Chapter 11

I opened my eyes to a world of fuzziness. I moaned as I grabbed my stomach. My body ached all over and was freezing. My head felt like it split open and my ribs were so sore. I waited until my vision cleared. I propped myself up into a sitting position on the snowy ground and rubber my stomach to sooth the pain.

The sun was out in the center of the blue sky, so it was likely around noonish. I was in a small clearing with withered trees a few yards away. The snow was at least three feet deep. To the right was a tall hill above. It had a bent railing as if a vehicle had broken through.

I waited a few minutes till my senses fully awoke before I attempted to stand. I felt pain and something warm on my forehead. I touched it and found blood dripping off my fingertips.

‘Shit,’ I used my hand to cover the open wound on top of my head. I tried walking but all I did was stagger about. I used a nearby tree as support. In the snow there were huge skid marks as if something large rolled by. ‘What in the world?’ I thought. ‘What the hell happened?’

I thought about what happened, but my memory was very foggy. My head hurt so bad that it was hard to think. I didn’t even know how I got here. I thought hard, though that just made my headache worse. I listened around for noises or anything to give me a sense of where I was. I heard nothing. No cars or animals, just complete silence.

“Hello! Is anyone there?” I shouted.

Only my echo answered. Was I really alone? Then it hit me. I was with three of my friends. The smeared trail in the snow. If I followed it, would it lead me to answers? I let go of the tree and slowly paced myself. I knew wherever the others were, they couldn’t have gone far. I trotted through the snow following the tracks. The memories gradually came back to me.

‘Kate, Steve, Eric. I was with them,’ I remembered we were on the road and something about birds and snow, but I couldn’t remember what happened to us. I guess something on the road caused Kate’s SUV to flip through the air and crash. Seeing as I was nowhere near the wreck I was somehow thrown out of the vehicle.

“Kate!” I called out. “Steve! Eric! Can anyone hear me?”

My departed echo was met with an icy silence.

‘Guys, are you out here?’ I didn’t want to think about them being injured but I couldn’t help thinking of the worst-case scenario. What if I was the only one who made it? I couldn’t let those thoughts get to me. I knew I had to stay focused on finding them. But maybe they were alright. For all I knew they were looking for me.

After walking around, my memories fully returned. I remembered everything, from the birds, the old rundown barn, the thunderstorm, that weird light breaking through the sky and everything else that happened during the night.

‘That light,’ I thought. ‘That was so bizarre. What the hell was that? It just came out of nowhere, but it went away before I could figure out what it was. Could it had been the reason for all these strange things happening?’

I thought about the things me and Eric talked and wondered if there were any truth to them. Who knew what it was but I really wish I did? Maybe knowing what that light was would’ve helped us get through this in some way. I just had a strong feeling whatever it was it wasn’t natural.

I finally found the SUV in a clearing. It was completely totaled, flipped upside down, covered in dents, all the windows broken, and missing a tire.

‘Oh my god,’ I paced around the vehicle still holding my lower chest.

“Guys” I shouted. “Are you there? Can you hear me?”

I heard no reply. I feared the worst but wondered if they were even inside. Maybe they somehow got out and were in the woods. I bent down and peeped inside the SUV. My chest hurt so bad I almost fell onto my knees. I couldn’t believe my eyes and froze. It felt as if a burning boulder fell into the pit of my stomach and exploded.

Kate hung upside-down strapped to her seat by her seatbelt. Her eyes were closed, and the side of her face was smashed against the ceiling. There were bleeding cuts all over her face and arms. She was completely motionless.

“No, no. Please God no,” I said quietly. I felt a rush come from my stomach, but I stayed calm. I kicked away the glass shards on the driver’s window and reached inside. I grabbed Kate’s shoulder and shook her to wake her.

“Kate, Kate,” she didn’t respond. “Kate, please. Come on, wake up.”

The anxious burning feeling in the pit of my stomach worsened. I touched the back of Kate’s neck to see if she had a pulse. I felt a very weak pulse and let out a huge sigh of relief.

“Thank you, God,” I wiped beads of sweat off my forehead. Though she was alive I knew she needed immediate medical attention. I knew I had to get her out. I mustered up as much strength as I could, grabbed the badly dented door, and tugged on it. It was so damaged that it was jammed. With one foot on the side of the SUV and my hands on the door I pulled with all my might. The door sprung open and flung me onto the snow.

I righted myself and crawled inside the SUV. I cradled Kate’s head on my arm while I unfastened her seatbelt. I carefully pulled her out of her seat, placed her head on my lap, and used the back of my hand to wipe some of the blood off her face.

