"The Vanishing"

Between the soft ticking of the pocket watch and the sound of creekwater breaking over nearby rocks, Camille began to stir from what bit of rest she managed. Last night’s fire had rendered down to mere embers emitting a faint smoke and the gentle breeze was carrying it downwind. Her body was stiff, aching all over from the fall she suffered from the day before. Despite having little rest, she knew she couldn’t spare any time. After traveling for months, Camille knew that she was closer to reaching the summit of Pine Mountain now than she had been.

Miko smothered Camille’s face with slobber, encouraging her to rise up. With a careful push, the young traveler nudged the German Shepherd aside and gathered herself.

“Okay, Girl, I’m going. I’m going,” said Camille. She never was a dog lover. The responsibility of house-breaking a puppy, having to take it on walks, and their putrid smell when wet always repelled Camille from being convinced to take one in. Having Miko by her side, however, certainly brought a new light on how much of a companion a dog could be -- especially considering the situation they both were in.

The past several months had been the loneliest Camille had ever been, as well as the most tiring. She felt drained. Depleted. Worn out. It had been maybe a month ago that she found Miko. Or maybe Miko found her. Perhaps they found each other at a time they needed one another the most.

Other than the two, there had not been a sighting of anyone else since the vanishing. It happened so quickly and on a day like any other. Often thinking of the moment it happened, Camille would play the day over and over in her mind.

She was packing lunch for her daughter and kissing her husband goodbye as he headed out the door to work. She went to the gym for her morning workout. When she returned home from the gym to take a shower, it happened. The house shook. The very walls trembled, forcing pictures and decor to crash to the hardwood flooring. Outside, she could hear the blaring noise of car alarms and a sudden roaring approaching. With a towel around her, she hurried through the house to the front door to find the nearby fire hydrant bursting into the street. In the sky, a commercial airline soared over the house and made its way towards the inner part of the city. The buildings hid the view of the crash, but not the cloud of fire and smoke rising soon after. Cell phone towers were down. No news stations were reporting. A constant static was on all the radio channels. The schools were empty. Her husband’s office was empty. The neighbors were gone. Everyone was gone.

Miko and Camille walked slowly together, the creek their guide, following in the opposite direction of the current. What was waiting at Pine Mountain, she didn’t know. But something was drawing her there. A place she had never been before but couldn’t forget about since the night she dreamt of it. There had to be something there that she needed to see. Somehow there was a small glimmer of hope left inside of Camille that she was holding onto. A hope that Pine Mountain possessed an explanation to why everyone was gone. As funny as it sounded, Camille even entertained the thought that everyone was actually there. Her husband, Clark, was there. Her daughter, Jestine, was there. They were there and waiting. But for now, it was just a prayer. Just a hope. Whatever was actually there, Camille was destined to find out.

Reaching into the top of her shirt, Camille retrieved the heart-shaped locket containing a family photo. The smiles of her husband and daughter brought comfort when she felt the loneliest.

Miko stopped, stepping to the front of Camille with a low growl. Camille shut the locket, dropping it behind her shirt.

“What is it?” Camille asked, looking ahead worriedly. Their view recently had been wooded areas and thick brush. It was hard to see what may have been lurking in the dense treeline on either side of them. After a moment, a growl rose from behind the foliage. Camille took a slow step backwards as Miko stepped forward with a few barks as an attempt to ward off the threat.

“Miko,” whispered Camille.

The brush opened as a bear emerged. Miko’s bark turned fierce, unwilling to cower at the sight of the fierce beast. The bear roared deeply. Camille, frozen, stood in awe of the size of the bear.

“Miko!” she began to scream as the German Shepherd lunged towards the bear, biting at its broad neck. The bear tossed Miko to the side as it charged towards Camille, the look of death burning in it’s auburn eyes. Just as quickly as Camille turned herself to run, she became pressed into the gravel with the bear weighing itself on her back. To the best of her effort, Camille pulled her backpack towards her neck to protect her head. The intense amount of pressure left Camille gasping for air as the animal pawed at her backpack. She cried in agony, her voice carrying through the woods.

