I know I’ve told a few jokes about what’s going to kill me first in this time of COVID-19 quarantine, the virus, or my wife from us both working from home. Actually, we have been getting along splendidly. We’ve been hanging out watching movies, cooking meals, and playing a lot of board games. We even have been getting some good work done on the yard, not that anyone can get close enough to see it.

Even though I already worked from home before the pandemic started I thought it would still be a good time to get work done on my novel. Know how many words I’ve written since this started? Zero. Not one single freaking word. I can’t seem to get into the zone without being distracted by real world events even when we have restricted ourselves to one virus update a day. A while ago I posted an excerpt from my novel here on the blog that also gave a synopsis. I am going to drop another one here. Then all of you can encourage yell at me to get back on the horse, or you can tell me not to bother which might be a lot easier. Anyway, here it is…

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Dad

I really had gotten lucky on where we had come to a stop on the Skyline Drive. I had been able to spot a small concrete post and what looked like a trail head on the side of the road up a small hill. As Sawyer and I had made our hasty get away I was able to glance at the post marker as we rushed by. The trail was named One Mile Run and it said the park boundary was 3.5 miles away. Now this was another piece of good luck. Even in a hurry as we were, I had time to think for a moment. Why wasn’t it named Three Point Five Mile Run trail?
When we had gotten over the first hill and out of sight of the Skyline Drive, I paused to get my pack fastened properly and make sure Sawyer’s leash was squared away. “What a fine mess we’ve gotten ourselves into, huh boy?” I said to him. He looked at me and gave a small huff. I was grateful for the huff and not a full on bark. He seemed to be getting the hang of this stealth hiking we were going to need to do. If we could only do it for 3.5 miles and get the hell out of the park we would be in a much better situation. I didn’t think all our problems would be over, no way, but I felt a lot more confident I could protect him if I was out of Ranger Dick’s domain.
The trail now started to descend and we hiked on for about 10 minutes, never seeing another soul. At this point I halted and fished out the paper map that was stored in my right hip belt pocket. I needed to see exactly what we were heading for here. The map showed a steep decent into a valley that mostly followed a stream called One Mile Run. Mystery of the trail named solved there. It also showed the trail exiting the park and eventually ending up on what looked like some back roads. That area was marked NO PUBLIC ACCESS but at this point I didn’t care. We’d take our chances if we could get out of the park.
I stowed the map and we got back to hiking. The trail started to descend steeply and even though I still had my knee braces on, our quick pace made them start protesting. After a bit we came to One Mile Run stream which was flowing pretty good for being the middle of summer. We had to cross it several times and once we stopped to top of our water supply. So far we had not encountered any other hikers on this trail and I didn’t think we would. It didn’t seem like a well traveled path. As a matter of fact, the further we went, the more the trail seem to become overgrown. We had to carefully seek out the next blue blaze to keep on track. About another half mile down we came to a huge tree blown down over the trail.
We tried to go around it but the foliage on both sides of the trail was too dense. Our only choice was to climb over it. It was quite the comical scene. I ended up having to take my pack off and hoist it over the fallen tree. Then I clambered up and over while Sawyer tried to follow me. This didn’t work so well. Sawyer kept slipping off the branches and could not get a good pawhold. I ended up having to climb back over and then half pull and half push his hairy golden butt over the tree where he came down pretty hard on the other side and rolled over. He gave me an evil look and I was just glad I still had his pack in mine because he probably would have bit me if he had just taken that tumble with that hated implement on.
Once I had gotten back over the fallen tree we geared back up and continued down. We hadn’t been walking more than ten minutes when we came across another blow down. “Jesus Christ!” I exclaimed, probably a bit too loud for someone on the lam. I dropped my pack again, hooking Sawyer to it, and made my way to the top of this obstacle. When I reached a sufficient enough height to see over it, I didn’t like the view that awaited me. I could see several more blow downs just beyond this one and it looked like multiple trees down together forming a daunting barrier.
I slipped back down to where Sawyer was waiting for me with an expectant look on his face. “Looks like our luck has run out boy,” I said morosely and sat down at the side of the fallen tree, hanging my head in despair. So much for our quick escape from the park. If I was alone, I might be able to make it out through all that debris, but there was no way I could get Sawyer through it. I was sitting there wondering what to do when I felt wetness on my face. I looked up to see Sawyer who had just given me an “it’s going to be all right” lick. I reached up and gave him a good behind the ears scratch. “Thanks boy. I needed that.” We were going to have to back track and figure something else out. What that was, I had no idea at the time, but I noticed it was getting late and we needed to get a move on. We once again geared back up and turned back up the trail.

