The Heartless Prey

1. The Hostel

Laura Weathers slowly walked along the reddish brown sand as the sun touched the western horizon behind her. She gently ran the tip of her shoe across the dirt as she walked and kicked up a small cloud which hovered behind her. She took a deep breath of the fresh air.

To her left, the ravines and ridges took that breath away. The terrain of the basin was expansive. This had to have been her favorite part of the country she had visited so far. She had gone on a long hike today, exploring the rock structures and admiring the beauty.

She focused on the small camp of trailers she was walking towards. Laura had been staying at the trailer camp up ahead for about three weeks now. This was just her latest stop on her journey through the United States. This journey was unique because she had no ultimate destination. There was no end goal for her to arrive at. She was just along for the ride. The trailer she was staying in was the fourth one down from the first, not far from management's unit. There were eight trailers in total and they were all silent.

She passed the first trailer. This was the administration trailer, and she noticed that the close-to middle aged woman who manned the check in stand had already retired for the night. The sign hung up in the window simply said, 'back at 8am.' Near the roof of the trailer, a neon sign lit up with alternating green and orange letters. 'Zion Outdoor Hostel.' This was the cheapest place to stay that Laura had found in Zion National Park. Conveniently, there were barely any guests in at this time of the year. She didn't have a bunk mate in her trailer, and if she had it would have been a deal breaker.

She ran her hand against the metallic wall of her trailer as she walked by it. The aluminum was crisp and cold, even though the sun was still out. Laura began to notice that she was beginning to see her own breath in the crisp air. Thankfully she had brought a number of jackets with her when she ran off from home. The front door of her trailer creaked as she let herself in. She made sure to lock the door behind her.

The confines of the trailer were very narrow. The first half of the trailer was the common area. For her purposes, it was all her area. There was a tiny kitchen and one small bathroom in the back corner. No shower though, instead there was a designated washroom and laundry room near the back of the trailer complex. The other half of her trailer was where all the bunks were situated. There were three bunk beds that were pressed against the wall, allowing for as much walk space as possible through the narrow corridor. Of the six total beds, only one had been slept in. She looked out her window and watched as the sun disappeared beneath the horizon. She peered out and glanced at each of the other trailers. Only one, about three units over from her had the lights on. The rest of them were all vacant.

She turned to her locker where she looked into a small mirror that was attached to the door. She had slight bags under her chestnut brown eyes. Her long blonde hair was tied into a ponytail for the moment. She pulled off the scrunchie and let her hair flow down to the middle of her back. She didn't wear makeup, so she didn't need to worry about taking any off. She was naturally beautiful, but she admitted to herself that she had definitely looked better before she began living on the road. You can run like there's no tomorrow, but tomorrow always comes...

Laura shuffled through her backpack and pulled out an atlas and tossed it onto the table. She looked at the map of Utah and began to contemplate where she was going to go next. Colorado? Nevada? She had enough money to keep running for about another month or two.

Maybe she'd stop through Salt Lake City. She had never been there, and it was where her mother was born. Laura missed her sweet mother dearly. She hadn't talked to her for months now. There were some nights she would watch her phone vibrate and see the profile picture of her mother on the screen. She wanted to answer so bad, but she would always lock the screen and shut away her mother. It was for her sweet mother's own safety, after all.