Horror of Alley Creek

Chapter Seven: Things Get Worse

"Keep working on trying to radio dispatch. I'll make sure they remain calm," I told Robby as I moved back over to the hikers. I knelt beside the hikers. "We're working on radioing dispatch to get you four out of here. Just make sure to stay calm. Robby and I are here to help with anything we can."

Lydia nodded as she sat behind Hannah. The other girl had been sitting there the whole time and didn't speak much. "How long will we be out here?"

"Hopefully not too long. We're just dealing with some interference with the storm coming in," I said calmly. I started thinking of distractions for them. "Let's see. I know you guys will think this is weird, but I'm going to ask what is the worst situation you have ever been in before now." This seemed to have the effect I was looking for.

Hannah started smiling when she thought of it. "The first party during freshman year. My pants tore when I tried to get off of a ladder." She laughed.

Lydia laughed too. "My worst moment before this was running into a tree face first after being spun around at my best friend's 11th birthday party."

"Those aren't very great moments, huh?" I added. I tried to think of something else, but Lydia spoke up first.

"What's your worst moment, Ranger Mitch?" she asked.

I knew exactly what my worst moment was, but I hadn't thought of it in a while. "My worst moment?" I said, as though I posed the question to myself. "Alright, it was when I was in high school, and I had broken my leg. That was the first time I had ever broken a bone in my life."

Hannah seemed to relax more hearing stuff like that. "How long did it take to recover?" she asked, looking at me with a worried expression.

"About four months, and after I was just fine," I said reassuringly. "So, when the rest of the team gets here to get you four out of here, I can guarantee that your leg will be just fine."

"Okay," Hannah said with a nod.

I looked back over at the girl who sat there alone. "Your friend over there. Is she okay? She hasn't said a word."

Lydia shrugged. "I'm not sure. Her name is Essa. She's from Germany. We invited her along to get outdoors since she's our roommate, but her English isn't very good. The only word we've been able to get out of her since the thing attacked us is just wolf or even large wolf."

"A wolf did this?" I asked. Lydia nodded. I narrowed my brows in confusion before getting up and walking over to Robby.

"Well, dispatch said that they have a few teams being sent out, but the storm is interfering big time," Robby said when I got close enough. "How are they holding up?"

I glanced back at the hikers. "I've managed to get them to calm down some more, but one hiker said that the thing that attacked them was a wolf."

Robby raised a brow. "That's not possible."

"It's not possible? Look at all the signs we've been seeing and that thing that we ended up staring down on the way over here," I whispered. "We are in way over our heads being out here unarmed with four hikers, two of which are injured and then two that are badly shaken. Not to mention the two that they said were dragged away. What are we going to do if that thing returns to pick them off too and we can't do anything to save them?"

Robby froze there after I said that. "I didn't even think of that." He muttered. Then looked at his bag. "Okay, I might have something that can help, but not that much of it." He walked over to his first aid bag and I followed him. Robby opened the bag up as he knelt by it. He pulled out a handgun and opened a case with six sedatives in it. "I kept this with me just in case something like this happened, but I don't know if it will be enough."