Shooting at Shadows

“*--*”: Radio

“Do you see it?”

“I don’t know what you expect me to see, when all there’s to see are trees and bushes and…more bushes!” she huffed before settling back into our blind.

I shook my head at her frustration before letting my eyes wander over the brush field again. It had been two months since my last outing, and as much as I should have been regretting bringing her along, I just couldn’t.

(-------------------------)

When she was a kid, Rosalind had loved just sitting outside and staring at the small forest that had surrounded our home. As she grew older however, she began to enjoy spending time with our mother more often in the large city of Austin, Texas. The high buildings, shopping malls, and fashion boutiques with only small areas of natural peace spread throughout the concrete jungle, but even those were usually disturbed with the harsh sounds of traffic and ever busy pedestrians.

She fell in love with the city, as I had fallen in love with nature. She had taken up fashion designing, architecture planning, and following the latest popular trends, while I took up sketching, nature watching, tracking, archery, agriculture, sharpshooting, fishing, spear-fishing, writing. I loved mystery and suspense, loud action movies; she loved romance and slow sappy movies. She was a girl, and I was a guy. She told me that the difference and reason for our distance was obvious, whereas I just could believe that we had grown so far apart. I rarely went out with her into the city because of how uncomfortable it made me; I couldn’t keep her outside long enough to simply sit down and watch nature pass by. On the rare occasions that I could get her to sit and watch the clouds, or the birds, or the fish in the lake on our property, it would usually be interrupted in some way.

I could barely stand all the noise, and the unnatural areas and structures always gave me the creeps. I felt more at home in the dense forest among the wildlife than in the city. At least there you knew what was trying to kill you. In the city anyone that was walking next to, or by, you could be ready to slip a knife between your ribs. My friends called me overly-paranoid, cynical and pessimistic, so I took great pride in pointing out the flaws in humanity.

I’m not saying that Austin was a violent city, far from that, if you knew the natural areas to avoid then it was simply a factor of recognizing the dangers an avoiding them altogether. Failing that, there were ways to make yourself a more discouraging target.

High school was annoying in my opinion. Much of the time that I could have spent studying was spent doing busy work that simply killed my attention span and wrapped boredom around me like a warm blanket. Not saying that my teachers were boring, because they seemed just as bored as I was, even though some tried to make it more interesting, it was just…frustrating I guess is the best word.

When the chance came for me to enter an early college program I jumped at the chance. Sophomore year came and went, I took some tests, had an interview, and Junior year I started as a Freshman in college taking seventeen college credit hours. When ‘Senior’ year came around, I increased it to nineteen hours and pushed myself through my classes. The challenge that I had so desperately sought in high school, which I had been so seriously threatened with in middle school was finally before me. I think the others in the program were a bit surprised, I don’t think an incoming high school Junior normally got a 2280 on their SAT.

So there I was, 21 years old, and already going to study abroad in Europe on the path to becoming a Forensic Scientist. I had wanted to be a Forensic Pathologist, or work in the field, but with my pessimistic attitude, investigating murders and rapes would have probably driven me into an inescapable depression, so I would stick to the research part of the field.

Anyways, to get back on topic. My father and my mother were not divorced. My father lived 35 miles outside of the city, and owned a forested plot of land that was about twelve acres in size, with another 32 accumulated acres of land another 45-minutes away. He began the venture to ensure that our family would own land, not just him. He had a three generation plan to work our way to a hundred-plus-acre goal, an area for the family to enjoy, as well as any family friends. I thought it was a bit ambitious, but then again, as farmland, the taxes we would have to pay would be much lower than usual. A small herd of cattle, some deer, horses, and goats would take care of that.

My mother worked as English Professor at the University, and on the side ran a self-help business, and built websites, from the base code up for clients. My Father…well he was many things. At 48 years old he was a part-time Speech Pathologist, dentist, deep sea fishing captain, and scuba diving instructor. He partitioned his many jobs into different parts of the year and according to the area he was in. While being the latter three, it was usually during the summer months and he essentially lived aboard his boat instead of renting a flat, or buying an apartment. I would stay at the house when he was there, and when he was gone. Before I could drive, I would take the bus, and usually when he was gone, my grandparents would be house-sitting over the spring and summer so I wouldn’t be on my own.

My father was always busy; he hated unscheduled lulls in between work when he was doing nothing. He felt as if he was wasting his life away. I enjoyed the time I spent with him, especially when we went hunting, or fishing, or scuba diving. When I would ask him why he pushed me to do so many things, he would explain to me that he used to be afraid of a great many things, and by being so afraid, it kept him from doing things that he later learned he loved. He didn’t want me to waste my youthful days. Human life seemed so unbearably short, with how much there was to see and do in the world.