Sawyer

I was still a bit perturbed at Dad for practically throwing me off the top of a tree but when I saw him sit down and hang his head after climbing to the top of this new one in our path, my anger drifted away. He was trying to save my ass and I should be more grateful. I stretched my leash and came up next to him, giving him a quick lick to the side of the face. He thanked me and gave me some ear scratches, which besides a nice T-Bone with ample meat left on it, is about one of the most enjoyable things. We didn’t have time for much of that though. We geared up and headed back the way we had come.
When we reached the blown down tree we had originally crossed I let out an exasperated huff. I wasn’t looking forward to doing this again. While still difficult, it went a little smoother this time and I managed not to go head over tail. On the other side we continued back up. It was a lot slower going as were climbing back up the steep grade we had come down earlier. Also, I think Dad was trying to figure out what to do next and wasn’t in any hurry to get back to the big road where there would surely be other people and maybe friends of Ranger Dick.
At this point I picked up the sounds of something up the trail. I looked over to Dad and he was just plodding along not noticing anything. As we moved I could hear the sounds of people talking! This was not good. Hey Dad! There are people coming! Of course he couldn’t hear me and he kept walking, completely unaware that we were going to run into somebody. Could be bad somebodies. I needed to do something. I stopped in my tracks and when the stretched length of the leash was played out Dad felt the tug.
“Sawyer,” Dad said. “Let’s go!” He tugged on the leash and managed to pull me a few steps forward but I dug in and tried to hold my ground. “What is up with you?” He tugged on the leash even harder and started to drag me along. I couldn’t compete with the pressure he was putting on my harness, so I did something I rarely ever do, I let out a small whine. That’s not something Dad hears often and this took him aback. He stopped trying to pull me and asked, “Is something wrong?” Hell yeah something is wrong! People are coming! Don’t you hear that? But I guess he didn’t and looking around I figured out why. We were right near the stream which was babbling and creating noise. My canine ears could pick up the impending visitors but Dad’s useless human ones couldn’t.
I let out one more whine then tugged him to the non-stream side of the trail. He followed me until we got to the tree boundary and then paused. “Are you sure?” he asked me. I answered by trudging into the overgrowth between the trees and when the leash tightened he followed me. We bushwhacked our way several hundred yards through the trees and then we hunkered down, looking back in the direction we had come. As we quieted down I could clearly hear the sounds of people moving and talking. Dad now heard them too and gave me a wink. We couldn’t get a clear view of who was coming down the trail with all the overgrowth in the way but we could see swatches of color going by. Even with my super-canine hearing I couldn’t clearly make out what the people were saying. We had no idea whether this was friend or foe and from the look on Dad’s face I didn’t think he wanted to chance finding out.
We stayed down until they were out of earshot and then stayed a few minutes more just to be sure. When I judged it was safe I gave Dad a look. He seemed to get what I was saying because he stood up. “Sawyer,” he said in a hushed tone. “It’s getting late and we need to find some place to wait out the night before we figure out what we are going to do next.” He took a look around and then sighed. “We can’t risk going back on that trail. We are going to have to bushwhack a bit and find a place to set up camp. Lead us boy. You probably just saved our ass so I’ll follow you. Find a place for us to camp.”
Wow, I thought. This was an honor. It was also a lot of pressure, but I was up for it. I started leading us farther into the underbrush and trees. I just relaxed and let my natural sense of direction take over. I tried to take us through the path of least resistance but it wasn’t easy. They didn’t call it bushwhacking for no reason. Problem was, it was mostly the bush that did the whacking of us. We went on this way for a while going up and down several tree covered hills and after ascending one particularly steep upgrade we started heading down the other side. There at the bottom next to a rock wall was a nice flat spot. I looked at Dad and then back at the spot. “That’ll work bud,” he said.