Camille could feel the hot breath of the bear blowing onto the back of her head. It lifted her and slammed her back down. Again. Again, growling with added aggravation each time. She felt helpless, growing increasingly convinced that this would be her tragic end. The bear lifted Camille, her jacket shredded from the claws, and tossed her to the side. Motionless she lay, her breathing short, but desperate. She couldn’t move. She didn’t want to move.

Camille could hear the bear’s paws growing closer. She was expecting it to finish the job until a bark distracted it. Camille couldn’t see what was happening, but heard the sound of fighting and biting as Miko gave one last attempt to ward the bear off. As they wrestled, Camille muscled the strength to crawl herself away. There was a final yelp. The fighting stopped. Just as Camille lifted her head to peek behind her, the bear had already returned, flipping Camille onto her back. She screamed, pulling herself into the fetal position as the bear pushed her around.

"I love you, Mommy!" Camille could almost hear Jestine’s voice as clearly as the day she last saw her. The young mother’s eyes were clenched shut, envisioning her daughter whilst wishing the nightmare would end. The bear had weighed itself on top of Camille again.

With one arm free, Camille frantically reached for a nearby twig, using what bit of strength remained to drive it into the bear’s right eye. Again. And again. And again. The bear roared, Camille screamed, repeating the stabbing over and over until the eye became dislodged. The bear stood up, disappearing into the treeline.

Camille lay motionless again, her body overwhelmed with pain. She couldn’t hear Miko. Rolling her head to the side, she saw her friend laying idly in the center of the path.

“Miko,” Camille called out. Her voice was faint, almost hoarse from the screaming. “Miko,” she called again. Using her forearms, Camille pulled herself to the dog. Her breaths were long and drawn out. Her side was bloodied. Camille pulled Miko into her arms, holding her, petting her head.

“Please don’t leave me, Miko,” Camille’s eyes were swelling with tears.

“Please don’t go.”

Camille could feel Miko’s breaths growing further apart until she no longer inhaled. She held Miko tightly, weeping into the dog’s neck.

Not much time had truly passed, but the attack felt like forever. She felt as though she had nothing left. She laid on her back, Miko’s lifeless body still tucked in her arms. The clouds overhead slowly passed by. The sky was blue, wondrous. She couldn’t remember the last time she paused to appreciate how beautiful it was. There was a struggle inside of her, a fight between the desire to give up and the will to press on.

Camille sat up, hunched over. She reached into the top of her jacket, retrieving the heart-shaped locket. For a moment she just stared at her family until she carefully draped it over Miko’s neck and gave her a final kiss on the head.

Miko slowly drifted downstream, carried by the current of the creek. Camille was alive because of the German Shepherd. Whatever was waiting for her at Pine Mountain, she knew she could not forsake after the sacrifice Miko had made.

Using a broken limb from the treeline, Camille crafted a crutch to support her weight. It wasn’t the most comfortable but it helped. Her steps were slower, heavier. There couldn’t be much more her body could withstand. Her vision was increasingly blurry, the small trail splitting into what appeared to be several. Maybe it was the bear attack. Maybe it was the fall. She was undoubtedly dehydrated and malnourished. Her lips were cracked, dry.

As Camilla collapsed to her knees, the limb snapping from supporting all of her weight, she stared at what towered over her. It was a gate composed of logs and foliage. Vines intertwined up and down. From over the walls, there was a hint of hickory filling the thin air. Something was burning. She raised her hand, reaching for the gate. Camille slid against the logs, her body crumbling.

“H- .. Help,” she gasped.

Her nails dug into the wood.

“Help me.” It was a whisper. No energy left. Surely she had not traveled this way to die. Surely of all she had encountered, dying at a gate would not be the bitter end she was doomed for. Someone had to have started a fire. There had to be someone else. There had to be an answer, a flicker of hope that had carried Camille this far since everyone left.

The gate began to shift, causing Camille to fall forward into the damp ground. Her eyesight was bad. A figure stood over her and quickly began to call out behind it.

“She’s here!” the voice rang out in excitement. Everything became muffled as Camille’s eyes slowly rolled back. She made it. But what she made it to, was still unclear. Whatever it was, it was waiting for her as well.