Wen-Ku face suddenly filled with joy. “You have not yet discovered it, have you?” She ran over and hugged Gina. “The Yeti god often knows before the brides do, but you are with child!”
Gina burst out crying. This was supposed to be one of the happiest moments in her life. She was supposed to share this news with Henry in the comfort of their home. Her husband should have been holding her in an embrace of joy. She should have been thinking about if she and Henry would find out the sex of the baby. Instead of the vision of happiness that Gina had in her head, she was trapped in a valley of monsters by a Yeti that would never let her go. She had just learned that most babies and their mothers were killed and eaten by the horrors that crawled out of the dark bowels of the Earth. She was in a situation where both she and her baby had been given a death sentence. Gina screamed in anguish at the fate that awaited her and her baby and at the thought that Henry would never know that he was going to be a father.
Wen-Ku stepped back from Gina with a look of confusion on her face. “Why do you weep? Do you not see that Yeti god has lost his family and that he chosen you and your child to be part of his new family? Your child will be the child of a god! If your child reaches adulthood, he will gain the Yeti god’s power and rule over the entire valley! If Thu-Ca reaches adult, he and your child shall rule the valley as siblings! We shall be the mothers of the rulers of all that we see!”
When Gina heard what Wen-Ku was saying, she knew that the woman was at least a religious zealot and at the worst she was insane. Instead of causing Gina more distress, this thought helped to focus her. Gina realized that for Henry and for the sake of her unborn child that she needed to escape the Yeti and valley. She also realized that if she was going to get away from the Yeti and out of the valley that she would have to placate both Yukon and Wen-Ku.
Gina forced herself to stop crying and then she stood up and hugged Wen-Ku. “My weeping is because I am overwhelmed with joy! As you said, my child shall be the child of a god!” Gina walked over to her coat and switched on the beacon that was in her pocket. She sighed when she saw that the beacon was on but not transmitting. She smiled at Wen-Ku. “Come with me, I wish to walk back to the Yeti god. We should stay close to him for protection, should we not? The crawling demons devoured the other brides and their children. We would not want the same fate to befall us and our babies, would we?”
Wen-Ku nodded and pulled Thu-Ca close her breast. “You are correct. The Yeti god is our only protection. Let us go and sit with him while he sleeps.”
Gina walked next to Wen-Ku as they navigated their way back through the tunnels. Gina knew that if she was able to get close enough to the cave opening that transmitter would work. She hoped that if she was out in the open that her radio may even work as well. Still, Gina knew that if a rescue team was to mount an expedition that even if they were to find her that Yukon would kill everyone who tried to rescue her. Gina would turn the transmitter on so that the team could start the long journey to her but she knew that she would have to escape from Yukon before she could rendezvous with anyone. Gina began reviewing all of the information that she had gathered from Wen-Ku, and as she did so, an escape plan was quickly forming in her mind.
Chapter 12
Henry said a small prayer as he threw the cold snow over two more of the deceased graduate students. Gordon had pointed out that they needed to bury or burn the bodies of both the rescue team members and the teratorns in order to prevent attracting more of the ravenous giant birds. Henry had taken the coat from the dead student that he was burying. The student would not need the coat anymore, and with the tear in Henry’s coat, he would face freezing to death in the quickly approaching night. Henry did a quick count in his head. His rescue party had shrunken from a team of twenty-four people to a team of sixteen. They had only been in the valley for a few hours and they had already lost a third of the team. Henry felt like mentally scolding himself for losing the lives of the team members. He took a deep breath and reminded himself that he still had sixteen other people who he needed to get out of this valley alive. He knew full well that cursing and doubting himself would do nothing to help him reach the goal of getting the rest of the team out alive. With that in mind, he pushed the self-blame to the back of his mind and focused on what the next step was in getting the rest of the team members home safely.
