Waypoint Alaska

by Shauna R. Schober[thriller]

  Trent and Ben both pulled and tugged on the rope until finally the now ice covered Hazard sign sat in front of them. Ben climbed on the front end, Trent gently climbed on behind him, then both used their gloved hands to push off. Again the sign moved slowly at first, but this time the icy sheet on the bottom made the sign slide much faster, within a second they were going so fast they couldn’t stop. Lacey and Megan watched with their mouths wide open as Trent and Ben flew past them, cutting through the thick powder as if they were on a snowmobile. Both Trent and Ben had their hands over the sides trying to brake by digging into the snow, but there was no use.

  Ben looked ahead and saw that within seconds they would fly over the edge of the snow covered cliff, “BAIL!” Ben yelled to Trent, both rolled off the high speed sign and landed in the soft powder, laughing. As Ben sat up covered in snow a strange noise caught his attention, it was the sound of something dragging, he couldn’t quite place the noise until he felt the pull on his wrist. The safety rope which he had tied around his wrist had come to an end. Just as he felt the pain, there was a snapping noise as the rope popped then began dragging him. With his jacket and snow pants he sailed over the top of the snow just as easily as the sign had. The snow was bunching up under his chin as he skinned his entire face with lumps of ice and debris. He screamed in pain and tried to untie his wrist, but couldn’t get enough grip on the rope to unloop it. As he was being dragged he decided to try to roll onto his back, he flipped over just as the sign went over the cliff, then suddenly felt weightless as he also flew over the edge of the cliff.

  The weightless feeling only lasted a split second before he felt himself free-falling, being pulled by the weight of the falling sign. He called out for help, knowing no one would hear him and that they had no way of getting to him. Finally, he hit the soft snow covered ground and came to a stop. His body ached, and he checked himself for any injuries. He wiped his face and realized he was bleeding from scraping along the snow for so long. Trying to alleviate the pain he took handfuls of snow and pressed them to his stinging skin. Ben shrieked in pain as the stinging only got worse, but soon relief came as numbness took over.

  Once he had enough strength, he turned and looked at the cliff behind him, it was probably about four hundred feet high, he guessed. He squinted as he looked up trying to spot, Megan, Trent or Lacey, he saw no one and so he stood and wandered a little ways from the cliff side so he could get a better line of sight to the top. Once he was about fifty feet out from the base of the cliff, he saw that Megan, Trent, and Lacey were all standing at the top, waving and calling out to him. Ben waved back trying to show them all that he was okay, not realizing that the main thing they could see was the bright red blood stained snow that scarred the pristine white surface.

  Not knowing what else to do, since he couldn’t exactly yell to them for fear of causing yet another avalanche, Ben took the safety rope and dragged it across the surface, laying it out in the shape of an arrow. From this level he could see that the slope they were on continued down until intersecting with the level he was on about a mile to the east. Ben made the arrow and then waited for them to understand what he was trying to say.

  Once Trent, Lacey, and Megan began moving in the direction of the arrow Ben untied the safety rope and rolled it up. He stuffed it in his pack then started the slow hike to where the slopes intersected.

  Ben’s pathway was quickly being taken over by forest, the shrubs and trees first slowly crept into his path and then became denser the lower in altitude he was. The snow was thick around the bases of the trees, and unstable, he worked his way slowly through the thicket of trees, grabbing onto branches and bushes as he walked by.

  A few minutes into his struggle through the snowy forest he grabbed onto what he thought was a branch, but its denseness felt different, it was bone-like to the touch. He quickly looked more closely and saw that what he was actually holding onto was the tip of an antler. He let go quickly and then saw that the antler was protruding from a large fresh mound of snow. Ben began removing the snow from the antlers, uncovering a huge bowl like shape, that was thick and solid, as he dug more and more he uncovered both sides of the antlers and realized he was next to an enormous moose.

