The Fishing Trip
By
C. F. Sheeler
Manuscript Copyright 2015 by C. F. Sheeler
Cover Copyright 2015 by C. F. Sheeler
This e-book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, any place, events or occurrences are purely coincidental.
The Fishing Trip
Ted Johansson, David Smithers and Bob Jones all piled into Jimmy Elkins’ SUV. Behind it, Jimmy was pulling a small aluminum fishing boat filled with camping and fishing gear. He had promised the other three men the best fishing trip that they ever had.
Jimmy heard about a small inlet off the main part of South Lake that nobody ever visited. According to the information he received, because nobody visited that part of the lake the fish were plentiful. Jimmy’s source claimed that the second your hook hit the water a fish was on it.
After stopping for gas, bait and snacks Jimmy pulled off on a dirt road that had a heavy overgrowth of weeds in the middle of it. This was the fifth road that they had been down. It turned out that Jimmy’s source wasn’t good at map making.
“You got the right one this time Jimmy?” David asked kind of disgusted. “I’m tired of riding now. I think I’m getting car sick.”
“Yeah damn it,” Jimmy said looking at his source’s homemade map and then at his surroundings. “See, right there,” he pointed at a tree. “That’s the knot that looks like Snoopy. Just like on the map.”
“Hell Jimmy,” laughed Bob. “You said that on every road we been down today.”
“I’m sure this time damn it,” Jimmy said.
“Let’s go back to where that couple was skinny dipping,” Ted chimed in. “Did you see the rack on that young lady?”
“See right there,” Jimmy said pointing to another tree. “There’s the chain that that the tree grew around. Told y’all I knew where I was going!”
“If we don’t stop soon,” David said putting a hand over his mouth. “I’m going to throw up. I should of known better then to eat a hotdog from a bait shop…ugh.”
Finally, just when Jimmy was considering turning around and finding another dirt road to journey down, the SUV came upon the inlet that they have been looking for. It was exactly as Jimmy’s source described it. The water was surrounded on three sides by tall trees and underbrush. The mouth of the inlet from the lake was just wide enough for a medium size bass boat to enter. A narrow sandbar jutted out a short ways into the water from the bank.
“Here we are boys,” Jimmy said with a smile while putting the vehicle in park. “Told y’all this was the right road.”
“About damn time,” Bob said.
“I still want to go back to the nude folks,” Ted said.
“I got to…” David began and then quickly got out of the SUV and threw up in some bushes.
“Dang David,” Bob said as he got out of the SUV. “I say we pitch camp close to the water. Away from his hotdog.” He pointed his thumb over his shoulder at David.
“Never eat one from a bait shop,” David said returning to the vehicle wiping his mouth with his sleeve.
The four men unpacked their camping equipment and set up a tent large enough for four close to the lake bank. There was still three hours of daylight left. Ted suggested that they get some fishing in before it got dark. All four unloaded the small aluminum boat. Jimmy was afraid that the trailer would get stuck if he tried to back it into the water.
Bob and Jimmy paddled the boat out into the water while Ted casted from the bank. David waded out into the water until it reached his thighs and casted his rod and reel into the water. The fish were biting, it wasn’t as Jimmy’s source had said. But the four men still enjoyed themselves. In a little under an hour Bob and Jimmy each had two good size perch. Ted had a few nibbles and David had caught a small fish, but let it go.
Bob looked toward the bank where Ted was fishing and had to take a second look. “Where did they come from?” he asked. Jimmy turned to see who Bob was talking about and saw two women standing beside Ted. One hand sandy blonde hair and the other was a brunette. Both were skinny and seemed to be in their early twenties.
“Hey Ted,” called Jimmy. “Who are your friends?” David looked back from the water to see what Jimmy was talking about. Ted looked to his left, jumped and dropped his fishing rod. Both girls giggled.
“We didn’t mean to scare you,” the blonde woman said covering her mouth when she laughed.
“I…I…” Ted said startled. “You didn’t scare…I’m not scared.” Bob and Jimmy started to paddle back in.
