I must be going crazy. I can see a town that doesn’t exist.
My name is Samuel Baker, I’m a Yellowstone National Park Ranger and I need some advice.
I’ve spent my entire career fighting wildfires for the National Park Service, and after two decades in the field I thought I’d seen everything. Then, about four hours ago, an entire town just appeared in the middle of Yellowstone national park, and the other ranger and I are the only ones who’ve been in it.
We’re not alone, however, as you might expect from something appearing out of nowhere inside one of America’s most famous parks. The town is home to many people, some of whom have been there for years. They all seem perfectly normal, but they aren’t aware that they live inside a national park.
My partner, Thomas, was the first to notice the town. He’d driven into the valley a few hours before dawn one morning and saw a brand new sign on the road. “Welcome to Hungry Horse!” It read. When he drove past the next bend in the road he saw the motel. That’s when he turned around to come and get me.
The two of us had driven up the valley together in our trusty old Chevy Blazer and taken the long way around because we hadn’t wanted to pass through the town until we were sure what it was. We parked at the base of the mountain and hiked up. We walked across the railroad tracks and passed a small gas station with a lone oil drum full of diesel fuel and another filled with water. The street was lined with old cars, some of which looked like they’d been there for a while, others which had probably just arrived that morning.
Hungry Horse wasn’t a ghost town, or even abandoned; it was thriving.
Thomas and I entered the town cautiously, because despite appearances, this place could be dangerous. While we didn’t run into any trouble, we did notice that everyone seemed indifferent to the fact they just appeared out of nowhere. Most of them ignored us completely, although a few gave us strange looks.
“Some of these people look familiar.” I said, looking over at Thomas. He nodded.
“I know what you mean, Sam. I recognized a couple people in the diner too. It’s weird.”
‘It’s weird.’ Those words echoed in my head as I watched a man carrying a bucket walk down the sidewalk. ‘It’s weird,’ I repeated silently to myself. My eyes followed his movements. The man carried himself with confidence and purpose, but he never looked up at where he was walking. Instead he stared straight ahead and continued forward without looking back once.
He disappeared around the corner of a building and I noticed another person staring directly at me. He was tall and thin, wearing a black hiking jacket. His face was pale and he was bald. He was standing in the doorway of a small coffee shop.
He reminded me of the missing hiker we had searched for last week. That’s when I realized why I recognized some of the people here. They are all people who have vanished from National Parks.
That’s how we found out that almost every single person in Hungry Horse had been reported missing from national parks. We spoke to everyone we could find. Some refused to talk, others were friendly enough, but none of them knew anything about why they were there. As far as they were concerned, they lived in Hungry Horse, Montana. They weren’t sure exactly when they arrived there. A lot of them couldn’t remember much before arriving in Hungry Horse.
They also told us they’d been here for years. Many of them had been born and raised in the town and believed it was the real deal. They all knew the townsfolk by name and went to school with them.
One woman, an older lady named Irene, told us that she had no idea that she’d been reported missing. She worked at the local hardware store and had been living in Hungry Horse for more than forty-five years.
“What about your husband?” I asked. “Do you have children? Grandchildren?”
She shook her head. “No. I’ve never married.”
“How do you feel about being here? Do you miss anywhere else? Your family, maybe?”
Again, she shook her head. “Not really. This is my home.”
As far as she knew, this was the only home she’d ever known. I tried to ask if she missed her family, but she just smiled and told me that her family was right here in Hungry Horse, Montana.
We thanked her and left the hardware store, hopping back into our park ranger truck we drove deeper into the town.
“I really don’t like this Sammy.” Thomas said. “I’ve had a feeling of being watched ever since we entered town.”
I looked over at him. He was staring at a man standing by a large semi-trailer outside the diner. The man was holding a jug of milk. I couldn’t help but think of the hiker we’d found dead last week.
“Sam, are you listening to me?”
I snapped back to reality and looked at my partner, Thomas had started quivering in fear. “Sorry, what did you say?”
“I said, I think we should leave. I don’t want to be here anymore.”
I looked around the town. There were so many people here. So many people who shouldn’t be here. All of them were perfectly normal. Some of them even knew each other.
How could there be so many people in a town that didn’t exist?
“I agree. Let’s go.” I said.
We drove away from the town and back to the ranger cabin. Thomas was still shaking.
“I’m going to call this in.” He said. “This whole thing is bullshit, but we better document it anyway. “I mean, how could an entire town, full of missing people, just appear in the middle of Yellowstone?”
I nodded. “Okay, I’ll be in the cabin. I think I need some time to process all this shit.”
I sat down on the couch and closed my eyes. It all felt unreal. I kept thinking about the hiker we’d found out in the woods last week. He’d died while out on a hike in the wilderness. He’d been alone and confused. But I just saw him alive and well, in a town that doesn’t exist.
I opened my eyes and looked around. I took in a deep breath and let it out. It smelled like wood smoke and pine. I stood up and started pacing the room.
“What am I supposed to make of all this?” I asked myself. “Is this some kind of sick joke? Did the government put a town in Yellowstone for some reason? What if it’s not a town, maybe it’s a cover up for something worse?” I thought before zoning out.
There was a knock on the door. It startled me out of my daydream.
“Come in!” I yelled.
Two men came inside, both dressed in black suits.
“Are you the one in charge here?” One of them asked.
I looked at him and nodded. The guy was wearing a badge on his chest and a gun on his hip. He looked like an FBI agent.
I’m about to go and talk to them, and I don’t know if they’ll believe me. What the fuck do I do?