One, Two, Shake

The steady mantra continues in David’s head as he crushes through the freshly fallen snow. ’One, Two, shake.” The constant words. Words he has used to traverse untold miles of snow in the past still work to propel him towards his goal today. It repeats in his mind like gasoline, igniting a fire deep within David that causes his body to feel little pain from the incredible exertion that is caused by exploration of the polar cap.

The mantra stops and David takes a break to drink from his water supply. He surveys the area surrounding him. White snow returns his gaze as David finishes his break and the Mantra continues. David trudges forward the mantra, forever, his motivation. He pushes through thousands of feet of snow the mantra his driving force, propelling him toward the frozen horizon. He’s walked for hours before there is a need for another break.

David takes off his backpack and surveys his surroundings, before peering through the approaching gloom toward his destination. He expected to be closer to the campsite, but he’d made great time and the mantra would get him there tomorrow. David took out his gear to set up camp, placed the items out methodically around him then he began to build an ice hut.

Once finished David returned all the items to his backpack before entering the hut. Once comfortably set up inside the hut David took out his Arctic sleeping bag, some caribou jerky wrapped in brown paper and foil, and his GPS. He took a large bite of the jersey as he pressed buttons on the GPS device. Less than thirty miles to his destination. He put the device back in his pack then checked the battery life on his satellite phone.

Satisfied with the phone, David returned it to his pack as he grabbed another piece of jerky. Though caribou jerky is tough David eats two more pieces before laying down to rest; the 2500 calories per bar would keep him and the mantra going tomorrow. The polar wind howled against the hut as David placed earbuds in his ears and laid down for his short rest.

Five short hours later the mantra continues as David resumes his arduous journey toward his destination. It takes him no time to reach his goal. The fires from the village inform him of their nearness. David halts, unslings his pack while surveying his surroundings. He lowers himself slowly against the freezing snow then he begins to crawl toward civilization one inch at a time.

A short while later.

David wiped the sweat from his forehead before he surveyed his work. Smoke now rose from several destroyed sections of the village. There was little to no resistance to David’s onslaught as he cleared out the village. Sure, there was a small group of villagers that put up a fight, some came at him without weapons; David mowed them down like the bowling pins that they were to him. All in all, he counted fifteen villagers that he had to put down, the others were probably hiding in their whalebone homes, but David had a surprise in the form of an AG36 that he brought along for such cases.

David plopped a grenade into the AG then aimed at the nearest home. The grenade sung through the air before it blasted into the hut. No one burst from the remains of the hut. David scoffed in amazement at the fact that people weren’t screaming out of the remaining huts after that explosion. ‘One.’ He plopped in another grenade ‘Two.’ and aimed at the hut farthest away from him ‘Shake.’ He fired the grenade and watched as the explosion lit up the sky.

Still no villagers came bursting out of the remaining huts. ‘I see, they want to make this hard.’ David thought as he slung the AG over his shoulder. The Marta continued as he pulled his assault rifle up to eye level and trudged toward the remaining huts. He pulled back the seal skin expecting to see villagers huddled somewhere in the hut, but the place was empty; the same thing with the next hut and the hut after that. Every hut in the village was empty. That didn’t sit well with David. There are nineteen small huts in the village, not to mention the seven large huts that circled the village. David checks one of the large huts and there was enough room to sleep thirty easily.

Alarm bells ringing, David verified that the village was in fact empty before setting fire to the village and the villagers that were victim to his visit. He quickly retreated from the area while following step two of his plan, covering every trace of his attack. He took another route back to the hut from the night before and destroys the entire site before preparing for the return journey to home base. ‘One, Two, Shake.’ The mantra says informing David of the need to move, and he does, plodding one snow show after the other away from the last vestige of evidence to his presence at the now destroyed village.

David focuses on the mantra, his body exhausted from his exertions. He takes a break after ninety minutes of walking to have a drink of water and down two pieces of jerky. After a quick survey of the area, it clear that David is not being followed. David again thinks of the missing villagers, but the mantra interrupts his thoughts forcing him to put the village aside and continue his grind.

Six hours after his deeds at the destroyed village, David again sets up an ice hut. He repeats the ritual but this time using the satellite phone to confirm completion of the job. After the accolades and promise of great reward, David checked his bank accounts for verification of payment. As promised, a payment from AO oil in the amount of seventeen million dollar had just been delivered to his account. David accessed several websites at once on his tiny phone, working with the ease of someone who knows how to use technology. He transferred the funds to several different bank accounts before powering off the phone. He allowed himself a moment to think about the missing villagers again but quickly bored of his own thoughts and laid down to rest.

