by Krista Wolf
After that, everything was a blur.
“GET BACK!”
I heard Boone’s shout just as the bear locked eyes with me. It was absolutely tremendous. The smell of it hit me first, even before it roared. Something like a rancid old carpet mixed in with vomit, or maybe shit, or both.
Either way, the impact was almost as bad as its roar.
I could see right away it hadn’t come from outside. Its fur was matted and disgusting, but not covered in snow. It was also flat on one side, like it had been laying on it for a while. Or maybe—
Hibernating.
And someone — namely, us — had woken it up.
It screamed again, and the brown bear’s teeth were yellowed but ferocious looking. It began sniffing the air, then looking down in the direction of Jeremy… and Morgan.
I took another step backward, looking around for a weapon. There wasn’t anything around. A few pieces of kindling, maybe. They were small and flimsy, but might be better than nothing…
“HEY! HEYYYYY!”
I started shouting. Waving my arms. It grabbed the bear’s attention, and as its gaze fixed on me I could feel my legs threatening to buckle out from under me. I was already exhausted, and could collapse at any moment. It was a miracle we’d even made it back here at all…
“HEYYYYYYY!”
I stepped sideways again, this time putting myself right in front of the fire. If I could get it to charge…
The bear’s head swiveled downward. It opened its mouth, lunging at Morgan…
FUCK!
The firebrand was in my hand before I even realized I’d grabbed it. I ran forward and swung it hard, the tip exploding against the bear’s flank in an angry shower of yellow and orange sparks. Flames leapt up instantly as the bear’s left hindquarter caught fire, engulfing it to the hip. It screamed rather than roared, while I nearly choked on the pungent scent of burnt hair and God-knows whatever else.
The pain finally reached my brain, and I realized I was actually holding a flaming log! I let go, crying out in shock and agony. The firebrand tumbled to the ground. The flesh of my hand was scorched… charred…
I wanted to run outside, and plunge my hand in the snow. Like something out of a bad cartoon, or Raiders of the Lost Ark! I almost laughed, remembering the reference, but I knew it was the hysterics of shock speaking for me. I’d just done something cataclysmically stupid. Something really, really desperate.
But still, something that had to be done.
When I looked up again the bear was nowhere near Morgan. Now it was charging me. There was nowhere to go, nowhere to turn. I was trapped between the bear and the wall, clutching my ruined hand.
Wincing my eyes shut, I braced myself for the impact…
Twenty-Nine
JEREMY
The monstrosity was only about a foot from Shane’s head when I struck it full force. Knocking it just enough out of trajectory… that it somehow missed his face.
Holy shit!
It was absolutely tremendous. Much bigger and bulkier and heaver than it even looked. I’d tackled a lot of things in my life; a seemingly endless supply of practice dummies and blocking partners over the course of countless football scrimmages. But never anything this big. Definitely never anything this important.
You just tackled a BEAR.
The concept didn’t hit me until I had my arms locked around it. It didn’t even seem real until I was wrapped up in its body, my face pressed tightly against the disgustingly matted hair. The thing was still on fire, but only partly. For the most part the creature was just… well, pissed off.
The bear and I bounced off of each other like two big kids colliding headfirst on a playground. We fell sideways and in opposite directions, knocking the wind from my lungs as it took a moment for each of us to recover.
“GO!” I shouted at Shane, as soon as I could choke the word out. “TAKE HER!”
The bear rose surprisingly fast, its paws scratching hard against the smooth lobby floor, scrabbling for purchase. That’s what struck me as odd, really. How quick it was, as I leapt back to my own feet.
“GET HER OUT OF HERE! NOW!”
Distantly I was aware of him gathering Morgan up and scrambling for the exit. Shane was clutching his wrist, obviously hurt. Instead of heading back outside he seemed to be leading her through an archway at the end of the lobby, though. Or rather she was leading him.
Good.
