The Mourning Woods - 03

by Rick Gualtieri

  She took a deep breath and tried to think of other things. Now was not the time for such thoughts. She was letting the stillness of the forest get her down. Such concerns could wait, at least until they were back home. She was determined to have some fun this weekend. Who knows? Maybe John had a point. If the mood was right and there was no stress to worry about, who was to say they might not return home a threesome in the making. That was a thought worth keeping.

  Hell, they could have already been started had John simply told his superiors no like she had asked. He was originally supposed to have taken a half day so that they could beat the weekend traffic down to the shore. Instead, he had agreed to this field trip.

  "It's not gonna take me long," he had said, two nights prior. "Besides, it's on the way. By the time I'm done, we'll already be most of the way there."

  "I don't understand why they need to send you to begin with. You're not a field tech."

  "I already told you, Charlie's out sick and nobody else is available."

  He had then gone on to explain, much to her chagrin, why this couldn't wait. The data that had passed through his office in the past few months had crossed the minimum safe thresholds by a wide margin. Though unlikely, there needed to be an investigation to ensure there wasn't a potential environmental situation in the making. That's how he always phrased it. His bosses at the NJDEP frowned upon any use of the word disaster. The last thing they wanted was someone slipping up in a conversation, especially since it seemed everyone was only a button push away from Twitter these days.

  Every year, reports would come in from local hikers, hunters, and fisherman regarding mutations: three-eyed fish, frogs with no legs, and, according to John, some weird-ass bugs. Generally speaking, this happened in any ecosystem from time to time; however, certain thresholds were maintained depending on the location. These data points were especially important for sanctuaries and protected areas, such as that which they were now in. John had told her the thresholds for this section of the reserve had been exceeded by a substantial margin as of late. Even though the previous quarter’s samples were clean, the higher-ups wanted everything retested now before anything leaked to the local press.

  “Afraid they’ll start running stories about monsters in the Pine Barrens?” she had joked.

  John hadn’t laughed, though. "That’s exactly what I’m afraid of. They run a story about ecological impact and most people will care less. They start flooding the local news with tales of Bigfoot and the Jersey Devil and we’ll have every yahoo in the tri-state area converging on this place. Then if it turns out there actually is a problem with the water or soil, we’ll find ourselves knee deep in a PR situation."

  Sophie cringed at his use of the S word again. She had grown to despise it over the past several months. That ended the conversation for her, and she had immediately changed the subject lest an argument erupt. She realized, though, that her curiosity had been piqued nevertheless. Thus, on the ride over she found herself bringing it up again. By then she had no choice but to come along, so she figured, at the very least, a little positive conversation might put John in a good mood for the weekend ahead.

  "So what do you think is causing it?"

  "Who can say?" he replied, "Could be illegal dumping, or it might be something leaking in one of the old mills."

  "Old mills?"

  "Oh yeah. It's all protected area now, but before then there were all sorts of efforts to develop here. Lumber, paper mills, hell there was even a moderately successful bog-iron industry in the Barrens back in the day."

  "Back in the day?" she asked, giving him her first grin of the morning. He was only twenty-five.

  "Well maybe a little before then. We're talking birth of a nation here. Industrial Revolution and all that."

  "How could that affect anything?"

  John had smiled back, encouraged by her show of something resembling enthusiasm. "They all closed up shop a long time ago, but a lot of the old buildings are still around, albeit they're all husks now, long taken back by the forest.”

  “So how is that dangerous?”

  “You have to realize that this was long before much thought was ever given to the environment. Back when they were all still in operation, these places produced tons of toxins, most of which were just dumped wherever they felt like."

  "And?"

  "And these guys weren't exactly big on cleaning up after themselves when they shut things down. It was cheaper to just lock the doors and walk away to start fresh somewhere else. Over time: machinery rusts, storage tanks rot, you know the deal. When that happens anywhere else, we have a major cleanup on our hands. Out here..."

  "Let me guess," she had replied, looking out the window of the state-owned SUV...the one they would be conveniently borrowing for the weekend. "Out here it’s a massive pain in the ass."

  "Exactly. Finding the source of the spill is hard enough. Getting a cleanup operation running...well that's a whole other level of fun right there."

  Upon arrival, John had offered to let her wait in the car while he collected samples. There were about a dozen or so spots in the surrounding area he needed to check. Sophie refused the offer, though. She knew he had a tendency to get lost in his work. Though she wasn't particularly fond of an afternoon spent hiking in the godforsaken wilderness, she knew that if she came along and continually reminded him of her presence, it could mean the difference of a few hours.

  Now, though, she was beginning to regret it. Though the temperature was cool, the effort had left her sweaty, dirty, and feeling a little gross. Forget about the casino, the first order of business upon arriving at the hotel was going to be a nice long shower. The distinct possibility that she wouldn't be alone in it was small comfort to her right then.

  "I'm bored, John."

  "I don't see how," he replied cheerfully. "Isn't this place great? Almost makes me wish I got out of the office more often."

  Sophie ignored him as she stood and stretched. In doing so, she felt wetness on her behind. Reaching back she discovered that the seat of her pants was now sticky.

