by Chad Morris
He had to get out of there.
Between blows, Derick managed to scramble across the ground for a few feet before being hit again. He could see blurry images of fur, teeth, and claws. Pain surged through his body over and over. The bear was on top of him. Someone went through this—and lived? Someone was mauled like this and ... Derick couldn’t think. Another blow. The pain crushed out any thought. Teeth dug into him. Derick screamed. The only clear idea he could manage was Get out. He felt as if someone had dropped bricks on his shoulders, like his body was being pushed farther into the ground with every strike. He tried to keep his eyes open, but everything blended together.
He knew he would be clawed and hit again, and again. How much longer would he have to take this? How much longer until he was dead? Just because someone in history survived it didn’t mean Derick would. What if Grandpa was wrong? What if Derick died in the simulator? Would he die in real life?
The bear’s jaws gaped wide and she raised her paw.
• • •
Abby and Carol waited outside the simulator, hoping Derick was doing okay. They thought they heard screams, but listening from the other side of the steel door, it was hard to tell. They had no idea how long he had been in there or how long it would take.
Finally the door opened. Derick stumbled out and collapsed onto the floor.
“Derick!” Abby yelled and ran to his side. Carol was only a step behind.
“What happened?” Abby asked.
Derick breathed heavily, his face soaked in sweat and his eyes bloodshot. Several times he looked like he was going to try to speak, but couldn’t.
“It’s okay,” Abby consoled. “You’re here. We’re with you.” Her imagination went wild with what could have possibly happened inside the simulator.
Derick checked his body with his hands, passing them along his face and torso. “Am I okay? Am I bleeding? Am I still ...” He didn’t finish.
“You’re fine,” Carol said. “You’re okay. You’re back with us, and you’re fine. You look like you’ve been through something terrible—I mean, really terrible—but you’re fine now.”
Derick lay down on the hard floor, still gasping. He closed his eyes hard and then covered his face with one of his arms. His chest rose up and down with heavy breaths.
Abby wanted to ask questions. What happened? But she stopped herself. She’d hear about it when Derick was ready.
Finally, Derick spoke. “I couldn’t ... I couldn’t do it. I backed out.”
“What happened?” Carol asked. “It must have been awful. Tell me before my imagination takes over, and I get overly freaked out.”
Derick spoke again, his eyes still covered. “The simulator is amazing. I could smell the air, feel the breeze, everything. It completely tricks your mind. But I could also feel the pain.”
“What pain?” Abby asked.
“I was in the mountains somewhere, and a bear attacked me. It came out of nowhere. I tried to run away, but it was fast. Really fast. And it pounded me. Each time, I thought it broke more bones. It was so powerful. I ... was ... completely mauled.”
Abby shuddered.
“I couldn’t find a way out.” Derick told them about surprising the bear and running for his life. “I had an old-time gun and shot it once. The bear got to me before I could reload. It was going to kill me.” He looked up at the two girls. “I never felt pain like that.... I knew I was going to die. There was no way out.”
“There had to be a way out,” Carol said. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure it was absolutely, affirmatively, without a doubt horrendous, but your grandpa said that someone in history survived it. That means there had to be the possibility that you could too.”
“She’s right,” Abby said. “Whoever went through this survived it.”
“I don’t know how,” Derick admitted.
Abby had already turned on her rings and began searching the net. Good thing that years ago technology had been developed to provide reception throughout the entire earth and miles under the ground. She found many bear attacks and she quickly narrowed them down. This attack had to be at a time with single-shot rifles, and the person survived.
“Hugh Glass,” Abby said, reading her screen. “I think you experienced what Hugh Glass went through. He lived in the 1800s—sounds like the right period for the gun.” She scanned the screen again. “While he was on an expedition, a bear attacked. I guess he must have rushed in quicker than you did, because it sounds like he might have had less time than you to react. And instead of running at first, he tried to shoot the bear, but didn’t get a bullet off before the bear had him. It’s pretty gross stuff. The bear nearly scalped him, and it even tore off some of his flesh and gave it to her cubs.”
Abby grimaced. She couldn’t believe Derick had been in the same situation. “Glass eventually stabbed the bear several times with his knife. Then his companions came running in and shot it.”
Derick listened in silence. He’d forgotten about the knife. Maybe “friends” would have come in to save him at any moment.
“I guess Glass was so badly injured,” Abby said, “that it was just a matter of time before he was going to die from his injuries. So the expedition leader told Jim Bridger, and someone Fitzgerald, to stay behind and wait for him to die, and then bury his body. They waited for days, but somehow Hugh Glass hung on. Eventually they left him.”
“They just left him there, while he was still alive?” Carol asked. “That is so rude.”
“They did,” Abby said. “Glass tried to crawl to the next fort. He pulled leeches from the river to stop his bleeding. It’s all pretty crazy survival stuff, but he made it. He traveled for miles but came out okay.”
“I wonder how much of that I was going to have to take,” Derick said.
“I don’t know,” Abby said, “but Grandpa wasn’t kidding when he said that we would have to really need to get past this step.”
