I'm not telling you this because I want to entertain you, or because I want to scare you.
This is a warning, for those who visit the Gila National Forest in New Mexico, (or, for anyone, anywhere in this horrifying world) during the dark of winter. Whether you choose to believe it or not, this actually happened to me and my friends.
But for privacy reasons, I can't be too descriptive.
Just describing her will be bad enough. But I have to tell you the story, I have to tell someone. Because what happened has scarred me for life. Now, I'm terrified to go near the woods, especially when there's deep snow on the ground. I know I'd probably be the most safe in spring, summer and fall. But in winter? No. Not a fucking chance. I learned my lesson and I learned it the hard way. Even writing this I'm tearing up. I don't care whether you believe me or not, but if you can, heed my warning. If you're cautious, (or for a better word, paranoid), don't go into the Gila National Forest during the dead of winter. Don't delve into any snowy mountain depths. And for those who actually live out there, be careful.
I just need to get this off my chest.
Tell it.
I believe I could perhaps regain at least some of my sanity if I do.
We live in Las Cruses New Mexico. The six of us, you see? We're pretty big gamers and YouTubers, Me and Alex and Jake. Chloe, my Crush isn't too into that stuff but she doesn't mind, she's a teller at Wells Fargo. Bernard works in a tire shop and hardly washes the grease from his hands, so we don't let him mess with our gaming gear. I think he forgets because he's been exposed to fumes in the shop, also he's half deaf from drilling lug nuts all day without hearing protection. Lastly, Amy, she's a manager at Sportsman's Warehouse, and an avid hunter. I won't go into anymore detail than that because of privacy reasons.
It all started when Amy had gotten some time off, and had invited the rest of us to go on a unique trip. An escape, a getaway from the big city. Whatever you want to call it. She knew most of us were mainly indoor cats, but she didn't care. She wanted a change and I didn't blame her, I also didn't blame her for what happened. It's not like she knew what was going to go down. "So what exactly what do you want to do?" I asked her the day after Christmas, she'd invited us all to her place and had made her announcement right after we finished eating, so most of us were too groggy to really complain about it.
"I just want to throw a couple of rifles and sleeping bags into a truck and haul ass into the woods," she squealed excitedly.
"Oh my poor fucking ears," Bernard complained.
"You don't even have ears," Alex said, sitting on the couch next to Chloe, who flipped him off.
"Fuck you," Bernard said.
Amy cleared her throat, "Ahem, as I was saying... I just think we should all do something for the New years. I wanna show some of ya'll how to skin stuff and do some shooting that's not in Last Zombies II."
"It's The Last of Us Part II!" cried Jake in exasperation. "And they're not zombies! They're Infected with a fungus. . ."
"She doesn't care what the game's called," Chloe snapped.
"... plus, I'm just now getting into Abby's backstory! Everything is so fucked up with Scars and the WLF..."
"You're game will still be there when you get back," Amy said. "It's not like it's gonna sprout wings and fly away."
"It might," I said. "That game is dope but Jake is constantly loosing stuff. It's like he's a human force field."
"I'm not even gonna respond to that," Chloe laughed, twirling her keys.
"Is that supposed to make sense?" Bernard asked.
"Guy's, please!" Amy said, her face contorted into a frown, as if Bernard had broke wind for the hundredth time that night. "Are you really just going to shoot down my invitation?"
"BANG BANG!" Alex made finger guns and pointed them at her, grinning.
"Seriously?" Amy said. "I have to go alone?"
"I'll go with you," Chloe said, giving the rest of us all dirty looks.
"Well that's one," Amy said. "And I always come over for your game nights. It's my turn to make you guys do something."
"What exactly would we do now?" Jake asked. "Shoot and skin shit? Fucking yuck!"
"You really need to start getting out," Bernard said, he looked to Amy. "So, like what? Is it just hunting and freezing to death in a Tent in the middle of nowhere?"
"We'd have cabins," Amy said, exasperated (This is the part where I subvert our hosts real names, instead I'll just call them P and M). "P and M have a homestead not far from Snow Lake where they rent out cabins to hunters. I know them personally. We'd be there for four days. There won't be any showers, just baby wipes and..."
"Eh fuck no," Jake said, "I ain't spending four days stuck in a cabin without a shower."
"You can bring a portable shower," Chloe said, "All you need is a propane tank and water."
"P might have a shower installed by now," Amy said, "But go ahead and bring one if you're coming."
"Eh, I don't know," Alex said. "hanging out in the cold like that for four days picking off wild dogs might just be the thing to make me sick."
