This Deep Panic Page 21

  They didn’t follow a trail, just roughly traced a wide circle around the cabin. The safety of her home was a strong rubber-band pull tugging her back. She was stupid to think she had a chance of finding someone out here in the middle of a forest without end. Of mountains that hid secrets for generations. She knew she was talking herself into giving in to the fear and running for home.

  And then Bird stopped. He stared off to their left but his hackles weren’t up. Anya went to him and placed a hand on his head, slipping the rifle off her shoulder with the other hand. She stared into the trees, breath coming fast, searching for movement in the dripping shadows. And saw it, movement, as if several shadows shifted. She raised the rifle to her shoulder. Was there more than one creature?

  Bird looked over his shoulder at her and barked once, his tail actually wagging. Confused, Anya glanced back the way they had come.

  The grizzly and the boy were behind her, not more than a few feet away. They, too, watched the movement in the trees.

  Oddly reassured, Anya chambered a round and aimed. The shadows coalesced into a group of people. A man with a gun. Young people clustered around him. One girl with dark hair raised a hand as if she was in a classroom and even with the distance between them Anya saw her trembling.

  “Are you, like, real?” the girl called out. “Because, like, we’re pretty scared right now.”

  12

  Ethan and the students ran as far as they could and then slowed to a stumbling walk. Payton came out of her faint and Spike lowered her to the ground, rubbing his biceps and breathing heavy. Ethan brought up the rear, scanning the trees on both sides, wondering what the hell they would do once it was dark.

  As the daylight faded into a rainy late afternoon, Zack, up ahead, yelled for everyone to stop, and then sank down to sit on the wet ground, head hanging. Ethan heard a low rumbling sound, and saw the others gather around Zack, staring through the trees ahead of them.

  Ethan moved through them to the front of the line. Another slide blocked their route. And there was no way they were crossing this one. Because somewhere up in the mountains, a stream had diverted to follow the washout. Water cascaded down the steep incline, moving boulders and trees and earth with its power. The whitewater cut a new streambed, straight across their path.

  “What now, genius?” Michael asked. “Told you we should have gone back.”

  For a moment, Ethan didn’t have a clue. It was like his brain just gave up and shut down. There was no way he was going to get these kids out of the mountains, away from devastation and monsters. They’d all die out here, eaten by some freak.

  “We’re going to die,” Zack said, echoing Ethan’s thoughts.

  “Speak for yourself.” Spike turned, looking back the way they’d come. “There’s gotta be a way around this.”

  Ethan pulled off his pack and opened it, keeping his eyes down. Of all of the kids, Spike would be the one to spot weakness in him. If he let that fear show he’d lose Spike’s confidence. And once he lost Spike’s, he’d lose them all and panic would take over. His thoughts raced, weighing options, as he struggled to swallow down the fear that this was where everything ended. And then his fingers curled around his compass. He straightened.

  “Now we bushwhack. Same scenario that we talked about at the last slide. We backtrack some until we find solid ground then go around. Maybe up above the stream will be small enough to cross.”

  Zack pushed himself to his feet. “It’s going to be dark soon.”

  “Then we better get moving,” Ethan said. “Get someplace we can build a shelter.”

  “Maybe we can find a cave,” Lucy said, one arm snugged against her bruised ribs. “You said there used to be a lot of mining around here.”

  “Right,” Nathaniel said. “Like we want to go into a dark cave.” He gave her a teasing nudge that took the barb out of his words and she managed a shaky smile in return.

  “Come on,” Ethan said, starting back the way they’d come. “We’re wasting daylight.”

  “Which way?” Zack asked. “There’s nothing but woods out here.”

  Ethan studied the compass, thought about his map, and then looked up for a visual marker. “Up. We can get to Jumpoff Ridge and follow it all the way to Index. That also means we don’t have to worry about getting to the river only to find the bridge gone. Get your compasses out and orient on mine. If we get separated you should still be able to find your way out.”

  “Today?” Jennifer asked hopefully.

