chapter FOUR
Wrapped in the cocoon of light, Jake could not see or hear anything. He knew he was still breathing and was aware of his body. The warmth of the light filled him, but he could not feel anything other than a sense of movement. It was as if his mind was disconnected from his body; the light was everything.
Without warning, Jake was thrust back into his body as the surrounding light vibrated and shuddered. He felt as if it had hit some sort of resistance, like a rock skipping across water. Moments later, he felt a violent jerk and the light seemed to darken. Streaks of the darkest black appeared in the light and seemed to whirl around like a tornado. He could feel a coldness seeping into the light's warmth from those streaks. The light blazed brighter and pushed the black away. The sense of movement continued.
The black came again, the violent collision stronger this time. Jake felt the jerking start again, this time rattling him to and fro in the light. The darkness crept back into the light. The light flared again, but this time it could not completely overcome the black. He had the sensation of being in the middle of a tug-a-war, with him the rope. The jerking became more violent, its pace quickening. Faster and faster, he was pushed and pulled, heat and cold lashing him, unable to do anything but yell silently.
Suddenly, he could hear noises. He could hear the sizzling, crackling sounds as the light and dark collided. Faint fierce cries echoed as the black strove to overcome the light. The jerking kept increasing; shaking him with such force that he was sure his bones would break. He felt trapped and helpless, unable to do anything. The violence peaked, noise and movement overwhelming his senses. He was striving to stay conscious amid the chaos when the light seemed to explode and everything went dark.
…
Jake slowly regained consciousness. He became aware that he was lying on his back, a warm light on his face, cool air moving softly against his skin. He opened his eyes, blinking against the sudden light. He could see the light brown branches of trees above him, with sunlight filtering though the gaps in the green leaves. He moved to roll over and felt his bruised ribs scream at him. He gingerly got to his side and gently pushed himself into a sitting position.
At first, he thought he had been dreaming and somehow moved under the trees in the Black Hole Woods, but as his mind gained clarity, he realized that this was more of a forest than a grove of trees. The dark loamy ground, with its rich earthy smell, was different from the soil in the Woods. He was sitting in a small patch of cleared ground, but near the base of the trees, there were random green clumps of plants providing ground cover. The trees, with their light brown bark and overarching canopy of green leaves, were more densely packed than in the Woods. He could hear the sounds of birds as they moved around the top branches.
"What the hell happened and how did I get here?" Jake muttered out loud. "Where is here, anyway?" He slowly stood up, turning in a circle, looking for something familiar. Nothing was right. He grabbed his phone, hoping he could call for help, but he saw it had no signal. He tried the GPS app, but it also had no signal. That could just be because of interference from the trees, he tried to tell himself. Fear began to worm its way into his mind. He was confused, lost and with no way to contact his family or friends.
He began to panic slightly. He yelled "Help!" as loudly as he could, causing the cut on his lip to reopen and trickle blood again. He waited a few seconds and yelled again. Frustrated and growing more frightened, he yelled over and over, hoping that there was someone, anyone, near to help him. His voice echoed through the forest, but he got no reply.
He finally stopped, his voice becoming raw, fear rising in his chest. His breath began to whistle as it blew in and out in a shallow, rapid pattern. His body began to tremble, sweat burst from his pores and he suddenly felt light-headed. Concerned he may pass out, he sat back down, bringing his knees up near his chest. Wrapping his arms around his legs, he put his forehead on his knees, closed his eyes and tried to calm down. He felt tears start to leak from the corners of his eyes and he moved his head side-to-side, wiping them on his sweatpants. The pressure generated pain in his swollen eye, but he ignored it. He was lost, really lost, alone and he was now sure he would never see his family or friends again. A sob escaped from him; the urge to weep threatened to overwhelm him.
As he teetered on the edge of full-blown panic, his father's voice suddenly came into his mind. It was his warning to Jake when they had first gone camping. "Jake,..." his father had said "...if you ever find yourself lost, the worst thing you can do is panic. Panic kills because it makes you do rash things. You must stay calm, even if you don't think you can. Take the time to assess your situation and develop a plan. That is how you will survive." Clinging to his father's words like a lifeline, Jake tried to slow his breathing and clear his racing mind, desperately willing himself to relax.
