Zack and Rick wanted to hike the trail. Donovan wanted to do whatever Javier wanted to do, and Javier wanted to go down to Florida and party at Miami Beach. They tossed a coin and fate decided this was the way to go. Sure, chasing girls on the beach had its benefits, but they’d done that every year on spring break since they got into college.
Zack wanted to do something different. Since this was probably the last time the four of them as a group were going to spend together, he wanted to do something where they could just hang out and create a few more memories. If you put girls and a beach into the equation, there was a good chance they wouldn’t be spending any time together at all. It was just the foursome—the same four friends that met up freshman year at Princeton while sharing a suite. They’d been through a lot together and now they were all going their separate ways.
Javier was off to law school, angling to join his father’s big Manhattan firm. Donovan took a job in San Francisco with a small upstart software company, and Rick was going back home to Newberg, New York to work on his family farm. He’d gotten a degree in agricultural science and was going to take the dying family farm into a new realm. He’d connected with an organics company and they were about to sink about ten million dollars into the operation to turn the farm into an organics trendsetter with the largest greenhouse in the country for year-round growing.
Zack still wasn’t sure what he was going to do. He might just stay in New Jersey and find a job. Or he might take Rick up on his offer to work with him at the farm. Zack certainly wasn’t a farmer by any stretch. His degree was in marketing and communications, but that’s exactly why Rick wanted him. A new organic farm was going to need all sorts of marketing and media strategies and Zack could already envision a lot of good ideas. Not to mention, two Princeton graduates could attract a ton of investors and a good amount of attention.
It was a big decision. He didn’t want to go in with Rick, hate it, and leave him hanging. He’d visited Newberg with Rick a couple times and it wasn’t really his type of place. It was a small upstate New York town, surrounded by smaller towns, which were surrounded by forests and farms.
Zack also had a standing offer to work with his Uncle Jack if he wanted. Jack Byrne owned Byrne Golf Equipment, a medium sized company that provided high end equipment. Zack didn’t really like golf that much, but it was a good company and his father wanted him to come work for Uncle Jack like pretty much everyone in the family did.
The sad part is that these offers were better than anything he had thought up on his own. The problem was he really had no idea what he wanted to do. He wasn’t really good enough at anything he liked doing to choose it for a career. Sometimes he wished he’d stayed a psych major, because he liked working with people. But the idea of sitting behind a desk and asking people how they really felt didn’t excite him.
Either way he didn’t have to make a choice right now. The whole point of this trip was to unplug, unwind, and shut down his overactive brain. He focused back on the trail as the rocky path wound down and around a sharp turn. As they came out over the side of a steep drop, a pristine, crystal green lake appeared to their left in the near distance.
“Wow,” Rick said. “That’s some beautiful shit right there.”
“Yeah, it is,” Zack replied. “Looks like a liquid emerald.”
Donovan lifted his small field binoculars to his face and pointed to a clearing on the opposite side. “I see potential camping right there.”
Zack took out his phone and snapped a picture. “Agreed, that looks like the sweet spot.”
They headed down the path towards the lake.
***
After setting up their tents, Zack and Rick headed out to gather some wood for a fire. They found a large gather of broken trees and started snapping off some limbs.
“So,” Rick asked, “did you give any thought to my proposal?”
Zack sighed. “I thought we weren’t going to talk about it this week.”
“Did I say that?” Rick smiled. “And you believed me?”
“Yeah, I should know better.” Zack was good friends with a lot of people, but Rick was definitely his best friend. They’d only known each other for four years but they’d been practically glued together since their first day at Princeton. They had a lot in common right off the bat, as they were both huge motocross fans growing up, and rode dirt bikes all their lives. That’s a small community in general. Most people will bond over something obscure that they share, and when Rick got tickets for the Motocross Nationals at Unadilla that first summer, they were buds ever since. The O’Reilly family farm was only five miles from the racetrack, so Rick had been going every year since he was old enough to walk.
“Did you see that trail a while back off to the left? That hill?” Rick asked.
Zack broke off a huge limb. “I know. I was drooling; that would be a nice ride. Wish we had our bikes.”
“No doubt bro. I wish we’d’ve gone out to Glamis and hit the dunes instead.”
Zack picked up a large log and tossed it. “I hear ya, but those guys don’t ride. I’m pretty sure Javy is afraid of dirt bikes.”
“I’m pretty sure Javy is afraid of dirt.”
Zack laughed a little. “Yeah, he won’t admit it, but he’s hatin’ this.”
“He hates anything that doesn’t include a cocktail glass with sugar on the rim, served to him by a blonde with huge fake boobs.”
“As long as those huge boobs are offset by a huge fake booty.”
“And the hair has to be really fake-looking with black roots.”
Zack nodded. “And she needs to have those huge spider-leg eye lashes.”
They laughed and Zack asked, “How many fake parts can a girl have before she’s officially a cyborg?”
“I’d say more than five.”
Zack tossed another log. “No, gotta be more than that. You got boobs, hair, lashes, nails, butts—”
“Calfs, lips, noses—”
“Contacts, eyebrows…” Zack thought for a second. “We need to change our criteria. I’m going to go with a power button on the nipples or touchpad on the abs.”
