I pushed the desk I used to barricade the door aside. The legs squeaked as they dragged along the floorboards.

I figured I was gonna have to get going soon.

There was a box of crackers in my pantry. I decided to have a little early morning snack. The crackers were so dry I was having a tough time swallowing. After about 2, I gave up and started putting on my boots.

As I began tying my laces, I noticed that my hands were quivering.

I knew I was scared to walk out that door. Even if it was broad daylight.

I finished tying my shoelace, when I heard a knock at the door.

I felt my heart beat faster. With my machete in hand, I slowly approached the window next to the door, and peeked outside.

Standing at my door was Rob.

What the hell was he doing here?

I opened the door.

“Good morning.”, Rob greeted me. “I see you’re ready.”

Admittedly, I didn’t hide my skepticism well.

Rob seemed to catch on.

“You’re assigned with me and Martin. He’ll be here any minute now. Come on, let’s get going.”

I realized that I didn’t really have a way out of this. I decided to keep my machete close, just in case.

I followed Rob down the wooden staircase.

The stairs spiraled around the stilts of the tower. I expected to see tons of bite marks and dried blood on the wood.

Much to my dismay, however, the woodwork was intact. I reached out to touch the stilts. Smooth, unchipped surfaces. I couldn’t believe it. How the hell were there no traces of assault, when 3 undead lunatics were jumping and biting all over the tower stilts 5 hours ago?

We got off the stairs and onto the dirt. Martin stood at the edge of the trail, waving at us cheerfully. He was in the same spot where I saw the arm drag Nico off into the woods.

My stomach churned at the thought of going. I had a feeling everything was going to go terribly wrong.

The 3 of us walked down the dirt trail, due West.

“Apparently, they found his campsite just a few hundred yards from here.”, Martin said with a skip in his leg.

“Let’s go check it out.”

These 2 seemed too relaxed, given the scenario. We were on a missing person’s trail and these 2 were treating it like a picnic.

The campsite was located in a small clearing right next to the trail.

A blue tent was pitched right next to 2 pine trees. The flap was left open, and the structure was still intact. A campfire was built in front of the entrance, which had seemed to die down quite a while ago. It seemed evident that nobody had tended to the fire for a good 10 hours. There were no signs of aggression or intrusion.

There was a sleeping bag and some other items in the tent, all seemed to be left as is. Martin sat down on a nearby rock and took out a water bottle.

“Let’s take a break here.”, he said, letting out a sigh.

I stared at him, perplexed.

“Why are you so relaxed, Martin?” I asked him.

“Don’t stress about it so much. There’s a lot of people out there looking for him.”

He took a long sip of water.

“There’s a missing person out there, Martin.”, I said, remembering Nico’s final moments. I could hear the tremble in my voice.

“Shouldn’t you all be working hard to find him?”

Martin turned to look at me. The first time in a while, I saw a look of defeat in the eyes of “The happy-go-lucky Martin”.

“It doesn’t matter if we find him or not.”, He muttered.

“What did you say?”

“It doesn’t matter if we find him or not. It never has. What matters is we act like we tried.”

I stared at Martin, wide-eyed.

Every single hellish ordeal I had faced in the last 48 hours rushed through my head.

Before I could get a hold of myself, I completely snapped.

I ran full speed at Martin.

“You absolute lying piece of shit!” I screamed as I flailed my machete wildly in the air. I felt 2 arms grab me by my shoulders and hold me back.

“Calm down.” I heard Rob’s voice. “What’s gotten into you?”

I kicked and screamed, trying to break out of his grasp.

“I’m gonna punch your fucking nose in, you chicken shit liar!”, I screamed.

Martin was startled by my outburst.

“Don’t pretend like this isn’t all your fucking fault. I know you 2 are lying about everything. It’s your fault that Nico is missing. You lied to him. You didn’t tell him anything about what’s going on here. You didn’t bother warning him.”

Rob held me down. “What are you talking about?”

