Black Mountain Side Page #3

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I mean, they don't have any of their

stuff. They've got no supplies.

They're not gonna make it very

far. Not in this weather.

F***, it's cold.

Yeah.

What's wrong?

Has anyone else been up here?

Why?

What? We lost?

We're not.

But these tracks aren't

going to the reservation.

They're going in the

complete opposite direction.

No one's been out here as far

as I can tell.

These tracks are headed north.

Reservation's south.

Well if they're headed north,

they're definitely dead.

It's not in bad condition

considering it's 11,000 years old.

Yeah, well nothing comes up

here.

On top of that, it's all untouched;

Buried beneath snow and ice.

The reserve where the workers are

from, they don't come up here ever?

No, the town they all took off to is the

northern most town for hundreds of miles.

Really?

Yep.

We're the northern most outpost.

291 out of 291.

Stop that.

Most northern outpost by about

ninety miles.

So what comes up here, then?

Nothing.

So, why are we here?

Same reason 290 is there. And

250...

226, 215...

Some surveyor found some

scribble on a rock

and figured it was important

enough to waste years of

people's time and government

money.

Yeah, nothing comes up

this far north through

these mountains except for

the odd charter plane.

Even those stopped coming up here after

that one went down, fifty miles from here.

Engine failure, from the cold.

So what motivated them to build

a camp here?

Rock pile formations, the usual

stuff.

You can see the initial reports.

Jensen's got 'em in his office...

Stop that!

Same old stupid sh*t.

-You wanna pass me that can?

-This one? I guess it's

empty. We've got...

Three more cans back in

storage. How long can we go for?

I say we got supplies

for, two weeks. At the most.

Supply drop was supposed to

be three days ago? Yeah.

F***.

Okay.

We're on for now.

Just put it down there.

Is it on?

Yeah, okay? I told you,

this thing works fine.

I just wanna see.

Test, test.

Turn the dial.

The dial?

Test, test.

Try ninety-eight.

Test, test.

See, it works.

They must have theirs turned

off.

Or they aren't there.

Maybe there's a storm on the

other side. Who knows?

Well, just rig a loop to

ninety-eight.

Okay?

Yeah, there are, stone piles like this,

one every couple of miles or so.

They're all about a mile from

my initial dig spot,

where we found most of the

Clovis points.

This means the Dogrib

knew about the temple?

Nope. That's likely

just a coincidence.

Stone piles like these are really

common among native cultures.

They're used to mark important

spots like,

ceremonial burial grounds

or recurring settlements.

Our theory is, that these were

used to mark a

hunting spot, for,

deer, or maybe bear.

A lot of bear in this area?

Yeah, but you don't have to

worry about that.

This place is covered in bear

traps,

and those will really f*** you

up.

Bear traps?

Yeah, put down in the thirties

by the Dogrib.

These stones were put down

maybe, five,

six hundred years ago.

You see, the natives, they kept

a close eye on this spot

for a few thousand years,

along with some other

spots, that we haven't

started to excavate yet.

No markings... Nothing?

Just boring old stones.

Your specialty's Clovis.

Yeah, since grad school.

Graduation year? '02.

You ever seen

anything like this?

I've never even heard

about anything like this.

Yeah.

You don't think we're,

we're trying to pull some sort

of elaborate hoax, do you?

Nah.

The radio-carbon dating

you had done on the

structure places it near

the end of the ice age.

Yep.

And it's a solid structure?

Right.

People didn't stay in one place

during the ice age.

Carbon dating of the artifacts

suggests that

these people were here for a

span of a few hundred years.

That's what doesn't make sense.

Maybe they found ways to adapt

to the cold.

Then why did they leave?

Where did they go?

South, to form early

Mesoamerica.

If they were going south, they

would have gone south.

For Christ sakes, would you cut

it out?

I'm bored.

Go to work. You're still on the

clock.

What clock? There's nothing to

do.

Why don't you try fixing that

radio?

You are the equipment

technician, aren't you?

That f***ing radio is fine.

Everything on it works.

Except the part that lets us

talk to other people.

It's the ranger's station's

radio that's f***ed, alright?

Nothing I can do here can fix

that.

Well if you aren't going to go

to work,

knock it off with that God

damned ball!

We're out of cream.

That's fine.

Look at this.

You see here?

That looks like a simplified version

of something you'd see on a.

Mayan or Aztec wall.

Really simplified.

Right.

What's strange is that, all of

these symbols

mean nothing in any Mesoamerican

system of writing.

Aesthetically, they look Mesoamerican,

but there's nothing here to suggest

that that is what this is.

I think that the similar

aestheric is

likely just coincidence.

So, what does it stem from?

Well, it doesn't look like

anything from South America,

so it's out of my expertise.

I do believe, however, that

what we're looking at is not a

writing system, but a

systematic series of drawings.

A lot of them are animals.

Maybe a hunting ritual?

Cave wall kind of stuff, but just

with more of a coherent style.

So, maybe a culture that was

here before the ice age.

They built the structure

to survive in the cold,

but they didn't make it

to the end of the ice age

because of the cold.

McNaughton, you in there?

McNaughton?

I'm coming in, okay?

Hey.

Why didn't you answer the door?

Sorry...

I was just...

Reading.

Right.

We saved you some lunch. You missed

breakfast, too. Are you okay?

I'm fine.

You... Need me to get you

anything? Something to drink?

I'm fine.

Okay.

Your lunch is in the kitchen.

-Jensen, come in. Jensen.

-Yeah.

Meet me at my office,

I heard screaming.

-I think it's Welles.

-What?

Alright, yeah.

I'll be right there.

What? Alright, yeah.

I'll be right there.

What's going on?

Doc heard screaming.

He went to go check on Welles.

And? Is he alright?

I don't no, it's f***ed up.

Help me find it! Just look!

It's okay, Welles, it's okay.

Help me hold him down! What the

f*** are you waiting for?

Jesus! It's right here!

-What the hell!?

-Hold him down!

It's moving up his God damned arm!

What the f*** are you waiting for!?

Hold him down! Hold him down!

Sh*t.

Holy f***!

-What do you... What do you want me to do?!

-Do something!

-The f*** is that!?

-Cut it off!

-Cut it off!

-Yeah.

The f*** is going on here!?

No! No!

-Hold him down!

-No!

-Giles, hold him down!

-Take it easy, kid.

-Hold him. Hold him!

-Easy kid.

Olsen! Olsen what

the f*** are you...

Clear!

-What the f*** is that, man!?

-Okay, deep breaths.

Deep breaths.

-Hold on, kid. Hold on.

-What are you doing?

-Get the f***ing morphine.

-Deep breaths.

Hang on kid. Almost there.

Almost there.

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