by Jake Bible
He motions for the com to be cut completely and then settles into his chair, his eyes looking about the table.
“Where the hell is that cryptozoologist? We need someone to at least tell us what we could be looking at,” President Nance says, his eyes also drawn to the monitor with the missile video feed. “I know some of you are laughing, but I don’t see we have much choice in the matter.”
“Damn eggheads are holding us hostage,” General Tulane says. “Are we sure we can’t solve this using the nuclear option? We have silos waiting for the launch orders, Mr. President.”
President Nance looks over at Joan and she shakes her head. “The fallout would spread across the world. We launch nukes and every friendly country will close their borders to us, sir. We wouldn’t just be burning bridges, we’d be nuking them. And we can’t lose a single bridge when we have a couple hundred million American refugees we have to secure homes for.”
“No nukes,” President Nance says to the general. “Not yet, at least.”
“Mr. President,” Borland exclaims, joining the argument. “Not ever. You have to take the option off the table.”
“I’m not taking any option off the table, Jeremy,” President Nance says. “Not now, not ever. We do not know what we are dealing with here and if I have to launch a nuclear strike on thesethings then that is what I’ll do!”
***
Dr. Probst screams as she steps out from the stall to find Gil standing right there.
“Calling your mom? Your boyfriend?” Gil growls. “Or was that the President of the United States you were talking to? Anything you want to share?”
“They’re, uh, sending a team to get us,” Dr. Probst says.
“Yeah, I don’t think they are,” Gil sneers. “I think they’re sending a team to get you and leave our asses here.”
He grabs the doctor by the arm and yanks her towards the bathroom door. The candle in his other hand shakes then sputters out, leaving them in darkness. She takes that opportunity to rip free of his grasp and lash out, throwing punches wildly. Several connect and Gil cries out as he’s knocked aside.
Dr. Probst runs towards where she thinks the door is. Her outstretched hands smack into it and she fumbles for the handle. She manages to get the door open just as Gil slams into her back, instantly closing it again. The doctor whirls around and rakes her fingernails down his face, tearing gouges in his skin. The man screams and stumbles back. Dr. Probst doesn’t waste any time, rips the door open and bursts out into the hallway.
“What the hell?” Kyle cries as she rams right into him. “Are you okay?”
Dr. Probst has a split second to decide what she’s going to do.
“You have to get us out of here,” Dr. Probst says. “Can you do that?”
“I don’t know,” Kyle says. “Maybe. I think I can figure out the way.”
Gil’s pained howling makes him look towards the bathroom.
“What happened?”
“You aren’t with them, right? They found you and your dad?” She holds up a hand before he can protest. “I don’t know the guy’s name, so I’m just going to keep calling him your dad, got it?”
“Fine, whatever,” Kyle says. The bathroom door starts to open and Dr. Probst turns and kicks it in as hard as she can. There’s a loud cry, then a shuffle and a thud, followed by complete silence. “Jesus.”
Kyle moves to the bathroom and pushes open the door slightly, shining his candle inside. He sees the unconscious form of Gil lying on the stained and dirty floor.
“Damn,” Kyle says. “You knocked him out. We better gag him and tie him up before we try to escape. If he wakes up and we’re anywhere close to this place, they’ll find us.”
Dr. Probst hesitates then nods.
“So you’re with me on this?” she asks. “You didn’t bond with these nutjobs, did you?”
“Moss was okay,” Kyle says as he pulls her out of the bathroom and closes the door. “He said they were just messing with us and not really a militia.” He looks down at the bloody faced Gil. “But I don’t think he knew his friend as well as he thought he did.”
“Or he was feeding you a line of bullshit so you’d trust him,” Dr. Probst suggests.
Kyle stares at her in the candlelight then shakes his head. “Yeah, maybe,” he says. “Guess I trust too much. My grandma always said that. She was constantly telling me I can’t talk to strangers whenever I want. Because sometimes people may be strangers to us, but we may not be strangers to them.”
“What does that mean?” Dr. Probst asks.
“Long story,” Kyle says.
