by Godsby Jim
He slowly raised his weapon to eye level. His movements were jerky and his hands shook. He looked across the forest at his friend, and Ash saw the man’s Adam’s apple move as he gulped. The pair of them needed to be taught a lesson, but this was going too far.
“Now look down the sights and pray to whatever god you like,” said Ellie. “I want to see a bolt go straight through the can on your friend’s head.”
Ash turned and saw Chad behind him, but the army recruit didn’t show any emotion. The woods were so silent that he could hear the breaths of the man as he pointed his crossbow and squinted through the sights. His stance was slouched, his shoulders weak. Ash knew that as soon as he fired, the bolt was going to go anywhere but its intended direction. Suddenly the woods seemed cold, and even the whistles of the birds stopped as they waited for the man to shoot.
He couldn’t let this go on. Ash was about to step in, when Ellie broke the silence with a laugh.
“Put the bow down, you asshole,” she said, with a grin spreading across her face.
The man wheezed as though all the life in his body was leaking from him, and he lowered the bow. All his confidence had left him, and his forehead was covered in sweat.
“Just remember what happens when you cross folks in the forest,” said Ellie. “This is a tough world now, and your hide is too soft for it enough for it.”
Chapter 2
Further into the mountain the road became rougher, as though nature was angry at their progress through the pass and did its best to resist them. The wheels of the pick-up dipped into pot holes and rumbled over rocks without complaint, and Ash realised why Tony Shore seemed to have such a fondness for the vehicles. As they went deeper into the tree-covered landscape, sandwiched on both sides by stony cliff-sides, Ash wondered about his friend at the ranch. He hoped he was okay.
Ellie wound down a window, lit a cigarette and breathed out smoke as the greens of the trees and greys of the rocks passed them by. Ash turned his head slightly toward her, making sure his eyes were still on the road.
“You went too far back there,” he said.
He could still picture the smaller man’s wide eyes as he stood against the tree, and the suspicious looking dark patch that had spread on his crotch.
“People pounce on weakness,” Ellie said. “You learn that the first day you get your badge. If you’re gonna teach someone a lesson, if you’re gonna make them feel pain, then you better do it without mercy. Give them a lesson they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.”
Ash turned his full attention back to the road. It seemed like he and Ellie were fundamentally different people, or he liked to think so at least. Then again, was what Ellie had done any crueller than Ash’s past actions? He had spent the last few years travelling from town to town stealing life savings from gullible people. He’d never been physically violent, but he’d hurt plenty of folks beyond repair.
“Ash, look out,” said Chad at the back.
Ash pressed the brake and brought the vehicle to a halt. The road ahead of them was rough and narrow and it would have been difficult to pass even in normal circumstances, but it was made all the more difficult today. Somehow, an ash tree had fallen over and it completely blocked the road ahead. Ash slammed his hand against the dashboard.
“Damn it,” he said.
“Can we get round it?” said Chad.
“Impossible,” said Ellie. “The road’s here for a reason. It’s the only safe route through the mountains in a vehicle.”
“And there’s no goddamn way I’m abandoning the pick-up,” said Ash.
“What about going back?” said Chad.
Ellie gave him a look that showed what an idiot she thought he was.
“Go back to the ranch? And then what? The tunnel to the city is blocked. This is the only way through.”
Ash stared at the fallen tree. It was thick and large enough to cover the road, but it looked hollow. There was a hole in the middle of the trunk the size of a plate, and he could see the road ahead of them through it. If the tree was hollow then it would be lighter than it looked.
He remembered a camping trip when he was twelve. It was Ash, his dad, and his dad’s friend, Chester. While his dad loved survival and camping, Chester couldn’t get enough of science, and he’d spent the entire trip trying to give Ash an introduction to physics. It was like he and his dad were fighting for Ash’s attention. So while dad showed him how to skin a rabbit, Chester taught him the principles of motion.
“We can move the tree,” said Ash.
Ellie turned in his direction. This time her stupid look was reserved for Ash.
“Just when I think you can’t be more of a dumbass.”
“Listen,” said Ash. “How do you think the pyramids were built? How do you move a large weight?”
Chad leaned forward. “With thousands of slaves, if you’re talking about the pyramids.”
Ash shook his head.
“No. You don’t use brawn. You use brains.”
“Unfortunately you guys are lacking either,” said Ellie.
Suddenly, Ash could hear his dad’s voice in his head.
The biggest brain beats the strongest muscle every time. You listening, Ash? No? Well if you’re not gonna listen to me with your brain, then you can work your muscles and see which you prefer. 500 burlaps, now.
Ash remembered that a hundred burlaps later, he was so tired he wanted to be sick. This time he was more in the mood to listen to his dad and Chester. It was a good thing too, because now he realised how they could move the tree.