"Because you weigh thirty pounds and get winded every time you make a trip to the bathroom," Chloe teased.
"I do not weigh thirty pounds!" Alex said defensively.
"And I do not let jokes sail over my head!" Chloe imitated him.
I chuckled. I liked how Chloe always teased Alex, he was always complaining about something, whether it was him dying in his video games, or finding a bit of bone in his hamburger or just whatever, she always teased him about it. I had decided that I was going too, "Yep, I'm game too," I said.
Amy smiled at that, "Two down," she said, "Come on, guys, what do the rest of you say?"
There was a moment of silence before Bernard spoke up, "Yeah, I'll go."
"Fuck no," Alex said. "What would we even do out there anyway?"
"Weren't you listening?" Amy asked, rolling her eyes. "We're going to hunt. I'm sorry I didn't really clarify but we'll be hunting coyotes. Don't need a license to kill them but we do need fur licenses since we'll be keeping them."
"You'll be keeping them," Chloe said, "I just want to see some snow."
"Yeah, same here," Bernard said.
"I'll think about it," I said. "But I don't have a gun."
"You can use one of mine," Amy said. "I've got plenty of em."
"Come on, Alex," Chloe said, putting him in a headlock and rubbing his head. "Please, pretty please. Do it for your pretty friend."
Alex squirmed out of Chloe's arm and sputtered, "Fine, but I ain't shooting anything."
"Wimp," Bernard said, then he passed gas, making everyone groan.
"What about you, Jake?" Amy asked, everyone was looking at him.
Finally he said, "Oh fucking five waves of peer pressure. Fine!"
Amy squealed in delight, Bernard complained about his ears.
:
So we spent the next three days planning for the trip, Amy bought Me, Chloe, Bernard and herself each a fur tag, (P had told her that there were lots of coyotes on his deeded land, so she was super excited) I bought myself a cold weather sleeping bag, a tent, (Just in case I decided to camp out) a huge bag of hand warmers that you shook to heat up, a bunch of energy bars, a case of Root Beer, insulated jacket and pants, a heavy pair of hiking boots and packed my warm clothes. The rest of the gang brought their own gear, including a portable shower which was Jake's idea. Jake, he always complains, and overthinks everything. Of course he refused a fur tag. I didn't even understand why he agreed to come in the first place. I understood that Amy wanted to take all her close friends with her to do something new. But Jake was such an indoor cat that he once refused to go outside when it was raining just a few drops. Actually kinda pissed me off if truth be told.
We left Las Cruses on the 30th.
We planned to be back on January 4th.
All six of us in two pickups with all our crap, including Amy's guns, skinning knives and a case of surgical blades. She said those we're the best for skinning animals with thin hides for pelts. I was oblivious. All I could think about was spending time with Chloe. Sure I would learn to shoot and maybe kill some coyotes and raccoon's, but I really liked this girl. She sat next to me in the back seat of Amy's black dodge, bobbing her head to metal music. I think The Wretched Spawn by Cannibal Corpse was playing. She was beautiful, with long shiny blond hair, green eyes and a freckly face I will never forget. 2020 was a bad year—with Covid 19 and all that—but actually getting to spend time with Chloe was going to be a real treat. She wasn't actually into me, but she was nice to me, treated me with open warmness, kindness. And when she laughed, I felt my eyes water. Bernard sat up front while Amy drove. "We'll be passing by a place called Beverhead," Amy explained. "It's a workstation for hunters, but there's a turnoff to Snow Lake close to it. I hate that road, absolutely horrible but it's better than taking the long way around."
"Why do you hate it?" Chloe asked.
Amy groaned, "You'll find out."
Outside, the ground was covered with a thick early morning frost which sparkled in the sunlight, giving a pretty glow to Chloe's hair. The only snow we saw was on the distant mountains, where we were headed. We didn't see any real snow until we passed the town Truth or Consequences, but it was a thin layer. The further we went, the thicker the snow became. It was noon by the time we made it to a small, and I mean small town by the name of Winston. I've only heard the name. It was dead. There wasn't much, just an old fashioned store with old fashioned gas pumps with dials, a post office and a Community Center down the street, there was an old bar that had been closed for years. There was also a tiny historical museum and a cafe further down the canyon Winston was in, but that was it. We didn't bother doing any touring, just got information from the clerk. The rest was all houses that stretched out thinner the further you got from the town.
