Chapter 6
“I think your shorts want you,” Reese noted. Gunner’s muffled voice came from the radio in Zach’s pocket. As he fumbled to retrieve it, the warning came over.
“Guys, there are bear traps hiding in these woods.” The two looked to each other in disbelief, then nervously to the ground around them. “Did you hear me? We have bear traps.”
Zach pushed the button on the radio to respond. “We hear you, Gunner. We’ll keep a look out.” He stuffed the radio back into his pocket with a sigh.
“Fuck me,” Reese fumed.
Zach found a branch to fashion a walking stick much like Gunner had. “We need a dog,” he suggested.
“What for?” Reese took the first careful step, scanning intently for any sign of a trap. With all the time he spent in the gym, it wasn’t just his bench press and his arms earning his pride. He spent as much time building the muscles in his legs, especially his calves. It took a lot of work to give them size, and he wasn’t about to lose one to a pair of steel teeth.
Zach bobbed his walking stick ahead of him simulating the movements his dog might make. “We let the dog lead us. If there’s a trap, it’ll get him instead of us.”
“You are sick,” Reese grumbled.
“If you’re a dog person, we could use a cat instead.” A punch in the shoulder signaled to Zach that his joking had passed its limit. He shut his mouth and continued forward, using his stick to test the ground ahead.
Reese’s mind turned to the memory of a retention pond back in his neighborhood. As children, they were constantly warned to stay away from it, but as most children do, they ignored their parents’ warnings. It was a great place to catch frogs in the summer, and it made for an ice rink of sorts when it froze in the winter.
It was around November, when the temperatures dropped enough for the freeze to begin. Being kids, Reese and Zach and their friends just couldn’t wait for it to thicken enough. As soon as it looked promising, they would challenge each other to walk onto the ice. In those first couple weeks, no one ever made it more than a couple steps before finding themselves ankle deep in the cold water.
Being boys, they moved to new spot where the ice had not been disturbed so that the next challenger could take his turn with the same result. Within an hour the entire group had been initiated with freezing wet feet. Yet their concern was not imminent frostbite, but the wrath of their parents. Sneaking into their homes without getting caught proved more frightening for the kids than freezing to death.
In hindsight, Reese knew their childhood games were every bit as dangerous as their parents warned. Maybe it was a miracle none of them actually lost a foot from their foolishness. Or maybe their luck was due to the resilience of children.
Zach meanwhile kept his mind busy with thoughts of Jeri. Just last night, he had longed for her cuddling arms around him as he sat by the fire. He had craved her warmth in his tent, as Reese had Kimberly’s. Last night he longed to be with her, but today, he was glad she was safe at home.
Reese stopped short, holding his arm out to block Zach.
“What is it” Zach asked him, but Reese shushed him, turning his ear to search out some sound. Zach listened too. All he could make out were the movements of the birds in the trees, and the occasional squirrel scampering on the ground. Peering out into the woods, neither man could see very far. The fir trees were rather thick here. Zach realized this would have been a good spot for an ambush.
Then he heard what Reese had been listening for. It was a single footstep, stronger and more confident than a scampering animal. The guys strained to orient it. The footstep had not come from ahead or behind; it was definitely in the woods, somewhere among those firs. It was not too close, but the next footstep told them it was getting closer.
Zach wanted to run, but Reese thought they should stay. He motioned for his friend to crouch down. Surrendering the ability to spot movement among the tree tops, Reese felt reducing their own visibility was more important. As long as they could hear the movement, they could tell where it was coming from and how close it was. They heard the footsteps picking up, regular but still slow, as though stalking. And they grew closer.
If this was the killer, the guys had a chance to end him. Zach took an aggressive hold of his stick, readying it like a baseball bat. Reese shifted his weight to the fronts of his feet, ready to pounce. He didn’t need a weapon to take on some backwoods hillbilly. His fists were all he wanted.
The footsteps continued toward the guys. Their owner might have been in view had they not ducked below the firs. Zach crab walked a few paces through the first trees trying to get a view inward. He wanted to see what was coming. They needed to know what this guy had for a weapon. Then Zach had to go and step on a stick. Its snap ended the footsteps.
“Idiot,” Reese whispered. Any surprise they had was gone. He gestured for them to charge, Zach around one side of a tree, Reese around the other side, bringing them face to face with their stalker.
It was not the killer they had expected, but a moose. The animal, as surprised as the guys were, changed course and darted away into the woods. Afraid it was charging them, Reese stumbled back, falling on his butt. Zach recovered his own footing and took much delight in his friend’s embarrassment.