18.98: An ONC 2023 Thriller

Chapter 9

THE PRESENT

Shivering in one of Helina's Gore-Tex rain jackets, Liv trudged along a wide trail under a canopy of ancient evergreens, towering like apex predators over the lower life forms comprising the forest floor. This must be what it's like to be a visitor on another planet, she thought. Everything felt strange, but she was the one who was an alien here, a peculiar creature at the mercy of older, wiser beings.

Jumping at a loud knock coming from a nearby tree, Liv nearly stumbled into Graham. "What's that?" she asked, wondering if he had heard the same sound or if this was one of those moments where her reality and the reality of normal people parted ways.

"Look," he answered, a tight smile on his upturned face.

Following his gaze, she had just enough time to track the black outline of a bird with a red crest before it flapped its wings and flew higher into the tree and out of their line of sight.

"Was that a woodpecker?"

"Pileated. It's not the only one." He stood with his feet shoulder width apart, like he was about to launch into sun salutation. "I mean it, this place is life changing. Listen."

This was the kind of command Liv would usually scoff at and then do the opposite of. But she couldn't bring herself to reject the wishes of this poor, beautiful man. He so desperately clung to hope, something she was bound to mess up for him sooner or later. The least she could do was perform a bit of harmless compliance.

Closing her eyes, she let the forest symphony play out in sound and sensation. Mist, falling in such tiny, gentle drops, they were nearly imperceptible as they landed on leaves and logs and humans. Swaying branches rustling needles. Distant tap tap taps from a network of pileated woodpeckers drilling into tree trunks with mechanical precision. Despite herself, she took a deep breath of pristine air.

"Damnit," she finally said.

"What is it?"

She opened her eyes. "You win. This place is fucking glorious."

"It is, and I'm glad we came, but..."

He didn't have to fill in the rest. There'd been no sign of Helina. The ranger at the gate into the national park confirmed to them that no abandoned cars had been found in the area since Helina had gone missing. It was as Liv expected—a beautiful place with no new insights.

"We've come a long way for nothing, haven't we?" The dejection in his voice made Liv want to tear through her armadillo skin and release a sob.

"Not for nothing. It's nice to feel...something for a change. This place makes me feel." She ran her hand across the velvety moss carpet encircling a tree trunk, then pulled it away. "I don't know if I like it."

"Peel back that armor, Liv," he said, taking her moss-touched hand and leading her further down the trail. "I'd love to see what's under it."

His face lit up red despite the cold. "I mean... I didn't mean..."

Liv let him squirm a while before squeezing his hand. "Whatever you mean, it's fine with me."

His cheeks remained flushed, but at least he'd lost the haunted look he'd carried into the forest with him. Perhaps this place's primordial vibe would prove therapeutic for him as well as for her.

"I've gotta pee," he said.

"What?" She looked around, but there was no bathroom, not even an outhouse. "Where?"

"Don't worry. I'll go off trail a bit in case any other hikers wander by." He launched himself between two ferns. "Be right back."

Liv found herself alone then, the sort of alone a person felt when they contemplated the inevitability of their own death. With Graham out of sight, she might as well be the last person on this alien planet, or maybe the first person in her very own plane of existence.