Day 5:
Blade
Before anyone could move to follow Cole’s directions, a cacophony of sound came from the tents. The blaring alarm made everyone jump and it took Artemis far too long to realize it was the emergency broadcast alert coming from their cell phones. The group quietly dispersed to the tents. Artemis pulled his phone from where he had stashed it. It had stopped screaming but the screen was still on from the push notification.
“Seems like that strange dude was right,” Dean commented, looking up from his phone. “Snowstorm for the area. Alert’s in affect in three hours with far too much snow for my liking.”
Far too much was right. They were expecting two to three feet by the end of the day as a minimum. There was no telling if the pass would remain open once the storm hit.
Cole pulled the flap back on their tent gaining everyone’s attention. “Come on. Pack up. We’ve got to move quickly.”
Artemis shoved his phone into a pocket and started gathering his things.
The sun started peaking over the horizon when the last zipper was pulled closed. He grabbed what he could manage before grabbing one end of the bundled tents. Orlean grabbed the other and together they shared the weight as the group started for the campers. Despite how bizarre the whole encounter had been, the mass of clouds rolling in from the west was impossible to miss even if they hadn’t all received the emergency alert.
“We’re stopping by the cabin to grab everything else but you guys are more than welcome to take the second camper and head through the pass before the snow starts,” Cole suggested, shutting and locking the compartment door.
“I still have things at the cabin,” Sam interjected, sounding distraught.
“We all do,” Orlean spoke up. “I’ll drive the other camper and follow you.”
Cole gave them a skeptical look. “You sure? We may be cutting close as it is.”
Orlean shrugged. “More hands makes light work. It’ll make sure everyone has a chance of getting out.”
Dean spoke up. “We’ll ride with Orlean. Tye, go with them and we’ll see you there.”
“You sure?” he asked, looking to Orlean. “I can be your navigator.”
Orlean waved him off. “I won’t lose you guys and if I do, I’ve got GPS.” Orlean stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Take the downtime. You look like you need it more than I need a navigator.”
The exhaustion wrapped around him for a breath before he forced it back. “Only if you’re sure.”
Orlean nodded, gaze drifting to over his shoulder. “Check in on Beckett. I don’t like how they hadn’t responded to their brother.”
“I will. Drive safe.”
Orlean nodded, stepping away. As Artemis climbed into the camper, he caught Cole passing Orlean the keys to the other camper muttering something to younger as he did so. Inside the camper, Lora was crossing the main space towards the front seats. She smiled at him, offering gently, “They’re on the bed if you want to go join. Should be safe enough for the thirty minute drive. Don’t fret about the sheets. We’ll wash them later.”
“Ok.”
He waited till she was busy up at the front seats before he headed towards the bedroom. The sound of the camper door closing chased after him but he didn’t look back. Cole’s voice drifted towards him; it was soft and quickly followed by Lora’s. He closed the bedroom door, sending the space into darkness. It wasn’t absolute. The blackout shades were open to the sheer shades on the left side - the side pointing west - allowing the ambient morning light to fill the room enough for him to make out Beckett’s form laying on the bed. They didn’t respond to him, didn’t say a word about him closing the door, and he wasn’t sure if he was surprised or not. Kicking off his shoes and dusting off his pants, he walked over to the bed and clambered on. The thing was massive compared to what he had slept on the night before but that was probably due to the fact that it was just him and Beckett.
Beckett watched as he got between them and the western window, putting the window to his right and Beckett to his left as he settled on his back. The engine kicked on but it was muffled, faint, like the radio had been when it had woken him up.
“Do you think he was an actual ranger?” Beckett asked, their quiet voice cutting through what silence existed as the camper started to move.
“I’m not sure,” he offered honestly. “I’ve only seen them at the park entrances.” He turned his head to look at them and found himself meeting Beckett’s gaze. “Why didn’t you join us when Cole called for you?”
