This Deep Panic Read online

  “But the topography is all different now,” Zack said. “The map won’t be any good, will it?”

  “Compass readings will still read true.” Ethan said. “All of you should have compasses and topo maps if you packed from the list I gave you. This will be a good exercise in orienteering.”

  Ethan unfolded his map as kids dropped backpacks and rummaged. He met Spike’s eyes and saw Spike shake his head slightly. Ethan knew Spike had realized just how hard this was going to be. Following a trail with injured people would have been bad enough. Bushwhacking was going to be worse. And it was going to take a lot longer. Meaning the few protein bars kids might have left weren’t going to go far enough. Ethan wished it was later in the season, when he might have been able to wild-forage food for the group. But this early in the season there wasn’t much that was edible yet.

  Rowan touched his arm lightly and spoke low. “What about the animal tracking us?”

  “We don’t know anything is, for sure,” Ethan said. “Might have just been a deer.”

  “Maybe,” Rowan said. “I didn’t get a good look but I do think I saw antlers.”

  “Okay, listen up,” Ethan said, raising his voice. “Take a break. Drink some water. Look over your maps and see if you can plot a route.”

  He saw them settle, gathering in small groups, then turned back to the slide. It was more like a boulder field and even as he watched, rocks shifted, trickled, tumbled. It was going to be too hazardous to cross, no doubt about that. He looked up at the high overhang of dirt and roots above the slide area. It would be worse to try and climb that vertical route of crumbling forest floor. Down would be equally steep. He hated the idea of backtracking and bushwhacking, but there didn’t seem to be any other safe option.

  “I say we go back to the bus,” Michael said, coming up behind Ethan. They stood there watching as a small boulder slipped downhill, causing a tiny slide in its wake.

  “And then what?” Spike asked from where he sat on a log, map in hand, next to Nathaniel. “We stay there until we run out of granola bars and starve to death?”

  “Until search and rescue or someone comes for us,” Michael said, lifting his chin and pulling his shoulders back in defiance. “People know we’re here.”

  “It doesn’t matter if they know or not,” Rowan said. “We talked about this last night, remember? Think about the bridges between here and Monroe.”

  “What about them?” Michael asked. “Maybe the quake was just here.”

  “And maybe it wasn’t.” Zack said. “Rowan’s right. We need to get as close to rescue as we can before we run out of food.”

  Ethan only half-listened to their debate, knowing Rowan and Zack were right. He studied the slide area intently, watching the movement of land, scoping out what just might be a fairly stable route.

  “Maybe we could, like, hunt,” Payton said. “Stay at the bus and build traps or something for wild animals. You know, like frontiersmen used to do.”

  “You know how to gut and skin a deer so it’s edible?” Zack asked. “Because I sure as hell don’t.”

  “We could try,” Payton said, putting a hand on his arm. “If we stay together I know we can make it.”

  A loud snap, like a thick tree branch breaking free, came from behind them. Startled, Ethan swung around. He heard Payton give a small scream of fear, saw Michael step behind Zack. Saw Spike move in front of Lucy.

  “What the hell?” Spike said.

  Nathaniel pointed back along their route. “There’s something back there.”

  Ethan saw it, too. A deeper shadow in the trees. Something human in size, but somehow off, as if denser.

  “Maybe it’s a bear. Like the one from last night,” Zack said. His hands were clenched tight into fists at his side.

  “Bear?” Lucy, one arm held protectively against her bruised ribs, took a step backward.

  “That’s not a bear,” Rowan said.

  “Where did it go?” Payton’s voice rose in fear.

  Ethan’s neck hairs stood at attention. Rowan was right. It was no bear. But he didn’t know what it was, either. Too tall to be a deer. And moving oddly, almost furtively. He flashed on the bus where something had lapped at Amy’s blood. Then thought of Paul with his laceration. Lucy and her ribs. Vulnerable because of their injuries. The air scented with fresh blood.

  “We’re crossing the slide. Now.”

  “We’ll never make it,” Nathaniel said.

  “Don’t have much choice.” Spike squeezed Nathaniel’s shoulder. “Can’t wait for that thing to come out of the trees at us. And I’m sure as hell not going closer to it.”

