Stan Morris - Surviving the Fog

The man gasped once, and then he grabbed his neck with both hands. His motorcycle traveled on for several yards until it hit a large rock and flipped over, causing the man to hit the ground hard and break his neck. But by the time the man hit the ground, he was already dead.

The fourth biker, seeing his fellow fall, cursed loudly, and he raised his own pistol. But Ralph, who had come running down from the boy’s camp, threw his spear wildly, and it struck the man in his aiming arm. The man cried out and the gun flew away. Without trying to retrieve his weapon, the brutal coward turned his motorcycle, and fled over the hill.

“They took Jackie, Ralph,” a girl sobbed. “They took her.”

“What do you mean? Where’s Jackie?” Ralph demanded.

“They took her,” another girl cried.

In a shaky voice, through her tears, she told Ralph what had happened. Ralph let out an anguished yell. He turned to Mike.

“They got Jackie, Chief! They got Jackie!” cried Ralph wide eyed. “Please, Chief, please help me go and get her back!”

“I will, Ralph, I will,” replied a shaken Mike. He turned to the other Spears. “We’re going to chase those guys. We’re going to get the girls back. Get some water and some granola bars. All of the granola bars.”

He turned to Howard. “You’re staying here. That’s final,” he ordered roughly as Howard was about to protest. “Get everyone across the river. Do whatever you have to do to make them go. Then get a lot of wood, and put it on the bridge. Get ready with the camp fuel, but don’t put it on the wood unless they come back. If they do, then put all the camp fuel on the wood and light it. Try to burn the bridge down.”

“Chief, how will you find them?” Howard protested.

“There’s fog all around us,” replied Mike. “They can’t be far.”

At that time, Mike did not realize just how large an area was above the fog, but in any case he was determine to follow the kidnappers.

He looked around, and then he spied the fallen pistol. He ran to it, grabbed the pistol, and shouted, “Anyone know how to use one of these?”

A few kids did. Mike gave it to one of the older boys, and he said to the boy, “Stay by the bridge. If they come back, try to keep them away until the bridge is burning good.”

Yuie was there. “I’m coming too, Chief,” she informed him, and when he would have demurred she whispered softly, “When you get Jackie and Maria back, I think that they might need a girl to help them, not a guy.”

Within minutes, the supplies were gathered and stuffed into their backpacks. All the spears that they could carry in a hurry were lashed together. Yuie held her bow and arrows. Desi and John grabbed a last frantic tearful kiss as she begged him to be careful. And then they began jogging up the road, and soon they were lost to sight over the low hill.

Meanwhile, Howard turned to the others. “All right, you heard Mike. Everybody go over the bridge to the other side. Right now!”

A few moved halfheartedly, but one girl shook her head. “I’m not leaving the girls’ camp,” she stated defiantly.

Howard looked at her helplessly. Then out of the corner of his eye he saw Pete’s body. He had to take care of Pete as soon as possible. But first, he had to protect the other kids.

He raised the wood shaft of his spear. “All of you,” he said grimly. “Get over the bridge.”

The girl looked alarmed, and she backed up a step, and then she stopped. “You’re not the boss of us!” she shouted.

“You idiot! He’s trying to protect you,” exclaimed Desi.

Without another word, Howard stepped forward, and he swung his spear striking the girl a light blow on her shoulder.

“Ow…” she cried, and she stared at Howard in shock.

Howard raised his spear again. Breaking into sobs, the girl turned and fled towards the bridge. Another girl balked, and she was given the same treatment on her buttocks by another boy. She, too, fled towards the bridge, and then the whole flock of girls turned and ran, crying and squealing over the bridge, closely followed by the boys who were not a part of the Spears.

Howard went into Jackie’s cabin, and he took one of her green blankets. He laid it on the ground next to Pete. Gently, with help from others, he lifted Pete’s body onto the blanket. They wrapped the blanket around the boy’s body, and they carried it to the other side of the river. Already boys and girls were gathering brush and wood to pile on the bridge. Pete’s body was laid on the north side of the dining hall, out of the sun. Before the pile on the bridge was too bulky, Howard sent some boys to drag the damaged motorcycle over to their side of the river.

“Maybe we should let the girls get their stuff, too,” Kevin suggested, but with a look of doubt on his face.

Howard thought about the twin’s suggestion. It might make the girls feel better , the freckled boy thought.

“We’ll pile the wood on the bridge first, but we’ll leave a space for one person to get by. Then, one by one, we’ll let them go back and get their stuff,” he decided. So that’s what they did, although it took them two hours for all of the girls’ equipment to be hauled over to the boys’ side.

With the help of several boys and girls, the motorcycle was turned upside down, and the gasoline was drained into a five gallon bucket. They placed the bucket next to the bridge, ready to be poured onto the pile of wood. Howard thought that the gasoline would catch fire much faster than the camp fuel.

“What about that guy?” one of the boys asked, as he pointed to the dead body of the motorcyclist.

“Leave him for now,” Howard answered.

Then they waited. It was a long fear filled day, as they waited to see what would happen. Sometimes, some of them imagined that they heard the faint sound of a motorcycle. Noon passed, and still nothing happened. Then the afternoon passed. No one felt like eating, but Howard insisted, and he ordered some kids to make and to pass around tuna sandwiches. Night came. Howard ordered the boys to stack the tables and the chairs in the dining hall, so the boys could sleep in the cleared area. He sent the girls to bed in the boys’ cabins. No one got much sleep that night. Everyone was nervous and frightened. Where were Mike and the Spears?

Mike had not led his troop far along the road when he remembered Pete. Cursing himself savagely, he hoped that Howard would take care of Pete’s body. Briefly, he wondered if this chase was futile or maybe even crazy. But he was determined to find the girls and to rescue them.

Now the time they had spent running with Yuie was their ally. They were all in good condition except for Ralph, and his panic and anger kept his adrenaline flowing. They jogged as long as they could, and then they walked, and then they jogged again. At noontime, they stopped for a fifteen minute rest; Ralph needed it by then. After their rest, they walked awhile and then they broke into a jog again.

Alternately walking and jogging, they moved forward until the sun went down. There were a few wispy clouds that night, but the sky had mostly cleared, the moon was three quarters full, and it was bright. They could easily see the road, although the rough way slowed them.

Two hours after sunset, they came to a side road that led steeply up the mountain. Although the main road continued onward, they turned onto this road, because they could hear music coming from somewhere above them. The road was neither paved nor graveled, it was a simple dirt road though it was well packed, and it seemed to be well traveled.

It was harder going uphill, but before a half hour had passed they heard the rough voices and the drunken laughter of men off to their right. The voices came from a clearing amidst a grove of white fir trees. Cautiously, they crept closer until they could see a campfire. Then Mike sent Jacob on ahead to scout the area, and to see if the two girls were there. Soon Jacob returned.