The Year Without Summer: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller

by Hunt, Jack

  “And it just gets better. How many times do we have to go over this?” McDonald said. “Bears die all the time in this park and until an autopsy can be done on those, we are dealing with nothing more than speculation.”

  “Speculation? The CO2 and H2S readings were extremely high.”

  “For that area. For that time. You said yourself that the park is releasing gases all over the place. One area it might be concentrated, and in another it might be fine. The only way to determine if that spot is dangerous is to monitor it over time.”

  “And the quake?” Hank asked.

  “The same.”

  “Dear God, man, how can you be so blind?” Logan said. “We haven’t experienced a quake on the level of what we had today.”

  “We experience them all the time, and you know it,” McDonald said. “You just want to make this about what happened to Jenna.” Logan moved in closer, his eyes narrowed. He’d always been cautious of what he said around McDonald because he was his superior but he could feel himself losing his cool. The chief continued, “Every year, we experience upwards of a thousand to three thousand earthquakes, some of those are of a magnitude of 3 and 4, and some of those are felt by people in the park. In all this time has Yellowstone erupted? No. And I don’t expect it to. Both of you are acting paranoid and quite frankly it needs to stop.” Chief McDonald turned to Harris. “Sir—”

  “What you call paranoia, we call data, and it can save lives,” a female said from behind them. Logan turned to see an attractive woman with long dark hair enter the room. She had an oval face, large eyes and an athletic appearance. She was wearing jeans, a cream-colored shirt and brown boots. Behind her, just beyond the door was a teenage boy glancing down at his phone. She turned and muttered something to him and he walked off down the hall, no longer in sight.

  McDonald’s brow furrowed. “Who are you?”

  Before she could reply, Hank stepped forward.

  “Catherine. Glad you could make it,” Hank said strolling over and giving her a hug. “Everyone, this is Catherine Shaw from the University of Utah. She’s one of the analysts, and a former volcanologist for the USGS.”

  “Oh great, should we expect the media next?” McDonald said lifting his arms in the arm and slumping into a chair before shaking his head.

  “Hank, did you contact the university about this?” Harris asked, a look of concern spreading over his face.

  He shook his head. “No. I haven’t been in contact with anyone besides Catherine and yourselves. I was planning on speaking with USGS after this meeting.”

  “No need, I already have,” Catherine said. “I talked to Rebecca this evening. They were already on route. It seems that quake was an M5.9 and along with other abnormal seismic changes, it concerned them enough to board a plane for here.”

  McDonald put his head in his hands.

  “Did you take gas samples when you were in Death Gulch?” Catherine asked.

  “You heard about that?” Hank replied.

  “And other things,” she said glancing at Logan and then McDonald.

  Hank nodded. “The COSPEC readings were high.”

  “Just as I thought. Look, what can you tell me about NASA’s work here in the park?”

  “How do you know about that?” Harris asked.

  “Why wouldn’t she?” Logan asked. “It’s been common knowledge for some time. Hell, National Geographic even ran an article about it. It’s Internet fodder. Though I’d be interested in knowing why our department wasn’t informed about their presence in the park.”

  “I’m afraid that’s above your pay grade,” Harris said.

  “When it’s my life at stake, and the lives of thousands of visitors, I would beg to differ.”

  Harris sighed and ran a hand over his head. “Well then let’s get something out of the way immediately. What is discussed here today remains between us. As you are aware, the magma is only a threat if it is molten. To decrease the danger of an eruption, the drill is not going to pierce the magma chamber as that obviously has the potential to cause an eruption. It will be burrowing ten kilometers into the hydrothermal fluids around the chamber in order to draw away heat. This will chill anything that is molten and eradicate the potential of an eruption.”

  “I thought that project had been abandoned?” Philip asked. “I heard the logistics of getting water, and burrowing that deep into the earth, was too great.”