  “Not today,” Ethan said. “No way we’re bushwhacking out in the few hours of daylight that’s left. And it will be too dangerous to hike in the dark, even with headlamps. So keep your eyes open for anything that might work for a shelter. Something we can put our backs to. Check your compasses and maps often. Make sure you’re following a true line.”

  Payton stared at him, eyes wide. “Can’t I just, like, stick with you?”

  Ethan sighed. “You didn’t pack a compass. Right?”

  “Jesus.” Spike shook his head. “What did you pack?”

  Payton scowled at him and when Zack sighed heavily and gestured for her, she went to his side.

  This time Ethan led the way, orienteering from the compass and his Green Trails map. He put Spike and Rowan at the rear and Zack behind him, thinking they were the least likely to panic if something came at them. Although he didn’t know what they would do with no weapons.

  They bushwhacked for almost three hours without seeing a place that offered shelter. Cutting across country, battling uphill through the ruined landscape, was exhausting enough without adding rain and cold and fear. Ethan worried about the dying light and knew they couldn’t go much farther. Their pace was slowing, Lucy was pale with exhaustion, and even Rowan was starting to flag. He finally called a break, telling them to drink some water and rest for a moment. But before they slipped out of backpacks, he heard the sound of something big crunching through underbrush.

  “There’s something out there!” Michael’s voice was high with terror.

  Ethan’s heart jolted into overdrive. The gun was in his hand with no memory of having pulled it out.

  “Oh, fuck me,” Spike said. “A grizzly.”

  Ethan stared, his mind struggling to make sense of what he saw.

  A woman stood several yards away. Even through the slanting rain he saw her, still as a statue, rifle to her shoulder, pointed at them. A dog stood to one side, alert. It barked once, and the woman held her hand up to silence it.

  And just behind her, a giant grizzly waited. And just behind the grizzly, a shape, a small movement, like a child. He saw the woman glance back at the bear, then face forward again. She was like some mythic forest spirit with woodland guardians.

  Except for that rifle.

  “Are you, like, real?” Payton called out. “Because, like, we’re pretty scared right now.”

  Ethan, startled, glanced at Payton. The one least prepared was the first one to speak in spite of fear. When he turned back, the bear and whatever had been with it were gone.

  “Shit,” Spike said. “Where did it go?”

  “What are you doing out here?” The woman’s voice was gruff, like she didn’t use it often. Or like someone who’d been doing a lot of yelling.

  “Where’s the bear?” Spike yelled. “The fucking grizzly!”

  The woman’s eyebrows went up in surprise and she turned in a slow circle then raised her hand in a shrug. “It comes and goes. It won’t eat you. I don’t think.”

  Ethan’s grip on the butt of the gun didn’t ease. “We were out here on a field trip to Silver Creek. The earthquake cut us off. We’re trying to find our way out to Index to get help.”

  “You won’t get there before dark.” The woman’s eyes scanned the woods around them. “And you don’t want to be out here after dark.”

  “No shit,” Zack said.

  “Can you help us?” Jennifer asked, tears on her cheeks.

  There was a long pause. Long enough t
hat Ethan thought the woman wasn’t going to answer them. And to reinforce that impression, she turned her back on them and walked away. The dog went with her. But after a few steps she looked over her shoulder.

  “Are you coming?”

  Ethan turned to the group and shrugged.

  Nathaniel shook his head and started after the woman. “Something’s better than nothing. And she has a grizzly.”

  Ethan laughed, startled that he could. “Right. Let’s go then.”

  They followed the woman as she headed uphill through the woods. But she seemed to know where she was going. And as the shadows deepened under the trees, as the gray light slanted downward, promising coming night, Ethan agreed silently with the stranger. They really didn’t want to be out here after dark.

  “Is the grizzly tame?” Rowan asked the woman, catching up to her.

  The woman’s eyebrows went up as if startled. “A tame grizzly? No way.” She paused. “So you saw it?”

  “We all did,” Lucy said.

  “Did you see…anything else?” the woman asked.

