Dead in Love

by Colby Van Wagoner

  He continued puffing at his smoke and looking into the fire, “The refreshment stand sold its drinks from an ice-filled cooler, there being no refrigeration otherwise. The interior was designed to be open with some balconies and raised areas, prime for a big dance or some activities. The place was in serious disrepair and to top it off, the bathrooms were not functioning. I remember,” he laughed out loud, “We walked into the bathrooms and then turned and walked right back out, it smelled so badly!”

  “It was just off the I-80 interstate, plus new population expansion into the Tooele Valley and the western Salt Lake Valley, prompted the construction of a new Saltair. The new pavilion was constructed out of a salvaged Air Force aircraft hangar and was located approximately a mile west of the original. Once again, the lake was a problem, this time flooding the new resort only months after it opened. The waters, again, receded after several years and again, new investors restored and repaired and planned, only to discover that the waters continued to move away from the site, again leaving it high and dry.”

  “Anyway, this killed some time and we finally worked our way into Rush Valley, hemmed in by the mighty Oquirrh and Stansbury Mountains. Grantsville was closer to the Stansbury Mountains, but when I drove out there, I discovered they had no hotels, so I backtracked and stayed at the Oquirrh Motor Inn, just off the Interstate at the Lake Point exit. I showered up, got the smelly stuff off of me and got an early night. The plan was to make an early start, up Deseret Peak the next morning, so as to be down early. What a great time.”

  Dale finished putting wood on the fire and stoking it up. The heat caused the group to move their chairs back from the fire. Dale sat in his chair and had heard the ending of his story. He sat on his chair and began another story, “I remember when my grandfather and father took me out on my first hunt. The Deseret summit was 3.5 miles one way, with about 3,600 feet of vertical gain, in other words, a pretty consistent grind.”

  “The first half-mile gains moderately and staying north of the Mill Creek drainage, makes two switchbacks, then crosses the creek itself. This stretch was very scenic, mostly open meadow enclosed by enormous cliffs and ridges. Not only was it the memory of my first successful hunt, afterwards, I had one really epic event. As we hiked down the hill with our buck, I heard some rustling and a loud whoosh, as a huge, beautiful eagle flew from a nearby tree branch and right by me, close enough that I could have reached out and grabbed him. I watched him fly and soar into the distance.”

  “The trail continued down and behind a small foreground peak. The winds were strong and it was a bit cloudy. We took in the view, especially to the north and south and snapped numerous photos. There was a small, rocky dugout for us to use as a wind shelter. To the north was a pair of impressive peaks that we thought were the summits as we hiked down the main ridge.”

  “From the desert floor below, these look like the summits, but they’re not. After we were down, we met up with my dad’s friend and his two grandchildren and had made excellent time down the mountain. As a result, it took us just about 90 minutes to get down, coming back out to our trucks about 10:30 a.m., great times!” Dale, Kyle, Darryl, Bert and Karl continued reminiscing about their past hunting experiences.

  As the evening winded down, the moon was full and shining brightly, dipping behind the clouds and then returned, lighting up the landscape. Dale and Kyle went to their trailers and Darryl, Bert and Karl went to their tents. The night was chilly and the tents were hardly enough to keep the men warm, however, their winter sleeping bags were more than enough to keep them warm on chilly fall nights.

  “Keep warm gentlemen, we got an early rise in the morning.” Kyle yelled out, as he closed the trailer door. That evening was calm and quiet, as shadows began to emerge from the trees. They were wearing helmets; some were carrying ropes and other climbing equipment. It was the infected cavers from the Nutty Putty cave. They had made their way across the west face of the Lake Mountains and into the hunter’s campsite.

  Three of the cavers walked to the trees and began feasting on the hunter’s two bucks. They tore into the flesh of the deer and began shoving the raw meat into their mouths. The remaining cavers, infected with the CU1 compound, wandered towards the tents and were now gaining motor skills. They ripped open the tents and attempted to attack Darryl, Bert and Karl. Karl screamed as he woke to the attacks, “Hey, what the hell? Who the fuck are you?” Karl grabbed his bag and flashlight, shining in the face of the attackers. He saw they were wounded, one with his stomach ripped open, others with large bites and flesh removed from their bodies.

