I sat up quickly and looked around. Phoebe and Gretchen were crouched down next to me.
“It sounds like a car or something,” said Phoebe.
Bright lights appeared from the trail, and then a four-wheel utility vehicle drove past us.
“It looked like there were at least five people on that thing,” said Gretchen.
“They’re headed the same way we were going,” I said. “Let’s see where they are going.”
We waited until it was a safe distance away before following it. Staying far behind, we continued on the path until we couldn’t hear the vehicle any longer. We slowed down before a big curve in the path and carefully peered around it. The vehicle was parked off to the side of the trail. It was empty.
We cautiously walked over to it and noticed another fire far back into the woods.
“The keys are in it,” said Phoebe. “Do you think it would be safe to take it?”
“I think so,” I said. “It will get us to the front of the park much faster, and it doesn’t look like anyone is close by.”
We climbed on the four-wheeler, and I started it up. It was noisy, and I was afraid the people that were on it would start running back to it. I stepped on the gas and took us rapidly down the trail.
After driving for a while, it looked like we were getting near the front of the park. The trail widened ahead, and it looked like there was a big open area. I slowed down and brought us to a stop, shutting off the engine so we could hear if anyone was around.
“I think someone’s coming,” said Gretchen.
We exited the vehicle and ran into the woods. Then we watched as a group of people came down the path and looked over the vehicle. While they were busy, we made our way out of the woods to the clearing. There were a couple buildings and signs for the trailheads. The sky was getting brighter with the sun beginning to rise.
“There’s the park office. Let’s go check it out,” I said.
We went inside and looked around. There were brochures for sightseeing in the U.P., along with maps of the park laid out on the counter.
“It smells awful in here,” said Gretchen. “Maybe it is coming from back there.” She pointed to an open doorway behind the front desk.
We leaned in through the doorway and quickly found the source of the smell. There was a dead body lying on the floor. The chest was caved in, and a fuzzy growth covered it.
There was no power in the building, and there was no dial tone when I picked up the phone. We didn’t see anything useful in the building, so we went back outside.
“Hey! Over here,” a woman’s voice shouted. She was standing at the entrance to another building.
We ran over and followed her inside. She closed the door behind us.
“I’m so glad to see some normal people again,” she said. “My name is Amanda.” She was wearing a gray shirt with a patch on the side that stated, ‘Michigan Conservation Officer.’
“I’m Phoebe, and this is Gretchen and Brian,” said Phoebe. “Do you know what is happening to everyone?”
“All I know is that it started with this weird fungus we found in the woods,” said Amanda. It was about a week ago when one of my coworkers found it while going for a hike. He brought it back to look under the microscope when it burst in his face. The next day he brought some people with him to work but didn’t say who they were. They were all acting strange, so I stayed away. Before I knew it, the whole staff was acting strange. I hid away from them and watched as they planted these weird things in the ground and went out for long hikes in the woods.”
“Didn’t you call the police or someone for help?” I asked.
“I did, but they never showed up. I’m afraid this may be happening in more areas than just here,” said Amanda.
“Why didn’t you leave?” asked Gretchen.
“I tried to, but the cars were covered with the fungus,” said Amanda.
“Same thing happened with our car,” said Phoebe.
We told Amanda what happened to us, including how they made duplicates of our friends and the fires they were making to spread the spores into the air.
“This is crazy,” Amanda said. “I wonder where this stuff even came from.”
“Do you think we could take that utility vehicle out of here?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” said Amanda. “It is pretty loud and only goes up to twenty-five miles per hour. It might be worth a try since I don’t know what else we could do.”
“I wonder how much gas is left in it,” I said.
“We’ve got full gas cans in the maintenance shed,” said Amanda. “We can pick up more fertilizer, and we should be able to find something to defend ourselves with.”
“What is the fertilizer for?” Phoebe asked.
“I found fungicide in there yesterday and was able to kill one of them with it,” said Amanda. “It took a few minutes for it to react, but then it stopped him pretty quick.”
“We found that antibacterial cream worked on the things that grew out of the spores,” I said.
“Good to know,” said Amanda. “There may be a first aid kit we can grab too.”
“Do you want a mask?” I asked. “We’re thinking it might help protect us from breathing in the spores.”
“Yes, I’ll take one. That’s a smart idea,” said Amanda.
After putting on the mask I handed her, she went to the door and peered outside. “It looks safe to run over to the maintenance building,” she said.
We all went outside, with Amanda leading the way to the maintenance building. There were shelves full of various supplies and cleaning agents, along with shovels, rakes, and other outdoor tools.
