Chapter 1
It was an hour after she set out that she began to panic. She’d completely lost her orientation to where she left the trail. The last one she remembered seeing was a small piece of wood tied to a tree that she almost missed. Now she couldn’t even recall how long ago she saw it. Even the faint hope that she still had a sense of where she was had died. She’d been lying to herself for a little while that there was nothing to worry about, but that technique was losing its effectiveness.
The fall morning was crisp and sunny, and so she’d left the campsite for a trail run. She liked to travel light, with only the path markers to rely on for navigation. Back home she had a well-worn journey through the streets around her apartment, but the lack of accounting for unfamiliar terrain had her cursing herself for the lack of preparedness.
She had ear buds and a phone, but there was no cell service. Her sneakers were sturdy and would serve her well for a long journey, but she dressed in only a t-shirt and shorts. The deeper she got in the woods the rougher the terrain became, with a persistent distraction of a stinging feeling on her legs from brushing against nettles.
The only mercy was the hour of the day - she began shortly after dawn, and if the other campers were only just getting up for breakfast then there was still plenty of daylight ahead. It would keep her warm for as long as it lasted, and she felt sure she could find her way within a reasonable amount of time, despite how early the sun was setting lately.
It wouldn’t be much longer before the searchers were dispatched. Once she’d been away for too long her boyfriend would start to worry and speak to forest service staff for help locating her. There were miles upon miles of trails and undeveloped forestland, which people were constantly getting lost in. Finding a wayward woman who wandered off a trail would be routine. This was a very convincing monologue for her, so she repeated it to herself as she walked.
If one had to be lost, the woods she found herself in were a beautiful place to do it. Scores of old-growth trees created a sun-dappled canopy over her head, in which a host of birds, squirrels and other creatures made their homes. At a distance she would occasionally see a cautious deer glaring at her as she passed. The sound of birdsong, a symphony of different warbles and chirps, filled the air as leaves crunched under her feet. It was a place of solitude and quiet, but it was far from silent.
Having wandered for miles and feeling frustrated, she took a seat on a rock and tried to clear her thoughts. A few deep breaths. A quick reassurance to herself that she wouldn’t be stuck out here forever. The question of whether that was actually true shoved deep into the back of her mind. She had to stay calm if she was going to get back to camp, and she was determined that she would.
She wasn’t sure how long she’d been sitting, but she knew it wasn’t helping her to linger. Or was it? Was it better to stay in one place so it was easier to find her? She tried to think back to the crime podcasts she’d listened to for ideas, but they didn’t seem applicable.
Footsteps behind her. Finally.
She rose from the rock and turned with relief on her face, but it wasn’t rescue. He wasn’t a park ranger, or anyone she knew. It was an unremarkable man. Alone. Walking toward her.
This development kicked off the threat evaluation process in her head. She was lost in the woods with no one else around, its own life-threatening risk. She would now be alone with a strange man, whose intentions were unknown.
There was a worried look on his face, but he wasn’t rushing to get to her. Although she couldn’t be sure, he looked to be about her age, mid-twenties, with a mop of dark brown hair perched on his head. He was dressed similarly to her in a t-shirt and shorts, with running sneakers, so she guessed he was either on a trail run like her, or a well-disguised murderer. Her survival was now predicated on his good, or even neutral, nature.
As he got closer he offered a big wave, as if to draw attention to himself, to show that he wasn’t trying to be sneaky, which allowed her to relax slightly. Anyway, there was little she could do to fight back or flee if he planned to harm her.
“Are you lost?” he bellowed as he got closer. He stopped when he was still a few feet away from her, seemingly an intentional act to preserve her space. When she didn’t reply right away, he offered, “I am.”
She let out a sigh, but didn’t fully release the tension in her shoulders. “Yeah. I was doing a trail run and I must have lost track of the signs.”
He brushed a hand through his hair. “Me too.” His posture shifted to an approachable angle. “They need better ones.”
She gave a friendly but guarded laugh. “I think so, too.”
An awkward silence settled as they ran out of pleasantries, leaving only the reality before them to discuss.
“I have to admit, I really have no idea how to get back,” she confessed.
He nodded. “Worried yet?”
“I’m trying not to be,” she admitted. “Stay calm and think better.”
He gave an affirmative bob of his head in agreement. “Well, maybe if we work together we can find the way?”
“Or fight off a bear,” she half-joked. After seeing the deer she knew it wasn’t the only wildlife she might run into, and the idea of facing off against something larger than her was the insidious fear in the back of her mind. Having someone alongside her to fight made her feel much better about her chances.
He extended a hand to her and at last came closer to introduce himself. “I’m Cam.”
“Dana,” she replied, and she shook his outstretched hand. By now she had started to let go of the threat presented by encountering a strange man while she was lost to focus on the more present danger.
“So,” he started, allowing a pause to grow before continuing. “Maybe we…should we just pick a direction or something?” he finally asked.
Dana turned to take her surroundings in. “The sun is rising in that direction, and the campsite where I’m staying was east of the trail. Maybe we can try that.”
He clapped his hands once, rubbing them together in a gesture that suggested he was ready to work. “Let’s try it.”
They walked in silence at a comfortable pace, for a while. Dana wondered if they should make small talk to make their journey less awkward, but struggled to accomplish it. At one point her mouth opened to ask him about what he’d watched recently, but it felt farcically off-topic. Occasionally one or the other would bring up a suggestion for where to turn, or to point out objects on the horizon that would help define their direction, but the frivolity of friendly banter was incongruent with their unease.
