It started out as just a routine night on the job as a park ranger. Or more specifically in my case, just a routine night on the job as a park ranger in Arizona. It was a job I loved, as I’d been on the team for years, and I had no reason to want to change that. I adored the scenery; the desert canyons, the saguaro cactus that dotted the horizon, and everything that came with it. I even loved the job at night. In fact, I especially loved working at night. That’s my favorite time to patrol the park. There had just been a recent series of dust storms in the area, so the park had been closed for several days, and tomorrow was the first full day back. Our job today had been to prepare for the reopening, and we had been tasked with double checking the park to make sure nothing was amiss or out of place. And, lucky for me, I had gotten the chance to patrol the area as night was settling in.
I had just rounded a corner and was straightening my Jeep out on the road when I noticed something looked slightly out of place. I’d been on this stretch of road literally a thousand times by now, but thanks to the huge dust storm, the nearby canyon wall had been swept clear of dust, and now you could see that a section of rock wall had been removed and replaced with something else. So I immediately pulled over, turned on my flashlight, and hopped out of the Jeep to investigate.
It didn’t take long to see that this wasn’t some random gap in the canyon wall, but a man-made opening that had been boarded up many years ago. The wood was badly damaged and weathered by the elements, and it had only been the years of sand and debris that kept it hidden this long. I felt a ripple of excitement as I held my flashlight up to it. From all the years I’ve been on the job and lived out here, I was pretty sure this was the opening to a mine. Not only had I seen plenty in my time out west, but part of the land that was now the park had belonged to a mining company. There had been rumors there was a mine under the land, but nothing had ever been found or confirmed. Until now. And I made it official by using my Jeep radio to let my colleagues know my location and what I’d found.
The ranger base radioed back they had received my message and were sending some of my colleagues to help investigate with me and I should wait until they arrived. I confirmed I understood my instructions, and then I returned to my Jeep and waited.
My fellow rangers arrived relatively quickly, and once they had their flashlights in hand, we all carefully approached the badly boarded up entrance. There were now four of us; Holly, Christian, Fletcher, and myself. The wooden beams were barely held in place by rusty nails and were pulled off easily. Once they were all laying cast aside on the rocky ground, we shined our flashlights into the now exposed entrance.
Now there was no doubt it was the opening to a mine. The wooden beams lining the walls and the rusty track lining the floor confirmed this had been used in mining. Since I had been the one to find this place, my fellow rangers let me do the honors, and I led the way into the dusty and arid tunnel.
The tunnel went on for about a mile until it passed by an open section of rock wall on our left. It was jagged and rough, but we could just see that it led straight to a mine shaft many stories below us. But when we looked straight down at the mine shaft with our flashlights in hand, I almost recoiled in shock.
The mine shaft floor was almost completely covered with snakes. Only the slightest bit of mine floor was visible for us to see, and even from this distance, it was obvious they were Diamondback Rattlesnakes. We’d all seen many of them while working here but seeing so many of them in one place didn’t feel real. I could practically feel their movements even though I was far above them. The fact that so many of them got here in one place was mind boggling. It all looked like something out of a documentary, and if you stared at it long enough, there was the brief illusion that the floor was moving.
“Wow,” Holly muttered as she looked at the snakes just below us.
“Wow is right.” Christian agreed. “Definitely something to document.”
We did just that before we carried on. Once we left the snakes behind, the four of us walked in relative silence for about 5 minutes until we came to a turn in the tunnel, and we could feel it descending further into the earth. The air was even cooler here, and we kept at a steady pace until we arrived at a fork in the tunnel.
“Alright, what do we do now?” Fletcher asked.
“Shall we split up?” Christian suggested.
“Works for me,” I said. “I’ll take the left.”
“I’ll go with you,” Fletcher volunteered.
“Cool, then we’ll head this way,” Holly nodded.
Once we radioed the base what we were doing and got confirmation they understood, we proceeded. When Fletcher and I headed down the left tunnel, Holly and Christian disappeared behind the dense rock wall separating the tunnels and that was it.
Fletcher and I walked at the same pace as the left tunnel veered far off from the path we’d been going down. After twisting sharply to the left, it evened out until we found ourselves in a narrow cavern that led to a dead end.
