That's why the forest went quiet. A fresh storm blowing up.
I turn back toward the path, mentally calculating how much farther I have to go--
A figure stands ten feet away. Wearing a snowsuit, a dark balaclava, and goggles. The first thing I process is that he's roughly Dalton's size. But then he moves, and that movement tells me it's not Dalton. The balaclava and goggles aren't something he would wear while combing the woods for me ... and it's exactly what was wrong about that figure on the path yesterday, one reason we'd mistaken it for a bear, our eyes failing to see a human face.
I remember what Nicole said about never seeing her captor's face. How it'd always been covered.
I raise my gun. The figure dives into the undergrowth. I fire a warning shot, the sound echoing, some creature to my right barreling through the trees in escape.
I'm looking around, both hands on my gun, having dropped the flashlight when I aimed. It's on the ground behind me, lighting the scene, but a visual sweep shows nothing, and the wind swirls madly now, ice beating my face, stinging my
eyes as I struggle to keep them open and--
I sense something behind me. I spin and see a metal bar on a collision course with my skull. I duck, and it glances off my ponytail. There's a grunt, and the man lunges, metal bar in flight, poised to strike me as soon as I run. I don't run. I wheel and kick.
It's a crappy kick. Guys on the force always expected me to be some kind of martial arts expert, given my Asian heritage. I do have a black belt ... in aikido. Kicks aren't my thing.
But I kick now because it's the best move, and while my foot connects, there's not enough power--my messed-up leg again. It's enough to knock him off balance, though. I go in for the throw down, and I grab the arm holding the bar, but a whiteout gust slams us at that very moment, and I can't see what I'm grabbing for. I glimpse something dark, and my fingers close instead around the metal bar. It starts to slide, too smooth for a decent grip.
I twist, thrusting the bar up and getting under it. My motions match his rather than opposing them, and he gives another grunt of surprise. His grip loosens, and I wrench on the bar, and then it's mine, which is nice, but not really what I want.
I whip the bar as far away as I can. I don't go for my gun, though. The snow is swirling around us, and I can barely see a guy who isn't more than two feet away. I'm as likely to lose my weapon like he just lost his. So I keep the gun holstered and punch instead, an uppercut aiming for the highest point of the dark figure.
My fist connects with a thwack. The figure reels, and I swing again, a right jab this time. It's a glancing blow, my knuckles grazing his snowsuit as he dodges. And then he's gone.
He's retreated only a foot or two, but it's enough. He disappears behind the snow veil. I lunge, swinging, and I'm moving slow enough that I keep my balance when my fist strikes air. I do, however, hit a tree. Pain rips through my arm, and I keep moving, wheeling, to put that massive trunk at my back. I press up against it, fists raised, watching for movement through the swirling snow.
I wait. And then I wait some more.
There's not a damn thing else I can do. I can't see through the snow. I can't hear over the howl of the wind. I am frozen here, quite literally starting to freeze as snow pelts my face and melts and freezes again, and then it's not melting; it's coming so hard and fast that it's piling on me, and still I don't move.
I think of that hole where Nicole was held captive. It's all I can think of, and I know if I make the wrong choice here, that's where I'm going.
My brain screams that I'm an idiot for letting Anders leave. I'd been focused on protecting Nicole, keeping her out of that hole. The thought that I could end up there myself did not occur to me until now, as I stand against this tree, letting the snow pile over me as I blink to keep my eyes clear of snow because I do not dare shut them for a second.
EIGHT
I stand there as the snow piles up, and my muscles whine and then screech in complaint. Yet I do not, for one second, think, Oh, I'm sure he's gone by now. I can't take that chance.
So I stand there until distant gray on the horizon fulfills its promise. While I don't see the sun--the storm still rages, and its rays can't pierce the clouds--it becomes light enough for me to distinguish shapes, and that's all I need. To be sure there isn't a man in a snowsuit standing right there, waiting. I drop to a crouch and peer at the ground. Through the snow, I see the indentations of our fight. On the other side is his exit path. Those footprints haven't filled with snow, meaning he did stand there, waiting, as blind as me, ultimately deciding I'd slipped away.
I crawl through the woods. Part of that is staying close to the ground so I can follow those fast-filling footprints. Part is so, if I find him, I won't be an upright human shape, easy to spot.
The footsteps lead to an open area, and I lose them as the forest cover opens and the snow dumps down.
I straighten. I still can't make out more than the dark shapes of trees. The storm shows no sign of letting up, and now that I've lost my attacker, I need to hole up and wait for help. Anders will have reached Rockton by now. Once the storm subsides, they'll be out searching, and I need to be ready.
I head in the direction I'm certain will lead me to the path. But I'm moving slowly, and I can't judge distance, and it feels as if I've been walking forever, while at the same time, it feels as if I haven't slogged more than fifty feet. There's no sign of the path. I pull out the compass. The glass is completely fogged. I hold it at every angle and knock it against my leg, to no avail. I scan the forest, squinting, searching for at least the distant swell of mountains, but there's nothing.
I swing left, hoping to find the path I made and follow it to the main trail, but soon I know I've gone too far, my crawl-trail filled with snow. And that's when I drop. I just drop, my ass hitting the ground, snowmobile suit whispering against the snow. I sit there, and I stare out, and it's as if that hour of standing in place and holding myself so tight finally hits in a wave of complete mental and physical exhaustion.
I have no idea which way is north, south, east, west. The snow continues to fall, cold and wet, and I can't feel my face, can't feel my toes. Even my glove-covered fingers are numb.
I'm lost. In so many ways. Lost and defeated.
The north has won. The forest has won. I thought I could do this. Thought I could adapt, learn not to fight nature but work with it. That was Dalton's one overarching lesson. The forest isn't the enemy. It's not trying to kill you. It just doesn't particularly care if you live or die.
Well, I'm going to die. Maybe that should seem ironic--I escaped my attacker only to perish in the forest. But if I have to go, I'll take this. A simple and painless death. I can feel lethargy creeping over me, and I know it's hypothermia. Just get sleepy and drift off.