The three friends stood in silence for a moment. Abby thought it all through. Derick had failed, and he never failed at anything. If he couldn’t do it ... Abby didn’t want to finish the thought. Her grandfather and dad and mom were still missing. She and Derick needed to find out how to help. “I ... guess it’s my turn.” Abby opened her hand. “Let me have the key.”
Derick looked up at his sister. “You’re not going in there. I’m not going back in there. No one is.”
“We have to,” Abby said. “Mom and Dad—”
“No!” Derick shouted. “You don’t understand.” Abby saw terror in his eyes. “You ... you ... don’t want to go in there. And I won’t let you.”
“I have to,” Abby argued. “We have to help Grandpa and our parents. Even if it is terrifying, I have to try.”
“Don’t go,” Carol said. “At least, not tonight. No way you’ll succeed right now. We’ve been awake for nearly two days. No way will any of us make it past the simulator in the shape we’re in. We need to sleep, eat a good breakfast and then maybe, if you’re still determined, you can give it a try. Besides, it’s almost curfew.”
“But my mom and dad—” Abby started.
“She’s right,” Derick interrupted.
“After curfew,” Carol added, “someone will come looking for us, and we can’t be discovered down here. And we can’t go missing, either.”
Abby tried three more times to convince them to let her try, but finally she surrendered, and all three of them climbed up the ladder.
• • •
“Aren’t you going to sleep?” Abby’s mother asked.
“Not now,” Abby’s father responded. His breath came out in small clouds as he spoke, steaming in the freezing air. He stared over the railing at the stern of the ship, the same view he had looked at all day. “I’m sorry you’re in this danger with me. I guess you didn’t know what a hazardous family you married into.”
She hugged him and shared more of a blanket, which one of the staff members had offered them. “I’d do it again,” she said.
“But I never thought it would end this way.”
“It hasn’t ended yet,” he said.
“I know. We have to hold on to hope as long as possible, but how much longer do we have?”
“Only until tomorrow night.”
25
Informant
Derick dreamed that he found his grandpa and parents on the top of a large mountain. He scaled it as best he could, but they seemed forever away. After hours and hours, just when they were within reach, he couldn’t go any farther. He couldn’t take the final steps. Then a bear appeared, and Derick turned and slid back down the mountain. He looked back, and behind the bear, he saw his father’s disappointed face. His grandpa wouldn’t make eye contact. His mother cried. Derick awoke in a night sweat.
Sunlight came in through the curtains. It was morning. Derick glanced at the screen on the side of his wall—6:45. It felt like he’d only napped. His muscles were sore, and his head pounded.
Why had he given up with the bear? Why couldn’t he have toughed it out? Yet the thought of going back in the simulator terrified him. He didn’t want to feel those things again. He couldn’t forget the pain, the helplessness. He could try the same situation over and over and still fail. He rolled over in bed, and then rolled over again, unable to get comfortable.
He eventually punched his pillow, then buried his face in it. His grandfather and his parents were counting on him. His mind soaked in regret.
After several minutes, Derick logged onto his rings and synced up to the Cragbridge site. He entered his information and a sick code, which would go to the administration and all of his teachers. No one would expect him today. He fell back into bed and closed his eyes. He wanted to keep them closed for a very long time.
• • •
Abby and Carol sat facing each other in the cafeteria.
“I wonder if your brother’s okay,” Carol said. “I haven’t seen him all day.” She took a bite of lasagna, followed by a bite of breadstick from her other hand.
“Me, neither,” Abby said, toying with her enchilada. She twisted the cheese into circles but didn’t lift the food from her plate. “I tried to call him a few times, but the computer says he’s sick in bed.”
“I don’t believe that,” Carol said. “I think he’s ‘sick’ because of yesterday. If I had to face a bear, I’d never want to get out of bed again—and he was nearly killed by one. Well, sort of. Virtually almost killed by one.”
“I think it might be the failure bothering him,” Abby said.
“What?” Carol asked. “I think it’s the bear.”
“That too, but Derick has succeeded in everything he’s ever tried,” Abby said. “He’s had minor setbacks, but this was big. This whole thing must be really important if Grandpa is willing to put us through that.”
“Are you ready to go through it?” Carol asked.
Abby paused, allowing herself a moment to imagine what horrendous challenge lay ahead of her. “Yeah. I’ve got to do it.”
Abby was as ready as she’d ever be. She wanted to go down to the simulator before school, but Carol persuaded her that there wasn’t time. They had no idea how long it would take, and if they didn’t show up to class, the school would track them—and the last thing they needed was to have Cragbridge Administration discovering the passageway under the school.
Abby wanted to go to the simulator instead of eating lunch, but Carol brought up the same arguments. They finally decided to go after school. They’d wait until after class when the halls were nearly vacant.
“And what if you don’t do so hot?” Carol asked. “I mean like, fail miserably?”
“Then I’ll try again,” Abby said.
“And if you fail again?” Carol asked.
“Thanks for being so optimistic,” Abby said.