Rick blew out a long breath and wiped a bit of sweat from his brow. “So we’re not there yet, technologically speaking.”
Zack wiped his hands on his jeans. “No quite.”
They carried as much wood as they could pile onto their arms and headed back to camp. As they arrived, Javier and Donovan were just completing the circle of rocks that would be the fire pit.
Zack’s pile was getting very heavy. His arms were whipped and he dropped the pile with a groan. Rick didn’t have as much trouble. He was built much thicker—not that Zack was a weakling by any stretch. In fact, he spent a good amount of time in the gym working out, lifting weights, and he’d played hockey all his life. But Rick was a freak of nature, built like a tank out of the womb.
Zack took out his foldout axe and started chopping off some splinters for kindling. Night would be falling soon and they needed a good fire. He hacked away at a large arm-sized log until he had a nice pile of splinters and twigs and he started arranging them around the center of the fire pit.
In his pack, he had some dirty paper towels he saved in a zipper bag to keep them dry. Zack had taken a one-week survival course in school, and rule one is that you never throw anything away because there is a recycle use for everything. Old paper towels were perfect for starting a fire.
He clicked his compact camping lighter and got a towel burning. Touching it to the tiny curled pieces of shaved wood, it didn’t take long for those to ignite, and before long a small fire was cooking. “We have ignition.”
Rick came over and placed four small logs on top in a pyramid shape. “And we have liftoff.”
Zack looked towards Donovan, who just finished setting up his tent. “You two make a wood run.”
“Why us?”
“Because we just did.” Zack pointed down the trail. “Go down there about two hundred yards, there�
�s a nice pile on the left side.”
Donovan tapped Javier, who sat on a log. “C’mon, Javy, we’re up.” He turned back to Zack. “Then you two can go find your own seats.”
***
They sat around the fire. It wasn’t completely dark beyond the glow of their campsite. “Good call, Dono, on the camp,” Zack said to Donovan. “We would’ve never made it to Lenape before dark.”
Donovan leaned back on his log and said in an old English accent, “Why thank you, Ma’Lord, ‘tis my honor to navigate and relay critical logistics.”
Zack laughed. “You’re such a freak.”
“Yeah,” Rick added. “You need to stop that Larping shit or you’re never going to get laid.”
“Are you actually still doing that stuff?” Zack asked Donovan.
“Indeed I am,” Donovan replied. “You guys don’t know what you’re missing.”
“Sorry, Dono,” Zack said. “We know exactly what we’re missing.”
“I’m not so sure, guys,” Javier entered the conversation. “I could see it being fun. It’s just like acting. I was in the drama club in high school and I played a knight once. It was cool.”
“Except Larping is lame,” Rick offered. “At least there’re chicks in the drama club, so there’s some hope. I don’t see any chicks Larping.”
“Oh, yeah, there are,” Donovan added.
Rick raised his hand. “Sorry, let me rephrase that. I don’t see any hot chicks Larping.”
Donovan opened his mouth, but didn’t reply right away.
“My point exactly,” Rick said.
“I bet there’re some.” Donovan shrugged. “Just not in my group.”
Something in the woods caught Zack’s eye. He reached into his pocket and took out his high-powered LED flashlight. When he shined it into the woods, he saw a brief reflection, that then flittered away.
“What is it?” Rick asked.
Zack narrowed his eyes and followed the beam. “I saw something.”
“Bear?”
“Not unless a bear has something reflective on him.”
“Eyes?”
“No, it wasn’t eye shine. This looked like glass or metal.”
Rick looked around. “There’re probably other campers around here somewhere. This place isn’t that far from the trail.”
Zack scanned the perimeter with the light. “I’m sure there are. But why would they be stalking us from the woods?”
Donovan shook his head adamantly. “No way guys. This is way off the beaten path. We’re two miles off the alternate route and at least three miles off the AT, and at least a mile from any marked cabins or campsites.”
“True,” Zack offered, “ But but there’s a trail here. We found this place , . I’m sure there’s something around here we didn’t see.”
“There’re cabins,” Rick said. “All along the AT there are cabins that aren’t on the maps. My Uncle Liam has hiked this trail in its entirety three times, and he said you find all sorts of weirdoes and bizarre things off the map. That’s why he wanted me to take a gun.”
Javier looked around nervously. “Maybe we should have one.”
Zack nodded. “I imagine there are weirdoes out here.” He looked up and saw the stars were starting to pop. It was really a beautiful night. The moon was not up yet—it was somewhere over the horizon—but last night it had been about two-thirds full.
Rick looked up. “When’s that meteor shower supposed to start?”
“It starts tomorrow, but peaks the night after. We should be up at Coalville by then, so the view should be amazing.”
“We can camp there on the open pasture,” Donovan added, “totally unobstructed view. I planned that, you’re welcome.”
Zack looked into the woods again and swore he saw something. He snapped his light on and saw something move. “What the…?”
“What is it?” Rick asked.
“There’s something in those woods.”
Rick shrugged it off. “Probably an animal. We’re invading their territory and they’re probably pissed.”
