Short Story Part 3

 Here's the next part of the short story I've been sharing.

           When I stepped outside the next morning, only a couple of clouds spoiled the bright blue sky.  I sighed.  I had been to this part of the country before, and I knew what morning clouds meant.  A thunderstorm this afternoon.  Of course, a lack of clouds was no guarantee of a nice day, but at least the option was out there.

            I didn’t care if it rained.  It had been too long since I had been in real mountains.  So I drove out, and at the first trail I found, I pulled off and set off down the path.  I loved hiking, it was about the only thing my parents and I had agreed on.  When I was still a kid, we spent many weekends backpacking in the Berkshires, and I always enjoyed it.  They were probably just trying to groom me to get involved in the cause though.  Damn subtext.  Ruins everything.

            The trail, lined with Ponderosa pines, quickly angled up the mountain.  I relished the challenge.  After so much time meandering across the Plains, the notion of actually going up was refreshing.

            It didn’t take long to reach the top of the mountain.  The pines had thinned out a bit, so I could get some decent views, but I wanted something better.  As I gazed about, I noticed the next mountain was taller, with a great stone escarpment jutting out from the summit.  I glanced at my watch.  10:30.  Not a problem.

            It was almost 2 when I reached the top of the next mountain.  I was tired, I’d been walking at a very brisk pace for about 5 hours now over difficult terrain.  But as I scaled the great stone slab, I was glad I’d done it.  Clouds scudded across the sky now; I gave myself 3 hours before the thunderstorm came.  No way I’d get back to the car before then.  I looked out over the plain before me.  It truly was a breathtaking sight, seeing the earth stretch away from me like that.  Just miles upon miles of open space, the only thing limiting my view was the curvature of the Earth itself.  There was no humidity out here, and the temperature was a balmy 80 degrees.  I breathed in deeply, I could live with this.

            The sky darkened dramatically as I head back.  I looked up and I could see the storm in its entirety, from one edge of the thunderhead to the other.  It did look like a great anvil hovering with ill malice in the sky.  I braced myself for the downpour, but mercifully, it never came.  The sky cleared off again as the sun began to set, turning the sky to a brilliant orange as I got back to my car, after 11 hours out on the trail, absolutely exhausted.  I hadn’t done anything so strenuous in a long time. 

            I drove back to the bar and slumped onto a barstool.  Again, classic rock was playing on the radio, and I grinned as I immediately recognized the song.  It was one of my favorites.

            “You want something?” the bartender asked.

            “Some painkillers,” I groaned.  “I walked a long way today.  I think like 25 miles.”

            “That’s quite a hike,” he said.  “Why’d ya go that far?”

            “I wanted to get on top of that big stone cliff on top of one of the mountains,” I explained.  “It looked important.”

            “Ah, yes,” he nodded.  “Round here we call it the Tooth of Time.”

            I thought about it for a moment.  I suppose it had looked like a giant molar.  “I can see that.  It was a spectacular view from up there.”

            “I never get tired of it,” he smiled.  “And I’ve lived here my whole life.”

            “This is certainly a great town you’ve got here,” I said as the barman sat my drink down in front of me.  Suddenly, I heard a great commotion outside.  I rushed outside to find an improbable sight.  The parking lot was surrounded by Priuses, and about 20 men in plaid shirts and skinny jeans were standing about with evil in their eyes, and of more pressing concern, chainsaws in their hands.  I couldn’t believe it.  A roving gang of environmentalists.  They had gotten past the cities back home, but not out here.  They shouldn’t be here!  But here they were, miles away from any urban center.  I…I had hoped that I would never have to see one of these people again.

            “What the hell do you think you’re doing to my car!” Bob roared as the environmentalists bore down on his Charger.

            “These things are an abomination to nature,” the gang leader stepped forward without fear.  “It’s our duty to rid the world of these polluting monsters.”

            “But it’s my car!  You can’t just go and take a saw to it!” he yelled.

            “I think we can,” the leader sneered.  “We outnumber you by quite a healthy margin.”

            “Pfft,” Bob scowled.  “A bunch of city trash like you?  You don’t got the guts to get your girly hands dirty.  You wouldn’t want to break your texting hand.”

            “We use both hands to text nowadays,” the gang leader said with utter disdain.  “What century do you live in?”

            Bob had had quite enough of this.  He let out a wild roar and charged at the gang leader.  Then, he was lying on the ground.  I wasn’t sure what had happened, but I saw that this man was not to be underestimated.

            “You…you won’t get away with this!” Bob gasped for air.

            “What, are you going to report us?” the gang leader laughed, joined by his companions.  “You think we didn’t consider that?  No, we are quite capable of dealing with your local constable and his donut-shoving cohorts.  And once we get back to Colorado, we’ll be beyond reach.  We run the police there, if anything, they’ll arrest you if you follow us.”  I was surprised, I knew Bob had said that Denver had been lost, but the entire state?

            I sighed.  I had no choice.  I didn’t want to do this, I had wanted with all my heart to leave this behind, but it had come back to me anyway.  The people of this town didn’t deserve what was coming to them, and I knew I could stop them.  This guy wasn’t just another follower, he had a brain, and he could be reasoned with.  But he had strong convictions, it wouldn’t be easy.  Fortunately, I had some pretty shocking truths to back me up.