“Sorry. I mean, it was pretty intense down there last night, and Derick ... I thought he’d be able to do it, and he couldn’t. I don’t know that this is going to be anything close to easy. I mean a bear mauling—really? I wonder if any of us could succeed.”
“Grandpa liked to say, ‘You never fail until you quit trying.’”
Carol smiled. “That’s cheesy, but I guess it’s true. But do you think Derick will be okay? Do you think I need to send him a special message? Like a video on the net confessing my love? Maybe it would cheer him up. And if it went viral, I’d split all publicity revenue with him.”
“Something tells me we’d better just let him—” Abby didn’t finish. She felt a shadow cross over her. Someone stood behind her.
“Hey, Rafa,” Carol said.
Abby turned to look at the Brazilian, his hair pulled back into a ponytail as always.
“Com Licen.a,” he said. “Sorry to interrupt, meninas, but I really need to talk to you.”
“About what?” Carol said. “About you talking to Ms. Entrese in the hall after you pretended that she was watching the avatar go up the Watchman? Yeah. Derick told me about it. We’re that close. And I think you’re a double agent.”
Rafa looked surprised at first. Then he rubbed his eyes with his hands and answered. “I was covering up for you.”
“I’m not sure we can trust you,” Abby admitted.
“I can understand that,” Rafa said. “The more I know about your situation, the more I see its seriousness, but I have to tell you something. Then you can choose whether or not you believe me.”
Abby could feel Carol’s eyes on her, waiting to see what she’d say. “Go ahead.”
Rafa motioned toward a chair. “Do you mind if I sit down? I think it would look less conspicuous that way.”
Abby shook her head.
“I have learned something,” Rafa began. “Someone I cannot reveal has given me information. I’m not certain you can trust it, but I need to tell you just the same.”
“Okay,” Abby said.
“Someone knows that you have been searching for the clues from your grandfather.”
“We know that,” Abby said. “Remember, Ms. Entrese was watching us.”
“Let me restate that,” Rafa said. “I believe that more than one person, or maybe even more than one group of people, knows that you have been searching for clues.”
Carol swallowed a bite of lunch. “So what do you mean that more than one person knows?”
“I’m not completely sure,” Rafa admitted. “But one person believes they know who is behind the kidnapping.”
“Who?” Abby leaned forward.
“His name is Charles Muns,” Rafa said.
“And where, Mr. Mysterious Ponytail Man, are you getting all of this supposedly secret information we’re supposed to believe?” Carol asked.
“The person who told me also said that if I revealed them, their life could be on the line,” Rafa said solemnly.
“Really?” Abby said, measuring Rafa’s response. “And why did they tell you but not me or Derick?”
“I can’t tell you that; it would implicate them,” Rafa said. “I’ve done some research on Muns but can’t tell if my source is correct. Muns is a self-serving businessman. He owns a movie studio, several digicommunications corporations, and a lot of real estate, among many other things. He has several hobbies, but the one of interest to you is that he hires scientists to do research for him.”
“Did he hire my grandpa?” Abby asked.
“I couldn’t find a record of it, but they do know each other.”
Abby exhaled slowly. “Alright, but I don’t know what to do with that information. Tell the police? Maybe it couldn’t hurt, but nothing about this seems like something the police can solve.”
“It’s nice to have a name,” Carol agreed. “But it sounds like Muns is everywhere and has too many resources. He could have hired a dojo of ninjas to kidnap your parents, put them on a private plane, and send them to the other side of the world—or hide them on the moon. He could be hiding them around the corner. That doesn’t really matter, because it’s not enough for a warrant. All he is now is a ‘
person of interest’—that’s what they call them on the news.”
“The person who has contacted me is sure that it is Muns,” Rafa said. “But what to do from here, I don’t know.”
Abby closed her eyes for a moment. “I need Derick,” she said. “He’s the genius in our family. He’ll know what to do.”
“I already tried to tell him,” Rafa said. “But he wouldn’t answer a sync or his door. The computer says he’s sick.”
Abby and Carol shared a knowing look.
“But he’s got to help,” Abby said, turning on her rings. She tried to sync up to Derick. He didn’t answer. She tried again. Again, he didn’t answer. She stood up from her chair and left the cafeteria. With Rafa and Carol behind her, Abby walked out of Cragbridge Hall, across the lawn of bush sculptures, to the boy’s dorm.
“Let me try to talk to him by myself,” Abby said. “You guys come over in a few minutes if it’s not working.” Carol and Rafa agreed. After getting permission to visit her brother for twenty minutes, she walked to his door and knocked on it.
“Go away.”
“Derick,” Abby said. “I can’t figure this out without you.” She paused, glancing around to make sure no one else was in the hall to overhear. “Rafa says that someone he can’t name informed him that a man named Charles Muns is behind the kidnapping. He’s a powerful man. If Rafa’s source is right ... well ... even if they’re wrong, I don’t know what to do. I need your help.”
“I ... can’t. I messed it all up.”
“No, you didn’t,” Abby responded. “You tried once and failed. All that means is that one time it didn’t work out—just one time.”
“Yeah, I failed when it was the most important—more important than anything else I’ve done so far.”