  Harris replied, “Delayed. Yes. Abandoned. No. The project has been in the works for several years now; they just haven’t been able to determine the best way to approach it until now. They are confident that it can be done, and in light of the increased earthquake swarm activity, we don’t exactly have a choice.”

  “So that’s what caused the quake today?” Philip asked.

  Harris turned to him again. “From my discussions with NASA, yes.”

  “And the dead bears, the fish, the melting road?” Logan asked.

  “That was news to me.”

  Catherine frowned. “The initial magma chamber is anywhere from three to nine miles below the surface. Historically we haven’t burrowed deeper than 7.1 miles.”

  “Exactly,” Philip said. “So are you telling me they now have the technology to do this? And how can they be sure they aren’t burrowing into the magma? I thought the seismic monitors only check a few miles below the surface?”

  “There is still much about the caldera that we don’t know,” Hank said.

  “I second that. Like, the possibility that it’s bigger than we once thought, or that it’s moved closer to the surface,” Logan said.

  “We are not here to speculate,” Harris said.

  “Hear, hear!” McDonald added.

  “It’s not speculation,” Catherine chimed in. “Three years ago we took images of a reservoir of hot, partly molten rock, twelve to twenty-eight miles below the super volcano. It’s 4.4 times larger than the shallow magma chamber that you all know about. Essentially there is enough molten rock in there to fill the Grand Canyon 11.2 times, while the magma chamber you all know about would fill it 2.5 times.” She paused to let that sink in.

  “Well that certainly puts things in perspective,” Logan said. “And in light of this I think it makes sense to at least make the tourists aware that we might be looking at evacuating them.”

  “Hold on a minute,” McDonald said rising to his feet. “Let’s not jump the gun here. You saw what happened back in 2013. I think we need to be very careful about the decisions we make. There are over 9,000 visitors this month in the park.”

  “And that’s why we should get ahead of this while we can,” Logan said.

  McDonald jabbed his finger at Logan. “You are overstepping the line.”

  “And you’re underestimating the threat.”

  “I think he has a point, Chief,” Philip said. “Someone lost their life out on that lake today.”

  Things were starting to get heated so Harris stepped forward.

  “Settle down. The reason I called this meeting was to inform you of the work that NASA is doing, not to start an argument.” He turned to Logan. “Look, what’s the update on Hayden?”

  Logan sighed and ran a hand over his head. “He’s been taken to Lake Clinic with a stab wound to the leg. He was very lucky that SAR reached him in time. I was planning on going down to see him in the morning.”

  “And the man who did it?”

  “ISB has been alerted, and law enforcement rangers have an APB out on the guy. We don’t have a description of the second man and there is a possibility that they aren’t traveling together.”

  McDonald walked over to one of the windows and looked out into the darkness. “Chances of us finding him tonight are slim to none.” He shook his head. “We should have had these guys two years ago.” He cast a glance Logan’s way as if all the responsibility fell on his shoulders. The fact was they had done everything they could to apprehend the individuals but they were slippery and as familiar with the park as any ranger.
They even thought that there was a possibility that it was a disgruntled ranger, though that idea was quickly shot down by McDonald.

  “You mentioned that USGS are on the way. Did they say when they would get here?” Harris asked Catherine.

  “Either late tonight or by morning.”

  Harris nodded. “Okay, well until then I don’t want what we have discussed to go any further. That means if the media come knocking, no one else is to know about today’s events until we can figure out what’s happening.” Harris looked exasperated as he shook his head and left the room with McDonald in his shadow. Hank went over to Catherine and started chatting with her as Logan went to leave the room.

  “Oh Logan, you mind if I have a word?” Hank said. He nodded and came back over to where both of them were. “I’m sorry for not informing you about NASA’s presence. Harris had me under a strict no-tell policy.”

  “I understand.” He glanced at Catherine and she smiled back.

  “That your boy out there?” Logan asked gesturing with his head to the kid who was parked outside the front door in a chair.

