The trailer shook with an earthquake like force, the door wrenched open almost coming off it’s hinges. “Yo fuck-o, you ready to go? My truck looks like the ATF’s wet dream right now and it’s going to take a while to get up there”. Looming in the doorway stood my co-worker Seth, his massive frame blocking out the morning light cresting over our dingy little kingdom we called a jobsite in the heart of the city.
“Already? I thought we were waiting until day shift got in?”, I said groggily wiping the sleep I wasn’t supposed to be enjoying from my eyes. “Easy on the trailer door dickhead, how times did Steve tell you it’s on it’s last legs?”
“Don’t care, this trailers a piece of shit anyways I’m being a good friend and getting you a new one. Carl, Joe, and Brenda just walked in -“, he leaned out the door to spit the chew welling in his mouth, “They’re here and that’s good enough for me. Sleep on the way up, we’ve got a lot of beer to drink, guns to shoot, and food to eat. Oh, and no sad woe is me bullshit funk you’ve been in lately, not allowed at the cabin Mo along with women, it’s in the by-laws”.
“Well that’s no fun. Fair enough Mo, let me finish my report and we’ll get the hell out of here. Give me ten.” I said yawning and turning towards my laptop.
“You’ve got five,” Seth stated holding his hand open and fingers out, then wheeled and walked out the door slamming it right off its hinges.
****
My name isn’t Mo, if you’re from or have ever worked in New York construction you most likely know what Mo means and frankly, I’m not explaining it. Seth had recently picked it up and now everything was “Mo you gotta do this” and “Mo why the fuck you doing that?”. It was a bit of overkill. If you’re reading this it doesn’t matter what my name is, all that matters is that the story is told, the real story.
Cell service cut out somewhere around two hours into the drive and like a sixth sense, it woke me from my slumber pretty abruptly. It was either that or the fact that we hit pretty rough combo of dirt and gravel roads, coincidence I think not. It was almost as if there was a clear dividing line where a lasting remnant of those wishing to live off the grid and the finer things in life decided to call a truce. My eyes shot open and short circuited trying to comprehend in the sea of green speeding by the window.
The speeding blur slowly came into focus, and the exhaustion left my eyes. Leaves, branches, trees, sped by as if they had somewhere to be. Towering over the road, the trees seemed to cast more shade than they should be able to. I peered into the treeline, visibility was extremely short as the forest seemed to pull itself together, hiding secrets it didn’t want us intruders to know. What little glimpses I was able to see, showed a forest with age behind it, a forest that was alive.
Tree cover gave away to a fork in the road, blinding sunlight acting as if it was mad the forest wouldn’t let its’ rays touch the floor below. We hooked a right and Seth smiled, “Wakey wakey princess we’re almost there, Paul and Charley beat us to it and started drinking. Oh yea if for any reason you have to drive don’t take that left, there’s some inbred family, or commune, I think it’s a fucking cult but whatever, that’s their road. Don’t go down there, might hear a banjo tune playing and then we’d never see you again”. We both laughed as the thick forest relinquished it’s seemingly invincible grip on the Earth to a clearing occupied by a small cabin.
*****
“Alright gents before we get too drunk, let’s go over some ground rules. Snakes love that flat rock so watch your step in the morning”, Seth pointed towards a large smooth rock used like a doormat in placed beneath the front door, “Second, anyone has to go down range for any reason all guns are emptied, mags on the table and safeties on. Third, we have big fucking bears up here, when we go down to the creek, bring the shotguns and aim for the soft spot near it’s belly. None of you are going to pull off a head shot while you’re shitting your pants watching a full grown bear charge you, and you’re only going to get one shot at most. If that happens you buy time so the rest of us can get our second shots off. Ya know take one for the team or something like that. Eh that’s pretty much it we’ll figure out the rest of it as we go. Everyone good?”, the three of us nodded in agreement, “Good, now crack them fucking beers I’m thirsty”.
The rest of the day flew by faster than the bullets we sent down the range in the backyard. Paper gangsters, and stuffed animals didn’t stand a chance against the barrage of lead being hurled in their general direction. Neither did the burn barrel Pauly, put a fat hole in that he wasn’t supposed to. After sweating in the hot mid-day sun, we decided to give our ears and trigger fingers a brief respite. Shotguns were loaded and slung over shoulders as we trekked down the hill in the backyard to the creak that cut through the property. The hundred yard slope felt endless as general drunkenness and exhaustion from the heat began to set in while our adrenaline wore off, at least for me.