I sucked in a deep, painful breath. It felt like something sharp jabbing me, somewhere inside my chest.
They’re okay…
Seeing them reach safety brought me even more joy than I thought. The last thing I wanted was to see Morgan hurt. Shane — fraternity brother and all — could take care of himself as far as I was concerned.
But Morgan…
No. I had to make sure she was alright.
Even if it meant tackling a bear.
A part of me grinned, still in disbelief as I whirled back to make my next move. The bear was ‘out’, if that’s what you could call it. Its fur was still smoldering, but it was no longer aflame. It was definitely pissed though. Pissed to the point of roaring furiously, and then charging toward me as I stood ready for it at the other end of the room.
I braced my legs apart, ready to dive left or right. If I chose wrong, I was doomed. The bear was already zig-zagging, either because it was smart enough to fool me or maybe it was just dizzy to begin with.
It didn’t matter. It was almost here..
WHOOSH!
Something flew in from my peripheral vision, moving so fast I almost didn’t see it. It struck the bear hard on the right side, sending it staggering left as I threw my body and dove in the opposite direction.
Boone.
“HEY! WHAT ARE YOU—”
My cry was cut off as the bear actually roared. Its roar was so loud, so ferocious it couldn’t be confused with anything else other than a scream of pain.
Again and again Boone’s arm pounded into the bear’s side, thrusting deep against its fur. Again and again it pulled out. Something warm and dark splattered across my face — a splash of hot blood — and that’s when I realized he was stabbing it with something. I squinted hard, trying to make it out…
That something was a long-handled screwdriver.
“Hang on!”
I pushed to my feet, determined to help him if I could. But they were already too intertwined. The scene before us became a whirling blur as the two of them — man and animal — began spinning in a dizzying circle.
“DO SOMETHING!”
Morgan’s voice carried in from the next room. I looked over and Shane was holding her back, gripping her by the shoulders.
Do something.
Searching around quickly, I found the leg to a chair. But I couldn’t strike. Everything was happening too fast, everything moving much too quickly for me to pick out the enemy. I could swing if I wanted to, but I’d just as easily hit Boone as I would the bear.
Swing anyway!
I ran in, holding the makeshift weapon out before me. The dervish-like combo of man and bear were still grunting and roaring. They held onto each other for dear life as they spun again, throwing off ropes of sticky blood in every direction.
I picked my target, trying my best to time the blow. Then I raised my club…
… and brought it crashing down.
Thirty
BOONE
There was a loud THUNK as something struck the bear hard. Or maybe the bear itself struck something, I don’t know which.
All I knew was that both sides of my back burned like fire.
All at once I felt the animal pulling away. As if all the fight had suddenly gone out of it, and its only interest was to be as far away from me as possible.
That was just fine by me. More than fine, actually.
I let go, and immediately realized my arms were spent. Something grabbed me around the waist and I felt myself being yanked backward. The bear whirled at the hips and
twisted away, yanking the screwdriver savagely from my hand before bounding away on all fours. It grunted as it ran, trailing blood, lumbering clumsily yet quickly toward the snowy opening.
Together we watched it go, disappearing into the storm.
“You alright?”
Jeremy was there, helping me to my feet. I nodded numbly, not taking my eyes off the space where we’d last seen the animal.
“What the fuck?”
I was too winded to speak. My arms felt like they weren’t even my own. My lungs burned like someone had poured gasoline down my throat and followed it up with a match.
I opened my mouth but no sound came out.
“Relax,” Shane said, coming up behind me. He took my other arm and helped me sit down near the hearth. “You… you just wrestled a bear.” His voice was admonishment, mixed in with a hint of forced admiration. “Maybe don’t talk for a while?”
I nodded again, shaking the cobwebs from my head. Morgan ran up from the other room. I heard her gasp loudly, and both hands went over her mouth.
“You’re bleeding!”
That much I knew. How badly I was bleeding was an entirely different story.
