Shenandoah (3 page)

John still didn’t remember who he was.  It was extremely frustrating to him.  How can you not know your name?  He knew just from his experience over the past few days that he had been trained in survival.  By who?  Who was he? Who were his parents?  Why was he in that helicopter?  And one of his biggest questions was why were there dinosaurs running around and why did he know so much about them?

Chapter 8

Everyone in the room was screaming, jumping around, and hugging each other.  After a few minutes they all calmed down and started to discuss what to do.  Although they realized there might still be a good chance he may not have survived his injuries and exposure to the weather, they proceeded with a cautious optimism.  Wynd was ready to fly up immediately but that was quickly squelched.   They had not been up in the helicopter since the day they had rescued David. They didn’t want to take a chance and get shot down like Marcus.  Plus, it had started snowing again and according to Wendy the weather girl it wasn’t going to stop anytime soon.  It looked like Haven could get over a foot of snow or more before it was over.  The radar maps showed that the storm was going to cover the entire eastern section of the United States.

“Why can’t we fly up there?” asked Wynd.

“Because we still don’t know who or why they shot Marcus down,” said Kim.  “Plus Jocelyn says that a large section of the Shenandoah National Park is being jammed.  There are no signals in or out.”

“Well lets jump in the MAV and drive up there,” said Wynd.  “It will take longer but at least they can’t shoot us down.”

“The weather is going to get worse and worse. In a few days, after this clears out, we can head that way.  If Marcus is still alive, I know he can take care of himself,” said Kim.

As Kim was finishing, Jocelyn spoke up, “Everyone please look at the screen.  I have found something else.  The timestamp is the day after the accident.”

The video started playing on the screen again.  From the left hand side of the screen a figure slowly entered the clearing and limped toward the helicopter.  It was Marcus.  Wynd was jumping up and down again.  

“He is still alive!” yelled Wynd.  They all celebrated with her.

They continued watching him as he entered the cockpit and began to pull containers and bags from the wreckage.  After seeing the things he pulled from the wreckage, they were convinced he was still alive and would survive until they found him.  He made over five trips to the helicopter, even going as far as to strip some of the cushions from the seats.  Finally Jocelyn announced that she had scanned the additional footage and that there were no more instances of Marcus being seen.  She said she would continually monitor the camera feed and would let them know immediately if he showed up again.

“Jocelyn.  Judging from the speed of Marcus limping around and the time difference between trips; can you estimate how far he is from the crash site?  I realize that he may be resting before coming back or maybe eating or whatever.  How far can he be away if you estimated the shortest time interval?” asked David.

“Within a standard deviation of fifteen minutes, I would estimate that Marcus is no further that two miles from the crash site, “said Jocelyn.

Kim thought they were going to have to strap Wynd in a chair.  She headed toward the door like she was going to leave then.  Kim stopped her before she could get out the door.

“We are going to have to wait.  It’s supposed to snow for the next several days and if the temperatures fluctuate like the computer is saying, we should have ice mixed in with that,” said Kim.  “The computer models are saying that this is the worst winter storm in two hundred years. Don’t worry about Marcus.  He’s been on his own since he was thirteen so you know he knows how to survive.  And you know he’s tough.  Just look at the crash we watched him walk away from.”

Kim was finally able to talk her out of it and they went back to planning how to go get him.

Chapter 9

Throughout the day John stayed in the cave, only going out for a few minutes at a time.  The rest of the time he cooked his fish and dozed off and on.  The snow was continuing to fall and the temperature was staying low.  John wished that the radio in the helicopter was still working.  Even though he wasn’t sure who he was, it would be nice to speak to someone else.

The next morning John headed out into the snow to gather some more wood and check his snares.  He wrapped up in every stitch of clothes he could find in the helicopter but was still cold.  He realized that he was going to have to make sure that he kept his supplies stocked up.  With the deepening snow, it was going to get harder and harder to keep up his food supply.

