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Gunn remembered the story Nate had told him shortly after he’d arrived about his encounter with a polar bear. He raised a hand to give Nate a thumbs up to let him know he’d heard him.
No sooner had Nate turned to face forward again than a huge roar sounded to their side.
Nate veered away from the bear that charged toward his machine.
Gunn applied more pressure to the throttle and turned away as well, but he could hear the beast pounding behind him, gaining on him. Ahead of him, he saw Nate turning, halting his snowmobile, and raising his rifle.
Gunn bent over the handlebar to get out of the way of any bullets Nate would fire.
Nate fired once; the bear behind him grunted.
Gunn veered hard to the left and circled around.
The bear was slowing.
Gunn stopped his vehicle, leaped off, and brought up his rifle, slamming the butt against his shoulder. The bear was bleeding; his head was lowered, but he still bore down on Gunn.
Gunn fired, striking the bear’s broad chest. Another shot rang out, this one from Nate’s weapon. At last, the bear fell against the snow-covered ice.
Nate moved closer and finished the animal. By his expression, he felt the same as Gunn. Filled with remorse, but knowing it had to be done.
“This is a hell of a place you have here,” Gunn said.
“We don’t belong here. Dammit, that’s the last thing I wanted to do. I was done with death.”
The two men shared a glance filled with the tragedies they’d endured and witnessed. Somehow, killing the bear felt every bit as hollow a victory.
“We should get back,” Gunn said. “You got your GPS? It’s getting darker by the second.”
“Keep close on my tail. Snow’s beginning to fall hard.”
By the time they made it back to camp, the snow was thick as they moved the snowmobiles into the garage. Standing at the doorway, Gunn couldn’t see the main building, it was falling so hard, but Nate picked up Gunn’s hand and placed it on his shoulder.
“I’ll lead you back. I know this site like the back of my hand.”
When they reached the building, Nate leaned close to be heard over the sudden howling of the wind. “Maybe we shouldn’t mention exactly what happened out there.”
Gunn raised his voice, “Agreed. Perry’s shot killed the bear.”
“Do you think that’s a chicken-shit thing to do? Like it’s lying?”
“Telling them would only add another burden on them because they’d know we did it to keep them safe.”
They stepped into the kitchen just as dinner was being served, the line forming in front of another bubbling pot.
“Everything okay out there?” Eric asked, passing them plates. “You see that bear while you were out there?”
The women turned to study Gunn and Nate.
Gunn sighed. “We looked for him after we loaded the equipment. He almost made it to the ramp before he went down. He won’t be bothering us again.”
“Damn shame about that bear,” Hanna said. “They’re already suffering because the ice is disappearing. They’re losing habitat. And then we come along…”
Nate and Gunn shared a glance. Nate’s mouth twitched at the corners, although his gaze was filled with bitter remorse. Yeah, the less she knew…
As they ate their stew, Maddie talked to the group about her conversation with Clive at Polardyne.
“He wants our input.”