“Wasn’t thinking,” I told him, wincing in the pain as he looked me over.
The punctures on my shoulder were discolored from the iodine mixture I’d brought up and there were neat black stitches closing many of them off. They had angry red marks all around them, almost like bruising. Hell, it probably was bruising.
“Hey man, you bounced back fast,” Jordan said walking in with the rest of the gang.
“I’m not back, I’m awake,” I told him.
He checked me over from the waist up and had me move my left arm in a series of motions. That left me panting in pain… Then he checked out the gauze bandages over part of my face.
“You got those wet,” he said.
“Yeah. How bad does it look?” I asked him.
“When the inflammation goes down it’s going to leave a pretty nice scar. A good plastic surgeon can take care of it if… I mean… you dumb fuck, why did you go and tackle a bear?”
“I had three seconds to act and move. I don’t know if there was much thinking involved,” I told him, “other than not letting Tonya get hurt,” I told him.
“I appreciate it by the way,” he said, his voice softening. “It’s a good thing you’re a crazy prepper and your ex-wife is here.”
“Oh, why’s that?” I asked him.
“Because I didn’t know you were allergic to penicillin and was about to give you a ton of it when you first got in. Luckily you had some other stuff in there too. Tracy recognized the name as the stuff you used back in the day.”
“Yeah, I made sure I had stuff that’d work for any situation.”
“I’m worried about your hand,” he said peeling the rest of the gauze from my head and looking it over.
“How bad?” I asked.
“His tooth broke off in the bones of your hand. I’ve got it braced. Had to open the top of your hand up to get it out. If that gets really infected… I don’t know if I have anything strong enough that you can take.” He said quietly before starting to unwrap my hand.
“If I get really bad, I’ve got an epi pen, some Claritin, and Benadryl,” I told him.
“I don’t know what you mean,” Jordan told me.
“They had to do that to me at the hospital once when I got into a car crash. They shot me full of epi and then gave me a liquid z pack.”
“I’ve heard doctors do that, but I’m not trained… I mean I’ve never had to do it.”
“If it comes to it, I’ve got the supplies, don’t worry, man.”
“What if your hand doesn’t heal back up and it’s crippled? What if we have to amputate it because I fucked up?”
“What if you suddenly grow boobs and start prancing about in high heels?”
Tonya let out a loud bark of laughter and soon the whole room was busting up. I even laughed because it was funny, it broke up the tension and there had been very little to have fun with.
“Now, between Denise and Tracy, they got something special cooked up. It should be ready soon,” Brian said from the back.
“Tracy cooked it? Are you sure I have enough antibiotics in me, doc?” I asked.
“You want another hole in your head?” Tracy snarked, but she was smiling.
“Yeah, he’s going to be fine,” Brian said and kissed her, shutting her up effectively.
“How are we doing for food and firewood?” I asked.
“Oh, you’re never going to believe it!” Brian said, getting all excited.
“Yeah, it’s some good news,” Jordan said with a grin.
“What is it?” Denise, Tracy, and my voice chorused as one and then we broke out into smiles.
“Whoever the owner is was one smart guy. He had 2 metal 50-gallon drums in the old cabin. The circular lids were bolted closed. Bear proofing, I guess. Inside of one was extra hats and gloves, boots and a ton of those metal traps.”
My heart raced with those words. Leg holds or conibears, it didn’t matter to me. When a snare wouldn’t do it, those would, and none of us had coats. Which made me ask, “Were there any coats?”
They shook their heads.
“Well, that sucked. What was in the other barrel?” I asked.
“Food, well, dried stuff. Flour, cornmeal, packets of yeast. Beans, rice and spices!” Jordan said the last like he was about to be served a four-course meal.
“Wow, he was planning on an expensive dinner date, wasn’t he?” I asked sarcastically, but secretly I was happy for the food and those were the same staples that made up a good portion of my preppers pantry.
“It was stuff that wouldn’t go bad if it was frozen,” Jordan said.
I thought about that. Maybe it was an old trappers cabin and it was the supplies one man would need for the winter. In theory, a 50-gallon drum would hold more than enough dried goods for a person for a season. The problem I saw was that there wasn’t one, there was six.
“That’s great news,” I said.
“Now, what’s the special dinner that’s going to make me happy?”
“Bear Burgers,” Tonya said smiling. “We brought the meat grinder from the cabin on our first trip. We’ve had the burgers on the lower rack on the smoker for an hour now. Low and slow, as long as it doesn’t start another grease fire.”
My mouth watered at that.
“Buns?” I asked.
“Well, they’re more like oversized rolls, but yeah.”
My mouth was watering. “Ketchup and mustard?”
“I have packets from McDonalds I found in my luggage. My just in case mom and dad didn’t pack enough, and they didn’t.”
“A real feast,” I said smiling broadly.
“Oh yeah, and we found some wild onions, so…”
“You’re killing me,” I said. “How didn’t I smell this?”
“It’s in the smoker for one, for two, you reeked of BO, medicated ointment and sweat. You were probably smelling yourself.”
“So I smelled like Tracy’s cooking?” I joked.
