There’s something going on at my cabin.
Let me start at the beginning, two years ago I wasn’t doing so well. I came back stateside to find Jody had struck while I was gone. That led to some regrettable decisions and ultimately me living in my truck with a pair of felonies over my head.
I didn’t have much in the way of family either, a deceased father, absent mother and a younger sister that had dropped off the radar before I went to the sandbox.
So there I was checking the PO box that my mail got forwarded to now that my house no longer belonged to me. There was a letter from California sitting on top. At first I assumed it was junk mail. Luckily I didn’t throw it out
Ignoring the stack of letters from various collectors I opened the mystery envelope. It was a hand written note.
Hey Clint, I should have written a long time ago. I heard you aren’t doing so hot after getting back, something I know a little too much about. I had assumed Uncle Sam had learned a thing or two about how to bring our boys home, apparently not. Anyways I can’t fix not being there like I should have. What I can do is give you a chance at a fresh start. By the time this finds you I’ll be gone. All those issues the VA claims I don’t have finally caught up to me. Any how, I never remarried after messing up the first three times and I’ve been shooting blanks my whole life so I’m writing this alone. I’m selling my house and belongings, it should more than cover my end of life care. I’m leaving you my cabin and any proceeds left over. You’ll find a key to the cabin and a business card for the lawyer I used to set everything up in the envelope. I haven’t been up to the cabin in 20 years but I hope it serves you well.
It was signed Uncle Cassius. My dad’s brother, I had met him a few times throughout my life. He wasn’t someone I was close with, I was honestly surprised he even knew who I was. I dumped the old brass key into the palm of my hand. I stared at it for a long time. Uncle Cassius had always been a cantankerous man willing to throw fists over any perceived slight. This act of generosity was highly out of character.
I didn’t call the number on the card until the next day. The whole thing felt unreal. When I finally worked up the nerve to call the lawyer it went smoother than expected. The lawyer, a Miss Ladeaux suggested I come to her office to finalize papers.
There was nothing keeping me at my current location and plenty of reasons to leave. I tied up what ever loose ends I had in the area and hit the road that night.
After a quick shave and shower at the local truck stop I headed over to the firms office. I found myself standing in front of was a modern four story building of glass and steel. I double and triple checked the address before heading in.
I made my way to the front desk, the twenty something blonde spoke without looking up from what ever she was typing “sorry no public restrooms, there is a gas station two blocks down the road”.
That stung a bit but I tried not to show it. “Actually I’m here to meet with a Miss Ladeaux”. The girl looked up from her computer, she eyed my clothes and even went as far as to flair her nose slightly as if picking up an unpleasant scent.
I mean she probably was but still, that’s just rude. “Name?” she asked. “Clint Walker”. She scrolled through her computer. “Ah, here we are. Very well Mr. Walker, if you’ll have a seat I’ll let Miss Ladeaux know you’re here”.
I barely had time to pick up a magazine and sample the nut platter before the click of heels got my attention. A beautiful woman in a smart business suit and skirt walked up to me. She had an air of authority about her that instinctually made me want to salute.
She smiled as she approached revealing a set of perfectly straight teeth. “Mr. Walker, it so nice to meet you in person”. I stood and shook her hand, she had a surprisingly firm grip. She motioned for me to follow her, we took the elevator to the top floor then walked to her office in the corner. The large windows looked towards the snow covered peaks in the distance.
Miss Ladeaux sat behind her desk, I took one of the seats facing her. She laced her fingers together and took a long look at me, she seemed to be weighing me with her gaze. Finally she broke the silence “You didn’t know your uncle very well did you?” I shook my head. “No I can’t say that I did. I don’t think I saw him more than half a dozen times my entire life”.
She slid a paper over to me, a quick scan of it showed it pretty much said what Uncle Cassius’s letter had said but in more legal sounding language.
She handed me a pen next “it’s strange that Cassius would give his inheritance to someone who’s nearly a stranger. But weirder things have happened”. Her use of his first name didn’t escape me.
I carefully read through the contract. “I hate to sound inconsiderate but do you know how much money was left after paying all his bills?” she raised an eyebrow at my question, I shrugged my shoulders. “I’m not doing so well financially right now. I don’t want to take ownership of the cabin if it means losing it because I can’t pay the property taxes or your fees”.
She dug into her folder and pulled out a bank statement. “Currently all of Cassius’s debts are covered as well as this year’s taxes. Our fees are being waived as well. What you see is what you will be receiving”. It wasn’t a ton but it would get me by.
