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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/Hobosam21 on 2024-10-24 12:39:56+00:00.
Reaching over I opened my glove box. Fishing out a pack of battered and stale Marlboro Reds I placed one between my lips and lit it.
I inhaled the toxic chemical concoction. It soothed my nerves and tickled that part of my brain that craved nicotine despite more or less quitting a year prior.
The rifle felt good in my hands, heavy and solid. .308 if I wasn’t mistaken, 20 round magazine with 13 shots left. Not great but it would have to do. Having finished my cigarette I tried the ignition. To my surprise the truck started.
I put it in gear and continued down the mountain road. I knew the noise might attract more of those things but I wanted to reach Lucy’s car as fast as possible. She had already been out all night alone and who knew if those things had found her.
The trucks four flat tires made navigating the rough road as difficult as riding a unicycle down a cobblestone path in the ice.
With two hands firmly gripping the wheel I turned a particularly sharp corner and nearly hit Lucy’s car. The truck stopped in a cloud of sweet smelling steam. The engine had developed a fatal knock this time.
With the truck turned off I listened carefully before exiting the false security of the cab. Birds sang in the trees around me, the sun was out and welcoming. Save for the hiss of my overheated truck one could convince themselves that all was fine.
Knowing better I went to Lucy’s car. The white Audi looked entirely unharmed. I noted the open driver’s door, no damage though. Lucy had left the vehicle willingly, or at least it appeared so.
Inside was another story, the drivers seat had a large amount of mud on it. The interior stank horribly. The keys were in the cup holder. I pressed the start button and the engine came to life with a quiet purr.
I turned it back off, right behind the Audi lay a mid sized tree. With enough momentum the car might be able to get over it but there was no guarantees it would survive. I decided that would be a problem for later, first I needed to find Lucy.
Now I’m no tracker, I hunted some as a teenager but nothing that would have prepared me for something like this.
Luck happened to be on my side, the wet ground had clear boot prints leading into the woods heading in a northern direction. Even a novice like me could tell by the spacing that Lucy had been running when she left her car.
Tall ferns grew under the towering evergreens obscuring my line of sight. The air filled with their scent as I pushed my way through. The constant cracking of dead branches under my boots had me in edge, anything within a dozen yards would hear me coming.
Lucy’s trail grew hard to follow after just a couple minutes, the soft blanket of pine needles left no foot prints. With nothing more then broken stems and kicked up soil I felt like I was doing little more than guessing.
I had been traveling for an hour before I got solid confirmation. A small log lay half submerged in moss, on the far side of it were two distinct hands prints in the dirt. Lucy had tripped over the camouflaged trunk in the night and had fallen to her hands and knees.
With renewed hope I pressed on. An unforeseen annoyance was all the spider webs. They hung invisible waiting to snare my face in their sticky tendrils.
As mid day approached I was once again doubting myself. It was when I paused to assess my position that I heard the trickle of nearby water. I took my knife and marked the trunk of the nearest tree so I could find where I left off.
I needed a drink desperately, I hadn’t realized until now just how long it had been since I had eaten or drank. I followed the sound, a small brook flowed down hill nearby. The water was clear and crisp.
After drinking my fill I was about to rise when the feeling of being watched came over me. I scanned the forest, my crouched position didn’t give me a decent view but I didn’t want to stand up just yet.
My leg twitched and I felt a cramp coming on, so much for holding still. I slowly rose, my hands gripping the rifle firmly. The sun peeked out from behind the heavy clouds illuminating the forest floor.
Something in the distance hissed loudly, I heard the snapping of branches and pig like grunting. I had the rifle butted up to my shoulder instantly. I scanned the area I thought the sound came from.
Nothing moved, the woods were still. The birds had vanished along with any insects. The only sound was that of the gurgling brook behind me. The hair on the back of my neck prickled. I wanted something to happen, anything to break this stalemate between me and the unknown entity in the trees.