I was surprised when it was Tonya who came forward and got in my face. At least, she stood in front of me so she could see my lips clearly.
“You always pick on her. She helped my sister take care of you. Be nice.” Tonya told me seriously, her voice soft despite the words and warning.
“Can’t help it. It’s been like that forever. I hope she knows I’m not being serious,” I said turning to look at her.
“Most of the time I know you’re not serious,” she said. “I’m ok, though, Tonya. He isn’t bugging me.”
Tonya nodded and then turned, hugging me hard enough to make me hurt and then kissed me on the cheek.
“Thank you. I didn’t want to be bear food.”
“No problem, kid.”
The smile made the scabs on the side of my face ache, but I couldn’t help it. I thought of what it had been like for the three days I was out cold. They had all stuck by my side and taken care of me. I felt like we were even closer now than we had been if that was possible. I did feel horrible about the timing, though. The girls had just lost their mother and we’d just gotten them back to the cabin when this happened. They wouldn’t have had much time to grieve.
“When do we eat?” I asked as everyone started moving away.
“Soon,” Tracy is going to check on the burgers and I’m going to finish patching you up and then give you more pain pills,” Jordan told me.
“I’ll just hang out. I can’t help much,” I said lifting my left hand up showing them the mitten of gauze it’d become.
“You’re going to love this,” Denise said and went out to help Tracy.
“How is the food situation when we add the trapper’s supplies?” I asked Jordan.
“Some of the fish is starting to go bad. We’ll have to keep an eye on it.”
“I can’t wait to try some burgers out,” I told him, “I’m famished.”
“We’ve got enough meat to have burgers for a week or more,” Brian said, “and still have some bear jerky.”
“Have you tried
any of the meat yet?” I asked, curious.
Jordan and Brian looked at each other guiltily, but it was Tonya who spoke up, “We had it the next morning after you saved me. It was good. My sister found onions in woods by last trap.”
“You’re talking an awful lot,” I told her.
She smiled, “You and Tracy are the deaf ones, not my fault you don’t know sign.”
I smiled at that and she wrapped her arms around Jordan, hugging him as he finished smearing triple antibiotic ointment on exposed stitches.
“I want those to air out. You ready for your hand?”
“No,” I admitted.
I was wrong; I was ready, but I didn’t know if I wanted to see it.
14
As the weeks passed, we had to start a fire at night and one in the mornings. I was only confined to the inside for a few days, except to bathe, before I was steady enough on my feet. I think the problem had been lack of food and a touch of an infection, but it cleared up rather fast. We decided it was due to the magic of the bear burgers.
Never before had I had a burger that tasted as moist and as good. I didn’t know if it was the smoke, or that we’d been living on almost fish and berries forever but it was amazing. Luckily, Denise had made the guys save the organ meat, and we all had small amounts of the liver, even though a couple of us - including me - didn’t like it.
If we tried to live like this forever, we’d die of starvation even if we had food, but we didn’t. We had to survive just long enough. The other change was the bugs seemed to suddenly disappear. We didn’t have to walk around with a fog of spray to beat back the mosquitos. Actually, we’d run out of that long before and had just barely tolerated the little buggers. It was amazing, but we were starting to layer our clothing.
The guys continued to gather firewood, and Tonya and Denise checked on the snares. Firewood became our biggest priority, that and making sure we had enough food.
“What are you doing today?” Denise asked, sitting down next to me at the picnic table.
“They found an old radio…”
“Yes?” she asked. “But the battery is dead. We could use the acid we found and fill it up with what water we have. It isn’t distilled but…”
“We could,” I agreed. “But would it work?” I asked.
“We could always go on a day trip together and go get it. I know they were really excited about finding the food and loaded all the boats up, but I think there’s still stuff we could get before winter hits.”
“Yeah, me too. I’m worried a bit. About the winter time, I mean.”
“Do you know how much snow it gets up here?” she asked.
“No,” I admitted, “I think we should go on that day trip though,” I said standing.
“Really? Some alone time?” she asked, her hand finding itself in mine, our fingers intertwining.
“Yeah, if they have the acid mix there, maybe we can figure out how to tan the bear hide we smoked… and if we keep going on the other hides we’ve been getting…”
“We might have a coat or six?” she asked hopefully.
“I think we can figure out how to make one just from the bear fur. At least for you ladies.”
“You know, I think you deserve that one,” she said, leaning into me.
Her weight was soft against me. My ribs had been bruised but not broken; they were still tender but as we sat there watching the fire and the sunset, I didn’t want to be anywhere else with anyone else.
“Maybe,” I said one arm hugging her with my good arm.
My shoulder had healed up fine, and all the stitches were out. Still was some residual soreness in the shoulder. I’d watch for signs of infection.
“Tom?” I heard Jordan’s voice call out.
“By the cabin,” I hollered back.
“I need to borrow the gun; is it by you?” he asked.
“Yeah, why?”
I didn’t control it like a monopoly, but we decided to keep it close to us where the food was. We’d seen one of the bear yearlings taking the fish offal where we dumped it. The second one we hadn’t seen again. If somebody was going out that direction, they always took the gun, otherwise, it was here close to where we were preparing and cooking food.