  “Yep.” She stared out absently. “I mean he resembles my boy, though lately he hasn’t been acting like the one I once knew.” She turned back to him. “I was hoping this trip would give us time to bond again. Boy, was I wrong.”

  His eyes dropped to her hand where he noticed she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring.

  “I think we could all use a drink. I was going to show Catherine some of the data and readings I’ve collected over the past few months, would you care to join us?”

  Logan cast a glance over his shoulder, and sucked air between his teeth.

  “Ah, why not. In theory my shift finished an hour ago.”

  Chapter 10

  The dirt bikes wailed, spitting dirt in every direction as Billy and Wyatt zigzagged their way west through the dark, gloomy forest. He hadn’t told Wyatt that he’d stabbed a ranger and despite his best effort to conceal his panic, Wyatt knew something was wrong. Hours earlier, upon sprinting back to the lake, Billy had told Wyatt to leave the tents, and to take nothing more than his rifle and backpack. He uncovered the dirt bikes and they took off heading south in an attempt to escape the park. All the while Wyatt kept pestering him with questions. “What’s going on? Where are we going? Billy, slow down.” But he wouldn’t slow until he was far away from the park. This was the last time he would ever step foot inside its boundaries. The last time he would enter any national park and taunt rangers. It wasn’t meant to go this way. If the damn ranger had just let him go… why didn’t he let him go? They were just trying to have some fun. They hadn’t hurt anyone… until now.

  As the bikes shot past trees, over rocky rises, and down steep inclines Billy thought about the look on that ranger’s face. He couldn’t get his face out of his mind. Was he alive? Dead? Had he killed him? The thought horrified him.

  Wyatt came alongside him and tried to flag him down for the fourth time but he wasn’t paying attention. They didn’t have the luxury of time. By now the park would be full of law enforcement looking for them. That six months in jail and $500 fine for poaching would be nothing compared to what he would get if they got hold of him.

  Eager to get him to stop and unable to get him to listen, Wyatt gave him a shove with his foot. Billy’s bike wobbled, and his eyes widened as he barreled towards a tree. He turned at the last second, skidding across the ground, and wiped out hard.

  Wyatt came to a halt a few feet from him, took off his helmet and shut off his bike. He scrambled over to make sure he was okay. Furious, panic stricken, and not thinking straight, Billy lashed out with a right hook and clocked him on the jaw, knocking him back.

  Wyatt rubbed his jaw as he looked up at him. “What the fuck?”

  Billy got up and headed over to his bike but the front wheel was busted up, and there was a huge amount of dirt in the engine. “Shit!” He slammed the bike back down and clenched his fist, casting a sideways glare at Wyatt. “Why the hell did you do that?”

  “You wouldn’t listen,” Wyatt said. “One minute you are all cheery on the radio because you’ve bagged an elk, the next you’re hurrying back telling me to leave the tents. What’s going on? What happened?”

  Billy placed his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath. He looked around trying to get a bearing on where they were. At night every direction inside Yellowstone’s forest looked the same. A crescent moon shone down, rays of light breaking through the canopy of leaves.

  “Billy. What’s up?”

  “Shut up.” He listened intently, trying to filter out the noise of the forest and listen for the sound of horses or helicopters. There was no way they could get a truck this far into the forest but he knew they would be out searching for them. Earlier that afternoon they’d heard a helicopter. He wasn’t sure if it was for them or for the ranger and he didn’t stick around to find out.

  Fear dominated. He wasn’t one to lose his cool. It was the reason why they had racked up such a strong following of fans that tuned into to see their exploits, but tackling law enforcement — that was another thing entirely.

  “If you’re worried about the rangers, don’t be. They haven’t seen our faces,” Wyatt said.

  He looked over to him, fine lines forming on his brow.

  “Billy?” There was a pause. “They haven’t seen our faces. Right?”