“I’m Sandy,” the blonde lady said with a smile that made Ted wish he were twenty years younger. “And this is Brandy.” The brunette smiled and gave a short wave. “We’re camping just past those trees.” Sandy pointed to some trees at the edge of the clearing. “We heard talking and thought we would check it out.”
Bob and Jimmy reached the shore and pulled the boat onto the bank. David waded out of the water. “How’re you ladies doing?” Bob asked. “Aren’t you gonna introduce us Ted?” Jimmy asked.
“Uh…yeah…sure,” Ted said. “Uh…this is Sandy and Brandy.”
“Hi I’m Bob,” Bob said with a grin stepping in front of Jimmy and Ted and holding out his hand. Sandy loosely shook it and gave a small cautious laugh.
“You girls camping nearby?” David asked as he approached.
“We’re just beyond those trees,” Brandy said looking around Bob and pointing to the same clump of trees that Sandy pointed too earlier.
“I’m Jimmy,” Jimmy said stepping around Bob and looking at him annoyed. “You met the rude one, Bob. This is David and Ted.” The girls smiled and shook hands with the rest of the men. “I didn’t think anybody came to this part of the lake. That’s what I was told anyway.”
“Yeah, That’s why we camp here,” Sandy said smiling at Brandy. “Guess somebody else knows about it.” Brandy smiled back and then looked away.
“Let me guess,” Jimmy said. “Y’all know Joe.”
“Right,” Brandy said shaking her head and pointing at Jimmy. “Joe…right.”
“Yeah…Joe,” agreed Sandy.
“Uh…you ladies are welcome to have dinner with us,” Ted said. Bob was standing behind the two women looking them up and down and smiling at the other men.
“Yeah, y’all are welcome to eat with us,” said Jimmy trying to ignore Bob. “We’re having fish and hotdogs.”
“Ugh…don’t say hotdogs,” David said holding his stomach.
The four men and the two women sat around a campfire well after dark talking and laughing. They ate the four fish that were caught and several hotdogs that were grilled on a small bar-b-q grill that Jimmy had brought along. David only ate a fish. The two girls just ate a hotdog each.
Sandy and Brandy told the men that they were juniors at the nearby university. It was their Fall break and they decided to get away for a few night before going to spend the holidays with Brandy’s family. They said that they did the camping thing twice a year since their freshmen year. It was a great way to get away from everything after the stress of school.
After everybody was finished with their food and after drinking a few beers, Sandy asked if one of the men could walk with them back to their camp, just to make sure they made it all right. Bob volunteered, but Jimmy suggested that Ted escorted the ladies back to their camp. He jokingly told them that Ted could ward off any creatures that may attack them.
“What the hell Jimmy?” Bob asked after Ted and the girls had entered the grove of trees.
“What the hell is that you have a wife Bob,” Jimmy said. “You don’t need to get involved with some twenty something after Martha just took you back.”
“Shit Jimmy,” Bob sai
d. “You just have to be a good friend don’t ya.” He looked at the trees. “You know Ted ain’t gonna do nothing with them girls?”
“Exactly,” Jimmy said with a laugh.
The three men started cleaning up their campsite. Jimmy found the hotdogs that the two girls supposedly ate behind the log that they had been sitting on. The hotdogs were fully made with all the condiments and still in the buns. Not one bite had been taken off either one.
Jimmy thought that the girls probably threw the hotdogs away because of being young and wanting to watch their figures. They probably acted like they had ate them just to be nice. He didn’t think any more on the subject and put the hotdogs in a trash bag.
***
Ted, Sandy and Brandy arrived at the girls’ camp. Ted noticed a strong musty smell when he walked close to the tent, but put it off as young girls being irresponsible with their tent storage. He looked around the camp with a flashlight to make sure it was safe before having the girls to light a small kerosene lantern. The musty smell got stronger inside the tent along with an even stronger smell that reminded Ted of meat that had gone bad.
“Well if you girls feel safe, I’ll be getting back,” Ted said wanting to get away from that smell. He could feel his stomach starting to churn.
