The bear’s growls got louder fast, its heavy feet falling on the crackling debris. It grunted, angry and frustrated but not nearly to its limit. Just a casual huff sounded to Amy like a death knoll. Amy asked, “We gotta get to your car.”

The bear was circling the cabin, sniffing and growling, its presence clear, its massive form passing beyond the window, curtains drawn.

“Black bear,” Camden said, “probably a female, the one those hunters were after, looking for food before she hibernates.”

Amy repeated, “Food?” with a whole new fear in her voice. The bear kept stomping around the cabin, the walls shaking as it tested the building’s strength.

Amy asked Camden, “What do we do?”

Harvey said, “You’ve got the gun, Tarzan, just shoot the damn thing!”

“That’s our last option,” Camden said. “Maybe I can scare it off.”

“Brilliant,” Harvey muttered as Camden approached the window near the front door. The bear was just on the other side, its massive body rolling back and forth as if guarding the entrance to the cabin.

Not wanting to open the window, Camden used the gun to shatter the upper pane of glass. Carefully aiming at the trunk of a nearby pine tree, Camden lined up his sites and pulled the trigger twice.

But two stunted metal clicks answered back, shots fired. Two more tries only created the same disappointing result.

“Gun’s jammed,” Camden said, glaring at Harvey, who could only shrug. A few more dry clicks told the story, the gun was useless.

Camden and Harvey exchanged a worried glance. Harvey asked, “There’s no hunting rifle in this shit shack?”

Camden shook his head. “I found a flare gun, we can shoot it with that. Point blank range, that should stop it.”

Harvey shook his head. “You’ve seen too many movies, partner. Unless you nailed it in the head, a flare would bounce right off that fatty hyde. Not to mention how pissed-off the thing would be.”

“We’ll shoot it in the head then. We’ve got two shells.”

Harvey asked, “And what if you miss? That’s our only weapon, we need to hold onto it, just in case.”

“In case of what? A second bear? Godzilla?”

“You’d need to be at point-blank range, big man. If you miss, you’re dead. Not that it means much to me.”

“I don’t want you to leave me with him and a flare gun,” Amy said.

“What am I gonna do to you,” Harvey snapped, “besides cash your check?”

“You can forget about that,” Amy said.

The bear roared again, and Harvey had to admit, “At the moment, it’s the last thing on my list, honey.”

Camden paced around, scratching his chin even as the bear kept grunting, louder with every pass, roars rising up from its terrible, hungry throat.

Harvey asked Camden, “You really think it’ll attack? It’s probably just used to finding garbage cans to raid. Give it a few minutes, it’ll go away.”

But with that unseen monster circling their cabin, stronger and more powerful than all of their combined efforts, also graced with the advantage of being in its own territory, its own place of power. Amy, Camden, and Harvey were strangers in a strange land, virtually unarmed, cornered.

The door lurched with the bear’s weight, angry growls propelling her growing fury.

“Can’t just wait,” Camden said. “She’s making her way in.”

Amy’s blood ran cold as she and the two men looked around the room for some way to repel the creature before it was too late.

“All right,” Camden said, “I’ll sneak around, distract it, then you two make it out the door and get into the car.”

“I’ll drive,” Harvey said, “I’ve got an SUV, that bear will rip your Toyota to pieces.” Camden looked Harvey up and down, but Harvey said, “What am I gonna do, drive us off a cliff? I wanna get off this fucking hill too.”

Camden thought about it, finally nodding.

“Camden, no,” Amy said, “that thing’ll eat you alive!”

“Only if she can catch me.” He turned to Harvey. “When you hear me call out you’ll know I’ve lured her around the corner, the backside of the cabin. You hustle into the SUV.”

Amy asked, “What about you, Camden?”

“I’ll come back in through the window, run out the front door. So don’t drive off until … ”

A sad silence passed before Amy said, “Camden?”

“Until you know for sure she’s got me. Then drive the hell outta here, fast as you can.”

“No,” Amy said.

Camden turned to Harvey. “Got it?”

“No, Cam, you’re not doing this!”

Camden turned, the bear now pounding against the other side of the cabin. “There’s no other way.” He set his hands on her arms, Amy looked deep into his eyes. “I’ll see you in the SUV.”

“No,” Amy said, “you won’t, that thing’ll kill you, Camden!”

Camden looked deep into Amy’s eyes, their faces nearing, lips slowly drawing toward one another for a slow and supple kiss. It said everything she wanted to say and everything she needed to hear him say. Even as the bear cried out with increasing anger outside the cabin, Amy felt strangely at peace, at ease.

In love.

Camden said to Harvey, “Make sure she gets out of here.”

“I will, Camden. Good luck.”

Camden nodded, then slipped out the window, Amy gasping and reaching out before Harvey led her toward the center of the cabin for a quicker escape.