Them-2 Chapter 41

Chapter Forty One – Near Greenbriar State Forest, West Virginia

It was growing dark and the only thing Jacob could think of was to continue south. He remembered the man Burt saying something in the van about hippies in the south beating him up in a fight. Jacob figured if the hippies could beat Burt, then they were the ones he and Caitlin needed to find. Whatever hippies were?
Jacob had never joined the Scouts because his mother did not have the time to take him to the meetings, but he was smart and knew the sun went down in the west and if the west was to his right, they had to be going south. He also read somewhere that moss grew on the north side of a tree and the only thing resembling moss he’s seen was facing them as they walked.
At first they feared being caught by the bad people. When they were certain they had managed to evade them, they begin to worry about the ants. Jacob remembered his mom saying the smelly stuff didn’t work anymore. He also remembered Mister Huck saying that very few ants were around. But, they had driven for hours and he did not know if that included the area they were now in.
“It’s getting dark,” Caitlin remarked, glancing up at the sky. “Maybe we should have stayed with the bad guys?”
“Didn’t you hear what that creepy guy said while we were hiding in the little elevator?” Jacob blurted. “He said they were going to start eating people.”
“Icky!” Caitlin spat.
“Yeah. And if Mister Huck and our parents didn’t make a deal they were going to start cutting off our fingers.”
“What are we going to do? We can’t see in the dark and there may be ants out in the dark.”
“My mom said they went to rooster at night like chickens. Meaning they go to bed and sleep.”
“I’m hungry. We haven’t eaten since early morning, Jacob.”
“Me too! It’s Getting cold.”
“How far do you think we are from the bad guys place?”
“Not sure. I know we came a long way.”
“Can we stop and light a fire and get warm?”
“We Don’t have anything to light a fire with.”
“I thought you Yanks knew all about living in the woods. All the books say how Daniel Boone and Jiminy Crockett and the pioneers made fire and lived in log cabins and hunted for their food.”
“Heck! I ain’t no Yank! I’m American and I wasn’t born in the woods. That was zillions of years ago. People don’t do that anymore. Besides, it was Davy Crockett. You’re thinking of Jiminy Crickett.”
“Maybe those hippie people do if they live out here in the woods. Maybe they’re the Hippie Indians, or something?”
“Never heard no Indians called hippie. Indians have names like crows and snakes and mohawks and such.”
They continued picking their way through the woods for another hour. By then they were completely exhausted and their faces and arms were covered with welts from slapping branches. They finally found a fallen tree with a pile of dry leaves blown into a deep soft pile.
Jacob finally gave up. “We’ll stay here until daylight. If we burrow into this pile of leaves it may help keep us warm. I read that somewhere.”
Caitlin was too tired to answer.
Caitlin woke with the sun in her eyes. At first she couldn’t remember where she was then memory of the escape flooded back into her mind. She turned her head to see the scratched face of Jacob lying next to her. His mouth was open and he instinctively swatted at a windblown leaf that tickled his nose. The leaves smelled moldy like some of the old books she’d seen in antique bookstores. Some had crackled down beneath her collar and made her neck itch.
She punched him in the arm. “Wake up Jacob!”
Jacob moaned and broke wind. Caitlin rolled her eyes. “Wake up!” She landed a harder punch.
Jacob sat up and brushed the leaves from his chest. He yawned and shook his head. “Gotta pee!” He stood and scrambled to the other side of the big tree. “Don’t look!”
“Don’t be silly,” Caitlin replied. “Why would I want to watch you pee?”
He soon returned and sat back down beside her. “Sure am hungry.”
“Me too. Thirsty too.”
“The woods used to be real noisy. When my mom and me went for nature walks, all you could hear was birds singing and insects buzzing. Don’t hear anything now. It’s real quiet.”
Caitlin looked at the tree branches far above them. There was no sign of life, only the wind whispering through the leaves. “Maybe the animals and birds are hiding from the ants?”
“Maybe,” Jake replied.
“Maybe we better be on our way. We won’t find the hippies or something to eat sitting by this old tree.”
They continued on south. Within two hours the terrain became very rugged. They had the option of climbing over a small mountain or trying to walk around the bottom. Jacob figured if they followed it around, they would be going east and then northeast, back towards the bad guys, so they chose to climb it.
