Chapter Eight
Lucas squinted his eyes as a sharp gust of wind blew against his face, the cold, dry air stinging his eyes. He continued forward, making sure to stick to the middle of the tracks, and as far away from the edges of the bridge. He kept his gaze focused on the tracks, yet his peripheral still showed him the vast chasm that yawned beneath him and Emily. A creak from the old supports of the wooden bridge could be heard, causing Emily to yelp.
"Are you sure this is the best way?" she asked, the second time she had voiced the question, the first being at the sight of the bridge.
"Unless you want to add an extra week, yes," Lucas called back, keeping his eyes focused on the tracks.
He heard a noise of disapproval from Emily behind him, but he could still hear her footfalls, signalling that she didn't like it, but was forced to agree that it was the best idea. Lucas felt the same sentiment.
It was when the pair had almost reached the far edge of the ravine that the wind picked up in earnest as if it was trying to blow them off the bridge.
"Keep low!" Lucas yelled, turning his head so Emily could hear him. "We'll try to stay as close to the tracks as possible!"
Keeping their bodies and heads low, Lucas and Emily forged ahead, safely making it across the ravine, and hurrying towards a tunnel the tracks ran through. Upon entering the tunnel, the wind died down, allowing Lucas and Emily to speak to each other without yelling.
"Alright, there is another bridge after this tunnel, but this one is much shorter. After that, we're going to have to go off-road; the bridge further along collapsed, but there is a fallen tree that we can use, so long as the wind stays low."
"Then after that?" Emily asked, keeping pace with Lucas as they walked through the tunnel.
"Once we make it through we enter Mystery Lake, where we should be able to make it to my house before nightfall. Then we head off for Milton at first light and arrive there by about midday."
"Sounds like you know the area well enough to estimate the time for the journey," Emily remarked, sounding impressed.
"If you work as a hunter, you need to know how long it will take to get from point A to point B, or else you might underestimate how long it will take to get somewhere. Great Bear isn't a place you want to be caught out at night. The temperature plummets, and you can't see your outstretched arm if it's cloudy. So you want to make sure you don't stay out too late if you can help it."
Emily nodded, seeing the sense in that. "Is that the bridge you mentioned?" she asked, gesturing towards a shorter bridge that they could see outside the tunnel.
"That's the one," Lucas said, striding forward into the now quieter wind.
Continuing along the tracks and crossing the much shorter bridge, they continued along, only stopping when the tracks fell off into the ravine.
"This way," Lucas said, leading Emily off the tracks and towards a tree that had formed a natural bridge. The trunk of the tree had snapped in a storm, and fortune had it that it had fallen across the gorge to the other side, creating a new path to get across the gap formed by the collapsed bridge.
Lucas and Emily both shuffled across the bridge, doing everything possible to keep their balance, for they had both spotted a corpse at the Ravine Basin, displaying the fate of anyone who fell. They both let out a sigh of relief as their feet crunched into the fresh snow, both moving towards the rail tracks. They continued along, walking alongside the tracks as well as a river, the top of the river had frozen over, but the water at the river bed was still a liquid, creating a waterfall that fell down into the Ravine Basin. Rounding a corner, they found another tunnel which they entered, and after a few minutes of walking in the gloom, found themselves in Mystery Lake.
"What's that?" Emily asked.
Turning his head, he saw where she was looking, towards the old Hydro Dam.
"That's the Carter Hydro Dam and Environs," he answered. "It used to generate Great Bear's energy, but after the First Flare, the place has become a fortress."
"Does anyone live there?" Emily asked as they turned away from the dam, continuing on the tracks.
"Well, first you have McPherson, the overseer and supervisor of the dam. He's the guy who runs the place, both before and after the First Flare. Then you Vaughn, who's acting as security these days. Benton is another worker there, a good man but reckless, not one for following the procedures. Then you have Hays, but he's been out of action for a while, fractured his elbow just before First Flare, but he should be all good in a few weeks. Then you have Geoff and Ted, the Wallace brothers. There might be some others that joined recently, but the 'Dam People', as folk call them, keep to themselves, content to trade when needed."
When Lucas had finished explaining, they were well out of sight of the dam and had just passed some overturned train carts, with the tracks stretching out in a straight line before them. They continued along for a few minutes, the silence filled with the rustle of clothing, the sloshing of water in Lucas' bag, and the occasional wolf howl from far off. Up ahead, a short distance from the tracks stood a two-storied building, the Canadian flag flapping in the wind. A small boy was sitting on the deck of the building, and spotting Lucas and Emily, stood and waved his hand energetically.