“Well, tell me part of it while we get him tied up,” she says. “You can tell me the rest when we get out of here and are getting down the mountain.”
“What about those things outside?” Kyle asks.
“I don’t think they are what we need to worry about right now,” Dr. Probst says. “Whatever they were running from is the real problem.”
“What’s that?” Kyle asks.
“I don’t have a clue,” Dr. Probst. “I doubt anyone does.” She helps shift Gil’s body to the side then gasps. “No…”
“What?” Kyle asks and moves the candle closer.
“This,” she says, holding up a cracked and broken sat phone.
“Sat phones can be run over by a truck without breaking,” Kyle says. “That shouldn’t happen.”
“Welcome to government work, kid,” Dr. Probst says. “Where the shouldn’t is always possible.”
***
“Can you give me some context?” Doctor Blane Hall asks, his eyes glued to the monitor. “I mean, that’s not something you see everyday. What scale am I looking at?”
“Ten miles across,” Borland replies, the Secretary of Defense, as well as the rest of the cabinet and Joint Chiefs, all watching as the cryptozoologist stands in front of the bank of monitors. “That’s our best guess. The chasm itself is 200 miles across.”
“What are they?” Joan asks. “Can you identify them at all?”
“Are you joking?” Dr. Hall chuckles. “Can I identify a writhing mass of something that’s ten miles across?”
“Can you tell us if we are looking at one creature or multiple creatures?” Admiral Quigley asks.
The video feed loops over and over and Dr. Hall watches it again and again.
“Dr. Hall?” President Nance asks, clearing his throat loudly enough to interrupt the man’s thoughts. “Is it just one or multiple? If you are going to be in this room, you need to answer the questions that are posed to you.”
“What? Oh, right, sorry,” Dr. Hall replies. Average height, average weight bordering on pudgy, with short blond hair and deep brown eyes hidden behind thick glasses, the man looks from the monitors and over to the President of the United States. “I have no idea.”
“Then why are you even here?” General Azoul snaps. “You aren’t even a real doctor!”
“That’s not true,” Dr. Hall says. “I actually have many PhDs. I’m a zoologist, ethnobotonist, anthropologist, as well as a cryptozoologist, xenoarcheologist and senior researcher and fellow at SETI.”
“Dear Lord,” Admiral Azoul says. “He’s a Sagan nut.”
“You’re looking at a nest,” Dr. Hall says, his eyes locked onto General Azoul’s. “Would you like to know what kind of nest I think it is?”
“That’s why you are here, Dr. Hall,” President Nance says, looking from the man to the general. “I am sure General Azoul would like to hear as well, wouldn’t you, General?”
“I’m all ears,” General Azoul replies. “Please tell us what your best guess is.”
“Snakes,” Dr. Hall says. “It looks like a nest of vipers to me.”
“Ten miles across?” Borland asks. “That’s not possible.”
“If it was in the realm of the possible,” Dr. Hall says, turning back to the monitors. “Then you would have called a zookeeper and not me.” He stretches and yawns. “I’m going to need a macchiato, two t
una fish sandwiches on wheat, a bag of kettle chips, barbecue preferably, and an apple.”
The table is silent until Joan finally stands up and walks over to the man. She studies the images for a minute then turns to Dr. Hall and smiles. “Any specific type of apple?”
“Whatever isn’t mealy,” Dr. Hall replies. “I can’t eat mealy apples.”
“Ms. Milligan? You aren’t actually going to humor this crackpot are you?” General Azoul snaps, ignoring the glare from the president. “I’ve seen this before and he’s playing us. He’ll give us just enough information so we keep him safe down here. In the end, we’ll get no useful intel and we’ll be right back where we started.”
“I’ll bet you’re a water boarding fan,” Dr. Hall says without looking away from the monitors. “Do whatever it takes to get what you need to know, right? I’ll save you the trouble, General Azoul, was it? You think I want to drag this out so I can be safe down here?”
He points at the monitor and then turns to look at the general.
“If that is what I think it is, and those things are as big as they look, then there is no safe place left on this planet,” Dr. Hall says. “So before I die, I’d like a macchiato, some tuna fish sandwiches, a bag of chips and an apple.”
