Todd huffed, and puffed, and huffed some more. By his estimation, the lower level of the Western Outlook had to be fifty feet high and the stairs seemed to grow by several steps every time he had to climb them. The Cyan Union had stationed he and his brother Vic there less than a week prior, and Captain Erring seemed to extract pleasure from finding three reasons a day for them to descend. This particular occasion was more personal, however: Todd had held out from relieving himself all day before breaking down just after finishing his portion of skewered rabbit for dinner.
“Enjoy your climb?” came a sneering taunt. It was from balding old Chase of course, who stood with his back to the Outlook near the top of the stairs. Todd knew he had been stationed there for over a year and almost never had to descend when he didn’t please, not even to relieve himself; Captain Erring let him do it over the side of the stairs, and a whole hell of a lot of good that did for attracting game.
“Of course,” Todd replied, doing his absolute best to regulate his breathing and deny the old fart his pleasure. Chase snickered in that nasally way of his.
“They’ll get shorter after a month, you’ll see,” Chase remarked. He pulled his back from the wall and walked towards the railing. Todd glanced away in the direction that Chase was peering out at: southeast, where the lights of Greensburg could be seen on clear nights.
“I think we’re safe from Redlegs and bandits that way,” Todd quipped cleverly.
“Yeah I’d say so, but what I do isn’t a damn bit of your business, now is it?” Chase snapped back. Doesn’t taste so good, huh? Todd thought to himself as he turned away and stepped inside the lower level. This was the dingy, musky supply room where the Outlook’s stocks were stored in wooden crates and stained plastic tubs from the Olden Days before the Great Haze. Todd wished he had brought a candle, but the fading daylight pouring through the northwestern door afforded enough visibility for him to navigate his way towards the Fragiles tub, where right at the top he spied and snatched a small mirror. They’d throw me over the rail if I broke this, Todd mused as he left through the northwestern door and ascended the small set of stairs that led to the upper level.
“Anything exciting happen down there?” Vic asked. He and Odi, a tall fellow with a red beard that reached his chest, were seated on a pair of stools and drinking their beer ration.
“Well now that you mention it, I thought I might’a heard a wildcat yowlin’, or at least what I hope’s a wildcat,” Todd recalled as he drew a razor from a pouch on his belt. How his brother could stand the incessant itching to grow his dark beard in was beyond him; this time Todd had made it six days and he was proud of it too.
“There’s all kinds of things out there. Are you on watch tonight?” Odi asked.
“Nope,” Todd replied as he angled the mirror and began carefully shaving whiskers away from his right cheek. “Chase is.”
“Well he might get snowed on,” Odi said, gesturing at a coming front of soft, puffy clouds creeping towards them.
“It’s too early in the year,” Vic countered, taking a swallow of beer from a wooden cup.
“Too early in Greensburg maybe, but not up here it ain’t,” Odi told him.
“Were you up here last year?” Vic questioned as he pulled his gray cloak tightly around himself. Todd also noticed how quickly the temperature was dropping.
“No, but I’m from Piverd,” Odi replied, pointing away northwest.
“You mean that village where the Union fought the Ashens?” Vic asked.
“That’s the one,” Odi confirmed. “My parents weren’t gonna live under no king, so after the battle they slipped out and came south to the Union.”
“You must’ve been small then,” Todd realized as he flicked the razor along his jawline.
“I was seven,” Odi specified with a nod. “It was a long walk, and about this time of the year too. We got snowed on the whole way down the mountains. The cold nearly killed my little sister.”
“Sounds brutal,” Vic commented.
“It sure was,” Odi replied grimly.
“Did you ever see a Redleg up there?” Todd thought to ask.
