The Mourning Woods - 03 (53 page)

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Devil Hunters

A Tale of the Crypto Hunter

Prologue

“Is this going to take much longer?” Sophie Guiterrez asked, breaking the silence that permeated the dense forest. It amazed her that such a primal wilderness could exist here. She could barely believe that their destination, Atlantic City, was less than an hour’s drive away. There: crowds gathered upon the boardwalks and in the casinos; traffic snarled the streets, making parking anywhere except a garage a chancy proposition at best. Desolate was the last word anyone would use to describe it. Yet, despite its close proximity, Sophie felt as if it were nearly a world away. She wondered if her husband, John, felt the same way, but decided against asking him. Any distraction could mean a further delay in their plans. Considering he wasn’t even supposed to be here, she didn’t want to risk it.

“I just have to get a few more samples,” John called back from over his shoulder. He was kneeling at the bank of a small creek, little more than a trickle through the forest really, gathering water into a small container. Once done, he would seal it, mark it, and then place it with the other half-dozen or so samples he had already collected.

Grunting unhappily to herself, Sophie found a good-sized stump to sit down on. She knew John was passionate about his job. She just wished he would occasionally direct that passion elsewhere. That thought brought a small smile to her lips. If all went as planned, soon enough that would be the case. A suite at the
Borgata
awaited them, as well as a long weekend away from both of their jobs. It was their first real vacation since getting married nearly a year ago. At the time, money had been tight so they had forgone a proper honeymoon in favor of a cheap motel in the Poconos. However, better times had fallen on them as of late and though it wasn’t exactly an exotic getaway, the accommodations awaiting them were quite adequate.

Besides, it’s not like we plan on going out much anyway
, she thought. For the past several months, she and John had been unsuccessfully trying to conceive. John claimed it was probably just stress from both of their jobs: he a government employee with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, she an elementary school teacher in the Jackson Township school district. She couldn’t entirely disagree with him on that. He worked endless hours, while she had a long commute and unruly students on the best of days.

Still, it was beginning to worry her. They both wanted children, of that there was no disagreement. Unfortunately, in the back of her mind Sophie was starting to wonder if they might need to consider other options. Though she hadn’t discussed it with John yet, she knew fertility problems ran in her family. Her mother had gone through menopause early in life, just barely in her mid-thirties. Even worse, Sophie’s sister, Julia, had undergone a hysterectomy a few years back due to complications with ovarian cysts. Deep down, Sophie wondered if they shouldn’t even now be considering a specialist.

She took a deep breath and tried to think of other things. Now was not the time for such thoughts. She was letting the stillness of the forest get her down. Such concerns could wait, at least until they were back home. She was determined to have some fun this weekend. Who knows? Maybe John had a point. If the mood was right and there was no stress to worry about, who was to say they might not return home a threesome in the making. That was a thought worth keeping.

Hell, they could have already been started had John simply told his superiors
no
like she had asked. He was originally supposed to have taken a half day so that they could beat the weekend traffic down to the shore. Instead, he had agreed to this
field trip
.

"It's not gonna take me long," he had said, two nights prior. "Besides, it's on the way. By the time I'm done, we'll already be most of the way there."

"I don't understand why they need to send you to begin with. You're not a field tech."

"I already told you, Charlie's out sick and nobody else is available."

He had then gone on to explain, much to her chagrin, why this couldn't wait. The data that had passed through his office in the past few months had crossed the minimum safe thresholds by a wide margin. Though unlikely, there needed to be an investigation to ensure there wasn't a potential environmental
situation
in the making. That's how he always phrased it. His bosses at the NJDEP frowned upon any use of the word
disaster
. The last thing they wanted was someone slipping up in a conversation, especially since it seemed everyone was only a button push away from Twitter these days.

Every year, reports would come in from local hikers, hunters, and fisherman regarding mutations: three-eyed fish, frogs with no legs, and, according to John, some weird-ass bugs. Generally speaking, this happened in any ecosystem from time to time; however, certain thresholds were maintained depending on the location. These data points were especially important for sanctuaries and protected areas, such as that which they were now in. John had told her the thresholds for this section of the reserve had been exceeded by a substantial margin as of late. Even though the previous quarter’s samples were clean, the higher-ups wanted everything retested now before anything leaked to the local press.

“Afraid they’ll start running stories about monsters in the Pine Barrens?” she had joked.

