A Man of the Mountain - The End

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17. The End

Shirley watched from concealment, mouth agape as the man in the suit advanced for the killing blow. She was no more than fifteen feet away and directly behind him. Carefully, she thumbed back the hammer on her revolver and took aim. The barrel was pointed square at the man’s back. Even if it couldn’t get through what she now suspected was his armor, it was going to hurt.

Just as she curled her finger around the trigger, a sound broke her concentration. From the thicket to her right, there came the sound of heavy footfalls, shaking the ground beneath her. She barely had time to gasp as a creature far larger than the man standing above Nick charged from the bushes and picked up the imposter like a rag doll. It didn’t take much guesswork for Shirley to understand that this was the real deal, and somehow, their situation had just gone from bad to worse.

The sasquatch roared, a horrifying, chilling sound and squeezed the man in its fist.

The sheer terror Shirley felt reduced her thoughts to repetitive curse words. Shit, shit, shit. Nick still lay on the ground, bleeding badly, but regarding the murderous creature next to him with almost wonderment. His limbs moved slowly, trying to push himself away, but he was not making much progress. Without further thought, Shirley moved out of concealment, hoping the creature would remain distracted long enough for them to escape.

She tried to run as quietly as possible, but in her fright, each step might as well have been cannon fire. It did not matter, for the moment, the creature was still distracted, squeezing the life out of the man in its hand. Shirley kept her revolver trained on it right up until the moment she got to Nick.

“That’s the real thing,” he said weakly.

At that moment, the sasquatch flung its prey into a nearby tree with a mighty crack. It lumbered over to the spot where the body fell, as if to confirm the imposter was dead.

“We need to leave now,” whispered Shirley.

Nick’s eyes were glazed over and his head lolled back like a man on the verge of sleep. “Can you believe it? I really thought it was just a man in a suit,” he slurred, eyes half-closed.

Shirley looked down at his wound and gagged. He was losing a lot of blood, and unless she could slow it down, he was going to die. Moving as quickly as she could, she cut away the tattered shreds of Nick’s coat arm and wrapped them around it. It wasn’t a tourniquet by any stretch of the imagination, but precision could wait for a less desperate time. She put an arm under Nick and tried to hoist him.

“I would have packed differently,” Nick grunted, trying to stand. He gestured limply to his pistol that had been tossed in the snow. “I don’t think that’s going to do anything but piss it off…” He trailed off, going silent.

Shirley continued to strain, trying to support his weight and get them to some form of concealment.  

“Shirley?” he asked, quietly.

“Yes, Nick?” she pushed forward, feeling the burning in her legs, and then stopped, noticing the silence. Moist air blew across the back of her neck, and she could hear the heavy panting of the beast standing behind her. Very slowly, she turned around to see the massive beast staring down at them through sunken eyes.

The creature let out a low, harsh, growl, almost like a cough.

“Nick, this is kind of your area of expertise. What do we do now?”

Nick held out his fingers as if counting on them. “Well, if my calculations are correct, we should never have been this close.”

The beast made a fist with one hand and beat it against its chest, letting out another low growl.

“Easy now,” tried Shirley, sticking a hand out in front of her.

“It’s not a horse, Shirley,” hissed Nick.

“You don’t want to hur—”

Halfway through her sentence, the creature lumbered over, scooped up Nick and let out another mighty roar.

Nick’s eyes bulged with effort and terror. He tried to scream but managed only a muted gasp as the air was squeezed out of him.

Shirley watched in terror and did the only thing she could. Picking the revolver out of the snow, she brushed it off, took quick aim at the creature’s massive arm, and fired. The shot rang out like thunder and the beast snarled as the slug hit it. Shirley was pulling the trigger to fire again when the creature swatted at her, knocking her onto her back, and sending the gun flying.

No longer interested in Nick, the sasquatch dropped him in the snow and advanced on Shirley.

She tried to move her arms and legs, but the blow had knocked the wind out of her. In a daze, she looked up at the massive ape and wondered how it had remained hidden for all those years.

The creature raised its fists in the air, preparing to smash her into a bloody pulp. Shirley stared straight at it, wishing she believed in an afterlife where she could see Lindsay again. “Get on with it,” she coughed. Somehow, being faced with the real thing was less terrifying.

Just as the beast was about to bring its mighty hands down, there was a loud boom in the distance, followed by the rumble of thunder. The creature hesitated, cocking its head to the side. For a moment, it did nothing, just listening as the thunder continued.

Thunder doesn’t last this long, thought Shirley.

The creature took a final look at her as if weighing the options, and then ran off into the forest, shaking the ground with each footfall.

The thunder continued.

Shirley pushed herself to a sitting position and saw Nick, miraculously still alive, doing the same. She crawled over to him, ignoring the exhaustion and great soreness in her limbs. “Nick.” Her voice was weak. “We need to get moving, now.”

“I think I’m fine right here,” he mumbled, stunned. “Do you fancy a drink?” he pulled out a flask.

The rumbling thunder continued and grew louder. Shirley looked up the mountain, knowing exactly what was coming. Using all her will, she stood and tried to get Nick to do the same. Despite the urgency, her movements were sluggish, as if she were moving in a dream. “That’s an avalanche, Nick.”

“Oh goody,” he murmured.

     Shirley began to hobble quicker, trying to get to the highest ground she could, but it was too late. The rumbling continued to grow. Soon, she could see it, a wall of white crashing down the mountain. It wasn’t huge by any measure, but any avalanche was hard to outrun.

     “Nick,” she stammered, trying desperately to drag him to the side.

     Nick’s head lolled toward the oncoming avalanche and fear filled his eyes once more.

     “When it hits, hold on to me and take a deep breath.”

     Nick wrapped his arms around her obediently. “Any other tips?”

     “Yeah, when you wake up, try spitting to know which way is up.”

The rumble grew in intensity, and the wall of white hit them.

Don't worry, there's an epilogue coming ;)