by R. A. Rock
When we arrived, Gideon scouted around and found us a good place to camp.
“Oh God,” Nessa said, letting her backpack slide off and land on the ground. “I just want to set up camp and go to bed. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
Gideon got a sly look on his face.
“I’m sure you and Matt will be very cozy in his tent. Mine’s only a two person and Oona and I barely fit, otherwise I would offer you a spot with us. If the three of us were to share you’d have to sleep on top of me, which can be arranged.” I noticed Oona looked up at his words and frowned.
He eyed Nessa again and I felt my blood start a slow boil.
“Thanks, Gideon.” I clenched my teeth and tried not to show how much it annoyed me that he was hitting on Nessa. “We’ll get it sorted. Why don’t you go set yours up?”
“Yes, sir,” he said, stiffening suddenly at attention and saluting me. I took a deep breath, trying to keep my temper. Gideon was really annoying sometimes. I hadn’t had to work with him much but the times that I had and the stories I had heard told me that he wasn’t exactly an ideal travelling companion.
I sat down, needing to rest for a minute and I watched the others getting ready. Gideon only took about three minutes to set his up. Then I watched, feeling a morbid fascination with this odd man, as he dug in his pack for something and gave me a look and a motion of the head that indicated he wanted me to come over. I glanced around and saw that Nessa and the others were busy and probably wouldn’t notice us.
Feeling curiosity and more than a little trepidation, I went.
“Check this out, Matt,” he said, holding out a soft drink can with something that looked like a wick from a lantern coming out of it. I took it from him and turned it this way and that, trying to figure out what it was.
“What is it?” I said, giving up on figuring it out.
“It’s a bomb,” he whispered, his eyes lighting up with mischief. I quickly handed it to him and took a few steps back. “I found the instructions on the internet. When I could still get online, that is.”
“Are you insane, Gideon?” I hissed at him. “Those things are notoriously unstable and can go off at any time.”
He winked at me.
“I like to take risks.”
“You’re an idiot,” I told him. “You need to get rid of that. Before it kills us all.”
“No way, man.” His face serious. “This is my insurance.”
I couldn’t believe this guy. It was one thing to be a bit of a wild card but to have a homemade bomb in your backpack? That was just stupid. And what kind of idiot would set one of those off? You’d have to be insane.
“I’m going to go watch for The Odd Couple and Oona,” he said, giving me a saucy grin after he had put away the bomb. “They should be coming along soon and I wouldn’t want them to miss the turn. Her Royal Highness wouldn’t like that.”
I watched as the nut case walked back towards the road and shook my head.
Man, was he a piece of work.
I TRIED TO forget about what Gideon had told me and fussed around with the tent until Nessa came over.
“Can I help?” she said, not waiting for me to answer but picking up a pole and starting to snap it together.
“Sure,” I felt nervous.
Obviously she was supposed to share a tent with me. She had left hers behind and had been expecting to share with someone. Of course that would have to be me because I was the only one with room. But still, I didn’t want her to think I was a jerk like Gideon.
I mean, I was attracted to her and would love to do a lot more than sleep with her but we weren’t together and, of course, I would never try anything with her until we were. And there were other people around even if we were together.
I stifled a groan and tried to slow the runaway train of that thought but my mind barrelled on — unstoppable.
I got a visual of our bare bodies tangled together in my sleeping bag. Jeez, I couldn’t be thinking like that about her. We weren’t dating. And I needed to keep my head on straight. Plus, if I got all worked up, I would need to blow off some steam and there was no way to do that when we were in such close quarters. I pushed the image of a naked Nessa draped all over me firmly from my mind and thought about the fact that the world as we knew it might be ending.
That was depressing enough to get rid of my semi.
Nessa and I worked together seamlessly, putting the tent together and then she made the fire while I cut and chopped a few root vegetables I had brought — carrots, potatoes, a turnip, just stuff I had had left in my fridge. She had an onion. Together with some rice we made a really good soup.
James and Carlynne had a loaf of bread they had brought with them, so we were able to make a filling supper. We ate every bite of it, our appetites sharpened from our long walk.
Afterwards, I filled the basin I had brought and put it a good distance from the lake so that each person could bring their dishes and wash them. Nessa took the pot and used sand to scrub the spots where the food had stuck.
It made me feel good to live so simply.
Maybe the end of the world wasn’t such a bad thing.
If only I could survive a night in a tent not touching the sexiest woman on Earth. Now that would really be something.
Nessa
It was full dark and the chilly wind that had blown all day had dropped, leaving the night cold and still. The smell of woodsmoke reminded me of trips with my family and other campfires when times had been less uncertain.
I got a funny feeling as I sat next to the fire, being simultaneously burning hot on the side of me facing it and at the same time freezing cold on the side facing away. The feeling took me back to my now distant childhood.
Everyone had already gone to bed — Gideon with a smirk in our direction. And Matt and I were still sitting around the fire. I was drooping with exhaustion but he hadn’t really said I could sleep in his tent and I didn’t know how to broach the subject.