He was probably right.
Chapter 9
Emily woke up in the middle of the night when the door opened. Harry came into the cabin, clearly bothered. “What’s wrong?”
“There’re campers, right down the trail at the lake.”
“So what?”
“No one should be around here. This isn’t good. This is way too remote for anyone to’ve just happened onto this place. They could be a threat.”
Emily sat up on the edge of the bed. “Why would they be a threat? I’m sure they’re not.”
“We can’t take any chances.” He took out a rifle and started digging out rounds of ammunition from a large green box.
“What’re you doing?”
“I have to eliminate the threat.”
Emily sprang up to her feet in alarm. “What? You can’t just kill random people. They probably don’t have anything to do with us.”
Harry didn’t reply, he didn’t look up, he just continued loading the magazine with bullets.
“Harry, I’m sure it’s fine. There’s no need to panic.” She walked over to him. Beads of sweat were trickling down his brow, but it wasn’t hot. “Hey, listen—calm down.” He looked at her, and in the glint of the oil lamp light his eyes looked crazy. She swallowed hard. Never before had she seen him like this. Something was all wrong about his reaction. The last day or so he’d been acting different. But she just chalked it up to the isolation, after all, she was feeling a bit antsy herself. “Harry, it’s been four days, I think we should call my dad.”
He didn’t answer her.
“Harry, I want to talk to my father.”
He still didn’t answer.
“Harry!”
He looked up.
“If you don’t let me talk to my dad, I’m leaving. I’m going to just go back to the road and start walking until I see a car.”
“No!” He stood and took hold of her arm, pulling her across the room.
“Ouch, Harry, you’re hurting me.” She nearly punched his arm away when he stopped.
“I’m sorry, you’re right.” He placed the rifle down on the table and circled the room. “I’m just on edge. Your father asked me to protect you. I jumped into soldier mode and it’s hard to climb out. And we haven’t heard anything from anyone. I’m starting to freak out. I’m just afraid something horrible has happened.”
Emily rubbed and flexed her arm. “It’s fine. Just promise me you’re not going to do anything. Wait until morning and maybe they’ll be gone.”
He nodded and sat in the chair. Emily moved back to the bed. She wasn’t going back to sleep. The trust she had in Harry had been eroding over the past couple days and now it was all but gone. Sliding into the bed, she closed her eyes and pretended to sleep.
Harry’s phone rang and he quickly answered. “Hello?” He nodded and listened.
Emily got up to the edge of the bed, excited; this might be good news that this mess was over. Maybe everything had blown over and she could get back home. She watched Harry; his eyes darted back and forth.
“I understand.” He hung up the phone.
“What? What is it?”
He slid the phone back into his pocket. “That was your father. It’s just what we suspected. Someone is blackmailing him to steal money. They still think they’ve got you, and they contacted him about hacking some bank in Europe. He said he’s got a plan in motion, so we just need to stick it out for a while longer. He said not to contact him under any circumstances, that if he tried to go to the police they’d kill your entire family.”
“So we’re not going home?”
“I’m sorry, Emily, but you may have to get used to this. We may not be going back for a while.” He lay back on the cot and closed his eyes.
A new resolve started to build in her. Maybe she was taking a big chance, maybe Harry was telling the truth. But something was very fishy here. Why wouldn’t her fath
er ask to talk to her? She didn’t quite know what it was, but in her heart she knew it: something here was wrong.
After what seemed like hours of staring at the narrow logs that lined the ceiling, waiting, Harry started snoring. She eased out of bed and padded softly across the floor to the kitchen area. She slid open the drawer where she’d see him put his backup phone, but it wasn’t there. There was no way she wasn’t calling someone now. She had to. Even if it was to just hear a voice and hang up.
Maybe she was too cynical, or maybe it was just her intuition, but she had to talk to someone else. Then she thought about what Harry said: that if they contacted anyone these people would kill her family. But she was having a hard time believing they would know if she contacted her mother’s cell. At the very least, she wanted to see a news report or something about her friends. After all, she didn’t know if perhaps one of them made it, or if all of them made it. Maybe Ren was alive. Emily just needed some outside contact. She was a social person and wasn’t used to this isolation and it was driving her crazy. She just needed to see another human.
Harry would freak out if he knew what she was thinking , but maybe one of those campers had a phone. She slowly turned the knob on the front door and stealthily sliced outside and down the front steps.
It wasn’t that far of a walk to the lake, they’d done it yesterday to pump the well. But the darkness was absolute under the thick canopy of trees. She stopped and looked back at the cabin, hoping Harry didn’t hear her leave. Other than the near rustling of some small animals around the trail, silence ruled the night.
She walked softly down the trail, gradually increasing her speed as she got far enough away to where the sound of her steps wouldn’t carry back. Down the trail, the trees opened up a bit and the moonlight started to light her path well enough to see the prominent features of the ground.
After a while, she saw the shimmering campfire through the trees. The trail didn’t lead directly to it, so she cut straight through a small swath of woods, trying not to scrape her bare legs on the thick waist-high shrubs she was scaling through.
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