Return to Dyatlov Pass

~ Chapter Ten ~

Nat trembled so violently she could barely push away the plate of spaghetti Steven offered her. Feeling her gorge rise, she covered her nose.

“No thanks. I don’t want any.”

“You have to eat something. I’m afraid you’re going into shock. How about a little coffee spiked with Igor’s finest?”

“I thought you didn’t approve of drinking.”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures, and these are definitely desperate times.”

Nat wondered how he could be so chipper. Every time she pictured Anubha’s mutilated face, she nearly lost it again. Who could have done that to her and Joe? They were such good people.

She’d wanted their bodies brought back to camp, but Steven had convinced her otherwise, fearing the smell might attract wild animals. Still, it bothered her to think of them out there alone, huddled around their dead fire. She’d make sure they got a decent burial if it was the last thing she did.

Vasily sat across from her, quietly eating his spaghetti and meatballs—the first time he’d shared a meal with the rest of the group. Maybe this tragedy would finally bring them together as a team, or perhaps the guide had just exhausted his supply of dried meat.

Nat never wanted to eat something from Joe’s backpack again, no matter how hungry she was. It felt like stealing.

“I think you’d better tell us about these snowmen.” Nat addressed the Mansi, careful to speak quietly, but she wasn’t quiet enough.

“What are you talking about?” Steven asked. “What snowmen?”

“The ones who rule this mountain. Vasily told me about them when we first arrived at camp, and if they’re the ones who murdered Joe and Anubha, they have a lot to answer for.”

Lana whimpered. Thankfully, she hadn’t ventured any closer to the trappers’ bodies once she’d noticed the blood. She’d been spared seeing the ruin that was Anubha’s face.

“Are they another tribe, Vasily?”

For a moment, Nat thought the Mansi was going to ignore Steven’s question. Then he shook his head. “No, no other tribe. Not human.”

“What do you mean, not human?” Cold fingers crept up Nat’s spine. “No animal is capable of that. Whoever murdered them staged their bodies. They wanted us to find them that way.”

“Sitting around a fire under that cedar tree. Just like Doroshenko and Krivonischenko,” Steven said.

“Who are Doroshenko and Krivonischenko?” Lana asked.

“Two of the Dyatlov victims. The first two bodies the searchers found were sitting around a fire under that same tree, if I’m not mistaken. And they were both badly beaten.”

“It has to be a coincidence. Doesn’t it?” The Olympian’s voice took on a pleading tone, and Nat hoped Steven would be gentle. However, hoping for Steven to be anything other than direct was futile.

“I don’t think so. The placement of their bodies was too deliberate.”

“What does that mean?” Her voice rose, and Nat could see Lana was on the verge of tears. “Are these snowmen going to pick us off one by one? And if they’re not human, what are they?”

“They’re abominable snowmen. Right, Vasily? You’re talking about yetis,” Steven said.

“That’s crazy. You’ve both gone mad. Yetis don’t exist. They’re a children’s story,” Lana said.

Before Steven could open his mouth, Vasily slapped his hide-clad leg, as if to get their attention. “Yes, they do exist. I have seen them.”

“Where, Vasily?” Igor asked. The Russian wasn’t laughing. Somehow, talk of yetis seemed a little less ridiculous in the Ural Mountains, a short trek away from their colleagues’ mutilated bodies. “You have seen them here?”

The Mansi poked at the fire with a stick. “No, in my village. When the winter is very, very difficult, they come to feed. Generations ago, they terrorized us. Murdered our children and destroyed our livestock. But now, we are prepared. We leave sacrifices for them. We respect them and they respect us.”

“Sacrifices? Not people?” Lana cried.

Vasily frowned, looking at her as though she were insane. “No, not people. We are not monsters. We leave fresh meat for them. Usually yak.” He paused, drawing a shaky breath. “Many yak. It is very difficult for my village to sacrifice so much, but it is better than letting them take what they want. We have an uneasy peace.”

“And when Anubha and Joe set traps here, they broke that peace?” Steven asked.

“Yes. I tried very much to warn them, but they would not listen to me. I only hope their actions will not hurt my people.”

Nat swallowed hard. She’d heard a lot of bizarre stories through her work on Nat’s Mysterious World, and had always tried to keep an open mind. But yetis? Perhaps there was another, more human explanation.

“Couldn’t they be another tribe who dresses like snow creatures in order to scare people away? Like Vikings?”

“They are bigger than any human man. Stronger, too. We have seen them crush cars, pull roofs off houses. Their voices will turn your blood to ice.”

It sounded like a fairy story, albeit one written by the Brothers Grimm. “But if you knew they were here, Vasily, why did you agree to this trip? Why didn’t you warn us?”

“It would be the same as the other groups. No one believes until it is too late. Besides, it has never been a problem before. No one else try to hunt here.”

