by Jamie Ott
Jacko hated the digging. On a couple days, he was sure his fingers would fall off; that he’d gotten frost bite.
“Quit your whinin’” yelled Uncle Bally, taking a drag off his cigarette.
Even worse than dealing with the tunnel was the boredom. Julius was going stir crazy. On a few occasions, Jacko caught him staring at him with a strange blankness in his eyes.
Fortunately, Jacko had a couple books in his bag; all of which they read through quickly.
One evening, as Jacko zoned out while staring at the ceiling, imagining that he was at his favorite fifties restaurant having a burger so juicy that he used his tongue to catch the liquid running down his wrists, Julius asked, “Do you think we could run out of oxygen?”
Uncle Bally rolled his eyes as usual. “I swear, you boys ask the stupidest questions.”
On the tenth day, Julius was brave enough to mention that their food was running dangerously low, and they only had a few sticks of wood to burn. Jacko noticed it before but couldn’t bring himself to speak of it. As it was, they were still trying to dig their way up and out, but there just didn’t seem ever to be an end to the snow.
“How can we keep digging if we can’t warm our hands?” asked Jacko.
“Here,” said Uncle Bally, handing over his bottle of whiskey. “Normally, this isn’t good in a survivalist situation, but since we’ve got plenty of water, it might be okay.”
Jacko smelled the bottle. He didn’t know what to think of the deep sugary, oak scent that came from it. All he knew was he was bored and anxious, so without thinking, he took a huge drink.
“Ahack!” he choked and sputtered, spittle rolling over his lips.
The brown confection steamed its way down the back of his throat and bled down his lungs. Warmth spread from his gut to his toes. Suddenly, his muscles relaxed as did his brain.
He sighed and settled back, feeling better than he had in days.
He passed the bottle to Julius who didn’t seem bothered by the liquid heat as much.
“This is not good whiskey,” he said.
“Well, excuse you, you ingrate!”
A few days later, when their stomachs were rumbling and their morale at an all-time low, they looked at their last pack of meat.
Just as he wondered who would starve to death first, there came a sifting sound, echoing from the tunnel.
“Do you hear that?” he asked.
All three of them scrambled to the snow tunnel entrance.
“Maybe someone’s found us?” said Julius. He didn’t hesitate as he climbed into the tunnel and crawled out to the end.
Jacko and Bally watched him disappear into the white hole.
“See anything?” shouted Uncle Bally.
“No, whoever it is, they’re digging hard and fast. I’m going to help from this end.”
After fifteen minutes of listening to Julius pulling at the snow, Jacko and Uncle Bally returned to the fire where they made breakfast.
When the duck was done, Jacko put a couple pieces on Julius little silver plates.
“Julius,” he screamed. “Breakfast is done.”
“AAAAAAaggghhh!” he screamed.
Jacko and Uncle Bally jumped.
They ran to the tunnel.
“What’s wrong?” asked Jacko.
“Julius, are you okay?” shouted Uncle Bally.
“Get away, get away…” was all they heard.
Uncle Bally heaved himself into the tunnel, and was about to crawl out to help Julius when a couple black-as-night things zoomed through the tunnel and into the cave.
“What the heck was that?”
He turned his head, trying to see what just past him.
“It’s Larry and Joe!”
“What?” he asked incredulously, and backed out of the tunnel entrance.
“Did you see them?” cried Julius who just crawled out.
“Larry, Joe!” Uncle Bally exclaimed. “What in the world are you doing here? How did you find us?”
Their wings beat wildly as they stared down at them with their shiny black eyes.
“Why are you guys just standing there? We need to kill those things.”
“No, don’t hurt them. They’re harmless,” said Jacko. Then, feeling uneasy, he said, “Well, I’m so glad to see you guys, but you haven’t betrayed us, have you?”
But the bat babies said nothing.
“Why are you talking to them? They’re animals, and they’ve probably got rabies.”
“They don’t have rabies; they’re fine.”