After several minutes of effort, he had succeeded for the most part. He was still frightened, but he brought his breath back under control and his thoughts calmed. Once he felt secure enough, he stood back up.
To put the nervous energy that had built up in his system to use, he decided to explore the area he was in. He glanced up at the sun and believed that it was about mid-day. He slowly walked around the clearing, looking for the way he was brought here, hoping he could follow it back out. He was surprised to find no trace of any tracks coming into the clearing. The only tracks he found were his own shoeprints. After circling the clearing a couple of times, he stopped next to a tree, leaning against it, to think. He could not understand how he got here; it was as if he dropped from the sky. After a moment or two, he determined that there were no clues to be found on how he got here. Because he was so unsure of his location, he realized that he would have to assume that the likelihood of rescue was non-existent. He needed a plan on what to do next.
He knew that he could not just stay here. There was no water or real shelter and this was clearly not a traveled area. Not knowing where he was, he felt the best course of action was to pick a direction and start walking, marching in a straight line so he could come back here if needed. If he found a break in the trees, he would try his phone or GPS again. He would continue to do this until he was able to make contact with someone or found civilization. Hopefully, he would come across some water as well. Now regretting that he had not eaten before he left the house, he knew that he could go without food for several days, but he would need water soon. He just needed to decide on a direction.
From the position of the sun through the trees, he was able to determine what he believed to be north, south, east and west. After some thought, he decided that a westerly direction would be the easiest to track since he could simply follow the sun. As a precaution, he set up some sticks in a pattern next to the tree to act as a marker if he had to come back. He shut off his phone to conserve the battery, took a deep breath to gather his courage and started walking.
Jake felt better as he started moving, feeling fairly confident in his plan. It was easy going from the start as the forest floor was fairly level with light undergrowth. The air was cool under the trees, but not cold. He glanced back from time to time to make sure he was moving in a straight line. To keep his mind clear, he kept a silent step count and stopped to set up small markers every hundred paces or so. As he traveled, he tried to notice any distinctive terrain feature that could help him find his way back, but all he saw were trees.
After traveling like this for an hour or so, the movement was causing his ribs to bother him. He decided to take a break, so he sat down and leaned back against a tree. He closed his eyes, taking some deep breaths to try to relax his body and relieve the discomfort in his ribs.
He was sitting there quietly when he heard the very faint sound of running water. He quickly stood up, listening intently. He closed his eyes again and concentrated, trying to use his hearing to determine from what direction it was coming, moving his body to face the sound. After several moments, he felt he knew the direction, but had no clue about the distance. When he opened his eyes, he was facing north.
Jake immediately saw a problem. The ground seemed to rise gently in that direction and the forest looked thicker. His plan called for a straight-line march away from the clearing to keep his bearings. He could set up a marker here and try to keep a straight line, but if he got off track in the rougher terrain, he might never find it again.
After several moments of indecision, he shook off his doubts and decided that it was worth the risk if he could find water. Also, there was likely open sky above the water, so he could try his GPS again. Not only that, he would probably be better off following the waterway unless the terrain was too rough. Generally, where there was water, eventually there would be people. The more he thought about it, the more excited he got about the prospect; maybe he could get out of this quickly.
He made a marker at the base of the tree, just in case. Trying to ignore the dull throbbing in his side, he took off in the direction of the water. Because the forest floor was still relatively level with few obstacles, he made good time for the first twenty minutes or so. His pace began to drop off as the ground began to incline up and more obstacles of fallen trees and rocks appeared. He attempted to keep on his straight line, but that soon proved to be impossible in this terrain. He kept his same general direction, but he knew that backtracking to the clearing was unlikely at best now.
While that troubled him, he was motivated to keep going by the growing sound of running water. As he made his way through the rocks and trees, he could almost see in his mind's eye what the river would look like. He was sure it was a river now, since the sound was of water crashing over rapids. As the slope of his path grew steeper, the trees began to thin out, allowing more sunlight to reach down to the rocks, warming the air. He navigated through a dense tangle of fallen trees and bushes, ducking and crawling over dried logs and branches, and found himself abruptly at the tree line. Open rocky ground spread out in front of him, steeply rising to form a ridgeline, clear blue sky above the edge. The river sounded as if it was just over the top.