I scribble my signature on the paper before handing it back to her. Curiosity got the better of me “what was your relationship with Cassie?” I asked. It was her turn to pause, she neatly stacked the signed papers before placing them in her folder. “Well to make a long story short, my father and your uncle become good friends over the last ten years. I would tag along with my dad on his yearly hunting trips with your uncle”.
I guess that made sense as to why a high end lawyer would be handling a lowly estate pro bono. And why I was picking up a hint of resentment.
“Would you like to see the cabin now or after you’ve settled in?” “We can go right now?” I asked. She nodded “if you would like”. “That would be great, I want to get an idea as to what kind of shape it’s in. It’s fine for you to leave in the middle of a work day?” Miss Ladeaux walked past me, as she did she pointed to the office door “my name on the door means I can do as I please”.
In the parking lot she scribbled an address on a piece of paper and handed it to me. “Just in case we get separated”. She sat in a white late model Audi SUV, she threw her high heeled shoes onto the passenger side of the car before closing the door.
I got into my pickup and followed her out of town. The road gently swayed from side to side as we cruised past the lush evergreens. When there was a break in the trees I could see the snow covered mountain reaching into the clouds ahead.
The farther we drove the older the houses and barns grew and the larger the plots of land they sat on became. Horses and cattle roaming grass covered hills became the norm.
Soon even they faded, replaced by endless trees rising high above us and stretching out to the edge of my vision. The road grew rougher, there was no guard rail or shoulder, just a single line in the center. The road signs were riddled with holes likely from drunken locals who had grown bored living in a small town.
The Audi’s brake lights lit up before it dipped off to the left. I followed onto a very primitive private road. A broken gate hung off to the side nearly enveloped in ivy. Two ruts led up the hill with bushes pushing in on both sides.
I was surprised the SUV made it all the way to the top. We parked side by side and I got out of my truck.
Knee high grass surrounded the building, it was made of hand cut logs and had a cedar shake roof. The windows had long since been covered with plywood. The wrap around porch has grass growing up through it and the railing had fallen down years ago.
I made my way to the front door, even if I didn’t already have a key I wouldn’t have needed Miss Ladeaux to unlock it for me. The jam was so badly rotten the door simply pushed open. The interior smelled awful, it had a wet dog like scent to it.
Doing my best to ignore the smell I walked around the small two bedroom single story cabin. I walked in the master bedroom, in the closet the smell was unbearable. That was when I noticed a trap door leading to the crawl space, the smell was clearly coming from below. I closed the lid and latched it. Instantly the smell lessened.
Miss Ladeaux came in holding her nose shut. “Thank God you found the source” she commented. I noticed she had traded the high heels for hiking boots and had her hair up in a ponytail. She had also ditched the suit jacket.
We walked through the rest of the cabin. There was no water or power currently. The toilet was full of black mold as well as the shower. The roof seemed to be holding water out but the exterior was showing it’s neglect. There was a small barn a few hundred feet from the cabin. It was just big enough to fit two vehicles in the center and some animals along the sides with a small hay loft.
There was a Ford 8N loader tractor parked inside but the batteries and fuel had long since gone bad. As had the few bales of hay that had been left behind. Like the cabin it had some rot but the roof was holding water out saving the majority of the structure.
We spent a decent bit of time going over papers before Miss Ladeaux gave me my stack. “Here you go Mister Walker, you are officially the owner”. “Clint is fine” I told her “thanks for everything, if it’s not too much bother I would love to hear some of the stories you must have of my uncle some day”.
She shot me a smile as she climbed into her car “you have my number, and by the way it’s Lucy Ladeaux”. With that she drove away.
As the crunch of her tires faded away I looked back at the cabin. In the fading light out looked even worse than it had a moment ago. The stillness the setting sun brought with it made me shiver. I wouldn’t be sleeping here tonight that was for sure, the lack of water and power on top of the smell was enough to assure me I needed to find a hotel for the next few nights.
I did just that, I booked a room at the crummy motel in town for a week. It felt blissful to be able to lie down on a bed and stretch out. I’m not a tall man but I’m taller than my truck is wide, using the bench seat for a bed the past dozen or so months gave me a real appreciation for a queen size bed.
I probably spent longer than was polite in the shower but I didn’t care enough not to. Afterwards as I lay in bed, my thoughts busy with possibilities. I could sell the cabin, no doubt it would get me some money to get by for quite awhile. But if my ex wife caught wind of it she should would likely find a way to take most of it.