  “Hey guys, wake up.” Bert and Darryl were already next to Karl and Dale and Kyle came rushing from the trailer. Bert, Darryl and Karl rushed to the trailer and clamored inside and watched from the windows, as the infected cavers walked towards the trailer, banging on the aluminum siding. “What the hell was that? Did you see their condition?”

  “One of them tried to bite me and his insides were hanging out!” Bert exclaimed, as he looked over at the other men. “Alright, let’s get this straight and deal with the situation. These things have something, a virus, a disease or something wrong with them. They move like normal people, but we need to play this out and try to capture and detain them. After that, we can get down the mountain and notify the authorities.” Dale went to the back of the trailer and pushed open the back window, “Let’s get back to the Tree Stand and we can formulate a plan. There is no way these things could get up there.”

  The men gathered their gear, crawled out the back window of the trailer and slipped pass the infected cavers, making their way up the ridge. As Dale looked back, the infected cavers began to smash in the door of the trailer and climb inside. The remaining infected used some of their climbing gear to smash Dale’s Ford and break out the windows. Dale looked back from the ridge, “Oh shit, they’re smashing up my truck. I just got that.” He threw a rock at the infected cavers, hitting the side of the trailer. They all turned and began walking towards the hunters, “Nice job Dale, now you got them coming after us again.” Kyle turned and walked into a grove of trees. The men climbed up into the trees using ropes and ladders, once they were all inside the Tree Stand, they began formulating a game plan.

  Kyle turned to the group, “Look this is no different than our regular hunting practice of pursuing any living thing, wildlife, for food or recreation and this is us, or them. We use lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law, but these things are after us. You all saw the look in their eyes, something is wrong with those people.”

  Looking nervous and speaking fast, he looked at each of his friends, “We poach them, trap them and contain them, or they hunt and kill us. We trap them using the skills we have learned. We use trapping such as pits, dead falls and rudimentary snares and leg-hold traps. It requires time and energy but can be very efficient, plus it’s safe and inexpensive for the trapper. We can also conserve our ammunition.”

  Kyle knew that Bert was the expert tracker and that his family history was skilled in tracking. The science and art of observing animal tracks and other signs, with the goal of gaining understanding of the landscape and the animal being tracked. Bert had a better understanding of the systems and patterns that make up the environment surrounding. The practice of tracking focused the patterns and systems of the local animal life and ecology.

  Trackers recognized and followed animals through their tracks, signs and trails, also known as spoor. Spoor included tracks, scat, feathers, kills, scratching posts, trails, drag marks, sounds, scents, marking posts, the behavior of other animals, habitat cues and any other clues about the identity and whereabouts of the quarry. The skilled tracker was able to discern these clues, recreate what transpired on the landscape and make predictions about the quarry. Bert was able to predict the current location of the game and follow the quarry's spoor to that location, in an activity known as trailing.

  Bert
interrupted, “I can track their patterns with Darryl and Karl, while Dale and Kyle use spotlighting and the method of hunting nocturnal animals that makes the eyes shine. Many animals often remain, to continuously stare at the light and do not appear to see the light as a threat as they normally would view a human. It is possible to carefully approach on foot for a short distance if the bright light is continuously maintained in the animal to greatly improve the chances of successful trapping or killing. Two people will operate the spotlights and we will set the traps and bait. We can get these weirdoes!”