  “A boy,” Rowan answered. “At least, I think it was a boy.”

  “I didn’t see any boy,” Spike said. “I just saw a fuckin’ grizzly.”

  “I saw something,” Ethan said. “Maybe a child. Is he your son?”

  The woman stumbled. Rowan caught her arm but she stood bent as if she’d just been punched in the gut. Ethan frowned. Were they making a mistake going off with some stranger who just happened to appear out of nowhere and looked a little unstable?

  “No…not my son.” The woman swiped the back of her hand across her eyes. “I don’t know who he is. He’s always with the bear. They come and go.” She met Ethan’s eyes. “I thought I was crazy. Seeing things.”

  “Not if we all saw them,” Ethan said. “So just out of curiosity, where exactly are we going? I mean, you’re not going to take us to some gingerbread house with that bear at the door are you?”

  The woman managed a small, choked laugh. “You saw the bear so I’m not crazy on that point. But I might be anyway. There are other…things out here. So I’m going home. To my cabin. Still want to come?”

  “Oh yes, please,” Payton said. “I’d give anything for a hot shower and walls and a roof and a door that locks.”

  “No shower,” the woman said. She looked out into the trees where shadows lengthened. “We need to hurry.”

  In spite of their terror and shock and exhaustion, they managed to keep up with the woman as she moved through the forest as if it was familiar territory, even in its wreckage. Ethan noticed she used no compass, and rarely stopped to get her bearings. He stayed at the back, making sure no one fell behind, scanning the land around them for movement. Of all that had happened, it was odd to realize the thought of a grizzly was the least of his worries.

  Their progress was slow though. So many trees had come down. Shifted earth, exposed boulders, unstable hillsides…every step they took involved some obstacle to be climbed over, crawled under, or stumbled on.

  Nathaniel dropped back to walk beside Ethan. “Grizzlies aren’t native to this area, are they?”

  “Not here, no,” Ethan said. “But they have returned in small numbers to the higher alpine areas around here. Like the Enchantments, or up around Evergreen Lookout.”

  “Guess the earthquake changed everything.” Nathaniel gripped the straps to his backpack. “What do you think that thing was?”

  “Honestly, I have no idea.” Ethan caught movement in the distance to their left. He put his arm out, stopping Nathaniel, and then blew out a breath of air when he realized it was a black bear. A small one, running from them. “The quake was devastating. Who knows what it shook up.”

  “Can this woman save us?” A slight tremor shifted under Nathaniel’s words.

  “She can give us shelter for the night. Beyond that, I have no idea. In the morning we’re going to have to make a plan. For right now, I just want us behind walls.”

  “You have a gun. She has a rifle. And a German shepherd. We should be okay, right?”

  Ethan thought about his bullets hitting that creature. “Sure.”

  Nathaniel said nothing and Ethan didn’t know if that was because he was comforted or had heard the lie in his answer.

  The woman and Rowan pulled ahead of the others. Ethan lifted his chin in a nod. “Come on. Let’s catch up. We don’t want to fall behind.”

  And then, for a brief second, he saw the grizzly there, between the woman and Rowan. Indistinct, massive, and pacing with the two of them, like a guide.

  And then gone as if it had been a trick of the twilight shadows.

  13

  One of the young people, a tall girl with long auburn hair, pulled ahead of the others to walk next to Anya.

  “What’s your name?” Anya asked, then cleared her throat. She hadn’t talked this much in months. “And where did you come from?”

  “I’m Rowan,” the girl said. “We were on a field trip. Mr. Reynolds, Ethan, he’s our teacher. We’re seniors at the Environmental Science High school in Monroe. We came up to look at lichen and the old mining ghost town.”

  “Silver Creek?”

  “Yes. But then the quake hit. And…things happened.” Rowan told her about the students who had died, including one killed by a rock fall on a slide. She hesitated there, as if she wanted to say more, but fell quiet.

