first iteration of intro to my short horror story wondering if it's cohesive

When a rich game hunter buys up a large portion of former public land in a poor rust belt town, a group of friends gather to exact juvenile revenge against the man and his property. But as tension builds and things begin to go wrong, their coming of age adventure is shattered by violent realities. 

Part 1

Game (hunting) /gām/: wild animals, birds, or fish hunted for animal products, recreation, or trophies.

Overlooked and overdeveloped, that was my hometown. A place snuggly swallowed by a sea of trees, a single oasis of human life connected to the rest of the world by thin winding veins of poorly kept asphalt. And the rotting timber remains of train tracks long since abandoned.

The town had a small and short-lived boom before I was born, some minor country star purchased a cabin out here for the rustic charm. She convinced some rich friends to get vacation homes, and with it came some notoriety. A handful of families moved in all at once, causing a sudden influx of businesses seeking to take their slice of the projected pie. 

Soon the rustic quiet life became swept up in a flourish of change and industry. A few people actually got up and cheered when they announced they were adding a mini mall to our soon-to-be renovated downtown. 

But things didn't last, the influx of new people was a short lived spark that lit no fire. The buyers never came, the new houses never filled or never finished. And with nothing left to prepare for, the renovations were all but abandoned. 

The remnants of which left scars of unfinished concrete foundations impaled with rusting rebar, and the dilapidated wood innards of houses never made homes. A monument to empty promises and misguided spending that left a sour taste with all that once hoped. 

And though there was a long list of issues that factored into the failed development, most people around here attribute it to the tragic disappearance of that country singer. She and five other people went missing while camping together, minor celebrities and their friends, just gone without a trace. It made national news.

The search was maintained for years, but they never found any of them, not even a body to give people closure. They found blood at the campsite but no apparent sign of struggle, not that they televised that part. But the damage was already done, for most people their first time hearing our town's name was tacked on to speculation about the possible murder or human trafficking of a beloved country star.

Our town became poorer than ever, people that could afford to leave did, everyone else was left to pick up the pieces. At least that's how the adults talk about it, a lot of people found purpose in doing their part to help fix the town no matter how small. But for the younger generation it felt like everyone's dream was to just get the hell out of here. 

We had very little, even less once the only bowling alley closed, its bar remaining open despite the lanes shutting down only added salt to the wound. Most people my age struggled to find anything to do as it was, every loss of a possible activity was a hammer blow to our efforts against boredom. 

The one thing we did have was the woods, cradling our town on all sides like a tight swaddle of endless green. The most serene of which was a stretch of particularly lush forest to the north, an array of small hills and flats of dense woods split by foot worn paths. It looked like something straight out of a fairytale, brimming with life and beauty. 

A river cut through the scenery, providing a cool respite from hot summers and a natural draw for wildlife. The area became widely popular for camping, hiking, and swimming making it a treasured place for the community. 

My friends and I had even begun turning our hangout spot into a fort. Though we only finished a small outhouse sized shack and a fire pit, we were still incredibly proud of our secret place away from everything. 

A lot of people held special memories in those woods, bonfire parties and camping trips happened year-round. It really felt like all we had, but now it's been nearly four years since the land was sold and fenced off. Right in the beginning of my sophomore year they started building the perimeter fence and the buildings within. A wealthy middle aged man who started his own tech company or something, bought the place to make it his trophy hunting sanctuary. And in doing so lined the pockets of our city, or so I've been told. 

The school got an updated playground and cafeteria, and several stretches of road and sidewalk were completely redone. Which was enough to quell most adults that were up in arms about losing tens of acres of public woods, but for the younger generation it was a devastating loss. 

Since the land was sold, my friends and I had half jokingly vowed revenge against the guy and our stolen land. Which over time grew into a real concrete mission that we spent many days brainstorming and preparing for. It was fun, we felt like criminals planning the perfect heist and in a way we kind of where.

And now with years of speculation and prep we had the perfect opportunity to test our plan. And as I finished packing my backpack with everything I could think to bring, I felt a sense of immense pride at what we had accomplished so far. Caught or not, we would remember this for the rest of our lives.

Slowly I inched my window open as quietly as possible, glancing back to my room one last time half expecting my mom to be standing at the door. Hopefully by the time she notices I'm gone, I'll already be across town neck deep in a trespassing charge. I dropped to a low crouch as I finished pulling the window shut behind me, and once I was sure I was far enough I began to run toward the main road. If everything is timed right, my friends should swing down the street just as I reach it for the perfect getaway.

But of course as usual, Shaun was not on time and so I crouched behind some brush and waited.

I leaned in from the treeline to scan the road again, reluctant to leave my only respite from the beating summer sun. Still nothing, they should’ve been here already, and they know I’m fucked once my mom catches me sneaking out again.

Chancing another glance down the road, I finally spot Shaun’s ancient ford explorer making the turn at the top of my street. I spotted his mop of shaggy blonde hair behind the steering wheel, as they pulled over jaggedly and I scrambled into the backseat. I settled into my chair with a mocking “took ya long enough”, before noticing that George wasn’t the one in the passenger seat. 

“Samantha?” I asked as she turned back and her green-speckled eyes met mine, hazel brown curls swinging over the seat in her wake. I forced a fake smile as she spoke “Hey Daniel, we used to chat in chemistry last year” she explained our familiarity with the rest of the car. “Shaun told me about what you guys were doing and I am totally down.” 

