by Alpesco
Karen Sandwood shows who is Top Predator on the Mountain.
Karen Sandwood was standing in the open clearing in front of her cabin. The day was overcast, but you could still see the mountain peaks that rose all around this isolated farmstead. She wore denim shorts and a dark red cropped top as she did her morning workout. I watched as she picked up the front wheel axel of an old pick-up truck which still had both wheels attached. Standing straight, she bent her long, powerful arms to curl the weight up to her chest and then lower it back down to her knees. I knew that the front wheel assembly weighed at least 170 pounds. But the six foot two, twenty eight year old blonde curled the heavy weight with perfect form a full fifteen times as Vince and me continued to work on the potato picking.
"I'm sick of that damn bimbo always showing off her strength," Vince muttered to me, watching her huge arm muscles swell and contract as they powered the solid steel upward. "She's just trying to humiliate us."
"She seems to have done a good job of that with you already," I nodded at my five foot ten inch tall ex-boyfriend. His face was still swollen and distorted from the staggering uppercut Karen had administered during his most recent escape attempt. "She put you out like a light with just that one blow. And you're still hurting from it, two weeks later! You're no match for her - and you hate that."
"I'll get even with her before long," Vince said. "You wait and see. It's just that she's so damn-awful strong. She's too powerful to challenge head-on. But she'll make a mistake, and then we'll get out of here, and see her in the hands of the authorities!"
"That's just the reason she won't let us go," I said. "There's only one way we're going to get out of here. And that's when you accept Karen's rulership here, and convince her that you won't betray her to the police if she lets you leave. Face it. Sandwood IS the authorities here. Look at the way she took apart those cultists last week."
Karen was now holding the truck axel at shoulder height, and using her arms to press it high up above her head. She repeated the movement eight times, then dropped the heavy wheel assembly to the ground. The metal wheel rims bit three inches deep in to the earth.
Drawing a breath, she turned to face the two of us, windmilling her big arms to restore the circulation. "Stop working for a moment," she ordered, "and stand up." We did so. "Vince," she beckoned the five foot ten, two hundred pound man with her forefinger. "Step over here." He knew enough now not to disobey a direct order from our host/captor. She had many effective means of punishing anyone who failed to submit to her wishes. He stepped forward sulkily.
"Stay perfectly still," She ordered. "And keep your body as straight as possible." She placed one hand around his shoulder, and clamped the other about his upper thigh. Then, with a powerful surge, she lifted. He gave a grunt of surprise as her strong arms wrenched him right off his feet to raise him horizontally to chest height, fully five feet off the ground. She lifted him so easily that he might have been made out of nothing heavier than straw!
"Keep your legs together," she ordered. Then her big arms moved again, the muscles swelling and rippling as they drove smoothly upward. And Vince went up with them! He was clearly in some discomfort, writhing in Sandwood's vice-like grip. But he could do nothing about it. Karen was simply too strong. Her power was such an illicit turn-on for me. That a girl, and a not bad-looking one at that, could have such dominant strength was something I hadn't imagined. Vince's body went up past Sandwood's shoulders, past her head, then higher still, until she had him stretched out fully eight feet above the ground.
"Owww!" he moaned as Sandwood stood tall with him hoisted overhead.
"Don't struggle," she warned. "If I let you drop from that height, you'll be badly hurt."
"Owwwww!" he wailed again. "It hurts already! Your hands are gripping too hard."
"I have to grip you hard," she said matter of factly, seeming under no strain at all as her strong arms continued to hold him above her head. "You weigh two hundred pounds. I can press that weight, no problem, but I have to have a secure grip. My hands may bruise you up a little, but it won't last." She started to walk across the clearing with Vince suspended over her head, her waist drawing gently in and out as she breathed.
"Put me down!" Vince yelled, his voice turning quickly to a yelp as Karen's hands squeezed harder.
"You don't give me orders," Her strong voice emphasized her overpowering strength. She looked as if she could hold him there all day.
"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "Please. Please put me down."
"Not quite yet," Karen said. "Now I've got you up there, I'll put you to some use." She bent her arms, lowering her hands slowly until she held Vince supported behind her neck. She drew a breath, then she slowly powered her long arms upward once more, raising the nearly 200 pound guy to full extension above her head. I gasped as she repeated this four more times, through all of which, Vince emitted deep grunts of pain and groans of discomfort. Only after the fifth perfect body press had locked out above her head, did Sandwood finally lower him under control, straightening his body as she set him gently back on to his feet. Vince looked far more beat than she did. He staggered to a wooden railing, massaging his bruised arm and upper leg.
Sandwood watched him with a smirk, clearly pleased with her feat. "That felt good!" she said, raising her powerful arms again and flexing them.