He made several trips to and from the cave with wood he had gathered.  So far he had been lucky.  He hadn’t seen a dinosaur all day.  John wondered if they had moved off to the southern valley to take shelter during this storm.  After a couple of hours of gathering wood, he decided he would go check his snares.  There was at least a foot of snow already and it was snowing harder.  He had placed the first snare about a hundred yards from his cave.  There was nothing there.  At his second snare was a small rabbit.  It wasn’t very big but he wasn’t picky.  It hadn’t been there long because it wasn’t frozen yet.  He quickly field dressed the rabbit and washed his hands off in the stream.  His fingers ached after having them exposed cleaning the rabbit and then the cold water.  He attached the rabbit to his belt loop, put his hands back in his pockets, and gradually stumbled and limped on down the trail to his next snare as the snow continued to fall heavily.

The next snare was empty.  Heading toward his fourth snare John tripped and fell several times in the snow.  Although he had been healing, the pain from the falls was almost unbearable.  After he would fall, he would lay there in the snow and wait until the pain subsided.  The fourth snare was empty also.  With the beating he was taking from the falls, John almost turned and went back.  The fifth snare was over two miles from the cave, the terrain was very rough, and John was really struggling.  He knew he would need the food if he was lucky enough to have snared something so he continued on.

The fifth snare was at the top of a hill nestled inside a dense copse of pines.  There was a squirrel caught in the snare.  It was barely caught and was still moving around.  John came in slowly.  Most people think squirrels are sweet, playful animals.  They are normally but when they are cornered they will attack.  They have two razor-like front teeth along with long, super-sharp claws on their feet.  That’s why they can easily climb and jump from tree to tree with such ease. 

John had his knife but that would put him in close range of those teeth.  He looked around until he found a three inch thick branch that was about four feet long.  Taking the branch, John eased closer to the squirrel.  Its back leg was caught in the snare and he was facing John.  Its tail began to twitch as it assumed a defensive posture.

John had the branch over his head ready to swing when the squirrel came loose from the snare.  It jumped to the left and raced off the hill.  John wasn’t about to let it go so he jumped and swung the branch hard.  He just missed it and hit the ground hard.  In the process of swinging, he also lost his footing in the snow and slipped and fell.  He was too close to the steeper part of the hill and he started sliding and tumbling down the side of the hill.  He tried to use the trees to slow himself down but was not successful.  He travelled over seventy-five yards to the bottom of the hill. 

He lay there in the snow trying to catch his breath.  The pain in his shoulder was throbbing.  After a while, he finally was able to sit up.  Lucky for him, there were still no signs of any dinosaurs.  He looked around trying to get his bearings.  It was then he noticed that the stream he had followed had a small tributary that flowed into a large pond up ahead.  He was looking at the pond when he noticed a larger stand of huge trees located near the stream.  It wasn’t the trees that were interesting.  It was the large elaborate tree house that was entwined in the top of the trees.  It was the size of a small house and it had an integrated staircase that circled the perimeter of the trunk of the largest tree.  The staircase travelled all the way to the ground.  It was camouflaged in such a way that if it hadn’t been for the snow, John would never have seen it. Easing himself to his feet, John dusted off the snow and headed that way. 

John was tired and hurting but the sight of the tree house had invigorated him.  It was over a half mile to the foot of the tree.  He slowly walked around the huge tree looking at the ascending stair case.  If you wiped the snow off of the stairs, the staircase blended in with the tree.  He wasn’t sure how old the house was but it was expertly made.  The house could be five years old or it could have been twenty.   He slowly ascended the stairs and reached the first level.  There was a small walkway that encircled the entire bottom level.  He walked around the walkway and surveyed his surroundings.  The first level was probably at least forty feet above the ground.  On the opposite side of the tree was another staircase that ascended to the upper level.  Before John went up to the second level, he decided to try the door on the first level. It was locked.  He tried several times. There was a keypad by the door. He tried several different combinations and still nothing worked. 

