Chapter 6

The deep growl woke both of them with a start.

"What the hell was that?" asked Kara sleepily. She blinked, and suddenly remembered where she was. Mark felt her stiffened with the shock.

"Sounded like a bear, a big one... Not too close..." Mark put the flashlight back on to low power and moved to his backpack. He pulled out something Kara did not recognize. Kara gave a quick smile of admiration to his naked body and said, "Mark, I saw you get that out of the gun case yesterday. What is that thing?"

Mark unzipped the tent flap about one inch and poked the instrument out. "Remember when I once told you I usually don't buy stupid things? Did you notice that I didn't say never? This is a night vision scope for the Glocks. I think I see the bear now. Kind of an unusual shape for a bear actually, but as big as one... Ah, must be a bear, just one with a really big head. Strange it's not hibernating... It's heading away."

"Do those things work?"

"The night-scope? Actually, it's not bad. Come take a look."

Kara sighed and left the delightfully warm sleeping bag to kneel naked by Mark's side in the cold air of the tent. She stared through the scope. "Oh wow, way cool!"

"Ha! Those were my exact words the minute before I bought the scope."

"What powers it?"

"Two lithium batteries. They should provide about 10 to 20 hours of use."

"Oh" said Kara, as she looked down at the scope and turned it off. "Mark, you owe me big-time for getting me out of that sleeping bag. Come back inside and warm me." Kara and Mark were soon cuddling back inside the bag. "Mark, do you think one of us should stand watch?"

"Tough call. We have no food outside. We aren't smelling attractive to any predators. And we'll have a big day tomorrow. I think we'll be okay if we both sack out again. Let's just keep the Glocks within easy reach."

Kara curled around Mark and sighed. The moments passed and she realized she wasn't falling asleep. "Mark, will you pet my butt again? Nothing too sexy. The butt, and nothing but the butt."

"Ha! Sure. Turn over."

Kara turned and relaxed as she felt the delightful caresses across her hips and buttocks. Feeling that Kara was fully awake, Mark penetrated into her flesh and massaged her powerful muscles.

"Kara, you are in such excellent physical shape. I love feeling the muscles in your butt, and in your upper thighs... here... You are so gorgeous..."

Kara sighed and cooed with pleasure. "I've always been like this. When I was in kindergarten, I picked up the nickname of Pony."

"Pony?"

"As in a horse. I saw some old home videos my dad shot. The other kids in the class ran and danced. I pranced. I think all my thigh and butt muscles really help me with my shooting, especially with the rapid-fire multiple-target work. A lot of the work for positioning and setting up for the shots gets done with the hips. I glad it's something my hips love to do... I remember running with the other kids as a young child, being called Pony and laughing. Then my dad died and my mom remarried... and then my childhood ended..."

Mark looked at Kara thoughtfully, and realized there was no longer any bitterness in her, just wistful dreaming of how things could have been different. He lifted her hair and began to very softly nuzzle her back of her neck. Kara sighed in contentment. "How about you Mark? What was your childhood like?"

"It was nice. It's very rustic country here, not too many people. I had fairly small classes both in grade school and high school. I had a lot of good friends, mostly boys. I was a bit shy around girls, even in high school. Taking a girl to a movie was a really big thing for me... I spent a lot of time hiking the canyon with my dad. He trained me extensively, taking me to random spots by super twisting ways and then telling me to find the shortest way back. I still can't believe I don't know where I am. My mind is telling me this gorge is not in the canyon at all, but how could that be possible?"

"Did you ever think to tell your parents or Leon or Lois about finding the cave?"

"Not Leon. This canyon is not really his interest. He'll get his Harvard MBA next year, financial analysis is his passion. And he's a great asset to the family. Our financial positions have done wonderfully under his management... And Lois isn't into caving either..."

"So how about telling your Dad?"

"My dad... Yeah. He loves this canyon, I think as much as I do. But he also has a dread of Blue Spirit Mountain that I never shared. In hindsight, a dread that was justified... I thought of telling him about the cave... and the blue ring, but I worried he would order me to stay away from the mountain. As his son, I think I would have honored his desire..." Mark fell silent, quietly continuing to massage the muscles in Kara's hips and thighs. Kara cooed and spread her legs, opening up her backside to him, and Mark responded by caressing the soft center of her anus.

