by BJ Bourg
“Brett! Where are you?”
“This can’t be happening,” Charlie screamed. He turned to me. “What do we do?”
The pelting rain brutalized the ground and made it impossible for our untrained eyes to see a track. I quickly calculated the time in my head. It couldn’t have been more than five minutes since he disappeared around the corner of the bushes. In that terrain, he couldn’t have gone far. “Fan out. You go that way, and I’ll go this way.”
Charlie shook his head. “I’m not leaving your side.”
Instead of arguing, I ran to my right and plunged into the thicket, scanning the area as I ran, trying to take in as much as I could. I could feel Charlie on my heels. Branches whipped at my face and tore at my arms. Rain attacked from above. “Brett! Where are you?”
We reached what looked like a game trail, and Charlie grabbed me by the back of my shirt and pulled hard. I turned. He pointed off in the distance, but didn’t speak—he couldn’t speak. He began to back up slowly. I looked where he pointed and gasped. A large creature was moving through the trees in the distance, and it had Brett’s limp body slung over its shoulder. Bile instantly rushed up to my throat, choking me. I spat the bitter liquid to the side and pulled out Jezebel. Gripping it firmly in my hand, I raced toward Brett’s location, screaming as I ran.
The creature must have heard me above the noise of the storm because it turned and looked in my direction. I couldn’t discern a color or shape—couldn’t even tell if it had a face—but it moved like a human. It looked like its skin was made of leaves. When it stopped moving, it blended perfectly with the background, as though it were a part of the forest. All I could make out was Brett dangling. He looked like he was suspended in mid-air.
In one quick motion, Leaf Creature dipped its frame to one side, and Brett collapsed in a heap to the ground—he didn’t move. Fear choked me as I rushed forward and reduced the seventy-yard gap between us. I lifted Jezebel in front of me and continued to scream as loud as I could, hoping it would intimidate Leaf Creature. It suddenly lifted an arm and pointed it in my direction. A brilliant flash of orange light shot from its limb. Dirt kicked up in front and to the left of me just as the sound of an explosion reached my ears. Before I could take another step, I was knocked sprawling.
“It’s got a gun!” It was Charlie, and he was on top of me. “We need to get out of here!”
We scrambled to our feet. Leaf Creature was running now—directly toward us. Another shot rang out and bark from a nearby tree sprayed into my face, stinging my flesh. I turned, and Charlie was already gone. I raced toward the trail and caught sight of Charlie’s backside breaking a path through the trees. The trail was indiscernible. There was another explosion behind me—that one sounded closer.
Charlie was yelling. Although I could barely hear him above the barrage of thunder and the pounding rain, it was enough to guide my way. Lightning flashed nearby, and there was a thunderous crack followed by what sounded like a repetition of shotgun blasts. I jumped in my skin. Did Leaf Creature have reinforcements? I caught a flash of movement through the rain directly in front of me and realized the source of the blasting noise. My heart was paralyzed for a split second, as I processed what I was seeing.
Before I could react, Charlie appeared out of nowhere and slammed a shoulder into my chest, directing me away from the falling tree. We both slammed into the ground just as the giant tree crashed to the forest floor several yards away from us. The earth shuddered from the tremendous impact. Twigs and other debris rained down on us. I scrambled to my feet and glanced behind us. I didn’t see anything.
Charlie was already up. “Come on! We need to get out of here.”
I hesitated. “What about Brett?”
“You saw him—he’s dead. But we’re alive, and we need to get out of here before that thing comes here and kills us, too.”
Flashes of brilliance lit up the area, and I caught a glimpse of the trail. I pointed. “That way! Run!”
Charlie and I fled down the trail, heading back toward the switchback where Woody Lawson had gone missing. Charlie was leading the way. As we ran and the rain fell harder, I lost sight of him through the sheets of water. I had to brush water from my eyes constantly so I could make sure I was headed along the trail. I caught a glimpse of Charlie when the lightning flashed again, and I continued straight ahead, wondering how he could see the trail. I heard more crashing sounds as the roots of other trees lost their battle with the wind and collapsed to the ground all around us. I felt like we were in a minefield.
