Cold Eyes in the Storm: Act III

The thrilling conclusion to the exploits of the six stranded men.

“I KNEW IT!”  Chuck screamed emphatically as soon as the words escaped their mouths.  “I knew you could understand me.  I knew you could speak English.  We were almost dead out there, you b******s, you ghouls.  Would it have killed you to do your job while we were out there knocking on death’s door?  Pricks.” 

He blurted this all out while the Colonel writhed in agony on the floor.  Blood pouring out the tattered tear above his left boot; which no one else was able to ignore.  Except Chuck still plowing seeming mostly for personal satisfaction.  Peaches ran over to one of the bags.  Pulled out a handful of bandages, hydrogen peroxide and hurried back. 

“Don’t worry Kill, it’ll be alright.  This is gonna sting like a b***h, but there’s no getting around it, boss.”  Peaches was caressing Kilgore’s shaking arm while gingerly rolling up the shredded pant leg.  Fumbling with the brown bottle of hydrogen peroxide, spilling some as the cap went clattering to the floor.  Then Peaches proceeded to pour the entire bottle on the deep, oozing wound.  Kilgore’s whole body convulsed as he cried out in agony.  The wound looked like some kind of bite, which showed no signs of letting up.  Just as soon as the wound was visible, it was drenched once more in blood. 

Billy was simultaneously blown away by this, and Chuck’s continued ranting.  He was turning blue in the face, oblivious to the suffering Colonel’s cries of agony. 

“Chuck, take it easy...”

“Pricks!!!”  Chuck screamed. 

Billy pressed on, ignoring his boss’s behavior. “Colonel Kilgore is really hurt.  We worry about how terrible of a job they did later.”  Billy was no longer able to handle this insane dynamic of these two volatile situations.  Chuck finally went silent after Billy’s sternly placating words.  Finally seeming to register the severity of the Colonel’s wound.  Chuck almost instantly began retching between his thighs.  Luckily there was nothing in his stomach to regurgitate.  Already making everything more unpleasant than it had to be, it was no surprise to anyone that he was taking it one step further.

The Private grimaced at the severity of the wound, and was now tentatively investigating it.  “I got some bad news Kill, the foot’s gotta go.  It’s the only way.  Your foot looks like a link of sausages I don’t want you to even look at it.  And I can’t let you bleed out Colonel.  You’re in no position to make the call for yourself right now.”  Peaches was motivating himself more than the shaking man in front of him.

Kilgore looked horrified and began mumbling more coherently.  “…the eyes, those eyes.  I’m stuck, stuck in its eyes.”

“No, your foot Kill, it’s time to say goodbye.”  Peached grabbed an enormous machete from one of the bags and was now holding it over the Colonel’s injured leg.  Sweat was pouring off his forehead almost as rapidly as the blood spilled from Kilgore.  Cocking his arm back to chop down on the mangled appendage; Peaches harshly remanded himself.  Neither Billy nor Chuck understood until he grabbed a second bag and retrieved a blowtorch. 

The Private began trying to ignite it, succeeding after only two attempts.  “Billy, could you run over there and grab me that fire poker?”  He was laying the flame evenly on both sides of the blade while waiting for Billy.  Keeping the torch lit he handed it to Billy, “now, I want you to put that flame on the end until it’s white hot.  When I ask for it, you need to hand it over lickity split; got me?”

“Got it.”  Billy was already applying the torch to the end of the iron rod.  Peaches raised the machete over his head once again.

“He is coming, he is coming!!”  The Sherpas who had once again gone mute; were now screaming in unison at the top of their lungs.  The Private was just about to bring the blade down when they began.  Again forcing him to jolt back looking at them with a mix of fury and complete confusion. 

“Shut up!  I’m trying to concentrate.  I don’t care if Princess Di is on her way.  Put a damn sock in it!  I almost lobbed my boss’ c**k off because of you numb skulls.”  Both Sherpas ignored him completely.  They continued to scream over Private Peaches’ raised voice. 

He took a deep breath and tried to ignore them, raising the machete over his shoulder for a third time.  Third time was the charm for Peaches, cutting through Kilgore’s ankle.  Which created a blood curdling sound like a great, wet tree limb snapping in half.  Peaches put his hand out, and Billy passed the heated poker.  Hoisting the mangled leg up, the Private applied the scalding metal to the eviscerated ankle. 

Kilgore expelled a sizzling scream of agony.  But there was a second, more familiar shriek that broke through the storm and the suffering Colonel.  The Sherpas went dead silent, and stared out into the night.  Listening to the phantom howls which were repeating and growing louder, closer. 

The whole room was in a state of utter panic.  All except for the Sherpas whose eyes were positively glowing, staring past the door out into the night.  Worst of all was the Colonel, who was screaming in a strange manic tone.  “It’s coming!  It’s back for me!  He’s back to finish what they started.  We’re gonna be stuck in this storm forever!  His eyes…they’ll suck us in!”