Henry looked around to see Gordon finishing up burying one of the teratorns. To Gordon’s left, Rodgers was using his hunting knife to slice the head off one of the dead teratorns. Henry had no doubt that Rodgers would try to take the head home, have it stuffed, and take full credit for killing the monster himself. Rodgers had finished his grizzly task just as the sun started to set over the mountains. Rodgers took a moment to point at the decapitated teratorn. “This dammed bird’s feathers are far thicker than I thought they would be.” The hunter shrugged. “Thick feathers must be some sort of adaptation they have made in order to survive in the cold down here.”
Gordon gestured the other two men to head back to cave. Rodgers picked up the teratorn head and followed Gordon back up to the slope to the cave. When they had entered the large cave, Henry was pleased to see that the remaining team members had set up over a dozen insulated tents. The cave was large enough that all of the tents were able to be spaced along its floor with room to spare. Henry had not taken the time to notice before when the teratorns were attacking but the cave seemed to have no end. Henry wondered how far the cave went into the mountain but he quickly pushed the thought aside rationalizing that now was not the time to go on a spelunking trip.
Gordon called over Henry, Rodgers, and Dana. When they were all gathered in a tight circle, Gordon reviewed their current status with them. “Eight people in all have died today. We have already used up more than half of the ammunition that we brought into the valley. We only have about sixty rounds left for the rifles. We are also facing the prospect that most of our snowmobiles have already used up roughly half of their gas supply. We can siphon the gasoline from the two snowmobiles whose riders were killed in the teratorn attack.” He looked to Henry. “If you still want to pursue your wife, we can put the gasoline from one of the snowmobiles into your vehicle and then disperse the rest between the remaining snowmobiles. With more gas, we can travel at top speed all the way out of the valley. When we reach the camp, I will start having people evacuate back to the ship where they are safe.”
Henry nodded. “Okay, that sounds like a plan. I have already spoken to Jun-Tuk. He wishes to accompany me in an attempt to rescue Gina. He says that he still needs proof that the Yeti is not a god in order to keep more of his people from giving themselves up to this creature.” He looked toward Rodgers. “Can you leave him your crossbow? He says that he knows how to use it and it would be helpful to not have him totally defenseless out there.” Rodgers nodded in affirmation of Henry’s request.
Dana shrugged. “What difference will that make? The people should continue to give up one girl every couple of months to the Yeti. We have seen what he will do if he wants something and he is denied access to it. If he is not given a girl, he could very well destroy their entire village. They don’t have any weapon even close to powerful enough to stop the Yeti.”
Henry nodded. “That’s true. The Quinic do not have any weapons capable of hurting the Yeti, but we do.” He looked at Gordon. “We have some dynamite back at our home base that is used to move large areas of rock if we need to. When you get back to camp, have the demolition experts place the dynamite on either side of the valley pass. Two days from now, whether or not Gina or I return from the valley, blow the sides of the mountain that make up the valley pass. It will cause a landslide that not even that dammed Yeti will be able to dig through. Jun-Tuk’s people will be free of the Yeti. Hopefully, Gina and I are back by then, but if we are not, get the demolition guys aboard ship and head home.” He looked in everyone’s eyes. “Are we all in agreement with the plan?”
Rodgers shook his head. “You need to split that
gasoline up three ways between Henry’s snowmobile, the team, and one more snowmobile because I am going after the Yeti with you.”
Henry looked at the man in surprise. “Rodgers, you don’t have to that for us. You will still get paid for going on the expedition. Gordon has written instructions from me for the Board of Directors at Princeton. They will pay everyone in full when the ship returns to the States.”
Rodgers sneered. “I don’t really give a damn about you, your wife, or your pay. I am a hunter and the greatest game in the history of mankind is out there in that Yeti. I am not leaving this place without his head.” Rodgers could see the anger swelling in Henry’s face. The hunter smiled. “Look Henry, you don’t need to like me or approve of my reasons for going forward but you know that both you and your wife stand a better chance of getting out of here alive if I go with you after the monster.”