I turned several times to look over my shoulder, but I didn’t see Leaf Creature again. Maybe one of the trees smashed him! I began to think it might be safe to go back and check on Brett, but fear kept me going down the trail. Lightning flashed again and a wave of panic washed over me as I realized Charlie was gone. One second he was there, and the next second he was gone. Had Leaf Creature circled around and snatched Charlie right out from in front of me? Was he using the storm as cover to take us out one at a time?
I started to slow down. Lightning flashed again and I saw nothing—just dark and utter emptiness. The ground had disappeared from under my feet. There was a brief moment when I felt suspended in the air, as though everything had frozen in place, but it was extremely short-lived. I shot straight downward. My stomach tickled. It felt like my heart had lifted to my throat. Tree branches blurred by and some of them slapped me as I plunged toward the earth.
Almost as suddenly as I’d begun falling, my freefall came to an abrupt halt in a body of deep and icy water. I hadn’t prepared for the sudden rush of water that got sucked into my mouth and up my nose. The current immediately took control of my body and dragged me downriver. I kicked my feet and swung my arms in a desperate attempt to slow my rapid descent to the bottom of the angry river. My lungs ached. I choked on the water that had slipped down my throat. I resisted the burning desire to take a breath, as I fought to get back to the surface. I kicked in desperation and paddled with my hands. My arms and legs burned. My lungs felt like they were about to explode. I didn’t think I was going to make it.
At long last, I reached the surface of the water and sucked in a lungful of air. I coughed, water spraying from my throat. I felt myself being driven downriver by the powerful current. Rocks zipped by and I crashed into some of them, altering my course. I was like a human pinball, bouncing from rock to rock, trying desperately to keep my head above water and to get off the violent rollercoaster ride.
I didn’t know how far down the river I’d shot and I didn’t know what river I’d fallen into, but it didn’t look like any creek we had encountered on our hike. Although it was considerably brighter along the river than it had been in the thick of the forest, I couldn’t make out the surrounding landscape through the driving rain. I thought I caught a fleeting glimpse of a large shadowy figure way up on the riverbank, but I couldn’t be sure. Was it Leaf Creature? Did he have Charlie?
I tried to clutch onto passing rocks, but my hands slipped on the green slime that covered the smooth surfaces. Just when I thought I couldn’t stay afloat any longer, my legs and arms began to drag the bottom of the river. I tried to stand, but the rushing force knocked me over and I plunged face first into the water, breathing in as I went under. I came up gasping for air and tried to right myself. I used my hands and feet to push off the bottom and steered myself toward the nearest riverbank.
After a long and exhausting struggle, I managed to reach shallow water and crawled toward a large rock that stood like a centurion at the edge of the river. My rucksack serving as a cushion, I leaned against the rock. I was battered and exhausted, my arms aching from the intense workout. I shivered as I tried to catch my breath and get my bearings. The pelting rain had been reduced to a steady dribble, and the clouds were starting to dissipate, allowing me to make out my surroundings. I was in a wide river surrounded by steep cliffs. I reached for the map in my pocket and it was only then that I realized I still clutched Jezebel in a d
eath grip.
I scanned the area. Everything looked clear. I holstered Jezebel and pulled out a mushy mess that used to be a map. I tried to unfold it, but the paper was stuck together and began to tear as I forced the folds apart. I silently cursed myself for destroying the only two maps we had. I’d have to rely on my memory, but that would do no good because I didn’t remember seeing a major river running through this area. Other than Rocky Creek and Betham Creek, there were three fingers of creeks that extended northward, but they looked much smaller than this on the map.
