Into the Woods

Chapter 10

Jack

We're outside the bar, trying to call our wives. No one is having any luck.

"I think that we need to head to Skytop and find them," I announce to the guys.

"You're overreacting, Jack," Chad calls me out.

"Fuck you, Chad. I have a terrible feeling!" I scream at my best friend.

"Come on, man, it's not going to hurt to drive over there. The girls should be here by now," Dom adds.

I wave my hand towards Dom. "See! Even Dom agrees!"

"I also agree," Jim adds with concern.

"It's settled then. We go and check on the girls."

We settle our bill, hop in Jim's truck, and Chad directs Jim toward Skytop.

Ten minutes later, we're approaching the resort entrance when we catch Chad's truck parked in a clearing of the woods a quarter of a mile before Skytop's entrance. Jim quickly pulls over on the side of the road. Once he's satisfied that we're parked far enough off of the side of the road, he turns off the engine. I jump out and run towards Chad and Deanna's truck.

"What the hell should we do now?" Dom asks as we approach the truck with Chad and Jim close behind.

I run my hand through my hair. "We have to go in and search for our wives."

"Hold on there, Jack. Nightfall is in an hour." Jim tries to reason with me.

"All the more reason to get in there and look. We can use our cellphone flashlights." I'm getting desperate and can feel that something is wrong. I know I'm losing Suellen, and I don't know why or how.

"I think we should call the forest rangers or the authorities," I plead.

"And say what? Our ladies went hiking, and we haven't heard from them since lunch. Isn't there a forty-eight-hour wait?" Chad says, and I look at him incredulously.

"What the hell, Chad? Are you not in the least bit worried about Deanna?" All three of us wait for a response from him.

"Deanna hikes these woods all of the time. I'm not surprised she got carried away and is taking so long to return." Chad shrugs.

I can't believe my friend. How is he so calm about this? Their hike was to be about an hour and a half, not four hours.

"I'm going in. Who's with me?" I glance around with determination.

"Hell yeah, I'm in," Dom announces.

I know that he's just as worried as I am.

"Me, too." Jim steps up.

"Alright. If we're going to do this, we need a plan." Chad finally concedes. "We need to each spread out about ten feet from the truck. Two of us will go to the truck's left and two from the right."

We agree to his plan. Dom and I go left, Chad and Jim go right. We're all hunters except Dom; he grew up in New York City. He may not be a hunter, but he can help us look. We need every set of eyes to find our women.

As we enter into the woods, we all begin calling our own spouses names. We slowly comb the woods, calling out every couple of steps. About forty minutes into our search, I glance to my right and think that I see a blur of blonde hair. My heart quickens. Please be Suellen; please, dear God, let it be her. My heart drops when I hear Charlene call out Jim's name.

"Jim!"

"Over here, Char. I'm over here."

I watch as Charlene jumps into Jim's arms. She loses it, crying hysterically and talking gibberish. The other three of us join them. We give her a moment to calm down. My heart is beating out of my chest.

She takes one look at Dom and breaks down again. What the hell is going on? None of us can wait for another second. We start bombarding her with questions.

"Where are the other girls?"

"Why are you alone?"

"Is someone hurt?"

"Should we call the ambulance?"

All we succeed in doing is overwhelming Charlene.

Jim breaks. "Shut the fuck up! Can't you see that she's in shock? Give her some air!" He sees the blood in her hair. "Babe, are you hurt?" She shakes her head.

We all back away, and it's taking everything in me not to run into the woods. I hear Jim talking to Charlene, and I end up following his advice to her myself.

"Deep breaths, Babe. Breathe in, breathe out, in and out, Char."

It takes several moments too long, but Charlene finally calms down enough to speak. She looks at Dom with such sadness. "I'm so sorry."

Dom steps towards her, and Jim holds up his hand to stop him. He speaks soothingly to his wife. "Babe, why are you sorry?"

She starts to cry again, and I'm about to lose my shit. Jim gives us all a look of warning. What the hell is going on? I about pass out at Charlene's following words. They come out as a whisper, and I'm sure I didn't hear her correctly.

"She's dead. Julie's dead." She buries her head into Jim's shoulders.

Dom freaks out and takes off into the woods. Chad runs after him. He grabs Dom and uses all of his strength to stop him. Dom is fighting like hell to get out of Chad's grip. I run to help Chad.

"Calm the fuck down! We need to find out what happened." Chad screams, and we drag Dom back towards Jim and Charlene. "Going off half-cocked isn't going to help anyone."

Jim whispers into Charlene's ear. I can see her tense body relax. I don't know what he said to her, but whatever it was, it worked.

What Charlene says next shakes every one of us to our core; Dom was devastated, Chad was stunned and speechless, Jim looked at his wife in confusion, and I hoped and prayed that Suellen was still alive.

At this point, hope and prayers are all that I have.

*****