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One Last Stand


Chapter 1

The rocks were the worst. Tree roots were next but I definitely hated the rocks more. It was the sharp edges and the way my feet slipped in the old shoes, reminding me with every step that I shouldn’t be here. My legs ached but the muscles began to relax as I eased back onto a crumbling log. Balancing against the rotting wood, I massaged my feet, one at a time, admiring a large blister that had materialized between two toes on my right foot. Was it better to pop it or leave it alone? Somewhere in my distant memory was the understanding that it was better to leave it alone and that was fine with me.

One bandage remained in my pack and I gently wrapped it around the white bubble of skin that had become so bothersome during the last few miles. As I stretched out my legs again, my body reprimanded me for climbing up and down the rocks and roots that characterized the trails in this part of the Smoky Mountains. Several times today, my thighs and a good portion of my backside cried out for mercy but I just bit my lip and kept moving. Up and down and then up again. The trails twisted through the woods with seemingly no end and I was counting the minutes for this day to end. Nothing could have been worse than admitting my pain to my two friends. Besides, Jake was the resident whiner in our little group and I didn’t want to be connected to his title in any way. Several times today I thought Sam might push Jake off a ledge in frustration during the frequent stops he needed to catch his breath. I really thought that after several days of hiking we would all be getting our ‘hiking legs’ as I had always been told would happen on longer trips; but I soon found that idea was a big fat lie, as my body only seemed to get worse.

Maybe we were supposed to rest at some point or jump in some magic pool of water; but all we seemed to find were more rocks…and more roots. As if the uphill climbs weren’t brutal enough, the descents had been even worse. On the second day, I stepped sideways and my foot slid between a large rock and a tree, leaving me with an aching reminder on each step that my ankle needed rest. I’m pretty sure that’s why I developed the blister: I was forced to walk in a strange sideways hop down all the trails for several hours the rest of that day. At least today I was able to find a way to step on the heel of my shoe without as much pain. Even so, the soreness and the pain and even Jake’s whining weren’t the worst of it all. There was much more to face at the end of this journey than what was happening now; but none of us knew it at the time.

The evening sun dipped low over the horizon, sending a few last ripples of color through thick green leaves over our heads before it eventually surrendered to the moon’s glow through the dense canopy. Our campfire continued to crackle and pop while I contemplated whether to be angry or sad. Thoughts ebbed and flowed through my brain and I tried to shove the chaos aside to enjoy the last night of my only vacation for many more months. The aching in my body subsided somewhat and I began to believe that I was actually feeling good. It really was satisfying to conquer several of the trails; but I was getting tired. Even though I didn’t have much to return to, home sounded pretty good — at least in terms of a hot shower. After that, I wasn’t sure what would be next.

Sam had tried to scare Jake with stories about huge bears and campers missing in these woods. Ignoring his stupid stories was getting harder now, as they grew more ridiculous with each swig from the small bottles one of them had decided to pack in for our trip. The flames consumed the last of the dry sticks and the insects were beginning their nightly chorus, almost drowning out the sound of water rushing over the rocks nearby. Trees swayed gently above us, where the moon did it’s best to provide a small bit of light despite the dense leaves that permeated the woods surrounding our campsite. So much serenity to enjoy if not for the two boneheads that I had agreed to spend four days with in the woods. After another half hour of Sam’s stories and a few jabs at Jake about the difficult hike, the fire began to burn low.

Sam usually targeted Jake and left me alone. It wasn’t hard to see why. Sam and I were almost the same height; but Jake was much smaller. My size had helped me several times on athletic fields in my younger years; but now it was just a part of who I was and seemed to be of no advantage now that I was older. When you’re poor and from a broken home, once high school ends, there is little discussion about anything more; and there are no more coaches eyeing you in the hallways and discussing your potential on their teams. Up until about a year ago, someone like me would have been expected to begin working at the local electronics factory; but it had been forced to close, spewing out it’s final television during the spring of last year and leaving behind financial devastation to an already depressed area. As the jobs disappeared, suicide rates tripled and drug abuse became rampant. My only salvation was a bitter old grandmother who allowed me to stay with her if I allowed her to verbally abuse me and force me to keep the house and yard tidy. It was a pernicious arrangement that had motivated me to work harder than ever to find a way out of that life for good.

Since I was the first in my entire family to even finish high school, college seemed ridiculous to contemplate. Because my grandmother had a long list of prescribed chores each week, my time was limited; but I had somehow been able to find a way to work a job as well as go to school, even though most semesters I only covered about half of a normal course load. It didn’t bother me that I had to go slow. At least I was moving ahead with something and farther away from everything else. After six years of this pace and adding courses in the summer, I was only one semester away from finishing my undergraduate degree in business. Maybe that would be something to look forward to if my money hadn’t been confiscated for the never-ending sea of bills for my grandmother and the hike in tuition yet again this upcoming year. From my calculations, I needed at least a year to save again in order to return for my last and final semester. Every day that I seemed closer to my goal, something would set me back. I knew I would finish, though, and I felt my determination swell as the end drew near.