Curious to see outside, Jacko climbed into the tunnel. Uncle Bally followed, but before he left, said, “Don’t touch ‘em.”
They crawled out to the top of the snow.
“Oh my gosh!” Jacko’s voice echoed back, as he clambered out of the hole. “I can’t believe it! There’s just no way.”
Uncle Bally climbed out next, and did a 360 degree turn.
“This isn’t good,” he said.
Outside was nothing but a big white blanket. The sky was still a chilly blood red.
“Wow,” said Julius, who’d come up from behind. “Look over there.”
He pointed to the lower lands, where they came from. The ground was barely visible over the side of the mountain. It was covered in nothing but snow with not a tree or rock, or even the river, visible. From the sky, enormous balls of fiery snow spun wildly down. Circles of ash charred the ground, everywhere.
“It literally looks like we’re in a freezing hell,” said Julius.
Larry and Joe came out of the tunnel and suspended next to them.
“What are they?”
“This is Joe and Larry; they’re my friends.”
“But what are they?”
“They’re bats.”
“Don’t look like any bats I’ve ever seen.”
“They’re friendly, so don’t worry.”
“Well,” said Uncle Bally, “there’s no way we can go anywhere in this weather. What we need to do is get bugged in. You guys get as much wood as you can. Larry, Joe, we’re low on food. We’re gonna need you to help us find some. Since you’re small, maybe you can find food that we can’t see.”
Uncle Bally and the two bats traipsed off into the woods. Jacko and Julius went to gather as much wood as they could find.
Hours of foraging went by. They went off the trail into the parts of the woods where the trees were barely visible from their middles to their tops. They looked like little hats on the ground. Fortunately, it made gathering wood easy. The tops were fairly thin and required no climbing. Julius and Jacko just went around and sawed off as many tops as they could carry.
When they finally returned, it was to find Uncle Bally stuffing a charred out tree into the tunnel. He hung several birds from the branches; then he slipped inside and disappeared down into the ground. Jacko and Julius shimmied down after him.
Inside, a huge fire warmed the cave. In the corner lay a huge sack of apples, and on the fire, a number of fish smoldered.
“Looks like Joe and Larry’s magic is still good here,” whispered Uncle Bally.
“Well, that’s good to know,” he said, reaching for an apple.
Joe plucked a large duck while Larry removed pine needles from branches and set to making tea.
Over dinner, Joe and Larry bickered with each other by the fire. As usual, they had to battle Joe and Larry to keep them from eating all the meat. When Jacko tried to talk Larry into trying an olive, he hurled it at Joe, whom it struck in the eye.
“Wow,” said Julius laughing. “They’re quite a pair.”
Looking like he’d had enough of Larry, Joe jumped on him, bowling him over, and socked him in the face.
“Okay, stop, you guys!”
Joe climbed off Larry. He held his eye, which, instead of swelling blue-black like a humans, turned very red.
For the first time since they’d been on the mountain, Jacko felt
human, but then Uncle Bally said things that made him sad.
“You know, I feel sorry for even the poor birds that we hunted today. Joe and Larry knew where to find them, and when we did, it was such a sight. There they were all huddled in a thick log, looking miserable, trying to keep warm. Their eyes, the way looked at us; I actually felt like I had to save them. Of course, we’re eating them, now, but my point is, you were right, Jacko. We gotta get this war stuff over and done with. We can’t stay here and wait out this storm. What if it doesn’t end?”
Jacko’s face got extremely warm when he said this.
“What are you guys talking about?”
Uncle Bally handed him his whiskey. He took a long swig and swallowed back the urge cough.
The next morning, they woke to find the bats had gone.
“Where do you suppose they went?” asked Julius.
“Hopefully, to look for food,” said Uncle Bally. “They love hunting; it’s all they do.”
But Jacko wasn’t so sure. Truthfully, he was worried and Uncle Bally knew it, but they couldn’t do anything about it.
When bat babies didn’t return that day, Jacko knew he’d been betrayed. Every so often, he saw Uncle Bally watching him with a questioning look in his eyes. Jacko didn’t know what to do or what to say, so he just looked away.
