“Ah!” Jenny groaned dramatically when she heard they would have to walk the rest of the mountain road.
“This place is full of mosquitoes!
We’re going to get eaten alive.
Jay, why don’t you just call a tow truck?” “Sure.
Why don’t you turn me into a cell tower first?” Jay raised both arms above his head like antennas.
Jenny immediately pulled her phone from the pocket of her shorts and checked the screen, only to find exactly what she expected—no signal.
They were deep in a sparsely populated stretch of wilderness, far from any town or major highway.
Cell coverage in remote forests and mountain areas was unreliable at best, especially on an abandoned backroad like this one.
Jay glanced at the trail ahead before shrugging.
“It’s rough, but Jenny said there are only about six miles left.
If we keep moving, we can probably get through in two or three hours.” Jay unloaded their backpacks from the Land Rover, then opened the rear compartment and removed a compact first-aid kit.
After thinking for a moment, he also grabbed an aluminum baseball bat and rested it against his shoulder.
Jenny stared at him before checking her watch.
“Two or three hours?
It’s almost four already.
We’ll still be walking when it gets dark.” She sprayed another thick layer of insect repellent over her exposed arms and legs.
“Whoosh!
Whoosh!” Jay swung the bat several times, producing sharp whistles through the air.
“Maybe we’ll get lucky and see a deer.
Then we can turn this disaster into a camping trip and have ourselves a barbecue.” “Camping and barbecue?” Jenny’s expression brightened for an instant before she looked at the baseball bat in his hands.
“With you hunting?
Never mind.
I’d rather starve.” Elena remained quieter than the others as she studied the dense forest surrounding the road.
Tall trees crowded together on both sides, while tangled brush made it difficult to see more than a short distance into the woods.
Even in the oppressive summer heat, the idea of spending the night out there made an uncomfortable chill crawl along her back.
“Let’s just keep moving,” Rosen said as he pulled on his backpack.
“There could be wild hogs, black bears, or God knows what else out here.
I’d rather reach civilization before dark.” “I knew I liked you, Rosen.
A man with common sense.” Jay threw an arm around his skinny friend before glancing toward Orion, who had just finished locking his gear.
“Besides, what are we worried about?
We’ve got a retired Navy SEAL walking with us.” Jay stepped beside Orion and immediately looked much less impressive than he had behind the wheel.
At around six feet tall, Jay considered himself a big guy, but Orion’s six-foot-three frame and massive build made him seem almost average.
Jay gave Orion’s arm an experimental punch and felt muscle that seemed closer to solid steel than flesh.
“Jesus, man.
How the hell did you get this big?” Jenny’s eyes immediately returned to Orion.
“Camping in the woods must feel like a vacation to you.” Her gaze then landed on the M1911 secured at Orion’s waist, and whatever concern she still had about the wilderness disappeared.
Orion noticed but said nothing.
A handgun was useful against ordinary dangers, but the faint smell he had occasionally detected since entering this road had already convinced him that this forest might contain something worse than bears.
“Everything’s locked,” Jay announced after checking the Land Rover one last time.
Since the SUV was a rental secured with his credit card, abandoning it permanently would be painfully expensive.
“Once we reach town, we’ll call someone to come get it.” The mountain trail proved far worse on foot than anyone expected.
Waist-high weeds covered much of the abandoned road, while mud, exposed roots, and uneven ground constantly slowed them down.
After nearly two hours of walking, sunset was approaching, yet they had covered only three or four miles.
“God, this hurts.” Jenny stopped to catch her breath, sweat soaking through her clothes.
She drank several mouthfuls of water, then poured a little over her legs to clean the tiny scratches left by weeds and thorny brush.
Sweat had gotten into the cuts, making every step sting.
“Elena, come with me.
I need to pee.” Despite her carefree personality, Jenny had enough common sense not to wander into an unfamiliar forest alone.
Elena nodded and followed her through the bushes beside the trail while the three men remained behind.
“Don’t go too far!” Jay called after them before dropping onto his backpack with a tired sigh.
Only a few seconds passed.
“Jay!
Come here!” Jenny’s shout immediately wiped the exhaustion from his face.
Jay jumped upright, grabbed the baseball bat, and rushed toward the sound, while Rosen and Orion followed close behind.
After forcing their way through a dense patch of brush, the group suddenly stopped.
A wooden cabin stood among the trees roughly a quarter mile away.
“Whoa.” Jay stared at it before breaking into a grin.
“Now that is what I call perfect timing.
We just found ourselves a camping cabin.” Jenny and Elena looked equally relieved.
Everyone was exhausted, and even an old hunting cabin sounded far better than another several hours on the overgrown trail.
Rosen seemed less enthusiastic, but he followed when the others started toward it.
Orion took only a few steps before his expression subtly changed.
His enhanced senses caught something beneath the heavy smells of damp wood, vegetation, and summer heat.
There was a faint metallic scent in the air that he recognized instantly—human blood.
Mixed beneath it was something older and considerably worse: the unmistakable stench of decaying flesh.
The blood smelled relatively fresh, while the decomposition had clearly been present much longer.
More than one person had died around this cabin.
Orion remained calm and continued walking with the others.
He had seen enough death during twelve years of military service that discovering evidence of murder wasn’t enough to make him panic.
He also had little interest in playing hero for strangers, but if whoever lived here decided to attack him, Orion certainly wouldn’t object to adding a few more points of Normal Energy to the Black Book.
“Hello?” Jay called when they reached the porch.
“Anybody home?” A heavy padlock secured the front door.
Jay knocked loudly several times, but nothing moved inside.
“Nobody’s there.” Jenny cupped her hands around her face and peered through a filthy window.
The interior was too dark and grimy for her to see much beyond vague shapes.
“All right.
Sorry in advance, whoever owns this place.
I’ll buy you a new lock.” Jay raised the baseball bat and struck the old padlock twice.
Clang!
The lock broke free and dropped onto the porch.
“Creak…” Jay pushed open the wooden door.
A wave of foul air immediately rolled outside.
“Oh, God!” Jenny recoiled, covering her mouth as she gagged.
“What the hell is that smell?
Did something die in here?” Then she looked past Jay, and her eyes widened.
“Or did someone turn this place into a slaughterhouse?” The cabin was filthy and cluttered with junk.
A long wooden table stood in the middle of the main room, its surface stained dark with old blood, while more recent smears remained visible across the wood.
Above it hung more than a dozen knives, cleavers, and other cutting tools of different shapes and sizes.
Clang… clang… clang… A breeze entered through the open doorway, causing the hanging blades to sway gently against one another.
The metallic sound echoed through the cabin like a grotesque set of wind chimes.
“Hey, man.” Rosen stopped at the doorway while Jay cautiously stepped inside.
“I really think we should leave.” “Relax.” Jay covered his nose and looked around.
Several animal skulls and mounted heads decorated the walls, including trophies from deer and other large game.
“It’s probably just some hunter’s cabin.
Creepy as hell, sure, but kind of cool.” Creak!
A section of the wooden floor suddenly lifted upward.
Everyone froze.
A short, horribly deformed man slowly climbed from the hidden space beneath the cabin.
Fresh blood covered the large knife gripped in his hand, dripping steadily from the blade onto the floorboards.
Jay stared at the stranger’s twisted face.
For the first time since Orion had met him, the fearless former soldier looked genuinely terrified.
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