(-------------------------------)

Shaking my head out of the reminiscent memories, I watched as a young family of deer walked out of the brush. The Buck was least a 10-ptr.  The doe looked to be an alright size, and the faun looked to be around 2-3 years old. This was going to be the first good shot we had gotten in the three days that we had been out here in the forests of California and I was not going to miss out on the opportunity, else we would go home empty handed. Raising my rifle, I took careful aim downrange through my scope.

(ptr-Pointer: method of rating a deer based on the number of tips on the antlers)

The rifle I was using was a bolt-action 1932 Mosin-Nagant made in the Izhevsk factory in the Central area of the Soviet Union. It fires a 7.62mm.x54(r)mm. cartridge from a 5-round internal magazine. The scope was a modified replica SVT-40 scope with a variable zoom of 3.5x—8x—12x. I carried a scope removal kit in order to safely pack it away while on the move, and the iron sight was sectioned in increments of 10x100m to a range of 1000m. I doubted I could see anything through the iron sights at 1000m, let alone hit it. With the iron-sights, I was good up to 100 meters, and lucky at 350m. With the 12x zoom on the scope, I was accurate at 500m four times out of ten.

I was firing specially made cartridges instead of the surplus ammunition you can buy in bulk. For one, that ammunition is illegal to use when hunting since its 155gr. FMJ. That’ll blow a nice chunk of your target into a fine red mist. Instead, I was using 125gr. Soft-Point Semi-Jacketed which is slower, but won’t punch a hole through the deer and several trees behind it.

I was about to squeeze the trigger when a gloved hand grabbed the wooden cover of the barrel, blocking the scope.

“Wait…” my sister hissed, while looking at the deer through a pair of binoculars.

I slowly lowered my rifle while half-cocking the bolt back. It was the median between pulling the bolt back and having it locked, this way I wouldn’t accidentally fire a round since pulling the trigger would just reset the firing pin, and I would have to re-cycle the bolt to fire again.

“It looks just like Bambi,” she crooned while smiling.

Raising my eyebrow, I shook my head before settling back.

‘That can be taken two ways,’ I thought grimly while settling the rifle back into a resting position across my arms.

“And pic,” she squeaked while lowering her camera. I sighed; I was probably going to have to…

“Okay you can shoot it now,” she announced happily.

Hrk…

I choked while glancing back at her, eyes wide.

Did she just?

She looked over at me confused, “What? I can’t hit it from here.” She pointed over at the Mossberg .270 that rested next to her. I had let her borrow the rifle since she came with us, and we had spent some time practicing on the range that the lodge we were staying at had. I hadn’t been too sure that she would be able to hit anything, but I felt better that she had some sort of protection on her. The loud ‘Boom’ that the Mossberg makes when fired gives a hell of a scare to both animal and humans, and the reduced grain ammunition would make it easier on her shoulder. Though the Glock on her thigh would probably make any would-be attackers more than nervous.

(---------------------------------)

We had had a couple of bad experiences on some of our outings. Poachers, wildmen living off the grid, the miniature republics that cut themselves off from society. When we were children, I was 12 and Rose was 9, my dad had locked down the ranch when a police chase was happening on the highway that connected to the road lead to the house. I would have said that his fears were unfounded had the chase not ended up roaring through the back roads and onto our front porch. My father had hidden us in the closet and put two filling cabinets for us to hide behind; while I had put on the bullet-resistant vest he gave me and covered my sister.

When the convict that bailed from the car and attempted to burst through the window, he received a chest-full of 00-Buckshot for his troubles. I was not fazed by the blood that covered the porch; I saw worse when the family had a New Years cook-out as the pig was usually alive until 6 hours prior. It was not until I looked through the home security footage later that I watched someone die. With the pull of a lever, a life was ended in a bloody instant…I didn’t want to touch a gun after that, not even my .22. It took me two and a half years to put the stock to my shoulder again.

(------------------------------)

I just shook my head and raised my gun once more, while settling the bolt into its locked position. My sister had truly gained an interesting personality while living in the city, but I wasn’t going to complain, my whole family was weird.

As I settled my sights on the buck, I closed one eye when the group suddenly froze. There was no way they could have heard us. We were whispering in a blind at 120m. Opening my left eye, I scanned the area, the double vision created by trying to see normally while still peering through the scope did not affect me. I usually liked aiming this way, but the sun was beginning to get to the point to where it would get in my eyes, and soon we would have to relocate.