“It’s alright, baby. I’m going to get you some help,” I dragged her out the SUV as carefully as possible. Outside I reached down and picked her up. Even though my body was super sore, and I probably shouldn’t have been doing any kind of lifting, Kate was as light as a feather. I carried her toward a nearby tree and laid her against it. I made sure her head was propped up against it, though it was still tilted slightly.

“I’ll be back,” I whispered in her ear. “I’m going to see if Steve and Eric are still inside. Just wait here.”

I walked to the SUV’s back passenger door. It wasn’t as badly damaged as the front ones, though it was still pretty dented. I pulled the handle from upside down and opened it. Eric was unconscious and laid flat across the ceiling. I saw his face covered in bruises, though with no blood. I crawled inside and checked his pulse. He was alive but his pulse was weak like Kate’s. I grabbed him by his shoulders and carefully dragged him out the SUV.

“Hang on Eric. I’ll get you out,” I said. He was a bit heavier than Kate so I couldn’t carry him. Instead I dragged him to the same tree where Kate was. I was careful not to cause him any more harm. It was absolute torture on my back. My ribs felt like they were on fire.

I wanted to rest but I had to go back for Steve. I made my way back to the SUV. The walk back was rough as my legs, ribs, head, stomach, and arms ached horribly. I crawled through the same door as before. There he was hanging beside where I found Eric.

My eyes widened to the point where I had to wipe them to make sure I wasn’t seeing things. Steve hung upside down by his seatbelt. He looked so mangled. I saw a jagged bone ripped clean out his right arm. All around his head were several deep gashes and his face was covered in blood. I saw a pool of his blood drip on the ceiling under me. His eyes were opened but they were rolled into the back of his head.

“Steve, hang on,” I muttered. “I’ll get you down.”

As I reached for his seatbelt, I took a closer look at his face. His color was off, paler than it should’ve been. I touched the side of his face which felt like ice. I felt something drop into the pit of my stomach. I slowly reached for the back of his neck to feel his pulse. I felt nothing. I waited a few more moments hoping that I’d feel his pulse. I grabbed his shoulder and shook him.

“Steve. Steve, wake up,” I said. “Steve. Steve.”

My hand dropped to the ceiling. I sat there motionless. I didn’t want to admit it, but I knew that no matter how hard I shook him, no matter how loud I screamed, he wasn’t going to wake up.

I leaned against one of the upside-down seats and just sat there looking at Steve. I wanted to do more but there wasn’t a damn thing I could do. I wanted to cry but I was too tired to even do that. I didn’t know how long I sat there but it felt like forever. No matter how long I waited he wasn’t coming back. Steve was dead.

I placed my hand on his face and turned away as I couldn’t bear looking at him any longer. I took a deep breath, sighed, and backed away. I wanted all of this to be just some stupid dream that I’d wake up from at any moment. Images of Steve smiling and laughing flashed through my mind.

“Steve.”

I came to my senses and remembered Kate and Eric. Their injuries needed treatment, but I didn’t know how I was going to get them out of here. I mustered up the strength to crawl out the SUV. I remembered the luggage and went to the back of the SUV to search for something that could help. I pried the door open and searched through the luggage. I found a first aid kit, two sleeping bags, and blankets. I placed them on a spare sleeping bag and dragged it through the snow toward the tree where Kate and Eric were. They were both still unconscious.

I checked their pulses to see if they were still with me which to my relief they still were. I used the first air kid to clean as much blood off Kate’s face and rubbed ointment on her cuts. Eric didn’t really have any cuts. His bruises got larger and darker especially around his chest, so his injuries were probably internal. I wrapped them both in blankets and zipped them up in separate sleeping bags.

“This should keep you two warm for the time being,” I took a deep breath and sat in the snow. I remembered Kate’s phone and wondered if it was still inside the vehicle. I went back to the SUV and looked around in the front.

‘Come on, where is it?’ I wondered if it may had fallen out the window during the crash.

I looked up at the seat. In the corner I saw something pink and shiny. I reached for it and found that it was the phone, but the screen was cracked. It didn’t look like it worked but after I hit the switch it turned on. I came out the SUV and held the up phone for a signal. As I swiped the phone, I cut my finger on the glass screen and dripped a drop of blood on it. I didn’t really feel the cut because I was numb from the cold. The phone couldn’t find a signal.

“Shit, shit!” I shouted. I threw the phone in the snow. I leaned on the side of the SUV and slid down onto the ground. I wiped my face and thought about this day. It was just one piece of shit after another. I was all on my own, I couldn’t get help, my friends were badly hurt, one of them dead, and another missing. I wasn’t even sure how bad my own injuries were.

