the cabin

Outside the wind howled, violently spitting layers upon endless layers of ice and snow upon the northern plain. The vast openness did nothing to inhibit mother natures’ flaring temper. It was bitter cold, and blinding white the kind that if you stuck your hand six inches in front of your face you could not see it, the kind that if you were unfortunate enough to be caught out in, your dead, frozen body would surely not be found again till thaw. But amid the blustering ice storm a tiny black speck of an automobile sped across the barren, frozen Canadian landscape. The three desperate men inside had fled the border in such a sweat, that at the time the weather was the smallest of their concerns, but now as the storm outside raged on, it’s urgency grew heavily in their minds. Particularly for the driver, Jerry Mueller, a sensible, educated man, who still after everything that happened could not believe he had gotten himself involved in anything this foolish, and irresponsible. He was still a young man, with his life ahead of him. This next coming fall he was supposed to teach high-school mathematics in Moorhead, not now, even if he doesn’t turn up dead who the hell would want a felon, bootlegger, and now a killer of federal authorities teaching their children? “Damn!” he pounded the steering wheel, “I can’t see a damn thing out there!” Jerry tried to yell, but the shivers made it just sound crackly and warbled. “That’s alright, Gus here is pretty sure where we are right now, Marks’ got a cabin right up this road…. we should be coming up on it any minute now actually, right Gus?… Gus!!” Explained Ole, Jerry’s brother three years his junior, who was busy in the back seat with Gus Norton, who lay crossways, half in the seat, half in Oles’ lap nursing an abdominal gunshot wound. “Goddamn, Ole this is bad ain’t it? This is so goddamn bad.” Gus growled as he held Oles’ scarf shaking trying in vain to seal the leaking, bleeding mess in his gut. “Naw, you’ll be up and moving around in no time buddy, it’s just a little messy that’s all, it just looks scary, folks live from gut shots all the time, this ain’t no different, this ain’t bad.” Ole tried sounding convincing but he was a terrible liar and Gus knew it, and he had half a mind to call him on it, if speaking weren’t so bothersome. It was bad, and Ole knew all too well, he had seen this very same injury take far too many lives, far too many times in his young life. His hands began to tremble as he assisted his oldest friend, trying to plug the holes in his body. There was just so much blood, and there was just so much he could do. Ole knew this, and it absolutely broke his heart to watch Gus so pale and weak, what could he really do but try to keep it clean, and tell Gus that he was fine.
“I sure hope you know where this cabin is…if we ever get to it , I can’t even see the road for God sake.” Jerry said, with an almost panicky tone. “What the hell is wrong with you, he says it’s right up here on this road, just please Jerry, please just drive.” Ole pleaded, then turning his attention back to Gus. “Hey, buddy you’ve got to tell us how to get to this cabin, you’re the only one who’s been there.” Ole told Gus trying to hold his head up so he could see out the window. Gus let out a short scream as he did this, but carefully examined the blowing snow drifts outside. “I sure wish you would not yell like that it’s already plenty hard keeping this thing on the road as it is.” Jerry warned. “Jerry! Please just drive would you!” Ole scowled. Gus focused on the tops of fence posts just barely poking out of the drifts of snow, he watched them crawl by until a large dead tree split in half, apparently by lightning just on the far side of the fence came into his view, his eyes about bolted straight out of his head and tried to move around with excitement, which led to more screaming. “Take a right, next right Jerry!” Gus gurgled then collapsed back down into Ole’s lap. “Next right? Hell, I can’t even see…” “Jerry, we all know how you feel, and it’s not helping.” Ole interrupted. “Ask him how much further Ole.” Jerry said once he calmed down. “Gus, how much further after we turn is the cabin?” asked Ole patting back Gus’ hair. “Oh, only a mile or so, maybe two, there’s food there, and bandages…” “Alright, shh you just keep calm.” Ole interrupted. “Keep on the lookout for that right turn.” “There it is, we just passed it, shit, we’re gonna have to back up.” Jerry instructed. He stepped on the brakes, and the