Wasteland
Deborah Krider
Copyright? 2012 Deborah Krider
Sam sat with her back to the fire, knees pulled up to her chest, arms wrapped around her legs. Her hair hung partly in her face, matted and clumped with blood. Wide eyes shifted between the openings on either sides of the barn as she rocked herself.
How did it come to this? How did it come to her lost in the middle of nowhere, all her friends gone, herself battered and bruised, and her mind teetering on the brink of insanity?
Is this real or just a dream? It was the boat trip, wasn't it? But that was days ago, right? No, just yesterday. But yesterday was an eternity ago.
She shook her head, trying to remember. Trying to grasp onto something solid, afraid if she couldn't, her slippery mind would lose all reason and her heart would lose all hope.
Slowly things came to her . . .
The first three hours of the trip had been great. David sat behind the wheel of his Bayliner, maneuvering it swiftly through the waters of the Black Snake River. The Mercruiser engine pushed the 21 foot streamlined body with ease. Everyone enjoyed cold beers and the hot sun. Classic rock thumped out of speakers, drowning out the birds. They spoke on light subjects. The guys debated the best cars and baseball teams and the girls discussed fashion and the latest gossip out of Hollywood.
They found an off-shoot of the river not on the map. Camouflaged by dense foliage, they would've missed it if it hadn't been for the huge crow that screeched at them from a tree branch, drawing attention to it.
It was a channel, really. Narrow and not all that deep. Still, David took the chance on carefully guiding his boat through it. Concerned about getting stuck, Sam suggested they back their way out of it. But David insisted on going forward and after seventy yards it widened and deepened and they were completely alone. Delighting in his discovery, he cracked a fresh beer and called himself Christopher Columbus. Sam called him an idiot.
At noon he killed the engine and let the slow current take them so he could join the others in lunch. Sam packed an ice-filled cooler with Italian subs and her chicken pasta salad that was so popular with David he had two helpings with his sandwich.
Inviting Todd and Mary had been David's idea. They all worked for the prestigious advertising firm of McClain and Moore. David ranked the company's top salesperson, Sam headed the creative department, Todd worked in I.T., and his girlfriend, Mary, in accounting.
David claimed the reason for this excursion was to thank Sam and Todd for all their hard work to satisfy one of David's demanding and wealthy clients. But Sam knew it was so David could show off his new boat and wasn't surprised when he bragged to Todd about the $21,000 price tag. He was handsome and rich but Sam sadly realized early in their courtship that's all he had going for him. It didn't take long to see the selfish, egotistical, rude man that was David. Although she craved a warm, intelligent mate who could participate in deep conversation she weakly succumbed to David and the pleasures of the flesh. And every time she debated breaking things off with him in favor of finding a more meaningful relationship, he touched her and those thoughts were cast aside and forgotten like her bra and panties in the throes of passion.
She leaned back and let the sun saturate her caramel colored skin covered only in a pink bikini top and white shorts. The others voices became distant as the rhythm of the boat lulled her into a light sleep.
In her dream like reality, they cruised down a wide river. However, her feelings of contentment were replaced with dread and anxiety. Instead of the calm moving water, the river steamed and boiled as it shoved them roughly down its course. The sky and the bright lush forest on either side turned dark, and scattered in the woods were sinister eyes that glowed bright yellow.
***
Sam woke to something slamming into the boat.
She sat up instantly, her dream vanishing like wispy smoke from a cigarette.
"Whoa!" David exclaimed from behind the wheel.
"What the hell?" Todd yelled.
With the sound of crunching steel the back end of the boat was pushed out of the water then dragged back into the depths causing the bow to rise up. They all screamed and grabbed whatever they could - the wheel, seats, side rails - to prevent them from being tossed out. The grip released and the stern bounced back up. The motor stalled.
"Jesus Christ!" David shouted as the boat steadied again. "What the fuck was that?"
Sam looked over the side, her heart racing. The water rippled madly. She saw a huge dark shape move smoothly under the surface.
"David. The water. What is that?" She pointed, but even as she spoke the thing disappeared into the depths.
"What?" David asked, following her gaze.
"I thought I saw . . ." Sam was suddenly aware of Mary's erratic breathing. She looked up to see Todd comforting his wide-eyed, frightened girlfriend.
"What?" David demanded again, his voice shaky. "What was it? What did you see?"
"Nothing. It was nothing." Sam didn't want to think of what she saw, because what she saw didn't make sense.
A log. A huge fallen tree, that's what it was.
But does a log side-wind?
That was just the light on the water, that's all. Just a trick of the light.
David moved to the captain's chair and hit the tilt button. The motor whined as it rose.
They all stared.
The propeller unit was mangled. Two of the three blades were gone. The third one appeared to have been half bitten off. Crimps in the shaft resembled small inverted cones.
"What the fuck," David whispered.
"We need to get out of the water," Sam said with urgency, the image in the water coming back to her with terrifying clarity. Trick of the light or not, she wanted out.
"Let's get this bitch to shore," David said, disgusted. He grabbed two paddles. Without speaking the two men leaned over either side and paddled towards the river's edge.
