Will of Man - Part Five (3 page)

Again I ran to the fence, only to reach it and begin climbing. As I threw myself over the fence, the wolves jumped at me, but were stopped by the fence.

I sat on the other side staring at the snarling wolves. I couldn’t believe I made it. We sat there staring at each other. The fence is a good eight feet high, so I don’t have to worry about them jumping it.

I stood up and pulled my spear over the top of the fence. One of the wolves crept up to the fence. It seemed to be saying, “We’ll get you. You can run, but eventually we’ll get you.”

I stared the wolf in the eyes and slowly pulled my spear up to the wolf’s neck. I rested the spear end on the fence.

“YOU LOSE!” I yelled as I thrust the spear into the neck of the wolf. The wolf collapsed to the ground. I pulled my spear back and thrust it again through the fence and into the fallen wolf. I must have hit a vital spot, because it seemed paralyzed. I pulled my spear back again and stuck it into the wolf repeatedly. The wolf died there in front of me and I held my spear up and over my head in victory.

“ONE DOWN! SIX TO GO!” I yelled at the rest of the pack.

I turned and scanned the airport. The airport is about 3 miles across. So if you multiply 3 by pi (3.14), you get roughly 9 miles of fence. So the wolves will have to travel 4.5 miles to meet me at the other side.

I plan on exiting the airport on the other side of the airport. Hopefully, they don’t find their way into here. Four plus miles should give me a good head start if they decide to come after me.

I will find a spot to rest for the night inside the airport. Then tomorrow I will quietly leave. Balow and I are suppose to meet up 6 miles from here in a small town across the river. I will have to cross the same river where I had trouble with the pirates.

The wolves are dedicated to getting me. I need to find a way to level the playing field and put some distance between me and them. I sat for a long time thinking of how to rid myself of the dangerous predators.

I chose to not go into the airport itself. I have all the supplies I want to carry with me and don't need to take the risk of wandering around the inside of the air terminal. Who knows what or who I might find?

I found the maintenance garage to spend the night. Inside were spare parts, tools, an office, a couple picnic tables, and a half dozen work vehicles.

The ceiling to the garage was a good thirty feet high and I was able to start a fire without being smoked out.

Throughout the day I would peer out the window and spot the wolves circling the perimeter fence. The airport is secure and the wolves have not found a way in yet. I'm confident it won't take long for them to catch up to me once I leave tomorrow morning. I needed to figure a way to slow them down.

Staring at one of the work vehicles (a truck with a plow on the front), an idea came to me that might work. I remembered my dad warning me about antifreeze and how poisonous it is to dogs. My dad, Tanner, Molly our dog, and I were at Sleepy Hollow State Park one day practicing our biking when we saw Molly sniffing a puddle of leaked antifreeze under an old pickup truck.

Dad yelled at Molly and told me to pull her away from the puddle. Dad said antifreeze is very sweet and animals like the taste of it. However, it's very poisonous and destroys their kidneys. If an animal drinks enough, it will kill them, or at the very least make them very sick.

Now I’m not one to promote cruelty to animals, but these wolves decided I'm Little Red Riding Hood. It's them or me. So I made them a nice sweet cocktail.

I took my knife and a bucket and crawled under one of the trucks. With the knife I cut one of the hoses connected to the radiator and watch the liquid flow out and into the bucket beneath. The antifreeze was bright green and looked like tasty Kool-Aid. I almost wanted to drink some myself.

I knew I would need a lot to be affective against the six remaining wolves. I drained each vehicle and found a couple half full jugs of antifreeze in the back of the garage.

There were several empty five gallon buckets that I cut shallow enough so the wolves could lap up every drop within. Six wolves meant six drinking bowls.

I took the drinking bowls to the fence and laid them on the outside of the perimeter where the wolves could drink from them. I had to jump over the fence and lay them out close to the fence so I could fill each one.

Just as I was placing the last bowl the wolves came charging and nearly got me as I leapt over the eight foot fence.

