Zack dropped the bucket and ran for the trees to his right. The dirt exploded around his feet and off the bark of the trees as he broke into the woods and ran deeper into the twisting forest. He got behind a large tree and turned to look back at the scene. A man with an assault rifle stood over the bodies of Donovan and Javier and pumped bullets into them.
Rick was there on his knees, already wounded and bleeding, and then he wasn’t as the man shot him several times. Zack just turned and ran deeper into the woods, pumping his legs as hard as he could through the dark wetness.
This was unreal. It couldn’t be happening. They were out in the middle of nowhere, not expecting to see anyone else except perhaps another hiking team. The last thing they expected was some psycho with an assault rifle. Then again, that’s probably the last thing anyone, anywhere, expects to see.
Zack headed up a small hill, waiting for a moment to listen. His own heavy breath made the only sound. He looked up to the sun and knew which way he had to go to get to Eagle Point. There was an active ranger station up there and he could get some help.
He got to a vantage point where he could partially see the camp through the trees. Going down there would be risky. Even though he didn’t see the killer, he was there. If Zack could get to his pack, he’d be able to get his solar charger. His phone was not getting a signal here, but it might at higher ground. Problem was his battery was only at about fifty percent. Usually he hooked the phone to his charger while he was hiking, and in a couple hours it would be fully charged.
To save the battery he turned the phone off and stuffed it into his jeans pocket. He moved around to another position and eyed the camp. The gunman was there, going through their backpacks. Zack watched him take his pack apart. He was tossing the contents into the fire, which had reignited from other things he’d already tossed in. The man took the solar charger and stuffed it into the tan tactical vest he wore.
Zack felt dismay as he watched his belongings burn. The man then started to drag the bodies one-by-one to the stone platform near the lake and tossed them into the water below. Watching this transpire was one of the most helpless feelings he’d ever had in his life. For some reason he couldn’t run, transfixed by the dreamlike quality of this spectacle.
The rocks on the steep hill under Zack’s feet gave way, he nearly fell, but more seriously, he sent a large grouping of rocks clacking down the hill, giving away his position. The gunman focused his attention to where he was. Zack slowly backed up the hill, trying not to make any sudden movements, but the man opened fire anyway.
Bullets screamed into the woods, sending chunks of bark into the air. A couple shots thumped into the soil just a few feet to his left. He scrambled around and clawed up the hill, trying to get away.
He got to the crest of the hill. Not stopping this time, he just put his head down and ran as fast as he could until he came to a trail after a few hundred feet. Huffing hard, he turned up the trail to the East, heading towards Eagle Point. It was too far to run the whole way, but he ran for as long and hard as he could.
After a few miles, Zack had to take a break. Satisfaction that he’d put enough distance on the gunman allowed him to take this breather. The guy didn’t look to be in great shape, so Zack knew he could outrun him. Coming upon a rock wall next to the trail, he took a seat on the ledge. A few deep steady breaths caught his wind and got his pulse back to normal. He took out his phone to check for a signal, but there was nothing. Holding down the power button, he turned it right back off. He had to hope that battery lasted.
He didn’t want to rest too long, but he had to stay sharp, and if he wore himself out physically, he’d wear himself out mentally, and that would be a bad combination. With one final breath, he got back to his feet. Before he took a step, he heard someone coming down the trail in a full run. It seemed impossible to believe that guy could’ve covered that ground.
He was cornered now. The trail was wide open here. He’d never get up the trail in time to put distance on this guy. Instead of running, he picked up a couple large rocks and got behind a large boulder.
The person came around the corner and Zack brought the rock up. He was going to hammer this prick in the face with this softball-sized boulder and hope for the best. But when the person came into view he lowered the rock and jumped down into the path. The girl screamed in surprise.
“You!” Zack said.
“You?” she replied. “I thought you were all dead.”
He noticed she had a pair of handcuffs hanging from her left wrist. “You were in trouble, I knew it.”
“I tried to tell you.” She looked behind her. “He did it, didn’t he? He shot your friends?”
Zack had a feeling this was all related, but she just confirmed it. “Your boyfriend is a psychopath.”
She shook her head and gave him an annoyed look. “He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Sorry. Who is he?”
“He’s the psycho who killed my friends and abducted me. His name is Harold Moulton.”
Zack thought for a second, he knew that name. “I’m sorry about your friends.”
Her breathing finally calmed. “How’d you get away?”
“Dumb luck.”
“We have to keep moving, he’s going to come looking for me.”
They continued up the trail at a brisk walk. “What’s your name?” Zack asked.
“Emily.”
“I’m Zack.”
“Wish I could say it’s nice to meet you, Zack, but I’d rather not be here at all.”
“I’m right there with you on that one.”
They came to a rise and it opened into a long open section. There were some foothills to the left and taller mountains to the right. Zack looked around and there were steep cliffs on either side. There was no other way to go except across the plateau. “Damn, this is kind of open.”
Emily looked behind them. “It should be okay, I think we have a good lead on him.”
“I hope so.”
They headed out across.
“So is this guy some sort of serial killer?”