“It mauled your back!” she cried. “It… it…”
“It’s not that bad,” Shane countered. “I’ll agree it looks bad, but it doesn’t seem that deep.”
I wished I could see. I could certainly feel the pain of my shoulder-blades, as well as a warm stream of what could only be blood running down both sides of my back.
“We have to clean it,” Morgan said. “Right away.”
Shane kept watch while Jeremy ventured over to the doorway. He dipped outside and returned with two armfuls of snow. I waved him away.
“Not here,” I said when I could finally speak. “Downstairs.”
The Blunder Twins looked at each other like I had sixteen heads. I grinned evilly, even through the pain. “Go on. Ask her.”
All eyes fell on Morgan. Morgan… who everyone suddenly realized was standing there in nothing but her underwear and a T-shirt.
“I—I…”
“There’s a downstairs?” Shane asked.
She went guiltily silent, like the cat that swallowed the canary.
“Are the rest of your clothes down there too?” cracked Jeremy.
“Leave her alone,” I grunted. “You guys left. We explored. It’s that simple.”
“Doesn’t look simple,” said Shane, giving me the side-eye.
“Maybe because you’re too stupid to—”
“ALRIGHT!” Morgan shouted. “ENOUGH!”
She looked pissed. And cute. And sexy, in her underwear, with her legs exposed all the way up to the tops of her thighs and—
“We’re all stuck here together!” Morgan shouted. “We’re hungry, we’re tired, we’re running on empty. We survived an avalanche… and now it turns out we’re sharing this place with a bear. A fucking BEAR!”
Shane and Jeremy looked back at her, wholly impressed. I had to admit, I was too. She was angry! Her blue-green eyes burned with a fire behind them. But she wasn’t done.
“I’ve had enough of this alpha dog bullshit!” Morgan cried. “No one’s in charge here. No one’s better than anyone else! So either you guys all get along, starting right now, or—”
“Or what?” Shane spat bitterly. “Or you’ll sleep with another one of us?”
Morgan went deadly silent. The look she delivered him over the crackle of the fire was enough to make me cringe.
“Come on,” she said, helping me to my feet. “We need to get your wounds cleaned.”
With that I let her pull me from the room, but not before grinning at the guys as I passed by.
“Oh, and the rest of you can come too, if you’d like to clean up.”
Shane snickered. “We just barely made it back. We’re absolutely freezing. You think we’re leaving this fire?”
He tossed a couple of logs into the firebox as if to make his point. Jeremy began pulling off his boots.
“Yeah, well it’s eighty degrees downstairs,” Morgan called nonchalantly over her shoulder. “Just sayin’.”
Thirty-One
MORGAN
They followed us to the staircase anyway, probably because my last comment hit home. Or at least it intrigued them enough. Got them curious.
On the way down we saw exactly where the bear came from.
“Holy shit.”
The door leading to the garage wasn’t just open, it was shattered against its jamb. Beyond that, past a short trail of soil and leaves, a dark mess of twigs and conifer branches made up what could only be the animal’s winter nest.
“It was hibernating down here,” I said, peeking in. Though I probably wasn’t doing much to prop him up, Boone’s arm was still draped over my shoulder. “Damn. We must’ve woken it up.”
“Or the heat woke it up,” Boone agreed. “Remember, I left the garage door open. Heat rises. If it thought it was spring…”
Shane and Jeremy bumped into us from the rear, cursing in the relative darkness.
“There’s a garage here?” Shane asked incredulously.
“I told you I found the garage the second night,” Boone said. “You didn’t listen.”
Jeremy shook his head with a low whistle. “Well looks you slept next to a fucking bear, dude!”
“Guess so.”
We continued down, the four of us, the staircase finally emptying out into the bottom level. Heat and humidity washed over us even before we turned the corner and the hot springs came into view.
