Dead Summit: Containment

by Daniel Loubier

  Just do it, asshole.

  Her foot ached, but she no longer felt intense pain as she did before. She felt light-headed. A rifle blast to her face was not how she envisioned the ending to a day that began with so much promise, but that was how things looked now. No exit strategy. No heroics. No Roy-types to come along and save her. She was by herself.

  She was about to die and she was okay with it. She had exhausted all her opportunities to survive. She laughed in spite of herself when she realized she was about to die at the hands of a live person when all this time she had been trying to flee from the dead.

  “Whatcha laughin’ at, bitch?!” shouted the man who stood over her. He was big with broad shoulders and very tall. He reminded Grace of a mercenary.

  “Tom,” the other man said quietly, “calm down, man.”

  Tom glared at the other man.

  “Don’t you fucking tell me to calm down!”

  “Fine, fine. Just…” His words fell off and he stopped speaking.

  “What! Say what’s on your mind, Kyle!”

  The second man, Kyle, held his hands submissively. “Nothing, man. I…” He looked around nervously. “I just don’t like being out here, all loud and everything.”

  “Awh… you afwaid the moaners are gonna get you?” Grace felt disgusted by the way this man taunted the smaller, less aggressive man.

  “Whatever,” Kyle sighed. “Just get it over with.”

  “You wanna do it, tough guy?”

  “Nope, nope. It’s all you, Tom. You’re the man.”

  “Yeah,” Tom said with a brash nod of his head. “Damn right I’m the man. Now why don’t you step back and let a man show you how it’s done.”

  Grace kept her focus on Kyle as he turned away and rolled his eyes.

  “That’s right,” Tom continued to taunt him. “Look away, junior.” He closed one eye and took aim at Grace’s forehead.

  She laid still and let her eyes drift off, past Kyle’s uncomfortable face and into the sky. Above the trees she saw a beautiful blue that reminded her of the crayons she colored with as a child. Not a bird passed by or chirped. It was quiet and peaceful. She took a slow, deep breath and tasted the last bit of air that touched her lips, her tongue and then filled her lungs. She then closed her eyes.

  A voice on Tom’s two-way radio suddenly broke in: “Anybody hear me? Over.”

  “Shit,” Tom murmured.

  “Tom, Kyle… Over.”

  Tom kept the rifle steady on his target.

  “It’s Chief,” Kyle said.

  “I know who it is!” Tom barked.

  Grace opened her eyes. Tom seemed hesitant, and both men looked nervous about something. Tom’s finger moved away from the trigger and for a moment, she thought about getting up and running. A fire spread quickly through her body and her muscles tingled. Every second she remained alive was an opportunity to get away.

  Then she remembered the injury to her foot and her confidence faded.

  Eventually Tom said, “Chief can wait,” and he stared down the scope. He rested his finger against the trigger and began to squeeze.

  “Tom! Kyle! There’s a woman headed down the mountain… she’s coming your way. I need her alive! She has sensitive information! I repeat, I need her alive! Somebody get back to me! Over!”

  Grace stared into the scope. She could not see Tom’s eyes but she heard a disappointed puff of air from his nose and she knew he wasn’t going to kill her.

  He couldn’t kill her.

  She offered a victorious, vengeful grin.

  Tom looked out from the scope.

  “I asked what was so funny, bitch?”

  Then he pulled the trigger.

  Chapter 21

  His feet shuffled forward without direction and his mind had become a place filled with clouds and confusion.

  He wanted to be as far away from the place as possible. The others would come back to collect Ryan’s body, and he would likely need to lead them to it, but for now Liam needed to be away from it. He couldn’t sit in one place and allow his guilt to overcome him. He needed to keep moving, so he left the scene of Ryan’s death and ran as fast and as far as he could. He ran until his body tired and then walked. Then, when his energy returned, he quickened his pace again.

  What have I done? Liam asked.

  You did what you needed to do, he reminded himself. What he would have wanted.