Steven cleared his throat. “I guess we know what happened to the Dyatlov group now.”

“You don’t seriously believe this, do you?” Lana asked. “Yetis are a story told to scare children. They don’t actually exist.”

“Perhaps you should go back to the forest and take a closer look at our friends. Tell me if you think an animal did that to them. Or a person, for that matter.”

“Let us not be disrespectful to our Mansi friend. He grew up in these mountains. He has told us what he has seen. We would do well to listen to him,” Igor said.

The Olympian colored. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Vasily. I meant no disrespect. It’s just so hard to believe.”

Vasily tipped his head. “I understand. The snowmen are our reality, but they have not been yours until now. Suddenly, we have a shared problem.”

Surprised Andrew had been silent for so long, Nat panicked when she saw her friend slumped over, his chin resting on his chest. Closer inspection showed his breathing was deep and even. He had fallen asleep.

“Will they let us leave? What if we made them some food?” Steven asked.

“They usually eat entire yaks. I don’t think a few packets of dehydrated beef stroganoff will appease them.”

“It may not satisfy them, Lana. But it might act as a peace offering, a show of good faith, especially when they see we’re not hunters. What do you think, Vasily?”

The Mansi shrugged. “It is worth a try. Perhaps they feel killing the others will be enough retribution.”

Steven stood up and stretched. “That’s good enough for me. We have to do something, since we’re obviously not going anywhere tonight.”

“We might not be going anywhere tomorrow, either,” Lana reminded him. “It depends on Andrew. He may need more rest.”

The mountaineer paused from where he was rifling through Joe’s pack. “I assume you’ve heard the phrase, ‘survival of the fittest.’”

His words hit Nat like a slap across the face. Wrapping an arm around Andrew, she pulled her sleeping friend close. “We are not leaving him here to die.”

“Would you have all of us die instead? Is that a better solution?”

“I will carry him down the mountain if I have to. We will leave here together,” Igor said.

“Thank you.” She gave the Russian a grateful smile. “Happy to see one guy who isn’t a soulless prick.”

“Hey, I’m not trying to be an asshole here. I’m the one trying to buy us more time. But this has turned into a matter of survival. And since it’s a life-and-death situation, what you’re suggesting doesn’t make sense.” Steven returned to the fire, tossing several packets of beef tips in gravy onto the snow.

Lana wrinkled her nose. “I’d quit while you’re ahead, Steven. Nat is right. You are sounding like a prick, and that’s a kind way of putting it.”

“Look, I like Andrew. We all do. But if he can’t leave, and we stay here with him, he’ll still die. And the rest of us will die with him.”

“You do not know that. We don’t know enough about these creatures,” Igor said. “I will not abandon any one of you. I would rather die with honor than live with that shame.”

“Then I’ll say the same to you that I said to her.” Steven tipped his chin at Lana. “You need to go have a good look at what’s left of Joe and Anubha.”

The horrible vision of Anubha’s devastated face invaded Nat’s brain before she could prevent it. She pressed her hands over her ears. “Stop it. Just stop it.”

“It’s only fair, Nat. If they’re going to volunteer to get us killed, they deserve to see what’s coming. They should have all the information, don’t you think?”

Her lip curled. “Sometimes I really hate you. I wish you’d never come on this trip.”

“Someone has to tell the truth, and that role’s fallen to me. I didn’t choose it,” he said, sounding hurt. Good to know he actually had feelings.

“There’s a difference between telling the truth and being nasty, a distinction you apparently fail to grasp. Next you’ll be claiming you’re a realist.” She really did hate people like Steven—people who only saw the worst in everyone, who infected the world around them with their gloom and doom. That was the last thing they needed up here.

He widened his eyes. “I am a realist. What’s wrong with that?”

“You’re not a realist; you’re a pessimist. That’s the problem. People like you never know the difference.”

“And you’re incredibly selfish.”

Lana gasped. “Steven!”

“What? It’s okay for her to insult me, but I can’t say she’s selfish?” He pointed at Nat, his finger stabbing the frigid air. “This is your expedition. For better or worse, you are supposedly leading this team, and that makes everyone’s health and well-being your responsibility. Two people are dead, and we have our guide telling us that the longer we stay, the worse everyone’s chances of survival are. Your priority should be saving as many lives as you can, not sacrificing everyone for your precious producer.”

Nat sucked in a breath, hoping against hope Andrew was still asleep. “I’m sorry if I don’t value his life less because he works for me. I wouldn’t abandon you either, as disagreeable as you are.”

“No one needs to be abandoned. If Igor is willing to carry Andrew with our help, what’s the problem?” Lana asked. “We don’t need to fight about this. We shouldn’t be fighting about anything. We should be working together. And I still think we should build a sled.”

