A Sighting in the Forest

Ashlynn discovers a strange sight in the early morning.

                Ashlynn’s eyes shot open.

                What was it that had woken her? She couldn’t recall hearing anything, nor did she feel anything touch her. She steadied her breathing, making her breaths as quiet as possible, and listened.

                Nothing. Nothing but Hunter’s soft breathing a few feet from her; not nearly loud enough to suddenly wake her like that. Confused and wary, Ash silently rose from her cot and swung around to place her feet on the ground, the grass bending under her socks. She was already clothed; you couldn’t afford to not be ready to go at a moment’s notice these days. Strands of black, unwashed hair fell over her face as she bent to reach her boots resting underneath her, never once letting her main focus drift from listening.

                After so many months of being trapped in the wild, it became common practice to always keep your ears open, above all other senses.  Yet despite her focus, and the long time since any exposure to loud noises other than the occasional gunshot, Ash could hear absolutely nothing discerning. And that, she thought as she laced up her black mountain boots, is impossible. There’s got to be something out there… right?

                Before standing up, she once again reached under her cot, this time grabbing her glock and tomahawk. With quiet contemplation, she recalled how the gun, now comfortable in her hand, had been heavy and awkward not too long ago. Sheathing both, she took one last look at Hunter, still sound asleep, and stepped out into the morning.

                Ash breathed in the fresh dawn air. A dim, gray light flooded the encampment, with a hint of orange peaking in through the trees. Slowly, Ash scanned the camp, taking in every familiar detail. Nothing was out of place; Margeaux was fast asleep, her children all around her in the same positions they had been in when their now dead fire was bright and roaring. Her first thought being that something had claimed one of the children - a soldier, or even a Wretched - Ash let out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding, and was taken aback when her sigh coalesced in front of her. It was colder than she had thought, and as she began to notice a slight orange and red tint to the trees, she realized this would quickly become more and more common. A single demon, a single doubt of their capability to survive the winter, entered her mind, but she just as quickly cast it out. Her first priority was to protect her people from immediate threats.

               Slowly making her way around her and Hunter’s tent, she advanced towards the trail leading out of the camp, followed it down into the forest, and again scanned the horizon. The morning birds had just begun their song, but no other sounds or movement caught her attention. Convinced that nothing was threatening their survival for the moment, Ash turned to return to her bed and catch what little sleep she still could. As she began to leave, her eyes drifted towards the larger pine just downhill of her.

                And there, just behind the tree, two small orbs matched her gaze.

                Ash froze. She stared at this strange, unmoving sight. Convinced her early waking had finally caught up to her, she clenched and rubbed at her eyes, removing the blur that had begun to form, and returned her attention to the great pine.

                The orbs had not moved. For a moment, Ash considered returning to wake Hunter, so they could figure this out together, like they always had. But what if this strange… thing was gone by then?

                Quietly, attempting to not wake the camp, Ash offered a weak, “Hello?” No response. A little louder, “Is someone there?” Nothing. Unsheathing her weapons, Ash slowly advanced towards the anomaly. Still, no movement. Maybe they’re some kind of weird plant, she thought to herself. Still, she held fast to her protections, and moved ever closer.

                Finally, she was within feet of the anomaly. The thing had not moved at all since she first laid eyes on it, confirming her suspicions that whatever it was, it was not living. But as she grew ever closer, she saw a shape begin to emerge; the orbs were attached to something. But for the life of her, Ash found it impossible to focus on it; as if she were trying to see smoke or fog. Slowly, with her left hand, still clutching her tomahawk tightly, she moved in an attempt to touch this strange figure.

                The orbs blinked.

                Despite her greatest efforts to remain silent, Ash screamed and leapt backwards, falling onto the cold, hard ground, the impact launching the weapons from her hands. Startled by her sudden movement the creature, for it was now, despite what Ash thought, impossible to be anything but, dashed off into the forest in a flurry of fallen leaves.

                Ash’s breathing was loud and quick, spewing up great amounts of fog from her mouth. She placed a hand to her chest, feeling her heart attempting to burst from her chest. “What the hell…” she managed to breathe between ragged gasps. Composing herself, Ashlynn gritted her teeth and, taking her hand from her heart, dug her fingers into the cold dirt. She couldn’t afford to be sloppy, and she sure as hell couldn’t afford to be jumpy. Her people needed her to be brave and strong. How was she supposed to protect them if she got knocked on her a*s because of a… Fog creature? Ash had no better words for what she had seen, until she realized what it had really been. Hallucination, she thought with an aggravated sigh. You got scared by a hallucination.

                Raising herself from the ground, Ash heard a flurry of noise growing in volume. Her outcry had woken the camp. Looking towards the enclosure, she saw Hunter, rifle gripped with white-knuckles, hurrying towards her. Seeing no current threat, he swung the gun to hang behind his back as he rushed to his friend.

                “Yo, Ash, what happened? I thought I heard you scream, and I saw you gone, and I started to think…” Hunter raised his hands, lost for words. “… I don’t know, really. I had no idea what could’ve happened.”

                Still trying to catch her breath, Ash nodded to him. “Yeah, I know, sorry for leaving without saying anything. I… I’m fine, I swear.”

                Hunter raised an eyebrow. “So you didn’t scream then? Everything’s alright?”

                Ash pursed her lips, and sighed out of her nose. She wanted to tell him about the fog- hallucination, she mentally corrected herself. She wanted to know if she was going crazy, or if something really was watching them. She wanted to confide in him, like he had in her so many times before. And yet… the word “hallucination” refused to leave her mind. “Yeah man, everything’s fine,” She said with a small smile. “Everything is absolutely fine.” Reassuringly, she placed a hand on his shoulder. “I promise.”

                Hunter breathed out through his nose, lips pursed. After a moment, he finally offered a simple, “Alright.” He nodded, affirming himself to Ash’s claim. “Just… glad you’re alright.”

                Satisfied, Ashlynn gathered her fallen weapons, and the two turned to return to camp, now awake and moving. “Ash, you…” She turned her gaze up to Hunter, seeing the concern still present in his eyes. “You’d tell me if something were to happen, right? Like, something that would, I don’t know, be a danger to us?”

                Ash couldn’t help but laugh. “What, you don’t trust me?”

                “Nononono, of course I do,” Hunter hurried, shaking his head and hands rapidly. “I trust you more than anyone, you know that. I…” He chose his words with noticeably more care, in fear of offending his best friend. “I just wanna keep you safe. And I can’t do that if there’s someone or some… thing that I don’t know about.” He turned is concerned gaze down to her. “Y’know?”

                Ash stayed silent, thinking to herself. Of course it was probably nothing, some weird image that demanded to be noticed. That happened to people all of the time, especially when they were just off the verge of sleep. It was impossible for anything to be there. Impossible for anything to disappear like that.

                And yet, as Ash looked back at the great pine, she began to think about her definition of “impossible.”

                Still looking back, she whispered, “It might've been nothing, but...”

 

                

Author's Note

This is an excerpt from a story I'm in the process of writing, The Lost Children. It's a sci-fi, post-apocalyptic story in which Ashlynn, among others, are thrown into this bizarre reality much like their own, only long abandoned by all other human life. After forming a small group, these survivors work together to survive both other humans and the Wretched - fast, human-eating creatures that only hunt at night. In this excerpt, Ashlynn finds reason to believe there's more in the world that just Wretched.