With my flashlight in hand, I took a closer look at where we were. The ceiling was dotted with stalactites, and the ground was covered in sand and a few rocks. Fletcher was right behind me as we quietly checked everything out. I was just about to say we should go back when I saw right in the corner, there was a section of wall that was a bit smoother than the rest. When I took a closer look, it appeared like a bit of the floor was boarded up.
“Come over here,” I called to Fletcher.
He immediately walked over to where I was looking, and saw I’d found something. After we both took a moment to look at it, we were able to see it was a trapdoor, and there was a rusted handle in the middle of the wooden frame.
“Shall we give it a try?” Fletcher asked.
I nodded, and we both took hold and tugged. It was heavy and took a ton of strength, but after a moment, it jolted open with a loud crack. Once we eased it open, we shined our flashlights down into the opening. It was a simple climb down a bit of cavern steps, and it opened to another path. But why had it been closed off? People had probably fallen back when this was an operating mine.
After we briefly reported what we’d found back to base, we slowly descended the steps. Once we were both back on flat terrain, we took the space in. You couldn’t see it from above, but this part of the mine connected to a winding path that led further down into what I assumed was the pit. This time, Fletcher went first, and I followed him. We had walked for almost a mile down the winding path when Fletcher moved a stationary mine cart out of the way, and it inadvertently crashed into the rock wall beside us with a loud bang that seemed to echo in the space.
“Sorry,” he said to me.
“No worries.”
But in the beam from my flashlight, I could see the mine cart hitting the rock wall had disturbed the earth around it, and an opening had appeared in the ground. And moments later, I could see shapes coming out of it. I immediately recognized them as Arizona Bark Scorpions, and they were crawling out of the wall at a fast pace and before too long, they had completely covered the space separating Fletcher and myself. Especially because we had both been in the job long enough to know you didn’t want to get stung by one, much less the dozens crawling out, so we immediately backed up and away from each other.
“I guess I’ll go this way, and you keep going that way,” I said as I pointed to the other way the tunnel went.
“Sounds good. I’ll catch up with you.”
And with that, I was back on my own. I followed the path in the other direction, and before too long, I came to another end, but this time, it was marked by a huge pile of rocks. When I got close, I could feel the breeze coming from somewhere, so I knew this led outside.
So I slowly started removing rocks, and before too long, there was a narrow path for me to climb through to reach the other side. And once I put my flashlight back on my belt, I started to climb through the rocks and feel my way through.
Moments later, I was in the pleasant nighttime air again. The breeze felt amazing after being in the dusty mine for so long, and I took a moment to get oriented. I was far away from the park now, and I was in the middle of a rocky canyon overlooking the desert terrain a level below.
It was an incredible sight. All those saguaro cacti dotting the night landscape, while other brush lined the desert floor. But then far on the horizon, I saw something coming this way. Something kicking up a lot of dusk. It was a car, and its headlights were blazing bright against the darkness that had settled over everything.
The sight filled me with dread, so I immediately ducked behind a rock wall and watched. A lone car driving out in the desert at night is never a good sign, especially when the road doesn’t exactly lead this way.
It didn’t happen often, but occasionally, rangers have found things out here over the years. Unnerving things. Things that suggested something bad happened without coming right out and saying it. It’s no surprise because there’s nowhere to run in the desert. There aren’t many trees to climb up in, no forest you can camouflage yourself with, and no abandoned cabin you can run into. Unless you get lucky and there’s an abandoned mine around, you are well and truly at the mercy of whatever is out there. And most of the time, that means you’re at the mercy of nature, or even worse, people who didn’t know the meaning of the word merciful.
Out of instinct, I checked my belt, and my stomach lurched when I realized my walkie talkie was gone. Probably got stuck in the rocks I climbed through. But I still had my heavy flashlight. That was more important. Because it could come in handy if push came to shove. Then I quickly tried to crawl my way back to the mine to get help, but then cold fear hit me as I realized there had been a cave in or something, as heavier rocks had replaced the much lighter ones I had moved. I quietly struggled for a moment until it was obvious they weren’t budging. So I had no choice but to return to my hiding spot and think of what else to do.