"You're so strong!" I said.
"That's nothing." Karen said. "Come here." I stepped forward uncertainly. Stretching forward, she clamped her hands about my hips and then lifted me vertically off the ground. I gave a cry of alarm. She picked me up with such ease, I felt like a doll in her strong arms. Then she tipped my body parallel with the ground so that she held me horizontal, a few inches above her left shoulder, my legs in front of her, my body behind. I wondered what she was going to do. Then she adjusted my body in her grip so that her left hand was beneath my right hip, supporting nearly all my weight. I felt the grip of her strong left hand increase, crushing my hip bone from both sides. And suddenly I felt her push powerfully upward. The thrust came entirely from her left arm, she used her right hand only to steady my body.
I couldn't believe it. I was being lifted high above her head, just like Vince, but this time my whole weight was being raised just by Sandwood's big left arm!
I saw Vince gaze in disbelief as he fell away beneath me.
"Keep still," Karen ordered, "-or I may drop you. I'm going to remove my right hand completely now, and support you with just my left." I felt the iron grip on my hip grow fiercer as her left hand supported my entire weight.
Beneath me I saw her right hand withdraw, then raise itself in an awesome single-arm bicep flex as Karen gave a grunt of triumph. "Pretty cool," she said, holding me solidly above her head as she continued to keep her right arm flexed, displaying her massive bicep. After a minute, she lowered me all the way down to shoulder level with her one arm. She held me there for a moment, then pushed me straight back up again.
"You're beginning to hurt me," I said, realizing what Vince had just experienced as her grip on my hip bone grew even fiercer.
"Only a little longer," she said, keeping me above her head as she began to count slowly, one second at a time. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven..." The count went on and on as the pressure of her steely fingers on my hip bone steadily increased. Her left thumb dug harshly into my pelvis as it held my body in position. I hadn't realised just how strong Sandwood's hands were before. The pressure on my hip bone became nearly unbearable as her iron thumb tore in to me. "...forty four, forty five, forty six..."
"Owwww!" I moaned. "Your grip is really hurting!"
"Not much longer. " She continued to count. When she reached seventy I began to wail, "Please! I can't take any more! Let me down!"
"Okay," She seemed disappointed, but thankfully, at last, her powerful arm relented, lowering me to shoulder height, before she set me down on my feet. I almost collapsed with the searing pain in my hip where her left hand had gripped me with such irresistable force. I knew there would be bruises there for weeks.
"I wanted to break sixty seconds," she explained. "I did that easy. I could have gone for 120 or 180, but you were obviously hurting pretty bad up there, so I decided to give you a break. I do have a very strong grip."
"You're too strong!" I gasped.
"Too strong?" Karen frowned. "There's no such thing. I'm plenty strong though, and I feel like I've gained some strength recently. I'll have to work out some way of doing that lift so I don't have to grip one bodypart so hard. Now measure me. Use the long tape over there. I want it accurate."
"Bicep 17 3/4 inches," I said, pulling the vinyl tape as tight as I could around Karen's rock-hard bicep.
"That's a new best," she nodded with satisfaction.
"Neck 13 inches. Waist," I fitted the tape measure around her muscular midriff. "26 inches! Thigh 25 inches. Calf 16 and a half inches. Height." This was difficult. "Six feet two and a half inches. Inside leg 37 inches."
"That's a quarter inch gain on the biceps since you got here," she flexed her arms. "And my thigh and waist measurements are getting even closer."
"Now do my arm span," she stretched them wide.
"Wow!" I said, reading the tape. "Fingertip to fingertip is six feet eight inches!"
"That hasn't changed," Karen smiled. "I've always had a great wingspan. It helps me to hit faster, and with a lot more power." She suddenly launched her right arm forward. There was a whoosh of air as it whistled past my face, her shoulders twisting into the punch as her fist found its target on the thick cabin wall three feet behind me.
CRACKK! There was a startlingly loud crash as her fist impacted the inch-thick boards, and the whole end of the cabin shook, rattling the glass in the windows. I looked round as Karen withdrew her fist. The board where her fist had struck was dented, and a deep new crack ran across it.
"I better not hit it again," Sandwood said, "or I might put the wall right through. Anyway I want you two to bring some large baskets," she pointed. "I'm going to show you where to gather some berries to help see us through the winter."
She led us down through the trees and a narrow valley to a large lake I hadn't even guessed was so close. "There are plenty of bushes here. Today is a good day for gathering." She set the two of us working, then pointed to the lakeshore. "That's where animals come down to drink. There's plenty of deer tracks all over here. There's one I've been after for a long time. Stay here."
Leaving us to gather berries she went down to the lakeshore, and crouched in the long grass, waiting and watching. After a half hour a stag appeared at the edge of the woods and began to walk toward the water.