car swerved off onto the side, nailing one of the rock hard drifts that had spilled across onto the road head on, tossing everyone up out of their seats, Gus spoke for them all as he screamed out, ”Oh, shit!” The car stopped cold, and killed. You could have heard a pin drop as Jerry tried in vain three, then four times to turn the car over, they sat perfectly still like that for a few agonizing seconds, then on number five everyone held there breath, and said a little prayer and like a miracle the engine began chugging. “Oh, thank Christ.” Ole said under his breath. Jerry opened his door and stuck half his body out to see behind him, put the car into reverse, and stepped on the gas, it went nowhere. The back tires just span. He tried rocking the car, driving forward, then backward. He tried that for a minute or so with no luck. “Wonderful, just wonderful.” Jerry exclaimed stepping out into that bitter wind slamming the door behind him. “What’s wrong? What’s going on?” Gus’ pleaded, his voice now reduced to a whisper. “Oh, nothing you just hold on tight. I’ll be right back, alright. You just concentrate on staying alive, alright.” Ole explained fiddling with the door. “I’ll be right back.” Oles’ door opened bringing in a small flood of flurries, as he slipped out, Gus lay spread out on the back seat silent, motionless. Outside, Jerry had situated himself half ways underneath the car punching and scooping the snow drift they were hung up on with his bare hands. Ole got down on his knees and did the same on the opposite side. They both grunted and toiled on like this for a few minutes a piece then when, the numbness and pain became unbearable took turns in the cab to get blood flow back in their hands, and check up on Gus, then after a minute or so go back to dislodging the car.
Meanwhile, in the back seat Gus lay staring blankly at the car’s ceiling, freezing cold, and it hurt to shiver, but he couldn’t make himself stop. He watched his breath as it exited his mouth, and floated up to the top of the car. His mind began to wander, ‘when I die, and my soul leaves my body, I wonder if it will look anything like that?’ he chuckled a little to himself as glanced down to his wound and watched the steam rising up out of his body and into the cold air outside. He heard the others banging around outside, he wished he could help them, after all this was all his fault they were in this awful mess to begin with, or so he thought. An overpowering feeling of guilt began to wash over him as he finally got to thinking of it. His mind began racing. ‘Oh, what in the hell have I done? What have I gotten us all into? The Mueller brothers only got into this whole nasty business for me, what’s going to happen to them when I die right here in this car? or maybe back in that cabin later on today. And Lilly, my sweet little sister, I tried to be a good guardian for you.. All I ever wanted to be was your knight in shining armor.’ For many years his baby sister Lillian was the only thing he loved, or even cared about. But now what is to become of that beautiful girl? His lower lip quivered, and a big fat single tear rolled out from the side of his eye down his cheek bone. He tried to keep himself focused on staying warm, and alive, but his mind wandered again, back years ago, and miles away. He went back to when they were all children playing around in Mr. Mueller’s cornfield, or in the creek that ran right through the middle of town, or walking to and from the school house with the Mueller boys and Lilly. Those were such good days he thought. Back in the days when he and Lilly were living with the Muellers, those were the best days of his life. The Muellers were always so wonderful to them, they took them in after their mother had past away from pneumonia, and their father had been taken away, and now it was the Mueller brothers who drug his body out of a gun fight with the feds, who had apparently now gotten wise to the bootlegging operation. ‘Yes, sir this is some fine mess I made.’ Gus thought to him self out loud. His voice made a gurgling sound as he spoke, which rapidly turned into violent coughing, he turned his head over to the side facing the back of the passenger seat to continue coughing, as he did he spat blood, and mucus all over the back of the seat. He brought his hand up to his mouth to wipe it off, only to find it already dripping, soaked in his blood. He stared at it for a few seconds, then dropped it. “This is so Goddamn bad.” and began coughing again.