Page 43 of Gunn's Mission
They drove straight to Nate’s site. Eric and Hanna were with him. The guys were already sliding the drill and its components off the sled.
Gunn moved in to help, and they soon had it erected above Nate’s hole, and the drill started doing its work.
“The top of the hole’s pretty clear. Down where it hits the water, I have to make sure the sides aren’t gunked up before I send down my bucket to collect my samples, or it could get stuck,” Nate said. “I’d be fucked if that happened.”
He connected the drill bit to the barrel and added extensions before dropping it down the hole.
Hanna had brought a big thermos of coffee and shared it with the group standing around, stamping their feet in the cold.
“I’m still bummed the snow came so soon,” Eric said. “I was hoping to go fishing at least once.” He looked over at Gunn. “There’s nothing like fishing from a kayak in the Arctic Ocean.”
A snort sounded from Nate, who was standing beside the drill, as it continued to whine. “Wouldn’t catch me dead out on the water. Imagine springing a leak? Or some walrus tryin’ to join you?”
In the distance, a shot rang out. Followed by two more in quick succession.
Maddie unclipped her radio. “Em, Perry, what’s happening?”
When there was no response, Gunn glanced at Nate. “Let’s go.” Both men started moving toward their snowmobiles.
“You’re not leaving me behind. This is my damn site,” Maddie said, hurrying to her machine.
Over his shoulder, Nate called out, “Eric, you finish the drilling. I’ll be back to take the samples…I hope.”
Gunn glanced back at Eric and Hanna. “You both stay here, but one of you has to keep an eye out.”
The three of them, Gunn, Nate, and Maddie, rushed toward Em and Perry’s site.
Coming over a gentle rise, Gunn stood on his machine. In the distance, he saw one figure kneeling over another on the ground. The rugged tripod was lying in pieces on its side.
Knowing they had to have run afoul of the bear, he swept the area with a quick glance but found no trace of the creature.
When he drew closer, his stomach knotted. A thin trail of blood led away from the site. More blood surrounded Perry as he lay in the snow, his leg torn open and exposed to the cold. Em was using her gloved hands, pushing against the large, gaping wound to staunch the blood spraying between her fingers.
With a certainty that chilled his soul, Gunn knew Perry was dying.
Before his engine sputtered off, Gunn jumped off his snowmobile and ran toward the pair.
Perry’s face was gray, his eyes unfocused. His breaths came in shallow gasps.
Gunn glanced back at Nate. “Do we have rope in one of the compartments?”
Nate nodded and headed to his machine.
Tears filled Em’s eyes above the covering on her face, soaking into the material. She blinked to keep them cleared and looked at Gunn with terror in her eyes. “I was changing out cards, checking the equipment while Perry kept watch. Then he shouted and started waving his arms, running away from me. When I looked over, I saw it—the bear.
“Perry was running toward the bear. He got off a couple of shots, but the bear didn’t stop. When it caught him, it shook him like he was a…doll. But Perry must’ve hit him because the bear dropped him and then limped away.” She stared down at her hands. “I can’t stop the blood.”
She sobbed and leaned over Perry’s leg, pushing harder to stop the blood, but Gunn knew the man’s flesh was too shredded. He was bleeding out.
Maddie knelt beside Perry’s head. “Perry, it’s Maddie. I’m here, old friend.”
Perry licked his lips. “Maddie…have to tell you something…” he said, almost too softly to hear.
She leaned closer.
Nate came up beside Gunn and handed him a length of rope. Gunn quickly drove his hand under the snow beneath Perry’s leg and brought the rope around his thigh and above the injury. Then he tied the rope and tightened it to slow the blood loss.
“Em, you can stop pressing,” Nate said.