“Shut up!” I screamed in his face.

“I know you fucking talked to him the day he disappeared, Rob. Maybe instead of suggesting camping spots to him, you should’ve told him about the string of murders that have been happening on these trails since 2016!”

Rob went silent. “How did you-“

“How did I what? How did I know? Are you gonna fucking ask me that question, Rob?

Do you know what I’ve been through these last 2 nights? I was the last person to ever see Nico. I saw him getting dragged into the woods.”

Rob and Martin stared at me in silence. I broke down, sobbing. I told them everything that happened. The dead girl, the papers, Nico’s disappearance. Everything.

Rob sat down on the ground, beside me. Martin was petrified. He waited for me to calm down.

“You know, we don’t really know any more than you do.”, he said, lowering his head.

“All these years, we’ve seen people go missing or turn up dead in horrifying ways.

It’s always been like this.

And no matter how many times it happens, we’re told the same thing - pretend like nothing has happened. Pretend that the park is just a normal place in front of visitors.

We’ve been given only one precaution. Stay inside after 8:30 PM. That’s it.”

He looked at the empty tent.

“Even these search operations are just a formality. We all know we’re not gonna find anything, and even if we do, they’re just gonna bring the corpses back to the woods for some reason. I’ve personally seen cops dump bodies back on this trail. I never expected you to actively go and check it out for yourself though. I never had the courage to leave my tower.”

Rob put his hand on my shoulder.

“The cops told us to stick with you for this search to make sure you don’t run off and do anything out of order. We’re here to protect you.”

Martin tossed me his water bottle.

“That’s why it’s best if you just accept the situation and sit here for a while. Don’t mess with something you don’t understa-“

His words trailed off in my ears. Probably because my focus shifted elsewhere. I broke out into a cold sweat as I watched a light fog pour into the campsite.

“I guess this search operation is a success.”, I muttered to Rob.

He was confused. I pointed over Martin’s shoulder. He turned around to look.

Behind him, stood the very person we all were supposedly looking for.

Martin stumbled to the ground in shock.

A pale, lifeless Nico stood there, staring at us. Long, white, ropy strands of cartilage dangled from his sides, as if they were freshly torn apart.

A figure stepped out of the fog and stood beside Nico. Dirty matted pigtails, roughly half the height of Nico. That girl was back again.

I looked around frantically. One by one, armless corpses stepped out of the fog,

Almost surrounding us. Male, female, old, young. There must’ve been at least 30 corpses surrounding us. Out in the distance, behind Nico, were 2 peculiar looking ash trees. Their shape struck me as odd for some reason, but I didn’t have time to think about that now.

I started panicking. The corpses eyed us one by one, then they all slowly turned their attention to Martin, who was several feet away from us, dragging his ass on the ground.

I immediately realized what was happening.

Without a single sound, all of the corpses sprang at Martin.

I watched as the feral pack grabbed Martin with their jaws and started dragging him into the fog. He tried to dig his fingers into the dirt in an attempt to pull himself away, but 2 corpses frantically began chewing his fingers.

Their movements were so unnerving. A rabid dog with no forelimbs would present itself tame in comparison to these savages.

Somewhere between Martin’s screams and the corpses’ savagery, I completely lost it.

I got up and started bolting it back to the trail.

I looked up at the dirt path.

There was a corpse standing between me and the trail. Without a moment’s hesitation, I ran right into the corpse and swung my machete at its face. I heard a loud thud as it fell hard on the ground.

I didn’t stop running. I darted through the trees. The forest caved in around me.

I followed the trail until I literally couldn’t breathe anymore.

I stopped to catch my breath. I was panting so hard that I almost couldn’t hear something huge barreling right towards me.

I looked up, startled by the sight of Rob running at me with tears in his eyes.

He stopped in front of me and gasped for air.

“Martin.”, he said, sobbing.

“They took Martin.”

My body froze in fear.

“What the hell are those things?”, he asked.

