My Say

2

New rays of the sun found us rolling out of our tents for the one thing we never missed on a camping trip, no matter how short it would be. A lake run sounds boring, right? Nope, we are up at the crack of dawn to run the ½ mile or so to the lake and jump in. The water is freezing and we see who will stay in the longest. We have been coming up here for so long that none of us remember how this game began. I was the reigning champion.

"Rom you're not going to be able to spend the day, we all agree that you're the winner. Come on, out." Greg hollered at me as the rest headed back to camp to get ready to leave.

"AWW, come on you didn't even spend 5 minutes in here", I complain splashing about. "I hate that I don't get to honestly bust your balls''. The laugher of the others drifts back down the trail.

"It's OK honey, you're good at other things", Monica can be heard before she squeals and runs off.

Anyone looking at us could tell we had done this before. We were a well-choreographed team, each of us packed our bags then each checking to ensure no one left anything. Tents were packed, the fire was triple checked to ensure it was completely out, a bit of wood was left near the pit for the next campers, and with one last look around we were ready to leave before the sun had even fully hit the sky. The walkout was great. The only odd spot was how quiet everything was. The birds and insects that normally were heard this time of the day were nowhere as if they had all slept in. I was enjoying the quiet before heading back to my apartment, living over a restaurant has its perks, but the silence wasn't one of them.

We had reached Signal Point and everyone whipped out their phones and turned them back on. Waiting for boot up, we took advantage of the break to sip some water and/or dig out a snack. Since I had a little more time I walked off the trail to take care of some personal business. The quiet of the trail hadn't bothered me, but the silence of the area had begun to set in. Just when I was ready to call one of the girls to come over I heard the howl, ah, I thought that explains it. We have a new pack in the area. Satisfied I had the answer I finished up, alone, and headed back to the group.

"Well, what's the story?"

"This is strange", Greg said, never raising his eyes from his phone.

"OK, hey Vanna wanna give me a vowel", I joked. The look on their faces told me I was missing something. "Uh, guys."

"No one has a signal", Monica says softly.

"Good grief, I thought there was something really wrong. All of you know how spotty the signal is out here. I thought the alert was about aliens or a snake invasion." My over the top shiver broke the tension.

"Only you would group aliens and snakes in the same boat."

"Bet you wouldn't mind if those aliens were like the ones in Sevannah Storms' books. I know I wouldn't."

"Don't worry I'll protect you fair maiden", Mark joked.

And so it went. The rest of the hike back was filled with jokes, jibes, and more than one of us hurried through that last half mile just to be first to the bathroom. As we reached the sign telling us that we had arrived at the head of the trail and were 0.3 miles from the ranger/welcome station, a wave of stench hit us.

"What the frack is that". Nan gagged out.

I spun around in time to catch a look from Monica to Craig. Craig stepped forward, "Stay here", his tone brooked no argument. Monica had reached into her bag and grabbed her vapor rub. She passed it around telling everyone to put some under our nose. Within moments Craigh had returned. "I need all of you to listen to me carefully", catching our eyes. "Greg, remember the logging trail we used to take up to the lake?" Greg nodded. "Take everyone up there then walk down, I'll grab the truck and meet you there."

"Who the hell put you incharge?" Nan yelled. "And what the fuck did you see?"

"Keep your voice down. We can discuss what I saw when we are safe." Craig was super calm, his calm kept the rest of us calm, but pissing Nan off. "If you want to go see, be my guest but I suggest you follow Greg and do it NOW." He took off his pack, took out his knife, a multi tool, flashlight, and several things I couldn't identify. Then tossed it into the brush by the road. "I suggest you take only what you need and ditch the rest. You will need to move fast and quietly." It took several minutes while we followed his lead. Only I didn't, my pack was already set up for fast and quiet.

Turning back to look at us one more time, "If I'm not there keep moving down the track. Be careful and don't trust strangers." He was gone and we headed back up the trail at a pace faster than we'd moved in a long time.