by Merry Farmer
“Move carefully,” he told his men. He had no idea how to command an army, what words to use. “We don’t know who’s out there. Keep your weapons ready but don’t fire unless you’re genuinely in trouble.”
“Yes, sir,” a few of the men replied on behalf of them all. Danny’s skin prickled with surreal excitement.
“Let’s go,” Sean added, taking the reins. He exchanged a quick glance with Danny. “For Grace,” he muttered.
Danny nodded. “For Grace.”
They moved across the space stretching from the forest to the crash site as quickly as they could. With no cover there was no way to sneak up on whatever or whoever was there. They would be seen approaching. Surprise was out of the question. The best they could do was rush the weaker forces. Danny unslung his crossbow from the strap over his shoulder and loaded a bolt, feeling for the others in the quiver against his side. He would be a fool to fire unless he was at close range and an even bigger fool if he let any armed man approach that close.
When they came within fifty yards of the remnants of Kutrosky’s emergency ship, fur-clad men popped out of foxholes camouflaged in the snow and fired on them. The reaction was instant. One moment the air was hushed, the next all was chaos. Kinn’s soldiers dropped to defensive positions around him, aiming their crossbows and firing into what Danny could only see as a roiling blob of white and grey. Panic crept in around him.
“Get down!” Sean grabbed his arm and yanked him to his knees. “Return fire, then pursue when they reload.”
Danny brought his crossbow to the level of his eyes. Even a fool got lucky now and then As soon as he aimed at the attackers closing in on them, he fired. Even though he couldn’t see where his bolt went, the snap and whiz of firing sent a surge of triumph through him. Kutrosky’s men shouted in pain and fury. Kinn’s men echoed with battle cries of their own. The sound sank deep into his blood and he found himself shouting with them. When Sean motioned for them to rise and pursue, adrenaline shot Danny to his feet and propelled him across the field, sight or no sight.
They ran for several yards, as fast as they could in their snowshoes and heavy parkas. The indistinct shapes of Kutrosky’s men stopped in random order. For half a second Danny thought some of them had been hit until a volley of arrows screamed toward them. None hit their mark. A few of his men stopped to reload and return fire. Most were either behind him or far to the sides, so he reloaded and fired into the indistinct mass of men ahead as well.
There was no way to tell if any of the bolts met their mark. The exchange of primitive fire was only an imitation of battle. As Kinn’s soldiers reached the line of Kutrosky’s men, Danny lost track of who was on which side. He lowered his crossbow without bothering to reload and charged on. As long as Sean was within his line of clear sight, he wouldn’t hesitate, but he could no longer shoot and be certain he was aiming at an enemy and not a friend.
They reached the crash site before another round could be fired. Six men were waiting in the shelter of the metal hull to meet them. Four soldiers Danny hadn’t realized were right behind him crashed into them, using fists instead of bolts or simply smashing their crossbows into their assailants like bludgeons. Sean joined them, swinging his crossbow up to catch one man in the jaw. His assailant jerked backwards and Sean moved in to disarm him. He grabbed the man’s arm and twisted it, sending his face into the dirt as skillfully as any of Kinn’s soldiers.
“I guess you’re a soldier after all,” Danny said with an exhilarated grin and dashed past him.
“Damn right I am,” Sean answered, running after him.
Danny ducked into the clumsy structure that had been Kutrosky’s first dwelling. The interior was dark and smoky and hot. He skidded down the drift of snow that still filled the entrance, crossbow at the ready.
“Danny!” Heather’s voice met him with a hysterical cry.
His eyes were slow to adjust to the dimmer light inside the structure. He caught the movement of a man rushing to attack him and dodged just as a projectile of some sort was thrown at him, a rock. They had nothing to throw but rocks. The thrower lunged at him. Danny caught him and grappled, using what little hand-to-hand combat training he could remember. He would have been bested if the other man hadn’t been so malnourished. It was easier than it should have been to sweep the man’s legs out from under him and to pummel him with the crossbow once he was on the ground. When his assailant stopped moving, Danny jumped back and searched for Heather.
