NorthWest (John Hazard - Book II) (28 page)

“John, I just want to say… if anything happens to… well, I just want to say thank you… for saving me and keeping me safe the past few days… I..”

“It’s okay, Em. It was worth it. Every bullet, every crazy minute and every raging alien… I’d do it all over again.” He smiled because for the first time in his life, he really meant those words.

The water was lapping hard against the side of the canoe now and they had gained speed as they hit the first leg of the rapids. A series of loud, roaring shrieks came from the creatures who were being forced to climb yet higher by the rising, rocky river bank.

“I think they’re getting a little tired of how much work it is to chase us.” John had to shout now that the water was beginning to churn up. “Serves the bastards right! I hope they bust a gut trying to keep up.” John maneuvered to the right, narrowly missing a boulder that jutted up in front of them. “Damn, that was close!”

“They seem really pissed!” Water splashed over the side of the canoe as Emily shouted back to John. “Just pay attention to the river. I’ll keep an eye on those fuckers over there!” She shifted sideways so she could see them better. She was glad to ignore the shit storm they were now headed into.

At one time, she probably would have closed her eyes and hoped for the best in a situation like this, but those things on the shore forced her to keep watch. Moreover, all of the things that had happened to them in the past few days had strengthened her, hardened her into more of a badass than she had ever thought she could be.

The canoe bobbled in the rapids as they were carried along. Water splashed up over the sides again getting her wet and forming a small pool where she sat on the floor.

“Keep that paddle ready, Em. I might need some help with this. Just don’t get back up on that seat.” John steered hard to the left to keep the canoe in the deeper flow of water and ended up going farther than he wanted. They brushed past a rock that was just below the waterline.

“Shit!” The impact made a loud thud and then a scraping noise as the side of the canoe rubbed its entire length against the rock. The canoe began to turn sideways while he struggled to correct their position. The wider profile must have seemed like an invitation to the predators on the cliff as another one launched itself like a snarling missile with snapping jaws.

“John!” Emily’s warning gave him just enough time to see the creature falling toward them while the vessel continued to spin in the water. At the last second he was able to hold them steady, but they were turned around completely and beginning to drift backwards.

The alien’s trajectory remained true as John raised his paddle to try somehow to deflect it. His movements seemed sluggish and poorly timed and his stomach was in his throat as he braced himself for the impact. He brought the paddle up from his right and the delay caused by the drag of the water allowed the monster a chance to be slightly ahead of his swing.

When the paddle connected, the force behind the strike boosted it past the canoe slamming it into a large boulder about two yards away. There was a cracking sound as its skull collided against the rock. In an instant, the writhing alien slipped into the water and disappeared beneath the rushing current.

John was freaked out as well as relieved, but there was no time for celebration. Emily was on her knees gripping the gunwales of the canoe as they continued down the river backwards. John was frantic to get them straightened out, and he dug his paddle into the water pulling back hard.

“Stay down, Em! I think we got it!” After five or six hard strokes, the front of the boat was again headed straight down the river. The water was rough, but there were no visible rocks.

“Keep watch. Those things have not given up and we’re not in the clear yet!” John was working hard to stay as close to the center of the river, in deep water, as possible. He was doing a fine job of maneuvering through the rocks and whirlpools until the next monster launched itself.

“It’s coming!” Emily yelled back. It was aimed for the center of the canoe. Regardless of how hard he tried to maneuver out of the way, John judged the trajectory to land right in the middle of the canoe between them. He fell forward on his knees, crouching down as the thing landed. Straightening to get a clear swing, he brought the paddle back behind his shoulder. Emily braced herself for the impact and readied her paddle in case John needed help.

The creature tried to steady itself as it moved to attack Emily. John did not give it time to get its footing before letting loose with a major league swing that caught it from behind just below its skull. “You… son of a bitch!” he yelled as he hit it.

The canoe began rocking and the monster lost its balance. It managed to grab hold of the side as it flipped into the water. It shrieked at them as it struggled to climb back in. John expected them to roll any moment as water started pouring in. A second chopping swing to the monster’s clawed hand caused it to release its grip and slide beneath the surface.

“These fuckers sink fast once you get ’em in the water,” John said breathlessly as he regained his seat. “How many more are up there? Can you see?”

“Maybe four, but it’s hard to tell. They keep running behind the bushes,” Emily shouted back. “Rock!” she added, bracing herself for the hit.

The front of the canoe banged hard throwing John forward onto a cross beam and knocking the wind out of him. He was struggling to breathe as the canoe began to spin once again. The current was taking them downstream sideways, then backwards again.

“Fuck this!” John finally caught his breath and got to his knees. He began paddling furiously to try to turn the canoe back around, but they were traveling rapidly and he was fighting to regain control. Emily tried to help him and made an effort to push against the rocks below with her paddle. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw two more of the creatures jumping off the ridge.

“Two!” was all she had time to scream as both of the aliens landed squarely in the center of the canoe.  There was no time to react as their killer jaws came at them wide open and the canoe was rocking wildly. John yelled as loud as he could. “Jump!” and he shifted his weight to try to fall away from the boat as he flipped it over.

The alien that landed near Emily was snarling and snapping at her as the canoe rolled. Just before they hit the water, the creature managed to reach out his claws and grab hold of the tail of her shirt. The one nearest John was sent splashing into the water where it sunk beneath the surface in front of him as they both washed downstream.

“John… Help!” Emily was flailing, her arms wildly grasping for something to grab on to. She struggled to keep her head above the churning water as they were all being rushed downstream. John was swimming desperately to get to her. Regardless of how hard he tried, he was having trouble closing the distance between them. When her head went down, he kicked even harder and dove down into the cold rushing water in hopes he could grab hold of her.