We gassed up, got something to eat and kept going for about nine miles before turning past a turnoff that said Dusty. By then, the snow seemed a good three inches deep and it was windy. We ended up driving down into some deep canyons, where there was actual forest as opposed to open areas with the occasional brush, past different homesteads until we came across and sign that said Beverhead was twelve miles. The road was much more windy and some areas opened back up the view the beautiful snowy mountain range. I hadn't seen country this beautiful, and could only imagine what it looked like in the warm seasons. Beverhead came into view when we dropped down into an open area. It wasn't much, just a clump of houses with one large house in the center with a green roof. (Again, I'm not giving out too many details, due to privacy reasons.) it turns out, the turnoff to Snow Lake was just right there, closer than I'd thought. I was surprised because we'd been driving a while. I actually expected Jake and Alex behind us to turn around and go home, after all, they were the most reluctant about going.
I also completely forgot that Amy had said the road to snow lake was horrible. Now I understand why. It's entirely dirt, gets little to no maintenance, some places are so rocky and narrow that you'd literally believe we would tip the pickups over on their sides. And you didn't know where any rocks were due to the deep snow. I don't even know why this road was open in the winter. We got stuck twice and had to use shovels and a winch on the pine trees to pull ourselves out. It took forever. Fuck me! It took for fucking ever! Alex and Jake bitched the whole time but luckily we had our music turned up full blast to drown him out. (Maybe they should have stayed) but aside from all that, it was beautiful out there, the way the snow sat in clumps on the branches of the trees, the white blanket seemed to securely envelope the forest floor, and it was quiet. It was peaceful (Especially when Alex was quiet). It was four hours before Snow Lake finally came into view, a sheet of white ice in the distance. We kept going straight though, and the road was easier now, just a little wash boarded. Eventually, we came to P and M's turnoff. We we're deep into the woods now, it was getting dark, gray and bluish, a kind of ghostly beauty, the snow was deep and fresh, and flakes began falling.
Their homestead was in a beautiful rolling hill field several acres around with surrounding trees. A white blanket draped over everything gave it a peaceful manner. In the center was their house, a single floor large ranch style home, further off was a big garage like shop. Next to the road starting up a rise going away from the main house along the driveway was a row of hunting cabins of varying sizes, some of them diverted away into the trees.
We parked in front of the main house, Jake and Alex pulling up next to us. When we got out, the peaceful feeling we expected immediately absent in the air, thick with falling snowflakes as big as my thumbnail. With the breeze, came a static that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end and the skin on my back to form goosebumps as my heavy boots sunk into deep snow. I looked around as Jake shut the door of his truck and could tell they all felt it too. I shivered and pulled on my gloves, feeling the cold. This was not the feeling I expected for my first experience in the woods, and it was not there when we were digging out pickups out out where they had gotten stuck. "Burr," Alex complained. "Last I checked, my butt hole did have an icicle growing out of it in place of a turd."
"Last I checked I didn't want you to come just so you could be gross in front of my friends," Amy said in a scolding tone as she made her way through their yard gate and onto the front porch. I followed her, Chloe beside me, the others behind. I couldn't shake the feeling of being watched as Amy opened the screen door and knocked on the thick wooden front door. After about thirty seconds of waiting, she was about the knock again when the door opened. The woman standing before us was much older and taller, I could only presume her to be M, she smiled sweetly and gave Amy a big hug. The rest of us introduced ourselves and M invited us into her house.
We cleaned our feet and kindly complied.
Inside was warm and homely, causing the strange static feeling to vanish in the minty smelling air. M sat us down on one of her couches and told us that P was out in the shop, and that he should be back in about twenty minutes. While we waited, she offered us all coffee, to which Amy, Alex and Bernard refused. Myself, Chloe and Jake accepted. It was good, heavy Dark Roast, which I drank black. M and Amy caught up on what they'd been up to since they last saw each other while the rest of us sat in silence until P, a short man with with a grey mustache and beard came in from the shop. There were more greetings and catching up until he decided to show us the cabins. M stayed at the house. P got into an old restored truck from the 1930's and he followed us up there.
There was a cookhouse he would charge us to use, the entrance led into the kitchen, which was solid walls, the dining area in the back made of tarp material. He showed us to to use everything and gave us the pick of the cabins. I chose the smallest single roomed one that was furthest from all the others, Chloe and Amy chose a two roomed one closest to the cookhouse while the boys each took the ones closest to the road. I liked being furthest from everyone else, I'm odd that way, though secretly I wanted Chloe to come sleep with me, (wink wink).