“Nah, I didn’t, but that’s what killed my Uncle Rubin,” Odi said solemnly. Todd and Vic alike looked at Odi with surprise as he continued. “It happened the year before the battle. Uncle Rubin and his best friend, a guy named Robert, were taking a pair of goats to Hender, and we didn’t have no horse so they was leadin’ them on foot. They had set up a camp and Uncle Rubin took the goats a ways to drink from a creek when a dozen Redlegs came out of a burrow and killed ‘em. When Robert got back to Piverd the men sent a scouting party and sure as shit, there was chunks of goats and my Uncle right where he said they’d be.”
“You think they’re as big as they say they are?” Vic asked after a moment.
“They’d have to be, and just as fast too,” Odi reckoned. Todd had heard stories of the creatures his whole life: ravenous six-legged insects that looked something like ants, but bigger than dogs with thick, ruddy legs that ended in sharp points. The legs were the only part of the creatures Todd had ever seen, and two of them were mounted inside the Look as a trophy.
“What’s going on, ladies?” said a firm voice. All three turned and found Captain Erring standing in the doorway. With his broad shoulders, tight red beard, and piercing blue eyes, Todd thought he had the natural look of a man in charge; the wide-brimmed hat and round brooch denotating his rank were just trappings.
“Just tellin’ stories, Captain,” Odi answered.
“Yeah I heard that… Did you check the snares?” Erring questioned.
“Of course, Captain,” Odi responded with a more precise vernacular than he had just been using with Todd and Vic.
“Good man,” Erring nodded in approval. A grin split his face when he noticed Todd’s activity. “Boy you’re gonna be as pretty as a girl, aint’cha?”
“Only for you, Captain,” Todd dared to jest back, and the four men soon cackled with laughter. Todd felt grateful that Captain Erring permitted a small level of familiarity and comfort between himself and his men, at least in the evenings once their tasks were completed.
“You think that looks like snow, Captain?” Odi asked, gesturing at the front that was now almost entirely obscured by darkness.
“Could be,” Erring replied. “We s-“
“HALT! Who goes there?!” the three heard Chase cry from the level below. Todd nearly dropped the mirror as the four men hurried to the railing and peered down. Todd couldn’t make anything out in the deepening shadows of the trees.
“I said who goes there?!” Chase hollered again, coughing and gagging from the strain on his throat. Captain Erring turned and darted down the stairs and his watchmen went right after him.
“My daughter needs help!” a voice called back. Todd turned the corner at the stairs and saw that Chase had his rifle trained on something. He peered over the railing and made out the form of two people, the taller of the two waving what looked like a small white cloth.
“Are you armed?” Erring asked loudly.
“Only with a knife, but it’s not drawn! Please help!” the desperate voice cried back. Todd thought he could hear the sound of whimpering but couldn’t be sure.
“You keep your hands where we can see them!” Erring called down, then, turning to his men, said, “Chase, you keep your bead on that fella. Todd, Odi, you’re with me.”
Vic gave Todd a pat on the shoulder as he passed on his way to the stairs and Todd appreciated his brother’s reinforcement. He pocketed the mirror and slipped the razor back in its pouch. The three men hurried down the stairs, but Erring’s pace slowed to a dignified walk at the bottom. Todd saw him flick the side of his cloak back to show his holstered revolver.
“Identify yourself,” Erring called to the pair. Todd could see them plainly now: It was a man with a greying beard wearing overalls and a grimy long-sleeved shirt underneath, and a young girl wearing a coat and tattered dress with blood running down the side of her right leg. They were both dirty and unwashed, as if they had taken a good roll in freshly-tilled soil then jumped in a pile of leaves.
“My name’s Garrett, and this is my daughter Melody,” the man said. “We were trying to cross but she slipped and cut her leg a little while ago and I don’t have nothin’ to stop the bleeding.”
“You know crossing from Ashen is illegal here. We don’t usually take your kind,” Erring said sternly.
“I know, but there’s famine and we’re hungry. We don’t have any food, we been foragin’ for days and now she’s hurt,” Garrett pleaded. “Please help us.”
“Where’s this knife you said you had? Throw it here,” Erring commanded. Garrett reached inside the front pocket of his overalls and drew what Todd believed was the most pitiful little cutter he’s ever seen and tossed it at their feet. Erring stooped quickly and snatched it up.