John hadn’t laughed, though. "That’s exactly what I’m afraid of. They run a story about ecological impact and most people will care less. They start flooding the local news with tales of Bigfoot and the Jersey Devil and we’ll have every yahoo in the tri-state area converging on this place. Then if it turns out there actually is a problem with the water or soil, we’ll find ourselves knee deep in a PR situation."

Sophie cringed at his use of the
S word
again. She had grown to despise it over the past several months. That ended the conversation for her, and she had immediately changed the subject lest an argument erupt. She realized, though, that her curiosity had been piqued nevertheless. Thus, on the ride over she found herself bringing it up again. By then she had no choice but to come along, so she figured, at the very least, a little positive conversation might put John in a good mood for the weekend ahead.

"So what do you think is causing it?"

"Who can say?" he replied, "Could be illegal dumping, or it might be something leaking in one of the old mills."

"Old mills?"

"Oh yeah. It's all protected area now, but before then there were all sorts of efforts to develop here. Lumber, paper mills, hell there was even a moderately successful bog-iron industry in the Barrens back in the day."

"Back in the day?" she asked, giving him her first grin of the morning. He was only twenty-five.

"Well maybe a little before then. We're talking birth of a nation here. Industrial Revolution and all that."

"How could that affect anything?"

John had smiled back, encouraged by her show of something resembling enthusiasm. "They all closed up shop a long time ago, but a lot of the old buildings are still around, albeit they're all husks now, long taken back by the forest.”

“So how is that dangerous?”

“You have to realize that this was long before much thought was ever given to the environment. Back when they were all still in operation, these places produced tons of toxins, most of which were just dumped wherever they felt like."

"And?"

"And these guys weren't exactly big on cleaning up after themselves when they shut things down. It was cheaper to just lock the doors and walk away to start fresh somewhere else. Over time: machinery rusts, storage tanks rot, you know the deal. When that happens anywhere else, we have a major cleanup on our hands. Out here..."

"Let me guess," she had replied, looking out the window of the state-owned SUV...the one they would be conveniently borrowing for the weekend. "Out here it’s a massive pain in the ass."

"Exactly. Finding the source of the spill is hard enough. Getting a cleanup operation running...well that's a whole other level of
fun
right there."

Upon arrival, John had offered to let her wait in the car while he collected samples. There were about a dozen or so spots in the surrounding area he needed to check. Sophie refused the offer, though. She knew he had a tendency to get lost in his work. Though she wasn't particularly fond of an afternoon spent hiking in the godforsaken wilderness, she knew that if she came along and continually reminded him of her presence, it could mean the difference of a few hours.

Now, though, she was beginning to regret it. Though the temperature was cool, the effort had left her sweaty, dirty, and feeling a little gross. Forget about the casino, the first order of business upon arriving at the hotel was going to be a nice long shower. The distinct possibility that she wouldn't be alone in it was small comfort to her right then.

"I'm bored, John."

"I don't see how," he replied cheerfully. "Isn't this place great? Almost makes me wish I got out of the office more often."

Sophie ignored him as she stood and stretched. In doing so, she felt wetness on her behind. Reaching back she discovered that the seat of her pants was now sticky.

Just great!
she thought, disgusted.
These are brand new
. She just hoped it was only morning dew or maybe sap from the stump. The thought that she may have accidentally sat in something else threatened to darken her mood further.

She opened her mouth to complain again, when she heard a chuffing noise from a few yards off. Thinking nothing of it, she called out, "Bless you!"

"For what?" John called back from where he was still organizing his pack.

"Didn’t you sneeze?" she asked.

"Wasn't me. You probably just heard a bir..." he was saying when the sound came again, catching his attention this time.

"What was that?" Sophie asked. The noise had originated from somewhere close by, the source hidden by the thick growth that surrounded them. It had a heavy wheezing quality to it. One of Sophie's childhood playmates had been asthmatic. The noise didn’t sound entirely unlike those which her friend had made while in the grip of an attack. "Is someone there?" she called out.

John chuckled in response. "You spook easily."

"That didn't sound like a person to you?"

"There's a lot of wildlife around us..."

"A bear maybe?" Sophie asked, a note of concern in her voice.

John, though, wasn't perturbed in the least. "Doubt it. Even if there is one around here, it'll just be a black bear. They won't bother us."

"Are you s..." Before Sophie could finish the question, something launched itself from the brush. Whatever it was, it was large and quick. It tackled John from behind before he even knew what hit him. Together they went down in a tangle of arms and legs.

Heavy snarls replaced the chuffing, but those were quickly drowned out by the sound of John's screams.