I just wished there wasn't that creepy feeling in the air. I felt it as I unloaded my things and brought them into my cabin. The board that served as the walls were non insulated, and the door only had a small latch, same as all the other cabins. There were seven cabins in all, not counting the cookhouse. The feeling of being watched grew stronger as evening approached and the grey day grew darker. I found it odd how cold P seemed, how odd, whereas M was warm and inviting. P didn't even invite us to supper when he left us. He only pointed out the best places to hunt and said this, "don't leave the cabins when it's dark at night, only when the sun is rising."
"Why is that?" Asked Bernard.
P looked at him coldly, but only said, "easy to get lost when the snow is this deep."
I swallowed, looking at his eyes, those icy blue eyes. I could tell he was hiding something. He left us all standing there, outside the entrance to the cookhouse. Everyone else shrugged it off and went about unpacking, but I stood there, looking around the new, cold world that would be my home for the next few days. My knees went numb, I looked out into the open range and saw something moving along a rise. I focused, it was a dog, a coyote, all fluffed with a beautiful coat of fur. Someone slapped my shoulder and I jumped, turned. It was Amy. She eyed me with concern, "you okay?" She asked.
I pointed at the coyote. She nodded, "we'll get him tomorrow, first light. That's the best time, and in the evenings."
"But it's evening now," I said, just as the coyote vanished over the rise, leaving a trail through the snow.
"Well I want to get some sleep before we do any serious hunting," she looked at me, I wasn't buying it.
"Don't you think he's acting kinda odd?" I asked her.
"Who? P? Naw, he says that to me every time I come here, and I've been coming here every winter."
"He always reminds you? He doesn't strike you as odd?"
Amy laughed, "I suppose he is kinda weird, but who isn't?" She softly punched me in the shoulder, "but you're a bigger weirdo," to which I rolled my eyes as she continued, "look, I've come here during the summer and he's much more calm."
"But you never questioned why?"
Her eyes narrowed as she looked at me, "you've been playing too many video games, Mark. There's nothing out here that isn't completely normal for land like this. It's his home and job to guarantee people's safety. Do you understand?"
I nodded, taken aback by how stern she suddenly sounded, "good," she said, and smiled at me. "Come on, let's go eat."
Inside the cook house, I made sure to sit next to Chloe at one of the round tables while Amy and Bernard prepared a meal of macaroni and cheese and hot dogs, one of Bernard's special dishes, (extra salty junk food). We ate, talked and listened as coyotes howled and yipped off in the distance. The sounds gave an eerie vibe to the night. I felt uneasy, but remained brave. I wanted to impress Chloe on this trip. It was going to be my last chance. Alex spoke, "so how do you hunt coyotes? I thought you trapped them."
"You can," Amy said, nodding. "It's a fun way of getting em, but I love going out calling."
"Calling?" Alex frowned.
"That's right, you call them."
"How?"
"With one of these," she pulled from the breast pocket of her camo jacket a tubular mouth call, everyone looked at it.
"So you just blow in it?" Alex asked her.
"There's more to it than that, there's a technique."
"Can you show us?" Asked Jake.
Amy giggled, "no not here, not now. Tomorrow morning, when we go out."
"I'll sit this one out," Alex said, sitting back, belching.
"Me too," said Jake.
Amy rolled her eyes, "you two are a couple of fucking psychos. You were just asking how I hunt the damn things and now you're saying you're staying here?"
"I never said I wasn't going out period!" Alex said. "I just said I wasn't shooting anything."
"Shouldn't we stay spread out if we're going to hunt?" I asked.
"It would be better," Amy nodded. "I just don't want half of us out there while the other half sits around."
"We'll walk around," Alex Promised. "Just someone who wants to kill something should be with us, because I don't want to."
"I'll take Alex," Bernard volunteered, "I don't know much about hunting but I know how to shoot, and killing a coyote should be easy enough."
"Not that easy," Amy said. "Especially in the winter, it's easy to shoot right through their fur and miss them. You gotta aim as dead center as you can."
"And what should I do if I kill one?"
"Bring it back here and hang it up over the side of my truck. I'll skin it out."
"Fuck yuck!" Alex stuck out his tongue.
"And here's you practice dummy if you want to do it yourself," Amy joked. "Chloe can come with me, Mark and Jake can go together."
I felt my face redden in the warmth of the propane heater, angry with Amy. She would not take my chance away from me. I looked at Chloe, then to Amy, who raised an eyebrow at me. Bullshit! She knew I liked Chloe, but she didn't seem to care how I felt about her decision. Chloe had no idea and I preferred it stay that way. I wanted to do something, I wanted to impress her, I wanted to be alone with her...
"It's settled then," Amy said, with deliberate ignorance to my frustration, "it'll be girl's hunt tomorrow, and we'll keep mixing it up, three groups of two the whole stay."