“Now you listen here,” Erring told him with a raised finger, “I’m Captain Erring, and I have command of this Outlook. Tonight you’re going to sleep with your hands bound. The patrol will be here around midday tomorrow and you’ll go south with them to be judged. You carry your daughter up these stairs.”
“Yes sir, thank you, thank you so much,” Garrett replied with a whimper, and hoisting his daughter into his arms followed Captain Erring and Todd up the stairs with Odi bringing up the rear.
“Caught a spy?” Chase asked the lot of them as they heaved themselves up the last steps and onto the lower level.
“I’m not sure yet,” Erring replied, shooting a suspicious glance back at Garrett even as he gestured at Vic. “Bring me a jug of water, and a short length of rope, and a medkit.”
As Vic hurried into the supply room to retrieve the items, Todd looked between the foreigners. Garrett’s desperate, exasperated disposition had shifted to one of tense wariness, his eyes darting between the watchmen as if expecting one to make a sudden, hostile move, while Melody’s chief concern was the wound on her leg that had blood continuing to ooze down to her footwrap.
“So what happened?” Erring asked Garrett.
“We left our home two days ago,” Garrett attempted to begin.
“Why?” Erring cut him off. “What are you running from?”
“The tax collector,” Garrett answered. “My wife’s been dead all year, the crop failed, and I have no money to pay with. In Ashen, if you can’t pay with coin, you pay with food, and what little food I have needed to last us the winter.”
“You didn’t seem to bring any with you,” Erring observed. Vic returned from the supply room with the water-jug in one hand, the leather medkit in the other, and a length of rope resting on one shoulder. Garrett made to reach for the medkit but Erring raised a hand.
“Uh-uh,” he forbid, “We’ll clean the girl, you keep talking.”
“You’re not touching my daughter there!” Garrett argued, placing an arm around her. Melody’s eyes reflected a newfound fear of the watchmen.
“It’s the only place any of us are going to touch your daughter,” Erring reassured him firmly. “She’s safe from monsters up here, the two-legged kind and otherwise. Your story, and your honesty, will decide if you’re safe with her, or if we’re sending you back the way you came.”
“If I go, my daughter goes with me,” Garrett shot back.
“That is your decision,” Erring nodded, keeping his tone firm but level.
Todd knew his brother was helpless with medicine, so he stepped forward and took the jug and medkit himself. Peeking inside, Todd found exactly what he expected to find: a length of bandages, several cloves of garlic, two small stones with which to crush them, and a vial of honey. Garrett was hesitant and his suspicion plain to see, but he ultimately allowed Todd to lead the girl over to a stool by the door, turning his posture to keep them in the corner of his eye.
“See, we’re not bandits,” Erring reaffirmed. “Now keep talking. I know if I was running from home I’d at least bring something to eat.”
“A heavy pack would have slowed us down even more, we never would’ve made it even this far,” Garrett reasoned.
“Well you’re not wearing much, are you telling me you didn’t have coats living on a mountain?” Erring pressed.
“It was a lot warmer two days ago,” Garrett countered. Todd knew this to be true. He had just finished crushing three of the cloves into small pieces. He lifted the kid’s leg onto his knee and inspected the wound. The gash was a few inches over her right knee, not wide but deep enough to continue leaking blood. Todd wished the medkit contained a needle and thread to stitch her up with, but the poultice and bandages would probably suffice.
“So what happened to her?” Erring asked, shifting his attention to Melody.
“She slipped and fell on a sharp rock not far from here,” Garrett replied.
“Sounds painful. Why didn’t she make a sound?” Erring scrutinized.
“She did!” Garrett insisted. “She gave a good holler, but I told her to try and be quiet in case there’s bandits afoot.”
“I didn’t hear anything,” Erring retorted.
“I did,” Todd piped up as he poured fresh water from the jug onto Melody’s leg. She winced as Todd wiped blood and dirt from around the wound. “I thought I heard a wildcat yowling, but it could’ve been her, easy.”