So I took a deep breath and watched the vehicle, which was a truck, bounce over countless dips in the ground. There were no paved streets out here, so the truck was constantly kicking up dust and swerving roughly. I had no idea what was going on, but I had a feeling, and it gave me a chill. Naivety is a luxury most people can’t afford anymore. The truck’s headlights were almost unnaturally bright, gleaming harshly against the desert sand. If anyone else accidentally stumbled onto the scene, I doubt they’d wonder about what was happening out here at night either. As I could tell, there were two most likely options. Money changing hands or something worse. It was just a question of which one it would be. In fact, it was entirely possible it could be both.
As the truck got closer, I could see it was grey. And although the windows weren’t tinted, I couldn’t see who was inside. Moments later, the truck slammed to a halt in an open patch of land that was just close enough for me to see what was happening. Then all was eerily quiet for a moment until all four doors opened at the same time and one man got out of each door. The truck’s front was facing me, so I had a direct view as the two guys on the driver’s side pulled a fifth guy out of the backseat and dragged him roughly along with them.
Not a good sign. Especially because even at this distance, I could see they were armed in addition to carrying flashlights to see where they were walking. And you could tell the guy was scared. No surprise there. Since they had no concern about him seeing their faces, that meant they weren’t worried about what came after this little rendezvous. But even if they’d done that, he probably knew who they were. While I could practically smell the fear coming off him, he didn’t look surprised or shocked.
In fact, I felt a shock of recognition when I realized the guy looked familiar. He was a local businessman who disappeared about a week ago. The story was some people had shown up unannounced at his house and without saying a word, kicked the door in, dragged him out, and stuffed him in the back of a car in the middle of the night. And rumor was the people responsible were a local gang famous for violence intended to shock and horrify. But since this guy was well known and had some power in town, rumor was they decided to make an example of him in another way by making him disappear.
By now they had dragged the guy, who I remembered was Mason Winters, towards a spot in the middle of the area. He was dressed in a suit that was clearly expensive but had also seen better days. But then I realized that three of the four guys were dragging Winters, while the fourth was retrieving something from the back of the truck. I briefly wondered how many times they’d done this. From their demeanor, they seemed beyond nonchalant about it all. Like it was the most routine thing in the world to them. Which very well could be the case.
Then the guy found what he wanted from the trunk. It was a shovel, which he tossed at the ground by where his associates had shoved Mason Winters and left him.
“Dig,” I could hear him faintly say from where I was hiding.
There was no further explanation needed, as Winters picked up the shovel, stood up, and slowly started digging. I could see the first few shovelfuls were hard, but it started to come easier. He shoveled back and forth in what seemed like a never-ending motion. I could practically feel their gaze on him as each shovelful brought him one step closer to the end, and the air was thick with adrenaline and tension. I was sweating despite the cool night air, and I didn’t want to look, but I had no choice. It wasn’t long before Winters began to feel the ache in his arms, because he definitely slowed down the longer he dug. The four men didn’t say a word the entire time, as they merely leaned against the truck and one of them lit up a cigarette. When he did, the brief flash of a lighter stood out in the darkness for a moment.
The hole was slowly getting bigger and bigger, as was the pile of dirt beside it. Before too long, it’d be the proper dimensions and then it would all be over. Or it would be unless I did something, which is what I had planned. I had some rocks ready, and when the moment came, I would hurl some as far as I could in the other direction and cause some paranoia and distraction. Maybe give Winters the chance to get the upper hand. He didn’t strike me as the type to back down from a fight easily. He may have been terrified, and his arms were probably aching with every movement, but he was dignified. Not once did he beg or plead for his life. I also noticed it felt unnaturally quiet. No sign of any animals or any other forms of desert life. I’m not sure if that made the situation better or worse.
“Alright, that’s good enough.” One of the four armed men suddenly commanded. As Winters stopped digging, I gripped one of the rocks tightly in my hand. It was time. I was aiming to throw it where it would make plenty of noise.
Fear shivered down my spine as I got ready to act. But just as I was about to throw, there was a sound from somewhere out there in the desert. Something between a snap and a crack, and the suddenness of it after the deafening silence was disconcerting.
“What was that?” The one who told Winters to stop asked. He was about medium height, and he had an athletic build.
“No idea, come with me and look.” The driver nodded at him. “You two, watch him,” he said to the other two gunmen while pointing at Winters.
The two of them headed in the direction the sound had come from while Winters stood in front of the hole with two pairs of eyes on him. From where they were headed, it looked like the sound had come from behind a small canyon covered in sand.
“What the hell?” I heard the driver ask after about three minutes.