“Shut up, Kill.”  Peaches was sick of his boss’s raving.  The shrieks had subsided, and were now replaced by a permeating thud.  Even the manic Colonel had gone silent.  The entire room was beginning to shake as the booming footsteps drew closer and closer.   “Jesus Christ.”  Peaches whispered to himself as the rest of the room stood in baited breath.  “Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, Jesu…”

WHAM.  Half of the cabin erupted in an explosion of white, vicious wind.  A gigantic figure swiftly moved away from the exposed area with several more resounding thuds.  The violent intrusion of the atmosphere threw every man in the room to the floor.  Already covered in a thick coat of snow, all men frantically yelled over each other.  The Sherpas were now howling after the shape which had just annihilated shelter with a single blow.

Chuck finally made his way to an upright position when he noticed that Billy was caught.  A large chunk of the rafter beams cemented over both of his legs.  “Billy, are you okay?”  Chuck was shockingly sincere in this inquiry.

“Yeah, luckily another piece protected my legs.  I don’t think anything is broken.  Just can’t move an inch.”  Billy had to scream over the roaring wind; which was slowly beginning to bury him in snow.  “You guys are gonna have to lift this thing for me.  Please!”  He was now addressing the room frantically.  Only Peaches seemed to be paying attention.  He quickly made his way over, crouched down and began attempting to free Billy. 

Just as Chuck was about to join he followed the Sherpas.  Who began to shuffle in the direction their giant assailant had fled.  “Wait, you guys we need to help Billy!”  Chuck called out to their deaf ears.  They continued to move back out into the trees.  “Wait!”  They didn’t break stride.  Now Chuck seemed like he was really starting to worry.  Walking towards them rather than Peaches and Billy.   “Guys, come back here.  I’m not going to survive without you.”  He was now trotting after the two of them, completely avoiding all else around him.

“Chuck, what the hell?  Get back here, I could use some help with this beam.”  Peaches was being completely ignored by Chuck.  “I’m talking to you Chuck.  Get back here you friggin waste.  Chuck!  I know you can hear me.  What’re you doing?”

Chuck frantically turned around mid-trot, “I’m sorry Peaches.  These guys speak English.  I’ll be back with help soon trust me!”  His back was turned again, making his final words lost in the storm.

“I knew your boss was a loser, Bill.  But Jesus, man that guy takes the cake for being the softest of the suits.  What a mess, give me a second here to figure out a new approach.  There’s no way I’m lifting this with my legs.”  Peaches let out a sharp exhale, creating a large cloud of vapor that masked his face.  Looking around the wreck that had been their refuge only moments before; he found another stray beam which had snapped.

Clearing the snow off of it Peaches saw that it had broken off in the massive collision.  Picking it up, he brought it over to Billy.  Propping the smaller board under the one that imprisoned Billy’s legs, Peaches began to push against the other end with his foot. 

To their shared surprise and excitement, this new method worked in spades.  Billy’s feet were free from the beam and roof debris in less than a minute.  “Thank you, Peaches.  If you two weren’t here, I would have been a long forgotten memory under the snow this time tomorrow.”

“Can the ‘thank you’s Bill, we aren’t out of the woods yet.  It was a dick move, but your boss made the right call leaving you behind.   Those Sherpas are the only ones who can get us out of here.  You think that your legs are good enough to help me carry Kill?”  He pointed to the spot he had done the amputation and noticed that the space was empty.

In all of the chaos, neither of the men had noticed the Colonel slip out of sight.  Both of them searched the area, but it was like finding a needle in a haystack.  “What do we do Peaches?”  Billy asked blankly.

“We need to find Kill, if I leave him behind it’ll eat at me forever.  You can try to follow your group, but I need to finish this job.”

“Well, like you said earlier; can’t even find my own member in that mess.  They have to be long gone by now.  I’m in this one for the long haul with you Peaches.  Not just because you saved me, but I trust you more than any of those four.  If I’m gonna die, I’d rather it be with somebody I trust.”

“That means a lot Bill.  But I do not intend on dying here.  Let’s find the Colonel, and get out of here.”  Both of them continued to search through the debris.  They knew Kilgore had not been buried since he was visible after the destruction.  One thing was for certain, he could not have gotten far.  Unluckily for the two of them they could not track his blood due to the rapidity of the snowfall.  Doubling down on their misfortune was the fact that the Colonel was hiding.

“Kill!  Where the hell are you?  It’s time to get out of Dodge!”  Peaches was frantic darting his head back and forth through the pandemonium surrounding them. 

Bill was standing in the same position, looking at Peaches with curiosity.  “What’s the call Peaches?  How much longer can we wait here before our odds run out?  I know we have to consider the Colonel, but can we really put him above our own safety?”