“Not that I know of. But— well, I guess he is now. He’s my neighbor, for fifteen years, and apparently he’s in love with me.”
“He sure has a funny way of showing it.”
“Tell me about it.”
Something about this seemed very familiar to Zack. It sounded like a story Donovan had just read to them the other day. “Are we talking run-of-the mill psycho? Is there a chance we might be able to outsmart him?”
She shook her head. “Not likely. He was a special forces soldier in the gulf war or something. He’s got a ton of guns and all kinds of goodies and I think he believes this is some sort of mission. He’s gone completely insane.”
“Damn. Wish we had a gun.”
“I tried. He must’ve took them with him.” She held up a small Swiss Army knife. “I took this. It was all I could find.”
Zack nodded once. “It might come in handy.” He looked out across the long plateau. “Maybe we should run this section, it’s flat.”
They started out in a jog and slowly picked up their pace to a good run.
On the other side, they entered back into the relative protection of the thick woods and slowed back to a brisk walk. They were still another day’s hike from Eagle Point.
The course Donovan had mapped out still had another hike in it. They’d planned on one more night’s camping near Lenape. Zack looked up to the sky and realized at some point he’d need to start to look for a place to camp before nightfall, and it had to be a totally different type of place than he’d normally look for.
They hiked at a brisk pace in relative silence, keeping a fast pace. They had to keep this up for hours, so there was no time to waste energy on idle chatter.
Chapter 12
They found a series of tall rock ledges that jutted out into a pasture. They were spaced evenly on both sides of the trail. Zack studied the sky above the trees and realized they
didn’t have a lot of time until dark. It was a good place to rest up. “Here’s a good spot. We need to find some place to rest before dark.”
Emily pointed up the trail. “Why can’t we just keep going? If we go through the night we can be there in a few hours.”
“It’s too dangerous at night. If one of us falls and twists an ankle, we’re dead. We’ll never stay ahead of him. And I don’t know what the terrain looks like ahead. This is a good defensive point.” Zack cursed himself for tossing his flashlight back into his pack, but there was no reason to keep it in his pocket at the time.
Emily agreed and they walked around behind one of the outcroppings.
“This is good,” Zack said. “I can see pretty far down that valley.”
He climbed up as far as he could and she followed. Once they were at a good vantage point, they sat on the flat rocks. “We should sleep in shifts.”
“I’m really thirsty,” Emily said.
“I know. Me too.”
She motioned with her head. “I saw a brook a while back.”
“You can’t drink that. It’s not purified.”
“I thought if it was moving, it was okay.”
He shook his head. “Not necessarily. It could be contaminated with any number of bacteria. It could make us sick. We just need to stick it out. There’s water and supplies at the ranger station.”
“How far is it?”
“If we leave at the break of dawn, we’ll be there by noon.”
She leaned back into the wall behind them. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“It’s pretty messed up. How’d you get into this mess?”
Emily tilted her head back and frowned. “We just graduated. We wanted one more party before we all went off to college, so we came down to Virginia Beach. Next thing I know someone busted into our hotel room, killed my friends, and put a rag over my face. I woke up in some cabin somewhere in the woods. To make a long story short, this guy Harry told me some lies. He pretended to be the one saving me when all along it was him. I guess in his sick head he was hoping I’d fall in love with him or something. I don’t know.” She started to tear up.
“I’m sorry.”
She nodded. “What about you?”
“We just graduated Princeton and wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail, but we wanted to take the least traveled routes. I saw you that morning and here we are.”
“I guess all things converge.”
Zack sighed. “Were’re you from?”
“Whippany, New Jersey.”
Zack laughed. “Talk about a small world. I’m from Parsippany.”
“You’re kidding me?”
“Nope.”
“Where about?”
“Right off Route 46 by the Iron Hills Plaza, back in that new development.”
“Too crazy.”
“Yeah, imagine that. What’re the chances we end up in this?” He could see her tears in the faint light of dusk. On a whim, he took out his phone to see if there was any reception.
“You have a phone?”
“No reception.” He turned it back off. “I’m trying to save the battery.”
“Is there someone at this ranger station?”
He shrugged. “There’s supposed to be.”
She frowned. “You don’t seem too sure.”
“Well, it’s a fire-watch appointment and a supply stop for hikers along the alternate route. You can have supplies drop-shipped there if you want. We just need to use the satellite phone and call for help.”
“I just want to get home.”
“You said you were from Whippany?” He thought of that news report that Donovan relayed.
“Yeah, why?”
“Nothing, just wondering.” If what they saw on the news was related to this mess, he didn’t want to tell her. “Why don’t you get some sleep? I’ll wake you up in a while.”
Emily nodded and leaned into the rocks. “I’ll try, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to.”
“Are you cold?” Zack had on long jeans and a light jogging jacket. She had on nothing but very short denim shorts and a little white T-shirt.
“Not really, I’m fine.” She closed her eyes.
He took off his jacket and handed it to her anyway. She reluctantly took hold of it and wrapped it around herself. “Thanks.”