I stood on shaky legs, steadying myself with a hand on the large rock, and winced when the pain in my back reverberated through my body. I had to find Charlie. Had he fallen into the river, too? Or had he detected the cliff before we reached it and avoided it? What if Leaf Creature got to him? What if he’d been killed as well? My jaw burned with emotion. I shook my head to clear my thoughts, then made my way along the rock and climbed up onto the riverbank. Smaller pebbles littered the soft ground and made walking easier. I trudged around the large rock and began following the river, calling for Charlie as I walked. My voice boomeranged back to me. I scanned the surrounding cliffs, searching for a way up the vertical walls of rock. There was none.
“Charlie!” I called again and again, keeping a wary eye out for Leaf Creature. I trembled. My mind was numb. How is this happening to us? This can’t be real!
Up ahead was another large rock that stood about ten feet high. It was either go over it or get back into the river to get around it. Still shivering, I reached for a handhold and pulled myself up. Utilizing a toehold here and a handhold there, I picked my way up the face of the rock. When I reached the top, I stood and took advantage of my elevated position. The rain had stopped now, and the sun was shining again. I welcomed the warmth.
“Charlie,” I screamed and paused as my voice echoed down the river. I was about to yell again when I realized the last echo was not my voice. I stood on my tiptoes and shaded my eyes. “Charlie?”
“Abe!”
Shielding the sun from my eyes with both hands, I scanned the area. I looked upriver from where I had come and then downriver. That was when I saw him. He was a hundred yards downriver, on the opposite riverbank, and he was jumping up and down waving his arms in the air. His shirt and shorts clung to his body and his wet hair was plastered to his pale scalp. He looked like one of those wet muskrats I used to trap back in Louisiana when I was a kid.
“I’m coming!” Almost crying with relief, I made my way down the opposite side of the rock, half climbing and half falling.
When I was still a couple of feet from the ground, my rucksack snagged on a rock that jutted out from the boulder, and I was left hanging, my feet dangling. I kicked and jerked like a baby hanging from a bouncer. The strap finally broke free and I fell in a heap. I jumped to my feet and jogged along the riverbank toward where I had last seen Charlie. The going was tough. I had to jump over a large rock here and dodge a fallen tree branch there, but I finally reached a point along the river where I could see Charlie again. I was surprised to see he was already in the water, struggling to reach my side of the river. He would take two steps toward my side of the river, then get knocked over, and tumble several yards down river. I kept moving, trying to stay parallel with him.
“Be careful,” I said. “If your foot gets stuck under a rock, you’ll drown.”
Charlie stopped to take a breath, holding onto a jagged rocked. “I don’t think I have the strength to make it.”
He was twenty feet away. I shrugged off my rucksack and searched inside for the rope I had packed. I grabbed it and quickly searched my surroundings for a stout branch. When I found one, I tied an end of the rope to the branch and wrapped the other end around my arm. “You ready, Charlie?”
Charlie nodded, stretching out a hand. I reached back with the branch and tossed it as hard as I could. It landed with a splash directly in front of him and rushed toward him. Releasing his hold on the rock, he clutched at the branch and pulled it close to his chest. Hooking one arm around a tree, I held onto the rope with my other arm and groaned when it went taut and bit into my flesh. I stood like an anchor, while Charlie pulled himself toward me, hand over hand. When he reached the river’s edge, I hauled him from the water. He collapsed to the ground and rolled onto his back. I dropped beside him and stretched, using my rucksack as a pillow.
“I thought you’d drowned.”
“You know I can hold my breath forever,” Charlie said between gasps. “I have to admit, though, that current is strong.”
“Yeah. I thought I’d reached the end of the line.” I propped up on an elbow, facing Charlie. “What happened back there? Did you even see the drop off?”
Charlie’s eyes were closed, and his face was turned toward the sun. “One minute I was running along that trail, and the next minute I was skydiving without a parachute.”
“Where did this river come from? It’s not on the map.”
Keeping his eyes closed, Charlie shook his head. “I don’t even know.”
Ignoring the pain in my back, I stood slowly. I studied the wall behind us and searched for a way up. “We need to climb up there so we can get our bearings.”
“I just want to sleep,” Charlie said.