He headed to the next level to try it.  He thought that maybe he could get in a window or maybe another door.  There were no windows on the bottom level.  Although covered in snow, the second level had what John would call an enclosed sun porch and a large deck that looked out over the small pond.   The door to the sun porch was locked also and John could see that the glass was reinforced glass.  It looked as if the walls would rise on the porch if you had access to the inside but it was locked down tight.  He looked inside the windows at the interior of the house.  It looked like a honeymoon cabin you would see in a brochure.  He could see that it had a fireplace, Jacuzzi, a bedroom with a king size bed, and kitchen, and everything looked intact.  He looked around everywhere on the second level and couldn’t find another way in. 

The temperature was going down and John was starting to get colder.  The sun was already setting.  John needed to either find a way in or he needed to hurry back to his cave.  He stopped at the keypad on the door.  For some strange reason, he knew exactly what to do.  He took his knife out and undid the screws on the keypad.  Pulling the keypad out, he cut three of the wires and rewired it.  Using a combination he would remember, he reset the code and mounted the keypad back in place.  He punched in his numbers and the door popped open.  He walked into the house and shut the door. 

John was wishing that his memory would come back. He didn’t know where he learned it but he was definitely skilled in electronics.  As he looked around, he could tell that everything was slightly dusty.  As well made as this house was, he could tell that no one had been in there for a few years.  The lower level was mostly storage and the inner workings of the house.  The solar generator, water conditioner, and climate control were all on the bottom level.

He opened several of the cabinets and was shocked to find that they were fully stocked with preservation chambers full of food.  Pop-tarts.  His mouth was watering as he tore open the container and hungrily devoured two of them.  He grabbed a Dr. Pepper, popped it open, and began drinking it as he went up the steps to the upper level.   

Although dusty, the place was immaculate.  He quickly found the wall unit and tried the climate control.  He heard the click of the solar conductors as the heat came online.  Those conductors were amazing.  In a matter of minutes, the temperature on the inside was a balmy seventy degrees.  John was able to strip down to his shirt and pants.  The place had everything:  gigantic television screen, exercise equipment, and a large computer setup. 

He searched most of the house and realized just how tired he was.  He was tired but that Jacuzzi had been calling his name ever since he saw it.  His muscles ached and he thought a bath would do him good.  He tried the water faucet for the Jacuzzi and to John’s delight, hot, steaming water poured out of it. While the tub was filling, John undressed and found a preservation container for his rabbit.  He may have plenty of food now but he wasn’t going to waste what he already had. 

Climbing in the Jacuzzi, John moaned and yelped until the gentle jets on the tub worked out the soreness.  It was totally dark outside when he finally left the tub.  Picking up his old clothes to put them back on, John got a strong whiff of them.  They were putrid.  He even gagged a couple of times.  He was shocked that he never noticed while he was wearing them.  He found a robe in the bathroom closet and then took his old clothes and threw them outside.  Hopefully he would find some more in the house. 

Going into the bedroom, he searched the closets and drawers.  He was rewarded by finding a fully stocked closet.  The owner must be close to John’s size because most of the clothes fit relatively well.  Although they were a little short for him, John was able to wear them.  He donned a pair of sweat pants, sweat shirt, and socks.  John thought he would explore the rest of the house but he wanted to see how the bed felt.  He decided to try it out for just a minute.  He lay down and immediately was asleep. 

Chapter 10

It snowed heavily during the night.  Wynd was beside herself.  If this kept up she was never going to be able to get to Marcus.  For the next two days, the snow only got worse.  She was at her wit’s end.  She finally made up her mind that she was going to do something even if it was wrong.  She went down to the living room.  No one was there.  Almost everyone was outside playing in the snow.

“Jocelyn,” said Wynd.

“Yes, Wynd.  How may I help you?” said Jocelyn.

“Are there any adults in the house at the moment?” asked Wynd.

“Everyone is outside with the exception of Virginia,” said Jocelyn.  “She’s currently in the greenhouse watering her plants.”