  The group also knew the methods of trapping and the advantages it presented in this situation. Darryl and Karl were in charge of quickly designing and building the traps. Darryl began explaining, “Most of the traps we’ll use can be divided into four types: foothold traps, body gripping traps, snares and cages. Most commonly associated with trapping, the foothold trap is made up of two jaws, one or two springs and a trigger in the middle which is usually a round pan, but we will have to use barbed wire. When they step on the trigger, the trap closes around the foot preventing them from escaping.” “Usually, some kind of lure is used to position the prey, or the trap is set on a trail. Traditionally, these traps had tightly closing jaws to make sure the prey stayed in place. I have some traps, made in various sizes from catching weasels to bears. I will just have to circle back to the trailer and get them.”

  “A deadfall is a heavy rock or log that is tilted at an angle and held up with sections of branches, with one of them that serve as a trigger. When the prey moves, the trigger may have bait on or near it, the rock or log falls, crushing the prey. The figure-four deadfall is a popular and simple trap constructed from materials found in the bush.

  Snares are anchored cable or wire nooses set to catch wild animals such as foxes, rabbits and coyotes. Snares are one of the simplest traps and are very effective. They are easy to produce and easy to set in large numbers. A snare traps the prey around the neck or the body and tightens around the prey, restraining it.”

  “We will use trapping pits dug into the ground, in order to trap them. Like cage traps, they are usually employed for catching animals without harming them. They are usually baited, sometimes with food bait and sometimes with a live “lure”. Cage traps usually have a trigger located in the back of the cage that causes a door to shut. Some traps with two doors have a trigger in the middle of the cage that causes both doors to shut.”

  “In either type of trap, the closure of the doors and the falling of a lock mechanism prevent the animal from escaping by locking the door shut. The most productive set for foothold traps is the dirt hole. Our dirt holes will be set where holes slightly larger than the trap will be dug in the ground and the traps will be placed in the hole and covered with the removed earth.”

  The men separated from the Tree Hide and made their way back to the trailer and Dale’s truck, pulling out gear to assemble and build the traps. They planned on trying to trap the group of cavers first, only until they could not be trapped or attacked would the group use deadly force.

  Karl turned to the rest and whispered, “Let’s get this taken care of as quickly as possible.” They separated once more. Kyle and Dale took their positions in the Tree Hide and lit up the spot lights. Darryl, Bert and Karl made their way across the tree line, tracking the infected cavers. They quickly spotted them, walking through the trees, carrying ropes and caving Petzls, a type of ice pick used for vertical climbing.

  The group of men quickly began strategically setting traps around the Tree Hide and positioning them to take advantage of the spotlights Dale and Kyle were using. Darryl, Bert and Karl would then circle around the cavers and draw them into the traps. Bert finished the last trap and the group met one last time to discuss the final plans. After they planned their strategy, the men divided up the rifles and pistols, loading the ammunition into the chambers. Kyle looked up at the other men, they were scared and nervous, “Look guys, we just focus on trapping them and then go from there. If we need to use force, then we will.”

  “Right,” Darryl replied and climbed down the ladder first. Two of the cavers were already walking from the tree line, the moon lit up their faces with a bright blue color. They moaned and lurched forward. Bert and Karl were quickly next to Darryl, “Alright let’s go, we circle around them and lead the rest into the clearing. Let’s get these bastards.”

  The group rushed into the trees, around the back of the cavers and quickly got their attention. The infected cavers caught the sight of the group and followed just behind them. The men ran through the trees and into the clearing. The first two infected cavers fell into the pits and begun struggling to get out, moaning and calling to the other cavers. The remaining cavers walked through the clearing; one of them was snared by the leg and was struggling to cut the snare with his pickaxe. He chopped and cut at the rope, cutting into his leg.

  After 5 minutes, he had severed his leg and the infected caver continued to walk forward. Two of the remaining cavers used their ropes in the pits, throwing the ropes up from the pits to the other cavers. The cavers above ground picked up the ropes pulling the trapped cavers from the pits. They were adapting and learning. Dale and Kyle shined the spotlights on the pits, “They’re climbing from the pits and they’re helping each other! Look at their eyes, they don’t reflect in the light.”