“We don’t have time to sleep. We need to get out of here before it gets dark. If we get trapped out here overnight with Leaf Creature, we’re as good as dead.”
“Abe, I really think that was some kind of mountain monster. It didn’t look human, and it didn’t look like an animal.”
“I think you’re right.” I continued searching for a way up, but there was no scaling the wall where we were. I returned the rope to my rucksack and shouldered it, then began moving downriver. “With or without you, Charlie.”
Charlie groaned loudly. “Just let me die in peace.”
“Nobody’s dying just yet, but if you stay here alone, you will.” I didn’t look back. There was a sharp bend in the river up ahead, and I wanted to see what was beyond it. Somewhere along the way Charlie caught up to me and we rounded the bend together. It looked like the rock wall was tapering downward in the distance.
“It looks lower over there,” Charlie said. Something fell in the woods behind us and Charlie spun around. “Did you hear that?”
I nodded, then tried to penetrate the trees with my eyes. “We need to keep going.”
We walked until the rock wall all but disappeared and allowed us access to the forest to the right. We plunged into the trees and made the gradual ascent to the top of the cliff and walked along its edge, hoping to make it back to the spot where we’d fallen before night fell. I didn’t relish returning to that area because of Leaf Creature, but we had to get to that trail if we wanted to get back to the truck and call for help. Without a map, we could very well end up like the others who went missing. I dismissed the thought, told myself everything would be fine, and labored on.
Tall trees grew along the cliff’s edge, and I began to shiver again in the cool shade. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this cold in the summertime before.”
“I know. I can’t stop my teeth from chattering.”
There were no discernible trails that we could see, so we had to force our way through the thick underbrush. We arrived at an ocean of thick briar patches that extended in front of us for what seemed like forever, smothering the bases of the many trees that sprang up from its midst. I tried to push my way through it, but for my efforts, only managed to get stabbed in the legs and thighs by dozens of needle-sharp thorns.
“There’s no way we can make it through this crap,” Charlie said.
I looked up at the forest ceiling. There was no mistaking the fact the sun was going down. If we had to go around the thorns it would take us miles out of our way. I walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down. It was clearly twenty or more feet to the ground level of the riverbank. “I guess we have to go around.”
Without wasting any more time, we stabbed our way t
hrough the trees to the left and sank deeper and deeper into the Blue Summit Mountains National Forest. As we struggled through the underbrush, we encountered more briar patches and had to deviate from our course of travel a dozen or so times. We tried to keep track of our location as we made our way through the maze of briar patches and attempted to head back toward the river, but it seemed impossible. Each time I thought we were close to getting back the edge of the cliff that overlooked the river, we encountered more thorny bushes and had to turn away. It was dizzying, and I soon realized we had gotten so turned around that we didn’t know which way was up. I stopped near a giant tree and dropped to the ground in despair. Darkness was falling, and we were lost.
“We’re not going to make it out of here tonight,” I said.
“I kind of had that one figured.” Charlie stared around us. “Mother Nature’s got us wrapped tight in her razor wire and she won’t let us go.”
I stared upward, but it was no use. “I can’t even see the sun to try and figure out which way is west.”
“Even if you could,” Charlie said, “we don’t know where we are, so we won’t know which way to head to get out of this hellhole.”
I leaned forward, slid my rucksack off my shoulders and took in our immediate surroundings. Walls of dense briar patches strangled the giant dogwood trees that grew like proud centurions all around us. The trees appeared to have been growing for hundreds of years and looked tall enough to reach the heavens. I wondered if ours were the first human eyes to behold this section of the Blue Summit Mountains. I posed this question to Charlie.
“It doesn’t look like anyone has ever been here,” he said. “I think this is one of those virgin forests I’ve read about that’s never seen a human footprint.”
“It’s so weird not to see any trails. It’s like we’re the only people on the face of the earth.” I stood and walked around this natural clearing that would have to serve as our home for the night. “As much as I hate to admit it, I think we’re stuck here until tomorrow morning. We’ll need to gather up some firewood and prepare a camp before it gets too dark.”