Henry nodded. “Okay, let’s get some sleep. We will all head out first thing tomorrow morning. Don’t even worry about breaking down the tents. Just head for the valley pass and get out of this hellish place. If the rest of us are still alive to try and make it back to you, leaving the tents up will leave us a place that we can stop overnight if we need to.”
Gordon nodded and they all went their separate ways. Dana, Henry, and Gordon all walked to their tents but Rodgers picked up his teratorn head and walked toward the back of the cave past the last of the tents. When he was clear of the tents, he tossed the head a little farther in to the cave. “Alright my lovely, you just stay safe and sound there until I come back for you in a few days.” Rodgers then turned and headed for his tent even as the stench of the decapitated bird wafted farther into the cave. Deep inside of the cave system, two large black forms started moving toward the mouth of the cave when the smell of the dead teratorn reached them.
An hour after they had retired to their tents, Dana Summers was still rolling back and forth wide awake. The horrible images of the events that had occurred over the past twenty four hours were still replaying themselves in her head. She knew that that those same events could repeat themselves tomorrow. She knew that there was good possibility that she and everyone else was going to be die before they made it out of the valley. She rolled over one more time and then said aloud, “The hell with it.” She unzipped her tent and walked out into the miniature tent city that had been formed in the cave. She quietly crept between the tents until she came to Gordon’s tent. She stopped in front of his tent and whispered, “Tony, it's Dana. I need to talk to you.” Gordon unzipped his tent and Dana quickly rushed into it. She threw herself on top of Gordon and she passionately kissed the young hunter.
Dana pulled away from Gordon and then she started talking to him at a frantic pace, “Look, I don’t know what this is and I barely know what I am doing. If want me to leave, just point and I will go back to my tent. I just keep thinking about those kids that died out there today and all of the things that they will never get the chance to do. My chance taking days may be over tomorrow for all that I know so I thought that I would take a chance right now.” Gordon was a silent as ever as he stared at the attractive doctor.
When he didn’t respond, Dana stood up. “I’m sorry. I’ll just head back to my tent.”
Gordon grabbed her arm. “Please don’t go. I wanted to take a chance too. I just didn’t think that an educated woman who saves lives for a living would see much of a future with a professional killer like me.”
Dana leaned in closer to Gordon. “In this valley, there is no future. There is only right now. Right now is all that we have and all that we may ever have.” She kissed him again and then pulled away. She started taking off her coat and her shirt. “So right now, let’s make the most of our time together.”
Gordon grabbed her hand to keep her from taking her shirt off. “Don’t. Even with the extra heat in the cave, it is far too cold for you to have no clothes on.”
She leaned forward and kissed him again. “In sub-zero survival situations, the best way to keep warm is to wrap yourself naked in a blanket with someone else who is also naked. That way you share body heat.” She smiled at Gordon. “Trust me, I am a doctor.” Dana kissed Gordon again and then she started pulling his shirt off. When they had both relieved each other of their clothing, they pulled a thick blanket over themselves and they made the most of the present.
It was just before sunrise when Henry was awakened by a blood-curdling scream that came from the back of the cave where the last tent was positioned. Henry grabbed his flashlight and rifle then he sprang out of his tent. He ran to the back of the cave with the flashlight’s beam of light bouncing off the cave walls. When he reached the back of the cave, he unleashed his own scream of terror. He saw a colossal black shape wiggling through a hole in the tent that was farthest back in the cave. A second later, the black shape pulled its body back out of the hole in the tent with the head of one of the female team members in its mouth. Henry screamed and fired at the giant insect. “Gordon, Rodgers, get out here! Everyone else, wake up and make for the front of the cave!”
The giant millipede’s body jerked from side to side as Henry continued to fire on the wretched creature. Henry had to literally blow the colossal insect’s head off to finally kill it. Henry was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when three more of the huge millipedes came crawling out from the back of the cave. One of the wretched creatures was chewing on the teratorn head that Rodgers had thrown deep into the cave. Henry cursed Rodgers then he started firing at the millipedes.