The last few months had been long and difficult and I was glad to head out on a trail to clear my head. Hiking had always been something that I enjoyed, although my school and work schedule rarely allowed it anymore. Somewhere in my younger years, I remember being out here with my dad — long before he and mom decided that living within the law was just too boring. It was too many years ago now to count. Part of me longed to stay out here where life was simple; but I needed to go back and I needed to finish. My inner fire had burned so low when we started this trip that I wasn’t sure I’d have the energy to do it; but instead of zapping my remaining stores, I found the woods invigorating at first, even with two idiots in tow. Then again, anything was better than home. Now that this was the last day, I was ready and I needed a break from Sam and Jake, even if it meant returning to my grandmother again.

Fatigue began to settle over my body so I stood and stretched. When Jake and Sam didn’t flinch, I thought that they had fallen asleep, so I nudged Jake with my foot.

“Hey, I’m heading to bed. You guys need to pitch your tents before that fire burns out.”

Sam opened his eyes and sat up as one of the bottles rolled out of his hand. Part of me wanted to pick it up and throw it at him. How stupid do you have to be to try to hike and drink at the same time?

“Gonna sleep out here.” Sam slurred as he walked over to his pack to get his sleeping bag. I watched him dig through his Arc’teryx backpack and wondered what it would be like to be able own something that nice. My hiking shoes and pack came from a local thrift store and cost a total of twelve dollars. Even though the shoes were a little worn, they were surprisingly comfortable, just not very supportive anymore.

Sam had been born into a family that gave him more money than time and he feared almost nothing. I had met him in an accounting class last year; and even though he was boisterous and loud, he had a strange sort of charm that made everything sound fun and exciting. When he had suggested this trip, I was looking for a short escape and didn’t think about the full effect of trusting him as the leader out here.

“I’m in,” Jake said and stood too quickly, almost collapsing back to the ground.

He weaved and stumbled over to his pack and began to pull out his sleeping bag. Jake was an enigma to me. He followed Sam blindly and seemed almost indebted to him for some reason. It wasn’t just a typical bromance, there was more; but I never did know what it was. Some secret existed between them and it was obvious that neither wanted to tell what it was. Jake’s family was also well endowed and Jake knew nothing of the struggles that someone like me faced every day. I had watched both of them squander more money in a few hours than I would make in three months. In a normal world, we probably wouldn’t have been friends; but they often took me out to eat or to a movie and paid my way most of the time. Several times, I even found a $20 bill in my pocket that I knew I hadn’t put there. Sam was not the sentimental type, so I always suspected Jake was my secret benefactor. Some day I planned to ask him about it; but for now, I just needed the money so badly that I kept quiet.

They set up their sleeping bags by the fire and Sam stumbled over to douse the fire with some water.

“Grab you stuff, Ben. This is our last night.” Sam waved his hand around as he spoke and I thought he looked like a cryer from a carnival.

“I’m sleeping in there,” I said pointing to my tent, “I don’t want to be covered by mosquito bites tomorrow; and you two aren’t welcome in my tent in the middle of the night, so make you choice now.”

“There’s no bug that can take me down!” Sam said as he stepped up on a log and flexed. He barely made it down without falling.

“I’ll bet you’ll change your mind by morning,” I muttered as I went inside my tent and zipped it closed.

“You’re such a girl!” Sam sneered and Jake quickly laughed as well and then turned and belched, sending them both into a fit of laughter.

Their stupidity amazed me and I rolled my eyes as I laid down on top of my sleeping bag, waiting to cool off as the night continued to settle over the forest. Sam and Jake continued to hurl harmless insults at each other and at me; but it didn’t last long. We had hiked over twelve miles up and down steep trails and we were all exhausted. My mind replayed some of the incredible scenery of the last few days. The mountain tops had been exhilarating; and as I stood on one of the plateaus today, something stirred deep within me that I never knew existed. Only a few more miles separated us from completing our journey tomorrow and again I felt a strange hint of sadness that it would soon be over and I would have to return. I didn’t want to stay with these two…I just wanted to stay here alone.

I wonder what would happened if I just decided to stay out here and never go back?