Beckett frowned. “I’m not sure. I had heard him - I remember hearing him - but I didn’t want to move.” They turned their gaze back to the ceiling, the frown deepening. “It was like if I moved, I would lose whatever ground I was holding; like it would put us all at risk if I moved.”
Unease pulled at him at that. “Beckett,” he started but the words weren’t ready. He had to finish sorting through them and it caused a pause that seemed to stretch on forever. “When you were taking pictures of the smoke, did you see something fly through it that wasn’t a swallow?”
Beckett blinked and looked back at him. The confusion edged in curiosity made it clear that they hadn’t. “Like what?”
He shrugged, turning his head towards the ceiling. He watched as the shadows dance on the wall above his head from the passing trees. The camper was heading north, though it turned east as he watched the shadows move. “I’m not sure. It was most likely just my eyes playing tricks on me but I thought I saw something other than a swallow fly through the part you were taking pictures of.”
The sound of loose gravel in the wheel wells filled the stretch of time neither of them talked. Beckett reached over and touched his arm, gaining his gaze. “Do you remember what it looked like?”
“No. Just that it was large. It looked black but that was probably more from it being out of the corner of my-” Pain flared from his right shoulder startling a hiss out of him. It was a stabbing pain, pulling the thought of someone burying a sharp blade into his shoulder even as the imagery didn’t sit right. Beckett was up and on their knees beside him, hands hovering over him. The pain was brief, fading as quickly as it had shot through him. He rubbed at his shoulder and neck, grounding out a curse before offering Beckett, “I’m ok. I’m ok. I think a muscle just seized or something. It hurt, whatever it was, but it’s fading now.”
Beckett relaxed. “Are you sure?”
He nodded, sitting up. “Yeah.” He rolled his shoulder. “See? No pain.”
Beckett nodded before letting out a laugh. “You nearly gave me a heart attack crying out like that.”
He chuckled. “Nearly gave myself one.” The mood sobered a bit. “You really hadn’t seen anything in the smoke?”
“Just the swallows. Sorry.”
He waved them off. “Nothing to be sorry for. It truly might have been my eyes playing tricks on me with one of the swallows.”
“Could’ve been a bat,” Beckett suggested flopping back onto the bed. “Wish I’d seen a bat.”
“There’s bats in the neighborhood, you know.”
Beckett grinned at them. “That’s not the same and you know it.” Beckett’s gaze went to the ceiling again as they tucked their hands behind their head. “Could you imagine getting a picture of a wild bat flying through our campfire smoke? That would have been so cool.”
“How many pictures did you take?”
Beckett sat up. “Don’t know. I can find out, though.”
The camper jostled around them but Beckett didn’t seem to notice. They crawled across the mattress as if they were used to their world being unsteady and settled on their stomach once they reached the edge of the bed. Artemis stayed laying down, knowing he would not be quite as graceful. Beckett returned to their spot on the bed with camera case in hand.
The zipper opened with ease and Beckett pulled the camera out with care. Artemis was impressed by how careful Beckett was even after years of owning the camera. They left the cap in place and turned the camera on. The display blinked to life and he watched as they adjusted the brightness before going into the gallery. “Eleven twenty-six.”
He stared at the 1126 sitting in the corner of the display before looking at their face. His expression was an exaggerated neutral. “And how many are the same photo?”
Beckett grinned. “Oh, I’d say about a good 5/6 are. I’ll be impressed if I get more than 100 photos out of the batch. I had the camera set to capture multiple shots, especially when I was trying to catch the swallows in the smoke.”
“You brought your laptop, right?”
“Yeah. It’s at the cabin. I’ll set up at the dining table and go through them. You’re welcome to watch but as a warning I do a lot of flipping back and forth. Makes Cole sick when he’s watching me work.”
He found that rather amusing. “I’m honestly not surprised.”