He pulled out his cell phone and powered it up. He waited and soon the phone indicated that no signal was available. He tried the GPS and got the same result. He cautiously moved towards the river, trying his GPS every couple of minutes or so. He felt fear and worry worm into his mind again as he could not get any satellites, not even one. That shouldn't happen, he knew. Almost the entire surface of the Earth was covered by the GPS system. Realizing that he was just wasting his battery and doing himself no good, Jake turned off his phone and picked up his pace towards the river.
As he reached the top of the ridge, he saw the river spread out before him. It was at the bottom of the rocky slope, probably seventy to eighty feet wide, fast moving and frothing white as it rushed over the hidden rocks in its stream. He could see the rocky slope on the far bank was much like this one. It rose away from the river and Jake could see the tops of some large trees peaking over the far ridge.
The top of the ridge also gave Jake a better view of his surroundings. As he slowly turned and his gaze swept over the horizon, he saw that to the east was a range of mountains standing in sharp contrast to the blue sky, rising high into the air, the snow covered peaks giving way to dark forests along the base. He guessed that this river flowed down from those mountains. As he looked back the way he came, he could see that the forest he was in stretched far to the southern horizon while its trees covered rolling hills to the east that reached the mountains. Its western edge gradually sloped down into what looked like a large green plain. With trees clearly viable on the other side of the river, the river cut the forest in half, as if an impossibly large axe had landed here.
Jake, thirsty and sweating from his efforts, moved down over the gray rocks, their color washed out by the bright sun, and made his way next to the river. Stopping at a large rock next to the roaring river, he carefully removed his sweatshirt, wrapping it around his phone and setting it atop the rock. He looked for a place where he could drink and saw a small area between a group of rocks where a backflow from the fast moving current was gently swirling. Kneeling, he bent over the slowly flowing water and scooped up some water with his hand. It was cold, but not bitterly so.
While he remembered the lesson from his camping trips about not drinking river water without boiling it first, that option was clearly not available to him. So, he brought the water to his mouth and drank. The cold stung his injured lip as the water passed over it and he tasted the faint iron from his blood mixed in. However, he continued to drink, filling his stomach.
After drinking, he splashed some water on his face to help cool down. Satisfied, he went back to the rock with his sweatshirt and sat down. He removed his phone and tucked his sweatshirt into a makeshift pillow, then laid back and closed his eyes, trying to rest. He relaxed and began to enjoy the warm temperature and the sun on his face.
After a few minutes, though, he knew that he should get up and start moving or he may end up falling asleep. Rising, he put his phone into his pants pocket and wrapped the sweatshirt around his waist, tying off the sleeves in front. He saw that the river bank was rocky, but passable. He began to follow the river as it weaved its way down its westerly course.
The first hour or so was challenging, slowing his progress as he navigated over and around the rocks that made up the riverbank. The land began to slope downward as Jake moved farther west, sharply in places, then more gently. Eventually, the rocks began to give way to sandy banks and the trees crept closer to the river. The river broadened and the rapids decreased the further Jake traveled.
Jake walked for several more hours, stopping to drink and rest occasionally. He saw no signs of other people. At all of his rest breaks, he tried but could not get any signal for his phone or GPS. After keeping a good pace for most of the day, he started to stop to rest for longer periods of time. As he stopped to rest again, he could see that the sun was sinking low in the western horizon. He was hurt, tired and hungry, so he decided to find a place to sleep for the night while he still had some light.
Without a fire or some sort of protection, he did not want to sleep exposed next to the river, so he moved back into the trees. A hundred feet or so into the forest, he found a large evergreen bush that had room under its foliage that he could slide into. He hoped it would give him some shelter if the weather changed and cover against any predators that may move around the forest at night. He put on his sweatshirt, pulled up the hood and crawled into his hiding spot. He shifted around for a few minutes, finally finding a comfortable position. He wanted to turn on his music, but was afraid of falling asleep and draining the battery. He took some deep, calming breaths and closed his eyes. Surprisingly, within a few minutes, he fell asleep.
…
Jake awoke with a start, troubled and shaking. He had been having a terrible nightmare about being chased by some faceless monstrous creature that he could not outrun. It was reaching for him, almost touching him, when he woke. Caught up in the emotions of the nightmare, he was initially confused about where he was. After a few moments, he recalled what was happening and relaxed.