The underbrush on the opposite side of the deer jerked around before a wolf leapt out into the clearing. The deer bolted and I cursed at our luck before putting my rifle down. I reached to my vest to activate the radio that I had to speak to my uncle when Rose grabbed my shoulder.

“Look,” she hissed while pointing at the wolf, while pushing the binoculars into my hand.

I looked back where she was pointing and took the offered binoculars, before scanning over the wolf. It was your average Gray wolf, native to these parts, but something was off. Its movements were jerky, and it snapped at the open air around it. I increased the focus on the binoculars while fiddling with the zoom.

There!

Surrounding it jaws was the tell-tale foaming of Hydrophobia, or rabies.

I cursed before motioning for Rose to pick up her weapon. I put down the binoculars before settling my rifle into position and pulling the radio from my vest. I clicked it thrice before speaking.

“*Danny-mate, we’ve got a situation over here.*”

My uncle, Danny, was quick to respond to the three-click warning. It essentially meant that both sides were to drop what they doing and listen in.

“*What’s the situation?*” his voice was not nervous, not angry, he was all business. Eight years in the United States Army Rangers had made him aware to taking charge of developing situations quickly.

“*There’s a Gray wolf that scared our marks away, but this thing’s got rabies mate, and a bad case too.*” I hissed before dropping the radio and pulling the earplug from my right ear and inserting the earplug that doubled as an earphone for the radio.

This time both my sister and I were aiming downrange at the wolf. Before we had entered the hunting territory, there had been a bulletin about some Parks and Wildlife rangers hunting down a case of rabies, and hunters were cleared to shoot any infected that they came across while calling it in.

“*I’m calling it in, take the shot and make sure it doesn’t get away.*”

I glanced over at my sister and watched her peer through her own scope, as I modified mine to decrease from 8x to 3.5x zoom. I couldn’t afford to lose sight of the wolf just to have larger target. I took a deep breath and nodded to my sister who was watching me out of the corner of her eye.

“Fire…”

She managed to get the first shot off, while mine followed close behind. The two almost simultaneous rifle-cracks shattering the peace of the forest. I did not wait to see if we had hit, I was already cycling the bolt to ready my next shot. I had my crosshairs back on the wolf before my spent shell-casing hit the floor of our blind, the rifle-cracks echoing through the forest.

I watched as time slowed and the shoulder of the wolf seemed to erupt as the two powerful rounds hit. Rose’s shot had hit slightly behind the shoulder, a perfect shot, I had aimed higher at the base of the neck. The wolf would be dead momentarily if it wasn’t already.

Clicking the radio twice I called it in, “*He’s down.*”

I heard my uncle chuckle as he replied, “*We heard it clear over here, and P&A are on their way. Stay there, we’ll come to you.*”

(-------------------------------)

After parks and wildlife came and removed the infected carcass, we traveled onward for another two hours before stopping for the night. With a rabid wolf in the area, there was a possibility of there being more infected animals nearby, so we settled into three 4 hour shifts. Rose would sleep all the way through the night, as Danny, Ted, and I took up slots, with Ted first, then myself followed by Danny.

As I had said before, Danny was a retired Army Ranger, and Ted was a marine that he had met in Iraq on a joint op that turned out to be a rougher ride than they expected. Even with the rivalry between the branches they struck up a fast friendship, and soon Ted was as much a part of the family as Danny was.

(--------------------------)

When my shift came around, Ted lightly jostled me awake before heading into his sleeping bag. I was groggy for a moment before grabbing a granola bar from my pack and climbing into a low tree. I settled into a crook in the branches and let my rifle sit across my legs before reaching into my satchel that hung from my shoulder. Reaching in, I pulled out my substitute for the one blind that we had, a 12ft.x12ft. section of camouflaged burlap. At range it hid you pretty well, and it was easy to see out of, especially in the light of the full moon. I draped it over myself and let myself lie still as I scanned the area, periodically looking up at the moon. It was clear quiet nights like this that I treasured. Here in the darkness I was hidden, but I could see. Here in the darkness I could protect and not need protection.

I looked down at the sleeping forms around the small campfire, and smiled at my sister sleeping peacefully below the moon. Sighing, I leaned back and thought back to how much of a handful she had been at the beginning of the trip, and what she had originally wanted to do while out here. Watching her sleep, I couldn’t believe that she planned to stay up and watch her show.