It was funny how long-forgotten lessons could resurface. Back when he was a kid, Ash had hated listening to his dad as he droned on about survival skills. All these decades later, now that he really needed them, he wished he’d listened better. Maybe he should have appreciated his dad more. He should have picked up the phone to him, once in a while. Had it really been fifteen years since they’d spoken?
“Okay,” he said. “I know how to clear the way. But you need to listen to me. First we need to snap as many branches off the tree as we can, get rid of some of the weight. Chad, that’s your job. Then we need something to use as a lever. Something long and durable. We need something else to use as a fulcrum. A smaller log or something like that.”
“This ain’t going to work,” said Ellie.
“Nothing works unless you try it,” said Ash. “And I don’t think your sarcastic put-downs are gonna clear the road.”
“How do we move it then, Davy Crockett?”
“The lever and fulcrum will multiply the force we apply when we push on them. If we do it right, it should be enough to move the tree.”
“It makes us stronger than we are?” said Chad.
“This is starting to sound like an after-school special, but no. It makes the weight easier to lift. Just trust me on this.”
“I don’t trust you an inch,” said Ellie, leaning against the bumper with her legs crossed.
“When the tree lifts, you’ll change your mind”
Ellie and Chad walked into a patch of forest to the left of the pick-up. While they looked for something to use as a lever, Ash dragged a smaller log from the edge of the road. The effort strained him more than it should have, and once again he was struck with the feeling that his father would be ashamed of the way he’d turned out. Not only had he forgotten most of his survival lessons, but he had let his body turn to jelly. He used to be a soccer player who could run for 90 minutes without feeling it, and now he’d get out of breath walking up a hill.
A scream came from the forest. Ash walked to the pick-up and grabbed his crossbow from next to the driver’s seat. He made sure the bow was cocked and then ran over to the forest. For a second he expected the two guys from earlier to have come back and for them to have shot Ellie or Chad, but instead he saw Ellie sat on the muddy floor with her hand around her ankle.
“Son of a bitch,” she shouted.
Chad turned to Ash.
“She
tripped,” he said.
“Over a goddamn vine,” said Ellie.
Ash held his hand out toward the injured woman, but she batted it away. She put her hand on the floor and tried to push herself to her feet, but as soon as she put weight on her injured ankle she shouted out in pain so loudly that a sparrow flew from a nearby tree and flapped itself up into the air. Ellie begrudgingly accepted Chad and Ash’s support, and they walked back toward the pick-up.
They helped her into the passenger seat. Ash rolled up Ellie’s trouser leg and carefully pulled down her sock, which was stained with sweat. Her ankle was red and it was already showing signs of swelling.
“What I’d give for some ice right now,” said Ash. “This is gonna swell.”
“If you find some ice, get me a Jim Beam to go with it,” said Ellie.
***
Together, Ash and Chad used the lever and moved the tree out of the way. It took them from noon until the end of the afternoon, and the sun had fallen from the sky by the time the road was clear. Ash’s body was so slick with sweat at the end of it that he felt like he needed to drink a full crate of water to replenish himself. Instead he disciplined himself and drank a quarter of a bottle.
With the last of their labour done, Ash sank to the floor and rested against the tree. Chad joined him, and the pair of them looked up at the starry sky and tried to catch their breath. The young army recruit caught his much quicker than Ash.
“I hope your wife’s okay,” said Chad.
Ash nodded. “I’m trying not to think about it.”
“Don’t blame you.”
“Why did you want to come along?” said Ash. “You’d have been safer at Tony’s ranch.”
“I’ve never been a homebody,” said Chad. “I’ve always been travelling. When I enlisted I thought the travelling bug would calm down, but my feet got even itchier.”
“Do you have family?”
“An aunt and uncle, like I said. That’s it, really.”
“Must be hard.”
Chad picked a twig from the floor and started to snap it.
“I’m used to it. My parents died when my older brother, Dirk, and I were kids. The state put us in separate homes, for some damn reason. I didn’t see him for years, so long that I even started to forget what he looked like. When I was fourteen I put a request through the adoption agency for me and Dirk to write letters to each other, but Dirk said no.”
“Any reason why?” said Ash.
Chad looked at the floor and shook his head.
“Jeez. That’s tough. Why didn’t your aunt and uncle take you both in?”
Chad threw the twig to the floor. His fists were clenched now.
“They have kids of their own, my cousins, and they didn’t want to take two more on. It was only when I turned sixteen that they let me go live with them for a couple of years, but on the condition that I got a job and paid them three hundred dollars a month.”
The sky above them was the colour of tarmac, and a wind picked up in the air and ruffled the leaves of the trees. Somewhere deep amongst the trees a bird cried out, and the chirps of insects filled the air like a backing chorus. Ash turned to Chad and squeezed his shoulder. The young recruit looked tense.