Taking a hard left at the water we walked another fifty or so paces through some dense overgrowth before arriving at the swirling pool formed long ago by mother nature. “Don’t be shy, hop on in”, Seth said removing his tank top and stepping into the clear water. The pool wasn’t deep, but it was enough you could sit in it and relax like the opposite of a hot tub, plus the water kept the beers cold. I took off my boots and socks and followed Seth’s lead. Holy shit, was it cold but the crisp untarnished water was utterly refreshing. I moved some rocks building a makeshift seat under the flowing current. Plopping myself in my chair of stones, I let the rush of liquid embrace me in it’s icy but comforting grip.
Beers were drank, stories were told, and laughs were had by all. It was exactly the kind of weekend I had needed. I took a moment to lean back against the muddy bank and embrace the moment. It was then I noticed something atop the large hill that sloped into the creek. The canopy was surprisingly thick, infinite numbers of leaves restricting the sunlight from touching the floor below. The underbrush however, was surprisingly barren along this hill, the direct opposite of what I had seen on the way in along the dirt road. Old, thin trees stood almost naked underneath as my eyes followed the rise of the hill to the crest. There at the top were two trees crossed in an X.
“That doesn’t look natural,” I said slamming the rest of the beer in my can cracking another one, “Oh shit there’s another one too”. In fact I could see several along the hilltop, dozens of feet apart but spanning the length of the hill as far as the forest would let me witness.
“Those *errrruupp* weren’t here last time I was up,” Charley said, his back to us urinating into the river downstream. He was holding onto the tiniest possible branch as if it somehow would hold him up and keep him from swaying in his drunken stupor. “Not sure when they went up but it looks like those weirdos wanted to mark their territory. Besides who wou-,” the words never got to leave his mouth as the branch snapped, slapping him the face and knocking him forward into his piss filled section of the river. The rest of us almost drowned from laughing.
******
Daylight gave way to darkness and the stars came out like a force to be reckoned with. It had been a long time since I had seen so many in the night’s sky and I had forgotten how beautiful they can be. This night however, the moon had decided to stay absent from the party. We sat gathered around the fire built by a tree we shot down. No, no you read that right, we literally shot at it until it fell over then cut it up for logs. Charley fell asleep in his chair and Pauly called it quits shortly after that leaving me and Seth sitting in silence staring into the dancing flames. I watched them twist and turn to the cracking beat of the wood. It was then I heard him spit, grunt, and say “You good Mo? With everything going on just want to make sure you’re alright”. It was a question I wasn’t exactly expecting from Seth, but one I was forever thankful he asked.
“I’m not, but I will be. Thanks for this weekend man, just needed the silence and to get away from it all for once.” I hadn’t broken my trance with the dancing embers.
“Good, don’t beat yourself up too much, you did what you thought was best and that’s all any of us…..” His voice trailed off. The sudden pause in the conversation made me break my hypnosis. I looked up in his direction, and to my surprise found a ghostly white face staring towards the hill. Now Seth was pretty pale to begin with, but even through the firelight I could see the color rushing from his cheek bones. If he was scared, this was the first I’d ever seen it, despite the heat of the flames, I was feeling very cold. I followed his gaze but couldn’t see anything in the void of darkness behind us.
“What are you..”
“Just wait you’ll see it. Right…there!” He shot his finger forward but I didn’t follow the direction, I didn’t need to. Somewhere within the trees of the hilltop there was a faint light emanating through the gaps in the leaves. It looked as if it is was somewhere near the crest, maybe where I had seen the crossed trees earlier, dim and distant. The realization hit me that every hair on my body was standing so hard on edge it felt as if they were trying to pull themselves out of my skin.
“You think it’s that cult thing?” My voice shaking as much as I tried to hide it. “Probably just patrolling their property.”
“That’s alot of ground to cover. Their compound is wayyyy down that hill and they usually travel on their quads. I know I’m drunk but did you hear the sound of an engine?”
I shook my head, eyes firmly fixed on the inky blackness waiting for the next ping of light. I heard Seth rack the slide of his rifle, and felt him lean one against the arm of my chair. At that point I decided I should probably write this all down.