Rodgers walked out of his tent with his rifle in hand, to see Dana Summers running out of Gordon’s tent. Gordon exited his tent right behind Dana with his rifle in his hands. Rodgers laughed. “Well Gordon, it seems as if I will have to admit that you bagged the best prize on this hunting trip!”
Gordon ignored Rodgers and ran next to Henry where the two of them quickly finished off the three millipedes that had made their way to the tents. Henry turned his flashlight deeper in the cave to see a half dozen more giant millipedes crawling toward them. Henry turned to Gordon, “The teratorn head that the Rodgers threw back there drew them in.” He then looked over his shoulder at the cave opening. “There is no way those cold-blooded insects can live in the polar temperatures out there. It must be the heat in the caves that allows them to thrive in here.” Henry put his rifle over his shoulder. “We are just wasting bullets in here; we need to get outside as quickly as possible.”
Henry could see the remaining team members rushing out into the sub-zero temperatures outside of the cave. He caught site of Dana grabbing the radio, and the receiver that they needed to track Gina. The young doctor also grabbed a handful of flares and an emergency first aid kit before she ran out of the cave. Henry looked back at the approaching millipedes. He thought that along with Gordon and Rodgers, that he would be able to cover everyone from the advancing millipedes. He realized how wrong he was when he saw the thick black form of a giant millipede drop from the ceiling and onto one of the fleeing rescue team members. The man screamed as the millipede’s pincer cracked his skull open like an egg. Henry forgot that he was fighting with insects that could defy gravity and cling to walls and ceilings. He shined his light onto the cave ceiling to find that it was covered with giant millipedes.
Henry and Gordon ran toward the cave entrance as two more millipedes dropped down on top of two graduate students just before they reached the safety of the cold temperatures. Henry tried to target one of the millipedes that had dropped onto one of his student’s, but before he could aim his rifle, the massive insect had crushed the young man’s skull.
Henry started once more running for the cave entrance when another millipede dropped directly in front of Gordon. The insect lifted the front half of its body off the cave floor and the burly hunter took the opportunity to kick the insect in its underbelly. Gordon then used his rifle like a club to strike the insect across its face. With the insect reeling, Henry took aim and fired two bullets into the millipede’s head, turning it into
a pulpy goo. A millipede dropped behind Henry and Gordon returned the favor by slaying the insect before it could attack Henry.
Dana was at the front of the cave screaming, “Tony, Henry, everyone who is still alive is clear! Get the hell out of there!”
Gordon and Henry sprinted to the cave entrance as countless giant millipedes fell to the cave floor behind them. The giant insects were closing in on them quickly. They had almost reached the two men when out of desperation Dana Summers pulled a flare from her pocket, lit it, and threw it at the attacking millipedes. When the bright burning flare landed in front of the millipede horde, the grotesque creatures recoiled at the bright burning light. The millipedes began to make a strange hissing sound at the flare and then most of the insects started to recede into the darkness and warmth of the cave.
Henry and Gordon had continued to run as the millipedes were slowly retreating behind them. They were only a step away from exiting the cave when a millipede dropped from the ceiling and blocked the entrance. The monstrous creature reared up to its full fifteen foot height and hissed at the two men. They could hear Dana scream from the outside of the cave and then an arrow burst out of the front of the millipede’s head. The creature writhed uncontrollably in pain as it tried to remove the arrow that stuck out of both sides of its head. Henry looked around the creature to see Jun-Tuk loading another arrow into Rodger’s crossbow. Henry then shared a quick glance with Gordon. The two men nodded at each other then they both lowered their shoulders and charged the writhing horror. Like a pair of professional tag team wrestlers, they stuck the giant millipede in unison and sent the pitch black insect tumbling out into the freezing valley. As the insect slide down the snowy mountain side, Henry and Gordon ran out into the cold as an army of millipedes stopped just short of the cave entrance.
Polar Yeti And The Beasts Of Prehistory Page 10