“Better get some sleep,” he said.
The road ahead was clear again, but the journey seemed longer than ever before.
Chapter 3
They spent the night eating MRE’s in the pick-up. With the windows rolled up it became stuffy, but opening them was an invitation for any flying insects in the area to seek refuge. As the night went on the temperature began to drop to the point that they needed to use their sleeping bags, though the vehicle was so cramped that the best each of them could do was to place their bag on top of them.
The next morning the splutter of the engine broke the stillness of the forest around them, and they rolled along the mountain path. Their progress so far had been slower than they hoped, and Ash was worried that they were going to have to cut their calorie intake even further before long. It was either that, or he would have to try and remember the long-forgotten hunting skills that his dad had taught him.
The cliff edges on both sides fell back after a while, and a large patch of forest greeted them. Every few hours they stopped so that they could have something to eat and then stretch their legs. Ellie would roll herself a smoke, and Chad would destroy the tranquillity of the area by strumming the ukulele that he had picked up in Pasture Down. Ash filled up the gas tank with a red metal can with a dent in the side of it.
“Only three cans left,” said Chad.
“Not good, is it?” said Ash, as the gas gulped out of the can.
“Think we’ll get through the pass?”
“I’m hoping it’ll take us most of the way. If we have to walk a mile or two at the end so be it, but we need to clear the mountains as best we can.”
“Son of a bitch,” came a cry at the front of the pick-up.
When Ash put down the gas can and walked around the vehicle, he found Ellie sat on the floor rubbing her ankle.
“Don’t tell me you tried walking?” said Ash.
“Don’t patronise me,” said Ellie, her faced straining with pain.
Chad leaned with his elbows on the hood of the pick-up. His cheeks and chin were covered by three days of beard growth. It seemed that with each passing day his image moved further away from the shaven, crew-cut standard expected of an army recruit.
“We better splint your ankle,” he said. “Or you’re gonna do some serious damage.”
Chad walked around to the trunk, searched through it and then came back to the front of the pick-up holding a roll of duct tape and a pair of scissors. He held them up and grinned.
“Now we need to tear a piece off someone’s sleeping bag. Who’s gonna volunteer? I’m making the splint, so I think that excuses me.”
“And I’m the injured party,” grunted Ellie.
Ash sighed. “Guess that means it’s me, doesn’t it?”
Chad made a splint for Ellie’s ankle using the tape, the sleeping bag and a sturdy stick that he’d found on the floor. When he passed it to Ellie, she waved him away. Instead she picked up the crossbow that Ash had left on the bonnet of the truck and pointed it toward the forest.
“Saw a rabbit,” she said.
Ash looked to the bank of trees but couldn’t see anything. Then he followed Ellie’s gaze, and he saw a small shape hopping through the bracken. Ellie raised the bow and was about to fire, but she put her weight on her injured ankle and then cried out in pain.
“Time you listened to us,” said Chad. “Stop trying to be a hero.” Then he grinned, and added: “That’s my job.”
A few hours later they were driving along the road. It wound away from the forest area and came to a section with a sudden drop to the right of them. Ash steered the vehicle carefully over the rough road, aware that the drop to the right was at least fifty foot high.
“Maybe you should let me drive this bit,” said Chad from the back.
“I can handle it,” said Ash.
“Listen, buddy. I drove a jeep for the army. I’m trained for riding over dangerous-as-hell terrain.”
A few minutes later, Ash sat in the back of the pickup while Chad drove. He turned the vehicle carefully, but his confidence behind the wheel meant he could drive a little faster than Ash. As they followed the road, the drop to the right hand side of them became worse. To their left the edge of a cliff pressed in close to them. Every so often rocks would break away from the cliff and tumble down toward the road, landing on the ground next to them. With each falling rock, Ash felt his heart rate jump. One jerk of the steering wheel could send them plunging down the mountain.
Suddenly a larger rock broke away from the mountain. They heard a crumbling sound, and then the rock thudded onto the back of the truck. The sound of it was enough to jerk Ellie from the nap she was taking in the passenger seat. It was so loud that it sounded like it had done some serious dama
ge.
Ash turned round and looked at the back of the truck. He felt a chill rush through him. A rock had fallen from the side of the cliff and hit the back of the pick-up. It the unluckiest way possible, it had hit the panel that kept all their supplies securely in the trunk and destroyed it. As the road sloped upwards, their supplies began to tip out of the vehicle and fall into the void to the right of them. Ash saw kerosene lamps and MRE’s fall into the stream fifty feet below.
At the top of the slope they stopped the pick-up. The cliff side had withdrawn now, so that they had space to get out of the vehicle. Ash hurried to the trunk and prayed that they hadn’t lost much. It seemed that his prayers were ignored. Chad joined him at the back.