Once there, Sam examined the thick, muddy shore pocked with an array of animal prints. She'd sink to her knees jumping out of the boat. But her pressing need to get away from the water overwhelmed any reservations she had about getting dirty.
One by one they slipped slowly and carefully into the shoreline. Each of them indeed sank in the thick mire, but luckily just to their ankles.
Except for David's cursing when he lost a shoe in the sludge, (and got his hand and arm mucky retrieving it) they quietly made their way to solid ground.
They stood quietly for a few moments on the grassy bank. A hawk cried out. Cicadas droned. A soft breeze whispered through the treetops.
"What do you think it was?" Todd asked David.
"I have no idea," he quietly replied gazing at his crippled boat.
"Undertow?" Todd suggested.
David frowned in disgusted skepticism and Sam knew what he was thinking. The river was too calm for an undertow. And she'd never heard of an undertow pushing a boat out of the water.
"It felt like something had a hold of us," Mary said timidly.
That's exactly what Sam had thought. She believed that's what all of them thought, but no one would agree with Mary out loud.
"What did you see, Sam?" Todd asked.
"Nothing. A tree trunk maybe. I don't know." She refused to think of her dream or the image in the water.
"It doesn't matter anyway." David ran his fingers through his hair. Before jumping out of the boat he had put on his white Nike polo shirt. It looked startlingly bright against the forest background.
"Is there any way we can fix it?" Todd asked hopefully.
David shook his head. "Not unless you've got a propeller unit shoved up your ass."
"David, don't."
"Well, shit! I've only had that boat out three times."
Jesus, Sam thought. Forget about our safety. Forget the fact that we are miles from civilization. Just go on worrying about your fucking boat, David. Typical.
"What do we do now?" Mary asked, her eyes pleading as she looked from one face to another.
"We can either wait until another boat comes along or start walking," David said.
"There's not going to be another boat," Sam said, feeling frustrated and scared. She plopped down on the grass. "We haven't seen one all day. I haven't even seen any power lines or phone lines." She craned her head back to look at David, squinting against the sun. "Do you even know where to go if we walk?"
Mary took a few steps away and started to cry softly. Todd went to her, and spoke gently. "It's okay. We'll be okay, okay?"
Sam turned to see him enfold Mary in his arms and caress the back of her head. David had never been that sweet. Even when they went roller-blading and she wiped out, leaving a smear of skin from her knee and shin plastered on the cement, he hadn't expressed any compassion. She had cried out of pain and fear of seeing her leg so mangled, but did he help her up, and take her in his arms, and tell her it was going to be all right? No. He silently rode back to her, roughly took off her blades, and then helped her up like a football player does for a teammate - a one-handed swift pull. And the only thing he said while they rode to the clinic, was, "don't bleed on my seats."
Sam glanced from their tender display of affection to David, whose attention went back to his stupid boat. She read the boat's name on its side detailed in black script writing. The name David gave it. Dauntless.
Dauntless, my ass.
She wished it would sink right then and there.
"I told you we should've turned back," she told him.
"Shut up, Sam, I mean it."
She was angry and scared. Envious of the kindness Todd showed his girlfriend, and observing David's selfish behavior, Sam promised herself that when they got back home, she would end this silly relationship once and for all.
She lit up a cigarette both in need of one and in defiance of David. He hated her smoking.
David turned to the forest and looked at the trees, but not before smirking at her smoldering cigarette.
Good.
He walked toward a tall pine and started to climb it.
"What's he doing?" Mary whispered to Todd.
"Find a road or something, I guess."
The branches of the tree started low to the ground and they jutted out of every few feet, making it a perfect climbing tree. As he confidently and quickly made his way up, Sam's anger towards him subsided.
He's at least making an effort to come up with a plan. That's more than I'm doing.
Mary gasped harshly and cried out, making Sam jump.
"What?" Todd asked. "What is it?"
"I thought I saw someone. In the woods, I thought I saw a person or something."
"I don't see anything," Todd said, and Sam couldn't either.
"It was white. Or wearing something white." She shook her head. "It's gone now."
Before Todd could comment again, David shouted. "I think I see a road." He was standing on a branch a good seventy feet above ground, pointing off into the distance. "Over there. There's a split in the trees that goes on as far as I can see."
"Sure it's not another river?" Todd yelled up.
"Pretty sure it's not." He studied the distance a moment longer then started back down.
"Be careful, David." With a road in sight, some of the fear left Sam.
Once on the ground, he pointed again in the direction of the supposed road. His hands were covered in sap and bits of bark and needles.
"It's probably about five miles or so. I have a compass mounted on the dash. I'll have to go get it." He started for the boat again. "I can grab anything else too. Sam, you want your jeans?" He looked searchingly at her.
"Sure." She frowned when he turned his back to her. This was as close as David got to displaying kindness - to actually think of someone else's needs. It's pretty bad when someone's good manners make you suspicious, Sam thought then quickly dismissed it. There were more important things to focus on than her empty relationship with David.