"Orion!" he called out, a grin on his face.
Lucas chuckled and changed direction, heading towards the camp office with Emily in tow.
"Afternoon, Liam," he said, bending down to eye level with the boy when he had reached the deck of the office. "Is your dad inside?"
"Yep!" the boy exclaimed. "Dad's cleaning the place, so he told me to go outside and sit by the deck. He says I get in the way too much, but I think he's just slow because he's old."
Lucas heard Emily chuckle and he smiled as well. "Well, would you be able to tell your father I said hi? I'm taking Emily here to Milton, so I'll stop by soon."
"Okay," Liam nodded, waving Lucas and Emily goodbye as they walked off.
Lucas looked to the mountains, where the sun could be seen setting, an orange glow already lighting the sky.
"Let's hurry," he urged Emily, as they moved down the rail line.
As they were approaching the tunnel ahead, Lucas took them off the line, moving into the snow-covered wilds. Making their way around hills and trees, Lucas spotted a barn in the distance, recognising it as the old family barn. The sun had just slipped behind the mountains, plunging the area into twilight, but Lucas didn't need the light to navigate in his own front yard. Grabbing Emily's hand, which caused a gasp to escape her, he pulled her past the family graveyard, up the path, and to the doorway of the cabin. Opening it, he lit a lamp that hung from a wall, illuminating the space. The cabin was small, a workbench sat along one of the walls, shelves next to the workbench, a safe tucked away, and an armchair nestled in the corner. A small door to the side led to a bathroom, little more than an outhouse.
"Welcome to my home," he said, gesturing around the small room. "It isn't much, but it's all I need."
Walking over to a wood stove that was next to the lone bed in the building, he got to work lighting it.
"Are you the only one who lives here?" Emily asked, seating herself down on the bed next to where Lucas was.
He paused his work. "I am," he answered after a silence, before resuming to light the fire.
The fire caught, and after feeding it some small twigs, he placed a branch inside to satiate the fire, closed the hatch, and opened a plastic container that rested on the workbench. Inside were bloodied hunks of meat, and grabbing a frying pan, placed them on the pan, then rested the pan over an element, the meat slowly starting to sizzle and cook.
"So, um, I noticed there is only one bed," Emily started.
"Yep," came the reply from Lucas who sat in an armchair, looking at her.
"So, are we going to share a bed, or…"
Lucas pulled out a bedroll that had been resting next to the armchair.
"I'll sleep on the ground," was his reply. "You can take the bed."
"Oh, okay," replied Emily, seemingly torn between being grateful, and yet disappointed.
Lucas turned back to the meat, adding some chopped-up greens, mixing them all together, and creating an impromptu stir fry.
"We barely know each other," he said, not taking his attention off of the food. "So it would be awkward for us to sleep together, even if it's just us using the same bed."
Emily was silent at that, but got up and grabbed two plates from a shelf, then looked around, finally finding cutlery for them to use.
"Thanks," Lucas said as she placed them next to him. He plated up the meal, handing her a plate, while he took his plate and sat in the armchair opposite the bed. They ate in silence, both enjoying the hot meal after a day of walking. After finishing their meal, Lucas put the plates aside on his table, with the excuse that he'll do them tomorrow, and placed his bedroll on the floor. Emily watched him from his bed, her boots already placed on the floor near the foot of the bed. Satisfied with the placement, Lucas went back to the wall lamp, and extinguishing the flame, felt his way through the near darkness to the bedroll.
Both Emily and Lucas lay in their respective beds, listening to the sound of the fire slowly dying down.
"You won't do anything while I'm asleep, right?" Emily asked hesitantly.
"What kind of person do you think I am?" Lucas scoffed. "I'm not some brute."
Silence continued.
"Is it that you don't find me attractive?" Emily asked, her voice quiet and shy, and Lucas could barely see by the ember light the top of her head poking past the blankets, her face and cheeks covered due to embarrassment.
He was silent for a moment, before sighing.
"I never said you weren't attractive," he admitted, before turning over in his bedroll to face the far wall. "Go to sleep."
He heard Emily turn over as well, but as he fell asleep, he was certain he could hear a relieved sigh.