  Just great! she thought, disgusted. These are brand new. She just hoped it was only morning dew or maybe sap from the stump. The thought that she may have accidentally sat in something else threatened to darken her mood further.

  She opened her mouth to complain again, when she heard a chuffing noise from a few yards off. Thinking nothing of it, she called out, "Bless you!"

  "For what?" John called back from where he was still organizing his pack.

  "Didn’t you sneeze?" she asked.

  "Wasn't me. You probably just heard a bir..." he was saying when the sound came again, catching his attention this time.

  "What was that?" Sophie asked. The noise had originated from somewhere close by, the source hidden by the thick growth that surrounded them. It had a heavy wheezing quality to it. One of Sophie's childhood playmates had been asthmatic. The noise didn’t sound entirely unlike those which her friend had made while in the grip of an attack. "Is someone there?" she called out.

  John chuckled in response. "You spook easily."

  "That didn't sound like a person to you?"

  "There's a lot of wildlife around us..."

  "A bear maybe?" Sophie asked, a note of concern in her voice.

  John, though, wasn't perturbed in the least. "Doubt it. Even if there is one around here, it'll just be a black bear. They won't bother us."

  "Are you s..." Before Sophie could finish the question, something launched itself from the brush. Whatever it was, it was large and quick. It tackled John from behind before he even knew what hit him. Together they went down in a tangle of arms and legs.

  Heavy snarls replaced the chuffing, but those were quickly drowned out by the sound of John's screams.

  Sophie stepped forward on instinct alone, but before she could reach her downed husband, his cries became a thick gurgle. There came the sound of something wet being torn and then a warm liquid splashed across Soph
ie's face. In the space of an instant she came to two realizations: what had hit her was blood - her husband’s, and the thing that was tearing into John was like nothing she had ever seen.

  Her mind had just enough time to register the thick bumpy hide, almost like scales, across its back. Then her nerve broke. Without another thought, Sophie turned and fled, screaming through the forest.

  A cry followed her, a heavy bellowing...almost human in its quality; however, that must have been her imagination. Whatever was out there wasn't human, not even close. Then another thought hit her, one that caused her to slow down ever so slightly. What if the cry had come from John? What if he was still alive, screaming out for her help...help that wasn't coming?

  Tears came to her eyes, but still she ran. Whatever it was that had attacked him, she knew in her heart that she would be ineffective against it. It had been larger than her husband and obviously far more powerful. Her panicked mind assured her that there was nothing she could have done to help him. Disgust and sorrow welled up in her simultaneously at that thought. It threatened to bring her to her knees, but still she somehow ran on. The fear was too strong to let her stop. Besides, a voice in the back of her head told her, at least this way there might be a chance. If she could make it back to the car, she could go get help, she could...

  Sophie realized too late she had no idea if she was even fleeing in the right direction. For all she knew she was racing even deeper into the seemingly endless forest that surrounded her. Suddenly she was certain she had been right earlier. Atlantic City was a world away, a world that she and her husband would never see again.

  She tried to push that thought away and concentrate on running. The direction really didn’t even matter. Getting hopelessly lost was better than just standing there. Better than letting that thing catch her.

  Her mind was still aflutter with these thoughts when she suddenly spied a break in the trees up ahead. She ran into a small clearing and almost immediately felt a faint glimmer of hope. Standing in the middle, facing away from her, was what appeared to be a person. She had made the right choice after all! There was still a chance. If he was armed or had friends nearby, maybe they could still save John.

  "Please!" she cried out, racing toward the figure. "Please! I need help. My husband..."

  The figure turned to face her. She slid to a halt, the words dying in her throat.

  Sophie had thought it to be a person.

  She was wrong.

  Devil Hunters

  Coming 2013!

  Table of Contents

  Introduction

  Tis better To Have Loved and Lost

  Late For My Own Funeral

  Anticipation is a Killer

  Unexpected Company

  Ringside Seats

  Friends Don’t Let Friends Drink and Dissect

  Diplomatic Immunity

  Hell’s Hair Salon

  The Dude with the Crazy Eyes

  Yes, This is One of Those Exposition Chapters

  Vacation Daze

  Driving in Style

  Damn Nazi Vampires

  Four-legged Vampire Slayer

  Are We There Yet?

  As Primitive as Can Be

  Strangers in the Night

  Continental Breakfast

  Satan’s Snack Cart

  What’s in a Name?

  When You Gotta Go

  Keeping One’s Priorities Straight

  A Dumb Plan is Better than No Plan at All

  Cage Match

  99 Bottles of Blood on the Wall

  Midnight Tryst

  Mission Improbable

  The Great White North

  Frozen Wasteland

  What Happened While I Was Out?

  The Lying, the Witch, and the...err...Zombie?

  Ninja Vampire Attack!

  A Sticky Situation

  French Fried Mountain Oysters

  Round Two

  Crossing Enemy Lines

  Guilty By Association

  I Can’t Hear You, I’m Screaming Too Loud

  A Small Piece of Peace

  The Awesomely Important Epilogue

  About the Author

  Bonus Chapter