“So you’ll sleep in my tent, right?” he said, taking care of that question for me.
“Sure, if that’s okay?” I said, clearing my throat when my voice got stuck.
“Yeah, it’s fine,” he said, sounding a little strained.
What was that about?
“I’ll probably be out like a light immediately,” I said, sighing. “I hardly got any sleep last night and I’m really tired.”
“Me too.”
I went pee and washed at the lake, then crawled into the tent. I wasn’t going to bother changing since it would likely be cold tonight. Already there was a chill in the air and the small forest plants had crunched a bit under my feet as I walked back from the shore.
I did undo my bra and pull it out of my sleeve, putting it in my corner of the tent.
Matt’s sleepy voice came from beside me.
“I could never figure out how women do that,” he said. “It’s like the eighth wonder of the world.”
I laughed.
“I’m not sure it’s that impressive.”
“Oh it is,” he said and there was something in the sound of his voice that made me shiver.
My sensitive nipples, released from their imprisonment, rubbed against my shirt and reminded me that the guy next to me had had a starring role in my fantasies both in high school and more recently. Of course, nothing was going to happen. He was just lying there beside me going to sleep.
Lying there platonically beside me, I might add.
I couldn’t help it, though, when an image of him rolling over and pinning me beneath him popped into my head. He was so tall and I was so short I wondered how we would even fit together.
Jesus, Nessa. Stop thinking like that. He doesn’t see you that way. He said he wanted to be friends for goodness sake. And the world is frickin’ ending. How can you be thinking about Matt and sex? There’s more important things to worry about.
But my mind seemed like a broken record stuck on Matt and soon the memory of our dance
in high school played through my mind. The heat of the hall. How sweaty we both had been. The scent of alcohol on the air. And the feel of his hard body against mine.
Sheesh, I was so tired I couldn’t settle down. It was ridiculous.
A moment later, I was fast asleep.
I WOKE IN the middle of the night, freezing. I couldn’t stop the full body shudders. I tried putting on the hood from my sleeping bag. I pulled it over my head and tied it up tight. It didn’t help. I couldn’t get warm.
“Come here,” Matt said, his voice rough from sleep.
My heart started pounding but I shuffled closer to him still in my sleeping bag. He turned me away from him and curled his body around me, taking his arm — he was wearing his hoodie — out of his sleeping bag to wrap around me.
I was still shivering but I felt myself starting to warm up. I took off the sleeping bag hood. I could smell his Matt scent — woodsy — and I wanted to bury my face in his chest just so I could breathe him in, though of course I was facing the wrong way for that. Soon, I was warm everywhere and I began to relax again, forgetting about my desire for him as I fell back asleep. I was pretty sure I was already dreaming when I felt him press a kiss to the top of my head.
Yeah. That was definitely a dream.
Matt
When Nessa started shivering so hard she woke me up, what else was I supposed to do but offer her my body heat? I am a gentleman if nothing else. I couldn’t help the hard on, though. But she couldn’t have felt it through both our sleeping bags. Soon she was toasty and fell asleep again.
But sleep eluded me now that I held this warm, soft woman in my arms. Her quiet breathing began to lull me and my thoughts drifted to the idea of her being mine and holding her like this every night.
I sighed heavily.
She had agreed to being friends. Had loved the idea. She didn’t see me that way. In high school she had been so cold that I hadn’t even dared smile or flirt with her like I did with some of the other girls. I had always stuck to classes and assignments when I talked to her.
If only things were different.
If I had even a tiny indication from her that she was the least bit interested…
But I didn’t and I had to stop thinking like that. She wanted a friend so I was going to be a great friend.
Even if it killed me.
I pulled her tighter against me and she snuggled closer. I loved that I could do this — the dark and cold and close quarters allowing what would never be possible under normal circumstances.
Because it was certain that Nessa and I were completely impossible under normal circumstances. And I had to get used to that. Not that anything could be considered normal at the moment.
Normal was gone.
Possibly forever.
Matt
I was in good shape. I had to be. I worked as a fishing and hunting guide. Mostly fishing lately, which meant less walking. Though I worked out a few times a week, somehow it was not the same as walking ten kilometres in a day.
That was somehow different.
Painfully different, I was remembering.
And we hadn’t even covered as much distance as we had hoped because we had to go slowly and stop often for Carlynne.
This morning, my calves ached and my quads ached, my feet hurt, and I was generally sore all over.
I knew about the realities of hiking from experience but somehow I had forgotten. No, it’s not the same as going for a walk around the block but just farther. Good thing this wasn’t going to be too long of a hike. We weren’t sure exactly how much time it would take but it seemed likely it would be about a week long trip, at least, to cover the sixty-five kilometres, especially at the rate that Carlynne walked.
The walk today could be more aptly described as slogging along in the rain. Immediately after we left, the low clouds had begun misting. Nothing serious until you walked through it for hours. Soon we were all damp but there was no point in stopping yet. We ate some granola bars that James and Carlynne had brought as we squelched along.