I had some cash now, I could invest in the property. Find a local job and start paying off some of my debts. My ex might try to up her cut but no matter what I did she would probably do something.
I must have dozed off at some point, my phone ringing woke me up. Groaning I rolled over and put it to my ear. “Hello?” “Where are you?” the voice was too familiar for my liking, Annabelle, my ex wife.
“Why do you care?” I sat up fully awake now. “Don’t get smart with me Clint, you left in the middle of the night. I want my check, don’t think you can run away from me”. I winced at her grating voice, ok maybe it wasn’t that bad. But to me it was the worst sound on earth.
“Don’t worry about your money Anna, it’ll be on time. And the full amount”. She was quiet, that was never a good thing. “Does that mean you found a better job?” Yep, there it was. “No, but I got a one time payment for something and you’ll get your cut”. She replied with that voice as smooth as arsenic laced honey “good to know Clint”. The line went dead and I flopped back onto the bed. “Fuck me sideways”.
With my morning already ruined I decided to make the best of it by heading to the cabin. On my way I stopped by a hardware store and grabbed some lumber and tools. I wanted to fix the door for sure as well as remove the plywood covering the windows. I needed to make a list and budget out repairs before moving forward.
The drive was just under an hour, with the price of gas in California I was going to have to make my trips up count or my old truck would bleed me dry.
The cabin didn’t look any better. Actually the door was now laying on the ground, apparently I had gotten its last use out of it the night before. Before I even entered I could smell the scent that wafted out the doorway. I could almost feel the odor seeping into my skin.
The smell made my decision for me, the first thing I was going to do was remove the plywood and get some windows open.
It took a lot longer than I expected, whoever had put up the wood had nailed the ever living shit out of them and buried the nails deep into the boards. A couple hours later I had the windows uncovered, they were single pane and from the 80’s but I had seen worse.
Opening them all brought in a decent amount of fresh air. The power was still shut off, the electric company said they would be out later this week to turn it back on. I took a walk around the yard in search of the well, it was pretty easy to find. There was a ring of stones with a wood lid over the top.
I flipped the lid off and gagged at the smell, it was the same wet dog smell that permeated the interior of the cabin. Trying not to inhale I cranked the hand pump, unfortunately it took several minutes to get water up. It took even longer to get clear water. I filled a bottle with the water, I would send it off to get tested when I got back to town.
I replaced the lid and walked back to the house. The smell was more tolerable now. I was worried the wood floors and paneling would absorb it and never smell right again. Next I tackled the bathroom, it took a couple gallons of bleach but I got rid of all the mold I could find.
I noticed the light was starting to get dim and decided to call it a day. As I was packing up I remembered the door, I cursed in frustration. Glancing at the low hanging sun made me uneasy. I really didn’t want to be here after sunset, but I also didn’t want animals getting in the cabin.
I told myself to stop being a bitch and get to work. I pulled the old rotten wood free and started framing in a new door way. It was getting hard to work so I started up my truck and pointed the headlights at the door.
As I was hammering away I kept feeling the hairs on the back of my neck prickle. It wasn’t a nice feeling at all, more than once I caught myself looking over my shoulder into the black forest surrounding me. I was starting to sweat, I didn’t like this one bit. Finally I decided to throw up one of the pieces of plywood I had pulled from the window and call it good enough.
After quickly securing the wood I threw my tools into my truck and climbed in. I was moving too fast, my hands were shaking as I started the engine. My heart raced as I sped away. Once I got onto the main road a shiver ran though my body.
I was pissed, my fight or flight instinct hadn’t been triggered so badly since traveling the Spīn Ghar mountains. Yet here I was in a cold sweat over some quiet ass trees.
My bad mood persisted through the night. I woke up the next day ready to continue cleaning up the property. I brought a few gallons of gas and a new 6 volt battery with me as well as a generator.
Soon I was pulling up to the crappy little cabin. The feelings from the night before came rushing back. The plywood I had nailed up was lying in the middle of the yard broken into a dozen pieces.
I sat in my truck contemplating what I should do next. Finally with a sigh I open the door and climbed out of the truck. Carefully I walked into the cabin, there was muddy smudges on the floor as well as the windows. Nothing clear enough to tell me what made the tracks but it was obvious something had been wandering around after I left.
The terrible odor was back and worse than ever. I glanced into the master bedroom and paused, the crawlspace hatch was open again. The latch was intact but the hole was wide open.