Sweat began stinging my eye, I didn’t dare lift my hand from the rifle to wipe my brow. Ever so cautiously I took a step backwards. I followed it with another, I didn’t care when my boot filled with water from the brook.
Only when it had been twenty minutes without another sound and I had gained a decent distance between myself and the brook did I breath easy.
In my mind I had known the woods were dangerous, but the uneventful morning had caused me to drop my guard. That would not happen again.
But now I had lost Lucy’s trail, I would have to cross the brook again in order to find it once more. Not willing to make things easy for the beasts I walked down the mountain a ways before cutting across. It didn’t take me long to find the trail again as I had my previous tracks to follow as well.
Once again I began the painstakingly slow process of deciphering where Lucy had gone. I would have to constantly back track after missing a tiny detail. I was so focused on my job at hand and on looking out for any hostile animals that I didn’t notice I was circling back towards the road.
I was in a virgin area, I hadn’t walked through there before but I was definitely facing towards the road now. My self doubt started to grow, had I involuntarily turned around? Or had Lucy made a big circle in hopes of returning to her car?
Having no other easily discernable choice I pushed onward. I soon found myself walking along a jagged gully, the earthen crack was too wide and too deep to be crossed without a lot of difficulty. Unfortunately the ground alongside it was hard packed dirt and rock.
I followed it north for a distance but found no signs Lucy had gone that way. Turning around I went south an equal distance without any luck. I knew it was a hail Mary but the road was to the north so I started in that direction once again. To my elation I found a clear boot print in the dirt just a few yards past where I had turned around previously.
In the back of my mind I was very aware of the sun’s trajectory. I needed to pick up the pace or else I would be spending the night out here. And that was not an option.
I knew moving at a brisk walk would be risky, I might pass up a vital clue. But I was not willing to end up as monster chow. The increased speed seemed to play directly into my growing paranoia, I felt watched. I thought I heard the scuff of nails on rock.
My body wanted me to run, to escape the unseen danger. I willed myself not to. I had to concentrate on remaining calm, my heart rate had already grown and I was sweating again.
This was not a good place, it was then that I noticed the lack of animals. No squirrels or birds. Just an awful odor rising up from the gully. An odor reminiscent of a wet dog and carrion.
My resolve to find Lucy was weakening, what good would I do her dead? I had my doubts as to the honesty of the sheriff’s department. Would they even report her missing if I didn’t? Would I be doing more good leaving the area and getting a large group of people to help search?
Leaving was easy to justify, it was logical even. Rain began to softly patter onto the ground. The cool liquid running down my back was a welcome discomfort. The clouds that brought the rain darkened the air considerably. It felt much nearer to dusk than I liked.
I paused, my eyes attracted to the possible movement ahead. Brush obscured my line of sight but… no there it was again! Something was moving, it was a pale tan. Instinctively I dropped to a crouch.
There was a gap between two trees in the direction the thing was traveling. I raised the rifle into a ready position.
The thing was moving slowly and deliberately, it was silent as I tracked its cautious progress. The tiniest glimpses of color were all I had to go off of. It approached the gap, I readied myself for my first chance to see one of these things clearly.
It paused at the gap, almost as if sensing my presence. A small patch of color was visible through the ferns. I debated putting a round into it while I still could. It shifted and I lost my visual.
A bit of brown hair crept past the tree, it was nearly five feet off the ground. I hesitated, something wasn’t right. I lowered the rifle just as pale human face turned in my direction.
I made direct eye contact with her, Lucy looked at me with disbelief. She stepped out from behind the tree. The once white button up she wore was soiled with dirt and green streaks. Her jeans were torn at the knees, she looked like she had gone through hell.
She waved me over unwilling to leave the cover of the trees. I glanced in each direction before jogging to her. We both crouched low, Lucy whispered cautiously, “Clint what are you doing here? And how did you get a gun? You’re on pr…
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