A smile curled on the edge of my lips as I envisioned the look on my grandmother’s face when she discovered that I was gone for good. One thing was sure: I didn’t want to stay with these two much longer either. Jake’s constant whining and Sam’s overbearing personality were more than a little annoying after several days and the solitude of my tent each night had been my only escape. Even without the insects, I would never give up the only reprieve that I had from the other two. For now, my muscles were aching and begging for a break. Four days of high mileage up and down mountain terrain were beginning to take their toll. I laid in the darkness and listened to the sounds of the forest around me. I just didn’t care anymore if Sam and Jake made fun of me for sleeping in here. Why would anyone carry a tent and not use it? In the back of my mind I knew why. Sam didn’t want to pitch his tent tonight because he was too buzzed.

I’m not helping them. They deserve what they get for being so stupid!

This was supposed to be an easy trip but somewhere along the planning phase, Sam and Jake had decided to make it a drinking binge as well, making our progress difficult and I now know that I will never to go with them again, although it made me smile as I turned onto my side to go to sleep that night, thinking about them clawing at their bumps the next day. I knew the value of a tent’s protection from those horrible insects.

In what seemed like only a few minutes, light danced along the side of my tent, startling me awake. I rolled over and grabbed my watch while my eyes adjusted to the light. It was already 8:10 AM, way past our scheduled start time of 7:00 AM.

“Crap!” I half yelled as I kicked off my sleeping bag and stuck my head outside the tent to see if the others were up. Sun beams had pushed through the foliage and the air was already thick with heat. I was not surprised that Sam and Jake had both slept in so late with the drinking they had been doing lately; but I was usually up early most days so why had I slept so much longer? Sleeping late now fouled up our plans to hit the trail early this morning in order to finish the last fifteen miles. Jake was balled up in his sleeping bag and snoring; but Sam was nowhere in sight. His sleeping bag was gone as well, so I sat back down inside my tent and began to roll up my gear to get ready to leave. I half expected to hear Sam’s stern voice any minute urging us to hurry, since this was supposed to be the last day. I picked up my watch again and noticed something strange. It said 8:10 AM but it had stopped. Now I wasn’t sure what time it was. My phone charger pack and my phone were both dead. They should have both had a little juice left; but there was no need to worry about it now and I stuffed them both in an outer pouch.

I hurried to pack the rest of my things knowing that Sam would start in on me again about not sleeping outside and I just didn’t want to listen to any more ribbing than necessary. My bag was almost finished and I couldn’t hear Jake stirring so I stuck my head back outside the tent and nudged him.

“Jake! You need to get up! Looks like Sam’s already packed. You know how he likes to get on the trail early.”

Jake groaned and pulled the end of the sleeping bag over his head. “Not yet. Give me half an hour.”

“Hey man, what time does your phone say?”

Jake groaned and I could hear him rustling around inside his bag. “Nothing. It’s dead.”

Sweat beads rolled down my face and my stomach growled as I tugged my gear out of the tent. Jake was balled up in his bag and my frustration began to boil.

“I’m not kidding, man! Get up! We need to go!” I kicked Jake with my foot — harder than I meant to but the hunger pains were crumbling my patience.

“Ouch!” Jake sat up and rubbed his eyes, trying to wake himself up and buy a little time. “Okay! I’m up!”

Jake stared at nothing as his brain tried to connect what he felt with with what he had to accomplish. I knew the hangover was probably mild; but inside I wanted to scream just to make his head hurt more. I noticed him scratching the side of his neck where several bug bites were visible and part of me was glad.

“My watch has stopped too. I have no idea what time it is; but it’s definitely later than we need it to be.”

“Do we have any more of those granola bars?” Jake was trying to stand but his legs seemed unable to connect to the ground. He reminded me of a baby giraffe at the zoo trying to stand for the first time. In between the wobbling, he continued to claw at his neck and now an arm, where the bug bites were even more numerous.

“Sam has them in his bag. Let’s get this junk up and hit the trail. We can eat all we want of the rest of the bars since it’s the last day.”

“Man I’m heading straight for the nearest pizza place. I’m gonna eat a whole large pizza by myself.”

“Sounds good.”

“Crap! Do you have any hydrocorty cream?”

“You mean hydrocortisone?”

Jake nodded and danced around as he slapped and scratched. I reached in my pack and threw him some cream and then began to disassemble my tent. As I pulled up the stakes, I spotted a trail of granola bars and clothes behind my tent and followed them into the edge of the woods, where Sam’s backpack laid open with the contents were strewn all over the ground.

“What the...” I went over and picked up the pack, which was covered in a wet, slimy substance. “Yuck! What’s this crap?”

Jake stumbled over, shoes on but not tied, still trying to will himself awake. His face, neck, and arms were covered in the white cream with small red bumps protruding through. He had finally stopped clawing at the bumps as the cream began to work. Peering at the slime he recoiled, “Oh, man, that’s gross. What is that?”

“Looks like something spilled all over it. It’s really sick.” I said as I tossed the bag down.

“I’m not touching it. Sam can clean that up himself.” Jake yawned and rubbed his eyes. “Hand me one of those bars.”