“Oh did he?” I shot a glance to George across the backseat. 

Much too tall to be anywhere but shotgun, he sat with his legs spread awkwardly so his knees weren’t crammed into the chair in front of him. His usually curly dark hair cut so short he could feel the breeze on his scalp, with dark brown eyes to match. George and I had known each other since we were little kids, if i’d call anyone my best friend it would be him. My mom calls George her second son, he lived with us for over a year back in the seventh grade while he was having family issues.

We exchanged a brief look and I understood why Samantha was here. His smirk and shooting glance at our driver confirmed for me that Shaun had a thing for her, and like it or not he was our friend and the only one with a car. 

“Yeah I mean we really could use all the help we can get and she won’t snitch.” Shaun chimed before Samantha had to.

I didn’t feel keen on adding someone to our mission who I’d only talked to a handful of times, but admittedly she was cute and I could probably help break the ice between her and Shaun.

“So she’s all caught up then?” I ask toward Shaun but George answers.

“Pretty much yeah, she's in it for the deer or squirrels or whatever.” 

Samantha half scoffed “I’m in it because that guy is a total rich asshole, buying up woods that the whole community used? Just to shoot animals? He doesn’t sell meat, he's a game hunter. Killing just for the sport of it.” Samantha increased in volume as she detailed his crimes. 

“Yeah my little brother’s scout troop used to do pretty much all their camping and hiking with the kids there, he was super bummed about it being closed to the public.” Shaun added. 

“My Dad was saying they sold it to the guy because our town is flat broke.” George said bluntly as he fanned himself with his shirt collar.

“So is he really out of town? Like you guys are sure?” Samantha questioned, poorly masking her worry. 

“Well he's either out of town or he shot himself in his cabin” I teased morbidly before continuing. “My mom said he hasn’t come into town for groceries in a month.” 

“Well why would that mean he’s out of town? Couldn’t he just order groceries or something?” Samantha persisted. 

“The property is a total internet dead zone, when Daniel and I went to scope out the riverbed last week we couldn't get any service.” Shaun answered.

We spent the rest of the ride going over our precautions and the overall plan, we felt proud of how well we thought things out. We joked that we were professionals, and that this would be our ultimate heist. It’s like the stars themselves had aligned to allow us to take revenge for the loss of our fort in the woods. The place where we had our first beers, where George allegedly got his first handy, where we smoked our first bowl out of an apple and Shaun threw up from coughing too hard.  

The plan was perfect, the town had been in a drought so long that the river running through the hunters property had completely dried up. The river water was funneled out of a wide concrete irrigation tunnel at the edge of his property. The waters of which typically ran too high and fast to even swim through, but ever since the river dried up, it became nothing more than a dingy concrete passage wide enough to fit a car down. Which is exactly what we planned to do, after we scouted out the entrance on foot a few weeks prior. We figured with a little maneuvering and the help of four wheel drive, we could enter through the rocky riverbed and circumvent the perimeter fences all together. 

Though the entrance plane was solid and avoided the perimeter cameras, the plan would go nowhere if the hunter was home. As we surmised it was only a matter of time before we ran into another trail cam and he would catch us.

We didn’t tell Samantha, but the entire plan relied on the assumption that the hunter didn’t have a remote alert system. But we assumed that with no reception, or wifi coverage he most likely couldn’t digitally check in from out of town. We had accepted this risk, but it seemed that Shaun had neglected to mention that the plan hung on a ‘most likely’.

Soon we spotted the perimeter fence behind the thin line of roadside trees. Thick 8 foot columns of black steel jetted out from a concrete base, held in place by crossbeams of thinner metal that gave it a picket fence like structure. Each column came to a point at the top, too tall for wildlife to escape. The fence stretched endlessly in each direction, running the entire 20 acres of land, boxing it into a neat rectangle. 

We passed by the front gate, our excitement building as we followed the road along the fence line toward the riverbed. We double checked our bags as we neared the turnoff, and I took a moment to show our spray paint to Samantha. Finally we turned off the road, the car bumping and jolting on its old shocks as we passed over rocks. 

“Okay this is it, it’s gonna be bumpy in the riverbed so hang on. George, can you guide me?” Shaun asks, turning around to us. 

“Gotcha” George hops out of the car and steps into the tunnel as Shaun turns his headlights on. “Okay looks like it’s clearest on the left side, take it slow!” George’s voice echoes through the tunnel as he shouts over the engine. It takes us a few minutes to navigate his car out of the river bed, but after some maneuvering and bumped heads we emerged into a small clearing of trees. 

“So are you guys just gonna spray paint some shit? Or are we taking some real revenge?” Samantha says as she reaches in her bag and produces a small claw hammer. 

“Whoa we aren’t here to kill anyone” I laugh at her sudden escalation, eager to ignore her question as we did really only plan to write some crude messages on his house or spray whatever we came across.

“Im not gonna hurt hurt anyone, it's to smash any trail cams we find.” She retorted.

“Oh good idea, we were just gonna spray over the cameras we found.” Shaun admitted before stepping out of the car. 

“Shit destruction of property? Now we reaallly can’t get caught.” George says sarcastically.

“Well, did you guys plan for what we’d do if he catches us?” Samantha prodded  

“Oh yeah Daniel’s got it covered, remember buddy relax your throat and don’t forget eye contact.” He jokes. “I want a good clean game down there, don’t neglect his balls and watch the teeth” he says in a mock transatlantic accent. I laugh shoving him away.