“That’s just what he said when he got back from relieving himself,” Vic told Erring. Odi nodded in agreement. Todd tapped honey from the vial onto a patch of bandaging, adding the crushed garlic before pressing it firmly to Melody’s leg. She made a fresh whimper but made no effort to impede Todd from neatly wrapping the wound.
“How’s that?” Todd asked with a smile.
“Thank you,” Melody replied. Her expression was one of discomfort, but Todd appreciated her resolution to not cry or make more of a fuss than she had to.
“Rope,” Erring asked of Vic, who slid the bindings off his shoulder and handed it to his Captain. “Alright, here’s the deal. I’ll feed n’ water both of you, then I’m tying your hands before we sleep. See Chase here? He’s as mean as a bear and a dead shot. If either of you tries to harm my men or steal our supplies, he will hear you, and you’ll both be treated as invaders. Am I understood?”
“Yes sir,” Garrett consented, picking Melody up once more and, at Erring’s beckon, headed up the small stairs to the second level for a bite of supper.
Todd expected the pair to cooperate fully and was not disappointed. They ate their servings of salted pork, pine nuts, and flatbread graciously. Nothing resembling proper conversation cropped up, but Garrett did tell that he’s handy with a banjo, and as Vic owned one, Captain Erring suggested he play them a few tunes in the morning. Garrett readily agreed. When it came time to sleep, Erring bound Garrett’s hands before him and had bedrolls laid out in front of the southeastern door. With his men’s beds on one wall and his own on the other, Erring figured that someone was bound to hear if the foreigners tried to pilfer their belongings, and he even left a lantern burning on the table in the center of the room. Bundled up snugly in his blankets, Todd drifted to sleep thinking – or perhaps dreaming – that he could see snowflakes beginning to fall through the small, dusty windows of the Outlook.
* * * *
Todd awoke in darkness. At first he thought it was the cold that had disturbed him: a deep chill had descended on the Outlook, and the long-johns he wore were obviously no replacement for the blankets that now only covered half of his figure. It was only after a few seconds of fumbling about that he heard a low-but-distinct thump coming from beneath him. He froze and listened. After a few more seconds, he heard another thump below the floor. What the hell is that? he privately wondered. Thump. Todd slid from the bed and grabbed his cloak from atop his bedside trunk. I have to see what the hell that is, Todd thought to himself, then mentally added, but if it was something dangerous Chase would raise the alarm. Todd slid his boots on as quietly as possible - thump - and crept towards the northwest door. He heard someone stir behind him, but a glance revealed that it was only Odi shifting positions in his sleep.
It was indeed snowing outside, and a thin layer of silvery flakes coated the floorplanks, railing, and the leafy tops of the tall trees nearby. Todd looked this way and that but - thump - could find no trace of old Chase, not even footprints. Evidently the old fool had decided to keep watch on the lower level instead of the upper one, where he could listen for treasonous behavior from the foreigners. Todd stepped gingerly towards the stairs and began descending, taking care to grip the railing ‘lest he lose his footing – thump - in the dark. He turned right towards the big stairs and froze. There knelt Chase, turned towards him with a finger to his mouth, the barrel of his rifle pointed straight at the – THUMP – landing. Todd felt his breath catch in his throat. What the shit is this? he asked himself. THUMP. Todd noticed a strange odor and briefly questioned if old Chase had soiled himself, but no, it didn’t quite smell like that; this was more rancid and ripe, like the smell of a sweaty man who hadn’t washed in over a week. THUMP.
And then, there was silence. The odor remained, but try as he might Todd couldn’t hear a single thing beyond the icy wind and the soft falling of snow. Todd’s heart hammered away in his chest, and he found the suspense to be absolutely smothering. After a minute, Chase began creeping towards the stairs, staying low, deliberately placing one foot after another as he neared the top step, leaning forward to peer – and then it happened: a large, woolly arm shot up and grabbed Chase by the scruff of his shirt, and with a holler and a clatter he was pulled below.