“Is that,” was all the other guy managed to get out before I heard a deafening roar that was immediately followed by the sound of gunfire and a blood curdling scream.
The other two gunmen watching Winters immediately jumped and ran to check out what was going on. Winters grabbed the shovel again and watched from behind the mound of dirt as the two men ran to where their associates had been only to be stopped dead in their tracks as the driver sprinted towards them, his clothes and face splattered with blood.
“Run for the truck!” he screamed at them.
But before he could lead them in that direction, something grabbed him from behind and dragged him out of sight while he thrashed and screamed. The flashlight in his hand lay there motionless on the ground, casting a beam onto the sand. The two remaining gunmen also dropped their flashlights as they tried to honor their instructions and sprinted towards the truck, any thoughts of Winters long since forgotten. They were halfway there when something stepped in their path.
I watched in shock as a shape on four legs that seemed to loom out of the darkness launched itself at them with a ferocity I had never seen before. Like anyone, I had heard stories of what creatures may lurk in the desert. I hadn’t given it much thought as an adult because there were many more pressing monsters to be afraid of. Who has time to worry about a monster that may or may not exist when you are surrounded by monsters you know exist?
Winters audibly gasped at the same time both gunmen yelled out. One tried to aim and fire his gun, but the creature stood on its hind legs and slashed his arm with claws that looked lethally long before he could fire a single shot. He let out a wail of pain as he fell to the ground.
The other one tried to keep running to the truck. I could hear his heavy breathing as he panted, but he was no match for the creature. It pounced on him and sunk its teeth into his neck, silencing him instantly. Meanwhile, his associate was still crawling on the ground, trying to get to cover in the truck. In the blink of an eye, whatever that thing was landed on top of him, and after the gunman briefly cried out, he went quiet.
Now it was silent again, and the only source of light out on the desert floor was the discarded flashlights. But that thing was still out there because you could occasionally hear movement coming from the darkness. Winters heard it too because he stayed hidden behind the massive dirt pile and kept quiet. Good move.
An eternity passed before I heard what sounded like footfalls going in the opposite direction. Then it was gone. Winters noticed the same thing, because he peeked out from behind the dirt mound and saw there was no sign of that thing. No doubt he was feeling painfully exposed out there in the middle of the desert more than ever.
Then, somehow, the feeling in the air returned to normal, and the desert felt more like the desert once again. I couldn’t tell you how or why it happened, but something shifted in the air, and now this felt more like the desert I’d spent an incalculable amount of time in.
So after I cleared my throat and tried to shake off the shock of the situation, I stood up and called out, “Hey Winters, over here!”
He turned to look at me so fast it was impressive. I had no doubt the poor guy was on edge, but I thought that was better than sneaking up on him.
“Who are you, and how do you know who I am?” He yelled back to me.
“I’m a park ranger, and I’ve seen you all over the news.”
“How did you get out here?”
“Found a hidden mine shaft and followed it here.”
He paused while he took this in. “How long were you up there?”
“Not long, I got here right before you arrived.”
“Did,” he began. “Did something come out of nowhere and attack my unwanted associates?”
“Indeed.”
“I thought so, but I wanted to check and make sure I wasn’t hallucinating or something. Saying I’m lucky that thing showed up doesn’t even come close to describing it.”
“I was gonna cause a little diversion if it didn’t. My walkie talkie got lost in the mine, otherwise I would’ve called for help.”
“I appreciate that.”
“On that note, do you mind lending me a ride?” I pointed to the truck that sat there silently.
“No problem. Come on down and we’ll get the hell out of there.”
He didn’t need to say anything more. Now I felt better about turning my flashlight back on as I walked down from where I was to the truck. I still felt the adrenaline running through my body, but it was more muted. Plus it was nothing compared to how Winters must be feeling. So I just put one foot in front of the other and walked towards the truck. While I was far less wary now, I did keep my eye on the truck and paid attention to my peripheral vision as I approached Winters while I walked through the cactus lined sand.
Eventually, Winters was in front of me. He studied my appearance, obviously checking my uniform. After a moment, he held his hand out in front of him, and we shook hands. I could feel how raw they were from digging, but he didn’t flinch for a moment.
“Nice to meet you,” I said sincerely.
“Likewise. Shall we get this show on the road?”