“But yeah. As soon as we’re back at the cabin I’ll start downloading the photos and…”
It was like Beckett’s voice faded. He could see them still chatting away but about what he couldn’t tell. All he knew was that there was something in the corner of the room to his right, the corner that was farthest from them both, and it was watching him.
It was like his brain fried. He couldn’t think, couldn’t get his thoughts going rapidly enough to response to the situation. He had to warn Beckett, though. Beckett hadn’t seen it yet. They were just sitting there tucking the camera into some safe spot in the room and there was something in the corner.
He could scream, he reasoned. He should scream, scream bloody murder till someone noticed it too. Someone else had to see it too. It had to-
Beckett turned and looked right at the corner. Whatever had gripped him vanished as he blinked.
Whatever had been in the corner was gone.
“Artemis?” He jumped, head snapping around to stare at them. Beckett hadn’t moved from their spot on the other side of the bed. “You alright?”
He took in a breath, steadying himself. “Yeah. Just tired.” The lie slipped out with practiced ease and he knew it was believable. It was always believable.
Unfortunately for him, Beckett could read him like a book. “You sure?” they asked, offering him the out.
He didn’t like lying to them but he wasn’t about to get them involved with his crazy if he didn’t have to. Still, he offered them an encouraging smile and a half truth in turn. “I’m fine, Beckett. Just some leftover jumpiness from this morning mixing in with the lack of proper sleep.”
They let it be and he silently thanked them for taking that at face value. “Fair enough. I was asking what you thought we should do for the six hours to my brother’s place. Did we want to just hop in the camper with the others and leave my brother and Lora to their own devices? Did we want to keep the group separate?”
He shrugged. “I think that depends on how things go at the cabin. We’ve got a lot to get together before the storm shuts down the pass and then we have to stay ahead of the storm.”
Beckett went hunting for something. “I wonder if Sam remembers what the Doppler site had been.”
He wasn’t surprised to see it had been their phone, commenting, “Most likely. If not her, then Orlean would.”
“How far out from the cabin are we?”
“Let me check.” He pulled out his own phone as Beckett flopped back onto the bed beside him. A few quick taps got him into the map but the network was being slow. “Give it a second. It’s being slow.”
“Seems like that strange dude was right,” Dean commented, looking up from his phone. “Snowstorm for the area. Alert’s in affect in three hours with far too much snow for my liking.”
Far too much was right. They were expecting two to three feet by the end of the day as a minimum. There was no telling if the pass would remain open once the storm hit.
Cole pulled the flap back on their tent gaining everyone’s attention. “Come on. Pack up. We’ve got to move quickly.”
Artemis shoved his phone into a pocket and started gathering his things.
The sun started peaking over the horizon when the last zipper was pulled closed. He grabbed what he could manage before grabbing one end of the bundled tents. Orlean grabbed the other and together they shared the weight as the group started for the campers. Despite how bizarre the whole encounter had been, the mass of clouds rolling in from the west was impossible to miss even if they hadn’t all received the emergency alert.
“We’re stopping by the cabin to grab everything else but you guys are more than welcome to take the second camper and head through the pass before the snow starts,” Cole suggested, shutting and locking the compartment door.
“I still have things at the cabin,” Sam interjected, sounding distraught.
“We all do,” Orlean spoke up. “I’ll drive the other camper and follow you.”
Cole gave them a skeptical look. “You sure? We may be cutting close as it is.”
Orlean shrugged. “More hands makes light work. It’ll make sure everyone has a chance of getting out.”
Dean spoke up. “We’ll ride with Orlean. Tye, go with them and we’ll see you there.”
“You sure?” he asked, looking to Orlean. “I can be your navigator.”
Orlean waved him off. “I won’t lose you guys and if I do, I’ve got GPS.” Orlean stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Take the downtime. You look like you need it more than I need a navigator.”
The exhaustion wrapped around him for a breath before he forced it back. “Only if you’re sure.”