"Wait here. I have a gift for you all.' I said as I walked back to the garage to retrieve the antifreeze.

I grabbed one of the jugs of antifreeze along with a funnel that had a long tube to reach the bowls. One by one I filled the bowls full of antifreeze. The wolves were hesitant to accept my gift and seemed more interested in tasting me. However, after about a half hour of taunting my customers with the delectable sweet nectar, I found myself sweating as I ran back and forth to waiter my appreciative customers.

I actually think they started to like me. I probably could have walked out and started playing fetch the stick with them. Ok, probably not.

The wolves drank and drank. I must have filled each bowl three times. I just had to wait and let the poison do its job.

Either way, I was leaving in the morning. I don't expect the wolves to be dead, but I do expect them to have some really upset stomachs. That should slow them down enough to give me a head start. Maybe they'll be so sick, they’ll give up the chase completely

I'm not betting on anything. I'm sneaking out tomorrow with the assumption they are strong and ready. If the poison works, then good for me. If not, I’ll be moving fast anyways.

Tonight will be a tough one. I don't know if I will be able to sleep. I'm taking a big chance leaving my oasis (the plane). I will be battling wolves and other predators foraging for the upcoming winter months, the elements when winter comes, hunger, and everything else.

Traveling in the summer was ideal. I had berries and other vegetation to eat (its Fall now and all that's gone). If I had to sleep, I could lie wherever and not worry about freezing. Now I have to plan ahead for shelter and rely on luck. In the summer, I could be out in the rain for days and be ok. One hour in the rain during the winter can kill me. In the summer I could jump in a river or lake to escape anything chasing me. In the winter the lakes are froze over and the rivers are ice cold. I relied on the water for safety - can't do that in the winter.

My point is that I am taking a huge chance leaving now. My mind tells me I am a fool. My heart tells me I can't go on much longer without my family. I must find them.

Tyler's Journal Entry: 450

Date: October 2

Weather: Cool and cloudy

Miles to go: 625

I was right; it was hard to sleep last night. I stuck with my plan and left early in the morning.

I scanned the perimeter for the wolves and saw none. Scavenging the garage, I found a pair of bolt cutters and used it to cut the fence behind the garage. I didn't want to climb over the fence and draw attention to my movements. The fence was about ten feet from the back of the garage and I was able to sneak my way to it unnoticed.

I cut the fence, exited through it, then mended it so nothing could find its way in (I may need to return).

As I left, I decided to walk with caution, but walk with a purpose. I didn't have time to crawl around every tree and stop for every little noise. If I was going to get away, I had to move consistently and in a straight line.

My bearing was southeast back towards the river in the direction of Balow and I's meeting place. Balow probably isn't there, but he would go to check to see if I was there, and I will do the same for him.

The river was a good three miles away and I was nearly there when I heard some trampling in the woods behind me. I stopped and turned. The woods are thick and as a result dark from the little light penetrating the canopy of trees. I ducked behind a tree and waited to see what it was.

To my horror it was the wolves. They found my scent and were tracking me. However their pace was slow and sloppy. The antifreeze was doing its job and slowing them down. They were slow and lethargic and appeared unbalance. It was almost as if they were drunk. I could hear the flow of the river and knew I was close.

I decided to make a run for it. The wolves gave chase but were slow enough that I stood a chance of reaching my destination.

To my surprise, I was out running them. I caught glimpses of them and notice the wolves falling over themselves and running into anything in their way. I contemplated making a stand and fighting them. But the river was close and I knew I was going to make it.

I did make it to the river, only to find it about fifty feet below a steep cliff and littered with small boulders. The boulders made it impossible for me to jump. If I missed the water, the alternative was a hard boulder. I had to climb my way down.

The wolves were a distance behind me, but closing in.

I was perched on the edge of a cliff that poked out with a tall pine leaning over the edge that hung over the river. Near the standing pine, was another pine that had fallen next to it at an angle to the edge of the cliff.

I quickly took my hundred feet of climbing rope from my bag and held it in my hand trying to decide what to do with it.