Amanda picked up some fungicide and brought it by the door. “Let’s put everything we think we’ll need here, and then we can swing by with the vehicle to load up whatever we can’t carry,” she said.
We grabbed a couple shovels and a small tool bag to put by the door. There was also a gas-powered backpack leaf blower that I found and set by the other supplies.
“Maybe it can help keep the dust off us,” I said.
The vehicle was still where we had left it near the beginning of the trail. We couldn’t see it from here, but I hoped we could make it without being seen.
Amanda looked out the door and said, “Hold on. Some people are coming.”
“How many are there?” asked Gretchen.
“There’s seven of them,” said Amanda. “They are walking over by the main office. We’ll have to wait until they go somewhere else.”
Phoebe reached over and grabbed my hand. “Do you think we’re going to be able to get out of here?” she asked.
“I hope so,” I said. “I’d like to spend more time with you…it was a lot of fun at the cabin until this all happened.”
She smiled and squeezed my hand.
“They went inside. Let’s go,” said Amanda.
We quickly grabbed all we could carry, leaving behind the leaf blower, fungicide, and a few other things, and ran toward the trail.
“Their fires must be getting bigger,” said Gretchen. “The smell of the burning trees is strong.”
We made it to the trail entrance and then ran to the utility vehicle. We loaded everything in the back and climbed in. Gretchen was right about the smell. But it didn’t just smell like burning wood. It had a weird scent mixed in with it. The smell must have been powerful without the masks.
Amanda got in the driver’s seat and started it up while the rest of us climbed in. She immediately stepped on the gas and drove us to the maintenance building. The door to the main office opened, and a group of people ran outside.
I jumped out of the vehicle when she slowed down near our supplies. They were only about fifty feet from me when I quickly tossed the rest of our things in the back.
“Go, go, go!” I shouted as I jumped onto the back of the vehicle.
I nearly lost my grip when we started moving but was able to hold on as Gretchen helped me in.
“They’re going to catch up to us!” shouted Phoebe.
Gretchen grabbed a bag of the fungicide and shook it out behind us, sending the granules and a puff of dust into the crowd behind us.
We started pulling away from the group when Amanda got us up to full speed. They kept running toward us for a while and then eventually began slowing down. I watched a few of them fall over before they were out of sight.
“The fertilizer worked!” shouted Phoebe.
We went down a winding road for a while and then came to a stop.
“Why’d you stop?” asked Gretchen.
“Do you smell that?” asked Amanda.
I could still smell the burning wood we had been noticing for a while.
“I don’t smell anything different,” said Phoebe. “Just the same fire smell that has been in the air for a while.”
“No. It is different,” said Amanda. “It smells really good!”
She shut off the vehicle. Then she removed her mask and dropped it on the ground before climbing out. “Come on! I think it is over here!” she yelled as she began walking down the trail toward the entrance.
I looked at Phoebe and Gretchen and saw the confused expression that was likely plastered on my face as well. “What is she talking about?”
“You should put your mask back on!” shouted Phoebe.
Amanda kept walking until she was out of sight.
“Should we go after her?” I asked.
“Maybe we should get out of here,” said Gretchen.
Before we could decide, Amanda came running back toward us.
“What am I doing?” she asked. “I need my mask…no, I need to go into the woods.”
“I think we need to go,” said Phoebe. She climbed into the driver’s seat and started the vehicle back up.
Amanda was just standing there on the trail in front of us, not moving. Then she put her head in her hands and yelled, “Fine! I’ll do it!” She looked up at us and smiled before breaking into a run toward us.
Phoebe went in reverse as fast as it would go. I grabbed the leaf blower and found the primer, pumping it a few times before pulling on the starter cord. After a few pulls, it roared to life. The vehicle spun around, nearly toppling me over the side of it. Amanda was right behind us, and a gurgling noise came out of her mouth before she threw up a cloud of dust. I had the leaf blower on full power and aimed it at her face while we took off away from her. She fell backward from the strong point-blank blast of air.
“Turn back around!” yelled Gretchen. “We have to go past her to the front of the park!”
Phoebe turned it around as quickly as she could, and I got the leaf blower ready again. Amanda had gotten up and was in the center of the road. I blasted her with air again as we drove around her, sending more dust or spores or whatever she was spewing away from us. We continued on through the tree-lined road and eventually came to a small building on our left that must have been the check-in area. I looked in it as we went by and saw that it was empty.
“Hey, are those flashing lights up ahead?” Gretchen asked.
Phoebe slowed down a little, and I noticed it too. It was coming from around the next corner. We went around the turn slowly and came to an abrupt stop when we saw multiple police cars and fire trucks blocking the way out.
“They’re empty,” said Phoebe.