Sandwood lay still and flat in the long grass downwind of the deer, waiting for the big stag to approach the water. I couldn't see Karen now, but the deer was definitely very near her. She was perfectly still.
Then. without warning, she came up out of her hiding place, and threw her arms around its neck, wrapping her strong legs about its body. Terrified, it sprang back and upward, taking her with it as it tried to escape. But it didn't get far with Karen's weight on its left side. It tried to shake her off, but her hold was incredibly strong. The deer bucked and reared, but it couldn't break her grip. It was unbalanced, trying to free itself and staggering crazily under Sandwood's one hundred and eighty pound weight as her muscular arms and legs tightened their hold. I knew it couldn't stay upright for long. Stumbling, it fell onto its side with Sandwood underneath.
I wondered what Karen was hoping to achieve. It had seemed a spur of the moment decision. She was tackling this four hundred pound creature with no weapons at all! I left my basket of berries and ran toward the lake. The stag was down and struggling. I could see it trying to fight against Karen's long, powerful legs which were wrapped tightly around it's body, keeping it flat on the ground. I was amazed. She was just so strong! The animal was flailing its legs, trying to get back up again, but it couldn't gain enough purchase to right itself or to break free of that awesome grip. Karen's legs were like the coils of a huge python, holding the stag's body restricted as they crushed tighter and tighter. It could hardly move its body at all now. And her legs were showing no sign of relenting. Her arms were steadily constricting its neck, the large muscles rippling and hardening.
I gasped. The stag's head was now completely immobile. It could barely move it more than half an inch in any direction as Karen's powerful arms set and hardened. I was astonished to realise that she was now in complete control of the movement of a creature that weighed twice as much as she did! There was no way that even this big animal was going to get back to its feet again unless Karen chose to release it. But she clearly did not seem to have any release for the large animal in mind. The trapped stag began gasping for breath as her incredibly strong arms continued to crush its neck. Karen raised her head above the trapped head of the beast as her long arms constricted remorselessly.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm increasing our meat store for the winter," she said as her arms contracted once more.
"You think you can kill it?" I was aghast.
"I've already got the job eighty percent done," Karen said as her arms and legs continued to tighten their fierce grip. She drew a big breath and imposed another surge of power.
The big animal flailed its legs once more, but its struggles were becoming weaker. Karen's fierce grip seemed to be sapping all the strength out of it. "It's all over now," she said, squeezing tighter with her arms and legs. The creature groaned deeply.
I was amazed by the outcome. Karen was not only proving stronger than this 350 pound creature, she was completely overwhelming it! I could see that this was no longer an equal contest. Karen was the predator, and the prey was not going to escape. I heard a dull popping from the animal's ribs as Karen's muscular legs continued to crush. There was a further grunt of effort from Sandwood as her arms tightened again. My eyes widened as the animal's breathing rasped fiercely. Karen was just too strong. Her arms had cut off it's air supply! The huge creature could no longer breathe. It gave a sequence of deep shudders. Then it began to go limp. Appalled, I watched its eyes slowly close as Karen's powerful biceps swelled.
Within moments the stag was completely still. After thirty seconds more she allowed her grip on it's neck to loosen momentarily as her steely arms wrapped themselves around its head. Her grip tightened immediately. Her eyes focussed and then her arms imposed a brutal surge of power, wrenching violently leftward. The stag's head came around sharply. A deep cracking sound came from its neck. There was a spasm in the creature's body, and it went completely limp. Karen drew a breath, but she wasn't yet finished. A moment later she applied another massive surge with her so-solid arms,. With a series of loud cracks like the snapping of rotten branches, the head of the deer came right round through 180 degrees to face her!
There was no doubt now that the creature's neck was broken. She had wrenched its head completely around to hang loosely in her arms. The stag was completely lifeless. There were two more heavy cracks from the animal's chest as Karen's legs continued to constrict. Then, at last she allowed her legs to release the immense pressure they had been applying. She was now the only creature breathing. She unwound her arms and legs from the body. Gathering her right hand into a fist. she raised it above the creature's skull, then brought it down heavily. There was a horrible crack as it drove into the stag's head, stoving its skull. "That's just to make absolutely sure," she said as she stood.
Karen drew a deep breath, raised her muscular arms and flexed them. I was amazed. Part of me was sorry for the stag that Karen had just killed, the other part was flooded with exultation and admiration for Karen's immense power. She had crushed the life out of a creature over twice her bodyweight, and she was not only completely unharmed, but still radiating strength. Karen was incredible.