Dad

Sawyer led us right to a natural camping spot. It was a flat area that butted up against a rock wall. There was a lot of tree cover but one thing bothered me. I didn’t know if they would break out a helicopter to search for the likes of me and the killer golden retriever, but I was worried that the tent might be easy to spot from the air. As I was looking around the area I saw something interesting. In the side of the rock wall was what looked like a small door. What the hell? Sawyer and I went over to inspect it. It was a door of a sort. It was covered with a rusty grate and looked like an entrance. To what? A mine? Surely not. I broke out my headlamp and shown it through the grating. Sure as shit, it was a mine! I could see a passageway that went on into the darkness beyond the range of my lamp.
This got me to thinking. If we could get past this grate we could spend the night here and not have to worry about getting spotted from the air. I looked at the grate wondering how securely it was fastened to the wood frame that made up the door. I grabbed it and gave it a tug. The whole thing fell over and almost squashed Sawyer. Guess it wasn’t all that secure. Sawyer gave me a bit of a side eye glance at that close call. “Sorry buddy,” I told him. “However, unless there is a bear, orc, or balrog in there, this is where we are going to spend the night.” He gave me a bit of an uncertain stare and I didn’t blame him. This did feel a little bit like the Fellowship of the Ring entering the Mines of Moria, and if you read the book or saw the movie, you know how that turned out. If you didn’t, let me assure you, it was less than an ideal situation for the fellowship. I hoped it wouldn’t be the same for this one.
I grabbed my pack, which I had earlier dropped, and led the way into the mine entrance. Sawyer didn’t look all that enthusiastic about this impromptu spelunking trip I signed us up for, but he came in with me, and after unhooking him from the leash, started to explore his surroundings. In the light of the headlamp I could see that it was mostly flat in here. There looked like a place where there might have been mine cart tracks at one time but they were long gone. Sawyer started to head back further in the mine and I yelled at him to come back. I had no idea what was back there. I was pretty sure at some point a mine will drop down and it could be a straight drop down. I didn’t want Sawyer to survive Ranger Dick and then bite it plummeting to the bottom of a mine shaft.
I hadn’t need worry though. As I got to the back of the mine to retrieve Sawyer I saw another metal grate affixed across the path that led to just what I had been worried about. There was a shaft and God knows if the grate hadn’t been there Sawyer might have had a one way ticket to the bottom. I tested this grate by shaking it and was glad to find it was firmly in place. I guess being out of the weather, it had fared better. “Better be more careful home boy,” I told Sawyer.
The foyer to the mine, which is what I thought it resembled, was a bit damp but that couldn’t be helped. I sat about unpacking some stuff from my pack and that’s when I heard a loud grumble! No fear though, it wasn’t from a bear or other creature that had taken up residence, it was actually my stomach. It was then that I realized that in all the excitement today we hadn’t had a single thing to eat since that wonderful breakfast Matt and Chuck had provided us this morning. I was ravenous and I am sure Sawyer was too. However, it was going to have to be a cold meal tonight. I didn’t know if my little stove could cause enough carbon dioxide to build up in the foyer but I wasn’t going to take the chance. Besides, having an open flame showing when you were being hunted probably wasn’t the best idea anyway. So it would be some sausage, tortillas, and dog food on the menu tonight. I passed on the dog food though.
As I was rummaging around in my pack to get the food bag I saw Ranger Dick’s radio. I had forgotten all about it! I put all thoughts of food on hold as I grabbed the radio and turned it on. I saw on the display that the battery level was 82%. Static was the only thing coming from the radio at the moment. I found the volume control and turned it down a bit so as not to attract anyone’s attention that might be in the area. I found a button on the radio labeled scan and pushed it. The display started cycling through frequencies and not long after, it locked on to one.
“Party 3 report your position,” I heard. “This is party 3. We are set up at Browns Gap Road. No signs of any hikers trying to exit the park via this route.”
Shit! This did not sound good. I listened some more and heard other reports. It was all pretty much the same story. They were blocking off any exit from the park. Thanks to some blown down trees we missed our opportunity to get out. Now we were in big fucking trouble. I couldn’t think about it anymore. I was hungry and exhausted. I’m sure Sawyer was the same. I turned off the radio to conserve the battery. We had our meager dinner then I broke out my sleeping bag and pad and set it all up the best I could. That’s when I also discovered something in my pack I had forgotten about. It was the tall boy Bud Lite beer that I had bought at the camp store this morning. I remember thinking then I would be resting at a peaceful campsite when I popped that bad boy open. I certainly didn’t think I would be in a mine the next time I held it in my hand. I placed the beer on the floor, thinking it wasn’t really a good idea to be drinking now.
Before I crawled in to my sleeping bag I went back out to the entrance to the mine and picked up the fallen grate. I leaned it back up against the door frame so it would form somewhat of a barrier against any unwanted visitors, at least the four legged variety. There was nothing I could do if the two legged variety came calling. I tried to put it out of my mind as Sawyer and I settled down to try and get some sleep. I figured tomorrow was going to have it’s share of adventure and we needed to be rested for it. Then I said “Fuck it!” to no one in particular and grabbed the beer. I popped the top and drank it all down in about three swigs. This calmed me down somewhat and I actually fell asleep in just a few minutes.

