Mauled - Book 2 of the Close Call Series (Currently Published On Amazon)

Ch.11 Discovery

The blood trail and the bear tracks seemed to go in the same general direction, occasionally even overlapping. Laura and Josey had been slowly following it for about, fifteen minutes now. 

They'd been so focused on the trail they'd lost sight of any people and were now completely alone. Josey desperately wanted to head back and call the authorities to let them take it from here, but Laura wouldn't let up. She didn't want to waste time waiting on them, she wanted to find Carrie as quickly as possible. She now knew that the chances were slim, but what if Carrie was alive. She might need immediate help, she might not have the time to wait on the authorities. To pacify them both, he'd called the number they'd been given incase they found anything, told them to follow the farthest green markers and continued after Laura.

Josey paused and glanced behind them for the fifth time hoping to see someone in the distance, but he saw no one. So he once again continued forward. The blood trail veered towards a tree, Josey stopped to tie a marker and noticed a dark red handprint. He looked over at Laura and noticed her gaze was also on the bloody print. Then her face filled with determination before she turned away. Carrie must have started using the trees for support because when he looked ahead he noticed several red places, some big and some small.

Josey picked up the trail again and started forward, only to realise Laura wasn't behind him. He stopped and looked around, actually she was nowhere to be seen at all. He started to panic, where the hell was she! She was just here!

"Laura!" He called, but there was no answer.

"Laura!" He yelled, desperation clear in his voice.

He followed the bloody trees forward hoping she had done the same. Maybe she had just wondered too far ahead to hear him.

"Laura!"

Then he caught a glimpse of blonde hair, but it was near the ground. Had she fallen? As hot as it was the Park Rangers had claimed the bear would be asleep in a cave, but what if they were wrong!

"Laura," he yelled once more running forward. Why wasn't she answering him!

He finally reached her and came to a dead stop. Laura sat on the ground unaware of anything around her. Carrie lay lifeless on the ground in front of her. Her once blonde hair was now died a light pink from the puddle of blood it lay in, her eyes open in shock had once been a vibrant blue but now were a pale grey.

Before he could stop her Laura reached out and started running her hands through Carrie's hair, mumbling soothing words to her. Josey just stood there, what was he supposed to do now?

He wasn't sure how long he'd been standing there when he heard the deep thumping of multiple boot clad feet, rapidly approaching. Once they had reached them they also stopped and took in the situation.

"How long y'all been here?"

"I'm not sure," Josey answered still staring at Laura.

One of the men stepped forward and put his hand on Laura's shoulder to get her attention, but she didn't even notice. He took in her bloody hands stroking the girls hair and the strange mumbling. It was as if she was trying to sooth Carrie, then he understood, she was in shock. The sight before them was definitely deserving of it, it even bothered him and he was ex-military.

He put one hand on each of Laura's shoulders and pulled her to her feet, Carries hair tumbled from her fingers unnoticed.

He led her over to Josey, "I'd take her back and get her cleaned up, give her a couple days and she'll be okay."

"Okay, thanks," Josey responded before leading Laura away from the gruesome scene.

He could hear one of the men talking on the phone, calling off the search party and relaying the sad news, as he passed. He couldn't wait to get away from here, he didn't think he'd ever go camping again.

This is the end but there will soon be an epilogue! Check out the close call book of ideas to help me choose book 3!