We agreed to stop a little early to make up for not having a break in the middle of the day. I also knew it would be a pain in the butt to make a fire in the damp, so we might need some extra time to find dry wood and get it going.
Near the end of the afternoon I think we were all getting tired and maybe a little careless because of it. We were walking along one of the sections of the number six that has steep banks with a twenty foot drop, where spruce trees grow at the bottom ready to spear you.
Gideon was telling a joke to Oona and gesturing wildly with his hands. But the thing with carrying a big pack is that it can easily get off balance and if it does, it’ll take you with it. Oona laughed and gave him a friendly push, causing him to take a few steps towards the edge. Then we all watched in horror as Gideon’s arms wheeled as he tried to regain his balance but the heavy pack he wore was already pulling him off the road.
Oona grabbed his hand and I could see that they were both going to go. A heartbeat later, Gideon seemed to realize this as well. His face got serious as he focused on Oona for a millisecond and then he pushed her back towards the road, letting go of her hand.
He hung in midair for a moment that seemed to stretch on forever and then, he fell. The steep ditch did slope somewhat and he hit and slid most of the way down, rolling and bumping, probably hitting every rock on the way.
At some point, he screamed.
That did not sound good.
“Oh my God,” Nessa said, her hand over her mouth, her eyes appalled.
“He let go,” Oona was repeating over and over. “I had him but he let go.”
I already had my back pack off and was digging through it for the rope I always carried. We would likely need to haul him out. I was pretty sure he wouldn’t be uninjured after a fall like that, so I knew I would need the rope.
The sounds of crashing had stopped so I called out to Gideon. There was no response. Not good. Nessa and I stared at each other. My heart pounded in my chest as I wondered why he wasn’t answering.
“I’m going down after him,” I said, looping the rope over my chest. Better to find out and start dealing with it, rather than stand up here wondering.
“He let go,” Oona was still whispering, her eyes horrified. “And I pushed him.”
I walked over to her and took hold of her thin shoulders.
“Oona, it was an accident. And he let go to save you. He did a good thing.” This kind of surprised me. I had known that Gideon was a good guy but I would never have pegged him as self-sacrificing. “Because otherwise you’d both be lying unconscious down there.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“And he’s going to be okay,” I said more gently. “We’ll get him out and he’ll be fine.”
She nodded, mutely, tears spilling down her cheeks.
“Here,” Nessa said, digging a small bag out of her larger one and handing it to me. “It’s first aid stuff.”
I had a feeling poor Gideon was going to need a lot more than first aid. I just hoped he wasn’t dead. But I didn’t say so to Nessa. I swallowed the fear in my throat and put the strap of the small satchel of medical supplies over my head and one shoulder.
“Be ready, okay?” I said, and she only nodded, wide-eyed. James, Carlynne, and Oona only stared down into the ditch, their eyes sad and afraid.
“I’ll see how he is. If I need help, I’ll call up,” I told the four of them. No one answered. They were probably all in shock.
I began to pick my way down the steep slope. It was slow going because I certainly wasn’t going to take his way down. A couple times I slipped and slid a few feet before I stopped myself by grabbing ahold of some of the sapling poplar trees that grew on the steep slope. Or sometimes I could grab a protruding rock or bush.
When I got to the bottom, I called up to the others.
“I’m okay,” I said, my voice sounding small to my ears. “I’m down. I’m going to go find him now.”
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“Okay,” Nessa’s voice floated down to me.
I searched through the small spruce trees that were only a little taller than me and looked like cute little Christmas trees — though that thought seemed rather incongruous in this grisly context.
Finally I spotted his body.
Please don’t let him be dead.
Please don’t let him be dead.
Please don’t let him be dead, I begged over and over to whatever deity presides over people who fall into ditches.
When I got to him, he didn’t look good. He was covered in scratches, cuts, and bruises. He was pale and I couldn’t tell if he was breathing.
I bent over him and yelled in his ear.
“Gideon! Are you okay?”
What? It’s standard first-aid. Sometimes people aren’t unconscious, even though they look as though they are.
No answer.
I followed CPR procedure and bent my head, hovering my ear over his mouth and watching his chest. I was looking and listening for any signs of breathing. After a moment, I felt a tiny breath on my face and his chest rose and fell a minute amount.
Not dead then.
I felt relief flood my chest.
But he was unconscious and no doubt incredibly heavy. And probably injured. I checked him over but couldn’t find anything that seemed broken or weirdly twisted. Still, he hadn’t screamed like that because he wasn’t injured.
Crap. I would have to wait till he woke up.
Meanwhile I gave a report to the others who I imagined were huddled miserably on the side of the road in the mizzling rain.
When I found his pack a few feet away from him, I remembered about his stupid homemade bomb and I sat down hard as my legs went weak in some sort of after-the-fact freak-out reaction.
Thank God it hadn’t gone off when he fell. The guy had to have nine lives or something because this wasn’t the first time I had heard of him getting lucky and surviving something that was extremely risky.