{---------------------------}

2 Days Ago

“So explain to me again why exactly you decided to bring a computer on our 'hunting' trip?” I asked in exasperation, while tightening the pack on the back of my ATV.

“Because if not then I wouldn't be able to finish watching my show and see of Jackylin will finally have the guts to ask Joe out!” Rose cried while waving her arms, and patting herself down to make sure that nothing was loose.

“Ok...I can sort of understand that, but did you really have to choose my computer to download the season? Why not use your...you'd didn't?” I stopped in horror. Not only did I have some useless soap opera saved on my computer, but she…

“Heh, I sort of used your online credit to cover the rest, plus your computer has so much more space than mine with that extra hard-case memory you added,” she tapped her chin while trying to recall something. “How much was it again? 3 Terabytes? Or was it 5?”

I shook my head as I peered down into my computer’s hard-case, the sleek laptop, and additions, that I had spent a year saving up for shining back at me. “It was 3.5 terabytes and it cost me 450$ plus the other 200$ for reinforcement and 250$ for the hard-case. I was going to take it with me when I went to go study abroad and the modifications have made it practically fall and waterproof!”

I could almost cry at the situation my poor baby was in, but I wasn’t about to waste time going back just to drop it off. Instead, I strapped it between my main pack and myself on the ATV.

“Exactly! See! Yours is so much more able to survive out here than mine is! And I'll pay you back later for the credit I promise!” I could hear the glee in her voice. Chances were that she used up my money for nothing. She would probably be too tired to stay up and watch the show.

“That’s no excuse for bringing it along without telling me!”

I reached over and opened the hard-case with a nagging feeling in the back of my mind, my suspicions were confirmed when I opened it. A thin rectangle with a neat cover resting inside.

“You brought my projector too? What did you think we were going to do out here? Roast marshmallows and watch movies?”

“Well you have all your movies and documentaries on it; I thought that hunting would be boring so you would need something to help you along.”

I groaned and shook my head, she didn't know the joy that came with being out of the city and out in nature, her entire life revolves her social life and her dozens of ‘friends’. I had long ago disconnected my online accounts and the only way someone would be able to contact me was through email, direct call, or old fashioned hard paper mail.

“Hey brother? Why do you have so many shows on your laptop? They're all military too. Are you thinking about joining the military? I thought you were going to study abroad with that German Forensic dude?”

Already breaching my limit of heavy sighs for the day, I resigned myself to having to deal with her for the next week. Maybe it was a good thing that she brought my laptop, it would at least keep her distracted and safe while I went out to get some sense of worth from our trip.

I had already lost count how many times I’ve had to reiterate my future plans to her, especially when she insists on taking her phone every...actually, now since there’s no service out here except for the Sat Phone maybe I could finally get my point across that I was going with a select group of promising exchange students to go study abroad under 3 of the leading forensic scientists of our time.

Though she does want to become a movie actress, so maybe trying to put a ground under her increasing amount of hot air wouldn’t serve any purpose but delay the inevitable.

{---------------------------}

Shifting in my hidden spot, I chuckled lightly. She had truly come through and had begun to enjoy our time out here. I raised my hand and scratched the back of my head as I shifted my camouflaged cap. I looked around and watched the moon reach its peak before beginning its downward trip, before glancing down at the glowing hands on my watch.

Only 15 minutes left…

I allowed myself to rest my head against the tree when something truly out of the ordinary happened. As I looked out over the forest, I watched as red ball of light ascended over the canopy, before hanging itself in the sky and falling in a slow descent.

I flinched and grabbed for my radio before slipping the earphone on, and turning to the emergency channel to see if anyone was broadcasting. If the flare was of any indication, someone was in trouble.

As the radio crackled, but there was no one broadcasting or responding when I called out. Using my Sat. Phone I called P&A and reported a possible hunter in distress. They would stay on standby until we reached the area and called again. I packed away the burlap, slung my rifle over my shoulder and slip down the tree. Waking up the others was my first priority as I listened to the radio trying to get a response. We would have get a move on soon. It would be slow going in the dark.

(----------------------------)

Once I had woken everyone up, we packed up our meager camp, and covered the fire in dirt. Then we saddled up the ATV’s and began our slow rescue trip through the forest. He had slipped on our headlamps, and had the ATV headlights going full, while traveling in a single file line. Everyone had their radio-buds in and kept the channels open so we wouldn’t have to take our hands off the handlebars to speak.