“That was the missing guy right. None of them had arms. What the fuck is going on?”, he cried.

I saw something dart around the trees in my peripheral vision.

Me and Rob faced the forest. The fog surrounded us.

I saw shapes in the fog. Did they catch up to us? Was this the end?

The figures in the fog surrounded us.

I stared deep into the forest.

I noticed an ash tree a hundred feet away. I squinted at it to get a better look.

Suddenly, the ash tree lifted off the ground. This wasn’t the trunk of some tree, it was a giant leg.

The ground shook at the might of the thunderous footsteps.

I watched as the giant legs got closer and closer, stopping right in front of us.

I looked up at the trees in horror. Bones cracked up in the leaves.

I watched as several hands emerged from the foliage above, shaking side to side.

The shaking hands gradually thinned out the fog around us, until I could see the eldritch abomination clearly with my own eyes.

It was massive. It must’ve been 20 feet tall, at the shoulder. Its emaciated torso was mounted on long, lanky legs. It’s face was featureless. No eyes, no nose, no ears, no mouth, no hair. Just an oval head with Grey skin.

Its most prominent feature, however, was the massive, horrifying entanglement of arms that grew out of its shoulders and back. The long bony arms swayed around gently, like a tidal wave crashing into a cliff. The oscillations so enchantingly created a rift of shaking hands that put me in a kaleidoscopic trance. A peacock’s dance of a thousand arms. I watched, completely mesmerized as the massive creature crouched over the forest floor.

2 of its many arms slowly reached out to me.

I froze. In fear, or in utter awe, I do not know. But I didn’t dare move.

The arms went over my head behind me, as Rob’s screams filled my ears. I could only watch as the creature hoisted Rob in the air in front of it, holding each of his arms at the joint.

Crack. Rob thrashed around in vain.

I could hear his bones snap and his flesh tear. The creature effortlessly twisted Rob’s arms off like a chicken wing. Rob’s body was hanging by tendons and cartilage.

I looked at the creature. 2 small buds began forming on either side of its shoulders. With one final pull, the creature pulled Rob’s arms clean off. His body fell hard to the ground.

I wasn’t sure if he was completely dead. The creature brought its brand new set of arms closer to the sprouting buds of flesh.

Long, ropy tendrils emerged from the pale white buds and wrapped themselves around the exposed joints of Rob’s arms.

I watched my friend’s arms slowly merge with the creature’s shoulder.

Rob’s arms flailed around in the air, embracing their new body.

Then, his arms slowly lowered, approaching his corpse.

Before I could realize what was going on, the creature clawed at Rob’s body with his own arms. I watched the intricate pattern of flesh and blood being carved into Rob.

It was marking him with that symbol.

Was he going to turn into another undead corpse?

My thoughts were interrupted when I realized that the creature was now looking at me.

The armless corpses emerged from the fog. They closed in on me.

I saw 2 massive arms reach out to me. This was it. This was the terrible way I went out.

I started to freak out. My mind raced, desperately thinking of any way to salvage my life.

The arms were almost here. I could feel the fingers mere inches away from my shoulders.

Then, at the last possible second, I realized. This was probably the only way I might get out of this.

I knew if I let my mind think even for a second, I might not have the courage to do it.

My right hand instinctively grabbed the machete. I watched my right hand almost robotically move over to my left shoulder.

An immense pain shot through my body. I felt the dull, rough edge of the machete dig deep into my flesh.

Not enough. I needed to strike harder.

The machete ripped out of the deep wound in my left arm. I raised the butchering blade in the air once again and slammed it into my own arm.

I howled in pain. Tears rolled down my cheeks. I could feel the blade against my bone. Sharp, immense needle-like pain coursed through my bones.

I hacked at my arm again and again. All the while, the massive entity watched. I could tell it was feeling immense pleasure watching me chop off my own arm.

Each strike created small fractures in my bones. Eventually, the cracks festered and arm was severed. It hung to my side loosely by virtue of some skin.

One last strike. With all my might, I swung down my machete.