“Common guys really?” Shaun rolls his eyes at us, and George and I exchange a look before I shake my head disappointedly. 

“Yeah man knock it off there’s a lady present” I say in my best impression of a nassaly virgin. 

Shaun softly socks my shoulder “Not in front of my car dude” he says with a fake dude-bro cadence and Samantha giggles, prompting me to raise a smug eyebrow at Shaun.

The joking died down as we finished collecting our gear, the mission ahead causing a nervous excitement to fill the air. I noticed some distant darkening clouds, and decided to point them out mostly to break the silence. 

“Didn’t it say there was a chance of rain tonight?” I pointed as I spoke. 

Shaun squinted up at them before answering “Well it looks like they’re headed away from us, so we should be fine. But even if it does start to rain, the river shouldn’t get enough water to cause a problem before we can hike back to the car.” He assured us, and we believed him. 

“Alright let’s get moving, we only have like six or so hours until the sun starts setting and-“ suddenly I’m cut off by the sound of all four of our phones going off at once. Our ringtones blaring from our pockets as we scrambled to check them, the jingles overlapping into an overwhelming digital orchestra. 

Finally I declined the call, “no caller ID” I say as it silences. 

“Same here” Samantha adds, we all exchange looks. 

“Should I call back?” George asks, already moving to redial. But before he could hit the button all of our phones went off a second time. This time all of us declined the call instantly, except for George who was raising the phone to his ear and saying “hello?” 

“Dude hang up!” Shaun shouts as George says hello a second time. 

“It automatically hung up.” George says, pulling the phone from his ear and examining the screen. 

“Let’s just put them on airplane mode so they can’t receive calls” I say while already doing so. 

“How can we all be getting called at once?” Samantha questions as she follows suit.

“I’m not sure” Shaun admits and I feel a creeping dread, yet not enough to deter me from our mission. We speculated for the next half hour what could have caused that, but even as we did, our legs carried us deeper into the woods. Our mission had just started, and it felt like each of us was eager to prove that we wouldn’t be the first one to turn back.

When a rich game hunter buys up a large portion of former public land in a poor rust belt town, a group of friends gather to exact juvenile revenge against the man and his property. But as tension builds and things begin to go wrong, their coming of age adventure is shattered by violent realities. 

Part 1

Game (hunting) /gām/: wild animals, birds, or fish hunted for animal products, recreation, or trophies.

Overlooked and overdeveloped, that was my hometown. A place snuggly swallowed by a sea of trees, a single oasis of human life connected to the rest of the world by thin winding veins of poorly kept asphalt. And the rotting timber remains of train tracks long since abandoned.

The town had a small and short-lived boom before I was born, some minor country star purchased a cabin out here for the rustic charm. She convinced some rich friends to get vacation homes, and with it came some notoriety. A handful of families moved in all at once, causing a sudden influx of businesses seeking to take their slice of the projected pie. 

Soon the rustic quiet life became swept up in a flourish of change and industry. A few people actually got up and cheered when they announced they were adding a mini mall to our soon-to-be renovated downtown. 

But things didn't last, the influx of new people was a short lived spark that lit no fire. The buyers never came, the new houses never filled or never finished. And with nothing left to prepare for, the renovations were all but abandoned. 

The remnants of which left scars of unfinished concrete foundations impaled with rusting rebar, and the dilapidated wood innards of houses never made homes. A monument to empty promises and misguided spending that left a sour taste with all that once hoped. 

And though there was a long list of issues that factored into the failed development, most people around here attribute it to the tragic disappearance of that country singer. She and five other people went missing while camping together, minor celebrities and their friends, just gone without a trace. It made national news.

The search was maintained for years, but they never found any of them, not even a body to give people closure. They found blood at the campsite but no apparent sign of struggle, not that they televised that part. But the damage was already done, for most people their first time hearing our town's name was tacked on to speculation about the possible murder or human trafficking of a beloved country star.

Our town became poorer than ever, people that could afford to leave did, everyone else was left to pick up the pieces. At least that's how the adults talk about it, a lot of people found purpose in doing their part to help fix the town no matter how small. But for the younger generation it felt like everyone's dream was to just get the hell out of here. 

We had very little, even less once the only bowling alley closed, its bar remaining open despite the lanes shutting down only added salt to the wound. Most people my age struggled to find anything to do as it was, every loss of a possible activity was a hammer blow to our efforts against boredom. 

The one thing we did have was the woods, cradling our town on all sides like a tight swaddle of endless green. The most serene of which was a stretch of particularly lush forest to the north, an array of small hills and flats of dense woods split by foot worn paths. It looked like something straight out of a fairytale, brimming with life and beauty. 

A river cut through the scenery, providing a cool respite from hot summers and a natural draw for wildlife. The area became widely popular for camping, hiking, and swimming making it a treasured place for the community. 

My friends and I had even begun turning our hangout spot into a fort. Though we only finished a small outhouse sized shack and a fire pit, we were still incredibly proud of our secret place away from everything. 

A lot of people held special memories in those woods, bonfire parties and camping trips happened year-round. It really felt like all we had, but now it's been nearly four years since the land was sold and fenced off. Right in the beginning of my sophomore year they started building the perimeter fence and the buildings within. A wealthy middle aged man who started his own tech company or something, bought the place to make it his trophy hunting sanctuary. And in doing so lined the pockets of our city, or so I've been told. 