“Not mealy,” Joan says.
“Not mealy,” Dr. Hall nods. “And every bit of video you have on this hole. I need all of the data right now.”
***
“Were you really talking to the president?” Kyle asks as he and Dr. Probst slowly make their way from one concrete corridor to the next.
“You were listening?” Dr. Probst asks.
“As soon as you went into the bathroom, Gil started eavesdropping,” Kyle answers. “I followed him and we heard everything.”
“Great, just great,” Dr. Probst says. “Yes, I was talking with the President of the United States.”
“You said you had information about the hole,” Kyle presses. “What was it?”
They keep walking and Kyle looks about the dark corridor, his eyes looking for landmarks. Instead, he just sees more old, cracked concrete. They must have really built the bunker to withstand a lot considering the way the earthquakes from the hole demolished all of Missoula and tore up the whole countryside, but the bunker is still standing fine. Kyle has to wonder if leaving with the doctor is such a great idea. At least the bunker is secure.
“If I’m not telling the POTUS what the info is then I’m sure not telling some teenage kid I just met,” Dr. Probst replies.
“I’m not with these guys,” Kyle says. “I was taken prisoner by them when they found me and Linder.”
“Linder?” Dr. Probst asks.
“The guy you keep calling my dad,” Kyle explains. “Which he isn’t.”
“Right, you’ve made that clear,” Dr. Probst says. “Why’d they take you?”
“They found us fighting in the woods,” Kyle answers. “Linder was beating the crap out of me and Gil and some of the others stopped him. Once they found out he was FBI, Gil went a little nuts and started spouting all this anti-government stuff. He knocked out Linder and took us back here.”
“And that’s it?” Dr. Probst asks. “That Linder guy wasn’t looking too good. Looked like they did more than just knock him out.”
“They beat him for a while,” Kyle shrugs. “Thinking they’d get intel or something out of him. Gil kept saying he thought this whole volcano thing was a government conspiracy. Linder wouldn’t play along so they kept beating on him.”
“Why take you with them to Missoula?” Dr. Probst asks.
“I don’t really know,” Kyle says. “I think Gil might have wanted to leave Linder there or something.”
“Why not just kill him?”
“You know what? I don’t have a goddamn clue why anyone does anything,” Kyle snaps. “No one has ever told me the whys, they’ve only told me the whats. What to do, what to say, what not to say, what place is safe, what place isn’t, what the warning signs are if we’re spotted, what to do when I see those warning signs. The whats. Never the whys.”
“When you are spotted? What does that mean?” Dr. Probst asks.
“Never mind,” Kyle says. “It doesn’t matter. You have your secrets and I get to have mine.”
“Fair enough,” she replies. “Don’t ask me for my answers and I won’t ask you for yours.” She stops and grabs Kyle’s arm. “Do you know where we’re going?”
Kyle looks around, sticks out his chest, starts to speak and then looks around and stops.
“No,” he says, shaking his head. “I thought I did, but this place is a lot bigger than I thought.”
“Let’s try this way,” Dr. Probst says. “And hope we don’t run into anyone.” She smacks the pack on her back and sighs. “They didn’t drop any weapons for us and it doesn’t look like your crazy militia friends trusted you enough to even give you a .22.”
“They aren’t my friends,” Kyle says.
“And Linder wasn’t your dad,” Dr. Probst says. “I know. It was a joke. You need to lighten up, kid.”
“Don’t call me kid,” Kyle says, then smiles as Dr. Probst is about to respond.
“Ha ha,” Dr. Probst smirks. “Here’s another corridor. Maybe it leads to the backdoor.”
***
“Hold on, hold on,” Bolton says, grabbing Lu’s arm as they crest the same ridge they’d been on before when they were first looking down on Coeur d’Alene. “Let me get my bearings. I don’t have a compass and I need to figure out which way is which before we take off.”
“You have a map,” Lowell says. “Won’t that tell you where we are?”
