Whiteout II: 8 Canyeti

8. Canyeti

     “It’s fucking freezing out here Nick!” Whined James from the tent. The snow had continued to fall in a steady stream, but had not reached the same blizzard level as the previous evening. So far there had been no howling, and no sign of the yeti whatsoever. The canyon was eerily quiet. Only the occasional gust of wind made it through, whistling ever-so-slightly off of the walls.

     “We’re right there with you pal.” I said taking a sip of hot tea that Lopsang had brewed for us. The sip was apparently louder than I intended.

     “Do you have tea in there?! I’m sitting out here waiting to fucking die and you’re drinking tea?!”

     “Look James, there’s no point in all of us having to suffer.”

     “Bastard. Could you at least roll me a thermos?”

     “Too dangerous James, sorry, you’re going to have to wait until after.” He cursed me from within the tiny tent and cocked his shotgun loudly. “That does make for a thrilling emphasis on how angry you are, but you do realize you’ve wasted a shell right?” I could hear the sound of hasty reloading in the tent. I’ve never understood why movie heroes feel the need to cock every gun they pick up, wasting a shell in the process. I could make a fortune selling all of those perfectly good recycled bullets on the black market, if I was allowed back that is.

     Maybe if I bring them a yeti head they’ll re-instate me. I mean, they’d at least have to think about it wouldn’t they? From the far end of the canyon there came a loud crunching, followed by a strong gust of wind. “Get ready James, I think it’s here.” Strange that it hasn’t been howling, it must be stalking us. How wonderful! Now we can’t even hear it coming. The crunching continued growing ever closer by the second. I loaded the first tracking dart into the barrel of my rifle.

     “Are you sure that thing has enough power to even pierce its skin?” Asked Lopsang.

     “It doesn’t have to. It has a barb on the end so that if it does it will stay in there, but mostly it’s covered in micro-daggers that attach to the creature’s fur. So long as it doesn’t start shedding any time soon we should be fine.” Or at least that’s what the guy who sold them to me told me. He looked fairly honest. The man had one eye and fewer teeth than I would have thought possible. Those that were missing had been replaced with gold. I figure if a guy can afford the teeth, he’s probably got a decent way to make money, and selling fake gear does not make for repeat business.

     The crunching was very close now, and the cave illuminated slightly. “Phospholuminescence. Amazing, truly amazing.” I had never thought to imagine the yeti as a creature that glowed. Things began to make sense. The glowing allowed it to see in the dark and guide its way through snowstorms. It also provided a sort of show of strength to other animals, keeping them out of its territory. I felt like Diane Fossey, discovering the living habits of primates!

     “Mr. Ventner? Is that you in there?”

     Son of a bitch.

     “Hey Nick, I don’t think that’s the yeti.” Said James, helpfully. I crept around the edge of our hiding place, and sure enough in the mouth of the tunnel was Manchester’s team, or at least what was left of them. They were no longer the army they had been when they set out into the mountains. They were far fewer and worse for the wear. Even Manchester himself had begun to look tired.

     “Well hello there Harvey!” He didn’t even wince at the name. “Where’s the rest of your team?” That might have been a little too soon. I instantly regretted saying it. I may have hated Manchester a bit, but his team had done nothing to wrong me, and they were the ones really suffering from his avarice.

     “We saw you up on the ridge last night. That was a bold choice taking that route. I didn’t expect that we would ever see you again. How was it that your party remained untouched by the monster in the night? I see that you are all here and well. Something you’d like to share perhaps?”

     “It’s the simple rule of smaller number of prey. You presented a bigger target than we did. We remained unscathed through the night as a result.”

     “Splendid. Then we shall all be the bigger target tonight.” He was grinning under his hat.

     What kind of game is he playing at? “There is absolutely no way! I will extend to you the same courtesy you gave me. If you try to follow us I will have James over there shoot you.”

     “Which one is James? The one in the tent? Or the one hiding in the crevice behind you?”