The school got an updated playground and cafeteria, and several stretches of road and sidewalk were completely redone. Which was enough to quell most adults that were up in arms about losing tens of acres of public woods, but for the younger generation it was a devastating loss. 

Since the land was sold, my friends and I had half jokingly vowed revenge against the guy and our stolen land. Which over time grew into a real concrete mission that we spent many days brainstorming and preparing for. It was fun, we felt like criminals planning the perfect heist and in a way we kind of where.

And now with years of speculation and prep we had the perfect opportunity to test our plan. And as I finished packing my backpack with everything I could think to bring, I felt a sense of immense pride at what we had accomplished so far. Caught or not, we would remember this for the rest of our lives.

Slowly I inched my window open as quietly as possible, glancing back to my room one last time half expecting my mom to be standing at the door. Hopefully by the time she notices I'm gone, I'll already be across town neck deep in a trespassing charge. I dropped to a low crouch as I finished pulling the window shut behind me, and once I was sure I was far enough I began to run toward the main road. If everything is timed right, my friends should swing down the street just as I reach it for the perfect getaway.

But of course as usual, Shaun was not on time and so I crouched behind some brush and waited.

I leaned in from the treeline to scan the road again, reluctant to leave my only respite from the beating summer sun. Still nothing, they should’ve been here already, and they know I’m fucked once my mom catches me sneaking out again.

Chancing another glance down the road, I finally spot Shaun’s ancient ford explorer making the turn at the top of my street. I spotted his mop of shaggy blonde hair behind the steering wheel, as they pulled over jaggedly and I scrambled into the backseat. I settled into my chair with a mocking “took ya long enough”, before noticing that George wasn’t the one in the passenger seat. 

“Samantha?” I asked as she turned back and her green-speckled eyes met mine, hazel brown curls swinging over the seat in her wake. I forced a fake smile as she spoke “Hey Daniel, we used to chat in chemistry last year” she explained our familiarity with the rest of the car. “Shaun told me about what you guys were doing and I am totally down.” 

“Oh did he?” I shot a glance to George across the backseat. 

Much too tall to be anywhere but shotgun, he sat with his legs spread awkwardly so his knees weren’t crammed into the chair in front of him. His usually curly dark hair cut so short he could feel the breeze on his scalp, with dark brown eyes to match. George and I had known each other since we were little kids, if i’d call anyone my best friend it would be him. My mom calls George her second son, he lived with us for over a year back in the seventh grade while he was having family issues.

We exchanged a brief look and I understood why Samantha was here. His smirk and shooting glance at our driver confirmed for me that Shaun had a thing for her, and like it or not he was our friend and the only one with a car. 

“Yeah I mean we really could use all the help we can get and she won’t snitch.” Shaun chimed before Samantha had to.

I didn’t feel keen on adding someone to our mission who I’d only talked to a handful of times, but admittedly she was cute and I could probably help break the ice between her and Shaun.

“So she’s all caught up then?” I ask toward Shaun but George answers.

“Pretty much yeah, she's in it for the deer or squirrels or whatever.” 

Samantha half scoffed “I’m in it because that guy is a total rich asshole, buying up woods that the whole community used? Just to shoot animals? He doesn’t sell meat, he's a game hunter. Killing just for the sport of it.” Samantha increased in volume as she detailed his crimes. 

“Yeah my little brother’s scout troop used to do pretty much all their camping and hiking with the kids there, he was super bummed about it being closed to the public.” Shaun added. 

“My Dad was saying they sold it to the guy because our town is flat broke.” George said bluntly as he fanned himself with his shirt collar.

“So is he really out of town? Like you guys are sure?” Samantha questioned, poorly masking her worry. 

“Well he's either out of town or he shot himself in his cabin” I teased morbidly before continuing. “My mom said he hasn’t come into town for groceries in a month.” 

“Well why would that mean he’s out of town? Couldn’t he just order groceries or something?” Samantha persisted. 

“The property is a total internet dead zone, when Daniel and I went to scope out the riverbed last week we couldn't get any service.” Shaun answered.

We spent the rest of the ride going over our precautions and the overall plan, we felt proud of how well we thought things out. We joked that we were professionals, and that this would be our ultimate heist. It’s like the stars themselves had aligned to allow us to take revenge for the loss of our fort in the woods. The place where we had our first beers, where George allegedly got his first handy, where we smoked our first bowl out of an apple and Shaun threw up from coughing too hard.  

The plan was perfect, the town had been in a drought so long that the river running through the hunters property had completely dried up. The river water was funneled out of a wide concrete irrigation tunnel at the edge of his property. The waters of which typically ran too high and fast to even swim through, but ever since the river dried up, it became nothing more than a dingy concrete passage wide enough to fit a car down. Which is exactly what we planned to do, after we scouted out the entrance on foot a few weeks prior. We figured with a little maneuvering and the help of four wheel drive, we could enter through the rocky riverbed and circumvent the perimeter fences all together. 

Though the entrance plane was solid and avoided the perimeter cameras, the plan would go nowhere if the hunter was home. As we surmised it was only a matter of time before we ran into another trail cam and he would catch us.

We didn’t tell Samantha, but the entire plan relied on the assumption that the hunter didn’t have a remote alert system. But we assumed that with no reception, or wifi coverage he most likely couldn’t digitally check in from out of town. We had accepted this risk, but it seemed that Shaun had neglected to mention that the plan hung on a ‘most likely’.

