“I think we’re good,” he replied, “although it probably wouldn’t hurt to stick around for a little bit and do one last inventory. I don’t suppose you’d like to help make some suggestions for anything we might have missed?” Even as he said that last part, he regretted it. It probably sounded like one of the lamest pickup lines ever. No doubt he’d be hearing about it later from Rob, and probably Danni, too.
The shopkeeper appeared to consider this for a moment. If she had a snide comment to make, she kept it to herself. Finally, she answered, “Okay. Just be warned, I might go a little nuts on my suggestions. I do have a business to run, after all.”
Inwardly, Harrison breathed a sigh of relief. He was normally a pretty cool character with the ladies. It was unlike him to sputter like an idiot.
It was definitely time for him to move on. No point in delaying the inevitable. He’d break it off with Amy the second he got back to school. He had known couples to break up via text message or Facebook, but that struck him as excessively tacky. Even in this modern world, there were some things that needed to be done in person to maintain one’s integrity.
But that was for later. For now, he got to spend some time with a helpful stranger who just so happened to be easy on the eyes. He decided he might as well enjoy it – although, perhaps he’d try to keep the lame come-ons in check while doing so. No point in embarrassing himself further. Otherwise, it could wind up being a long week for him.
Chapter 4
One half hour, two full gas tanks, and maybe a hundred dollars’ worth of extra supplies later, they were making final preparations to get back on the road. Kate, the shopkeeper, had been fairly impressed by their overall preparedness. She had told them that over the years she had seen far too many campers heading out with barely a sleeping bag to their names. Nevertheless, she had given them some decent suggestions to add to their already sufficient gear – and maybe a few nonessential ones, too; business tended to be slow in Bonanza Creek.
They had loaded up on extra rations, a second water purification kit, a hand axe, and a machete. Harrison wasn’t quite convinced on that last one. After all, they weren’t going on an expedition through the Amazon. However, in the end, it could prove useful ... maybe. Besides, Kate’s smile was pretty intoxicating. If she had wanted to, she could have probably taken him to the cleaners as long as she kept batting her eyelashes.
“We about ready to go, or do you want to stare at the counter girl’s ass some more?” Rob finally asked.
“Robert!” Paula exclaimed.
“What? Don’t tell me you didn’t notice. Jeez, I thought he was practically getting ready to propose to her.”
“Asshole,” Harrison huffed with a grin. He didn’t think he would be getting out of this without at least one shot in his direction. He was just surprised his sister didn’t get a dig in as well before climbing back into the Xterra with Allison, Greg, and Wild Feather. Actually, upon thinking about it, it made perfect sense. Considering the way her eyes were practically glued to him, Harrison could have taken a piss right in the middle of the store and Danni might not have noticed.
Speaking of the devil, Harrison could see Wild Feather sitting in the driver’s seat of the Xterra. No doubt he was busy filling Danni’s ears with some bullshit about how he wished it were a horse instead. Why was she unable to see through all of his crap? He was very obviously playing her.
Of course, on the flipside, why was he so busy harping on it? Harrison sighed and once again reminded himself that she was an adult.
“Are we going, or are we just gonna sit here all day, staring out the window?” Rob asked, breaking him out of his reverie.
He’s right, Harrison mused. Plenty of time to mull it over once they had set up camp. He was putting them at risk of not making it in before dark. If that happened, then he’d really have to hear about it.
He gave a wave toward the other vehicle and started his engine. He pulled out, and it quickly fell in line behind him. From there, it was only a few minutes to find the far end of the town and the beginning of the logging road as it led into the increasingly dense forest.
Once they started down it, Harrison actually felt a sense of relief. Concentrating on the trail ahead required more than enough effort so that he was able to put images of his sister and Wild Feather communing with nature out of his head.
♦ ♦ ♦
Whereas the drive into Bonanza Creek had been relatively free of issues, the road – if it could even be called that – on the far side of the little town proved to be somewhat less friendly. They went no more than a mile before they came across their first obstacle, a downed branch. It wound up being small enough so that both vehicles could drive over it with no problem. Unfortunately, it was just a precursor for what awaited them as they journeyed further into the wilderness.
A short time later, they rounded a bend, and Harrison immediately hit the brakes.
“What the hell happened here?” Rob wondered out loud.
Harrison couldn’t help but agree with the sentiment. For dozens of yards in front of them, large branches – and in some instances whole trees – lay strewn across the trail. It looked as if either a bomb or a small localized tornado had hit the place.
Harrison shut off the Wrangler and got out. He heard the Xterra stop behind them and its doors being opened, but he didn’t pay it any mind.