Peaches stood silent, he honestly had no idea.  For once Bill had made a point that he could not outsmart with his tactical logic.  But he was overridden by his determination to continue searching for his friend.

Just then the Colonel swung down from one of the high hanging beams, where he had been hiding during the confusion.  He held the machete that had sliced off his foot between his teeth, and climbed down like a monkey.  It would have been hilarious if what ensued was not so horrific.

Kilgore silently hopped on Peaches’ back while Billy looked on in terror.  Peaches let out a scream that was deeply muffled by the forearm tightly torqueing on his windpipe.  In the confusion he was doing his best to fight the Colonel off his back.  But Billy knew Kilgore had caught him completely off guard.  After a moment’s struggle the blade was planted in his solar plexus.   Private Peaches’ body was a corpse before it hit the floor.

“What the f**k?!?”  Billy cried out in shocked anguish, as the Colonel rolled away from the body, panting and muttering to himself.  Even though he knew it was a lost cause, Billy threw himself on top of the ice cold Peaches.  His eyes had gone blank.  Billy attempted to remove the machete from his chest, but it was no use.  Kilgore must have been possessed with some superhuman strength.  The blade was cemented inside his former employee.

Once he had caught his breath, the Colonel rolled back over and looked at Billy with those faintly glowing eyes.  “That was a favor you know.  He’s coming back, and when he does; we’re all getting it way worse than that.”  Kilgore feebly pointed at the body of Peaches.

“What are you talking about?  He’s never coming back.  You just stuck a bamboo cutter through his chest.”  Billy was shrieking, getting back to his feet and nearing the cowering Colonel with each word.

“No.  No.  No.  Not Peaches, dummy.  HIM.  He caught me in one of my own bear traps out there, and just let me lie.  Lie long enough to think about how useless my life is.  Then when I figured it was lights out, they came back on; big and blue staring straight into my soul.  And my soul took.  He almost had me trapped inside those eyes.   I’m his now, like those two locals you boys came in with.”  This was all he had the energy to say.  Or maybe it was all he wanted to say.  Either way the Colonel fell back and let out a deep sigh of anguish.

Billy was now cautiously standing over the man who had only hours ago commanded so much fear and respect from him.  Now he was little more than a stain in the snow, better off buried in this clearing.  “I don’t know what you mean.  And honestly don’t care.  Regardless of what’s out there, this storm is just as bad.”

“It is the storm Billy…”

“Shut up, it’s my turn to talk now.”  Kilgore shrank back on the floor and allowed Billy to continue.  “We’re stuck in this storm, or this beast or whatever you’d like to call it.  And I’m only counting one foot on you and zero people left who care.  You just stuck the one guy willing to carry your useless dead weight.”

“I don’t care, it will follow.  No matter where I go.  If somehow we get out of this, he will be with me until the day I do die.  He’s not done with us yet I know…”

He was cut off by the weight of Billy’s boot on his throat.  “I’ve heard enough of what you know.  You know it all Kill, but where did it get us?  Nowhere, worse than nowhere, it got us here.  So don’t you cry to me about how scared you are.  Means less than a fart in the wind to me, because for whatever insane reason Peaches cared about you, and he completely respected you.  You ran out there halfcocked and left him in here like a worried housewife.  After we find you, and he finds a way to save your life when you come back.  For some reason you decide to take his.  THESE are points of interest to me, even if it’s the last conversation I…”  He looked down and realized that the pressure of his foot had cut off the little air going to Kilgore’s brain.  He too lay gazing up blankly, dead on the floor.

 Billy stumbled backward instantly once he realized what he’d done.  Falling backwards on his a*s, he sat there for several minutes.  Allowing the snow to pile on top of him reflecting on what he’d just done.  It was no accident, something inside of him had snapped when he realized that he would not see the end of this journey with Peaches.  He was finally at peace with the storm, and being preserved in ice with the two poachers.

It wasn’t until his connection to consciousness was fully fading that Billy heard voices approaching the ruins of the cabin.  Familiar voices, Billy could clearly recognize the voice of Chuck.  Though it was very soft, and Billy was very cold he thought he could hear him saying something about spares.

A moment later the three of them had returned.  Billy’s lucidity was fading in and out, so it was difficult for him to make out exactly what they were doing or saying.  But it seemed as if they had not even registered the two dead bodies on the ground.  Or they just didn’t care.  The three of them moved straight over to Billy. 

Chuck was nervously speaking to the silent Sherpas.  “So, if I do it then he’ll let me go?  I have no problem proving myself, but I do need assurances.  No questioning his power, but how is he supposed to get me out of here? “

“No need for such trivial questions.  All will be attended to when the job is done.”  Both spoke in unison again.  The one closest to Chuck handed him an ancient looking dagger with a hilt that appeared to be made of bone.