“Stop where you are or the girl dies!”
His eyes may not have adjusted fully, but he knew the voice. Paul, the man who had lorded over them at Kutrosky’s camp, held Heather around the middle above her pregnant belly, a thick knife at her throat. Stacey and Jonah watched from the floor where they’d been tied and gagged. Heather screamed, crying hysterically.
“Put your weapon down,” Paul ordered him, wrenching Heather almost off her toes. A line of red grew on her throat.
“Let her go,” Danny ordered. He threw his crossbow to the floor. The thuds and cries of the battle raging just outside of the snow-buried structure punctuated the silence. Eerie calm descended on him as he inched his hand toward the gun in his pocket. He fixed his eyes on Heather, inching closer to be sure she was in full focus.
“Who do you think you are, huh?” Paul shouted at him. He shifted to Heather’s side, taking a menacing half-step forward. When Heather tried to pull away he grabbed her arm and pressed his knife against her neck.
“Danny! Help! Please!” she wailed.
“Let her go and step away and you might come out of this alive.” Danny turned his body to conceal his hand as he slipped it into his pocket. He grasped the handle of the gun, reaching his other hand out to Paul to appease him.
“I don’t think you understand the situation.” Paul panted, wild-eyed. “You put your hands on your head where I can see them and kneel like the piece of shit you are.”
“I’m giving you one last chance.”
Sean and another of Kinn’s soldiers scrambled down the drift into the shelter with them. Paul panicked and pressed the knife deeper against Heather’s throat. The line of red grew. Heather screamed.
Danny pulled his gun and fired. The sound split through the metal shelter with deafening finality. Paul dropped to the ground.
Heather screamed again and jumped away as Paul writhed on the floor behind her. She launched herself at Danny. He caught her and held her tight, panting and shaking, wide eyes staring at what he’d done.
“You shot me!” Paul groaned. “You….” His words were lost in a gurgling moan as he clutched his stomach. Heather buried her face against Danny’s shoulder.
“I didn’t hit you, did I?” he murmured against her hair.
“No.”
It was all the answer he needed. He didn’t have time to stand by and watch Paul die. The guard who had attacked him first rolled to his feet, scrambling to get away. His eyes were wide with terror, staring at the gun. Kinn’s soldier grabbed him, twisting his arm around his back and forcing him to his knees. Danny nodded approval to the man and slid the gun back into his pocket. He kissed the top of Heather’s head as she clutched him and let go of her, darting across the room to free Stacey and Jonah.
“Grace,” he panted as he produced his knife and cut through the ropes tying Stacey’s hands. “Where is she?”
“Kutrosky left her behind,” Stacey told him. She kicked and strained against her bonds, teeth bared as if she was burning to strangle someone.
“When?” Danny turned to slice through the ropes on Heather’s wrists, heart sinking.
“Last night. Just after dark. He said she was slowing us down. We thought she was doing it deliberately at first and played along. Bought us most of a day. But it wasn’t an act.”
Stacey swallowed, scrambling to her feet and grabbing the crossbow he’d dropped. Danny sliced through Jonah’s bonds then pulled the quiver of crossbow bolts off of his shoulder to give to Stacey.
“Kutrosky’s men are taken care of,” Sean reported, “but as far as we can tell, this was only about half of them. The rest are gone.”
“They were heading to our settlement,” Stacey confirmed. “Kutrosky is convinced the transmitter is there.”
Danny nodded. “Gather the men. We’re going after them.”
“Danny.” Stacey stopped him. “I’m no expert, but with all the walking and the stress, I think Grace went into labor.”
He hesitated, jaw dropping with words that vanished before he could think of them. Adrenaline pumped through his blood so hard it threatened to make him sick. He jumped toward the entrance of the shelter.
“How far from here did he abandon her?” He scrambled up into the sunlight. Stacey was on his heels, the rest of them right behind her. The scene around them was littered with injured men, churned snow, and the scars of battle.
“Not far,” Stacey said. “It only took us another hour or two to get here. Kutrosky stopped for the night and set out again first thing this morning.”
