“I… I didn’t really appreciate that remark about fancy-ass alpine parkas,” said Barry, plucking at his nylon parka. “I’m not even sure I know exactly what a crevasse is, and but I sure wouldn’t go near one.”
Wake laughed and Breaker laughed too, both of them cracking up every time they looked at Barry and his bright red parka.
“What did I say?” said Barry.
Barry knew exactly what he had said and why he had said it. Wake knew it too and so did Breaker, and they were grateful to him for giving them an excuse to dissipate the frustration in the cockpit.
Breaker inclined her head toward Wake, almost touching him. “Sorry.”
“You were right,” said Wake. “This was probably a pretty great town before I showed up.”
“It was a hell of a lot better than it is now,” said Breaker, “but it wasn’t paradise. We’ve always had more than our fair share of disappearances around here, more abandoned cabins with supper on the table, more cars left by the side of the road and no drivers come to claim them.” She shook her head. “I wrote it off to bad luck or people just getting tired of their lives and walking away from it. Now…”
“I’m going to fix things as best I can,” Wake said quietly as the dam loomed in the distance, closer by the moment, the power plant below it brightly lit in the darkness. “I’ll do what I can, that’s a promise.”
“I’ll be happy to stop whatever is in the lake,” said Breaker. “Stop the Dark Presence and get your wife back, safe and sound. I’ll settle for that.”
Wake nodded.
“You’ll like Alice, Sheriff,” Barry piped up from the jump seat. “She’s really… tough. Not tough hard, but tough good. Like you. She’s not exactly my biggest fan, but I think the two of you would hit it off.”
“I can’t wait to meet her,” said Breaker, gently arcing the helicopter toward the power plant. “See those power cables,” she said, pointing. “That’s the transformer station. I’ll put us down in the area near the river. Plenty of room and it’s away from the lines.”
Wake saw a shadow pass between them and the moon. He peered up at the stars.
“Uh-oh.”
“What?” said Breaker.
“What’s wrong?” said Barry. “Al, something wrong?”
“Not sure,” said Wake. “There’s a… huge flock of ravens circling up ahead.” He pressed his face up against the cockpit, trying to get a better look. “There seem to be more of them joining the flock.
“You’re worried about
“This is bad,” said Barry. “I’ve had a run-in with these ravens before.” He switched on the Christmas lights around his neck. “These birds aren’t like pigeons. They’re not looking for a handout.”
Wake kept watch on the ravens. “He’s right, Sarah. I think you should—”
A mass of ravens swooped down on the helicopter, several of them smacking against the cockpit, Wake jerking back at the sound of their beaks striking the hard plastic.
“
Another flock of ravens flew down at them, beating against the cowling, heading directly into the rotors, black feathers shooting everywhere.
The helicopter engine struggled, regained power.
“Bad, bad, very bad,” chanted Barry, fingering the blue and green bulbs around his neck. “I hate birds, I hate birds, I hate birds.”
Wake flipped on the helicopter’s searchlight, disintegrating a mass of ravens headed directly at them, the birds flaring into dust. Ravens attacked from the sides, flapped through the opening in the cockpit, clawing at their hands and faces. Wake beat at them with the flashlight, turned the beam on one tearing at Breaker’s hair as she tried to pilot them out of danger. The raven disintegrated.
Breaker made a hard right turn, hoping to leave the ravens behind with her evasive action, but there were so many of them, hundreds and hundreds of them pouring out of the forest, filling the sky. She pushed the stick of the helicopter full forward, trying to outrun them. She almost made it.
A flock of ravens flew directly into the tail rotor, waves and waves of them. They were torn to pieces, but their bodies clocked the mechanism, slowing the chopper and throwing it out of control.
Breaker wrestled with the controls and Wake hung on tight and Barry cursed and prayed.
The helicopter spun wildly, the skids grazing the treetops before Breaker regained control, but it was too late. She avoided the trees at the base of the dam, but the helicopter landed roughly, the tail snapping off as it rolled over, throwing them hard against their seat belts.
“Is everyone okay?” said Breaker. Wake could see blood trickling down her cheek from a half-dozen spots where the ravens had torn at her with their sharp beaks. Blood stained the collar of her uniform. She ignored the wounds.
“Fine, I’m fine,” said Wake, unbelting his safety harness. “Barry?”
“What’s… what’s the collision deductible on these things?” said Barry.
Wake got out, helped Barry unhook himself, saw him wince as he eased out of the jump seat.
Breaker came around the helicopter. She carried the shotguns and the flashlights.
They moved away from the downed chopper, started walking toward the bright lights of the abandoned power plant.
“You did a good job,” Wake said to Breaker.
“I
“Yeah, but you crashed
Breaker punched him in the arm. It hurt.
“What’s so funny?” said Barry.
Doc sat down heavily. He’d examined Barry and Rose. Barry was already recovering. Rose was another story: she was conscious, but she was barely present, almost delirious, disturbed—“touched in the head,” they used to say. It wasn’t the first time Doc had seen someone in such a state, but it’d been over thirty years. Doc poured himself a stiff drink. He hadn’t forgotten a thing.
CHAPTER 25
“IMPRESSIVE, ISN’T IT?” said Breaker.
Barry yawned. “Wow.”
“Yeah, wow,” said Wake
The three of them stood at the edge of the forest, staring up at the Bright Falls dam, a massive structure that loomed at least 250 feet above them and contained enough concrete to build a small city. The dam was dark, but the power station at its base blazed with light, inside and outside, an oasis in the darkness. The outer walls of the power station were covered with luminous scrawls, warnings against the darkness, exhortations to stay in the light, the words dripping down the concrete surfaces. Cynthia Weaver wasn’t taking any chances, a philosophy that had kept her safe all these years.
Wake looked around, checked the sky too, but saw only stars and the half-moon. They hadn’t seen any ravens since the helicopter crashed, but Wake had learned not to trust the night, no matter how peaceful it looked. They all had now. Crickets sawed away in the underbrush, their mating call rising and falling. Wake wished them luck.
Wake and Breaker set out for the power station, moving quickly in the dim light while Barry lagged behind, complaining about his sore feet and his allergies acting up. As they got closer to the dam, Wake could see huge metal pipes running from under the dam to the power station, the pipes running on concrete supports a few yards above ground. The scale was enormous, and not just the pipes and the dam;
