As the log jam began to crumble, Karl threw the hook again, pulling another log from the edge of the pile furthest from his reach. The extra effort helped dislodge a bit more of the blockage, and widen the gap that the water had to escape from the flooded area.
It was turning into a whole new riverbank at this point, but at least it was roughly following the original course now, and not trying to detour through a different valley.
Thor had dropped his Lightning Shield so that he could bask in the feeling of the rain on his glossy green scales, and the golems remained silent beside Karl as he stood and watched the raging floodwaters begin to diminish as the downpour turned into a more manageable light drizzle.
He had left most of the logs that were near the hill, trying to prevent the water from cutting the hill out from beneath him, and it appeared to have worked for now. Much of the sloping hillside was gone, but beside him, there was a solid barrier of logs that they could pull out later to make an improvised bridge to cross the worst of the damaged areas.
The idea had come to Karl as he watched the way that the logs held up to the force of the water and the other debris that was smashed into them. Even if they were going to pack dirt on top of it to make a proper road, putting a row of logs out would make for a much more stable base than packing deeper mud.
They even had plenty of Elites with slicing type skills that could split them lengthwise, making a flat surface for the bus and giving them more to work with.
So, instead of clearing more of the blockage, Karl set about pulling more of the largest logs from the river and up along the bank. It prevented them from piling up again further downstream, but more importantly, it left them nearby for him to work with when it came time to move the bus.
All the students wondered what Karl was doing with his huge pile of logs by the time that the rain finally ended, but the Driver understood very well. In fact, he would have asked them to go hunt for some eventually because they were going to need them to get across that flood plain.
But he wasn’t going to send anyone out into that downpour and risk someone sliding down into the waters. There would be plenty of logs available once the water went down, no matter where they looked. This area had been heavily forested, and they would naturally pile up everywhere that the waters were forced to divert by a hill or other obstacle.
As the rain stopped, Karl sent Hawk up to scout the area and survey a path forward for them.
[Good news. If we go from here across the spot where the blockage was, we can be on mostly flat land for at least the next ten kilometres, then the metal road comes back and there is one more crossing, but its bridge is high and it is still standing.
After that, the river and the metal road go in different directions.] Hawk reported.
[Good work. It will take some effort to cut a road town the hill and across the other side, but we can do that easily enough with all of us. As long as that other bridge is as good as it looks, we should he home in time for lunch.]
[Now we are talking. Drake doesn’t taste as good as it smells.]
Once the waters began to slow, Karl called Thor and Hawk back into the beast space and returned to the bus, to be greeted by the energetic applause of his classmates.
The driver addressed the group. “We will stay here on the hill overnight and set a watch. Get as much sleep as you can because there will be shovelling and log splitting in the morning. Awakened Karl, did you find a route home?”
Karl nodded. “If we cross where I was working, and make a road up that hill, we can drive across a high flat spot until the road curves back to meet us. Then Hawk says there is a tall bridge that is still standing, and after that, the railroad and the river go different directions.”
The driver took out a map and turned it to face the direction that they were.
“I see where he means. That is a railroad bridge, but there are runners for the vehicles to pass as well. It is nearly sixty metres long, and sits atop a deep coulee, so the water would have been far below its base.
Yes, that should work. Normally, that route would be considered impossible because of the hills, but if we cut them and make a new bridge to cross the river, we should be alright. It won’t be a pretty bridge, but with those big trees, we should have enough to span the stream once it calms down, and the rough boards will let us get up the other side once it is cut into a slope.” He explained to the students.
None of them had anything even resembling bridge building experience, other than the driver, who had to improvise to get across rivers more than once in his career, so they were trusting him on this one.
When it wasn’t flooded, this wasn’t a big river, so they had high hopes for his plan, as well as Karl’s collection of logs.
Hawk’s voice interrupted Karl’s thoughts.
[Let me out, let me out.] He shouted, and Karl realized that he had actually ordered them to stay in for the night, something that he rarely did.
[Go ahead.] Karl agreed, and the Windspeed Hawk appeared on the roof of the bus, then gave a mighty flap of his wings and streaked off into the darkness. Then he dive-bombed something on the ground and returned to land on the roof with the body of a massive snake.
[Snek snek snek, chomp chomp chomp.] Hawk sang happily to himself as he began to portion it into manageable pieces.
Most of it, he took back into his space with him, but about half he left on the bus for Karl and the others.
“Hawk brought us breakfast meat. Who wants to go up on the roof to go get it?” Karl laughed as he realized what had gotten the bird so excited.
It wasn’t a mouse, but Windspeed Hawks loved to hunt snakes as well. Rend easily cut off their heads, and then they were left with a long tube of food.
Sister Betty sighed as she looked upward at the metal roof. That was going to be a slippery trip, and the roof was sure to be bloody now with monster offal, which would draw even more monsters to them with its smell.
“I will. Driver, do you have a sprayer to clean the roof? Monster blood will draw more of them.” She asked.
“Don’t worry about it, there is a bit more rain on the way, and it will rinse us clean. There are so many dead minor monsters and animals in the area that chances are nothing will notice.
I do have a scent blocking spray, but I don’t want to waste it with more rain coming tonight.” The Driver explained.
“Alright. I will see you in a minute.”