He scanned the line of trees that marked the edge of the forest. Grace was smart enough to take shelter. If she was in trouble, she would find a safe spot in the trees. That was where he would start looking. The sun stung his eyes and he had nothing to go on but a vague idea.
He made it several yards before the bigger problem flared back to his awareness. Kutrosky was on his way to a defenseless settlement. His friends were in trouble. There might still be time to catch up with him before he made it to their village. But Grace was close, in horrible danger, alone.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” Stacey rushed toward him. “She needs you, Danny.”
“Everybody needs me,” he told her.
“Forget about everybody.” Stacey pushed him forward. “Grace needs you more.”
“I can’t let Kutrosky march into our home when I have the power to stop him.” He switched directions and began heading south.
“What do you think we’re going to do?” Stacey growled, following him step for step. “Sit here and have a picnic? We’ve got a whole army here. You’re not the only hero.”
“I have no idea where she is.”
“Danny.” Heather wedged her way into the argument. “Grace’s cat has been following us.”
He stopped and rounded on her.
“It was stalking us all day” she went on. “Maybe…maybe it knows where she is. It’s really attached to her.”
“Yeah, and maybe that’s a big problem,” Jonah added as he joined them. “If the cat’s hungry enough.”
“No.” Danny shook his head. “Scruffy wouldn’t hurt Grace.” Far from it. The cat might have been exactly the kind of help Grace needed.
A whisper of an idea, a last ditch hope grabbed him. He switched directions and started toward the forest.
“Sean!” He searched the blur of people around him. “Sean!”
“Yeah?” Sean stepped forward, coming close enough for Danny to focus on him.
“Our people need our help. Take Kinn’s men and the others and race down to our settlement as fast as you can.” To Stacey he said, “Gil has another group of men heading down the river. They’ll get there first, but you can provide reinforcement for whatever they’ll have to face.” He slid his hand into his pocket, feeling the hard metal of the gun for reassurance.
“Danny, your eyes,” Sean said, leaning toward him.
“I’ll be fine.” For all he knew, it was a lie.
“So you’re going after Grace?” Stacey’s question was as much an order as a query.
He squeezed his hand around the handle of the gun. “Yes.”
Chapter Eleven – Full Circle
“Scruffy!” Danny called out as he plodded through the forest. Wet snow dragged at his feet, making every step an effort. “Scruffy! Here kitty!”
It was ridiculous. Lives were at stake, the balance of their embryonic civilization hung by a thread, and he was calling for a cat in the snow. The absurdity of the situation was marred only by the certainty that Grace needed his help. She was alone and in trouble, and he was staking everything on a barely trained animal.
Droplets of melt rained in wet clumps from the branches of the trees above him as he pushed on, the dampness soaking into his bones. The branches themselves were creaking and snapping. He had no idea which direction to go in, nothing to work off of but the knowledge that Kutrosky had left Grace an hour or so north of his crash site and Scruffy had been following them.
“Here kitty, kitty! Scruffy!”
Half the wild animals in the forest could hear him calling. With his eyesight as limited as it was, he would be easy pickings for wolves, bears, anything in need of a snack. He adjusted his grip around the handle of the gun and kept moving, kept searching. In front of him and around him was nothing but white blending into the grey trunks of trees. It was somehow more settling to watch the snowy ground in focus under him than the nebulous world in the distance as he trudged endlessly on.
The forest wasn’t abandoned. At least it hadn’t been. As he walked he crossed set after set of snowshoe prints and grooves worn by skis. Each new discovering sent his heart pounding into his throat. Someone had been through this part of the forest, but whether it was him circling back on himself or prints that had been there since he had led Kutrosky’s refugees south or the prints of Kutrosky’s forces he didn’t know. The tracks could even have been Kinn’s for all he knew.
Kinn. In the rush of preparation and battle he had nearly forgotten the man. Was he dead in the snow somewhere or had he found Grace first? Did he want Kinn to find her so that she wouldn’t be alone when she was in trouble or was Kinn trouble itself? He didn’t know.
