Ike Hamill - Extinct

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“I’m headed north,” he said, blurting his words between breaths. “My friend stashed snowmobiles at a motor pool. I hope one is still there.”

“I can drive a snowmobile,” she said.

“Good for you,” he said.

Brad needed a rest—he wasn’t accustomed to jogging through snow and he’d used up most of his adrenaline. He hunched over and grabbed his knees. When the sour pain in the back of his throat abated, he asked, “Why are you following me?”

“I’m coming with you,” she said. “We have to stick together.”

“Why?”

“It’s safer,” she said.

“Not for me, it’s not,” he said. “As far as I know there’s another psycho Buster running around looking for you and some little girl who I thought was a boy. Seems like trouble might be following you.”

“That’s absurd,” she said.

“Maybe it is,” Brad said. “It’s impossible to know, I guess. Regardless, I’m headed towards danger. If you want safety, you’re headed the wrong direction.”

“You’re going to meet Robby and those guys,” Christine said.

“Yes.”

“Robby has a plan?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Then I’m coming,” she said. “I knew I should have gone with you guys before, but I thought Luke knew what he was talking about. I’m not going to make the same mistake twice.”

Brad rose to his feet slowly and considered trying to talk her out of coming. He looked her in the eyes.

“I get the feeling you might make bad decisions and then stubbornly stick to them,” he said.

“Fuck you,” she said.

“Yup. I thought so,” Brad said.

He turned away from her angry glare and resumed his trudge to the motor pool. After another half block, they found the trails of the snowmobiles and sleds and they walked on the hard-packed snow. Near the big patches of bare dirt, where the tractors had once been parked, Brad found several parked snowmobiles. He filled the tanks of two snowmobiles with gas cans leaned up next to the big garage. Then, to the back of each vehicle, he strapped extra tanks with the little bit of gas left over.

“You said you can drive one of these?” Brad asked.

“It’s been a while,” Christine said. “And it’s going to be pretty damn cold without any goggles or decent gloves.”

“Wrap up the best you can and we’ll stop and get warmer gear,” Brad said. “Did your finger stop bleeding?”

“A while ago,” she said.

“Good, let’s follow these tracks to the highway and then move as fast as we can. We should be able to catch up with the others pretty quick.”

TED WAS HALFWAY down the big, open staircase when his hand flew up with a silent halt command. Lisa, who was following close but looking off towards the upper railing, ran into him and put her hand on the middle of his back to steady herself. Pete, over at the other side of the wide stair, continued a couple of extra steps before he noticed the rest of the group was stopped.

Both of Ted’s lights focused on a display to his left. Soon, all the beams concentrated there. The display depicted a scene out of the Maine woods. Fake branches, bushes, and rocks provided habitat for stuffed, mounted animals, or so the placards would lead one to believe. In a whisper, Ted read the signs as he moved his headlamp from sign to sign.

“Raccoon, rabbit, bobcat, red squirrel,” Ted whispered. “Where are they?”

“Back there, in the corner,” Romie said, about as quiet as she ever said anything. She was a couple of steps above Ted, but she motioned with her light. Ted crouched and peered between the posts of the railing to shine his light back in the corner. A round, black, furry lump, about the size of a beanbag chair, sat near a gray boulder.

“That looks like a bear,” Pete said, keeping his voice low. “You think maybe a real bear got in here and ate all the stuffed animals?”

“I haven’t seen one mounted animal since we got here,” Ted whispered over his shoulder. “And I’m pretty sure this place used to be full of them. There used to be a big bear over in hunting and fishing, where we came in. That might be it.”

“So someone or something moved all the animals around?" Lisa asked.

Sheila positioned herself between Nate and Ted while Brynn walked down a couple more steps to get close to the railing. Robby walked around Ted and Lisa and joined Brynn. They stared at the big black lump.

“No,” Ted said, rising out of his crouch. “The mounted bear was standing. If this is a bear, then it’s curled up like it’s hibernating.”

Robby turned and looked up to Ted.

“It’s breathing,” Robby said. All eyes looked at Robby for a second. Brynn nodded vigorously in agreement.

The rounded ball of black fur grunted and shifted.

“That is a bear,” whispered Nate. “Get away from there, Brynn.” Nate waited for Brynn to scramble to his side before he handed Brynn his flashlight. Nate loaded an arrow into the crossbow and pulled back the string. He held the weapon out at arm’s length and gripped Brynn to his hip with his other arm.

The rest of the group tightened into a knot. Most kept their focus on the bear, but Pete and Romie, in the back, looked upstairs in the direction they were headed. The bear grunted again and they saw its head appear from behind a big paw. With its eyes closed it snuffled at the air and then tucked its head back in.

“They don’t hibernate very deep,” Ted said with his voice low. The group could barely hear him over the dry shuffle of their feet over the wood floor.

Nate and Brynn moved quicker than the huddled group, so they led the way. When they’d moved out of sight of the bear’s exhibit, Sheila stopped with a panicked look. She fluttered a hand in front of her face and hunched her shoulders.

“What is it?” Lisa asked in a whisper.

“Keep moving,” Nate said over his shoulder. He and Brynn moved slowly away from the rest.

Sheila sucked in a constricted, whistling breath. Her exhale was equally labored.

“Take it easy,” Ted said in a low voice. “You having trouble breathing?”

Sheila nodded.

“Close your eyes,” Ted said.

Sheila’s eyes widened at the suggestion.

“Shhh, just close your eyes and relax,” Ted said. “We’re all here. We’re right here.”

Sheila’s eyelids fluttered, fighting her as she tried to comply. She finally managed to get them shut and her shoulders fell almost instantly. A long, slow breath leaked from her lungs as she unclenched her teeth. She took a deep breath, collecting it into her belly and then exhaled through her nose. The panic left her face and Sheila opened her eyes.

“Good,” Ted said. “Let’s go.”

Lisa grabbed Sheila’s hand and helped her forward. The others drew in around Sheila and moved ahead towards the lights of Brynn and Nate.

From the direction of Nate and Brynn, three noises came out of the dark in rapid succession: a low, angry howl, a loud mechanical snap, and a shriek. Suddenly the beams of Brynn and Nate scattered in random directions, and then repointed back at the group. Dragging Brynn by the arm, Nate scrambled back past the group, hooking a sliding left towards the stairs leading up to the second floor. Just behind him, the others saw the cause of his alarm—a screaming bobcat with a crossbow arrow lodged in its bleeding shoulder was bounding across the tiles towards them.

“Shit,” Lisa said as she tried to turn.

The bobcat pounced towards group.

Pete’s knife rang like a tiny bell as he pulled it from the sheath on his side. The big man jumped towards Lisa from the other side.