  He never wavered in his decision in the moments after Roy attacked Ryan and just before Liam ended his friend’s life. Ryan’s expiration had been near, and Liam acted quickly and efficiently to ensure his best friend didn’t become a monster. It wasn’t until now that Liam began to doubt himself.

  Have I become a monster? Am I like the rest of them?

  He tried to convince himself it was the right thing to do. He had thought so at the time, but not now.

  It felt like the right thing to do, he thought. Why doesn’t it feel right anymore?

  He felt detached from the person he was when he arrived at the mountain. He no longer recognized the man carrying the weapon and walking in his shoes. This was somebody new. The death of Roy—the store owner’s second death—had come too late for Ryan, and similarly coincided with the death of the man Liam once was.

  He felt like a killer now.

  I’m not a killer…

  He had turned off his radio so he wouldn’t have to respond to any inbound communications. He wanted only to hear silence and to concentrate on the sound of his feet walking forward. Soon, though, he would meet up with the others again and they would know what happened to him and Ryan.

  How would he tell them? And would they understand when he told them the truth? What would Ryan’s father say? What would his father say?

  What will Shelly think of me?

  He surprised himself when he realized her opinion was the most important. His sisters would be kept in the dark, per the rule of containment, but he shuddered when he thought of how they would react if they were to find out.

  Would his sisters like this new Liam? Would they recognize him? Would they tell him as they did before that their mother wished only for his happiness, and that she would support his decisions?

  It had been hours since Ryan died. Since Liam killed him.

  Roy killed him, he told himself. I just made sure he didn’t turn into something… else.

  He held his rifle out in front of him with both hands, as if he needed to be as far away from it also. The hands that held this wicked thing looked ugly to him. They looked like a murderer’s hands.

  STOP IT!

  He slung the rifle strap across his chest and continued at a jog.

  He wasn’t sure where to go, but he knew the mountain’s trail system well and he headed toward what he guessed would be the trail Shelly would eventually come down once she and Robert were finished at the hut. Then he could talk to her—assuming he would have an opportunity to speak with her alone—and she would understand why he did what he did. Wouldn’t she? He needed some assurance that what he did was right, that there was still some good left inside him.

  A single gunshot ripped through the seemingly empty forest and roused him from his melancholic trance.

  Liam finally stopped running. Before he had time to think, he swung the rifle over his shoulder and it landed comfortably in both hands. A few moments later, he was surprised by how natural that motion felt.

  Then he heard two male voices. Neither belonged to Robert, which meant Shelly wasn’t there.

  Without calling down to the two men who remained unseen, he approached their position.

  Chapter 22

  Grace’s ears rang after Tom fired a bullet into the ground only inches away from her head. She looked at his face and he appeared to be laughing. Then he exchanged conversation with Kyle, but their words were hollow and indistinguishable, like the teacher in a Peanuts cartoon.

  Tom put the radio to his mouth and he said more words Grace couldn’t discern. He gestured down
toward Grace several times while he spoke. At times he seemed agitated, but at the end of the conversation he appeared to agree with whomever was speaking on the other end. He then placed the radio back on his belt and spoke with Kyle.

  Suddenly both men raised their rifles and aimed in the same direction. Grace steeled herself for what was to come. The ringing in her ears began to fade and she heard what sounded like footsteps coming toward the three of them. She kept her eyes up and saw Tom and Kyle lower their weapons.

  Another man’s face appeared above and Grace’s eyes met his. He looked scared and his face was somber, and he didn’t appear as vile as the first two. Grace found this peculiar.

  Wonder what he’s so upset about, she thought. Could it be this organization actually includes someone who isn’t married to the idea of ‘clean-up,’ and otherwise has some semblance of a conscience?

  Grace remained alert as her ears finally regained their hearing.

  “What happened?” the newcomer asked.

  “’The fuck you doing here, Liam?” Tom asked.

  The third man, Liam, looked tentatively down at Grace and then back at the other two.

  “Hey, guys. I uh…”

  “Weren’t you with Ryan?” Kyle asked.