“Couldn’t you stay a little longer?” Brandy asked. Her voice sounded soft and sexy and not like the giggling college age girl he just ate hotdogs with.
“Yeah, couldn’t you stay?” asked Sandy stepping in front of Ted. She flipped her hair back over her shoulder and unbuttoned the top two buttons of the flannel shirt that she wore.
For a minute visions of being with two twenty something girls flashed through Ted’s mind. He hadn’t been with anybody since his wife died five years ago. He hadn’t had the desire or even thought about it, much less with two young ladies that were half his age. Ted dismissed the thought. “No, I should be getting back.”
“I think you should stay,” Sandy said pulling open her shirt to reveal her cleavage. Somehow her voice sounded deeper to Ted. He also noticed that her fingernails seemed to have grown longer.
“Uh…I believe I should be going girls,” Ted said with a giggle. He walked passed Sandy and tipped his cap as he went by. “See you young ladies later.”
“I said stay!” Sandy said. Her voice was even deeper and darker. She grabbed Ted’s arm and pulled him back. Ted’s arm hurt where Sandy had grabbed him. He tried to pry her hand off his arm but it was holding him too tight. Ted looked up at Sandy in shock. Her eyes had become solid black without any whites. Her face had become a greenish-gray color with deep pockmarks. She let out a scream like some kind of animal and Ted saw that she had a mouth full of sharp teeth.
Ted tried to scream but Sandy slashed his throat with her fingernails. She then threw him a few feet. Ted landed hard on his back. He sat up quickly and grabbed his throat. He felt something wet. When he looked at his hand it was covered with blood. Ted looked down the front of his shirt and it too was covered with his blood. He tried to scream but only a gurgling sound came out.
Ted tried to get to his feet but the blood pouring out of his throat made him too week. He could only recoil in horror as he saw both Sandy and Brandy creeping toward him on all fours. Both had shed their clothes. Both had skin that was greenish-gray full of pockmarks. Both had solid black eyes without any whites and both had mouths full of sharp pointed teeth. The only way that Ted could now tell them apart was from their hair color, which now just hung in sparse strands. The last thing Ted felt before he passed from the world of the living was Sandy and Brandy tearing his flesh with their teeth.
***
“Wonder what’s keeping Ted?” David asked as he poured some bourbon into a plastic cup.
“Maybe he got lucky,” Bob said with a grin.
“Yeah, right,” Jimmy said finishing his bourbon. “Ted hadn’t been with anyone since Agnes died. Don’t think he really wants to be with anyone else.”
“I don’t know,” Bob said taking a drink. “Single man with two hot young ladies. He did carry on about those skinny dippers.”
“Jimmy said Ted wasn’t looking for anybody,” David said. “He didn’t say he was dead.”
Bob was sitting across from Jimmy and David who had their backs to the woods. He notices something white moving at the edge of the trees and took a long look at what it may be. To his surprise it was Brandy. She was completely nude and was waving at Bob to come join her. Bob couldn’t believe what he was seeing. There was a beautiful brunette twenty something girl standing there nude wanting him to come to her. Bob looked at Jimmy and David. They didn’t seem to notice where he was looking.
“Well boys,” Bob said drinking down the last of his bourbon. “I’ve got to drain the old lizard.” He rose to his feet and threw his plastic cup in a trash bag. He headed off in the direction that Brandy had been standing. She had since disappeared. He looked back to see if the other two guys were watching. They were still facing the other way and talking to each other.
“Brandy?” Bob called out in a whisper as he entered the edge of the woods. “Are you still here? It’s your old Uncle Bob.” Brandy stepped out from behind a tree, giggled and ran. “Hey, come back you,” Bob laughed and ran after her. Brandy would stop running for a minute and let Bob catch up. Then, just when he would reach out for her, she would giggle and take off again.
Bob was getting winded. He was almost twice as old as his pray. Bob thought that if Brandy didn’t stop soon that he would be too tired to do anything when he did catch her. Bob hated to give up, but the idea was beginning to cross his mind. Then to his surprise Brandy suddenly stopped.
