Somehow it would be easier to go into this deadwood forest if what I were seeing was smoke. At least then I would know that the danger was fire.
This, however, was a mist creeping in from where the others lurk.
With it came a fetid dankness - something more than the normal, rich odor of decaying leaves and wood. There was something unnerving in this smell - something worse than death.
When I say the "others", I do not mean the Old Man of the forest, the Stick Throwers, the Mountain Devil. I mean their masters.
Some of the old ones called them the Watchers and stories of them go back thousands of years. There are cave drawings of them the world over.
I do not want to run in to one of these beings.
My mission is to scout and see if I can locate the vortex, portal or star gate through which the Watchers travel and the two trackers who went before me over the last few days. Each of them had enough provisions for about two days and a personal locator beacon that would squawk their position when triggered.
Neither had sent a text with their PLB indicating whether they had found the location of the vortex or if they had been discovered. The second squawk had been sent within 100 yards of the first.
I took a different, more difficult track to the location than the other two.
Eventually I came to the edge of what appeared to be a clearing. The mist was heavy, but I could tell the clearing was quite large. The stench of decaying flesh was overpowering. It was all I could do not to retch.
A quick check of the GPS showed that I was about 200 yards from the first location. Something large was moving around out there.
The hair stood up on the back of my neck then I heard a branch snap. I closed my eyes and waited for the inevitable.
"Jackson, that you?"
I whipped around to see Lopez crouched there dirty and scratched up.
"Squawk our position and text 'Vortex'. We've got to go! Now!They're eating Dallas!"
I sent it and we started creeping back the way I came.
Jackson pulled a device out of his bag and squeezed a trigger. There was an explosion deep in the woods on the other side of the clearing. Then another one closer and to the left. Then another one off to the right.
Hopefully this diversion would be enough for us to get away.