“Why are you guys so bummed out? They found you before, they might find you again.”
Julius just didn’t understand that if the bat babies disappeared like that, it could be for a serious reason. At that moment, they could be leading demons right to them.
Every day, Uncle Bally said they needed to get to the summit, but as the snow continued to pummel the ground, they just didn’t see any way to make it happen. As it was, they’d all nearly been set aflame by the fiery snow, numerous times. The sky was nearly black all day, now, and more beams of light then ever zoomed across the sky. It just wasn’t safe; they had no choice but to stay.
Several dusks later, their spirits at an all-time low and down to one duck, Jacko wanted to die. Uncle Bally and Julius looked just as misery stricken.
How long was this situation going to last? And as he sat there, thinking of Uncle Bally’s story about the birds, and the world and what others might be going through, he said to himself that it was time that he go on and leave his uncle and friend behind. And maybe that was what was supposed to happen all along: maybe a warrior has to take the last steps of his journey on his own. As it was, Lucem said that he’d have to make a sacrifice in the end.
But Jacko didn’t go. Every day, he sat, frozen, scared, and unable to move – unable to speak.
It was on a particularly damp evening when the ground trembled violently. Jacko looked at the entrance of the cave, wondering how deep they’d be buried this time.
“It’s okay,” said Uncle Bally. “We have enough wood to last awhile.”
A moment later, their fear came true: the snow tumbled into the cave, snuffing out the entrance.
Just as Jacko felt he might go crazy with rage, the snow was brushed back by something large and white. The thing came back for a second and third swipe. He wasn’t sure if he was seeing right but he thought it was a very large hand.
“Hello? Who’s there?” called Uncle Bally.
A deep voice boomed through the cave, bouncing off the walls, and buzzing their ear drums.
“I can’t come in. Your cave is too small. Can you come out?”
“We’re not going anywhere. You’d better just move along,” said his uncle.
A large black eye, the size of a beach ball, suddenly appeared at the entrance. The eye roved around, looked at the ceiling and walls, and then settled on them, sitting around the fire.
“AAAhhh!!” shrieked Julius.
“Shut up!” yelled Jacko.
Julius stood and shouted, “What heck is that?”
“Who are you?” asked Uncle Bally.
“I prefer to make your acquaintance face-to-face.”
They all remained motionless, unsure of what to do.
“Well, are you gonna come and talk to me? Or do I have to reach in and drag you out?”
Suddenly, the man’s large hand trash can lid sized hand slid through the hole, across the dirt and attempted to grab Jacko’s leg.
“Alright, we’ll come out,” he shouted. “But you’d better not try anything.”
Jacko pulled out a bow and arrow. Scared and somewhat reluctant – Uncle Bally with his gun at the ready, they went outside.
Standing before them was a twelve foot man with hair bushier than a pom pom, and a face more wrinkled than a shar pei. His features were so strangely arranged that he looked like another species of human altogether. The man’s eyes were too low on his face, and his nose was extremely flat. He was completely naked, except for what looked like mint leaves that covered his privates. Even more amazing was the man had dug out all the snow around the cave entrance, and pushed it to the side, creating 8 foot walls. Looking up at the man who stood atop the snow walls made Jacko feel like a fish in a bowl.
“Who are you?”
His voice echoed off the snow walls.
“I’m Faunus. I’ve come to help you up the mountain. You’re friends, Larry and Joe, came to me last night and said you needed my help. I guess they read about me as young imps, in the red lands. Normally, I’d never interfere with such business as yours, but the world is changing. It no longer supports a god of my nature. I, too, am headed to the mount for protection.”
“It’s too dangerous to go anywhere,” said Uncle Bally.
“And it’ll only get worse. Better to go now rather than wait. I can help you get to the summit, if you’ll give me a chance.”
When they said nothing, he added, “What choice have you got? Would you rather sleep in a bed and see the sun again, or would you rather stay here in this unnatural element?”
“How do we know that we can trust you?” asked Jacko.