  Darryl rushed towards the Tree Hide to climb up the ladder. He grabbed the ladder and began to climb. A caver rushed from the darkness and grabbed his leg, pulling him to the ground. The caver overtook Darryl and climbed onto his back. He bit into his neck and tore at the skin with his teeth. Darryl screamed and called out, “Help me. One of them bit me, help!”

  Kyle and Dale shined the lights down below, lighting up the infected man on Darryl’s back. “Hold on Darryl.” Dale climbed down the ladder and jumped onto the caver, tackling him to the ground. “Oh fuck, the fucker bit me.” Dale looked up at Darryl and then back down at the caver. He pulled out his 357 magnum, pulled back the hammer and pulled the trigger. The gun flashed in the dark and the cavers head exploded, spraying brain matter onto the ground below. Dale stood up and yelled out, “Kill them! Kill them all!”

  The men pulled out their weapons and began running at the cavers. One by one the hunters began shooting at the cavers. The first shots hit the cavers in various parts of their bodies, but had no effect on them. They continued walking towards the hunters. Dale yelled out, “Shoot them in the head and blow their brains out!”

  The hunters turned back to the cavers, aimed and all at once shots rang out. The shots hit their targets at various times, hitting them in the head as the cavers fell to the ground. “We got them, we got them!” Dale called out, “Make sure they’re all dead!” One by one, the men walked from caver to caver, firing the additional shots into their heads. Dale rushed back to Darryl, but it was too late, he was already dead. Bert rushed over to Dale and looked down at Darryl, his high school buddy, “Ah, shit. They got him.”

  “Something is wrong with these people, I looked into his eyes before I shot him, and his face had veins protruding from the skin. The skin was dark blue and bruised, but the eyes were glazed over and bloodshot. These people have a virus of some kind. They were sick or infected. Let’s get the hell back to town and report this.”

  The men carried Darryl back to the truck and placed him in the back. They started the truck and drove off towards the city. When they reached the city limits, they were stopped at a military checkpoint. A soldier approached the vehicle. “Sorry sir, you will have to turn your truck around and head back to another town. This town has been quarantined and placed under martial law.”

  “What?” Dale replied, “We need to report a crime. We were hunting and next thing we know, we were attacked by a group of people. They were dressed in caving gear and seemed to have some sort-of infection.” The soldier shined a light in the back of the truck and discovered Darryl’s body, with a large wound in the side of his neck.

  The sol
dier jumped back, pulling his mask over his face, calling out, “Team five, team five, contain, contain!” Soldiers shined spotlights on the truck and rushed towards it, surrounding the hunters inside. Dale, Kyle, Karl and Bert placed their hands above their heads. “Step out of the vehicle.” One of the soldiers ordered, with his gun raised at the vehicle.

  One by one, the hunters stepped out of the truck and crouched down on the ground. The soldiers slowly moved in and began restraining the hunters with zip ties. “We haven’t done anything, what are you doing?” Bert called out. “Quiet, you will all be taken to the base for further examination.”

  “What examination, examination of what?” Dale replied, as the soldiers led the men to a large transport vehicle and loaded them in the back. They removed Darryl’s body and loaded it into a medical transport. The vehicles started and drove through the barricade, driving towards the Dugway Proving Ground. One of the soldiers radioed in, “We have four, live detainees and one deceased, the others, possible contact with infected.”

  “Roger that. Proceed to hangar five for decontamination processing.” A voice returned orders over the radio. “Roger that.” The soldier replied. The trucks drove through the town and back to the Dugway facility, through the Deseret Mountain pass. They arrived at the base and drove into Hangar five to decontaminate and test the hunters. After they were processed and given blood tests, they were led to a holding section.

  The soldiers, doctors and scientists walked through the detainment center, testing various chemicals and substances. A soldier walked over to the men, one by one and began explaining. “You have all been infected with a compound called CU1. A chemical, which is an enhanced version, of a synthetic compound, made to regenerate the human brain, after death. Unfortunately, it is fatal and you cannot be released.”