"Oh, that feels so nice, so soft and sexy and loving... Right there, yes... I'm starting to fall back to sleep..." Kara looked at Mark with heavy eyelids. She sighed and smiled, totally relaxing and closing her eyes. "This feels so super intimate, having you at my back door like this... Mark, will you caress my vulva too? Just lightly. I'd love to fall asleep with you caressing me like this..." Kara was soon in the deep even breathing of sleep. Mark continued to pet her, gliding his fingers in a loving caress between her anus and vulva, feeling her body shuddering in delight through her sleep...

Kara woke in surprise the next morning to the sensation of Mark suckling her breast. "Ha, you beast! You'll have to impregnate me and wait nine months before you can get breakfast like that!" Kara ruffled Mark's hair and then reached down and popped her nipple from his suckle. "Hi! Good morning!"

The two had a light breakfast and then broke camp. They both agreed that they would start mapping their new environment, and if possible get back to Blue Spirit and retrace their path through the tunnel. As the morning sun continued to rise, they began to hike over the rolling hills. Mark became very unsure about which direction to head. "My sense of direction tells me we came from that direction, but the sun is also rising more than 90 degrees away from where I thought it would be. None of this terrain looks familiar at all..."

"Mark, even the trees look different. I don't think we're in your canyon at all. Shit! Are we even on Earth? Did you ever see a tree like that?"

Before them was a very tall tree, almost 200 feet, still holding its deciduous leaves in the dead of winter. "Well," said Mark, "an American Beech will hold its leaves through the winter, and drop them in the spring. It fertilizes the ground right before the spring growing season, not a bad idea. But this! This tree has huge silver leaves with black tiger striping. I've never seen anything like it."

"And look over here Mark! This tree has conifer needles at its base, and what looks like maple branches higher up! A conifer-deciduous hybrid? There's nothing like this on Earth... AHH!"

"Kara, what?!"

"LOOK!" In the tree a small animal was watching them. It was covered in red and brown stripes of fur and was the size of a large squirrel. Both Kara and Mark gazed in amazement at its six legs. Suddenly realizing it was being observed, the animal spun around and disappeared in a flash. "Not a mutation Mark! Did you see how coordinated it was with its legs? There's nothing like this on Earth..."

"No... There isn't. And yet... Kara, I've seen all sorts of familiar trees here. We camped last night in a grove of hickory trees, mostly butternut and pignut. I've seen sugar maples, green and white ash trees, chestnuts... Look, there's a classic dogwood. It's almost as if there are two ecosystems here, one native to West Virginia, and another completely unknown..."

Kara and Mark returned to exploring their world, mapping the terrain and keeping an eye out for the Blue Spirit Mountain. As it became time for lunch, the last of the clouds cleared and the bright sun cheered their spirits. They built a fire and melted snow to re- fill their canteens. In the late afternoon the temperature rose above freezing, and Kara became so warm she considered taking off her parka. She then heard a sound that chilled her heart. "Oh my God, was that a scream?"

The scream occurred again, and it sounded blood curdling. Kara and Mark headed for the sound and climbed to the top of the next rise. As they rounded the crest, they both just gaped at the scene of carnage before them.

There were over twenty bodies in the snow, most wearing rough woven clothes and several wearing animal skins. The snow was red with blood. A large group of men in animal skins were roughly searching the dead and taking their possessions. Kara's and Mark's eyes traveled to another group of six men who were a little closer to their position on the rise, about 125 yards away. They wore animal skins and were gathered around two people who were obviously prisoners. Their woven clothing had been cut to expose their stomachs and abdomens. It was a man and a young girl Mark guessed to be about 10 years old. The prisoners' legs and arms were lashed to the opposite ends of long poles, stretching their bodies into tight X positions. Their arm-poles were tied to tree branches above their heads. The six men gathered around their male prisoner and began to sing.