Billy was beginning to snap back to reality as he inspected the knife, and the strange engravings on the handle.  “Wh…what is this?  Why did you come back?”  This was all he was able to muster. 

Chuck was so startled that he almost dropped the knife.  Billy’s return to clarity had been something he had clearly not expected.  “Well, uhhh I followed them into the woods, and we met the creature.”  He motioned with the knife at the destruction around them.  It was then that Billy had noticed that his boss’ eyes had taken on the same bluish tinge the Colonel’s had after he came back.  “He told me that if I prove my loyalty, then I can go home.”  Chuck held the dagger up shoulder level.  “And sorry, Billy but that loyalty is you.  I’ll make it quick kid.  Really don’t want this but if it’s between you and me…”

Chuck’s words were cut off by pints of blood spurting into his mouth.  The other Sherpa had come up behind him and stuck an identical dagger through the back of his neck.  Billy stared in awe as Chuck’s choking body dropped to the floor.  “What the fuh…what is this, who are you?”  He was scrambling backward away from the body which had finally finished shaking. 

“We are one.”  They walked in front of Chuck’s carcass and were speaking again in unison.  “We are one with each other, as I’m sure you’ve already guessed.  We are one with the ancient beast that roams the forest, as you may have assumed.  And we are also one with the storm.  All that has transpired has been because of us and our master.  We invited both of the deceased hunters and Charles as well as you here so you may experience our tempest.”

“Why though?  What made us need to see this more than anyone else?  The four of us were pretty unremarkable.”

“The poachers had been on the list for a while.  We specialize in victimizing those who rape and plunder natural beauty for monetary gain.  You two however were more of a special order.  We are embarrassingly lacking intelligence.  After our most recent attempts to lure poachers here we realized that our knowledge of the modern world around us was cripplingly limited.  We are able to absorb the knowledge from our victims.  But the locals and most of the hunters know of little else other than survival tactics.  So who better to learn from than journalists, specifically American journalists? 

So we had some of the townspeople leak some information to the right people, and apparently it reached Charles and yourself first.  Either that or you were the first to respond to the call.  Our initial intention was to collect as much information as we could and kill you all.  We abhor loose ends for obvious reasons. 

You though William are the first truly exceptional individual we have happened upon.  The master agrees that you shall be spared.  All you need do is look into the eyes of the storm, and you may return home.  As long as you never utter a syllable of truth about what transpired here.”

Billy was more than confused.  He honestly thought that the cold had finally gotten to him and he was in the midst of some hallucination between life and death.  No other option than playing along though.  “Yes, I accept.”  There was plenty that he did not understand, but he figured he’d limit himself to the the most pressing question.  “What exactly do you mean by the ‘eyes of the storm’ though?”

“Come.”  They spoke, and beckoned him in unison toward the area they had left with Chuck earlier.  “We will show you.  It will not hurt, that much we can promise you.  We can not promise however, that you will leave the same.”

Billy feebly rose to his feet, and began to follow the Sherpas out of the cabin.  Once again there was a long howl that pierced the wind.  Beginning to breathe heavily again the Sherpas led Billy toward the noise.  As they reached the end of the clearing the two men held Billy back as they stared deeply into the trees and the forest behind them.

Just as he was about to ask the strange men what happened next, the howling returned louder than ever.  Billy could tell whatever was making the noise was ten feet behind the cloak of trees.  Two piercing blue orbs appeared behind some of the tallest limbs of the trees.  Billy was unable to look away.

His last thoughts were that this must have been what the Colonel spoke of.  Billy began to drift away.  But it wasn’t towards death this time.  Billy was becoming one with the storm.

 

Epilogue

“…and that’s why I’d like to warn all of my viewers away from Ho Toy restaurant on Park Ave.  But I guess if my warning hasn’t scared you off, then there’s no turning you away.   Hahahaha.  Back to you Ted, and Diane”

“Thank you very much Billy.  That was our very own Bill Schumacher with the all-new Night Scoop.  Once again our prayers go out to the family of Chuck Kirkland, who was lost just three months ago embedded in Tibet…”

“Hey great segment tonight Bill.  You really gave that dump hell.  Kid you keep it up like this and you’re gonna be bigger than Chuck ever was.  God rest his soul.” 

Billy merely smiled back at his boss.  “I’m just doing the best that I can.  They’re some pretty big shoes to fill.  So don’t jynx it chief.”  The man laughed as he walked away.  Billy began to make his way to his dressing room. 

He closed the door behind him and bolted it.  Sauntered over to his mirror and pulled out his contact lenses case, and spread his eyelid with thumb and forefinger.  Such a relief to have finally taken those enormous useless, white lenses his lost, cold eyes.  Billy sat in the seat and gazed at himself in the mirror.  Two neon blue orbs staring back at him in it.