  “Yeah,” said Tom. “Where is he? He go back down to base?”

  Liam swallowed hard. His mouth opened as if he was about to say something, but his eyes shifted and fell to the ground. Grace knew that look only meant this Ryan person was not doing very well, wherever and whoever he was.

  “He’s um…” Liam began. “He’s--”

  “He’s dead,” Grace said softly.

  “Shut up, bitch,” Tom warned.

  Grace swiveled her head and caught Tom’s eyes. The humor within the irony of the situation caused her to smile and she momentarily forgot about the pain in her foot.

  “Can’t you tell? Your friend Ryan is dead. And not the kind of dead you’re familiar with. Sure, might be walking around somewhere, but he ain’t Ryan. He’s probably real hungry, too.” Her eyes moved to Liam. “Am I right?”

  Liam stayed quiet and did not respond in any way.

  “Fuck!” Tom hissed. His head hung and his shoulders slouched, and he let his weapon fall by his side. “How? Did he suffer?”

  Liam did not lift this head. “He got bit by… one of them.”

  “Did he suffer?” Tom pressed.

  Liam’s eyes filled with tears. “Not much.”

  “Damn…” Kyle said.

  Then Tom asked, “So did you… ya know… did you take care of him?”

  Liam stared at the ground in a trance-like state.

  “Well, did you?” Tom raised his voice.

  Liam’s head twitched and he nodded. “Yes, I put him down.”

  “Okay,” Tom said, a bit of poise having returned to his voice. “That’s good. Shows you can handle a situation that needs handling.”

  Liam ignored the compliment and only glared back at Tom.

  “So,” Tom continued, “What the hell are you doing on this part of the mountain?”

  Liam’s eyes went cold and his voice was rigid. “I couldn’t stay there anymore. I couldn’t be with my dead friend any longer. Is that what you want to hear?”

  “Okay, okay,” Tom said, raising a defensive hand. “I gotcha. We’re cool. Man, you’ve got some fire in you, don’t you!”

  Liam’s expression remained flat, and it pleased Grace to see there was at least one other person who wasn’t intimidated by Tom’s act.

  “Well,” Tom continued, “you did the right thing. Don’t beat yourself up over it. We’ve all been told what happens when these things attack. Sucks about Ryan, and I am sorry you lost your friend, but he was a dead man long before you put an end to his suffering.”

  “He hadn’t begun to suffer…” Liam said through gritted teeth.

  Kyle stepped between the two men. “Okay, guys, let’s just take it e--”

  Tom shoved him out of the way and stepped toward Liam.

  “No! Our man here has something he wants to get off his chest. Am I right?”

  Liam glared at him and stood his ground.

  “Go ahead,” Tom provoked him. “Say it!”

  “Hasn’t the kid been through enough?” Grace said from the ground.

  Tom rolled his eyes. “I thought I told you to shut up, bitch.” Then he bent over and smacked her in the face with the palm of his hand.

  Grace expected it to sting, but his giant hand felt like a hammer jarring loose a few brain cells. She felt dizzy and the ground turned slightly on its axis. She shook her head and opened her jaw, and widened her eyes until the ground went back to normal.

  “Hey man,” Kyle said, “I don’t like the girl any more than you do, but do you think we need to do that?”

  Tom turned his attention away from Liam and delivered a sidelong glance. “Are you kidding me? Are you f--who’s in charge here?”

  Kyle stared at the ground, embarrassed. “I got it, man. I got it.”

  “Who!” Tom demanded.

  “You! Okay? Goddammit.”

  Kyle and Liam exchanged a discreet look of frustration as their alpha male straightened his back and rounded his shoulders.

  “All right,” Tom said, “Chief says we gotta bring her down. How we doin’ that?”

  The two smaller men looked at each other, neither one with an answer.

  “Hello!” Tom snapped his fingers. “What are we doing, ladies?”

  “I guess we have to carry her down,” Kyle offered.

  “Good,” Tom said. “You guys, grab her by the shoulders and legs.”