When we reached the source of the flare, it was almost chaos. There were supplies strewn all over a forested incline, and an ATV lay at the bottom. While my sister and Ted worked on retrieving all the gear, Danny and I walked down the rocky incline towards the hunter who had called for help.

The man was a mess. The ATV was trapping his leg, which looked broken, and his shoulder was bulging and swollen from being dislocated. While I called in the location and P&A sent a rescue helicopter, Danny did his best to set the man’s wounds and get him ready to be moved. We had a medical kit on each of us, plus the ranger’s, and quickly worked. Danny led me through some of the more complicated first-aid and we freed his leg.

The lower leg was a mess. A compound fracture with protruding bone from his left calf. The pressure from the weight of the ATV had slowed the bleeding, but once we removed it, it returned in force. I could hear my sister start crying behind me as Ted took over for me. I stared at my hands in shock as the sudden amount of blood that covered them. I could hear the Ranger groaning in pain, while Ted and Danny worked frantically to stop the bleeding. They eventually stopped with the Ranger’s leg mummified with gauze and a splint.

By this time we settled in and heated up some water, as well as covering the shivering Ranger in a thermal blanket to wait until morning. As we sat and waited for the rescue chopper we listened to his story. The man was a Parks and Wildlife Ranger who had been sent out to look for a pair of missing campers, along with several others. After getting a report that the campers had been recovered, he started his journey out of the forest and back to his base.

Along the way, he had disturbed a mother bear and her cub when they had come running through the underbrush while being chased by a pack of Grey Wolves. The mother bear had reared up and knocked his ATV over, sending him sliding and tumbling down an incline, while the wolves continued their chase. He had been knocked unconscious in the crash, and had woken up to find his pack split open and scattered across the incline.

While trapped underneath the ATV, he couldn’t reach his radio to call his comrades, but he could reach his emergency kit, which contained first-aid and a flare-gun. He asked us where we were going, and when we responded that we almost on our way out of the forest, he made a request. He asked us if we would mind towing his ATV along one of the trails and back to his base along with his gear. He obviously wouldn’t be able t do so, and the majority of the rangers had been out looking for the couple. There had been several others on watch but they had been called away to handle a disposal case.

We agreed and as the sun rose over the horizon we could hear the rotors overhead. Ted ran after the chopper and soon returned with a couple of medics, and a stretcher. After loading him up on the chopper we confirmed that we would take in his gear, and watched as he was whisked away to a hospital. His name was Christopher Miles.

{----------------------------------}

That even essentially cut our trip short at that point. We had been going to go four days in with stops to hunt and three days to get out. We were going to leave a day early, but with the tow our speed would be slowed quite a bit. We would barely make it out on schedule, so we got started while we could.

{-----------------------------------}

2 Days: 5 hours later…

“*How much farther?*”

“*Just a few more klicks and then we can settle down for dinner.*”

Rose and Danny’s voices crackled over the radio as we emerged from the forest and into an open prairie with rolling hills and several rocky outcroppings in the distance. The semi-long grass and light shrubbery covered the land, and a few sparse trees dotted the landscape. What really stood out however, were the flowers.

There were fields of blooming flowers during this time of year. We had passed them on the way in, but that was during the early morning in the dim light. Now however, the sun was falling and the golden-red light that covered the flowers created a beautiful scene. By the time we had reached the hill on which many of the flowers lay in bloom, we had slowed to a crawl.

“*Hey Danny, how ‘bout we stop here?*” I called out. This way, I would get some great pictures of the scenery to sketch later.

(-------------------------------)

“*Hurry up Rose!*”

“*I’m trying! The damn thing won’t start!*” I could hear the frustration oozing from my sister’s words as she tried to turn on her ATV. The three of us were simply idling as we waited for her, and eventually Danny decided to head back and help her.

I shook my head and leaned back to check on the connection between my ATV and the tow line. Satisfied that it wasn’t going to come apart on me in the middle of the ride, I reached down to my waist to grab my canteen.

“*Hey guys! If it’s that bad we can just stop here for the night.*”, called out Ted, “*Then we can check over her ride before heading off in the morning.*”

I heard Danny mumbled an agreement under his breath as he stood up from next to the ATV, Rose standing slightly off to the side. I started to climb off of my ride when the ground fell out from under me and I tumbled to the ground.

I shook my head to shake out the clods of dirt that had suddenly filled the visor of my helmet.

What in the hell was that?

“*Quake!*”

Well…fuck.

I scrambled to my feet as the ground began to shake more violently. Then…

…the rumbling started.