Everyone agreed, everyone except me, but I pretended to agree, thinking to myself, No, no, I want to be with her! I want her!
Amy gave us all pointers on how to hunt coyotes and how to call them in. No one payed me any mind (I was just another face in the group). Shortly before we all turned in, Amy and Bernard made several trips from her truck to the dining area of the cookhouse, setting several calls and scoped rifles on the table. She gave those of us who were the least experienced in handling firearms, tutorials on how to handle them properly.
Treat all guns like they're loaded, even when they weren't loaded, treat them like it. Keep them pointed straight up or down, don't chamber a round unless you're ready to shoot, keep your finger away from the trigger until your eyes are set on the target. Know you're target and what's beyond your target. Understand how you're weapon works because many types function differently, and if you don't understand, learn from someone who does.
Luckily for us they were all bolt actions, and Amy was the only one who had a sidearm as well as a rifle. She handed me a 17 HMR, showed me how it worked. It had a removable magazine with a five round capacity. She handed Bernard a 223 that held ten rounds, also with a removable magazine. Her own rifle was the same and she would share it with Chloe. There was a rifle that was a larger caliber but that stayed in the truck.
We already knew most of these gun rules but Amy treated firearms like they were no joke, and they weren't. She reminded us to keep the chambers empty and told us to keep them in our cabins. She then handed us warm camo clothes, face shields, ammo and a small pack of surgical skinning equipment, to which I was the only on to take.
We then all said goodnight and went to our cabins. Once outside, I could feel that same creepy static in the air, and the feeling of being watched, thought it was nowhere near as severe as it had been the first time. The coyotes were quiet now, but as soon as I put my hand on the latch to open the door, they started howling, loud and eerie. All around me the sounds seemed to come, as if there were ten packs of the wild dogs within a hundred square feet. The night was dark, with the cover of clouds, I couldn't see anything save for the light built into my warm beanie, and my hot breath fogging my vision.
A shiver ran down my spine as I quickly undid the latch, swung the door open and went inside, sliding it back into place. My cabin was dark, I felt trapped and vulnerable, regardless of the rifle in my hand. I touched the stainless steel barrel and it was cold to the touch, as was a pretty wood stock. I leaned it against the wall between the two beds and crawled into my thick sleeping bag. Outside, the coyotes continued to howl and bark and yip. I was pondering how I would be able to sleep with them making all that noise when all of a sudden, they stopped.
All of them at once.
Stopped.
As if it were a clear and audible recording and someone hit pause.
I listened, but heard only the complete absence of noise. I felt the creepy static grow strong again, and my body heat building in the sleeping bag did not seem to warm me. I felt another presence lurking around somewhere outside, but
'it' never made a sound. Just relax, I told myself. It's probably just a mountain lion, they're known for making other animals go quite. They're Predators, that's how it goes with them.
At least... that's what I told myself.
I felt an urge, along with the unknown presence. It wasn't an urge I normally had, in fact, it was one anyone in their right mind would deem completely inhumane. Yet I felt it all the same, so angry, I thought to myself, feeling my face burn so hot, I was afraid the others would smell the smoking meat of my face. So in love... shut up, Mark, that's not who you are
That's exactly who you are.
No! Shut your fucking mouth! I'm not doing it!
Oh yes you will, you WILL obey me.
I don't even know you! I hate you! And I hate her! She's trying to take her from me! She thinks I'm not good enough for her friend!
Yesss! Yaaasss! That is why she must pay!
She's my friend too, I just need to handle this right, shut up!
Oh you'll handle it, alright. You'll handle it very well. You know you want too...
...I don't... I'm tired, please... a shudder went through my body and I thought to myself, what the fuck is this?
You're going to do it, Mark. You're going to do it. I know you're going to. The only way to get her to stop. She has to pay, she's been doing this for so long...
I was in a haze as I climbed out my sleeping bag. I didn't really know what I was doing, I didn't really understand my own thoughts. Yet at the same time, I did. I turned on my head light, put it on and switched it to the dim green. I took out one of the surgical skinning blades Amy had given me and went outside, barefoot in the falling snow.
By the time I got back, my feet were numb and wet as I put the razor back with the others, a small glint of purple in the green light, rippled on the thin edge.
I curled up into a ball, sank deeper into the sleeping bag and tried to sleep. Hanging onto that one thought, I drifted in and out of a light doze until five in the morning, when the howling began again.
YOU ARE READING
The Winter Reptile
HorrorIn the dark of the winter forest, in the deep crimson snow, no one will hear the screaming as the freezing scales scrape over bleeding flesh.