He stepped over to where the first tree, not really much more than a sapling, lay and examined it. The tree appeared to have been bent down until it had broken. Looking further down the path of destruction, he could see similar markings on many of the other downed trees. That made no sense. The damage seemed to come from both sides of the road, and if it had been a tornado, it would have snapped them all in the opposite direction back toward the forest. This seemed more ... deliberate.
“The forest spirits here are restless,” Wild Feather said behind him, offering what Harrison found to be an exceptionally non-helpful suggestion. Still...
“Something sure as hell is,” Harrison commented.
“Yeah,” responded Rob, also coming up behind him. “Looks like someone dropped a herd of elephants off in this place. You guys ever seen anything like this?”
Harrison shook his head. “Nope. What about you, Feather?”
“Once, on a vision quest, I...”
“Can we forget the spirit bullshit for now?” he snapped. “Have you seen anything like this, yes or no?”
Wild Feather seemed to be at a momentary loss for words. “No.” He quickly composed himself and added, “I will perform a blessing here. Perhaps that will ease the tension from this place.” His normally easy tone was gone, however. To Harrison, it sounded like he was making it up on the spot.
“You do that,” he said before turning back to Rob. “Come walk with me. I think we can make it over most of this, but I want to be sure.”
As Wild Feather began chanting something unintelligible, just in time for the girls to join him, Harrison and his roommate began to step their way over the debris.
Most of the destruction looked the same to him, as if something had bent the trees to the point of breaking. He was beginning to suspect the possibility of a bunch of drunken yokels with ATVs and tow chains when Rob stopped and pointed out something.
“Are those scratch marks?” he asked, indicating one of the trees that still stood by the roadside.
Harrison stepped forward to look. It took him a moment to see them, and it wasn’t surprising why. He had been looking from the ground level up to about his own height, but the gouges were higher, about seven feet up. There was also a chunk of bark missing from right in front of them, as if something had grasped the tree and simply ripped a piece out.
“There’s more,” Rob added, pointing out a few other trees at the far end of the debris field. “I think I read somewhere that bears do that.”
“Would have to be a pretty large one,” Harrison countered.
“A Grizzly?”
�
�Doubt it. I don’t think they’re native to this area. Black bears are, but it would have to be a big one.”
“Pissed off, too,” Rob added.
“Yeah, really pissed off. Either that, or he had buddies to help him with this. I don’t know...” Harrison trailed off as he continued staring at the wreckage.
“What are you thinking?”
“Personally, I think someone’s screwing with us.”
“With us? Why?”
“Maybe not so much with us, as screwing with anyone trying to come this way. Look at this place. Do you really think one animal did all this? I’m thinking it’s probably a couple of people trying to make it look that way.”
“Why?”
“Who knows?” Harrison sighed. “Maybe they’re growing pot in the woods and want to keep people out.”
“Don’t tell Greg that. You’d be giving him a new purpose in life.”
They both chuckled, then began to make their way back to where the rest of the group was waiting. While it was definitely weird, Harrison was convinced it was the work of people. An animal doing all of this seemed doubtful to him. If there were freak weather conditions that could do such a thing, he had never heard of them. Either way, it wasn’t an insurmountable obstacle course. He had no doubt his Wrangler could traverse it. Danni’s rental would probably be okay, too, as long as they took it slowly. The biggest risk, as far as Harrison could see, was the possibility of a punctured tire.
However, he quickly realized perhaps there were other risks that he hadn’t taken into account. Once they rejoined the group, Paula ran up to Rob with a slightly wild look in her eyes. “Maybe we should just go home,” she said in a small voice.
“What are you talking about?”
“Wild Feather,” she whispered. “He said this was the work of the wendigo. It’s an evil forest spirit that...”
“I know what a wendigo is. You’re kidding, right?”
She lowered her voice even further. “He’s an Indian. They know these things.”
Harrison had been close enough to hear her, and he shot his roommate an eye-roll. For the past few hours he had been thinking that, before the end of the week, he was most likely going to have a nice, long chat with this Wild Feather dude. Now, he wondered if he’d make it through the day before telling this guy to cut the shit.
For now, though, his main concern was to nip this in the bud. His sister had been looking forward to this trip, and as far as Harrison was concerned, unless she changed her mind, something stupid like a bunch of downed branches wasn’t going to stop them. “Rob and I checked things out,” he said in a voice loud enough to get everyone’s attention. “It should be passable as long as we take it slow.”