It was still dark, so he took out his phone to check the time. He saw that he had slept for about eight hours. He estimated that he had at least another hour or so before the sun came up. The forest was quiet, with only the sound of the river recognizable. He crawled out of his shelter and stretched, trying to work the kinks out. The air was cool, scented with the earthy smell of the forest. Feeling the need to use the bathroom, he made his way a little deeper into the forest, using the light of his phone to guide him. He had a method for such occasions that he used before on an extended camping trip. He just hated using large leaves as paper.
Once he finished, he worked his way back to the river to wash his hands. Without any soap, he used sand to scrub his hands and rinsed them off. He drank deeply to ease the hunger pains he was feeling. He hoped he could find some food along the way, maybe some berries or nuts. He moved away from the river to find a dry piece of land and sat down. He noticed that the night sky was starting to lighten in the east. He checked his phone's signal and GPS, but still nothing. Sighing, he turned off the phone, put it back in his pocket and waited for the sun to come up.
After falling into a semi-dozing state for a while, Jake felt that the light was sufficient to walk safely. He rose and started to travel along the shore of the river. Everything seemed to be gray in the pale light, the shadows darker. Gradually, the world gained color as the sky became brighter. Then, with a burst of reddish-gold light, the sun rose. He looked around, noticing that the sky was clear, with only a few high clouds. He felt somewhat better since he would not have to worry about getting soaked in rain.
As he made his way down the river, the distance to the opposite shore grew less and the trees of the forest crept closer. The sandy soil of the riverbank began to transition to a loamy dirt. The relatively wide and even ground Jake was walking on began to shrink as more trees began to dot the river bank, forcing him to maneuver around.
As the sun rose higher, the air began to warm. Starting to sweat, he decided that he would take off his sweatshirt at his next rest break. After another ten minutes of walking, he saw a fallen log ahead, lying next to the river, which seemed a good place to stop.
He stepped over the log and sat down, his body grateful for the rest. Out of habit, he pulled his phone out and tried to get a signal, hoping against hope, but nothing. He sighed, set his phone on the log next to him and started to pull off his sweatshirt. As he reached over his shoulder to pull it over his head, he glanced down and froze, startled.
In the soft, damp dirt several feet in front of him were shoeprints. He saw several sets of large prints, apparently coming out of the forest to the river and milling along the bank. He let his sweatshirt drop and grabbed his phone. Excited to know he was not alone, he stood and began to follow the tracks as they made their way down the river. As he followed, it was clear that there were multiple people in this group.
He followed the trail for several minutes when it suddenly turned back into the cover of the forest. He tracked it up the slope of a hill and into the trees. The trail was still discernible in the harder soil of the forest, so he continued to follow it. Sweating under his clothing, he was grateful that the air turned cooler as the trees began to block the direct sun. He kept his eyes on the trail and moved as quickly as he could.
He was near the top of a small rise covered in small bushes when he heard human voices coming from the other side. After being alone for the better part of two days, it took him a moment to realize what it was he was hearing. "People!" He thought excitedly. He almost broke out in sob of relief as he imagined rescue and returning to his family.
As he scrambled to reach the bushes, the shout for help died on his lips. At the last minute, his mind warned him that it was possible that these people may have had something to do with him being here. He stopped and dropped to his stomach, slowly crawling through the bushes to try and get a look at these people before he announced his presence. As he reached the top of the rise and gazed down, he was glad he did not shout first.
In the hollow at the bottom of the slope stood four men, talking and, it seemed to Jake, arguing. Fingers were pointed and sharp gestures punctuated the conversation. It wasn't the argument that caused him to feel grateful about staying quiet. All of the men were wearing dark leather clothing, pants and shirts studded with metal rings, with knee-high boots and wide brown leather belts around their waists. A sheathed long sword and dagger hung from the belt of each man.
"What the hell is this...?" Jake thought to himself, unsure of how to react. "Did I come across a weird Renaissance fair or something?"
He was still mulling over what to do when hard, rough hands grabbed his legs and yanked him out of the bushes. He had a brief vision of men who looked like the others and tried to shout when something heavy crashed into the side of his head and everything went dark.