At least the Olympian was thinking clearly. Steven had no clue how to survive with people. Nat was willing to bet the mountaineer had never lived with anyone, aside from his parents.

“The problem is, carrying him will slow us down. Igor is the strongest member of our team. Do we really want to weaken him unnecessarily? What if his strength becomes crucial to our survival? We might as well shoot ourselves in the foot before we leave. And the terrain is too steep to control a sled.”

“Carrying him will not weaken me. I am stronger than that.”

Nat waited, wondering if Steven would argue with the Russian about how strong he was. But even he appeared to realize that would be futile. Sighing, Steven melted snow for the packets of beef tips. “I’m done fighting with you people. I’ve tried my best to reason with you, but you didn’t believe Vasily and now you don’t believe me. Just know that if the worse comes to worst on this mountain tomorrow, you brought it on yourself.”

“What do you mean, we’re not listening to Vasily? We listened to Vasily.” Igor’s voice was angrier than Nat had ever heard it. Uh oh. She hoped Steven was smart enough to apologize and shut up before he got seriously hurt.

“You’re listening to Vasily now, now that Joe and Anubha are dead. But how many people believed him when he warned us about the hunting?”

Igor made a scoffing sound. “I wasn’t here when he talked about hunting. I was with Andrew and Nat.”

“You’re right.” Steven raised his hands in surrender. “I’m sorry. I only meant that Anubha and Joe didn’t listen, and look what happened to them. They’re dead.”

“Can we please stop talking about that?” Lana’s voice cracked. “It’s bad enough knowing their bodies are right there without you constantly bringing it up.”

“Not to mention it’s pretty damn close to victim blaming,” Nat said, furious on her trappers’ behalf. “Joe and Anubha did not deserve what happened to them. They were only doing what I paid them to do. And I’m not going to fault them if they didn’t believe yetis ruled this mountain. That would be difficult for most people to wrap their heads around.”

Tearing open the packets of beef tips, Steven poured them into the boiling water, making a rich gravy that got Nat’s stomach growling.

“Are we really going to waste our precious food on a fabled snow creature, like some macabre version of leaving cookies for Santa?” Lana asked.

“Different cultures believe different things. The best way to survive is always to listen to the natives,” Steven said, stirring the mixture. “As weird as it may sound to us, we need to listen to Vasily. He knows how to survive on this mountain, while we clearly do not.”

“But we are listening to Vasily. We’re even listening to you. I just don’t want to leave Andrew—or anyone—behind.” Nat studied the Mansi, who had gone quiet again. She wondered if it was a natural reticence, or the difficulty of communicating in English. “What do they look like, Vasily?” When she received a puzzled expression in return, she clarified. “The snowmen, what do they look like? Do they really have long, white fur?”

The guide shrugged. “I do not know. Never got a close look. They wear these suits, like snowsuits with hoods, but made of animal skins. Many different types of animals, different types of fur. Maybe that is how the story began that they are covered with fur.”

Creatures wearing homemade snowsuits. Nat thought back to the story Steven had shared, about the creature in California wearing makeshift shoes. If the snowmen were capable of constructing their own clothing, they were highly intelligent. This went far beyond chimpanzees using sticks to scoop termites from a rotten log. The snowmen could be just as smart as humans, if not more so. God knows Nat had never believed their species had cornered the market on brains.

But if they couldn’t outwit them and couldn’t overpower them, what could they do? They didn’t even have weapons beyond Anubha’s crossbow, Joe’s knife, and Vasily’s old rifle.

“If these creatures exist, why has no one ever found a body?” Lana asked. It was an old question, one that had been put to cryptozoologists for years. Nat was curious to see if anyone in their group had an intelligent answer.

“Maybe they bury their dead. Or eat them. Or burn them,” Steven said. “Or maybe bodies have been found, but the government hushed it up. We know something was hinky with the Dyatlov investigation. There were always too many unanswered questions. And before you jump down my throat, I’m not a conspiracy theorist. But I know, without a doubt, these creatures exist, or at least that something like them does. I’ve seen one.”

“Even then, you’d think someone would have found something. A bit of bone, a tooth. It’s almost impossible to get rid of a body entirely.” Nat’s obsession with true crime had told her as much. “An ordinary fire wouldn’t cut it.”

“Maybe people have found something, but didn’t recognize it as anything extraordinary. Or maybe they were afraid. Sightings of these creatures are always in remote areas—mountains, forests. Not places where there’s sophisticated technology or teams of scientists.”

Steven had a point, but she could tell the others struggled with the notion that yetis were real. For many, it was much easier to believe in ghosts, vampires, and UFOs. But why?

The group fell silent for a bit, the only sound the crackling and popping of their fire. Nat tilted her head back, amazed at the brightness of the stars. This place did have a stark beauty. If only her heart weren’t weighed down by fear and grief.

