Chapter 13

One evening, John asked Nancy, "How bad will this get if we go another year here?"

"Very bad. We will be weaker. Our bones will no longer be as strong. We'll have eye problems. The list goes on. It won't be pretty. There will be more deaths as our defenses give way to infections or diseases already in our bodies."

John said, "Nancy, immediately after the first of May, I think it best we head out. I'm convinced that we can't wait now that we can get around. I think we..."

What he was going to say was lost as they heard a terrible, high-pitched scream that suddenly cut off. John grabbed his bow and arrows heading for the door. He shouted, "Nancy get the rifle and clips! Cover me!" He went out the door preparing to shoot as soon as he had a target. He quickly had one just forty feet away and placed his first arrow into a wolverine. It had been standing over a person's body. He quickly nocked another arrow and moved steadily toward that first, now dead, wolverine and person. Behind him, he heard Nancy come out the door closing it behind her. A moment later, her first shot rang out quickly followed by two more. He reached the body and saw that it was Pat. She was dead with her left arm almost bitten off and a wide, deep claw mark down her chest. The blood was stopping its flow and there was no life in her eyes.

He took this in at a glance as he pulled his arrow from the wolverine. He stalked forward looking for more targets. He realized he was headed toward Ted's house and the door was standing open. He looked around and saw two wolverines coming toward him. He raised his bow and shot one. Nancy came behind him and shot the other with the rifle. He continued to watch for more coming from the woods or coming through the door of the cabin.

Nancy said, "I will go look. The rifle is better close range than your bow. Cover me."

He continued to watch around the entrance as she entered with her rifle ready. He noticed another bloody place with a body headed toward Todd and Cindy's house.

Nancy came outside. "Ted and Eve are dead. He was just inside the door and must have been hit when he opened it. Eve was on the bed." She paused a moment. "Pat's dead there. Where's Lisa?"

He said, "There's another body toward Todd's house. We must check."

Nancy came out, closing the door. They walked over to the other body. They found Lisa dead also. The blow from a wolverine's claw had almost severed her head.

With rifle ready and bow drawn, they began to go from house to house. They woke people as they went. Fred and Millie were okay and were told to stay and watch but be ready to jump back inside quickly.

Todd and Cindy exited their house with crossbows ready. Frank left Marge with her crossbow at their door and came out with his crossbow armed and ready. The five began to tour the village.

One of the first group houses was partially demolished. The wolverines had entered and killed everyone, most of them in their sleep. Those ten were the last victims found.

The wolverines had left. They returned to the Flight Deck to see Bill Taylor out with his bow and arrows. As they came close, he released an arrow shooting another wolverine hovering over Lisa's body.

John noticed that the background noise in the woods was returning to normal. He thought that probably meant the wolverines were gone. Marge and Joyce went to their husbands as Todd and John put their arms around their wives. It was a sad group that began the process of burying the dead. The four wolverines were burned downwind from the settlement.

Late that afternoon, everyone gathered to talk about planning for the future.

The discussion was sharply divided with most wanting to stay but a large minority wanted to move further south. The depth and severity of winter in their primitive conditions had shocked everyone but most were unwilling to make still another trek into uncertain conditions even with the threat of the wolverines in their current location.

In the end, it was a sad party that left following John and Nancy. In their minds, the likelihood of the others surviving the next winter was zero. Those who were willing to go were the younger more vigorous ones along with the older ones who realized their survival needed those younger people. The ones killed by the wolverines were buried in a common grave with their names listed in a wooden sign placed over it. One surprise was the widow, Ann, and her partner joining them to head south.

They left on the morning of April twentieth hading south and a little east. The first day saw them go eight miles before bedding down for the night.

Frank had shot a deer for supper and Nancy insisted upon inspecting everyone's feet and treating any questionable spots. There were only two people who worried her on account of their feet. They were listening and demonstrated to her that they understood the precautions to take for the next day.

It was quiet that first night.

Over the next three weeks, they covered approximately one hundred seventy miles. According to everyone's dead reckoning, they were in the vicinity of the old world's Bowling Green, Kentucky, and the Mammoth Cave Park. Mammoth Cave was there. So was something else.

There was a different feel to the woods as well as a smell. Trees had been felled. Up ahead, they could see smoke rising in a thin column. Their care doubled, they moved toward the source of the smoke.

They were still two miles away when John stopped everyone. He said, "We have two choices. One is to sneak up and hope we're better at that than whoever might be at the smoke. The other choice is to go there openly and hope for some friendship. I don't want to fight a battle. If we come openly, we have a better chance to be friends.

"I say let's go in and try to talk."

The faces around him looked grim but all nodded. He faced the smoke and said, "Okay, then. Let's go!" They walked toward the smoke hoping that it would be friendly people.

They were close to the cave entrance and the source of the smoke when they were met by a party of men bearing spears and knives with their bodies covered in hides. There were six in that party. John raised his right hand in a peace sign and said, "Nancy, Fred, Millie, Bill, and Joyce come ahead with me. The rest of you stay here. Prepare defensively but make no overt moves. Frank, you're in charge."

John and those he named stepped forward to meet the six.

The men they were meeting were shorter averaging around five foot, five or six inches, tall and massively built with heavy shoulders, arms and legs. By the shape of their heads, they were Neanderthal-like similar to the bodies and skulls that had been found.

John spoke slowly and distinctly. "My name is John Baker. We come in peace from the north. This lady is my wife, Nancy, and these are my friends."

The man in the lead looked at him blankly but launched into a speech of his own. John was happy that he did not feel threatened by the other man's speech.