“If you’d listened to your mother, you’d know I’m a god of the forest. Being that, I need nature to survive. If I need nature to survive, then I must be on your side of this war. Don’t you think?”
Uncle Bally turned to Jacko with a look that said he didn’t detect malice from the man in mint.
“How long do you think it’ll take to get to the summit?” asked Uncle Bally.
“Four days.”
“Well, we need a day to prepare for the trip. We’re low on food and supplies. Also, we can’t leave without Joe and Larry to confirm your story. Can you call them?”
“No, I won’t call demons. Besides, it’s night; it’s not safe even for me to be out. I’ll make camp. You’ll decide if you’re coming or not by morning; otherwise, I’ll leave you behind.”
“Agreed,” said Jacko. “We’re going back inside, now. Goodnight, Faunus.”
“Why did you agree? He’s insane. You’re mad to consider traveling with that psycho. Did you see what he was wearing? And in this weather?”
“Julius,” said Jacko as he plopped down in front of the fire. “We have no choice. We need to get out of here, and he seems to know where we’re going.”
“I think we should stay,” he insisted. “What if we get stuck somewhere worse than this cave? At least we’re warm in here.”
Right as he said this, Larry and Joe flew into the cave, yammering at each other in high pitched voices. They slammed to the ground and rolled across the dirt as they tugged at something brown and hairy in their hands. After a second, Jacko realized they were fighting over a dead squirrel.
Suddenly, the bats zoomed back out of the cave. Jacko, Uncle Bally and Julius followed. They flew to the high end of a thick trunked tree, where Faunus was lying on an enormous branch, staring at the sky.
Faunus turned his head and watched Larry and Joe bicker back and forth, waving their black fists in the air. Instead of responding in English, Faunus spoke in the same dialect as the bats.
The bats seemed to respect Faunus, for they shook
hands and zoomed back into the cave.
“Okay, we leave tomorrow, or as soon as we’ve got enough supplies for the trip,” shouted Jacko.
“Agreed,” he said.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
Faunus turned his gaze to Julius.
A shadow fell across his face as his jaw slackened. Where only a moment ago, he looked merely strange, he now looked ferocious.
Julius took a step back.
“What’s wrong?” asked Jacko, looking from Julius to Faunus.
Suddenly he said with coldness, “Nothing. We’ll talk in the morning. Good night, humans.”
Back inside the cave, Julius asked, “Did you see the way he looked at me? That monster of a man?”
“Shut your mouth,” Jacko replied. “He can hear us.”
Larry and Joe stood on Jacko’s sleeping bag, skinning their squirrel.
“Hey, do that over there!”
He sat and exhaled.
“What do you think, Uncle Bally? Should we go or stay?”
“Well, it’s like he said, ‘what choice have we got?’” Uncle Bally swigged from his bottle. “This planet is dying. We need to get out of here before it’s too late. We need to move before our last food source – animal - starts dying off, or worse, killing each other to survive.”
~~~
The next day, the sound of something enormous breaking woke him.
Jacko opened his eyes and found he was alone. He put on his shoes, and forgetting that the snow was gone, almost fell to his knees as he reached out to climb into a tunnel that was no longer there.
Outside, Faunus managed an enormous fire. On one tiny end, the water can was steaming. He went over and poured himself a cup of dandelion coffee.
The sound of hacking came from behind. He turned to see Uncle Bally and Faunus working. Faunus was braiding twigs and branches into a mesh blanket. Uncle Bally chopped up wood, and placed them on the blanket.
He walked up to them and asked, “Isn’t all that wood gonna slow us down?”
“Faunus says we should take it with us. The higher up, the harder it’ll be to come by trees.”
“What do you need me to do?”
Faunus set down the branches and set to showing him how to make snow shoes.
Watching Faunus work was incredible. His fingers were quick and detailed. But Jacko’s jaw dropped when he pulled a tree right out of the ground, the sound of its roots snapping, and laid it down on the ground so Uncle Bally could keep chopping.