“That’s good to hear,” replied Danni, her tone upbeat. “Just to be safe, though, I think we should do one car at a time.” Smitten or not, he knew his sister was a smart, down-to-earth girl. He doubted she’d give much credence to any bullshit ghost story.
“What did this?” Allison asked. She was standing next to Wild Feather and, judging by the look on her face, she had been at least partially taken in by his “wendigo” crap. Harrison had no issues with using a good ghost story to get into a girl’s pants, but this was different. Wild Feather appeared to be genuinely scaring some of the group.
He shot Rob a glance, hoping his roommate would take up on it. He needed a little backup. Otherwise, their imaginations could wind up running roughshod over each other. Finally, he said, “It looks man-made.”
After a moment, Rob, having taken the cue, jumped in. “Yeah. I think I saw some tire tracks on the other side. Probably some assholes with a full bottle of Jack and too much time on their hands.”
Allison and Paula both turned toward Wild Feather, as if expecting some brilliant rebuttal. Neither Harrison nor Rob knew Allison from a hole in the wall. However, both of them noticed Paula’s reaction toward the newcomer. If he said the wrong thing now, things had the potential to turn ugly.
Fortunately, Wild Feather was either smarter than he looked – or just lucky – as he replied, “I feel a darkness about this place. But perhaps it is the taint of men and not spirits. I am still but a student of my people’s ways.”
That settled it right there. The tension drained from the group, or at least from the girls, and they set about righting their situation. It was decided that the majority would take their packs and walk to the far end of the downed trees. Harrison and Danni would pilot their respective vehicles, now with their reduced weight loads, across the obstacles.
Once the others had grabbed their stuff and made it across, Harrison started up his Wrangler and put it into low gear. It was slow going as he tried to make sure he didn’t shred his tires on any sharp branches or protruding rocks, but fifteen minutes later his wheels touched down onto the dirt at the far side.
Then it was Danni’s turn. The Xterra was almost as capable off-road as Harrison’s vehicle, except it was outfitted with stock tires made more for the highway than for hard trails. She took it even more slowly than her brother. About three-quarters of the way through, one of her back tires got caught between two logs and lost traction. For a moment, it appeared the rest of the group would need to come back and give her a push, but then the other three wheels caught and she powered over the obstacle.
A few minutes later, they were all loading themselves back up into their respective rides. They were no worse for the wear, but Harrison noticed with some regret that they had eaten into their remaining daylight. Whatever cushion of time they had started off with was now greatly reduced. If they came across any further delays, they’d be hiking to their destination in the dark. He wasn’t particularly frightened of that notion, and he knew Danni wouldn’t be either. He wasn’t sure about the others, though, especially if Wild Feather started in with his “spirit” crap again. If that happened, they might wind up camping out in the vehicles and starting again at daybreak.
Chapter 5
Rage! He couldn’t remember when he had felt anything other than a seething hatred for all things. Perhaps he had always felt this way. It seemed as if he might. Yes, it was likely so. Rage consumed his being now as it had always done. The only way to quench it was to unleash it upon anything he came across.
He had torn apart countless of the four-legged things. They were timid and cautious, but they were stupid, too. They died bleating in fear as they were ripped to shreds. So, too, had some of the small chattering things in the trees been far too curious for their own good. They had come down to investigate, only to be torn in half and eaten even as they still twitched.
The meat didn’t quell the rage, but he felt a need for it regardless. A small part of his fevered brain seemed to remember feasting upon roots and berries, but those memories must have been a lie. There had always been the rage, and it demanded that flesh and blood be his sole sustenance.
He walked through the woods aimlessly with no direction, no purpose. In that, too, there was only rage. He vaguely remembered a territory he had once kept with others of his kind, but that was no more. He had eventually savaged them with teeth and nails in response to their worried grunts. Now he was alone. His only companion was the anger that seethed within.
He slashed at a tree trunk as he lumbered past. He seemed to recall that this had once been a way to mark his passing. Not too long ago, he had done the same thing in a long, narrow clearing. Instinct had momentarily overcome the rage in his mind, and he had started marking trees to denote his domain. Then the rage had descended again, stronger than ever. The trees themselves seemed to mock him. He had killed a great many of them before the bloodlust abated. It had not been satisfying, though. Trees did not bleed. Trees did not scream.
A memory of the recent past reminded him that the two-legged things were a different story. Though they were small and weak, they were satisfying. They ran, they fought, they bled, and they screamed. Oh, did they scream. Their death wails were an agony of sound to his sensitive ears, but one that called
to him nevertheless. Their flesh was fatty and foul-tasting, yet he craved its taste anyway. Yes, they were worthy prey.
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