She just stood there with her back to Bob. He smiled and slowly approached her. “You just about tiered out old Uncle Bob young lady,” Bob said as he reached out for her. “But Bob ain’t that old yet.” He put his hands on her waist. He was about to move in and embrace the young lady when she quickly turned around.
Bob face turned to terror when he saw Brandy’s face. Her face had turned a greenish-gray. Her eyes were solid black without any whites showing and her mouth was filled with sharp pointed teeth. Bob screamed out when Brandy sunk her teeth into his neck.
***
David and Jimmy were getting their sleeping rolls ready for bed when they heard Bob’s screams. “What the hell was that?” asked David.
“It sounded like Bob,” Jimmy said. Both men ran out of the tent and looked around. “I think it came from the girl’s camp.”
Before the two men could even think about investigating Bob’s screams, something jumped on Jimmy. He and the creature rolled over and over until they stopped with the creature on top. It quickly tore into Jimmy’s chest with long claws and ripped his heart out. The creature then held the heart up and bit into. Blood squirted out of the hart when the creature bit into it.
Another creature joined the first and started to tear pieces of flesh off of Jimmy’s chest with its mouth. David was frozen in place. He wanted to run, but for some reason he couldn’t move. He watched in horror as the two greenish-gray creatures ate on his friend. One of the creatures quickly looked at David and let out a blood-curdling scream. He saw the long sharp teeth of the creature dripping with the blood of his friend.
David tried to scream but nothing would come out. He unknowingly moved backwards into the tent behind him. He fell over something and then crawled backwards until he was up against the backside of the tent. David watched in horror through the tents opening as the two greenish-grey creatures feasted on Jimmy. He wanted to run, to get away, but he couldn’t move.
***
Game warden Bill Brown had been riding down the trails on the eastside of South Lake since the sun came up. He had been called in early. All the game wardens had been. Four fishermen had been reported missing. Bill hated this kind of news. It always ended on a bad note.
The bodies of missing people were usually found months later far away from where they disappeared.
They would be found in the lake bloated and greenish-grey and very unrecognizable except for the clothes. Or they would be found deep in the woods half eaten by some wild animal.
Most of the time the deaths would result because of carelessness. Campers or fishermen would party too much and forget about safety. The next thing you know they would be reported missing and found months later. Sometime, however, they would disappear because of murder.
Almost twenty years ago in this area of the lake two college age girls were murdered. They had been tortured and rape for over two days by four drunken fishermen. After the fishermen were through with the girls they killed them and returned home and went back to work as if nothing happened.
Bill Brown had just become a game warden and happened to be the one to find the two girls’ mutilated bodies. The girls had not been reported missing because they had been on Fall break from college. They always camped out for a week before going home to spend the holidays. Their bodies had been so mutilated that it took the coroner’s office another week to identify them. It had been almost twenty years since Bill had found the bodies and he still had nightmares.
Bill stopped on an overgrown dirt road. It was the fifth one on this side of the lake. He got out of his SUV and checked around the road’s entrance. In some bushes beside the road Bill found what he had been looking for, a “POSTED! NO TRESPASSING!” sign. Bill had put the sign up himself. He felt that it somehow paid respect to the two college girls that were murdered.
“Damn,” Bill said out loud to himself. He pulled the chain that the sign was on across the small dirt road. He would put it back up on his way out after he finished checking it for the missing fishermen. Bill stood by his SUV and looked down the road for a long time. It was the first time that he had to travel down this particular road sense he had put the sign up a week after the bodies were found.
Bill shook his head, got in his SUV and headed down the road. When he turned the last curve he saw a burgundy SUV with an empty boat trailer hooked behind it. Bill pulled to a stop behind the boat trailer. He thought of calling in and then decided that he would check everything out first. He sat behind the wheel of his SUV and stared out the windshield for a few minutes. Then, with a loud sigh, he finally got out of the vehicle.