Orlean nodded, gaze drifting to over his shoulder. “Check in on Beckett. I don’t like how they hadn’t responded to their brother.”
“I will. Drive safe.”
Orlean nodded, stepping away. As Artemis climbed into the camper, he caught Cole passing Orlean the keys to the other camper muttering something to younger as he did so. Inside the camper, Lora was crossing the main space towards the front seats. She smiled at him, offering gently, “They’re on the bed if you want to go join. Should be safe enough for the thirty minute drive. Don’t fret about the sheets. We’ll wash them later.”
“Ok.”
He waited till she was busy up at the front seats before he headed towards the bedroom. The sound of the camper door closing chased after him but he didn’t look back. Cole’s voice drifted towards him; it was soft and quickly followed by Lora’s. He closed the bedroom door, sending the space into darkness. It wasn’t absolute. The blackout shades were open to the sheer shades on the left side - the side pointing west - allowing the ambient morning light to fill the room enough for him to make out Beckett’s form laying on the bed. They didn’t respond to him, didn’t say a word about him closing the door, and he wasn’t sure if he was surprised or not. Kicking off his shoes and dusting off his pants, he walked over to the bed and clambered on. The thing was massive compared to what he had slept on the night before but that was probably due to the fact that it was just him and Beckett.
Beckett watched as he got between them and the western window, putting the window to his right and Beckett to his left as he settled on his back. The engine kicked on but it was muffled, faint, like the radio had been when it had woken him up.
“Do you think he was an actual ranger?” Beckett asked, their quiet voice cutting through what silence existed as the camper started to move.
“I’m not sure,” he offered honestly. “I’ve only seen them at the park entrances.” He turned his head to look at them and found himself meeting Beckett’s gaze. “Why didn’t you join us when Cole called for you?”
Beckett frowned. “I’m not sure. I had heard him - I remember hearing him - but I didn’t want to move.” They turned their gaze back to the ceiling, the frown deepening. “It was like if I moved, I would lose whatever ground I was holding; like it would put us all at risk if I moved.”
Unease pulled at him at that. “Beckett,” he started but the words weren’t ready. He had to finish sorting through them and it caused a pause that seemed to stretch on forever. “When you were taking pictures of the smoke, did you see something fly through it that wasn’t a swallow?”
Beckett blinked and looked back at him. The confusion edged in curiosity made it clear that they hadn’t. “Like what?”
He shrugged, turning his head towards the ceiling. He watched as the shadows dance on the wall above his head from the passing trees. The camper was heading north, though it turned east as he watched the shadows move. “I’m not sure. It was most likely just my eyes playing tricks on me but I thought I saw something other than a swallow fly through the part you were taking pictures of.”
The sound of loose gravel in the wheel wells filled the stretch of time neither of them talked. Beckett reached over and touched his arm, gaining his gaze. “Do you remember what it looked like?”
“No. Just that it was large. It looked black but that was probably more from it being out of the corner of my-” Pain flared from his right shoulder startling a hiss out of him. It was a stabbing pain, pulling the thought of someone burying a sharp blade into his shoulder even as the imagery didn’t sit right. Beckett was up and on their knees beside him, hands hovering over him. The pain was brief, fading as quickly as it had shot through him. He rubbed at his shoulder and neck, grounding out a curse before offering Beckett, “I’m ok. I’m ok. I think a muscle just seized or something. It hurt, whatever it was, but it’s fading now.”
Beckett relaxed. “Are you sure?”
He nodded, sitting up. “Yeah.” He rolled his shoulder. “See? No pain.”
Beckett nodded before letting out a laugh. “You nearly gave me a heart attack crying out like that.”
He chuckled. “Nearly gave myself one.” The mood sobered a bit. “You really hadn’t seen anything in the smoke?”
“Just the swallows. Sorry.”
He waved them off. “Nothing to be sorry for. It truly might have been my eyes playing tricks on me with one of the swallows.”
