Nine-Tenths

by Meira Pentermann

  They shuffled through a cleared area, sand pits of some kind.

  “We missed the reservoir,” Leonard said. “I intended to fill our empty bottle.”

  “It’s okay. I’ll drink sparingly. We’ll find a stream in the daylight.”

  “And I’ll be able to see our compass. For now, the road is our safest option.”

  They happened upon a series of switchbacks. Leonard prayed they weren’t climbing up a steep mountain. But the switchbacks ceased after a few hundred yards and the dirt road continued along an edge.

  “Dad…”

  “Yes?”

  “I…I need to go to the bathroom.”

  “No problem. We’re making good time.”

  “But…”

  “Go ahead. In the trees.” He gestured to the woods. “Just not too far.”

  “I can’t go pee in the woods.”

  Leonard put his hands on his hips. “I don’t want to be insensitive, Nat, but we’ve got a lot of hiking ahead of us. You’re going to need to learn how to go in the woods.”

  “Okay,” she whispered reluctantly.

  It seemed like an eternity before she returned.

  “I did it!” She sounded very pleased with herself.

  “We can move on?”

  “Yup.”

  A moment later, Leonard stopped and groaned.

  “What?” Natalia asked.

  “Now I have to go.”

  She laughed. “Go ahead, Dad. In the trees.”

  Soon they were on their way again. Leonard struggled to examine the surrounding terrain as they walked. Suddenly, he noticed a large dark area on their right. He approached it carefully in case it was a huge pit. Fortunately, it was another reservoir. He filled the empty bottle and removed the paper label.

  “What are you doing?”

  “We’ll need to treat this, but I’ll have to wait until I can read the directions on the water purifying packets.”

  “Oh.”

  “I want to make sure I know which bottle is which,” he explained. “Just thinking ahead.”

  “Good idea.”

  Unfortunately, only minutes later, Leonard and Natalia came to the end of the road. A river continued on the left in a direction Leonard hoped was south or southwest, but he was no longer certain.

  They sat down, drank some water from the clean bottle, and attempted to share an MRE. It was not pleasant eating something unidentifiable before it hit the tongue. But after a few bites, Leonard deduced that the menu consisted of chili, crackers, and some kind of cheese spread, as well as a small fruit drink. Not at all palatable, the meager rations nevertheless provided them with a surge of energy. Leonard did not realize how tired and listless he had become until they finished their bland meal.

  “We could rest here and get some sleep,” he said. “However, I think we should move as far as possible by night while we’re this close to the infirmary.” He glanced at his bare arm. “I have no idea what time it is. Do you have a watch?”

  “No.”

  “We could have another six hours. We could have two. The soldiers will not notice we are missing until they fail to find us at the quarry in the morning. The farther we get the better. Plus, we just ate. That will carry us for a while.”

  “What about animals? Bears and…stuff.”

  Leonard took a deep breath. “There’s always that risk. But I’d rather face a bear than return to a prison cell.”

  “Okay,” Natalia agreed.

  “We should follow the river. Let’s go.”

  “What if we’re headed back to the infirmary?”

  Leonard frowned. It was a possibility.

  “Dad?”

  He pursed his lips to one side, pondering the situation. “I’ll bet the watchtowers have searchlights. I haven’t seen any searchlight sweeps.”

  “And they’d be impossible to miss.”

  Suddenly, Leonard experienced a wave of optimism. “In fact, that’s another good reason to travel in the dark. We’ll get plenty of warning if we are close to the prison…infirmary…whatever.”

  Natalia touched his shoulder. “I’m good to go if you are.”

  Leonard led his daughter to the river’s edge. It appeared to be flowing at half its capacity. This played to the travelers’ advantage. Although rocky, the riverbed was easier to negotiate than the woods. They moved at a modest pace, trees towering above them. Based on the tug in his knees, Leonard concluded that they were steadily climbing.