Soon we spotted the perimeter fence behind the thin line of roadside trees. Thick 8 foot columns of black steel jetted out from a concrete base, held in place by crossbeams of thinner metal that gave it a picket fence like structure. Each column came to a point at the top, too tall for wildlife to escape. The fence stretched endlessly in each direction, running the entire 20 acres of land, boxing it into a neat rectangle. 

We passed by the front gate, our excitement building as we followed the road along the fence line toward the riverbed. We double checked our bags as we neared the turnoff, and I took a moment to show our spray paint to Samantha. Finally we turned off the road, the car bumping and jolting on its old shocks as we passed over rocks. 

“Okay this is it, it’s gonna be bumpy in the riverbed so hang on. George, can you guide me?” Shaun asks, turning around to us. 

“Gotcha” George hops out of the car and steps into the tunnel as Shaun turns his headlights on. “Okay looks like it’s clearest on the left side, take it slow!” George’s voice echoes through the tunnel as he shouts over the engine. It takes us a few minutes to navigate his car out of the river bed, but after some maneuvering and bumped heads we emerged into a small clearing of trees. 

“So are you guys just gonna spray paint some shit? Or are we taking some real revenge?” Samantha says as she reaches in her bag and produces a small claw hammer. 

“Whoa we aren’t here to kill anyone” I laugh at her sudden escalation, eager to ignore her question as we did really only plan to write some crude messages on his house or spray whatever we came across.

“Im not gonna hurt hurt anyone, it's to smash any trail cams we find.” She retorted.

“Oh good idea, we were just gonna spray over the cameras we found.” Shaun admitted before stepping out of the car. 

“Shit destruction of property? Now we reaallly can’t get caught.” George says sarcastically.

“Well, did you guys plan for what we’d do if he catches us?” Samantha prodded  

“Oh yeah Daniel’s got it covered, remember buddy relax your throat and don’t forget eye contact.” He jokes. “I want a good clean game down there, don’t neglect his balls and watch the teeth” he says in a mock transatlantic accent. I laugh shoving him away.

“Common guys really?” Shaun rolls his eyes at us, and George and I exchange a look before I shake my head disappointedly. 

“Yeah man knock it off there’s a lady present” I say in my best impression of a nassaly virgin. 

Shaun softly socks my shoulder “Not in front of my car dude” he says with a fake dude-bro cadence and Samantha giggles, prompting me to raise a smug eyebrow at Shaun.

The joking died down as we finished collecting our gear, the mission ahead causing a nervous excitement to fill the air. I noticed some distant darkening clouds, and decided to point them out mostly to break the silence. 

“Didn’t it say there was a chance of rain tonight?” I pointed as I spoke. 

Shaun squinted up at them before answering “Well it looks like they’re headed away from us, so we should be fine. But even if it does start to rain, the river shouldn’t get enough water to cause a problem before we can hike back to the car.” He assured us, and we believed him. 

“Alright let’s get moving, we only have like six or so hours until the sun starts setting and-“ suddenly I’m cut off by the sound of all four of our phones going off at once. Our ringtones blaring from our pockets as we scrambled to check them, the jingles overlapping into an overwhelming digital orchestra. 

Finally I declined the call, “no caller ID” I say as it silences. 

“Same here” Samantha adds, we all exchange looks. 

“Should I call back?” George asks, already moving to redial. But before he could hit the button all of our phones went off a second time. This time all of us declined the call instantly, except for George who was raising the phone to his ear and saying “hello?” 

“Dude hang up!” Shaun shouts as George says hello a second time. 

“It automatically hung up.” George says, pulling the phone from his ear and examining the screen. 

“Let’s just put them on airplane mode so they can’t receive calls” I say while already doing so. 

“How can we all be getting called at once?” Samantha questions as she follows suit.

“I’m not sure” Shaun admits and I feel a creeping dread, yet not enough to deter me from our mission. We speculated for the next half hour what could have caused that, but even as we did, our legs carried us deeper into the woods. Our mission had just started, and it felt like each of us was eager to prove that we wouldn’t be the first one to turn back.

When a rich game hunter buys up a large portion of former public land in a poor rust belt town, a group of friends gather to exact juvenile revenge against the man and his property. But as tension builds and things begin to go wrong, their coming of age adventure is shattered by violent realities. 

Part 1

Game (hunting) /gām/: wild animals, birds, or fish hunted for animal products, recreation, or trophies.

Overlooked and overdeveloped, that was my hometown. A place neatly cut from a sea of trees, a single oasis of human life connected to the rest of the world by thin winding veins of poorly kept asphalt. And the rotting timber remains of train tracks long since abandoned.

The town had a small and short-lived boom before I was born, some minor country star purchased a cabin out here for the rustic charm. She convinced some rich friends to get vacation homes, and with it came some notoriety. A handful of families moved in all at once, causing a sudden influx of businesses seeking to take their slice of the projected pie. 

Soon the rustic quiet life became swept up in a flourish of change and industry. A few people actually got up and cheered when they announced they were adding a mini mall to our soon-to-be renovated downtown. 

But things didn't last, the influx of new people was a short lived spark that lit no fire. The buyers never came, the new houses never filled or never finished. And with nothing left to prepare for, the renovations were all but abandoned. 

The remnants of which left scars of unfinished concrete foundations impaled with rusting rebar, and the dilapidated wood innards of houses never made homes. A monument to empty promises and misguided spending that left a sour taste with all that once hoped. 