  Its body was still covered in snow, Ben felt sorry for the animal, he assumed it was eating or something innocent when the avalanche came over the edge of the cliff and clobbered the poor thing. He continued to hold onto the thick antlers, looking at their sheer size and becoming more and more curious about the beast that could haul these things around. The rack was at least five feet wide and probably weighed at least one hundred pounds, if not more.

  Ben began to dig more and more, he really wanted to get a good look at this moose, as he did he kept sinking into the snow and so he made a fateful decision and climbed onto the antlers. They were so thick he knew they would support him and disperse his weight so he could really focus on simply unburying this huge animal.

  He kneeled on the bulky antlers and began to sweep the snow away from what he assumed to be the face of the moose, he uncovered an ear and got even more excited, then dug faster and faster, it was when he uncovered the forehead and the eyes that he knew he was in trouble. Just as he brushed the snow from the beast’s face it opened its eyes, made a strange coughing, moaning, groaning sound.

  Ben’s eyes grew wide, he turned and tried to jump off the antlers just as the moose rolled and pulled itself up in the snow. His body lifted so fast all he could do was hold on, suddenly he was over seven feet in the air. The angry and stunned moose shook his head fiercely. Ben gripped the antlers more tightly as he was being thrown from side to side. Ben perched himself into a crouch and was going to jump off just as the moose began running. Ben yelled out in fear and then pain as branch after branch slapped him in the head and shoulders. All he could do was lower his head to his chest trying to protect himself, as this confused beast barreled through the forest. The animal was literally running right over the top of ten foot tall trees, not even attempting to dodge them, Ben turned around thinking he would have better protection from the branches and looked backwards behind the frantic animal. As it continued to hurl itself full speed through the forest, Ben steadied himself and decided now was the time to jump off. If he did it quickly enough the moose may not notice and may be too scared to turn on him and attack him.

  Ben lifted himself up, getting whacked in the head by more branches as he did, he was just about to leap when he noticed three huge grey objects following, no, chasing the moose. The pack of wolves came closer and closer to the moose’s hind quarters, they nipped and growled as they leapt trying to grab onto one of the moose’s legs. Ben turned toward the front, a huge thick branch was only feet from his head, as the moose barreled through the trees it occurred to him, whether he hit the branch, or jumped to the wolves…he was dead, either way.

  26

  Trent held tightly to Lacey and Megan’s hands as they eased themselves off of the icy ledge and onto the flat rocky ground below. Once steadied, they all began to look around for Ben, they thought for sure he would be waiting for them at this point, it was the most obvious intersection point of the two areas.

  As they all peered into the thick forest, Compass began clawing Megan wildly. She squealed in pain as his tiny little claws began climbing up her chest. She jumped and wiggled and tried to break him free from her skin, finally she managed to unzip her coat and pull him out.

  The tiny wolf pup was going crazy thrashing around and attempting to howl, but all that came out was a tiny quiet whine. Megan paced around trying to get him to settle down, finally, she couldn’t hold onto him and she accidently dropped him onto the snow covered ground. The pup instantly began wobbling and wandering toward the forest. Trent and Lacey quickly caught up as Megan followed the pup into the woods.

  Ben decided his best chance for survival would be to stay on the moose. With his blood covered face he was sure that if he attempted to grab onto the branch, the wolves would be more att
racted to him and stay at the base of the tree until they could somehow manage to pull Ben to the ground.

  He quickly lowered himself and just barely missed the large branch, it grazed him along the top of his head and back, causing him to holler out in pain. Just as his cry stopped he was dropping through the air. He wasn’t sure what had happened, but suddenly the moose fell to the ground. He panicked thinking the wolves had finally brought the animal down. As he opened his eyes though, he realized he heard something, something faint and tiny. In this moment he also realized he didn’t hear something else. He turned around wondering why the pack of wolves were suddenly quiet, had they given up?

  Looking back only three or four feet from the tail end of the moose the three large wolves lay on the ground cowering, small wines came out of their muzzles, long gone were the ferocious flesh tearing growls that had haunted him the last several minutes.