“Could’ve been a bat,” Beckett suggested flopping back onto the bed. “Wish I’d seen a bat.”
“There’s bats in the neighborhood, you know.”
Beckett grinned at them. “That’s not the same and you know it.” Beckett’s gaze went to the ceiling again as they tucked their hands behind their head. “Could you imagine getting a picture of a wild bat flying through our campfire smoke? That would have been so cool.”
“How many pictures did you take?”
Beckett sat up. “Don’t know. I can find out, though.”
The camper jostled around them but Beckett didn’t seem to notice. They crawled across the mattress as if they were used to their world being unsteady and settled on their stomach once they reached the edge of the bed. Artemis stayed laying down, knowing he would not be quite as graceful. Beckett returned to their spot on the bed with camera case in hand.
The zipper opened with ease and Beckett pulled the camera out with care. Artemis was impressed by how careful Beckett was even after years of owning the camera. They left the cap in place and turned the camera on. The display blinked to life and he watched as they adjusted the brightness before going into the gallery. “Eleven twenty-six.”
He stared at the 1126 sitting in the corner of the display before looking at their face. His expression was an exaggerated neutral. “And how many are the same photo?”
Beckett grinned. “Oh, I’d say about a good 5/6 are. I’ll be impressed if I get more than 100 photos out of the batch. I had the camera set to capture multiple shots, especially when I was trying to catch the swallows in the smoke.”
“You brought your laptop, right?”
“Yeah. It’s at the cabin. I’ll set up at the dining table and go through them. You’re welcome to watch but as a warning I do a lot of flipping back and forth. Makes Cole sick when he’s watching me work.”
He found that rather amusing. “I’m honestly not surprised.”
“But yeah. As soon as we’re back at the cabin I’ll start downloading the photos and…”
It was like Beckett’s voice faded. He could see them still chatting away but about what he couldn’t tell. All he knew was that there was something in the corner of the room to his right, the corner that was farthest from them both, and it was watching him.
It was like his brain fried. He couldn’t think, couldn’t get his thoughts going rapidly enough to response to the situation. He had to warn Beckett, though. Beckett hadn’t seen it yet. They were just sitting there tucking the camera into some safe spot in the room and there was something in the corner.
He could scream, he reasoned. He should scream, scream bloody murder till someone noticed it too. Someone else had to see it too. It had to-
Beckett turned and looked right at the corner. Whatever had gripped him vanished as he blinked.
Whatever had been in the corner was gone.
“Artemis?” He jumped, head snapping around to stare at them. Beckett hadn’t moved from their spot on the other side of the bed. “You alright?”
He took in a breath, steadying himself. “Yeah. Just tired.” The lie slipped out with practiced ease and he knew it was believable. It was always believable.
Unfortunately for him, Beckett could read him like a book. “You sure?” they asked, offering him the out.
He didn’t like lying to them but he wasn’t about to get them involved with his crazy if he didn’t have to. Still, he offered them an encouraging smile and a half truth in turn. “I’m fine, Beckett. Just some leftover jumpiness from this morning mixing in with the lack of proper sleep.”
They let it be and he silently thanked them for taking that at face value. “Fair enough. I was asking what you thought we should do for the six hours to my brother’s place. Did we want to just hop in the camper with the others and leave my brother and Lora to their own devices? Did we want to keep the group separate?”
He shrugged. “I think that depends on how things go at the cabin. We’ve got a lot to get together before the storm shuts down the pass and then we have to stay ahead of the storm.”
Beckett went hunting for something. “I wonder if Sam remembers what the Doppler site had been.”
He wasn’t surprised to see it had been their phone, commenting, “Most likely. If not her, then Orlean would.”
“How far out from the cabin are we?”
“Let me check.” He pulled out his own phone as Beckett flopped back onto the bed beside him. A few quick taps got him into the map but the network was being slow. “Give it a second. It’s being slow.”