  Anya waited a moment to see if the girl would continue with her story, but Rowan remained silent as they clambered over a downed tree. The fir needles were soft against Anya’s skin as she pushed through the branches still remaining. The crushed and damp greenery left the astringent scent of resin on her skin. Bird jumped easily on to the trunk, and just as easily jumped to the ground on the other side. Anya watched him for signs that the creature had returned, but he paced calmly ahead of her, leading the way home.

  When they reached the edge of the small clearing, Anya paused, holding out her hand to stop Rowan. She studied the area, staring into the fringes of forest around the cabin. The clearing was empty. There was no movement in the trees, but it was getting darker and hard to see. Still, she hesitated, not wanting to step out, be exposed.

  The others gathered around her but no one spoke. She felt their tension though. As if they, too, feared the open air.

  Bird made the decision for them. He wandered out into the clearing, paused to sniff a fallen branch, and lifted his leg on it.

  “Okay then,” the smallest of the young men said. “Guess we’re good.”

  Anya followed her dog into the open and felt the others close behind her. Her breathing quickened and it was all she could do to not leap ahead and run for the safety of the cabin, now covered in shadow. No one paused to enjoy the view of surrounding mountains, dark silhouettes against charcoal clouds.

  She unlatched the door and pushed it open, entering the shadowy cabin. The others crowded in quickly behind her, almost pushing her in their effort to get inside. Something hit the floor as one of them knocked into it. The small space smelled of simmering elk stew, bay and thyme, carrots and rich broth.

  “Wait until I can get a light,” Anya said. She crossed the room with easy familiarity, dropped her pack, and lit an Aladdin lamp. When the meshed wick warmed, she turned it up, letting the circle of light spread. She reached for a kerosene lantern as the small and slender young man picked up a book from the floor.

  “Sorry. I knocked it off the table.” He put it back and then stood with the others, awkwardly, in the middle of the room.

  Where was she going to put them all? Anya had no clue.

  But night was falling and she wasn’t alone. The knot of tension inside loosened slightly.

  “Want me to start a fire?” Ethan asked, gesturing to the wood stove. “And you mind if we spread out our wet gear?”

  “Go ahead,” Anya said. “Just open the damper. I banked the fire low to keep the stew warm while I was gone. And hang your stuff wherever you can.”

  “
It smells so good,” a small girl said. “We’ve been sharing protein bars.”

  Anya slid the rifle off her shoulder, moved past the students, and hung it on its rack. “There should be enough for all of us. I can make some biscuits. Drop your stuff wherever you can find room. Can one of you put the bar in place on the door?”

  “It’s sure dark in here.” Rowan stood in the middle of the room, her arms tightly wrapped around herself. She moved closer to the Aladdin lamp.

  “I boarded the windows,” Anya said. She paused a moment, letting her eyes scan the group before meeting those of the teacher. “To keep anything out.”

  They relaxed, shoulders slumping as they glanced at each other with tentative smiles.

  “Good idea,” Ethan said. He added wood to the stove, closed the door until it left just a crack to let air stir the fire up, and then straightened. “Thanks for helping us out. What’s your name?”

  “Anya. And that’s Bird.”

  Bird sniffed the discarded backpacks, wet coats and wool hats, and then crossed the room to claim his space, curling up on the dog bed next to the wood stove.

  “How are you going to make biscuits with no oven?” the girl with the dark hair asked.

  “And this is Payton,” Ethan said.

  The others followed his lead, telling her their names. Michael sank onto her armchair as if he owned it, looking almost belligerent as if expecting someone to make him get up. She noticed the girl called Lucy holding an arm close to her side.

  “Broken ribs?”

  “Just bruised, I think.” Holding her side carefully, she lowered herself down onto the dog bed next to Bird, who promptly pushed his head under her good arm, demanding a scratch. She wrapped her arm around him tightly and lowered her head to his shoulder.

  The others followed her cue, slowly settling down as if unsure they were truly safe. Ethan stood near the heat of the woodstove with his back to it and hands in his jeans pockets. She saw him studying her cabin, watching his students, as if evaluating everything in his vicinity.