part 14 Settling down

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They pulled it open.
Inside was a candy bar, some rope and some map details, Delilah wrote them down on her own map. She then grabbed the candy bar and popped it open beginning to eat it. As they were walking towards the lake, Oswin asked "what did you find in there?" Tom who always held the radio replied "err, just a candy bar, some ropes and Delilah wrote down some map details which is good" Oswin said "that's good, but what did you do with the candy bar?" Delilah turned she had eaten almost all of it having some of it in her mouth about to chew. Tom smiled then slowly said "Delilah is eating it, why?" they heard Oswin fighting back her own laughter while trying to talk "err, they've been in there for like 60 years or older, I learned to basically never touch them" Delilah quickly spat the remaining out and started drinking lots of water "yo, what the fuck?! You fucking tell me now!" they heard her laughing "sorry, I didn't know you were eating it" "It's a fucking candy bar! What the fuck else would I do with it?" she paused "why did it taste good? Is that weird?" Tom nodded looking a little concerned "yeah a little bit"
An hour later.
They got to the lake. They quickly found a tree the bark of which had been torn away by claws. Tom radioed "err, I think there is a bear around here by the looks of it" "did you find the tracks or have you got your head in its mouth? If you do and you're able to talk to me just before you die, please know I'm very impressed" Tom shook his head "no to either of those, but there's a tree that has claw marks all over it from what looks like a bear" "that's good, but I'm afraid that's not enough for the forest service, they're kind of dicks about it" "what do you mean?" "You have to find the tracks, because the forest service will say they could be old bear marks" "okay, that's bullshit, they could say that the tracks are old!" "I agree with you, and I hate it too, but for some reason that's how it has to be, I really hate it" they started looking again. They actually managed to find tracks. Oswin was extremely happy to hear that. Tom and Delilah began heading back and started watching out for fires until Oswin needed them for something else. Delilah spent most of her time in her area writing, drawing or read, she liked to talk to Tom a lot who would usually be in the upper area reading, or doing the many crossword puzzles that were in the basement under them, they said there was enough for the entire summer he wanted to test that.
Delilah went to Tom's area.
She grabbed the radio "hey Oswin" there was a pause "err, Oswin, I have a question" Oswin radioed back "yeah, hi, hello, I'm here, sorry I was filling out the bear report and sending it to the service. What's on your mind?" "Well, I was just wondering, am I allowed to like, go on a hike whenever I want, at any time of the day?" "Yeah, of course that's one of the reasons I love it out here so much, you wanna go on a hike then you go, if I have a job I'll radio or wait until you come back" "awesome" they spoke to Oswin a lot, learning about the area like where to hike to and where to stay away from. Tom asked "so what actually happens out here?" "Well not actually that much, most of the strange things that happen out here, happen to the rangers" "why?" asked Delilah "well a few strange people have come and gone in our time. Not only rangers, the visitor's as well. I remember one ranger came here for a month in the same tower you're in right now, with his daughter. He never spoke to me ever not even when I'd give him jobs he would just... listen, then set off. One day he went hiking, no idea where, no idea why. He left his radio, everything. He went with his daughter, then he came back at night, and strangely didn't have his daughter with him. He went in the tower grabbed something and went into the woods... haven't seen him or his daughter since, they both just disappeared" "what happened to them?" asked Delilah "the police tried to find him however there wasn't really any way to tell where he had gone and why. Some people say he went away, some say he's dead out in the forest somewhere, but I don't think he died" "why not?" "Because every month supplies get delivered at a certain point, and for some reason they deliver supplies for 2 forks tower which well it isn't used anymore, but they still deliver the supplies and someone takes them, every time. And they have done for 8 years, and he disappeared 8 years ago" Delilah who was sitting on the bed with her back against the wall asked "why is 2 forks tower not used anymore?" "Well the 4 people who were in there was stabbed to death and the company didn't like it, so they just left it alone" Tom said "what if whoever stabbed them was the ranger who disappeared?" "No, I don't think so" "why not?" "Because it happened about 60 years ago before we were even born, so unless he had a time machine it couldn't have been him, the guy was never caught though. I am convinced the guy is still here somewhere in the trees driving himself slowly mad watching us from the trees" Delilah sat up a little "thanks for the nightmares Oswin" "that's just part of the job, to make it worse, if he is out there the place he's most likely to go is his old tower... that's where you are" "haha funny"
When it was day 24.
Oswin loved to hear from them, she was the only person they could talk to, and they were the only people she could talk to the other people hated talking to her because a lot of people came out into the forest to be alone, and she respected that, so she kept her distance. However, Tom and Delilah liked her and talked to her every day. One day Delilah was doing a crossword in the room. Tom was upstairs reading a book. Oswin radioed "hey Tom?" Tom hit the button, so he wouldn't have to hold it down "hey Oswin, what can I do you for?" "Funny it's usually me asking that question, anyway is Delilah with you?" "Err, she's downstairs, would you like me to get her?" "If you wouldn't mind" Tom went downstairs "hey D?" she looked up "hey dad, what's up?" "Oswin wants us for something"
They went upstairs.
"Okay, Oswin we're both here" "good, I thought I'd give you an update, remember the bear I sent you guys to find, it turned up" "really? Where was it?" asked Delilah. Oswin replied "well it wasn't far from where you were it was right on the edge of the water with it's 2 cubs. It's strange, and it creeps me out" Tom looked up "how so?" "Well they turned up... dead" Tom said "really? Well that's just nature isn't it" "yeah, I would usually say the same, but not this time" Tom looked confused "why?" "Well, I don't know what you've seen, but in my 19 years here... nature doesn't normally shoot them with a shot gun, put bear traps round their feet and heads then dump them in the river" Delilah looked shocked "holy shit! That has to be illegal right?" "Yeah it is, but also we can't do anything about it, whoever did it has a gun, and possibly more bear traps, it's not the best idea to go and have a chat with them. Why did they shoot it then just leave? We have a list of people who go in and out of this place, so they'll find them after a while" "good, I hate people who needlessly kill animals" said Tom "I hunted down poachers once, and they are some real dirty bastards"
Oswin asked.
“So Tom, you were in the army, right?” he looked up “yeah, yeah I was, 8 years, and it wasn't fun, it' was hard work” “I can tell even if you hadn't told me, I can always tell” he frowned “how?” “Well, people who have joined the army and have gone to war, talk like you do, I can't explain what I mean, but they all talk like you, I always pick it up we've had enough of them here for me to know” “yeah, you seem to have met a lot of people who have gone to war” “yeah, well some people come it here with PTSD to just escape their thoughts” “yeah, I can see why, I had PTSD for a long time, it isn't fun waking up every night covered in sweat remembering all the horrible things we did, I remember when I came back from the army after 8 years and I tried to live life normally, the first thing I noticed was, my bed was... way too soft. After sleeping on rocks with the sound of bullets and explosions in the distance, sleeping on that bed seemed strange” “yeah, Mark was someone with bad PTSD, he never ever spoke to me, in fact you're the only people who actually talk to me the others just stay... silent” “who's Mark?” asked Tom sounding a little confused “well, he was the one who disappeared with his daughter” “when did he disappear?” “8 years ago, I believe he's still out there somewhere, and you may meet him tomorrow” “why?” “Supplies are being dropped off tomorrow night, in the morning you will have to hike towards them to get your stuff, there are 2 boxes, I have to make a special phone-call yesterday concerning Delilah, but it wasn't an issue it actually made it better for them”

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