  When Billy didn’t immediately give him an answer, Wyatt slammed a fist into the earth. “Shit. Shit! Shit!” He got up and paced back and forth. “So they saw you? Is that it?”

  “He came out of nowhere. I didn’t hear him until he was on me.”

  “Alright but you got away. So why all the panic? It’s just a ranger. It’s not like the first time we’ve been confronted by one.”

  Billy’s chin dropped.

  “Billy.”

  “He was going to turn us in. We would have got time.”

  “Billy.”

  “I didn’t have much choice. He had a gun on me. He wanted to look in the backpack. He would have seen the wingsuit. We would have been exposed.”

  Wyatt walked over to him and grabbed him by the shoulders. “What did you do?”

  “I was going to run…” he stumbled over his words. “But I saw the knife and…”

  Wyatt stared at him in disbelief. “Did you kill him?”

  “I don’t know. I was just trying to keep him back. I thought he would back off but he wouldn’t. We started struggling. His gun went off and the next thing I knew I had the knife in my hand and…” He stopped as memories of it flashed back and he felt like throwing up. He leaned to one side and coughed and gagged. As he wiped his mouth, dried blood smeared across his lips. Was it the elk’s or the ranger’s blood? He felt his gag reflex kick in again.

  Wyatt staggered back and leaned against a tree. “I knew it. I knew one of these days things would go south.” He kept shaking his head and looking off into the darkness. “I told you we should have left. We could have been gone by now. No one would have been the wiser but no, you insisted on staying.”

  Billy looked over at him from his position on the forest floor. His hands were covered in grime. He could see Wyatt was teetering on the edge of a dark abyss, looking into a space he might not come back from. Billy rose from the ground and stumbled over to him. He placed a hand on Wyatt’s shoulder. “Listen…”

  Wyatt shook it off. “No. I’ve listened enough to you and where’s it got us?” Silence stretched between them, then Wyatt spoke again, “Hold on a minute. They’re out there looking for you. Not me.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, you stabbed him. Not me. They don’t know what I look like.”

  Billy studied his friend’s face.

  “I can leave. I can go. If I’m stopped the ranger won’t identify me.”

  “No. You’re in this as deep as I am. They find that wingsuit on you and…”

  Before he could finish what he was saying, Wyatt removed his backpack and unzipped i
t. He yanked out the suit and tossed it into the darkness. “You were saying?”

  Without another word he put the backpack on and mounted his dirt bike, getting ready to ride out. Billy hurried over to him and placed both hands on the handles.

  “You gonna leave me out here?”

  “Well you were going to drag me into this.”

  “Get off the bike, Wyatt.”

  Wyatt ignored him and slipped on his helmet. He mumbled the word no, and tried to kick-start it to life. Billy shoved him, making him lose his balance and fall to one side. Wyatt braced himself with one foot and tried to straighten up but Billy prevented him.

  “Get off, Billy.”

  “How many times did I help you out? Who gave you a room after your old man turfed you out? Who paid for food when you didn’t have a job? Huh?”

  Wyatt stared back, nothing more than his eyes visible.

  “I messed up,” Billy said. “I can’t change that.”

  “I’m not going down for your mistake. It’s one thing to help a friend in need, another to drag him down with you. You expect me to do hard time for you?”

  “No. I didn’t say that.”

  “And yet by staying with you, I will be guilty by association.”

  Billy stared at him, holding the bike there for a minute or two until he released the handlebars. Without saying another word he walked a short distance away and slumped down in front of a tree. Wyatt didn’t waste a minute. He fired up the engine, flipped down his goggles, gave one final glance at Billy and then tore off into the night.

  Chapter 11

  The atmosphere inside Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel was eerily calm despite experiencing such a strong earthquake earlier that day. As neither of them had eaten dinner, Hank suggested they get a table in the newly renovated historic building. Hank, a history buff who nearly went into archeology before he became a geologist, was more than eager to give Catherine the background on Yellowstone’s first hotel that had opened back in 1883.