The higher they climbed, the rockier it became. They were soon looking for handholds and footholds to keep from sliding back down. The forest had thinned out but the tough bushes remained. By the time they reached the crest of the mountain, they were both exhausted and drenched with sweat. Lack of food and water was taking its toll.
They sat together on a large flat rock and peered into the wide valley below. Almost to the far side of the valley they could see a small dirt road meandering through the thick green forest.
“Think that road leads to the hippie camp?”
“Don’t know,” Caitlin answered. “I guess they would need a road to get in and out of the camp. They would have to drive to the store to get food and buy things.”
“Not if they’re Indians.”
“You said there were no Hippie Indians.”
Jacob shook his head. “Yeah. Guess not. Let’s go down to the road and follow it.”
At the bottom of the small mountain they ran into a small creek. The water was clear and inviting.
“I’m thirsty.” Caitlin stated, flopping down on the soft bank. “Can we drink some water?”
Jacob was uncertain. He remembered his mom talk about all the bugs and germs in the water during their hikes and that it was unsafe to drink. Perhaps she was referring to the streams around town and in the park. At any rate, he was just as thirsty as Caitlin.
“Sure, we can drink it. Daniel Boone use to drink it.”
The water was cold and clear and tasted wonderful. It also helped to fill the empty spot in their growling stomachs.
By noon they were half way across the small valley. They were startled when a small deer jumped up in front of them and took off running. They had seen no sign of animal life up to that point. They figured it was a good sign that not all of the animals had been eaten by the ants. It was a warm and comfortable day with small white clouds scudding across the bright blue sky. Everything would have been fine if they weren’t so hungry and scared.
Before they reached the meandering logging road they had to climb a small rocky hill. As they crested the top of the hill, Jacob motioned for Caitlin to get down.
“Ant.” he whispered, pointing down at the road. One of the giant creatures was standing in the center of the road as if it was a sentry on guard duty. Every once in a while it would raise its ugly head and move it from side to side. Finally it started heading in their direction, pausing occasionally to feel the ground with its antennae.
“Must be following the deer that we scared off,” Jacob muttered.
“If it can follow the deer trail what happens if it gets our smell?” Caitlin looked worried.
Jacob looked to his right. There was another small mountain through which the logging road cut its path. They could not possibly go down to the road and the ant was slowly getting closer. He motioned for Caitlin to follow him and backed off down slope until the ant was no longer visible. He pointed to the hill. “It’s too far to go back to the creek. I think we ought to climb that mountain.”
They ran for fifteen minutes until they reached the slope of the thickly wooded mountain. They paused to catch their breath and looked back the way they came from. The giant ant was standing on the crest of the small hill where they had been earlier. It had its head up with its antennae moving back and forth. Having made a decision, it lowered its monstrous head and slowly started crawling in their direction. It had found their scent.
They scrambled up the side of the small mountain as fast as they could, stopping only for quick breaks when they were out of breath. As they reached the crest, they saw the small road continue on in the valley below. There was no sign of traffic. Jacob noticed as the reached the crest that the ant had narrowed the gap and was getting much closer. Obviously, their scent was so strong the ant could follow them more rapidly.
“We can’t out run it,” Jacob muttered. “We got to find some place to hide.”
They quickly scurried down the side of the rocky slope. Jacob spotted a boulder to their right with a small crevice beside it. He glanced back and saw the creature was now at the crest of the mountain. “Hurry up Caitlin!” he screamed, angling over towards the boulder.
They were shaking and out of breath when they finally reached it. A small fissure to the left side of the huge bolder ran down into the ground. It was not very large but they figured they could squeeze into it. It was a tight fit for Caitlin and even tighter one for Jacob, who was a little larger than she was, but they managed to squirm and scrape their way down.
Inside, the fissure opened up enough for them to fit comfortably but it stopped a few feet below where they sat. A large part of the massive bolder took up most of the space.
Within seconds the giant head of the monster ant overshadowed the bright patch of sky about five feet above them. The stench was almost overpowering. The children held on tight to each other, crying and shaking from fear.
The opening was far too small for the creature to get inside. The giant bolder was also much too large for the monster to move.
The creature started digging.