  “Listen up.” Ethan gestured the group closer while scanning the slide. “There’s a somewhat stable route, right above where that downed tree quit sliding. We go slow. Test every foot and handhold before you put weight on a rock. Spread out so if someone starts a slide it doesn’t take all of us. Take your time. Don’t get freaked out by whatever wild animal is back there. Just concentrate on slow and steady.”

  “Easy to say.” Zack hitched his backpack straps more securely.

  The others laughed tentatively, as if his words gave them permission to admit they were also afraid.

  “I mean it.” Ethan pulled his gun out of the pack. “I’m staying here until you’re all across. Nothing gets past me. So you have plenty of time.”

  Rowan, Ethan noticed, had already stepped forward. The others watched as she cautiously made her way out onto the boulder field. She studied the ground carefully before each movement, testing each rock before trusting it.

  “Watch what she’s doing,” Ethan said. “Do the same thing. Let her get about ten yards out and then another one goes. Don’t go higher up the slide than the people in front of you so you don’t bring rocks down on them.”

  Ethan turned his back on the slide, on Rowan, trusting her instincts. If the hillside gave way there would be nothing he could do for her anyway. There was movement again in the trees and he squinted, trying to see clearer. Had that been a flash of orange? He glanced over his shoulder. Rowan was moving steadily and Jennifer was now a few feet out, following.

  “I’m not going,” Michael said. “I’m going back to the bus.”

  “What about that thing back there?” Zack asked.

  “It’s just a bear or something.” Michael stared into the trees. “It will be freaked out from the quake. I can scare it off.”

  “It’s not a bear, and you’re not going,” Ethan said. “We stick together. I know you’re scared, but you’re crossing those rocks.”

  “I’m not scared.” Michael crossed his arms over his ample belly and chest, but his eyes shifted back to the slide. “I’m just not going. It’s stupid to leave shelter for the unknown. That’s what you’re always telling us in class. If we get lost, stay put.”

  “You’re right,” Ethan said, staring into shadows along the road. Wind moved through the trees making it hard to tell what was natural movement and what wasn’t. “Glad you paid attention. But this isn’t a normal situation and no one’s coming for us anytime soon. And that bus wasn’t on a stable slope either.”

  Zack moved out onto the slide. A few heavy drops of rain splatted on rocks.

  Nathaniel pulled on his backpack straps to tighten them. “If I can do it, Michael, you can. I’m not much for physical activity either.”

  “What are you saying?” Michael swung toward Nathaniel. “You saying we’re alike? Cause we’re not.”

  “Oh, I agree,” Nathaniel said. “I just meant neither of us is in physical shape. So if I can do it, you can.”

  “I’m in shape, you lightweight.” Michael thumped his broad stomach. “All muscle.”

  “Shut up,” Ethan said, his nerves and patience shot. “No discussion. Everyone goes. You see that?”

  Everyone shifted to look where he pointed at the trees off to the side of the logging road. They clearly saw movement, climbing rapidly upward. The human shape was evocative but each time Ethan
tried to focus, to convince himself that he saw arms, or legs, or a head, the shape seemed to shift. And there was something seriously wrong with the head. He remembered the fire, the way a creature had tried to manipulate him to move. It had to be the same animal, whatever it was.

  “What’s it doing?” Paul asked, hands pressed to his side.

  “It’s going to flank us, I think,” Ethan said, stomach sinking. “Maybe go up and over and get to the other side while we’re strung out on the boulder field. Payton, your turn. Get going.”

  Rowan was just stepping out onto more solid ground on the far side. Ethan, watching her drop her backpack and bend over, realized how vulnerable she was there, alone. Had he just sent kids to their death? If he called her back, if the kids tried to turn around on the slope, they’d slide for sure. And whatever that thing was would just circle back.

  “Shoot it,” Paul said, his face pale beneath the acne scars.

  “He’s right,” Lucy said. “Can’t you just kill it?”

  Ethan’s instincts screamed that shooting the creature, and killing it, would be two very different things. Not that he had a chance of hitting it, the way it moved through the trees, and him with just a Walther. He shook his head.

  “It’s too far away. Handguns aren’t accurate, especially at a distance.”