     “The one in the fucking tent! Leave now. We are in the middle of a crucial operation and you being here puts all of us at risk. If you want to talk, fine, we can do it in the morning, but it is not safe to be here.” The wind picked up in speed with ominously bad timing and I could feel the chill of the mountain air once more. All we heard was the roar, reverberating off of the canyon walls.

     When I turned to look I could see the sudden snowstorm a mere ten feet outside the canyon entrance. “James! Get out of the tent! Plan B! Plan B!” James scrambled out of the tent with his shotgun and dove for the safety of our alcove. Manchester just stood in the middle of the canyon, gawking at what was coming. “Oh come on, you saw it last night, no time to be dumbstruck. That thing is going to kill you!” I hopped into our hiding place behind James.

     “Just where the hell do you think you’re going? What’ve you got back there?” Manchester began to pack into the cramped valley behind us, along with several members of his team.

     “You imbecile! James do you have a problem with shooting him? Because if you do then I most certainly will. I threw a kick at Manchester and he caught my leg, twisting it in a manner that was most painful. “Shoot him James!” Manchester squeezed tighter on my leg increasing the pain to levels I had not thought to be possible.

     “Pipe down Mr Ventner, we wouldn’t want the yeti scrambling in here would we?”

     BOOM, BOOM, BOOM. The yeti entered the canyon, shaking the ground with every step. It’s got to be some sort of intimidation play or we would have heard him coming from miles away. The yeti had made no sound in its movement before entering the canyon. It knew we were in there and wanted us to know who was dominant in that area. The roar served the same purpose only from a greater distance. When it next sounded inside the cave it shattered me. I fell to the ground clutching my ears, begging for it to stop. I have never been so frightened by any noise in my entire life.

     I was going to be embarrassed, but quickly found that I was not the only one. Scattered around our little shelter all of Manchester’s team, including the great man himself were on the floor, clawing at their ears in agony. Visceral fear is the only way I can describe the reaction. In my core there was a nerve that resonated with that sound and told me that my life was coming to an end.

     The alcove was small, and with everyone on the ground I could see the true nature of our predicament. Not everyone was going to fit. Manchester, the coward, had dived in first, leaving the rest of his team to fend for themselves. Everyone needs a survival instinct, unfortunately that of the coward is too strong and puts others at risk. I wanted to kick Manchester again but remembered the agony he had only just made me experience. “Get out of the way you idiot! Let them through!”

     “Tell me your play and I might.” The man was cold as ice. How he had achieved such fame was at that moment all too clear. It took a lack of empathy and willingness to step on the backs of ‘lesser’ men to get to his point. He didn’t care about the workers. The only thing that mattered to him was getting the prize. In that moment I felt sick for ever having admired him.

     No time. Tell him the plan or people die. He might steal the glory, but people will fucking die. God damn you conscience! “We were going to use James as bait and fire a tracking dart at the beast while it was distracted. I was going to save him by blinding the beast with this holy powder. Now let the people in and get out of my way! We’re wasting our once chance.” Outside in the canyon I could hear the beast charging toward the opening.

     “You’re right Mr. Ventner. One chance.” He pushed one of the workers into the canyon and then cleared out of the way. Take your shot while you can, I don’t know how long he will last out there.

     “You son of a bitch.” I barreled past him to the opening, shouldering the rifle as I went. The dart was loaded and ready. The worker stood out on the stone floor, frozen in terror, staring at his oncoming doom. The creature roared and the wind from its putrid breath blew the worker over. The worker backed away, but the beast continued to lumber forward. Just as it came into view I shot the dart right at its back. It didn’t even notice it.

     The worker was ripped to pieces right in front of my eyes. I grabbed the holy powder but Lopsang had pushed forward to steady my hand. “It is too late my friend. Do not waste it, we may need it later. It will only slow his agony, not prevent it.” The beast grabbed the body and took off, not wanting to come any closer to the marker. I cursed and threw my fist at the rock wall, sending agony shooting through my wrist.