“You were never a Boy Scout, were you?” Bolton laughs as he looks about the landscape, his eyes studying the few features he can see in the gloomy, ashen light.”
“Not my gig,” Lowell says.
“But your father was military. Right?” Bolton asks.
“You know what? Instead of talking about me, how about you get those bearings and figure out which way to go, Magellan.”
“Knock it off, boys,” Lu says. “Or I’ll have to separate you two.”
“Sorry, Mom,” Lowell says as he plops down on the ridge, lays back, and closes his eyes. A shriek from above causes him to jump right back up. “Ok, no more bullshit, which way?”
“You aren’t going to like which way we have to go,” Bolton says, his eyes going from the map to the land that stretches east, and then to Lu.
“That way?” Lowell says. “You realize there are more of those things that way, right? That being the way they came from.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Bolton says. “It’s the way we need to go.” He taps at the map. “We don’t have a choice. I have to find whatever was airdropped. It’s my job.”
“Yeah, it’s your job,” Lowell says. “Not mine.”
“Kyle is north,” Lu states, her eyes fixed on Bolton. “We didn’t see any sign of the Champion buses. They must not have made it to Idaho.”
“I know,” Bolton says. “But that’s a pretty optimistic view, Lu. They could be anywhere. Right now, though, I have to get to these coordinates. I understand if you need to head north. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.”
“Oh, great!” Lu snaps. “As long as you’re fine, then everything is okay!”
“Lu, like I said, this is my job,” Bolton replies. “This is what I do. I have to head east and find whatever it is I’m supposed to find. I don’t have a choice.”
“There’s always a choice,” Lu sneers. “I made mine seventeen years ago and haven’t regretted it once. You didn’t have to make that choice. I did.”
Bolton watches, completely puzzled. “Are you talking about Kyle? Having him? You didn’t have to, no one would have judged you for terminating that pregnancy. Not after what Linder did to you.”
“Linder? Who’s Linder?” Lowell asks. “What’d he do to you?”
“You need to shut the fuck up and walk away,” Lu says. “In fact, how abo
ut we call things even and you go your way and I’ll go mine.”
“What’s this?” Lowell smiles. “The uber tough Marshal Morgan is going to let me just go free? And here I thought being in your custody meant something. Now I find out I’m no better than an unwanted dog you leave by the side of the road.”
“Not even close,” Lu says. “I’d never leave a poor dog by the side of the road. You? Yes. As of this moment, you are free to die alone wherever and however you want.”
“Don’t deflect and change the subject,” Bolton says. “What the hell are you talking about, Lu? I thought you didn’t have any doubts about keeping Kyle?”
“I didn’t,” Lu says. “I’ve never had doubts. That...that wasn’t the choice.”
“Yeah, I’m totally confused,” Bolton says. He smacks the map with the back of his hand. “I have to go, Lu. Are you coming or not?”
“I have to find Kyle,” Lu says. “You have to find Kyle. It can’t end like this.”
“Goddammit!” Bolton roars and he’s answered by several shrieks from above. The three move closer to a stand of fir trees. Bolton gets himself under control and faces Lu full on. “Talk to me. Tell me what you mean. If keeping Kyle wasn’t the choice, what was?”
“Telling you the truth,” Lu says. “Telling you about Kyle.”
“Man, I wish I had some popcorn right now,” Lowell says as he takes a seat on a rock close to one of the fir trees.
“Fuck you,” Lu snaps.
“Last chance, Lu,” Bolton says. “After this sentence I’m leaving. What truth are you talking about?”
“Dude, you don’t know?” Lowell says. “I figured it out like two sentences ago.”
Bolton ignores him and keeps staring at Lu.
“The truth is,” Lu says. “Kyle isn’t Linder’s son, he’s yours.”
“Bam,” Lowell says. “I knew it!”
Bolton takes a step back and shakes his head.
“No, you said you were raped by Linder,” Bolton responds. “You said Kyle was his. And the guy was a psycho. A connected psycho that would stop at nothing to get to Kyle. That’s why you had your mom take him. That’s why they’ve been in hiding for all these years.”