To Mark's and Kara's horror, one of the men took a large black knife and slashed deeply across the prisoner's exposed abdominal wall, and then reached in and began pulling out his intestines. The prisoner screamed in shock and pain. The other five men pulled and unrolled the intestines into a large circle. In the freezing air they held the steaming intestines and continuing to sing. They sang until the prisoner seemed to lose consciousness, and then they dropped the intestines to the snow and stomped on them, rupturing them in a sickening sound and eliciting one last scream of pain from the prisoner. The man then slumped down like a rag doll.

The group moved towards the young girl. The girl cried out in terror. "My God!" whispered Mark, "They're going to do the little girl next!"

"Like hell they are!" hissed Kara. Mark looked at Kara and saw that she had already shed her pack and was crouched in a firing position, looking rock solid as she aligned her first target in her scope. Kara's pistol began to bark rapidly. Mark thought he counted 6 quick shots in less than 10 seconds, and as he turned back he was astonished to see all six men by the girl down and lying unmoving in the snow.

The sound of the pistol shots had a shocking effect on the large group of scavengers. As a group they yelled a war cry and began to rush towards Kara and Mark's position. Kara's pistol began to fire rapidly.

Mark dropped his own two packs and brought his own Glock up for firing. He fired two shots, bringing down one of his targets. Then he heard Kara's gun click on empty. "Switch guns!" bellowed Kara, "Get the extra mags!"

Kara started to fire Mark's gun as Mark dived into his backpack and desperately rooted for the two extra magazines. After what seemed to be an eternity he found them, pulling them out and forcing himself to calm down and exchange the empty pistol magazine with a fresh 15-round clip. He had just completed the maneuver when he heard Kara click on empty again. "Switch guns!" Kara bellowed.

Kara began to fire the third clip and Mark snapped their last loaded magazine into his Glock. He stood up and began to fire with Kara, his mind not taking in the carnage that Kara had already created. Fortunately the hill before them was covered with rough rocks, slowing the attackers down. The lead men were still 30 yards away, charging with raised spears and war cries. Kara and Mark's combined fire began to wither their ranks. Kara was firing much more rapidly than Mark, and her pistol clicked on empty again. Mark handed her his pistol and looked at the few remaining attackers. As Kara resumed firing, Mark became so furious at the attackers' monstrous behavior that he acted without thinking. He pulled his hunting knife from his belt and whip-snapped his arm to throw the blade at the nearest attacker 10 yards away. Mark was aiming for the center of the torso, but the throw sailed a bit high and caught the man squarely in his throat. He fell over backwards with blood gushing from his mouth and neck. At the sight of this, the two remaining attackers stopped their charge and tried to hurl their spears at Mark, but Kara shot them both dead before they could get off their throws.

As quickly as it had started, the insanity was over. After the intense loudness of the battle cries and pistol shots, the silence was eerie. Kara and Mark stood stunned at the scene of massive death and destruction before them. In a dead calm voice that chilled Mark's heart, he heard Kara say, "Whoa Mark. That was a hell of a knife throw."

Mark walked in front of Kara and looked at her closely. Her eyes seemed glazed and unfocused, her pistol still held out in a firing position. Mark gently pulled the gun from her hand and switched on the safety. "Kara, the girl needs us. We have to put off coping with the horror for now..."

Kara blinked and her body gave a large tremble. She then nodded and headed down the hill. Mark grabbed all three backpacks and followed her, retrieving his knife on the way down.

They were soon standing in front the young girl. She looked so terrified that Mark was hesitant to approach her, but Kara walked in immediately and cut the girl's feet free and then the lashings binding her hands. As soon as she was free, the girl ran away and picked up the large black knife of the first person Kara shot. The girl whirled back to face Mark and Kara, and gave a warning hiss. She looked both terrified and furious.

"Be careful Kara. I don't think she understands that our guns killed her enemies."

"No, I don't think so either. I don't think she knows about guns at all. Look at her clothing Mark, what's left of it. It's woven from grasses... How do we show her we don't want to kill her? She looks terrified..."