     “YOU SON OF A BITCH! WHY?! We could have saved him.” I was moving toward Manchester now, quickly and hot with anger. I had my fist raised but Lopsang once more pulled me back and held me against my will. “Let me go! He deserves what he’s got coming to him. I’m going to rip him to fucking pieces!” The anger coursed hot through my veins clouding my eyes to a narrow tunnel with Manchester at the end of it. Colors began to fade until there was only a dull red everywhere.

     “He will not get what he deserves if you attack him now. He will get what he wants instead. Stay your hand, now is not the time.” Lopsang, ever the voice of reason pulled my hand down and released me. A cool wave washed over my body as I was brought back to reality. The canyon was freezing and in the scuffle our fire had died. I looked at the small troop we had acquired in the brief time since Manchester’s arrival.

     His team had been reduced to six men, now only five with the bait having been lost. They all huddled in a corner far away from me. He must be paying them a lot for loyalty like that. I’m trying to help them and they won’t even look at me. It was all so wrong, but that’s the way these teams work. Whoever has the most coin controls the workers, and the workers will do anything to get more. Even if it means watching their comrades die in battle. Wonder where he picked them up from.

     Some of the guides had been Nepalese mountaineers, but the remaining crew looked eastern European. None of them spoke, and all of them looked fairly threatening. We weren’t exactly in a position of power. “What do you want to do about this then Harvey?” I relished the look of anger that crossed his face every time I used his first name. It was the one little scrap of power that I could still manage to hold on to.

     “Well you’ve just put a tracking device on the beast have you not? You seem to have more knowledge on how to avoid it than I do.” He gestured to the prayer flags and stones at the back of the alcove. “It looks like for the moment it would be safer for us to partner up. Safety in numbers and all of that.”

     “I sincerely doubt it.”

     “Perhaps I did not make myself clear. We will be partnering up, or you will find yourself sliding down the side of a glacier without a pickaxe. Styg over there is very good at tossing things, would you like to try?” An especially mean looking worker stepped forward and cracked his knuckles menacingly.

     “You really should watch that if you’re expecting to climb with those hands.” He cracked his fists together in a show of brute strength, or territory marking. I’ve never been too good at interpreting the showboating of alpha males. It’s always better to just carry a bigger stick, concealed from their view. They may think they’re in power, but the smarter little man always wins out in the end. “Ah, I see, he’s got an affinity for injuring himself in grand gestures. Just what makes you think that you could take me?”

     Manchester laughed heartily. “Look at the size of him.”

     “Look at the size of this.” I said pulling the machine gun from out of my bag. Guns were drawn on all sides instantly. James fumbled with his for a moment and got it right, aiming at Styg, who was aiming at me, while I aimed at Manchester, while he also aimed at me, and Lopsang hung back and aimed at the other members of the team, who aimed at various targets among our group. Overall there were three guns pointed at me, two at Lopsang, and one at James. Mexican stand-offs have never really been my thing, but being in the middle of one was quite exciting at the time, and makes for a good story at parties.

     “Well Nick, that’s quite the power play you’ve pulled. Shall we all end up dead or dying in this freezing hellhole then? I’m game if you are.” He lifted the brim of his hat to reveal a grin so wide that it threatened to tear his face apart. His teeth glittered by the fading light of the campfire’s ashes. Everyone held perfectly still, careful not to set anyone else off. Tensions were high.

     “No. I don’t think I’m keen to die here in the snow, but I’m also not keen on someone else stealing credit for my work. You want to follow me to Shangri-La and get rid of me at the next convenient opportunity. I’ve seen how you treat your men. Why on earth would I want to join forces with you when ultimately it means death and frustration?” I loosened my trigger finger. If I was going to die I wanted to make sure that Manchester was going first.

     “Alright, let’s strike a deal then. Neither of us want to be the end, and for the moment our interests have aligned. I swear on my word, and on my profession that I will not harm you throughout this expedition and you swear the same. In sight of these men and in blood in both of our ledgers.”

     “You could toss that over a cliff if you wanted to. No dice.”

     “We will bind it by sacred law then. In the flames of undying, tying our intentions together in this world and the next. If you harm me, the same pain will come to you, and vice versa.”

     “James get the charcoal, I need to draw us up a pentagram…”