“OH MY GOD…”
I smiled, just watching the other two gaping at each other in slack-jawed awe. Silently I wondered if I looked like that when Boone first brought me down here.
“And this… this place was part of the original hotel?”
“Yes,” I answered. “A Roman spa, or Turkish bath, or whatever the hell they called it almost a hundred years ago. But yeah, this is why they choose this weird of a spot. They built the hotel over this place as an attraction, most likely. The skiers back then must’ve loved it.”
We advanced forward, and the pile of sleeping bags Boone and I had been using came into view. The rest of our clothes were scattered nearby. My stomach rolled, uncomfortably.
“Guess this would be your little love nest,” Shane mumbled snidely.
“Stop it.”
“Surely you had to strip down because it’s too hot in here. Obviously you—”
“She said let it go,” Boone seethed.
Shane was still clutching his wrist. He’d hurt his hand for sure, and I wanted more than anything to check it out. But I also wanted him to cool off first, and it seemed he was only getting hotter.
I sat Boone down near the edge, his feet dangling into the water. Then, without a single thought or care, I pulled my shirt over my head and dove in, still holding it in my hand.
Once again the water was sanctifying. I stayed under a few moments to enjoy the heat, letting the warm liquid purge and cleanse my tired body. When I surfaced however, I was being stared at by everyone. Like I’d just committed a double-homicide.
“What?”
Shane and Jeremy were speechless. So was Boone, although his mouth now held the tiniest hint of a smug grin.
“Is it because I’m naked?”
I was past caring by now. Totally through with the bickering, the infighting, and all the rest. We were in a crisis situation, and if we couldn’t work together we might not even make it. All the pettiness was getting boring. I just didn’t care.
“You’ve all seen me naked by the way,” I put forth. As I stepped out of the water I motioned up and down my body. “You’ve all seen this. You’ve all had this, to be frank.”
Morgan!
I was past caring about the little voice in my head, too. Modesty was a joke at this point, considering everything that had happened.
They kept staring, even more wide-eyed than before. In nothing but my thong I walked over to Bo
one and began wringing my shirt out over his back. The warm water washed away most of the blood, and I used the cloth to dab away the rest.
“Shane’s right,” I said. “You got clawed up, but the scratches aren’t all that deep.” I dipped my shirt into the water and wiped some more. “You’re gonna have some wicked-looking scars though.”
Boone scratched the back of his neck and chuckled. “Chicks dig scars, right?”
I nodded and grinned. “Especially the ones left from something as cool as a bear-attack.”
I heard a resounding splash, and saw that Jeremy had cannonballed into the water! Shane was on the other side of me, pulling off the rest of his snow-covered clothes. He took off everything, even his underwear. Just as with Boone, my eyes locked onto his beautifully rounded ass as he walked slowly down the steps and into the water.
“Looks like someone’s having a good time.”
I whirled, and Boone was smirking back at me. A wave of awkwardness crashed over me, but I fought it off.
“No.”
“Yes you are. You’re loving this.”
“I am not ‘loving this’,” I asserted. “If anything, you guys are—”
“No,” he cut me off. “This is every girl’s wettest dream. Three hot guys, all to herself. Stuck here with them. Caring for them…” He nodded over his shoulder to where I was cleaning his wounds. “Hell, you’re even the one fixing the radio.”
There was a lump in my throat. Is he right?
“You’re a rock-star, Morgan,” he went on. “You’d stay here forever if you could.”
All at once I wondered if he were right. If for some reason I wasn’t thriving on the whole scenario. Shane. Jeremy. And now him. I’d taken all three of them as lovers. All three of them, into my proverbial bed…
But haven’t they taken you as well?
“You’re out of your mind,” I said dismissively. Even so, it came off as nervous. “I’m just as anxious to get out of here as the rest of you. If it weren’t for the storm…”
“Hey!” Jeremy shouted suddenly. He was thrashing around happily in the deep end of the pool. “There’s mud down here!”