“Get it yourself. Where the heck is Sam, anyway?”

Jake picked through the slime to grab a bar. “I would guess down by the creek.”

“Looks like some animal dug through his pack. He was supposed to hang it on the tree.”

Jake was munching on a bar and seemed oblivious to anything else.

“Where’s his sleeping bag? Why would he take that down there without his pack?” Nothing seemed to make sense to me. I just wanted to get on the trail.

“I don’t know, maybe he slept down there.”

“That’s stupid. Weren’t you with him?”

Jake grabbed his head. “Not so loud, man, you know we were a little out of it.”

The hangover was worse than I thought and I just shook my head, “You stay here and keep packing your stuff, I’ll go check on him.”

“Whatever.” Jake walked back and laid down on his sleeping bag, crunching on the rest of the bar.

“Get up, we need to be ready!” Part of me was ready to leave them both.

“Okay, okay, I’ll be ready,” but Jake continued to lay across the bag, while I walked down to the creek wishing this day would go fast. At least at home I wouldn’t be dependent on these two anymore.

The path from the campsite to the creek wasn’t long but it curved to the left after about fifteen feet. There were strange marks on the ground at the start of the path and I couldn’t figure out what they were at first and then I finally found the source. As I turned the corner I found Sam’s sleeping bag, or what was left of it, in the middle of the path. The marks had been made by the bag being pulled down the trail. The bag was zipped closed but the middle was completely torn open with down and stuffing all over the ground and no sign of Sam.

“Jake! Come here!” I said as I ran back up the path. Part of me was aware that whatever had done this might still be nearby. My eyes scanned the area but saw nothing but dense green woods.

Jake jumped up, “I’m awake!” he said with crumbs dripping down his chin and getting stuck in his beard. He wiped off the crumbs and followed me to the place where the sleeping bag laid torn open and destroyed. “Where’s Sam?”

“Good question.” For a few seconds, thoughts of a practical joke played through my mind; but even Sam wouldn’t do this. He was too drunk last night and from the looks of Jake, he was probably too hungover this morning.

“What happened to his sleeping bag?”

“Another good question.”

“Do you think it’s a bear?”

My mind replayed some of the dumb stories Sam had told last night. “I don’t know; I guess it’s possible. You were right next to him all night. Did you hear anything?”

Thoughts of the stupid bear stories continued to churn until I dismissed them. Surely we would have heard a bear dragging Sam off in the middle of the night.

“No, man. I was out. I barely remember going to bed.”

“Idiots! Why did you guys drink again?”

“It was just a little. Sam had a couple of bottles left. They were tiny.” Jake held his fingers up to show the size.

“So you guys got drunk and now you have no idea what happened because you were passed out! How did you plan on hiking today? I cannot believe Sam--”

“We were just having a little fun.” Jake’s voice sounded hollow.

“You mean you cannot even stay away for just a few days? You’re both alcoholics, man.”

“Sorry! Sam just threw them in at the last minute. It’s not like we planned it or anything.”

“Well--”

A low growl echoed through the air followed by the sound of a stick snapping. The sounds seemed to be coming from around the corner of the trail and we both dropped to the ground. Any feelings of being annoyed with each other were quickly replaced with fear, as Jake quietly slid a stick over and looked around, pinning himself close to me. We sat perfectly still and waited; but nothing happened. After a few minutes, we both slowly stood up and looked around. The only sound was the nearby water rushing over the rocks. Jake took the stick and began to poke around at the shredded bag; but I held up my hand to signal Jake to stop and then cautiously continued on the trail down to the creek with Jake following closely behind me, holding the stick up high and ready to strike.

Neither of us said a word as we crept along the trail. The sight of the shredded bag made us both fear the worst; but neither of us wanted to say it out loud. Nearing the water, we heard the low growl again and another stick break. Instinctively, we both dropped low to the ground again and it seemed like an eternity as we sat and listened. Jake started to tremble and I signaled for him to stay put, while I slithered forward to try to see what was making the strange noise. Suddenly, I stopped and turned to look at Jake and signaled for him to move up beside me. I leaned in close to Jake and whispered,

“It’s right around this corner, I can see it’s shadow moving.”

Jake nodded and tightened the grip on his stick.

“Stay close to me.” I said as I picked up a rock the size of a baseball and moved forward again. Without warning, the growling stopped. Jake and I looked at each other and remained motionless again, trying to control the urge to panic. Carefully, I eased around the corner and disappeared out of Jake’s sight. When Jake finally came up behind me, I was squatting over what appeared to be the a wad of the same sticky substance on the ground that we had found on Sam’s backpack.

“What--" I held up my hand to keep Jake quiet and then motioned for him to come closer. Drops of the substance continued down the worn path ahead of us; but before either of us could say a word, everything went black.