  Nathaniel raised a hand to Ethan in farewell, and moved onto the slide. Ethan saw his rapid breathing, his jerky, nervous movements.

  “Hey Nathaniel!”

  Nathaniel paused and looked back, sweat glistening on his forehead.

  “Take a deep breath and slow down. Remember, you have to show Michael how to climb.”

  Nathaniel managed a weak smile, gave Ethan a thumb’s up, and when he turned back to the rocks, looked a little more in control.

  Ethan wished now he’d gone first. If whatever wild animal was following them got across the top before he did, those already there didn’t stand a chance. “What the hell is it?” he asked under his breath.

  He heard a small scream and whipped around in time to see Lucy, out on the slide, slip. She fell a few feet but caught up against a boulder that luckily held. He breathed out heavily in relief when her fall only dislodged a small cascade.

  “Don’t try climbing up to the others,” he yelled out to her. “Just keep going.”

  Lucy raised a hand in acknowledgement and moved forward. He saw blood on her hands and seeping through a tear in her jeans. But she climbed smoothly, one arm tight to her side supporting her ribs. She looked so tiny and vulnerable out there that Ethan had to turn away.

  Rowan straightened and Ethan saw her scanning the top of the slide, frowning. Jennifer made it across and dropped to sit on the ground, head hanging. Zack joined them and went up to Rowan, pointing toward the bluff above them. Ethan didn’t have to hear him to know what he was saying. After a brief moment, Rowan dropped her pack, unzipped a pocket, and pulled out her large, folding serrated knife that she used for cutting tree branches. Ethan supposed it was better than no weapon but she’d have to be in close proximity to use it. His heart thudded. He needed to be over there.

  Paul was now on the boulder field following Spike, and the only ones left were Michael and Ethan.

  “Go,” Ethan said.

  “Ain’t happenin’.” Michael gripped his elbows in tightly cupped hands but even so he was shaking.

  “Look buddy, there’s no time to mess around.” Ethan shoved the gun into the pack. “You go now, or you stay back here by yourself. Whatever that wild animal is, you think it’s going to keep going after a group when it sees one easy prey all by himself over here?”

  Michael stared into the trees so long that Ethan started to move out without him, hoping to jolt him into awareness. But then Michael shook his head and headed for the rocks, stumbling past Ethan. Ethan gave him a small lead but impatience wouldn’t let him allow the same gap between them as he’d told the others to keep.

  Granite immediately became his world. That and the backside of Michael. Grit bit into his hands and he wished he’d taken a moment to pull gloves out. Too late now. The ground shifted under his boots with the small rat-like scrabbling of falling rocks and pebbles. The urge to drop to hands and knees, to hug the earth like a leech, was strong.

  Michael felt it, too. He had his arms wrapped around a large rock, breathing heavily.

  “Take your time,” Ethan said behind him, wishing he could push the kid forward.

  Michael nodded, hung his head a minute, then let go of his anchor and took a step.

  And up ahead, Paul fell.

  8

  The ground just gave way under him. It wasn’t a big slip, and Paul managed to catch himself by grabbing on to the ragged edge of a huge granite boulder. He dangled briefly, kicked with his boots, and gained purchase on somewhat solid ground. Ethan saw those on the far side reach out to grab each other as if by hanging on there, they could help Paul hang on here.

  There was a second where Ethan remembered to breathe, seeing Paul steady himself.

  Until the huge boulder slid. Before Ethan’s heart could jump out of his chest, the boulder seemed to briefly catch and hold.

  “Holy shit,” Michael said.

  “Paul!” Ethan yelled. “Go!”

  Paul looked up at the boulder and frantically scrambled sideways. His struggle to find purchase sent rocks and debris cascading out from under the boulder and down the steep slope. Ethan moved forward, oblivious to the danger he put Michael in by pushing past him. In horror he watched the boulder shift downslope, catch briefly again, and then almost gracefully, tip.

  Paul never stood a chance. Tons of weight rolled right on top of him, pinning his torso and lower body. The rock slid a couple feet downhill, dragging Paul under it, and then came to a stop.

  “Fuck!” Ethan went uphill above the boulder.