She thought of Lyudmila. Was this how the young skier had felt on the last night of her life? She must have known her friends were dead by the time she was killed. How had she ended up under the snow? Had the creatures buried her there?

“It’s ready. Where should I put it, Vasily?” Steven poured the contents of the cooking pot onto a plate. When the savory-smelling steam hit Nat’s nose, her stomach growled even louder. She pressed both hands against it.

“Over there.” The Mansi pointed toward the forest, far away from their tents, filling Nat with relief. “Away from us.”

“How do we know some other wild animal isn’t going to come along and eat it?” Lana asked. Nat had wondered the same.

“They wouldn’t dare. All creatures fear the snowmen,” Vasily said. “They will leave it.”

Nat wasn’t sure how a fox or wolf would know whom the food was intended for, but she was too tired to ask. In spite of her hunger, her overwhelming need was for sleep. She felt dead on her feet.

“Do you think this will work? Will they leave us alone?” Igor asked.

The Mansi shrugged. “It is impossible to say. I have never seen them angry before. My village is careful to stay on their good side.”

“So we have to wait and see if they’re going to come kill us? Well, that’s wonderful. Maybe we should make our way down to the second camp. Even in the dark, we’d probably be better off.”

Nat had to agree with Lana. If there was a good chance they were going to die anyway, it made sense to leave now, while they still could.

“I cannot carry Andrew in the dark. It’s too risky.” Igor frowned as he looked at her producer, who was still sleeping, his head resting against her shoulder. “We’ll have to wait until morning.”

“What if a couple of us went ahead, like we did last night? I could go with Steven, and you three could meet us in the morning,” Lana suggested.

In other words, you don’t care if we die, Nat thought. You’re only concerned about saving your own skin. She couldn’t judge the woman too harshly, though. If Nat didn’t have to stay behind with Andrew, she would probably already be on her way down the mountain herself. Even in the weak firelight, she could see Lana’s eyes were wide with fear.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Steven had returned from placing the food at the edge of the forest. “It’s better we stay together. Splitting up hasn’t worked out too well for us.”

Talk about the understatement of the year. If the group had remained together, would Joe and Anubha be alive? Would Nat have taken Vasily seriously enough to help convince the trappers not to hunt? It was impossible to know.

“What are we going to do?” Lana asked. “We can’t lie in our tents all night, waiting to die.”

“We should take turns keeping the fire going. A good, strong fire might be enough to deter them, since they attack at night. The light from it could scare them off.” Steven added more kindling to the blaze. “Tending this is going to be a full-time job.”

“If they’re smart enough to make snowsuits, I don’t think a little fire is going to scare them,” Nat said. “It doesn’t sound like we’re dealing with primitive creatures here.”

Igor cracked his knuckles. “At least it’s something to do. Lana is right; we can’t lie around waiting. We’ll go insane.”

“I volunteer to take the first shift. Lana, you should bunk with Nat and Andrew tonight. It’s not safe to stay by yourself. Vasily, you can share with me and Igor,” Steven said.

Nat fully expected the Mansi to refuse, but to her surprise he nodded and went to collect his sleeping bag. It would be damn crowded in their little two-person tent, but she’d feel better knowing a strong, healthy person was with them. Given Andrew’s current condition, he wouldn’t be of much use to her in a fight.

“I’ll stay with you,” Igor told Steven. “You should not be alone.”

“No, you have to get your rest. We’re going to need your strength tomorrow. I’ll be fine. If I see anything, I’ll yell my head off, I promise.”

Nat gently shook Andrew by the shoulder. “Andy?” She was relieved when her producer moaned. “Andy, it’s time to go to bed. Can you walk to the tent? I’ll help you.”

Between her and the Russian, they got Andrew to his feet. “I’m so exhausted,” he said. “I can’t remember feeling this tired in my life.”

“All the better reason to go to bed. Come on.” Hugging her friend around his waist, she was grateful for Igor’s help as he supported Andrew’s other side. He’s not going to be better by tomorrow. The terrible thought flashed through her mind before she could stop it. No matter what, she would never leave Andrew behind. Was Steven right? Did that make her selfish?

Once they reached the tent, Andrew recovered enough energy to crawl inside his sleeping bag. Nat gave the Russian a hug.

“Thanks, Igor.”

“No problem. I am right beside you, okay? You need anything, you yell for me and I will come.”

“Okay, I will. Thank you.”

It was comforting to know Igor would be close by, although if Vasily were correct about the snowmen’s size and strength, it wouldn’t make much difference. If the creatures were determined to destroy them, their group wouldn’t stand a chance.

Leaving the flap partially open for Lana, Nat scrambled into her own sleeping bag. Remembering how the Dyatlov group had been found in their socks, she made the decision to keep her boots on, though that would make it more difficult to get in and out of the bag.

Somewhat settled, she stared into the darkness, waiting for Lana.