And though there was a long list of issues that factored into the failed development, most people around here attribute it to the tragic disappearance of that country singer. She and five other people went missing while camping together, minor celebrities and their friends, just gone without a trace. It made national news.

The search was maintained for years, but they never found any of them, no bodies, no closure. There was blood at the campsite but no apparent sign of struggle, not that they televised that part. But the damage was already done, for most people their first time hearing our town's name was tacked on to speculation about the possible murder or human trafficking of a beloved country star.

It was especially shocking to people as we’d never experienced something so severe. Things like petty theft became the talk of the block, and people still bring up the time a gas station got held up on the edge of town over ten years ago. For a place as sedimentary as this it was unprecedented, and we were eager to forget it for our reputations sake. Some might call it sweeping it under the rug, others call it ignorant bliss, a manufactured distance from the memory. 

Our town became poorer than ever, people that could afford to leave did, everyone else was left to pick up the pieces. At least that's how the adults talk about it, a lot of people found purpose in doing their part to help fix the town no matter how small. But for the younger generation it felt like everyone's dream was to just get the hell out of here. 

We had very little, even less once the only bowling alley closed, its bar remaining open despite the lanes shutting down only added salt to the wound. Most people my age struggled to find anything to do as it was, every loss of a possible activity was a hammer blow to our efforts against boredom. 

The one thing we did have was the woods, cradling our town on all sides like a tight swaddle of endless green. The most serene of which was a stretch of particularly lush forest to the north, an array of small hills and flats of dense woods split by foot worn paths. It looked like something straight out of a fairytale, brimming with life and beauty. 

A river cut through the scenery, providing a cool respite from hot summers and a natural draw for wildlife. The area became widely popular for camping, hiking, and swimming making it a treasured place for the community. 

My friends and I had even begun turning our hangout spot into a fort. Though we only finished a small outhouse sized shack and a fire pit, we were still incredibly proud of our secret place away from everything. 

A lot of people held special memories in those woods, bonfire parties and camping trips happened year-round. It really felt like all we had, but now it's been nearly four years since the land was sold and fenced off. Right in the beginning of my eight grade year they started building the perimeter fence and the buildings within. A wealthy middle aged man who started his own tech company or something, bought the place to make it his trophy hunting sanctuary. And in doing so lined the pockets of our city, or so I've been told. 

The school got an updated playground and cafeteria, and several stretches of road and sidewalk were completely redone. Which was enough to quell most adults that were up in arms about losing tens of acres of public woods, but for the younger generation it was a devastating loss. 

Since the land was sold, my friends and I had half jokingly vowed revenge against the guy and our stolen land. Which over time grew into a real concrete mission that we spent many days brainstorming and preparing for. It was fun, we felt like criminals planning the perfect heist and in a way we kind of where.

Our deadline was adulthood, we agreed we had to take our revenge before we could be charged as adults. As from what we heard the owner was the type to press charges on those that ‘wander’ onto his property. And with our senior year looming around the corner, enacting our plan took on a new urgency. 

But finally after years of speculation and prep we had the perfect opportunity to test our plan. And as I finished packing my backpack with everything I could think to bring, I felt a sense of immense pride at what we had accomplished so far. Caught or not, we would remember this for the rest of our lives.

————————————————————————————————————————————————

Slowly I inched my window open as quietly as possible, the hot noon air flooding through as I threw my leg over the window seal. I glanced back to my room one last time half expecting my mom to be standing at the door. Hopefully by the time she notices I'm gone, I'll already be across town neck deep in a trespassing charge. I dropped to a low crouch as I finished pulling the window shut behind me, and once I was far enough from the house I ran the rest of the way. If everything is timed right, my friends should swing down the street just as I reach it for the perfect getaway.

But of course as usual, Shaun was not on time and so I crouched behind some brush and waited.

I leaned in from the treeline to scan the road again, reluctant to leave my only respite from the beating summer sun. Still nothing, they should’ve been here already, and they know I’m fucked once my mom catches me sneaking out again.

Chancing another glance down the road, I finally spot Shaun’s ancient ford explorer making the turn at the top of my street. I spotted his mop of shaggy blonde hair behind the steering wheel, as they pulled over jaggedly and I scrambled into the backseat. I settled into my chair with a mocking “took ya long enough”, before noticing that George wasn’t the one in the passenger seat. 

“Samantha?” I asked as she turned back and her green-speckled eyes met mine, hazel brown curls swinging over the seat in her wake. I forced a fake smile as she spoke “Hey Daniel, we used to chat in chemistry last year” she explained our familiarity with the rest of the car. “Shaun told me about what you guys were doing and I am totally down.” 

“Oh did he?” I shot a glance to George across the backseat. 

Much too tall to be anywhere but shotgun, he sat with his legs spread awkwardly so his knees weren’t crammed into the chair in front of him. His usual mane of thick curly hair was cut short for the summer, his dark brown eyes the same color as what remained on his head. George and I had known each other since we were little kids, if i’d call anyone my best friend it would be him. My mom calls George her second son, he lived with us for over a year back in the seventh grade while he was having family issues.

We exchanged a brief look and I understood why Samantha was here. His smirk and shooting glance at our driver confirmed for me that Shaun had a thing for her, and like it or not he was our friend and the only one with a car. 

“Yeah I mean we really could use all the help we can get and she won’t snitch.” Shaun chimed before Samantha had to.