He forced his eyes open to try to see, but it was nearly impossible through all the bubbles. Suddenly, he caught sight of her. The creature had a tight grip on her shirt, but appeared to be lifeless, dragging along behind her, holding her down like an anchor. Her eyes were widened with panic as air was escaping from her nose and mouth. She was reaching for him and he tried to grab her hand as the current drove him on just past her and out of reach.

John’s lungs felt as if they were going to explode. He needed to get some air or else he would not have the capacity to rescue her. He broke the surface and sucked in as much air as he could, then plunged right back in. He lost her! Under water, he turned himself to fight against the current. What have I done? He was overwhelmed with grief and guilt as he continued desperately seeking for some sign of her.

He surfaced again to see if she had somehow broken free, but there was no sign of her. One more gulp of air and he went down again, and suddenly there she was behind him! The alien was still dragging along behind her, bouncing along the bottom. He summoned every bit of strength he had to go back to her. She was no more than five feet away, but in the cold rushing water it might as well have been fifty.

Kicking and reaching as far his arms could, he strained to get to her. He was determined not to lose sight of her again. When at last he was close enough to grab her, she was limp and unconscious. He took hold of her arm and pulled her hard toward him. He felt some resistance as he yanked her free of the alien’s death grip. The last he saw, there was still a torn shred of her shirt clutched in its claws.

His lungs were burning and his heart pounded in his head as he pulled Emily to the surface. His fingers were numb and he prayed that he would not lose his grip as he tried to get his bearings. Propelled along by the strong current, they scraped against the rocks more than once as they were rushed along. He looked to the cliffs above and there was no sign of the aliens as he kicked toward the bank on the opposite side of the river. Ahead of them, the canoe was floating partially submerged as it banged along from rock to rock.

The riverbank had transitioned to a tree-lined slope and they were not far from it. John tightened his grip around Emily and kicked for shore. Finally, he was able to get a foothold and pull her out of the water. She was bruised and scratched, and John took great care as he lifted and carried her limp body in his arms. He moved as quickly as he could to get to dry land, gently laying her on a flat rock.

“Don’t you fuckin’ die on me now! Not after all of this!” he yelled. Kneeling beside her, he added in a softer tone, “You hang on, Em. I need you.”

There was no feeling at all in his fingers making it useless to try to feel for a pulse. He tilted her head and checked. There seemed to be nothing blocking her air passage, so he pinched her nose and placed his mouth over hers to give her a couple of breaths. “Come on, honey, breathe.”

There was no response from her lifeless body. John applied his hands to her chest and pushed to compress it. “Emily!” Anguished, he yelled at her. “Em! You are not going to leave me! Not today, baby, not today!” He covered her mouth with his and pushed the air into her lungs. Again, he began compressions. Then, just as he placed his mouth over hers for the third attempt at resuscitation, she jerked and began coughing up water.

He rolled her onto her side and rubbed her back. “Thank you, God!” he said, tilting his head toward the sky. Now feeling the exhaustion, he collapsed beside her. He pressed in behind her and wrapped his arm around her for warmth. She eased over to face him as he cradled her head. “It’s gonna be okay. I think the worst is behind us now.”

“What happened?” she said feebly, as she looked into his bloodshot eyes.

“I think you… died,” he said quietly.

Fifty Three

They rested there on the rock, warming in the bright sunlight. John wanted to give Emily some time to regain enough strength to get moving again. She coughed from time to time and complained of the burning in her chest, but John was doting over her like a nervous mama and assured her she was doing fine.

It wasn’t like him. He had never felt like this before, and it was more than unsettling. He didn’t want to leave her side, but he felt like he needed to get some distance for a few minutes. This… woman was making him feel as weak as a schoolboy and it wasn’t a feeling he was comfortable with.

When he was sure she was okay, he excused himself by saying, “I’m going to go up to the tree line and check out our situation.”

“Be careful,” she answered. She wasn’t fully aware of the situation around them. After what they had been through, she had a reason to be concerned for his safety.

John walked away and headed up the incline into the tall trees.  After a few minutes, he walked back down the slope to stand next to her.

“I didn’t see any sign of those bastards anywhere. We should get going while it’s clear. Can you walk?” He knelt down and rested his hand on her back.

“Yeah,” she nodded, “John, I just want to say…”

“You don’t have to say anything,” he interrupted, touching his fingers to her lips.

Pulling back, she said, “No, John. Really, I do. I just want to say that the next time you save my ass, could you make it just a little less exciting?” She smiled wide. “I mean, I’m just sayin’…”

“You think that was exciting? Hang around a while, I’ll show you exciting.” He smiled back at her and offered his hand to help her get to her feet.

“I’m ready to go home now if you don’t think that would be too boring.” She took his hand and pulled herself up.

“Can you walk?” She was taking her first unsteady step as he asked.

“I’ll be fine, Mom. Let’s go.” She smiled at him again and the two of them began walking slowly up to the tree line. They entered the woods hand in hand.

John was thinking about everything they had been through to get this far. It was a miracle that they were still alive. The attacks, the people who had been lost... Were Karla and Eddie gone? Did Sherri and Raj manage to stay hidden? Could he have done something different and saved them all?

There was no way to know, and he would have to live with that. One thing he knew for sure. If Macy had not brought them here under false pretenses, they would probably all still be alive and well. They might even be laughing over a drink while discussing some haunted house project they could have worked for their final grade.