  Ben turned again trying to find the source of the small howl he heard, he looked through the forest, through the dense branches and bushes and in the distance he saw three figures coming toward him. Imagining what could make a moose and three huge wolves cower brought him almost to tears. He hunkered down closer to the moose in an effort to try to protect himself, as the footsteps got closer and the howl became louder he realized that he recognized it.

  Ben looked up and saw Megan following the tiny wolf pup, who continued to howl with all its might, finally the pup stopped and stood with its feet wide apart, and the gruff on its neck standing up, as it would if it had been an adult wolf showing its dominance by making all of its fur stand on end.

  “Megan?” Ben whispered. Megan bent over and picked Compass up, as she did he howled louder and louder, with each howl the wolves and the moose lowered their heads more and more. Ben looked around completely stunned by what was happening. He climbed off the moose’ antlers and carefully started backing away from the animals. As he did, he tripped and stumbled backwards, falling onto his rear end. Suddenly one of the large wolves jumped up, thinking perhaps that it could make its move and finally attack the blood covered boy. Just as the wolf made its move Compass howled again, as he did, the other two wolves jumped up and attacked the wolf that had moved toward Ben. They fought for a second, and as Compass howled again all three whimpered and laid down, this time rolling onto their backs to show their true submission.

  Trent and Lacey moved toward Ben and pulled him to his feet, he was shaking and terrified. They moved behind Megan and Compass, once all three were behind Megan, Compass let out a quick small bark. All of the sudden the wolves jumped up and turned, tails between their legs and ran as fast as they could back into the thick forest. The moose waited for a moment, then it stood also. Ben watched its massive body rise before them. The moose took a few steps toward Megan, who was standing tall and strong. Compass wiggled in Megan’s hand, until she outstretched it to the moose. He lowered his large head, toward Megan’s hand. The beast’s face was almost a foot wide and a few feet long, the heavy antlers sat on top defying gravity. The moose took a humble step forward and touched its muzzle to Compass’ muzzle. The small wolf pup licked the moose’s nose a few times, then turned toward Megan.

  The moose backed away from Megan and Compass, then turned its enormous body around and galloped off into the forest in the opposite direction that the wolves had retreated to. Once he had disappeared Compass began nuzzling Megan’s arm, she brought him to her face and neck, he licked her a few times, then began to root down into her coat once again. She turned to Ben, Trent, and Lacey who were standing in awe behind her.

  Megan paused, then looked thoughtfully at the group, “So, so RANDOM!”

  Ben smiled, everything was beginning to make sense, “Not really Megz, it’s just like Katie said, ‘sometimes the tiniest voice is the most commanding.’”

  27

  Ben and Megan’s mom ran out on the tarmac and practically knocked them over with a huge bear hug, “I heard about the avalanche, I was terrified! This is OVER now! I’m sorry, but the answer is no, this is OVER!” she squeezed them tighter.

  “Mom…” Ben wrestled away from her, “Mom I have this key though, and well the GPS says it’s in Anchorage, could we just go to it? Why don’t you guys just come with us?”

  Ben’s dad looked at his mom, “Honey, why not? We’ve never been geocaching anyways, might be fun to see what it’s all about?” He smiled at Ben and Megan, knowing he had just won huge points with them.

  Ben’s mom paused, “It’s really here? Like in town or what?”

  “Well yeah, it looks like it is, the aerial map shows a city street…” Ben looked to his aunt for help.

  “Yeah sis, come with us, then as soon as we’re done you guys can head home.”

  Ben, Megan, their parents, Lacey, and Trent stood outside the tall doorway of the Anchorage Community Credit Union. The glass doors reflected their image and Ben couldn’t help but think of how they must look, a family, that had been through the wringer, stalking the outside of a bank. They had searched the street, the sign posts, the benches, even garbage cans for the geocache and found nothing. The actual waypoint pointed to what should be inside the building, he was worried that at any minute security guards would appear and arrest them for loitering, or for planning a bank heist.

  “Well if the GPS says it’s inside, shouldn’t we just go in?” Ben’s mom asked.

