course, no response. He was exhausted and scared. He went back to Megan to make sure she was okay, she had started to come to and was rubbing her bloodied face. He sat next to her, weeping, not knowing what to do about Katie. He sat for a few minutes, sure that Katie was dead. The pups in Megan’s jackets were all wiggling and whimpering, licking her neck and face. Megan was smiling, relief filled Ben’s face.

  “BEN! MEGAN!” a familiar voice screamed out in the distance. Ben helped Megan stand as they turned toward the voice. Approaching from the South were Sarah and Lacey, being pulled by their dog team. The loose dogs ran over to greet their friends, their tails wagging so fiercely their entire bodies shook. Lacey practically fell out of the sled as she was trying to get out quickly enough to get to her niece and nephew. She ran to them, still holding her side and struggling throug
h the thick, deep snow. She pulled both of them into a big hug, tears of joy streaming down her face. “Thank God!” Lacey wailed.

  “How did you find us?” Ben asked as he welled up with tears also.

  “The GPS on Megan’s phone, this morning as soon as the storm passed we got a signal, we came as fast as we could. Thank God you’re okay!” She pulled them in tighter.

  Sarah approached from the side, “I knew you guys would be okay!” She also pulled Ben and Megan in for a hug.

  “Sarah, I uh…I have bad news.” Ben paused, confused as to why Sarah wasn’t already questioning where Katie was.

  “The sled? It’ll be fine Ben, we’ll get you guys back, don’t worry.” Sarah patted him on the shoulder.

  “No, we…we can’t find Katie, she was in the snow cave with us, then it caved in, I was able to find Megan and get the dogs out but we have searched and dug and we can’t find her! I’m so so sorry, I don’t know what to do.” Tears were streaming down Ben’s face now, he had never been in a situation like this before.

  He wiped his tears and looked at Sarah, her mouth was agape, her eyes wide, “Ben what did you say?”

  “We can’t find Katie, she was with us, ya know sledding and everything, and now…now she’s gone.”

  “Katie? Katie who?” Sarah was almost becoming angry.

  “Katie, your sister…she looks just like you.” Megan interjected. Sarah shook her head and turned around, she paced for a second, clearly upset.

  “I…I can show you where she was sitting, I can help you dig more, but it’s been a long time, she’s…I mean she’s been down there a long time.” Ben’s head dropped in total defeat.

  “I just…I just don’t know what you’re talking about!” Sarah yelled, “Are you trying to be funny? Are you seriously making a joke, or something?”

  “What? No, no, not at all, why would we be?” Ben cried.