"I could have used my bow or some other weapon," she said, enjoying my reaction to her power. "But sometimes I like to just wrestle down a deer with my bare hands," She turned to look down at it. "It may have been larger than me, but I'm stronger. I didn't even need this," she took out an eight inch steel hunting knife that had been concealed in her boot. Bending, she slashed the belly open. "Now clean it out, and wash it," she ordered us.
We did as we were told, finishing the messy job as a loud crashing came from the trees bordering the lake. I turned to look, seeing a rush of brown as a bear came out of the woods.
"He must have smelled the blood!" Karen said, pointing behind her. "You two get out of the way!"
We ran as Karen stood between us and the bear, distancing herself from the dead deer. The bear came toward her. She picked up a rock and hurled it at the advancing bear, striking it in the head. It chased after her angrily. Turning. she ran for a nearby tree. She leapt for a branch nine feet up, and caught it easily, pulling herself smoothly up on to it. As the bear reared beneath her, she scrambled up to a higher branch just out of its reach.
"What shall we do?" I said to Vince.
"We can't do anything without it turning on us," Vince said. "She's trapped. The good thing is, this might give us a chance to get away..."
"That's terrible," I said. "We can't just leave her..."
The bear was persistent. It kept roaring and looking up at the trapped Karen. I saw Sandwood move along the branch, looking down at the bear. She appeared to be closely studying its movement and positioning. She was right on top of it. I gasped as, without warning, she dropped from the branch right on to the five hundred pound creature's back, her legs astride and gripping tightly.
The bear reared in surprise and fury, trying to twist around and claw the tall young woman on its back. But Karen was clamped on tight, and refused to let go, swaying her body expertly back out of reach of its talons. Then I saw the steel hunting knife in her hand. It flashed down and deep into the bear's neck, propelled by her long right arm. She drew the knife brutally back, ripping and tearing through the bear's flesh. Suddenly there was blood pouring down the creature's fur. The bear roared in pain and fury, rearing again. But again Karen's arm flashed forward, and then again, the knife biting hard and deep under the bear's neck as it threw its head back in fury.
There was another deep rip, and a gushing of blood. The bear roared again, but this time with pain and alarm. The cut produced by Karen's long knife was really deep. The creature was losing blood by the bucketload! I could hardly believe what was happening! Sandwood was doing appalling damage to the bear! It was weakening visibly as blood gushed from deep wounds in its neck. Karen applied the knife again, her strong arm driving it deep and ripping hard. The bear groaned and staggered. It advanced four more steps and then it collapsed, slumping to the ground like a bag of rocks. It gurgled as a pool of blood gathered beneath its head, and then it was still. Karen waited a few moments sitting astride its back. But the bear remained motionless as its breathing ceased.
She wiped her bloodied hand on its fur and then stood up. "You're safe now," she called out to us. "I've killed it."
"I don't believe it!" Vince gasped.
"I told you I was top predator on this mountain," Karen said as we approached. "No exceptions. I'm a pretty tough gal. Even without my bow or my rifle along, there's nothing much here that can get the better of me. Sometimes I surprise myself what I can do." She bent, using the viciously sharp knife that had just killed the bear to expertly remove the bearskin. "Wash this," she gave the skin to Vince, pointing to the lakeshore.
Vince didn't like the job, but he was completely speechless and did as he was told.
"Okay," she stooped down into position in front of the stag. "Now to get this baby home." She went down in a deep squat with her back to the heavy animal. Then she used her long arms to gather up its legs and drape them in front of her, across her shoulders.
"You aren't going to try and pick that thng up yourself?" I said in disbelief.
"Try has nothing to do with it," Sandwood said, leaning forward and hauling the 350 pound body across her shoulders. She shrugged her shoulders, balancing the enormous weight. Then with a low grunt she slowly straightened her legs - and the creature began to rise! I watched, awestruck, as Karen's slender body stretched and straightened, lifting the huge bulk of the dead stag up with it, draped across her shoulders. Higher and higher the beast rose as Sandwood straightened to her full six feet and two inches. With a sigh, she stood perfectly erect, the body of the stag rising high above her. She shrugged her shoulders to rebalance the weight, then began to stride up toward the cabin clearing.The two of us followed, carrying the bearskin and the baskets of berries.
Karen looked a little like Superwoman, carrying a creature more than twice her size across her shoulders. The burden looked so top-heavy, like a saloon car resting on a bar stool, that I half expected her to falter or stumble. But Karen did not tire and remained ramrod-straight, keeping a good pace over the rough ground as she carried her prey the half-mile back up to camp. Striding up to the house, she halted at last, bending sideways to drop the stag heavily down in front of the door. She stretched, flexing her awesome muscles.
"Skin it, cut it up and freeze it," she said.
Vince and I could do nothing but obey. Karen Sandwood was certainly the most dangerous creature on this mountain and for a long distance around it.