  “We’re coming!” Spike shouted from the other side.

  Ethan saw Nathaniel and Spike starting his way, their faces tight and grim.

  “No!” he shouted. “Stay there!”

  He drew up beside Paul, small rocks sliding out from under his boots. The rain was coming heavier now, making the boulder slick. He saw the open eyes, the blood pooling out of nose, mouth, ears.

  “We can push it off him.” Michael, gasping for air, was close enough to reach toward the boulder.

  “No,” Ethan said. “No, man. We push it off, it starts an avalanche, and we go down with it.”

  “Then what?” Michael asked.

  “We get to safety,” Ethan said.

  “No way. No way. You’re the teacher! Fix this!”

  Ethan saw the rising panic in the boy. He needed Michael angry and moving, not terrified and frozen.

  “Quit questioning every fucking thing I say!” he yelled into Michael’s face. “Get your ass moving, now!”

  Michael stared into Ethan’s eyes and Ethan saw the panic fade, saw the belligerent attitude slide back into place. He was still going into shock, pale, starting to sweat, hands shaking. But he was also getting angry.

  Good.

  “Come on Michael. Follow me. Step where I step.”

  Carefully they made it to the other side where hands reached for them, caught at Ethan, held on. Lucy and Jennifer gripped each other, sobbing. Rowan was pale and frozen, staring out at the slide with eyes dilated with terror.

  “What do you need?” Zack, the rock climber, asked. “Can we make some sort of sling and lift the boulder? What?”

  Ethan shook his head. “Nothing we can do.” He dropped his pack, sank to his knees. “He’s dead.”

  Michael took a step sideways and collapsed on a large clump of salal. He pulled an arm up to his face to muffle the sobs that shook through him. Nathaniel went to him and put a hand on his shoulder, but Michael shoved it off.

  “Are you sure?” Payton asked, tears coursing down her cheeks and mixing with rain. “I mean, like, maybe he’s just pinned.”

  “I’m sure.” Ethan covered his eyes with one han
d, elbow on his knee. Paul. Amy. John. Just kids. His responsibility.

  The others crowded around him. Jennifer and Lucy still gripped each other’s hands and Jennifer was breathing rapid and shallow. There were tears in Rowan’s eyes now, but she brushed at them and walked away from the group.

  Jennifer sank to the ground, gasping. Lucy’s shoulders heaved with broken sobs.

  Ethan reached for Jennifer and put a hand on the back of her neck. “Listen to me. I want you to take a breath in through your nose. Hold it, let it out through your mouth.”

  Jennifer shook her head, a hand going to her chest. Her face drained of color.

  “You’re hyperventilating and you’re going to pass out,” Ethan said, keeping his voice low and steady. “So you’re going to do what I tell you. Look at me.”

  Jennifer shook her head again but then raised her face and met his eyes.

  “Good girl. Now. One breath for me. In through your nose. Now hold it. And let it out slow.”

  Lucy was curled on the ground but Spike, face pale and set, went to her and lifted her up.

  “Okay, another breath,” Ethan said, nodding to Spike.

  Jennifer took a deep breath and held it. When she breathed out, some color came back to her face.

  “Rowan, come sit with Jennifer and keep her breathing slow.” Ethan stood and went to Zack, who was on his knees, cheeks wet with tears. “Come on buddy, let’s get you up.”

  Spike deposited Lucy on a downed tree, went to Nathaniel and scooped him up, and put him down next to Lucy. Then he knelt in front of them holding their hands and talking. Ethan couldn’t hear the words, but Lucy drew in a shaky breath and nodded.

  Zack stumbled to his feet, deep tremors rippling through him. “We’re all going to die.”

  “Maybe,” Ethan said. “I’m not going to lie to you. This is bad. But I’m going to fight for you. You hear me?”

  Zack swiped tears away with the wet sleeve of his jacket, hands shaking. He managed a nod.

  Ethan’s hands tightened into fists. This was supposed to have been a simple fucking field trip. An easy hike. An easy assignment. There and back. His biggest worry had been that bus driver. And Payton’s preparedness. Now his kids were dying. His chest ached like the boulder that killed Paul sat on his heart.