“HEEEEEL-AAWAAAGAGAHHHH!” Todd heard Chase scream in agony, then something else let out a guttural howl that chilled Todd to the bone. He turned and ran back towards the small stairs but slid on the slick wood as he tried to fly around the corner of the Outlook. Todd slammed so hard into the railing that it carried him up and over the side, only barely managing to catch the railing as he flipped. The pain in Todd’s right side was considerable, but it paled in comparison to the time-stopping sense of pure, visceral terror that he felt as he dangled in the frigid, open air with nothing but a rocky doom awaiting dozens of feet below. His right hand gripped the railing in such a vicelike hold that a crowbar may have had difficulty prying it loose, and Todd wasted no time in shooting the other one up to clasp it as well. With a remarkable surge of strength he hoisted himself up and back over onto the floorplanks of the lower level.
For a moment, an overwhelming sense of relief swept over him. YOU’RE OKAY repeated in Todd’s mind for what felt like a hundred times a second, and for a few moments he believed it as air returned to his lungs… but what stood only fifteen feet away knocked the wind right back out of him. It was a shaggy behemoth, easily eight feet tall, with big shoulders and long arms that dangled well past its waist. In the sparing moonlight, Todd could behold its terrible, ravenous gaze and saw sharp teeth bared in a snarl from which blood dripped to stain the snow at its feet.
Todd screamed, and with another bone-rattling howl the beast charged. Todd bolted rightwards and shot up the small stairs. He nearly made it too, but on the top step something caught his right foot and brought him crashing down onto the stiff planks. Todd felt the beast begin to drag him back down, and he kicked out with his left foot as hard as he possibly could. He felt the sole of his boot connect with something meaty once, twice, three times before its grip on his right leg slackened enough for Todd to pull himself free and scramble up the steps.
“What is it?!” Erring cried as he, Vic, and Odi came pouring out of the door, respectively armed with a revolver, machete, and axe.
“SKUNK APE!” Todd shouted, but only a second later the three of them could see for themselves as the skunk ape launched itself up the stairs and tackled Todd with such force that his head colliding with the planks caused his nose to crunch and splatter in a crimson gush of blood. Todd heard the deafening pops of the revolver and the skunk ape howling as it rose off him. He managed to roll onto his back and saw Odi’s hatchet fly and strike the beast, though where exactly Todd couldn’t be sure. Vic struck out with the machete and seemed to land a blow, but the skunk ape leaned forward and slammed a tree-like into him with enough force to send Vic back into and through the glass window left of the door.
“NO!” Todd cried with a gargle as a steady stream of blood trickled down his throat. He tried to pull himself to his feet using the railing for support and nearly made it, but his legs gave way and sent him back to the planks. Todd watched Odi take a blow to the stomach which dropped him to his knees. Captain Erring cracked the skunk ape with his revolver across the side of its head, but the skunk ape seized his arm with surprising speed and sank its teeth into it. The anguished wail of his commanding officer told Todd that the end was near.
Just then, what seemed like a ball of light flew from within the Outlook and shattered on the skunk ape. Its fur caught like tinder, and in less than three seconds the creature was half-engulfed in flames, emitting the most horrible shriek Todd had ever heard. It released Captain Erring and writhed, teetering and tottering before, in a moment of inexplicable, primal panic, throwing itself over the side of the railing and plummeting to the snow-covered depths below. Todd was certain he heard it crash on the jagged rocks beneath them.
The door creaked open, and out stepped Garrett with Melody clutching the back of his overalls. Vic was only a few paces behind them, wincing as he held the back of his neck. Todd instantly realized that Garrett was the one who threw the lantern and saved their lives.
“Do you trust me now?” Garrett quietly asked Erring, who was propped against the side of the Outlook nursing his shredded arm.
“I told y’all you’d be safe here,” Erring quipped and even managed to chuckle between his groans.