He looked up at the darkening sky as a streak of light flew across the black. Zack couldn’t get the image of Rick being gunned down out of his mind. He wondered how long that image would haunt his mind and his dreams.
“Are you okay?” Emily asked him.
He shrugged.
“I can’t sleep,” she said. “I’m afraid to sleep. I can’t shut my brain off.”
“I know that feeling.”
She twisted her lips and looked at him. “Did you ever wonder if maybe you did something wrong that caused this?”
He looked over at her with a raised brow. “Why would you think that?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know—karma and all that stuff.”
“Do you feel that’s the case? What do you think you did?”
“I just wonder. I think I’m a good person. I try to be. But maybe I could’ve been nicer to some people at certain times.”
“You didn’t deserve this, neither of us did. This is psychotic, this man is sick. He’s killed like ten people in the span of a few days.”
“Ten people?”
He covered his mistake. “Well, whatever, he killed a bunch. You couldn’t possibly have done anything to deserve this. I don’t care if you were a raving bitch all your life. You didn’t ask for this. No one asks to have their friends gunned down in front of them, no one asks to be abducted and hunted like an animal.” He was getting mad.
“Okay, okay—you’re right.” She leaned forward. “I’m not, by the way.”
“Not what?”
“A bitch.”
“I didn’t believe you were.”
“I know, I just…I dunno, I just feel like this is all my fault. He says I led him on.”
“You’re a kid, you didn’t lead anyone on.”
She made a face. “I’m not a kid. I’ll be nineteen in three months.”
He smiled. “Trust me, you’re a kid.”
“Oh, and you’re all so grown up because you’re a whole three or four years older?”
“I’ve been through four years of Ivy League. I’m a lot more grown up than I was when I was eighteen.”
She raised her hand up. “Oh, big man on campus, whatever, frat-attack.”
He stared at her for a few seconds, surprised at how direct she was. “What makes you think I was in a frat?”
She looked away from him and raised one shoulder. “You just look like the type.”
He shook his head. “I wasn’t.”
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to sound bitchy. I’m stressed out.”
He nodded. “It’s okay. We’re both a little stressed out. I’ll tell you about myself. I’ll be twenty-three in a couple months. I was a psych major because my mother was a psychologist, but now she teaches psych at Seaton Hall University. My father works at my uncle’s golf company. I had an older brother who died in a car crash last year because he was too drunk to drive and hit a tree at eighty miles an hour. I play hockey and ride dirt bikes. In college, I took a weeklong survivor class on how to live in the wilderness with nothing, so I know a bit about how to get around out here. Even though I graduated, I have no idea what I want to do with my life and everyone is very concerned about my lack of direction. I’m loyal to my friends and cook a mean peanut chicken. Is there anything else you want to know?”
She looked at him, confused. “Why are you telling me all of this?”
“I’m telling you this because we need to work together. We don’t have time to get to know each other, we don’t have time to learn to trust each other; we just have to do it right now. We have to crash-course this and get on the same page with everything. We can’t afford
any drama. I’m telling you this so you’ll know me a little bit and you’ll maybe feel comfortable enough to trust me, and not be scared of trusting me. I’m an open and honest person and I don’t pull any punches.”
She studied his face inquisitively, and then nodded softly. “Okay. I can appreciate that. I’m willing to trust you. I’m just scared. And my trust meter is a little wounded right now.”
“I totally get that. I know you’re scared. But sometimes fear is a great motivator. We just need to channel it into something positive.” He leaned back and crossed his arms below his chest. “By the way, I’m sorry I said you were a kid. What you’ve been through here, you’re not a kid anymore.”
“No, you were right. I am a kid. I have my whole life ahead of me. And I don’t want to lose it.”
“You won’t.” He slid a little closer to her. “Look, Emily. We’re smart, we’re strong. We can beat this guy. You hear me?”
She nodded. “I hear you.”
“Okay.” He patted her on the shoulder and slid away to the other side to keep an eye on the trail. “Try and get some sleep.” He watched her close her eyes.
She was a very cute girl. Why was it that girls with those smile-dimples were always so cute? Was there something in dimple DNA that also created great facial symmetry? If she were a few years older, and under different circumstances, he could definitely see himself making a play for her.
In general, he usually preferred brunettes. He also liked girls to have a little bit of extra padding. He wasn’t into the hard bodies. Even though he was a bit of a gym-rat himself, he liked his women a bit softer. Of course, his friends would joke a lot at his expense and call him a chubby chaser, but he would always laugh it off. He just liked his women to have curves. He’d rather have a size twelve than a size two any day of the week. Those skinny fashion models that looked like thirteen-year-olds were disgusting and he still didn’t understand how any man found that attractive.
Zack looked up to the stars and waited for another meteor to streak by.
Chapter 13
Emily felt the tickle in her nose and sneezed. Her neck popped and crunched from having slept at an impossible angle. The sun was creaking up over the edge of the horizon. The sky was a thick purple. She looked to her left and Zack was asleep, too. At first, she didn’t realize the significance of this, but this was supposed to be his shift to stay awake, clearly no one was watching.
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