  After about two miles the density of the trees began to dwindle and the incline became steeper. They emerged from the trees, their breathing intensifying with each step.

  Leonard contemplated returning to the shelter of the trees and waiting for daylight. Following a river would probably lead them to a mountain, but where a river comes down is not necessarily the best place to go up. The thought continued to nag him. As they proceeded, the stars gradually disappeared but the sky did not lighten. Leonard looked up at the heavens. The stars above were still vivid against a black sky. Clearly, whatever stood before them blocked the stars on the horizon. It was as if they were walking into a cavity. Eventually, Leonard made the call.

  Turning around, he said, “We need to wait in those trees.”

  Natalia stopped and groaned. “Why?”

  “I have to see these mountains in the daylight in order to determine the best route, not to mention the direction we’re traveling.”

  They returned to the trees. Holding himself back, Leonard tempered his pace, hoping not to tear his knees or twist an ankle. He was in rather poor shape and the intensity of their hike began to wear on him. It seemed almost worse scrambling down the incline than climbing up.

  They laid out the sleeping bags, choosing the most comfortable spot on the edge of the riverbed.

  As they settled in, Natalia shivered. “Now that we’ve stopped moving, I’m pretty cold.”

  “I don’t dare light a fire.”

  “I know.”

  “Just huddle close,” Leonard said, leaning toward her.

  She moved in a few inches. “Dad?”

  “Yes?”

  “What did you do three weeks ago?”

  “Huh?”

  “You’ve been acting differently for the past three weeks. Yet Mom said you did not know about the escape plan until the very last minute.”

  “That’s right.”

  “So what did you do? Steal something? Cheat on Mom?”

  A wave of anxiety caught Leonard off guard. What could he say?

  “I mean,” she continued, feigning indifference, “you must feel guilty about something. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be suddenly so nice to us.”

  “Have I really been that terrible a father?”

  “You’re avoiding the question.”

  He shook his head sadly. “I don’t know.”

  “What?”

  “I don’t know what I did three weeks ago.”

  “If you don’t want to tell me, just say so.”

  “You really want the truth?”

  “Yes.”

  Leonard proceeded to describe his previous life and the time machine. He explained how surprised and delighted he was to discover he had a family in this new reality.

  Natalia listened intently for quite some time, but eventually she burst out laughing. “Give me a break, Dad. How gullible do you think I am?”

  “It’s the truth, Nat.”

  “I’m not stupid.”

  Leonard slunk into his sleeping bag and gazed at the canopy of trees, wishing he could see the stars. “Your mother thinks the DID performed brain experiments on me.”

  Natalia touched him on the shoulder. “Now that makes way more sense.”

  He sighed. What did he know? Maybe that was what really happened.

  ***

  Leonard did not remember falling asleep, but when he awoke the sun flickered through the trees. The fiery orb was high enough to clear the surrounding mountains, so Leonard figured it must be well
past sunrise. He leapt from his sleeping bag, slipped off his hoodie, and located the compass. Then he made his way into the open. The river they were following ran east, and it began somewhere on top of a very steep mountain, definitely not the way to go. To Leonard’s delight the shortest mountain with the most gradual climb took them southwest. No trees provided shelter from the sun but a dry riverbed supplied a path. It would not be easy, but it was clearly the best route.

  “Perfect.”

  Natalia appeared by his side. “It’s looking good?” she asked hopefully, pulling off her hoodie.

  “Just up and over that hill,” he said, pointing at the mountainside and trying to make it sound simple. It could easily take them several hours. Leonard could not make out the distance from their current location. Nevertheless, he smiled at his daughter.

  She leapt back in alarm. “Dad, you look terrible.”

  “Huh?”

  “Your face. You’re covered in dried blood and your eye is swollen.” She reached up to touch the puffy area, but withdrew before making contact.

  Her observation made him suddenly aware of a dull pounding in his head. He gently touched the swollen eye. Then he shrugged. “I’m fine.”