Heart in my throat I walked up to it, painfully aware of how loud the floor was under my boots. I didn’t dare poke my head in and look around. Hell I didn’t even dare to stick my phone down there and take a video!
I decided my best bet was to close it again, I double checked to make sure the latch was secure this time.
Then I nailed it shut and set the biggest rock I could find on top of it.
I hung a new front door and made sure both locks worked. With house secure I finished a few other small projects before heading to town for dinner.
While enjoying a nice T bone with mashed potatoes I noticed they had a football game playing in the bar area. Once I finished my meal and paid my bill I headed over to the bar.
I ordered a Moscow Mule and settled in to watch the game. I had barely finished my second drink when two college kids sat next to me. I glanced at the abundance of empty chairs around but choose to order another drink rather than make a big deal over it.
I finished my drink and decided to call it a night, as I stood up one of the guys grabbed my wrist. He looked at me like I had pissed in his cornflakes. “You the one driving that truck?” he pointed out the window to my pickup.
I pulled my arm free from his grip. “Yeah that’s mine, what about it?” They looked at each other “I think you should get in it and drive right out of town. Don’t bother looking back”. I felt a calmness enter me, it felt good. I asked “and why would I do something like that?” They both stood and glared at me, they were probably a couple years younger than me. They were fit and their buzz cuts screamed LEO or military.
The bigger of the two put face right up to mine “because you don’t belong here and you sure as hell don’t need to be poking around that cabin!” He was red in the face, his eyes were bulging with indignation. I smiled at him, rubbing my hands together at chest height I spoke softly “you’ll have to get used to it, I’m not going anywhere. In fact I think I’ll build a second cabin up there”.
I’ll admit his swing caught me by surprise, I hadn’t expected him to lose to his cool so quickly. Lucky for me it was a pretty shitty punch and just grazed my cheek. The quick jab I threw into his nose on the other hand resulted in a shower of blood and him stumbling backwards. His buddy took a step forwards, it was probably out of instinct but I took it as an invitation.
I put my boot into his shin and drove my knee into his face as he was heading for the floor. The first feller had regained enough of his wits to see my second punch coming. It caught him in the mouth, his lips didn’t appreciate me trying to push them threw his teeth like play dough in kindergarten class.
It was time to go, I left the two wannabe tough guys on the floor and headed out. It was a short drive to the motel where I slept off the nights adventure.
I woke up late, I had a message on my phone from the power company. My cabin had electricity again, if I wanted I could start sleeping there and save some money.
I didn’t really like that idea.
I packed up my things and turned in my room key. I wasn’t going to let fear hold me down. I had faced worse things than these woods had to offer and walked away with my life.
After a quick stop to get some needed things I headed up to me cabin. I nearly to the cut off zone where cell service got spotty when my phone rang. I pulled off onto the shoulder and answered “hello”.
A familiar voice came through “Clint, did you get into a physical altercation last night?” it was Lucy Ladeaux, I decided to answer honestly. “Yeah you could say that, how did you hear about it?” she sighed “it’s a small town, well that and my friend is the nurse that patched them up. You’re lucky you know a good lawyer, the sheriff is going to be at your cabin shortly. Be polite, let me do my thing and hopefully this will all go away”.
I thanked her before pulling onto the road and driving to my cabin. I guess it made sense, I wasn’t really thinking about the law when I decked that guy. Regardless, I hoped Lucy could handle it.
I started the day by ripping out the old deck, I hadn’t been working long when a silver suburban rolled up. Even though it was unmarked it was clearly a police car. Tossing the hammer and crow bar aside I waited as the sheriff approached. I could see my reflection in his aviator sunglasses.
He was an older man, probably late 50’s or early 60’s. A bit portly and rocking a robust handlebar mustache. He didn’t say a word as he place one foot on the bottom step, he pulled a cigarette out of his breast pocket and lit it. “Clint Walker, you’re not real big on first impressions are you?”
He didn’t give me a chance to answer, instead he continued. “Those boys you banged around want your head on a platter. And I’m considering giving them just that, wouldn’t be too hard seeing as how you’re on probation”.
“Listen here” I interrupted “those two started it, I just…” he cut me off. “Shut your mouth boy! I don’t give a shit, you came into MY town and started trouble. You sell this place and get out by the weekend or I’ll see you end up in prison for life this time”.
Before I could argue he stormed back to his Suburban and peeled out as he left. “Damnit!” I cursed, I kicked the porch railing sending rotten wood flying.