At first I thought it was a thunderstorm to go along with the earthquake but the sky was clear. Then I looked up and saw the once beautiful hill of flowers begin to descend upon us like a rainbow tsunami of death. I could hear yelling as my Ted roared up to me on his ATV. I could barely hear what he was saying, but the message was clear. I looked back at Rose and Danny and saw him give up on her ATV before pushing her towards mine as he ran to start his.

I shakily climbed back onto mine before kick-starting the engine. As the rumbling beast roared to life I turned over and began to undo the clasp that connected the tow-line to my ATV. I pulled the release and Rose swung herself onto the back and wrapped her arms around my stomach. I was about to gun the throttle when another tremor hit and nearly tossed us off the vehicle. Rose was clamping hard onto me as she yelled in my ear. The second I felt the ground steady itself under me, I hit the throttle and we roared forward after our two companions.

{----------------------}

...

…

…

Rose!

My eyes shot open and I sat up gasping for air. My eyes flew around my surroundings as I tried to take in everything at once. After confirming that I was not, in fact, buried under several tons of dirt, I slowly climbed to my feet and dusted myself off, a bout of nausea washing over me for a moment. Looking around I tried to confirm my initial observations in the dim early morning light…or was it sunset?

“Rose! You there!” I looked around slowly, afraid that I would miss something important.

(-------------------------)

I had checked everywhere in a 250m radius of where I had woken up, and there was no sign of human tracks anywhere in that radius. I trudged back to my original position and crouched near the small pool of blood and had already dried. My frantic search for my sister over for now, I tried to calm my racing heart and thready thoughts. The more quickly I assessed my situation, the sooner I could get back to searching. I had run a quick check over my person as I walked, and found almost everything in order.

After confirming that I was not in any immediate danger, I began to check myself over. Starting with my head and going down. My riding helmet was gone and instead of feeling my slightly short hair, I felt a sticky crust. Gently scratching at the issue I brought my hand before me and looked at the congealed blood from a recent head-wound.

I winced, that would need a thorough checking over later. Next on the list Torso…

I began to pat down my jacket to make sense of any missing items. So far my ammunition pouches had been undisturbed, and all of my pockets were whole. I slowly twisted in place to check out my ribs and muscles and felt no lances of pain, just a light soreness. The front of my vest had several blue petals of a flower covering it. Peeling one off, I examined the thick petal before running an ungloved hand over it. It felt like velvet and carried a nice scent that I couldn’t place. It was somewhere between a rose, and a pomegranate.

Looking around I spotted a small patch of these blue flowers and slowly walked over to pick one. These were almost exact copies of the one I saw on the flower covered hill before the quake. Taking one, I lifted a patch on my vest and placed it underneath. It reminded me of home, and put a little hope in my heart. I patted down my vest and slipped a hand into an internal pocket and gave the steel plate inside a few taps. Bullet-Resistant vest A-Okay for now, but I would have to look over the plates later to check for any cracks, though if anything had cracked a ½in. of Ballistic Steel I would have been feeling the aftereffects. After making sure that the dorsal plate was also in place, I moved on.

Patting down my waist I checked the pockets that lined my waistline courtesy of the military surplus webbing that I wore. My rifle’s cleaning supplies were still in place, along with some more ammunition, and some granola bars, but there was a large empty space where my canteen should have been. Done, then I moved lower…yep everything still there, along with the cup.

The rest of my body was much the same. My PDW or ‘sidearm’ was still in place. The Browning M1911 still strapped securely into its holster. I slipped it out and looked it over; the matte black finish was a bit scratched but otherwise okay. Racking the slide, I loaded a round before making sure the safety was on and lowering the hammer before clipping it back into its holster. The extra pockets on my cargo pants still held their items; a compass, Zippo lighter, flare, bandanna and several other miscellaneous items.

Reaching down further to my boot I grabbed the handle that stuck out for the lip of my boot, flipped a catch, and pulled. What came free however, was not what I expected. Instead of my usual 15in. Jungle Master Hunting knife, what emerged was my scuba diving knife. It was slightly shorter than the Jungle Master, double edged, serrated on one side, and slightly thicker. I could work with either, but I was more comfortable working with this one, as I had been using it since I received my scuba diving license at 16. The JM had been a recent addition.

‘I must’ve grabbed the wrong one on the way out,’ I recalled my slightly hurried exit when I needed to pack an extra bag for my sister.

Shaking my head at the slightly more favorable outcome, I began to check over the next item on my list.