  She snorted.

  “Really, I am.”

  “You lied.”

  “About what?”

  “You said they didn’t do anything to you. Obviously someone hit you.” She inspected both sides of his face. “Probably more than once.”

  “I’m sorry, Nat. When you asked me, it didn’t seem like the appropriate time to discuss it.”

  “We’ve got all the time in the world now.”

  “They roughed me up a bit. The good news was that they didn’t appear to know anything about us. Plus,” he added enthusiastically, “they mentioned that we disabled our tracking transmitters. One guy even hypothesized that we never had them in the first place.”

  “Of course we disabled them. Wasn’t that what the MRI was all about?”

  “I was never fully convinced it worked until I heard them talking.”

  “Oh,” Natalia said, eyeing him suspiciously. “You need to let me in on all these little secrets, so I don’t get caught off guard.”

  “Right, right, right. Now that we’re on our way, I’ll be more up front with you.”

  “You better.”

  Suddenly Leonard remembered. “Happy Birthday,” he cried, hugging his daughter.

  “Oh my God. I totally forgot.”

  “Let’s have a celebratory MRE and get a move on.” Leonard decided that she deserved an MRE to herself on her birthday morning. Besides, how much distance could they cover if they were hungry?

  Natalia grimaced, but she followed him back into the trees. While she rifled through the MREs, trying to pick the least offensive menu item, Leonard put a layer of sunscreen on their exposed surfaces. She squirmed in protest.

  “This isn’t an hour by the pool,” he said. “It’s a day in the sun at ten-thousand, maybe twelve-thousand feet.”

  “Fine, fine.”

  After coating his face and arms with sunscreen, Leonard read the directions on a water-purifying packet and carefully emptied the contents into the bottle with no label.

  They were just finishing up a curly pasta embellished with tiny chunks of chicken, when Leonard thought he detected a faint and familiar thumping sound. He stood abruptly and cocked his head to one side.

  “What’s wrong?” Natalia asked, fear creeping into her voice.

  “Helicopters.”

  Natalia’s eyes flew open in fear.

  Leonard tipped his head to the other side. “I think they’re very far away.”

  The sound came and went in waves.

  How far away can they be if I can hear them? Leonard wondered. A few miles at the most. Surveying the bare face of the mountain to the southwest, his heart sank.

  “We should wait, Nat. Here in the trees.”

  She nodded.

  They arranged the dark green sleeping bags, making a tent between two trees. The hoodies served as flaps on one side. Although small and stuffy, the tent provided excellent cover.

  In no less than twenty minutes, the resonating pulse of the incoming choppers intensified. It was difficult to discern how many helicopters were tracking them. At least two. After a while the helicopters seemed to be directly overhead, although reverberating sound waves could be deceiving. Leonard commended himself on the decision to stay put. The thumping remained loud and nearby for what seemed like hours, disappearing and reappearing at random moments. Leonard prayed that their makeshift cover sufficiently fooled the pilots.

  The heat inside the tent became unbearable as the sun moved to its highest position. Natalia looked as if she might pass out, but she refused to ask for water. Leonard made her drink the remainder of the original bottle. He planned to refill it before they left.

  Slowly, the thumping sounds diminished, still fading in and out but clearly farther away; hopefully heading back to the infirmary. Leonard removed the hoodies from the tent opening, allowing the trickle of a breeze to creep in, but it was not nearly enough to freshen the stale air they had been breathing all morning.

  After it had been quiet for what felt like at least half an hour, Leonard ventured outside. He examined the sky as far as he could see in any direction. He saw nothing. The last waves of noise indicated that the helicopters had moved progressively to the north, perhaps making circles and searching the landscape as they passed. If he had to gamble his savings, Leonard would be confident betting that the choppers had returned to the infirmary. Would they return this afternoon? Of that, he could not be certain.

  Natalia materialized at his side.