A new set of tracks stopped him short. He squinted at them, panting, then crouched to get a better look. Animal tracks, fresh atop the snowfall of the day before. They could have been from a large cat or a bear or a wolf. He hadn’t studied tracks the way Heather had. The only distinguishing sign that set these prints apart from any of the other animal prints he’d seen was that they ran parallel to a set of snowshoe prints.
“Scruffy!” he shouted, louder than ever. “Scruffy, where are you?”
He changed direction to follow the parallel tracks and continued to call until his voice was hoarse. “Scruffy!”
His mind and heart told him to go faster, but he needed to rest. The pain and weariness in his body that he’d felt the day before when he reached his limit were coming on fast. If he didn’t stop to rest he would hit the wall. If he didn’t keep going Grace would die.
He was on the verge of stopping when a familiar rumble met him at the crest of a forest hill. He paused, glancing desperately through the trees and snow. The growl came again. He closed his useless eyes and listened. Something moved through the snow along the ridge of the hill.
“Scruffy?”
He opened his eyes. A rippling movement crept through the trees toward him. A huge cat with a white coat that blended into the landscape approached, unsure if he was a friend or foe. Danny held his breath. If it wasn’t Scruffy, he was about to be lunch.
“Here, kitty.” He held out a hand the way he had seen Grace do, pulse pounding in his ears.
The cat grumbled, lowering its body to the snow and creeping forward with deliberate caution. Slowly it moved into focus. The cat’s eyes were familiar, the patterns of its faint stripes familiar. More than stripes, it still had elements of a leather harness strapped around its shoulders.
Danny nearly broke down in relief. He reached out to stroke the cat, would have hugged it if he’d trusted it to remain a friend to him. Scruffy shook him off.
“Take me to her, boy,” he begged as though the cat could understand everything his pleading implied. “Take me to her.”
He attempted to grab hold of the harness. Scruffy shied away, still eyeing Danny cautiously. He padded off, a warning growl sounding deep in its throat. Danny kept following. Scruffy continued to shrink backwards, teeth bared.
; “I’m not going to hurt you,” Danny said in a voice as soft as his desperation would allow. “Please. Please help me find her. She needs me. I need her. Please.”
Scruffy paused, his ears flicking. He sniffed, allowing Danny to come closer. With agonizing tenderness, Danny touched the cat’s huge head, sliding his hand along warm, soft fur.
“Please,” he whispered.
Scruffy pressed up into his hand. He rubbed his thick, furry ear against Danny’s wrist, then turned and bounded off down the hill.
Danny gasped out the breath he’d been holding and followed. The cat lead on, outpacing him only to stop and wait for him to catch up. He seemed to know when Danny lost sight of him in the confusing blur of white on white and circled back to be sure he was still following. Danny wanted to laugh at the surreal situation.
The woods and hills began to look familiar as precious minutes dragged on into an hour, more. He knew the distance between ridges, recognized the feel of the trees in relation to the land. Even the scent stirred old memories. Wherever Scruffy was leading him, he’d been there before.
When they crossed over one last hill, the hollow, snow-covered carcass of ES5 rose up in valley. Danny watched as Scruffy bounded down the hill through the snow and jumped through the open doorway to the stripped and abandoned ship. He’d lead Danny back to their crash site. Danny wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. He was back where he’d started.
Every last trace of giddy madness vanished when he heard a faint bellow of pain coming from inside the ship. Grace. He doubled his speed, tripping over himself and sprawling on the snowy hillside, only to struggle back to his feet and keep running. ES5’s door had been removed and repurposed months ago, and as he crashed down the hill he leapt right through the gaping entrance and into the ship, skidding across the slanted floor.
Grace lay curled on her side in the far corner of the tilted cargo bay, Scruffy pacing beside her. All of the seats had been ripped out of the walls ages ago and dull brown smudges marked where moss had invaded. Crushed dried leaves and tufts of fur indicated where wild animals had used the ship for shelter. Even without power or technology, the emergency ship still held the feeling of sanctuary.