I didn’t feel keen on adding someone to our mission who I’d only talked to a handful of times, but admittedly she was cute and I could help break the ice between her and Shaun.

“So she’s all caught up then?” I ask toward Shaun but George answers.

“Pretty much yeah, she's in it for the deer or squirrels or whatever.” 

Samantha half scoffed “I’m in it because that guy is a total rich asshole, buying up woods that the whole community used? Just to shoot animals? He doesn’t sell meat, he's a game hunter. Killing just for the sport of it.” Samantha increased in volume as she detailed his crimes. 

“Yeah my little brother’s scout troop used to do pretty much all their camping and hiking with the kids there, he was super bummed about it being closed to the public.” Shaun added. 

“My Dad was saying they sold it to the guy because our town is flat broke.” George said bluntly as he fanned himself with his shirt collar.

“So is he really out of town? Like you guys are sure?” Samantha questioned, poorly masking her worry. 

“Well he's either out of town or he shot himself in his cabin” I teased morbidly before continuing. “My mom said he hasn’t come into town for groceries in a month.” 

“Well why would that mean he’s out of town? Couldn’t he just order groceries or something?” Samantha persisted. 

“The property is a total internet dead zone, when Daniel and I went to scope out the riverbed last week we couldn't get any service.” Shaun answered.

We spent the rest of the ride going over our precautions and the overall plan, we felt proud of how well we thought things out. We joked that we were professionals, and that this would be our ultimate heist. It’s like the stars themselves had aligned to allow us to take revenge for the loss of our fort in the woods. The place where we had our first beers, where George allegedly got his first handy, where we smoked our first bowl out of an apple and Shaun threw up from coughing too hard.  

The plan was perfect, the town had been in a drought so long that the river running through the hunters property had completely dried up. The river water was funneled out of a wide concrete irrigation tunnel at the edge of his property. The waters of which typically ran too high and fast to even swim through, but ever since the river dried up, it became nothing more than a dingy concrete passage wide enough to fit a car down. Which is exactly what we planned to do, after we scouted out the entrance on foot a few weeks prior. We figured with a little maneuvering and the help of four wheel drive, we could enter through the rocky riverbed and circumvent the perimeter fences all together. 

Though the entrance plane was solid and avoided the perimeter cameras, the plan would go nowhere if the hunter was home. As we surmised it was only a matter of time before we ran into another trail cam and he would catch us.

We didn’t tell Samantha, but the entire plan relied on the assumption that the hunter didn’t have a remote alert system. But we assumed that with no reception, or wifi coverage he most likely couldn’t digitally check in from out of town. We had accepted this risk, but it seemed that Shaun had neglected to mention that the plan hung on a ‘most likely’.

Soon we spotted the perimeter fence behind the thin line of roadside trees. Thick 8 foot columns of black steel jetted out from a concrete base, held in place by crossbeams of thinner metal that gave it a picket fence like structure. Each column came to a point at the top, too tall for wildlife to escape. The fence stretched endlessly in each direction, running the entire 20 acres of land, boxing it into a neat rectangle. 

We passed by the front gate, our excitement building as we followed the road along the fence line toward the riverbed. We double checked our bags as we neared the turnoff, and I took a moment to show our spray paint to Samantha. Finally we turned off the road, the car bumping and jolting on its old shocks as we passed over rocks. 

“Okay this is it, it’s gonna be bumpy in the riverbed so hang on. George, can you guide me?” Shaun asks, turning around to us. 

“Gotcha” George hops out of the car and steps into the tunnel as Shaun turns his headlights on. “Okay looks like it’s clearest on the left side, take it slow!” 

George’s voice echoes through the tunnel as he shouts over the engine. It takes us a few minutes to navigate his car out of the river bed, but after some maneuvering and bumped heads we emerged into a small clearing of trees. 

“So are you guys just gonna spray paint some shit? Or are we taking some real revenge?” Samantha says as she reaches in her bag and produces a small claw hammer. 

“Whoa we aren’t here to kill anyone” I laugh at her sudden escalation, eager to ignore her question as we did really only plan to write some crude messages on his house or spray whatever we came across.

“Im not gonna hurt hurt anyone, it's to smash any trail cams we find.” She retorted.

“Oh good idea, we were just gonna spray over the cameras we found.” Shaun admitted before stepping out of the car. 

“Shit destruction of property? Now we reaallly can’t get caught.” George says sarcastically.

“Well, did you guys plan for what we’d do if he catches us?” Samantha prodded  

“Oh yeah Daniel’s got it covered, remember buddy relax your throat and don’t forget eye contact.” He jokes. “I want a good clean game down there, don’t neglect his balls and watch the teeth” he says in a mock transatlantic accent. I laugh shoving him away.

“Common guys really?” Shaun rolls his eyes at us, and George and I exchange a look before I shake my head disappointedly. 

“Yeah man knock it off there’s a lady present” I say in my best impression of a nassaly virgin. 

Shaun softly socks my shoulder “Not in front of my car dude” he says with a fake dude-bro cadence and Samantha giggles, prompting me to raise a smug eyebrow at Shaun.

The joking died down as we finished collecting our gear, the mission ahead causing a nervous excitement to fill the air. I noticed some distant darkening clouds, and decided to point them out mostly to break the silence. 

“Didn’t it say there was a chance of rain tonight?” I pointed as I spoke. 

Shaun squinted up at them before answering “Well it looks like they’re headed away from us, so we should be fine. But even if it does start to rain, the river shouldn’t get enough water to cause a problem before we can hike back to the car.” He assured us, and I believed him. 

