Ezra felt the rush of adrenaline and fire in his veins as he ran with all his might. He had to find some kind of shelter, high ground, anything that would put distance between him and the predator. Anything that would give him a slight advantage or even the barest chance of survival.
He imagined he could feel the bear’s breath on his back, which made his skin crawl. He saw Vincent running away and felt a lethal stab of betrayal. His only source of hope had abandoned him in his hour of greatest need. He was alone and there was nowhere to go. His heart sank as he realized these were his last moments. He braced himself for the agony of death.
###
As Vincent ran to higher ground, he imagined the screams and the gruesome sounds of feasting as his dearest friend was eaten alive not far behind him. He couldn’t just run away and do nothing.
It took only a split second for Vincent to decide that he would not be able to live with himself if he abandoned Ezra, even if it was for a good cause. He quickly pivoted, spun around, and charged headlong at the grizzly.
He knew that he was heading straight for certain death, and even with the sacrifice of his own life there was little chance for Ezra to survive. It didn’t matter, he had to at least attempt to save Ezra’s life. He began hollering and whooping at the top of his lungs as he sprinted at the enemy, desperately trying to draw its attention away from Ezra, but it was too focused on its prey to be deterred.
The grizzly was closing quickly, and Vincent knew there was precious little time to change its direction before it was too late. He pulled out his pistol, aimed with a practiced hand and squeezed the trigger. He hit his target, then again, then proceeded to fully unload his revolver until each chamber was empty. The grizzly roared in anguish from the bite of the bullets and turned its anger towards Vincent.
Vincent found himself celebrating. "I’ve done it. I’ve actually done it!" He sighed with relief knowing Ezra was much safer now than moments before, but his sense of achievement was short lived. His elation quickly turned to existential dread as the massive beast barreled toward him, with murder in its eyes. His stomach lurched and he quickly found his feet again as he ran for his life.
###
Ezra let out a crazed, hysterical laugh when the bear turned away and veered off. Then up the ridge toward Vincent. He found the situation in no way funny, but the laughter came purely from an overwhelming sense of relief. His moment of respite was just as brief as Vincent’s moment of victory. He felt a surge of hope when he’d seen Vincent turn and fight and this increased even more when the ferocious beast had changed direction, but now he had to think of a way to help.
He knew their revolvers were unlikely to have enough firepower to take the bear down and he didn’t see any other way they would get out of this mess.
It was possible that not even their rifles would be sufficient to fell such a ferocious opponent, but it was their best chance to come out of this alive. He bolted back to where their packs and rifles were, praying that Vincent would find some kind of refuge nearby and be able to hold out long enough for the rifles to make a difference.
He flew toward his destination, and hastily gathered their rifles along with his pack containing the ammo and ran to follow Vincent and the bear.
The extra weight would slow him down, but there was no other option. He had to find the strength to push on no matter what. With each step, he willed himself to keep going but he could feel his body begin to tire. He knew there was no way he could do this alone.
He prayed a desperate prayer. "Please God, give me the strength to go on." It defied all logic and reason, but as he continued to pray-- in the midst of his desperate pursuit--he felt a burst of energy.
Strength returned to his body, and he pushed beyond his own limits. He found himself gaining ground and felt a measure of hope once more, that he could save his friend from the clutches of death.
Vincent frantically searched for a place to make a stand. He couldn’t hope to outrun a grizzly. It couldn’t outrun a horse, but it could run almost three times his own speed. Not forever of course, but long enough to hunt him down. He scoured the terrain for some sort of refuge. He thought about climbing a tree, but the risk of that approach was too high. Grizzlies could be excellent climbers when they wanted to be. One as heavy as the monstrosity chasing him now would likely not be a good climber, but a grizzly who was motivated enough, could bring down a tree with persistence.
He spotted a ridge nearby and with a quick scan of the environment he decided that higher ground with narrow ridges, rocks and crevices could potentially work in his favor considering the grizzly’s size. He reloaded his revolver as best he could while still on the move, surmising that it could be the difference between life and death if the creature managed to close enough distance before he could reach cover. He scrambled up the ridge in a frenzy, not daring to look back. To his terror, he could hear the ragged breath of the beast as it drew near, and he became hysterical as he squirmed frantically to scale the ridge.
The ravenous noises of the grizzly grew louder as it closed hungrily on its target. Vincent could sense how desperately it craved his flesh and he could feel its frenzied bloodlust at being so close to its prey. His heart was pounding, and he couldn’t help looking over his shoulder as he struggled to pull himself over the rockface to safety. His eyes widened in pure panic as he watched the grizzly bounding the steep ridge with terrifying speed; hellbent on his destruction.
He knew he wasn’t going to make it to safety before it reached him, he reflexively fired his revolver with his free hand, emptying the cylinder of all the bullets he’d managed to load on the run.
The grizzly roared in pain, instinctively rearing from the wounds. This combined with its incredible weight, speed, and unstable terrain, caused a small-scale landslide. Rocks rushed down in a wave and the bear temporarily lost its footing, tumbling down to the bottom of the ridge.
This saved Vincent’s life. With a newfound surge of adrenaline, he managed to pull himself over the ridge and searched hastily for cover. The bear recovered quickly and began to scale the cliff face again. Vincent saw a crevice in the cliff behind two large boulders with a crawlspace that appeared to be just large enough for him to fit. He fell to his knees and crawled frantically to safety. He almost crossed the threshold but was struck suddenly. He lost all sense of self, and the world lost its orientation. He felt a white-hot pain burning in his right leg and rippling through his entire body as a vicious paw mauled him, tearing through his pants and shredding his skin in a single swift motion.
Vincent screamed in agony, but he managed to maintain his momentum. The ravenous bears powerful jaws attempted to clamp down on his leg, but he was barely able to slip free before it clamped down on the bone. Instead, it tore a chunk of flesh from his leg as it snapped its mouth shut and flung its head back viciously. Enraged with the loss of its prey, it clawed relentlessly at the small opening. Pushing with all its might in an attempt to snag Vincent and drag him out into the open to be mauled.
Vincent pressed his back against the cliff trying desperately to get further back from the razor-sharp claws which were narrowly missing his body, but there was no room left. He was trapped in a small tomb and the walls seemed to close in around him as he waited for his inevitable death. He saw the bloodlust in the grizzly’s eyes. Along with the open wounds and blood covering its face and body, it looked less like an animal and more like a creature from the pit of hell sent to collect his soul.
Its visage was truly horrifying, and Vincent felt he’d already been trapped for an eternity. He had curled up as much as humanly possible, which was barely enough to avoid the sharp edge of the killer claws. Now that the bear was in such close proximity, he realized how foul it smelled. The stench gagged him, and his stomach churned. he wanted nothing more than to get as far away as possible, but he was hopelessly trapped. He knew he couldn't hold on forever. It was only a matter of time before he collapsed and was dragged to his demise.