My arm fell to the ground.

The exposed air burned my flesh.

I was panting and crying.

The pain was more than enough to make me go insane. I bowed my head, grabbing my arm. I wanted to puke. I was holding my own mutilated arm.

I held my sacrifice over my head.

A massive hand lowered itself to me.

The weight on my hand vanished as the creature accepted my offering.

2 buds sprouted from its back.

The bud on the left began intertwining with my arm in a dance of tendrils.

The bud on the right slowly started to darken in color. I gazed up at the creature.

It’s blank face stared back at me.

Then, it slowly lowered my own arm back to me.

I was too tired to react. The pain was pulsing all over my body.

I felt something stab my torso. I wanted to scream, but I was too tired. I had no energy. I lied there on the ground. My own fingers began clawing their art in my entrails. The last thing I saw before I blacked out was a kaleidoscope of hands around a blank face.

I woke up in a hospital bed. Instantly, I felt numbing pain in my left shoulder and stomach.

I winced as I looked around.

The room was dimly lit. There was a window to my left. The sun was high up in the sky. It was noon most likely.

“Rise and shine.”, I heard a familiar voice. Sitting on a chair at the edge of my bed was officer Clark. He gave a smile.

I took a good look at the cheeky bastard. Clark had a few papers in his hand.

He put a paper on the desk beside my bed. It was my resignation.

“Congratulations on being the first person to survive the [REDACTED] trails.”

“You knew.”, I said. I felt an overwhelming urge to strangle him. “ you knew all along you fucking bastard.”

“Mmhmm.” Clark began scribbling on a notepad.

“I saw your men dump the girl’s body back into the woods.” I tried to get up, but the pain kept me down.

“You called for a folly search group knowing it wasn’t worth shit. You’re the reason my friends are dead.”

Officer Clark averted his gaze from his notepad.

“Given the circumstances, your services as a ranger are no longer required. You are required to sign a non-disclosure agreement regarding your experiences in the park.

You will receive due compensation.”

“Don’t fucking ignore me.” I growled.

“Yes.”, Clark said solemnly. “We are aware of the anomaly.”

“Why are you keeping it a secret?”, I asked.

“Because this is the only way we have to contain it.” He replied.

“We don’t know the full extent of its capabilities. For 15 years, it’s prowled these woods, taking a steady supply of victims.

We don’t know what it’ll do or where it’ll go if we quarantine the park and it stops getting regular victims.”

I stared at Clark in disbelief.

“You’ve seen what it can do. We have neither the methods, nor resources, to neutralize it.”

He put another paper on the desk.

“We give it what it wants. That’s all I’ll tell you. Sign this NDA, take your money, and get out of here as soon as you can.”

I looked out the window. The fog spread about way off in the distance.

“One last thing,” Clark said.

“How did you survive it? I need you to give me all the details.”

I looked at my left shoulder.

“I gave it what it wanted. Just like you did.”

Clark was perplexed. I noticed the bandages on my stomach. The cuts. They formed a lowercase i. However, the circular formation of lines around the ‘i’ was missing.

“No. I merely gave an advanced payment.” I said.

“And I don’t know how much longer I have before it comes back for the next installment.”

Officer Clark collected his things and stood up.

“All hail the many-armed god.”, he said sarcastically.

The sun is slowly setting in the horizon as I’m sitting here, writing this.

There are other patients in here with me, so I hope I’ll live through the night. I paid for my life. I should be allowed to live.

But the mark on my stomach is incomplete.

And somewhere in the dark bowels of that cursed forest, a black bud of flesh is waiting for my right arm.

I’m going to get out of here the moment I’m discharged. Fuck being a park ranger.

I’m going to live out whatever days I have left far away from the wilderness, however long that is.

I look out the window, into the ever-darkening void within the trees. From the bushes far away, I see a long arm slowly emerge. Its fingers curl, slowly beckoning me. Calling me back into the forest.

It’s my own left arm.

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