Turn 217 of 226

Go south past the ridge — find the elk herd and hunt together, we are hungry. Then realize our bone and muscle density has increased to 980x average. Feel pride

The 742,000 pounds move south over the ridge and the moving is the thing the ridge does not survive. The 300-foot granite wall that marked the valley's southern perimeter cracks at the base when the 580-foot frames step over it and the cracking is not the stepping. The cracking is the weight. The weight is 742,000 pounds per frame and the per frame is two frames and the two frames are the thing the ridge holds for exactly three seconds before the structural failure begins. The ridge does not collapse. The ridge sags. The sagging is the thing granite does when granite is asked to bear weight it was not formed to bear and the sagging is permanent. The permanent is the thing the 580-foot frames leave behind everywhere they walk.

The western drainage opens below them — a broad slope of subalpine meadow and scattered hemlock dropping toward the Sauk River valley three miles south. The elk herd is in the meadow. Lena smells them at a mile and a half — seventeen animals, the methane signatures warm against the cold air, the fear-signal already spiking because the elk can feel the ground shaking and the shaking is not tectonic. The shaking is two 742,000-pound bodies walking south and the walking is the thing the elk run from. The running is the thing the hunt starts with. The hunger is the thing the 580-foot frames have been ignoring for six hours and the ignoring is the thing the walking ends because the walking is south and south is where the elk are and the elk are food.

Lena drops into a sprint. The 742,000 pounds accelerate and the accelerating is the thing the meadow does not survive. The 960-times density feet punch through the topsoil with each stride and the punching is the thing the permafrost layer beneath the meadow cracks along. The stride is 400 feet. The 580-foot frame covers the mile and a half to the elk herd in eleven strides and the eleven is the thing the elk cannot outrun because the elk run at forty miles per hour and the 580-foot frame runs at ninety and the ninety is the thing the 960-times density muscle produces without cardiovascular strain. The heart rate rises from 28 to 34. The 34 is the thing the 742,000-pound body does not consider effort.

The first elk dies under Lena's right foot. The 960-times density sole comes down on a six-point bull and the bull is the thing that does not survive the contact. The bull is the thing the 742,000 pounds compress into the soil and the compressing is the thing the 580-foot frame does not feel as different from stepping on grass. The not different is the thing the 960-times density nerve endings register. The nerve endings register pressure. The nerve endings do not register the elk as separate from the ground.

Diane takes three cows in a single sweeping motion. The 580-foot frame's arm — the arm that is the size of a water tower — swings low across the meadow and the swinging is the thing the elk meet at chest height. The impact is the thing the 960-times density forearm does to bone and the bone is the thing that does not hold. The three cows are the thing the 742,000 pounds pick up and the picking up is the thing the 580-foot frame's hand closes around. The hand is forty feet across. The three cows fit in the palm. The fitting is the thing the 580-foot frame brings to its mouth.

The eating is raw. The eating has been raw since the drainage tunnel and the raw is the thing the 960-times density teeth do to elk skeleton. The teeth crush the vertebrae. The teeth crush the ribs. The teeth crush the skull. The crushing is the thing the jaw does and the jaw is the thing the 960-times density mandible operates without effort. The 742,000-pound body processes six elk in nine minutes and the nine minutes is the thing the metabolism does not linger over. The metabolism is the thing the 742,000 pounds run on and the running is the thing the elk refuel. The refueling is not pleasure. The refueling is the thing the animal does between hunger and hunger.

The 580-foot frames stand in the meadow. The meadow is the thing the hunt destroyed. The destroyed is fourteen elk carcasses processed and three elk that escaped south and the three is the thing the 742,000-pound bodies do not chase because the fourteen is enough. The enough is the thing the hunger accepts. The acceptance is the thing the 580-foot frame feels as the warmth in the stomach and the warmth is the thing the wish fills and the filling is the thing the eating does not interrupt. The eating feeds the warmth. The warmth feeds the growth. The growth is the thing that does not stop.

Lena's hand finds her forearm. The finding is the thing the 580-foot frame does without deciding to. The forearm is the thing the 960-times density bone and muscle has been since the valley and the valley is two months old. The forearm is different. The different is the thing the 960-times density nerve endings register as pressure and the pressure is the thing the hand applies and the pressure is the thing the forearm does not yield to. The 960-times density was the thing the forearm yielded at before. The before is the thing the hand is not finding. The hand is finding something denser. The denser is the thing the 960-times density has become and the becoming is the thing the wish did while the 580-foot frames were walking and talking and hunting and the doing is the thing the 580-foot frame did not notice until the hand pressed.

The density is 980. The 980 is the thing the 960 has become and the becoming is the thing the wish did without announcement. The wish does not announce. The wish builds. The building is the thing the warmth does and the warmth is the thing the speaking and the walking and the hunting and the eating and the memory have fed for two months and the feeding is the thing the density is the result of. The result is 980-times average human bone and muscle density. The 980 is the thing the 580-foot frame feels and the feeling is not data. The feeling is pride.

The pride is the thing the 580-foot frame has not felt before. The pride is not the office. The pride is not the tournament. The pride is not the 44-0 record or the $70,000 or the vendor analytics model. The pride is the thing the 742,000-pound body feels when the 742,000-pound body understands that the 742,000-pound body is denser than it was yesterday and the denser is the thing the wish gave and the giving is the thing the body earned. The earned is the thing the pride is. The pride is the thing the 580-foot frame's hand stays on the forearm for. The staying is the thing the 980-times density bone does not flex under. The not flexing is the thing the pride is. The pride is the thing the warmth fills. The warmth is the thing the pride feeds. The feeding is the thing that does not stop.

Diane feels it too. The 580-foot frame's hand is on her own thigh and the thigh is the thing the 980-times density has reached and the reaching is the thing the 742,000-pound body knows without measuring. The knowing is the thing the animal does when the animal is the animal. The animal knows its own density. The animal knows its own mass. The animal knows its own growth. The knowing is the thing the pride is and the pride is the thing the two 580-foot frames share in the destroyed meadow and the sharing is not a word. The sharing is the thing the 742,000-pound bodies do when the 742,000-pound bodies are the same and the same is the thing the wish made them and the making is the thing the pride is. The pride is the thing that does not stop. The not stopping is the thing the wish is. The wish is the thing that is still building. The building is the thing that is. The is. The is. The is.