I took my phone out of my pocket and called Lucy, she answered on the third ring. “Hey you got any good news for me?” there was a pause followed by a long sigh “Clint the sheriff and mayor of this town are brothers, and you busted up both their sons. No I don’t have much good news for you. It doesn’t look good, especially not with being on probation for a previous violent crime”.
I hung up, just when life was starting to turn around this had to happen. I focused on my breathing, something I learned after my service. Just find something, the breeze, it smelled like wet leaves. It felt cool. I took another breath, I see trees, I smell leaves, I feel the cool breeze. Another breath.
When I calmed down I called Lucy back and apologized, she accepted my apology but sounded annoyed. She suggested I head to her office to discuss things in person.
So I packed up my tools and got into my truck, I was driving on auto pilot my mind filled with dread when a flash caught my eye. I stopped the truck, I was still a ways from the main road. Putting the truck in reverse I backed up a few hundred feet, to my left was a hole in the brush. Deep in the woods I could see the sun glinting off a silver suburban.
I’m not afraid to say I sat there for a moment and contemplated driving away. I rolled down my window “hey sheriff, you down there?” when there was no reply I got out of the truck. I pushed through the broken bushes and made my way to the wrecked vehicle.
The passenger side was caved in, the windows all blown out. Peering in showed an empty driver’s seat. In fact the entire drivers door was missing.
I took a nervous look around, the woods were dead quiet. There was a trail of destruction leading deeper into the woods. I had a choice, follow the foreboding trail or call the authorities.
I decided to call it in, I described what happened the best I could. Then I walked back to my truck and sat on the hood and waited. Before long I saw red and blue lights coming up the road.
Two patrol cars pulled up. Four deputies approached me, each one wearing a grim look on their face. Before I had a chance to say anything one of them grabbed my arm and twisted it behind my back, he slammed my head down on the hood of my truck.
“Ok asshole what happened? You get mad and run him off the road?” I tried to stand up only to be pushed back down. “No I didn’t, look at his rig and at mine. There’s not a scratch on mine”.
One of the other deputies leaned over and looked at my truck. “He’s got a point Zane, how about you cut the tough guy act and we start looking for Les?”
I felt the pressure on my arm release. Rubbing my shoulder I turned to the four officers. “Down there” I pointed to where to suburban lay.
Zane, Murdock and Anderson approached the wreck, Johnson hung back standing by me. As the others looked over the suburban Johnson leaned closer to me. In a low voice he asked “you wouldn’t happen to a clue as to what happened here would you?”
I shook my head “no idea, I was heading to town and just happened to catch sight of it on my way out”. Murdock walked past us on his way back to patrol cars. As he passed he gave Johnson a look I couldn’t discern. Johnson’s shoulders slumped and be muttered under his breath “fucking hell, here we go”.
Zane and Anderson were having a quiet conversation, they had a haunted look about them. “Is there something I should be aware of?” I asked Johnson. He let a humorless chuckle escape. “Don’t worry about it. Go home, we’ll handle this”.
I snorted “yeah that’s not happening, I’m coming along. Finding the sheriff is the only way we’re clearing my name”. Murdock returned carrying four rifles. He handed one to each of the other deputies.
“Those don’t look standard issue” I commented. Johnson pulled back and released the charging handle on the FN SCAR “it is for this area”.
He walked down to the others and they began following the trail. I walked behind them as they moved forward.
They’re reminded me of how my old squad would clear streets, for all our sakes I hoped they had better luck than we had.
It wasn’t long before we came across the car door. Despite the long gashes in the steel running the length of it the deputies barely spared it a glance as they pushed deeper into the woods.
The trail led us up a steep incline, we slowly crawled our way to the top. Anderson pointed out a some drops of blood on the ground. Past the blood the trail grew much fainter.
We were all out of breath at this point. Zane and Anderson wanted to push on, Murdock pointed out the time. We had three hours until sunset, Johnson ended up siding with Zane and Anderson. We pushed on.
I was lost in thought when Zane froze, he held up a hand. The others took up positions around him. Each one tensely shouldering their rifle. The trees around us stood silent. Then the smell hit me, it was rank. Like a rotten mushrooms and wet dog.
The air grew think with tension, Anderson’s breathing grew labored. I could see sweat rolling down Murdock’s temple, he let go of the grip of his rifle to wipe it away. In the split second that his muzzle dropped something slammed into him!