I knew the wolves were coming. I knew they would find me. I knew I had nowhere else to go but down.

An idea came to me! I took my rope and tied the end to the base of the standing pine. Then I stretched the rope out and tied another part of the rope to the end of the fallen pine lying on the ground at an angle to the cliff. With the opposite end of the rope, I tied it around my waist tight and stood at the edge of the cliff.

I looked down at the boulders below and took a deep breath. Holding the rope in my hands I watched the wolves close in. They were weak, but still determined to get me.

I crouched down on knees and postured submissively. The wolves walked to me in a pack around the fallen pine and within a couple meters of me and the cliff. As the wolves approached, I could see they were very sick and struggling to walk.

As they approached striking distance, I stood up and leapt over the side of the cliff. As I fell, I could feel the rope slack tighten and then the big pull. The fallen pine swept across the top of the cliff like a giants arm - scooping the wolves as it went over the cliff.

The rope squeezed my chest and I gripped the rope with both hands and held on tight. I tucked my head into my chest and squeezed my eyes shut anticipating the incoming falling wolves.

To my surprise, none of the wolves fell onto me, but to my greater surprise, they all went over the edge.

As I dangled over the edge of the cliff, I looked down to see five wolves floating down river and one dead on the boulders below.

I was so excited my plan worked, I forgot about the searing pain in my sides from the ropes and the huge dangling pine tree above me.

My celebration ended with the pine crashing down on me scraping me up bad. The fallen pine may have crashed to the ground below, but I stayed tide to the standing pine above. I was only twenty-five feet off the ground, but it seemed like a mile to me.

Fortunately I was dangling over a body of water and not a boulder. I took my knife out and cut the rope holding me up in the air. With a quick snap of the rope contracting, I belly smacked the flowing water below. The water was not as cold as I thought, but it was flowing fast and pushed me down river.

I swam my way to the river bank and collapsed on the sandy ground. It didn't take long for me to remember the wolves. I quickly sat up and looked around. As I looked across the river I saw my traveling companions. They were huddled together, looking miserable.

Fortunately for me, the wolves and I were separate by about 40-50 yards of slow moving water. I counted five and was disappointed my planned cliff dive didn't take more. But five sickly wolves are better than the seven strong original.

My ribs may be bruised, but I look a lot better than them. They look miserable. A couple keep dry-heaving and the others just limp around.

They didn't seem too eager to swim across the river, but they weren't leaving me either. I still have a few miles till I need to cross and meet up with Balow. I will wait them out and cross when possible. They may have me blocked for today. But they are wilting and I am strong. They will blink and then I will move. Soon I will cross this river and find my friend.

Tyler's Journal Entry: 451

Date: October 3

Weather: Cool and cloudy

Miles to go: 623

I made camp across from the wolves. Strangely I feel more secure being able to see them when I want, rather than moving into the woods and having to wonder where they are all the time.

I climbed a tree and tied myself to a large limb with my remaining rope and slept there for the night. My wetsuit and thermal blanket kept me moderately warm. I watched the stars and made small wishes with each fallen one. Looking at the night sky reminded me of sitting on my back porch watching the jets fly over. Flint and Detroit airports were to the east of my home and on any given time I could see a plane or two fly high above.

There are no jets in the sky anymore to entertain me, but the falling stars will do. It is a lonely feeling being all alone anywhere, but here in the deep woods; a person's loneliness is magnified.

Strangely I feel a connection to the wolves. They are mine and I am there's. It seems we will be forever linked in a game of cat and mouse. However I've been the mouse for too long and it’s time to change the game.

I woke up and examined my friends across the river. They looked like they had been partying all night and were suffering the consequences today. A pile of beer cans is all that’s needed to complete the image.

An MRE was my breakfast as I sat near a warm fire I built. I decided to relax and study the wolves a bit. There wasn't much to study though. They just laid on the sandy ground looking hung over and miserable. The antifreeze is affecting them and they are getting weaker by the day.