Sawyer

I watched Dad from the spot I had chosen to lay down. After he downed his beer (man he chugged that thing) he was asleep in no time. As tired as I was I wasn’t quite ready to drift off yet. I thought about him calling me out earlier about the mine shaft. I know he was trying to look out for me but it’s not like I was going to jump into the thing. Give me some credit. As I laid there I thought about the events of the day. I know I had gotten us in to some major trouble but I couldn’t dwell on that fact anymore. What was done was done. I had to think about the way forward. I needed to get smarter about not following all my base instincts and make moves based on our survival. I had to step up and become a partner to Dad. As I was thinking about all the ways I could do this I finally started to drift off and soon I was out.
I woke up a few times in the night, alerted by sounds I heard outside. I checked my impulse to bark at any of the noises and just continued to listen until I was sure they were all natural sounds and not a danger. I don’t think Dad ever woke up once. That’s all right. I could handle the watch at night. When the grate covering the door started to become visible in the growing morning light, Dad woke up. He set about fixing us some cold breakfast. When that was consumed he packed up all our stuff.
Dad got down on his knees and looked at me eye to eye. “Sawyer,” he said. “I’m not sure yet what we are going to do but I need you to understand something. We may have to move quickly to avoid coming into contact with people that don’t have our best interest in mind. In order to do that I’m not going to leash you up today. But I need you to stay with me and not run off? Do you understand?”
I did understand but I saw Dad put his head in his hands and then say, “I wish I knew if this was getting through to you.”
It is getting through to me Dad! I have already decided I have to ignore my silly instincts and do my part in hope of getting out of this thing. Of course he couldn’t hear that so I just reached over and gave him a lick on the face.
Dad smiled and said, “I’ll just have to take that as a sign you understand. Now I have to think about a plan for getting us out of this mess.”
Dad pulled out his map and studied it for what seemed like an eternity. Then he clicked on that box with voices. He listened for a bit and then clicked it back off. “While they are blocking off all exits from the park, it sounds like they are concentrating most of the search effort in the southern district,” he said out loud. I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me or just making a statement, so I didn’t react. “We need to go north for now to get out of this area, then we’ll figure out the next step.”
We exited the mine and true to his word Dad did not put the hiking leash on me. I stayed close by and we started hiking in the same direction I had led us last night. The going was tough. The trees and underbrush were thick. We were on a downslope and we both had trouble keeping our feet. We were like tennis balls bouncing off the trees and getting stuck in the brush. We continued this way for some time until we came to a small flowing river again.
We were both beat, tired, dirty, and scratched up from the hike thus far. I was also thirsty and started to drink from the river. Dad grabbed my harness and drew me back. “No boy, we can’t take the chance. We need to filter before we drink. We could get sick and that’s the last thing we need right now.” I understood this but I had to fight my instinct just to sate my thirst. I waited until Dad filled one of his water bottles from the river, attached the filter thing on it, and squeezed out some water straight into my collapsible water bowl that dad withdrew from my pack. I greedily drank it all up. Dad filled up another bottle, put the filter on, and drank straight from it. After that he refilled all our water bottles and we set off again.
This time we started going uphill and if I thought the previous hike was difficult, I would have done it twice before doing this one. The climbing was very tough through the mess of flora in the area. We both slipped continuously as we tried to fight our way up to the next tree. For every step we took forward it felt like we slid two steps back. Eventually we started to level off and I noticed the trees were starting to thin. At this point Dad stopped and told me to sit and wait. He went ahead a bit and disappeared from sight. I didn’t want to wait, and I wasn’t tied to anything to make me wait, but I had promised Dad I would behave, so I did. In no time at all Dad came back in view and told me to follow him. I happily complied.
Just a short way where Dad had gone before, we came to a clearing in the woods. It looked like some kind of rough path but with two trails running side by side. I think this is what Dad calls a fire road. Dad turned to me and said, “I didn’t see anybody when I looked before, but now it’s your turn. Tell me if you hear something boy.” Finally a chance to help out. I cocked my head to one side and then to the other. I didn’t hear anything in the immediate area. I did hear what I thought might be traffic down the path to our right but it seem to be moving past this road. “You hear anything?” Dad asked me. I wasn’t sure how to communicate that I thought we were good to go, so I trotted out into the middle of the road and turned around in a circle, hoping he would get the message. “Guess that means we are good to go,” he said. Right on target! Good job Dad!
We turned right on the road and started down it very slowly and keeping to the left side of it. I’m guessing that was so we could quickly take cover if someone were to come. As we made our way down the road in this fashion we started to get closer to the sounds of occasional traffic and it worried me. I hated doing this but I saw no choice. I stopped and whined at Dad. Dad looked at me and then said, “I think I know what you are worried about. Don’t be. I know there are going to be cars where we are going. Trust me, I have a plan.” I was thinking that phrase had been uttered at the beginning of a lot of plans gone awry, but I didn’t have a plan myself so I went with it. Not long after that I started getting glimpses of a big road through the trees to our left. I could also see cars pass on it from time to time. Then Dad stopped us short and we stepped into the cover of the trees again. Just ahead I could see that the fire road intersected another trail and from the white stripe I could also see on a tree down there, I knew it was the big trail. Just on the other side of that was the big road.

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OK, back to staring at this blinking cursor.

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