I walked about 15 meters to the…West? The sun was setting in that direction so I would assume so, but my compass kept spinning in wild circles so I couldn’t be sure. Anyway, 15 meters to the West there was a shattered tree lying across the forest floor with my ATV overturned near it, my bags strew in a small area after one of the bungee cords snapped.

I released the rest of my gear and gathered it into a small pile before checking over my computer case. After making sure that there were no obvious signs of damage, I turned it on and ran a quick scan on my files. When the scan came back clean, I breathed a slow sigh of relief before turning my attention to my miniature projector. It was not to be however, as the second I eased it out of its place I saw the crack on the lens. Rummaging through the rear section of the projector's section of the case, I quickly came upon a replacement lens that could be serviceable, but until I tested it, I wouldn't be able to tell.  I ran a slow hand over my head before flinching as I made contact with my scalp wound. Turning back to my ATV, I assessed its current situation.

Something else must have broken the tree, because I barely saw anything worse than a scratch on the vehicle…that’s a scary thought. I sat before the overturned bike and slowly started to stretch as I tried to think of any other way to right it without simply brute forcing it.

…

Nothing.

Let’s get to work…

(--------------------------)

I jogged slowly through the underbrush of the forest with my rifle hanging from its strap on my shoulder and my radio in hand, my cap was resting high on head, and I had my headlamp in my pocket in preparation for the darkness. I had decided my Sat. Phone was a lost cause because it continued to say that there was no Signal in range. Deciding that either something inside had popped out of place, or it was the same thing that was screwing with my compass, I moved onward. I had long since removed the scope on my rifle, the close packing of the tree made it next to useless, and it would too easily damaged in a melee.

Every person in our group had a radio and its corresponding ear bud. An added feature was that each came with a locater, which I was currently following. The radio could only pick up one signal, that of my sister’s radio and I was currently making good time towards it. If it had been any farther than 600 meters in this dense forest I doubt I would have been able to get anything.

I reached down to my thigh and patted my pistol while trying to stay aware of my surroundings. As I passed through the trees, I would use my knife to mark the bark with an arrow to the previous tree so that I could find my way back. I had covered most of my ATV with the Burlap and moved it into some bushes before trying to hide it as well as I could before moving out. The makeshift cover wouldn’t hold to close scrutiny, but the fading light would further serve to hide the vehicle.

Coming around the last clump of trees between myself and my goal… I froze. My sister was not here! I searched the surrounding area frantically, my earlier fear returning in force. Her ATV was here, along with the Ranger’s. Their combined packs were spread out across the forest floor, and her radio…

Her radio was still attached to her jacket, of which was hanging out of her satchel. I didn’t know if she had removed it or if someone else had, but the fact that little to nothing was missing from the supplies did little to allay my fears.

I scoured the ground for tracks or any disturbed underbrush, but I found nothing. The ground was disturbed near her satchel, and a bush’s branches had been bent at an angle opposite that which the rest was leaning, but there were no incoming or outgoing tracks besides mine!

I swallowed thickly before moving to gather up all of the strewn supplies, and return the ATV’s to their rightful orientation. By the time I had finished, the full moon was once again high in the sky. I looked around the now clean mini-clearing and sighed while rubbing at my scalp, wincing at the pricks of pain I received when messing with my wound. One good thing had come out of my search. There were no shell-casing lying around, so no struggle; and her sidearm was not here so at least she had some protection.

Taking a seat on my sister’s ATV, I took my replacement canteen off of my Tac.Web. and lightly soaked a spare shirt of mine before dabbing gently at the mess that was my hair. I should have taken care of it before going to find to the source of my sister’s signal, but hindsight is always 20/20. After cleaning myself up, I stored my used shirt in one of my sister’s less full packs and slowly ate a granola bar accompanied by a few swigs of water.

Crack!

I flinched at the sudden noise and almost dropped my canteen. I hadn’t noticed how quiet the forest had gotten as I zoned out. Shaking my head to clear it, I sat and listened to the sounds of the forest, or lack of, and unclipped my sidearm while flipping off the safety. I had nine rounds of ammunition loaded in the pistol, and three loaded clips in my webbing. My knife was still in my boot, the rifle was lying across the back of the ATV, and I had one more item on my person that could be considered a weapon. Hanging on my left thigh, opposite of my pistol, was a long rod of metal. If anyone had asked me about it, I would have said it was a fire poker, in truth, the edge and pointed stick was the original companion socket-bayonet to my Mosin-Nagant.