They had all brought a change of heavier clothes for evening time, and once on the boat, David began throwing everyone's belongings into one duffle bag. He grabbed some bottles of water, hesitated then snatched some cans of beer as well. He put something else in the bag that bothered Sam. A flashlight.
It's only four o'clock now. If we're out here long enough to have to use that, we are going to be in trouble.
Aside from the compass built into the dashboard, there was another one about the size of a billiard ball mounted to the top of it. He retrieved a screwdriver from the console and freed it. He started to put it in the duffle bag, but stopped. Instead, he tucked his shirt into his shorts and let it drop easily down the inside of his shirt. Sam wondered why until she saw David come to the bow of the boat and toss the duffle back toward shore. He risked damaging some of the water bottles and beer cans, but that was better than busting the compass.
"I got it," Todd called out, arms outstretched.
He caught the bag pretty much with his face, and uttered a muffled, "Oof!"
Sam turned away, gritting her teeth against the laughter lodged in her throat.
If he had hands growing out of his head, he might've caught it. She thought, and coughed out a bubble of laughter.
"Don't forget the bug spray," Todd called out, tenderly touching his nose.
"Good thinking. I would've forgot that." David admitted. Sam frowned again. The David she knew would've never said that. He would've just grabbed bug juice without speaking, because he didn't like anyone outthinking him.
He's scared, she suddenly thought. No longer rowdy and boisterous, he was now somber and to Sam that equated fear. She'd never seen that in him and because of its obscurity, alarm quelled in her stomach and settled into a ball of anxiety. If a man as confident as David was scared, then there must be reason to be.
After securing the anchor, he rejoined them. He pulled the compass out and held it in front of him with his left hand, moving until he found North. Then, pointing off a bit to his right, he said. "Northeast. That's what we need to stay on to get to that road."
They took a few minutes to spray insect repellant on bare arms and legs. "Ready?" David asked everyone briskly. They took a moment to look at one another as they stood in a loose circle. Mary looked nervous.
"Yep," Todd said. "We should hit that road within a couple hours, I'll bet." He put his arm around Mary and gave her a confident shake. "Sooner, probably."
She nodded, but cast her eyes down doubtfully.
"All right, then. Let's go."
They began walking.
Sam cast one last glance at the boat. It sat there quietly, the river gently caressing its sides. And even though she wouldn't go near the water again, she felt scared leaving it behind. It was crippled but it was also tangible and familiar. Now they were heading into the unknown and tendrils of primal fear crawled around her heart.
They walked.
***
"All right, let's stop." Sam said. They had spent three hours in search of the road David was so positive was there. Everyone was tired, hot-tempered, and out of sorts. She didn't say the "L" word, because the thought alone of being lost frightened her. To actually voice it might drive her into a panic.
"We have to figure out where we are."
"I know where we are," David said.
Through clenched teeth, she said, "We should've hit that road by now."
"We've been staying on course. It must have been more than five miles, that's all!" He snapped.
She stared at the back of his head. She bit her tongue, fighting the urge to snap back that maybe he didn't know
how to use a damn compass.
They continued walking.
***
The old, swaying structure loomed against the dusk of night like a black dinosaur.
"What is it?" Todd asked.
"Looks like a barn," Mary said.
"In the middle of nowhere?" Todd wondered.
David shined the flashlight around the grounds and Sam realized that everyone was speaking in near whispers. Like they were afraid of waking something up. She shuddered.
"In the middle of nowhere is right," David said. "Where there's a barn, there's usually a house."
"Or a pasture," Sam said.
"Or a crop," Todd added.
There was none of that. It reminded Sam of The Wizard of Oz when the house was picked up by a twister and ended up in a surreal Neverland. The old, gray wood appeared to have been neglected for fifty years if not more. Just sitting in the middle of nowhere for the last half century. That thought unsettled Sam, but kept quiet about her anxiety. It was irrational. What's to be afraid of? It was a barn. Yet she couldn't talk herself out of the fear.
"C'mon, let's walk around it." David led the way and after a moment he exclaimed triumphantly, "Hey, a road!" It was a path, really. Overgrown with long grass and peppered with saplings. But nevertheless it appeared to be a way out.
"Thank God," Mary sighed.
"All right!" Todd nodded.
They all stared at it a moment. Sam's nerves calmed down. They were going to be okay.
David turned to the others. "We have a way out. But I say we go check out the inside of the barn and stay there for the night." Fresh fear crawled at Sam's skin and when she looked to the others she saw the same fear in their eyes.
"Hey, I don't know how much more battery life this flashlight has. And we can't walk in the dark."
"Looks pretty old," Todd commented.
"Better than sleeping outside," David said and the rest agreed. "And at first light, we'll head out on that road. I'm sure it will lead us out to a highway or house, or something."
They agreed more earnestly this time and moved into the barn.
Gaping holes replaced the missing double doors on either ends of the barn. Instead of a hayloft, the high ceiling came to a rounded point fifty feet above them. Standard wooden stalls lined one side of the barn. Ancient, moldy hay bunched up in the corners of some of them. A nest or bed for rodents, Todd suggested, making the girls shutter.