  “Are they gone?” she whispered.

  “For now.”

  “You want to go?”

  “Yes. Let’s pack up.”

  Natalia gazed at the mountainside. “There’s no cover.”

  “I see that, Nat. But we have no choice.”

  “We could go at night. Last night you thought it was better to travel after dark.”

  “This climb will be substantially more difficult in the dark. Plus, we have thirteen MREs left and miles to go.”

  Natalia frowned. “How far is this Grand Junction?”

  Leonard’s heart sank. He had promised to be honest with his daughter, but he was not eager to address that particular question. Depending upon where they emerged on I-70, it could be up to two hundred miles to their destination. Walking at a pace of two to three miles per hour, it might take ten days, seven if they put in long hours. But how many times would they be delayed, hiding from the Feds in the bushes? And what if I-70 was patrolled and they had to travel on back roads? Furthermore, how long could they last on thirteen MREs? They had eaten two in less than twenty-four hours. They would need to be on the lookout for other sources of nutrition, but Leonard did not know how to tell one berry from another or which mushrooms were poisonous.

  “Dad?”

  “Let’s just say it’s far. We need to pack up and get going.”

  “How far? How long will it take us?”

  “A week. Maybe longer.”

  Natalia’s eyes widened; shock and despondency transformed her features.

  Leonard maintained a stoic expression. He swiftly returned to their campsite and began repacking the supplies.

  ***

  Traveling up the bare side of a mountain midday was not the brightest plan. The sun, especially intense through the thin, arid atmosphere, beat down on them mercilessly. Even though the temperature was no more than fifty-five degrees, Leonard could almost feel his skin burn as the power of the solar rays besieged him. When they were about halfway up, bursts of wind took them by surprise. The rushing air momentarily relieved the burning sensation, but the gusts were unpredictable and distracting. Nevertheless, as suddenly as they appeared, they vanished within a half-hour.

  Although steep, the hike didn’t take as long as Leonard expected. By mid-afternoon, the trav
elers met up with a trail that led to the crest. Leonard’s anxiety dissipated somewhat, but he did not let down his guard. They still had no cover. During the journey, the pressing fear of being discovered kept Leonard alert — his ears trained for even the slightest thump and his eyes scoping out possible pockets in which they might hide.

  When they finally reached the summit, they gasped simultaneously. The trail ran along the cliff and then snaked down into a magnificent valley, brimming with trees. Natalia burst into a run, scampering and sliding where steep, making her way to the first available patch of evergreens.

  Leonard, considerably less agile than his daughter, hurried to the best of his ability. He thought it wise not to strain any critical muscles in the process. When he reached Natalia’s location, he found her lying on her back staring up at the trees, a half-empty bottle of water by her side.

  “I hope the water was purified,” she said, closing her eyes.

  “Should have taken twenty minutes at the most.”

  “Good.”

  “Do you want something to eat?”

  “Let’s see how far we can get on a granola bar.”

  “Nat—”

  “If we’re not going to have enough MREs for the trip, we’re screwed.”

  “I suppose as the days wear on, we’ll get comfortable doing with less.”

  “Exactly. I’d rather be hungry off and on than hungry for four days straight.”

  “Good point,” he acknowledged and they let the subject rest.

  Following a well-deserved respite, the Tramers descended into the valley, comforted by their lush surroundings. The trail met up with a river from time to time. They took small breaks to drink water and refill their bottles in the stream.

  About an hour after they began their descent, they surmounted a hill in a clearing. Leonard stopped and grabbed Natalia’s arm. In the distance, perhaps two miles away, he saw it — a straight, grayish-brown patch running perpendicular to their current path. It could be nothing else. They had made it. Before them lay I-70.

  The closer they approached, the more cautious Leonard became. He listened for the sounds of vehicles, helicopters, and voices but the valley was eerily quiet. In the early evening they reached a paved road and, from there, wandered directly onto the interstate.