  “Well, yeah, but what exactly are we gonna do, it’s not like we can look around inside for the geocache, right?” Megan said in a defeated tone. She’d had enough of this journey, it was fun, it was crazy and definitely exciting, but she was tired and really wanted to get back to her swimming pool and introduce Compass to her older dog, Nicolas.

  Ben interrupted her thoughts and said, “Ya know what, maybe it’s inside, look…” he handed the key to Lacey, “I was so focused on the waypoint, I didn’t even notice the letters on the back of the key.”

  Lacey turned the key over in her hand and saw the letters “ACCU” inscribed in the brass. “I wonder if we go in and show one of the tellers the key, maybe they can help us, it’s worth a shot, right?” With that, she opened the large heavy door and walked right up to the counter.

  There was a small lobby, with a few leather chairs, a table made of antlers and glass held magazines, and a small flat screen TV played the local news. Ben’s dad and mom sat in the chairs and waited.

  Lacey, Trent, Megan, and Ben waited at the counter for the teller to get off the phone. The young woman had long brown hair and smiled nervously at the group, not quite understanding why they were all standing so closely, most people who were tending to their banking, preferred privacy.

  “Can I help you guys?” she asked nicely enough.

  Lacey lifted up the key and handed it to the teller, “This is gonna sound crazy, but we’re geocaching, and well in this last geocache was this key, and the waypoint leads here, and it has the banks initials on the back, and well…” she paused waiting for some sort of response from the teller who was examining the key, “Well, do you know what it goes to, or if we’re in the right place?”

  The teller smiled brightly and replied, “Uh…just a second, let me get my manager.” She quickly walked away from the counter and knocked on a door to the left with a large gold colored name plate that read, “BRANCH MANAGER.” Ben and Megan watched as she handed the key to the man sitting behind a large desk inside the office, he looked at the key, his eyes got large and he quickly stood up and rushed out of the office.

  “So, you guys say you found this in a geocache?” he asked with one eyebrow raised.

  “Yes, sir.” Ben replied, nervously.

  “Well, okay…” he shook his head and wiped his forehead, then smiled at each of them, “I’ve been waiting for this key to come in!” He seemed anxious for some reason. “This key goes to a safety deposit box, but you need to have the Password to get full access.”

  “Password, we don’t have a Password, only the key,” Lacey interrupted.

 
; “No, I know, the Password is a question that you have to answer, just so I know that you came by the key honestly.”

  Lacey looked nervously at the rest of the group, “Okay, what’s the question?” the man ran back to his office, used the key to open a drawer on his desk and pulled out a manila envelope, he had it opened by the time he was back to the counter.

  “Okay, the question is…‘Who sent you here?’” He tapped his nails on the counter as he waited for a response.

  “Uh…well it wasn’t a ‘who’ it was just in the geocache…” Ben responded.

  “No, no Ben…” Megan interrupted him, “The Cache Master sent us here, he’s the one who placed the geocaches, right?” She looked expectantly at the manager.

  “Yes, you’re right. Okay guys, follow me!” He walked around the counter and headed toward a door that read “Safety Deposit Boxes” He unlocked the thick metal door, then handed the key back to Lacey, “You have a key and I have a key.” He said as he slipped a second key out of the manila envelope. The group followed the manager past rows and rows of safety deposit boxes, Megan felt as though she were in a high security post office, with how the boxes were stacked and numbered on top of one another.

  The manager paused at a box, turned and said, “Here it is, we’ll both use our keys, then you can take it to the table at the end of the room,” he motioned to a large metal table along the far wall of the vault, “and you can see what’s inside.”

  Both he and Lacey inserted their keys and turned them, the locks popped opened and the manager swung open the small door, revealing a small, metal box about the size of a laptop. He pulled the box out and placed it in Megan’s hands, “I’ll leave you to it, when you’re done, just let me know.” He smiled broadly and walked back to the heavy vault door, as soon as he exited the room the group ran over to the table and gently set the box down.