Self-blame rose in her thoughts. There were so many choices she would have made differently knowing now what danger she faced. The mental image of a quaint, seasonal trail run was too intoxicating to consider practicalities. Her mind wandered to what her boyfriend would say once she got back. No doubt he’d roll his eyes for creating trouble she wasn’t ready to confront. If she got back soon enough, she could even skip the story of getting lost, and just say she took the long route.
At one point during the journey, Cam walked into a thorny bramble and gave a quiet yelp when it hooked into the skin on his leg. He examined the tiny cut and, finding it drew only a drop of blood, disregarded it, the sharpness dissolving into an ache quickly enough.
“Careful,” he said, and held it back for her to pass.
They continued through the woods for two hours in this fashion, until they came upon a creek. It was calm and cool, and not so wide they couldn’t ford it.
“One second,” Dana called, as she had fallen a step or two behind. She stooped and gathered a mouthful of water in her hand.
Cam watched to see how she fared, unsure of how safe it was to drink the water. “Clean?”
“Yeah,” she called over her shoulder, wiping a drop of water from her chin with the back of her wrist. “Cold, though.”
He nodded and crouched next to her to get a drink of his own.
She sat back on her heels and watched as he drank. He seemed harmless. Nice, even. Noticing she sat he did the same, propping an arm up on a bent knee. A rest was welcome, despite a growing anxiety about how long it was taking for them to get anywhere. It was impossible to tell how far they’d gone, or their distance from anything that would give them a sense of positioning in the forest.
“I think we should walk parallel to the stream,” he suggested. “It’s at least a waypoint in case we can’t find anything along the way and want to turn back.”
“Makes sense,” she replied.
Another silence.
“Do you think anyone’s noticed we didn’t come back?” Dana asked, giving in a bit to her worry.
“For sure,” he replied confidently. “I told my girlfriend I’d be gone for half an hour and I’ve been gone for a lot longer than that.” The idea that they’d be fighting against darkness was beginning to emerge, but it was too frightening to admit to in that moment. Besides which, it was only around lunchtime, as their growling stomachs signaled.
“It’s similar for me. I left my boyfriend down at the campsite.”
Another few moments of silence, and Dana realized time was not on their side. She stood quickly. “Come on, we should keep going.”
He agreed, and stood to join her.
They walked for another two hours, Dana constantly checking her phone for the time. Walking next to the stream meant fewer brambles to get in their way, and they stopped for a drink when they needed it. As the day continued, however, her hunger, and the dull headache gripping the nape of her neck, were more difficult to ignore.
“I’m starving.” It hurt to say out loud, but it wasn’t as if she didn’t know.
“I didn’t even eat breakfast before I left,” Cam said.
“I had a granola bar,” Dana replied with a grimace. “It’s already gone.” She placed a hand on her empty stomach.
They found a mossy log to sit on once more after they’d slaked their thirst at the creek, and their spines slumped, heads bowed. They said nothing, staring into the middle distance, eyes fixed and vacant. There was no way of knowing how close they might be to a sign of civilization.
It was a thought that draped over Dana like a heavy blanket, and a knot developed in her throat. She worked to hold it back, but despite her best effort one rogue tear brimmed on her lid and tumbled down her cheek, which she quickly swiped at.
She looked over at Cam from the corner of her eye, and to her relief he didn’t seem to notice her. Maybe he was mulling over his own predicament. He was probably thinking about the girlfriend he mentioned. Dana could imagine a woman back at his tent, worrying about where he might be. Imagining what this mystery woman was going through was a sad thought. She shook her head. She didn’t need more sad thoughts at the moment.
The noise began imperceptibly, so by the time the first audible beats of a helicopter reached their ears, it took them by surprise. It jolted them both up from their seated positions, and any sense of fatigue they were coping with evaporated with a surge of hopeful adrenaline. They jumped and waved their hands frantically. They even shouted, although a helicopter pilot would have no chance of hearing them. It’s just something humans do when they are desperate for rescue.
The helicopter passed low over their heads, but the thicket, beautiful under any other circumstances, was dense. Thin beams of sunlight streamed through the sporadic gaps in branches, making the forest floor much darker than the sky above. They yelled, jumped and waved until they exhausted, but the sound became quieter and quieter.
Cam’s arms flopped at his side with a frustrated sigh, one that she felt just as deeply. Her face didn’t turn down from the sky, but her stare was very far away. Sticky tracks were left behind on her face from hot tears. Her skin felt like it was becoming dirty. She looked over at the man she was with, and his was, too. By now they’d been out for hours with no food or shelter. They were fortunate for the water in the stream and protection from the autumn sun, but those alone wouldn’t be enough to keep them safe forever.
“They’ll come back,” he encouraged, but she was neither sure if she believed it, nor him. It wouldn’t do them any good to lose hope. They had to keep pushing, and something had to motivate them to do it. Giving up could make the difficult job of surviving a lot harder.
She nodded. “Of course. I know they will.” She didn’t though. Her defeat was growing, and as she returned to her seat on the ground she let out an exasperated sigh.
They kept going. They had no other choice. The beauty of the forest, once their main reason for coming to the park, became monotonous and unattractive. Miles passed of seeing nothing but trees, leaves and rocks. There were no signs of human development that might give them an indication of where to go. There were no sounds, no voices, that would suggest they were anything but alone. All they could do was keep going, and so they did.