“Remember that night you showed us how to make a big snare?” he asked, coming into view from the lakeside.
“Yeah?” I said my voice lowering as I could see him clearly, Tonya at his side.
“Well, we got an elk and I want to make sure it’s really dead.”
“How did he get in there with his horns?” I asked, curious.
“Girls don’t have horns,” Tonya said.
“You do,” I said pointing my fingers at the sky and holding them next to my head.
“You better not call my sister the devil, you just like to pick on people,” Denise said, mock tickling my side.
“I think we might need the boat for this one, though,” he said.
“The gas motor?” I asked, hoping he said no.
“No, we can take the row boat. I think it’ll be easier to quarter it and load it up.”
“Keep the hide intact,” I said.
“You got a crazy idea, don’t you?” Jordan said grinning.
“I don’t know how to sew, though, and tanning the hide is going to be… interesting.”
“I thought we didn’t have the stuff to do that?” Jordan asked.
Denise started signing and Tonya and Jordan smiled and nodded, making the yes motion with their hand. I knew that much, and some basic words but Denise was sitting beside me, not facing me and I wasn’t used to looking at it that way.
“What?” I asked.
“Do you want to make our day trip an overnight trip? We’ll pack sleeping bags.”
“Ooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh lala,” Tracy drawled coming up behind us. “A romantic getaway.”
“You’re not funny,” I told her.
“Actually, she is; look, he’s blushing,” Brian said walking up.
“Don’t you guys have some firewood to split?” I snarked.
“Naw, this is more fun.”
“Great,” I said with a big sigh.
“I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Denise said, but she appeared to be enjoying my discomfort.
It was sometime in October, maybe later if I could remember properly. I was just worried about the trip through the woods. I hadn’t traveled further than to the dock since the bear mauled me.
“I do,” I told her softly.
I meant it.
* * *
It felt good to be on the water, the wind and spray hitting me in the face. Even though it was starting to get chilly, I really loved it. A muskrat or a beaver popped his head up near a shoreline and then went back under the water as it caught sight of us. The four of my new family had left us to go square away the elk and we’d packed lightly for the trip. We had enough dried food to make a decent meal.
“You know, a bottle of wine, a little cheese and some of that smoked cured bear meat would go good right about now,” I told Denise who was sitting on the seat in front of me to be close enough to talk but not so close that the boat was unbalanced.
“I’ve got an idea about the wine,” she said, grinning, “You might even like it.”
“You know how to make wine?” I asked her.
“Yes, Dad was big into brewing beer, but I always liked wine better. We have blueberries not grapes, but I think it’ll be the same. Don’t have the right kind of yeast, though.”
“I’m not sure how long those blocks of yeast are good for,” I admitted.
“Hey, even if it turns into vinegar, it’ll be worth it. It’s a win-win.”
“Just don’t forget why we’re here,” Denise said with a grin.
“For the radio and the battery acid,” I said deliberately being oblivious.
“I’m not zipping my sleeping bag up with yours now,” Denise said with a mock pout.
“Sure you are unless we make
a fire in the cabin. We have to share body heat,” I said grinning wolfishly.
We’d shared a kiss once. There was a lot of baggage that neither of us wanted to talk about, but the trip would give us the space to. The fact that I had such a long history with Tracy, how I couldn’t quit poking fun at everyone. The fact I’d almost gotten her sister hurt… and my being a healing mess. I knew I wasn’t looking very pretty. I’d gotten a good look at my reflection on more than one occasion. The fact that Denise still wanted to be near me was surprising to me. The fact she wanted an overnight so we could be alone… terrified me.
I had no problems with sex or ladies in general. No hang-ups. I was worried that it would change the dynamic, but my body wasn’t worried. It wanted her with a need so primal I could barely hold still sitting near her some days. I didn’t know if girls feel the same way when they are attracted to somebody, but Denise put every girl out of my mind when she was near.
“Do you think that radio will work?” she asked.
“It sounds like a really old radio. They said they really didn’t dig through that stuff much, figuring it was fried like everything else.”
“What if it’s an old shortwave set?” Denise mused.
“We could call for help,” I said softly, the motor barely making a noise. “Or at least, find out what’s going on in the world.”
I heard something. I killed the motor just as Denise was going to say something and tried to isolate the noise.
“Behind you,” she said.
I turned to look and saw a glorious sight. It was a large jet. It had come in from the East. It would see us, if the flare…
“Oh shit,” I said, burying my face in my hands.
“What?” Denise asked.
“They’re all taking care of that elk. Nobody is at the cabin where the flare gun is!” I told her.
“There’s nothing we can do,” she said, “I wonder who it is?”
“It’s a jet, so it isn’t necessarily looking— “
“Look!” Denise screamed.
A bright red flare flew straight up. It was well ahead of the jet. We watched it race up into the air.
“I wonder how visible that is from the air looking down?” I said aloud, suddenly wanting to cry with sheer joy.
Northern Lights: A Scorched Earth Novel Page 13