Murdock hit the ground hard his rifle sending a shot into the sky, Johnson fired multiple rounds over Murdock into the surrounding bushes. At the same time Zane fired in the opposite direction, a scream rang out cutting through the air. It sounded like a cross between a cougar and a boar, it sounded pissed.
I grabbed Murdock by his plate carrier and pulled him to his feet. As he took up position again I reached around behind him and drew his service gun from it’s holster. He didn’t take his eyes off the near by brush but whispered angrily “that’s mine fucker”.
Ignoring Anderson I turned to Johnson “what the hell was that?” it was Zane that answered me. “It’s none of your concern, I winged it. Hopefully that buys us enough time to get the sheriff and get out of here”.
Seeing that no one was going to offer any more information I let it go. The four of them continued to follow the trail, I kept close as they did. Hand gun or not I didn’t want anything to do with what ever creature Zane shot. Plus if it didn’t go down after getting hit with a 7.62x51 I sure as hell wasn’t going to kill with a 9mm. I checked the gun, turns out it’s a 10mm and had a round chambered.
These guys came prepared for something big. I was really beginning to regret coming along.
Zane must have been a miracle tracker because he kept a steady pace through the foliage. If it wasn’t for the random specks of blood ever twenty or so feet I would have assumed he was traveling blind.
A massive branch snapped to my left, the sound echoing through the trees. I turned towards the sound, Anderson slammed into my back knocking me to the ground. He began screaming and writhing on top of me. Gun fire erupted from all around. Over the ringing in my ears I heard Zane yelling at Anderson to hold still.
I got up to one knee and quickly scanned the woods. Seeing nothing I turned to Anderson. Three long gouges ran from his shoulder blade to his elbow. He was bleeding profusely and screaming all the while Zane was trying to pack the wound.
Johnson and Murdock were on constant swivel watching the perimeter. Probation be fucked I grabbed Anderson’s discarded rifle, shouldering it I stayed low and searched for movement in the brush.
Zane managed to get Anderson under control. He was still moaning and his eyes were entirely dilated but the screaming had stopped.
“What are we up against?” I asked no one in particular. Zane glanced at me but didn’t answer. It was Johnson that finally explained. “There’s something living under the mountain, they’re fast, aggressive and tough. They normally only come out at night but something has them riled up. There’s a toxin on their claws that induces nightmarish hallucinations”.
I didn’t have a reply for that. I didn’t like that answer one bit. “What are the chances the sheriff is even alive?” This time Zane answered “decent. If they wanted him dead we would have found pieces of him all over his patrol rig”.
I didn’t find that reassuring at all. Johnson checked his watch. “It doesn’t look good Zane. We’re running out of time and we’re a man down, I think it’s time to split up”. I thought that was a crazy idea but Zane nodded his head. “Yeah, if we’re going to have any chance at this you and I need to push forward and find Les while Walker here and Murdock carry Anderson back”.
I looked at each one thinking surely there was a better option. To my shock they all seemed to be in agreement. I wanted to argue with them, to convince them all to leave and come back with the national guard or something but their minds were made up.
So that’s what we did, Murdock and I did our best to support Anderson as we returned the way we came. Zane and Johnson disappeared into the forest in search of their missing boss.
Despite the constant feeling of being watched we made it back to the gravel road without incident. By the time we arrived the sun was low in the sky. It looked like Johnson and Zane would be spending the night in the woods.
Murdock stumbled causing me to nearly drop Anderson. Murdock cussed loudly. A moment later I saw why. The two patrol cars and my pickup had been reduced to shredded rubber and twisted metal. It looked like someone had pulled them apart with a pair of giant knives.
A look of defeat filled Murdock’s face. I gave him a small nudge “come on man, it’s not dark yet. We can still make it back to my cabin if we hurry”. Murdock looked up at me blankly before slowly nodding. Getting up off his knees he helped me drag a now unconscious Anderson up the road.
It was pitch black by the time we got to the cabin. Rather than stay inside it with all it’s large windows we made our way to the barn.
Once inside we closed it up tight and barricaded the door. With our backs to the wall and rifles facing the ladder we tried to sleep in short shifts. Around midnight we heard a barrage of gun fire in the distance. It lasted about a minute before the night fell silent once more. It remained quiet until the sun came up and with it the chirping of birds.
With our cellphones dead and radios destroyed our plan is to tend to Anderson and wait for reinforcements.
I’m writing this all down on my note pad while it’s fresh in my mind. I don’t know what’s going on but I know there’s something weird about this whole mountain.
I hope to update soon.