A shrill scream intertwined with the wind as it buffeted David’s hut. The sound was that of loss and regret. The sound was followed by a roar that could not be mistaken for anything but rage. The animal that owned that sound was a hurt soul.

************

David woke to the sound of something rustling the hut. He moved swiftly, grabbing his assault rifle from the where he’d laid it, just in case. He aimed at where he thought the sound originated but the sound didn’t repeat. He moved slowly toward the entrance then peered out toward the where he thought the sound originated. Scratches lined the ice wall; they were deep rivets that ran down the wall into the ice floor that surrounded the ice hut. David didn’t take a second to think, he rushed back into the hut and packed all of his stuff. He was slinging the pack onto his back when the sound of scratching came again.

David spun toward the sound gun at the ready but there was nothing in the hut. David checked his exit then slowly backed out of the hut; his gun trained on the spot where he was sure he heard the scratching. He flicked a fluorescent torch into the hut causing it to melt quickly as the mantra sent him along. He spared a glance back in the direction of the melting hut as he plodded but quickly returned his focus to the mantra and the journey.

Forty-five minutes into David’s mid dawn, unplanned slog; the sound of scratching came again. David did not stop because the mantra did not stop; the mantra was going a little faster in its count, David, forever a slave to the mantra, tried to match its time. His pace quickened. Tendrils of white air streamed from his mouth as he obeyed the mantra.

The scratch came again, this time closer. David on instinct jump. The jump wasn’t a big jump, it was more like a little jitter, but the July did more to unsettle David than he knew. He tottered for a few seconds before falling on his side. The scratching intensified; the sounds were coming from four separate places but when David looked in these directions, he saw nothing. He got to his feet then plodded over to his assault rifle, which he dropped when he fell.

Something scratched his hand when he reached for the gun causing him to retract his hand quickly. David stared at the area surrounding the gun, there’s nothing but snow near the gun. The mantra has slowed. It’s now going to the pace of David’s heartbeat which doesn’t sit well with him. He kicks a snowshoe at the stock of the rifle, and it slides forward two feet. The scratches start then stop. ‘I swear I saw something that time.’ David says to himself.

He slowly reaches for a fluorescent flare that’s resting on his tool belt. Several scratches begin at this small movement. After sparking the flare, David flings the flare away from the gun and him self. The response is instantaneous, a cacophony of scratches follows the streaking flare as David rushes toward his gun and away from the area.

David doesn’t make it far before the scratching sounds reappear. He doesn’t even hesitate, David pulls the pin on the grenade he’d been holding in case the creatures, whatever they are, returned. He drops the grenade at his feet and starts running as fast as his snowshoes will allow him. The explosion is deafening. It sends David floating another two feet toward his desired direction. The screams from the flames of the burning snow inform David of his success. He doesn’t take time to enjoy it, David gets to his feet and plods on.

The sun begins to set a few hours after the grenade incident. To David the day seemed to go on forever. He can barely stand and the bruises that he feels, tell of the tale that David has endured. He wanted to stop, take a second to rest his weary bones but every time he thought he was in the clear the scratches would reappear. The scratches took on a different urgency now, they seemed upset, and they also featured a clicking sound. David tossed the last distraction he had with the rest of his energy before falling to his knees in the snow exhausted.

The scratching clicks barely left his presence as his body settled into the snow. He still could see nothing but the feeling of something, no, somethings, surrounded him completely. David stood motionless afraid to move for fear of what that may cause. The scratches were slow now. They circled David’s body patiently. David could feel something crawling on the back of his clothing. It moved up his back scratching away the layers of clothing that David wore to insulate himself from the cold.

David could feel the sensation of another creature crawling up his ass towards the now open flesh of his back. When the creatures’ claws contacted David’s open and quickly freezing flesh, David launched to his feet trying to bat away the creature on his back. Instead, the movement caused a burst of scratches that scurried up David’s spine. The claws continued to scratch through the flesh, warm, skin of David’s back until the interior was exposed.

David never felt any of this. He died the second his intestines were open to the freezing air of the polar caps with the mantra, ‘One, Two, Shake.’ Pushing him to do the last with reckless abandon.