Banned for use during wartime the multiple edged stick of metal was almost the length of my forearm. It was sturdy, and enough to punch through thick canvas and flesh. It made a horrible melee weapon besides poking whatever was attacking you, or a lucky thrust, but attached to the rifle it made the already long rifle into a lengthy spear perfect for keeping wild animals at bay.

I slowly eased the bayonet out of its custom sleeve and lifted my rifle while scanning the surrounding brush for whatever made the noise. Settling the butt of the rifle against the ground I slipped the bayonet onto the rifle and secured it in place. Crouching onto one knee next to the ATV, I used it to cover my back and face out towards the foreboding darkness...then the growling began.

I leaned back into the ATV and braced the rifle against my shoulder as I secured my headlamp and cap. I wouldn’t turn on the light until said eldritch beast emerged from the shadows. That should stun whatever it was long enough for me to get a good look and possibly get a shot off.

Is that a…green pair of lights?

I blinked several times to make sure that my eyes were not playing tricks on me.

“Is someone out there?”

I didn’t want to shoot an idiot who was using Night-Vision goggles, and brought his dog. My call brought several more growls and I realized that unless this person had a pack of wolves at his beck and call, that probably wasn’t a person with NVG’s. As I watched, the shadows gained several more pairs of green lights.

I let loose a warning growl of my own before bringing my rifle up to my shoulder and taking aim at the first pair that had appeared. It had not moved from its relative starting position, and simply remained to stare at me…it would be the first to go. The sudden death of one of their pack-mates, and possibly their leader, as well as the loud retort should be more than enough to scare them away. It not then I had a couple of flares…wait

I had flares!

I kept my heavy rifle level at the target as I reached down to my calf and pulled a flare out of its pouch. I let my aim shift for just a moment as I popped the head of the flare to ignite it, and in that instant of distraction one of the wolves leapt into the clearing. The second I saw the flare catch, I threw it at the wolf and raised my rifle once more.

It had been preparing to leap directly at me and so was not prepared for the incoming flare that smacked it solidly on its side. I was not expecting for it to suddenly burst into flames however. The sudden yelping and howls filled the night air as the jumping inferno leapt around the clearing and rolled wildly. While my attention was focused on jumping inferno bean however, I felt something land heavily on the ATV behind me.

Spinning around, I planned to smack the offending animal away with the bayonet as I rolled onto my back. I was not prepared for it to drop on me and begin to gnash its teeth at my face. I tried to hold it at bay with the rifle against its throat as I fought to throw it off of me before the other wolves decided to join in, my attacker’s fiercely glowing green eyes glared down into my own. Its rear paws were still on the ATV, and it was trying to dig its front claws into my chest only to be stopped by 1/2in. of Ballistic Steel. It had a furious power behind its attacks, but it was severely off balance due to its position.

I twisted to my side to begin the a roll to remove my adversary when the wolf suddenly locked up, its nose sniffing wildly, before it suddenly yelped and leapt away from me. Before I knew what was happening, all the wolves had turned tail and ran leaving their now dead, but still burning brother behind.

I lay there frozen at the sudden absence of danger, the adrenaline coursing through my system, and causing me to shake. Glancing down at my shoulder I saw what had caused such fear in the wolves. The very thing that had saved me. The very thing that I had last seen before ending up in these woods. There, now exposed to the night air, was the thick petaled blue rose-like flower that I had secured as a good luck charm under one of the patches of my vest. A patch that had come loose in the brief struggle.

The wolves seemed to have held the flower in great fear, whether that should be worrying to me was a moot point for now. For now, this flower was my lucky rabbit’s foot, and an apparent wolf repellent.

I slowly got to my feet and approached the burning husk of the dead wolf. It was strange, because I did not smell burning flesh and fur, but charred wood. Getting close enough to see the wolf through the flames, I froze. It was not a wolf of flesh and bone that was burning, but one made of wood and timber.

Shaking my head at the insanity of it all, I decided to ponder the question in the morning. Maybe this was all some sort of screwed up dream while I lay dying under the dirt. A cruel hallucination that allowed me to live out the rest of my short life. I slapped myself before continuing on the depressing train of thought. If it was true, then I probably wouldn't wake up after tonight. If not...Then I'll just deal with it in the morning. All of today's events and possible explanations would only serve to give me a headache and throw off my emotional state.

After pushing the two ATV’s next to tree, I used them as a stepping stone to climb up into the branches. Holding my rifle across my lap, and the flower in my hands, I lay back into a light rest. I would be safer off of the ground until morning came, and this way, I would be closer to the moon.