CHAPTER FIVE



   Despite the grand deal of confusion and unanswered questions, Andrew knew he had work to, and no amount of contemplation was going ti change that. With the reins of the sled in hand and the ax strapped safety down, he ventured across the dwindling sheet of ice with the greatest sense of urgency he had managed to produce thus far. 


   After crossing the lake, Andrew removed the ax and began creating more logs, since the sled was capable of holding at least three logs. That is to say, it is large enough to do so. There was no telling where any potential new weak points in the ice might formations next. 


   He decided that cutting two more would be enough for now, and two more next trip would be a perfect match of three and three. Six logs today would work just fine, and would give Andrew more time to search for his brother.


   After an hour or so, the two logs were set, and Andrew placed them on the sled before strapping them down. He then placed the ax on the sled between two of the logs for safety purposes. Once that was done, he turned the sled around and made his way across the frozen like yet again. 


   Knowing it would not be needed anymore, Andrew set the ax up against the wall. The next step was to unload the logs, then set forth to gather the other three. After that, it was time to do a bit of searching for Jonathan. 


   Roughly guessing, based on the sun's position, it was nearly noon before he managed to get the three remaining logs back to the cave, and he had only just realized he had yet to have anything to eat today. He quickly decided to make lunch before wandering the woods looking for his brother.


   Andrew was then reminded of the food remains on the table left from Jonathan's meal the other day. He grabbed the skeletal pieces and put them in a bag, hanging it from the wall and hoping he would not forget to grab it on the way out. 


   Having settled that matter, he took a slab of venison off the rack and placed it on his improvised stove. Since there had been nothing else left to complete in the ways of current tasks, Andrew elected to sit and watch the food cook. It reminded him of a simpler time, when his mother was still alive. He would always sit with her while she was cooking, and would help her in any way when needed. 


   After lunch, Andrew knew that he would run out of daylight sooner or later, so he took up the revolver with what was now only a single bullet, and grabbed the sled. There was little chance he would actually need the sled, but it wasn't much to drag along, and it was always better to have a not need. At least, so the saying goes. 


   Growing quite tired of worrying about the safety of the ice, Andrew hoped this would be one of the last times he had to cross that wretched frozen lake. Nonetheless, his brother was out there, and they needed to make themselves scarce before anyone from the lab came up this way.


   Trying a few familiar routes in his search, Andrew zigzagged as close to his cave as possible. If there was any chance Jonathan might have been making his way here, there was little sense in risking missing each other in the woods. After a couple of hours or so, Andrew heard a grunting sound coming from his left side. 


   Beneath a fallen tree was Jonathan. His knees appeared to have been crushed, which made it impossible to escape, even if he did manage to free himself from the tree. Andrew quickly rushed to his side and tried to roll the tree off of his brother.


   “Aaaaah, don't do that!” Jonathan screamed out. “If you're gonna do that, then let's work together, ya hear?”


   “Yeah, yeah sorry. Just tryna help, that's all.”


   “I do appreciate ya for that but don't take my leg clean off in the process. Now, on the count of three, we gonna lift this here tree up and on down the rest of my legs. You'll be able to roll it off by yourself once we get it past my knees.” Jonathan gave clear instructions on how he wanted the situation handled. 


   “OK, lemme know when you're ready to count.”


   “One,” Jonathan started as he looked into Andrew's eyes as best as he could. 


   “Two,” Andrew continued, waiting for the cue to lift and push. 


   “Three!” Jonathan shouted out, and they followed the plan nearly perfectly. Once the tree was just out of Jonathan's abilty to grasp it, Andrew failed to make the connection, causing him to drop it on his brother's shins.


   “Now look what ya gone and done,” Jonathan scolded Andrew, clearly in even more pain than before. It was reasonable to wonder if any more bones were broken after that mishap.


   “I'm sorry, Jonathan,” Andrew quickly and sincerely apologized. “Come on, let's getcha on the sled, we can head back to the campsite and get you warmed up.”


   With a nod, Jonathan sat back as Andrew moved the sled towards him. Once the sled was in position, Jonathan rested his body, allowing Andrew full ability to move his brother onto the sled. Despite the painful screams while being moved, Jonathan allowed Andrew to position him onto the sled, and the time had come to head towards camp.


   The journey was less than comfortable for Jonathan, but that was to be expected. It was nearly nightfall by the time they reached the shores of the frozen lake. Unfortunately, a great rock fall sealed their fate in the way of allowing them to return to Andrew's cave. Several rocks fell across the entire lake side. It seemed as if the whole of each mountainside had undergone a rockslide, which left a safe return impossible. 


   “Well now what, Andrew?” Jonathan questioned, and as much as he wanted to, Andrew couldn't come up with an answer.


   “Well, uh…,” Andrew barely managed to speak, discouraged at the sight of his cave being so close yet completely out of reach. 


   “Let's just go back to the road, then,” Jonathan suggested. 


   “But, what about the lab? What if they find -”


   “You think this is gonna go any better if we stay out here? Think about it. I'm hurt, you don't know squat, and the worst they can do is do the same to us that they did to our brother.”


   “What did they do exactly?” Andrew inquired, but his question never found an answer.


   “Nothin’ you wanna know about. Come on, follow my instructions and we might just make it out of here alive.”


   Realizing his brother was right, Andrew redirected the sled to face the other way, and he allowed Jonathan to use his memory to guide them towards the road. Adrenaline had kicked in soon enough, and neither the cold winds nor the dark of night would stop Andrew from finding a way out of the woods.


   It was about three or four hours before they found a place to rest for the night. It was a thicket that managed to survive winter's arrival, so they stayed there until morning. It didn't even seem fitting to reminisce. Instead, they both fell fast asleep. 


   Much to his dismay, Andrew awoke the next morning, but his sled was nowhere in sight. Panic had fully set in by this point, and he began to search every which way to catch even a glimpse of brother. Unfortunately, there would never be a hope of such things. Unbeknownst to Andrew, his fate was sealed.


   After perhaps an hour, Andrew heard the sound of a helicopter above him, and immediately sought refuge. Regrettably, none would be found. Within moments, ropes were dropped from the helicopter, and a team of well armed soldiers entered the woods from above. It was only a matter of time before they found him.


   Andrew tried to hide behind a small series of trees, but it was only going to last a shirt while and he knew it. There was only one option left. Andrew still had the revolver, and even though it had but a single round, that would be enough to make sure he was never captured. The bullet would not be for any soldier, but for himself.


   Once Andrew had heard the soldiers approaching his position, Andrew put the gun in his mouth. He prayed for salvation despite the fact he had no connection to any deity of any kind. Once his prayers were finished, he pulled the hammer, then the trigger. To add to an already confusing situation, the gun did not fire.


   Andrew checked the reel, and there were no bullets in the firearm. Within a matter of moments, a team of soldiers surrounded him, and he closed his eyes. He had accepted his fate, and relented to allowing these men to do as they please. To his surprise, one of them fired a single dart into his neck.


   Once the pain subsided, a feeling of sleepiness fell over him. Before he fell fast asleep, he heard a calming voice address him.


“Well done, old chap. Let's get you back to the Collective before you freeze to death, eh?”




Epilogue 



Hello there, avid reader. Allow me a moment to introduce myself. My name is Stephen Crowe. I am the Head of a certain group of elite individuals. Individuals that I hand selected to our cause. What cause, you ask? Well, I cannot reveal that here. But rest assured, if you follow my works to come, you shall meet all of the families. We cover the globe, you see, fighting off unseen enemies of all sorts. That is why you can, in the future, refer to us as The Compass Collective