  Kyle sighed. Liam remained stoic.

  Tom barked, “You got a problem with that, Kyle? Because don’t forget, out here I’m the Chief. So pick up this bitch and let’s get moving!”

  The radio on Tom’s hip came alive again.

  “Tom, it’s Robert. You guys moving yet? Over.”

  “Damn,” Tom said as he reached for his radio. He winked at Grace. “Sounds like you got the Chief all hot and bothered.”

  “What’s the matter?” Grace breathed out; it required significant effort to speak. “You jealous about something?”

  Tom cursed, then he spoke into the radio. “Yeah, Chief. We’re heading out now. Just trying to figure out how to move her. Over.”

  “Chrissake… who gives a fuck, just drag her ass down. I don’t care. Just get her down safe. And I mean it, do NOT shoot the girl. Over.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” Tom said before he pressed the Talk button. Then he held the radio close to his mouth. “We got it. Over and out.”

  “Does any of this seem weird to you?” Kyle asked as Tom put the radio back on his belt.

  “What do you mean?” Tom asked.

  “I dunno… I just think it’s weird that James is letting Robert run the show like this.”

  Tom scoffed. “Yeah, well…don’t be fooled. Robert may be calling the shots up here, but it’s only a reminder of James’ reach.”

  “How so?”

  “Think of Robert as an extension of James. Around Robert, we play along. But around James… do not fuck around or you will get yourself killed.”

  Kyle nodded. Message received.

  Tom motioned toward the backpack that Liam was wearing. “You got any rope in there?”

  “Yeah,” Liam said, and he removed his pack and unzipped the large pocket.

  “Good,” Tom said. “I have a better idea.”

  He squatted next to Grace and helped her sit up. She tightened her lips and fought back the urge to cry out when her injured foot slid forward on the ground.

  “We’ll slip the rope under her shoulders,” Tom continued. “Make a harness. Then we’ll pull her down the mountain like a body. After all”—he gave her another ugly wink—“she’ll be dead soon, anyway.”

  Grace remained still while the men rigged the rope into a harness. She tried not to express any pain, but couldn’t stop from wincing when Tom tightened t
he rope. When they were finished, he looked her over to ensure the harness was secure. As he did so, she noticed him throw a perverted glance at her chest.

  “Getting one more good look?” she asked.

  Tom laughed. “You sure wish, don’t you?”

  Grace said nothing.

  Tom’s eyes became thin as he stared at her. “You may think I’m a monster, but I don’t shoot people if I don’t have to. Certainly not in the back when I could have done so earlier when we were chasing you.”

  Grace saw Liam wince when Tom said this and wondered if either he or Tom had in fact shot a person in the back before.

  “Better to see the terror on someone’s face then?” Grace asked. “Just before they die?”

  The arrogance left Tom’s visage. “Fuck you.”

  “Now look who’s making wishes,” she said.

  Tom fought to maintain a calm and steady authority, but Grace could tell she had gotten under his skin. She was familiar with his type: he was a bully, and bullies only felt strong when their prey was too weak to fight back. Like now, with her maimed foot and inability to stand under her own strength.

  Tom gripped the rope and pulled her face to within inches of his. “Just because I’m not going to shoot you right now doesn’t mean you’re not already dead.” Then he closed a bear-sized fist and struck Grace in the temple with a right hook.

  Grace’s eyes rolled back and the last thing she saw was the sun’s rays cutting through the treetops.

  PART THREE: THE STORE

  Chapter 23

  “Hey boss,” a voice said.

  Grace’s eyes fluttered open. She caught glimpses of the inside of a room. Her head rested on a table and she sat in a small chair. A tall floor lamp stood close by and she squinted to block out as much light as possible. There was a feeling inside her head like that of a cement truck driving into the walls of her skull, backing up, and then slamming into her skull again. Her head felt heavy and it required significant effort just to pick it up.

  “Boss…” the voice said again, louder this time. It was a male voice, and each time he spoke, the cement truck rammed the inside of Grace’s head a little harder.