“Absolutely.” But then I paused. “Is it alright if I drive?”
Winters didn’t say anything, but I could feel him thinking over my request. After what seemed like a long time but was probably less than a minute, he chuckled. “Sure thing. And smart man. I would’ve asked the same thing. You may have an idea of who those men are and why they took me, but you don’t know specifics, and have no reason to trust me or where I might take you. By all means drive. I’m just happy to get the hell out of here at all.”
With that, I hopped in the driver’s seat while Winters climbed in beside me. I wasn’t surprised that the keys were still in the ignition. They had no reason to even consider removing them. As I briefly checked the truck, I could see bits of stuffing coming out of the upholstery in the backseat. But the truck started without any difficulty, and I slowly pulled out of there. As the area faded away in the red glow from the taillights, I watched the dust being kicked up in the truck’s rear-view mirror. What was left of the four men who came out with Winters laid sprawled out on the ground, completely motionless.
After a few minutes, the sight had nearly vanished in the rearview mirror, and we were well on our way towards the road back to town.
“You want to know exactly what happened?” Winters asked after being quiet since we got in the truck.
“Of course.”
“The reason for my disappearance and the little ride out here was that I wouldn’t pay money to some people who claimed I should for my own good. Do you know why?”
“I have an idea.”
He chuckled. “You seem perceptive so I’m sure you do. It’s all very simple. As a businessman, it’s all a question of value. Paying money is absolutely useless if they keep raising the price or there’s absolutely no guarantee of safety in it. When there are a thousand other people just waiting to take over turf or already in the area also demanding payment, it’s a complete waste of money. Especially since I have no family in the area, so it wasn’t like these people could use that as leverage against me. I’d learn to live with death a long time ago. It’s like an old friend you’ve been expecting to show up to a party you’re having. Sometimes he’s early, sometimes he’s late, sometimes he’s right on schedule when you expect him, but he always makes a call. But like any party guest, most of the time you can’t help but be nervous when he’s about to come knocking.”
There was a lot of sense in that, so the two of us sat in comfortable silence until the vast terrain of the desert was behind us and we were almost back to town. Right before I reached the road, he turned to me.
“What exactly did you plan to do if that thing hadn’t shown up?”
“Throw some rocks to cause a distraction and some chaos.”
“Interesting. What did you think that would do?”
“At the very least, give you an opportunity to get the upper hand and do something.”
“Did it not cross your mind that might make the situation worse?”
I briefly glanced at him. “No.”
“Why?” He sounded genuinely intrigued.
“I watched you the whole time. You were afraid, but you were defiant. You didn’t beg for your life, offer to give them whatever they wanted, or anything remotely like that. You were ready to put up a fight.”
Winters seemed genuinely surprised by this. Then I saw him smile for the first time.
“You are observant. And you were right. Had you started throwing rocks, I would’ve immediately swung into action. At the very least, it would’ve given me a chance. You know what I was thinking of while I was digging?”
“What?”
“How the four of them were small time and would always be small time, no matter what happened to me. They were all expendable. Know what’s going to happen now? I’ll turn up and it’ll be a huge news story. I’ll go back to my life, and people will look at me in stunned disbelief. It’ll be the story to end stories. Meanwhile, the four of them won’t even be a name somewhere. They’ll eventually be dumped in a hole in the ground just like that one, and they will be replaced like they weren’t even there. By the time someone figures out all isn’t well and finds the remains of their associates, they’ll see how badly things went. Odds are very good they won’t even get near the place because the cops will get there first, but everyone will know something attacked them without so much as breaking a sweat. And it’s still out there. That’ll be the story.”
I had no doubt that was true. All of it. So I drove to the police station and escorted Winters in where we told them the story of how I got there and what happened. They brought us some coffee and contacted the ranger station to let them know everything was alright, but I’d be a while. It wasn’t the worst way to spend an evening, as Winters and I got to share a pizza and some other food from a restaurant down the street. Everything Winters said came true, and his miraculous return was the big story in town.
In the meantime, I went back to work, and the mine was fully explored and documented before it was properly closed off for safety reasons. The thing that was out there that night was never seen again by me or anyone in the park. If anyone else saw it, I didn’t hear about it. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t out there. The desert has always been a place of mystery, especially at night. I don’t expect that to change because that’s exactly what makes it the desert. And it’s something I’ve always loved about it.