My migraine was fading but my body was still very sore. I went to the back of the SUV to look for something to eat. There was a pack of cookies and a soda. I walked back over to Kate and Eric and sat beside them to eat. I knew it wasn’t a real meal, but I was so hungry. I needed something to put in my stomach even if it was just junk food.

I thought about Steve. He was always such a shy person who always let others take the lead. But I felt that someday if he came out of his shell, he’d be a more open person who could had led and not follow. Now he’s gone. He’ll never get that opportunity. I really felt that if any of us should’ve survived the crash it should had been him.

I thought about our trip. I wondered how it would’ve been if we made it to the lodge. We were supposed to be having fun spending time together before classes started for the spring semester. We should have been at the lodge laughing and enjoying each other’s company, not barely holding onto life. Instead we were pelted by one strange thing after another.

It bothered me how I was the only one in fair condition. It was such a coincidence how I was thrown out but seemed to have the least injuries. I wasn’t sure how injured Kate and Eric were. They were even wearing seatbelts but still ended up the way they did.

‘Oh, this is just so damn wrong!’ I thought. I wiped my eyes as I felt them tear up.

I thought about what I could do for Kate and Eric. I couldn’t carry them out of here, I couldn’t call for help. There were no cars driving above the chasm and even if there were, I couldn’t crawl up that big hill in my condition. I had nothing. There were no options. My worst fear was happening, and I would have to watch my friends die before my eyes.

I began hearing the sounds of cawing. I looked in the direction the sounds came from and instantly felt a jolt shoot through my gut.

“Shit,” those damn birds. The very things that caused all this trouble. They couldn’t have picked a worse time to appear. We were all sitting out in the open. I couldn’t fight them off and Kate and Eric were unconscious. Instead of dying, now I’d have to watch my friends be pecked to death. I felt sick to my stomach and thought I was going to vomit.

I rushed to the SUV as fast as I could and looked for something to cover up Kate and Eric more. I gathered extra blankets and pillows and went back to them. On the way back I stumbled in the snow and nearly dropped everything. I quickly placed the pillows around their heads and used the blankets to cover their faces the best I could, leaving small enough airways for them to breathe.

The cawing came closer. Those few blankets wouldn’t be enough to protect my friends but there was nothing more that I could do for them. I thought about dragging them back to the SUV, but I didn’t know if gas leaked from it. If so, there was a chance it could ignite and catch on fire. Plus, I was in too much pain to drag them back there and the birds may had picked up on the scent of Steve’s body. I fell to my knees. I wanted to cry. I looked behind and saw the sleeping bags where Kate and Eric rested.

‘Sorry guys. I did the best I could to protect you.’

I leaned against the tree behind them and watched as seemingly thousands of crows swooped in from above. There were so many of them that they actually blocked out the sky. The entire area became shadowed as they circled above. They all landed on the tree branches in the surrounding woods. Some landed in the snow and on top of the flipped SUV. Above, the sky quickly became cloudier and cloudier.

I closed my eyes as I prepared for death. There were so many things I still wanted to do. I wanted to get married and have children. I was going to finish college, work on my masters and PHD. I didn’t even get to finish my book, Harp of the Angels. It only had two chapters. I never got the chance to properly develop the rest. My one saving grace was that if I were going to die today at least I’d die beside people I cared about.

Moments passed that felt like an eternity. I opened my eyes and saw crows, buzzards, and vultures perched on the branches watching us with hard, focused looks. It was such a surreal, eerie feeling with the birds just sitting there looking at us. Their eyes glowed yellow as if they were demons piercing through the darkness. I had no words for how I felt but it was like being surrounded by death.

I wondered if they were waiting a little before attacking like they did yesterday in the woods. I waited a while but all they did was watch. I wanted to move but my legs wouldn’t budge. The birds just stood there perched in the woods. I wondered why they didn’t come after me or my friends. Even Steve’s corpse in the SUV was vulnerable. From their actions the birds didn’t seem like they wanted to eat anyone but to simply kill. This made me wonder why they weren’t coming after us. Maybe they were just taunting me, playing mind games before they struck.

I got up and paced around slowly. The birds all turned their heads in synch with each other watching where I went. A loud squawking noise came from the right. I looked over and saw a large vulture trotting toward me with what looked like a frown on its face. It stopped just a foot away from me and shouted a loud angry caw before flying up to a branch above. There was something familiar about that vulture. I wasn’t completely sure, but it looked an awful lot like the one I saw pointing at me yesterday.

“What the hell? Why aren’t they attacking me?” I asked quietly to myself.

It was almost like they were waiting for something. Out of the blue a voice called out from the woods.

“Stanford. Stanford.”

My eyes widened as I couldn’t believe my ears.

“Rhoda?”