“And if it does?” Samantha asked after a brief silence. 

“Then we climb the perimeter fence and walk home with our dicks tucked between our legs.” George answered before us. 

“Pretty much.” I add, already imagining having to ask for Shaun’s car back and trying to explain how it got there in the first place.

“Alright seriously we should get moving, we only have like six or so hours until the sun starts setting and-“ suddenly I’m cut off by the sound of all four of our phones going off at once. Our ringtones blaring from our pockets as we scrambled to check them, the jingles overlapping into an overwhelming digital orchestra. 

Finally I declined the call, “no caller ID” I say as it silences. 

“Same here” Samantha adds, we all exchange looks. 

“Should I call back?” George asks, already moving to redial. But before he could hit the button all of our phones went off a second time. This time all of us declined the call instantly, except for George who was raising the phone to his ear and saying “hello?” 

“Dude hang up!” Shaun shouts as George says hello a second time. 

“It automatically hung up.” George says, pulling the phone from his ear and examining the screen. 

“Let’s just put them on airplane mode so they can’t receive calls” I say while already doing so. 

“How can we all be getting called at once?” Samantha questions as she follows suit.

“I’m not sure” Shaun admits and I feel a creeping dread, yet not enough to deter me from our mission. We speculated for the next half hour what could have caused it, but even as we did, our legs carried us deeper into the woods. Our mission had just started, and it felt like each of us was eager to prove that we wouldn’t be the first one to turn back.

When a rich game hunter buys up a large portion of former public land in a poor rust belt town, a group of friends gather to exact juvenile revenge against the man and his property. But as tension builds and things begin to go wrong, their coming of age adventure is shattered by violent realities. 

Part 1

Game (hunting) /gām/: used to refer to wild animals, birds, or fish hunted for animal products, recreation, or trophies.

Overlooked and overdeveloped, that was my hometown. A place neatly cut from a sea of trees, a single oasis of human life connected to the rest of the world by thin winding veins of poorly kept asphalt. And the rotting timber remains of train tracks long since abandoned.

The town had a small and short-lived boom before I was born, some minor country star purchased a cabin out here for the rustic charm. She convinced some rich friends to get vacation homes, and with it came some notoriety. A handful of families moved in all at once, causing a sudden influx of businesses seeking to take their slice of the projected pie. 

Soon the rustic quiet life became swept up in a flourish of change and industry. A few people actually got up and cheered when they announced they were adding a mini mall to our soon-to-be renovated downtown. 

But things didn't last, the influx of new people was a short lived spark that lit no fire. The buyers never came, the new houses never filled or never finished. And with nothing left to prepare for, the renovations were all but abandoned. 

The remnants of which left scars of unfinished concrete foundations impaled with rusting rebar, and the dilapidated wood innards of houses never made homes. A monument to empty promises and misguided spending that left a sour taste with all that once hoped. 

And though there was a long list of issues that factored into the failed development, most people around here attribute it to the tragic disappearance of that country singer. She and five other people went missing while camping together, minor celebrities and their friends, just gone without a trace. It made national news.

The search was maintained for years, but they never found any of them, no bodies, no closure. There was blood at the campsite but no apparent sign of struggle, not that they televised that part. But the damage was already done, for most people their first time hearing our town's name was tacked on to speculation about the possible murder or human trafficking of a beloved country star.

It was especially shocking to people as we’d never experienced something so severe. Things like petty theft became the talk of the block, and people still bring up the time a gas station got held up on the edge of town over ten years ago. For a place as sedimentary as this it was unprecedented, and we were eager to forget it for our reputations sake. Some might call it sweeping it under the rug, others call it ignorant bliss, a manufactured distance from the memory. 

Our town became poorer than ever, people that could afford to leave did, everyone else was left to pick up the pieces. At least that's how the adults talk about it, a lot of people found purpose in doing their part to help fix the town no matter how small. But for the younger generation it felt like everyone's dream was to just get the hell out of here. 

We had very little, even less once the only bowling alley closed, its bar remaining open despite the lanes shutting down only added salt to the wound. Most people my age struggled to find anything to do as it was, every loss of a possible activity was a hammer blow to our efforts against boredom. 

The one thing we did have was the woods, cradling our town on all sides like a tight swaddle of endless green. The most serene of which was a stretch of particularly lush forest to the north, an array of small hills and flats of dense woods split by foot worn paths. It looked like something straight out of a fairytale, brimming with life and beauty. 

A river cut through the scenery, providing a cool respite from hot summers and a natural draw for wildlife. The area became widely popular for camping, hiking, and swimming making it a treasured place for the community. 

My friends and I had even begun turning our hangout spot into a fort. Though we only finished a small outhouse sized shack and a fire pit, we were still incredibly proud of our secret place away from everything. 

A lot of people held special memories in those woods, bonfire parties and camping trips happened year-round. It really felt like all we had, but now it's been nearly four years since the land was sold and fenced off. Right in the beginning of my eight grade year they started building the perimeter fence and the buildings within. A wealthy middle aged man who started his own tech company or something, bought the place to make it his trophy hunting sanctuary. And in doing so lined the pockets of our city, or so I've been told. 

The school got an updated playground and cafeteria, and several stretches of road and sidewalk were completely redone. Which was enough to quell most adults that were up in arms about losing tens of acres of public woods, but for the younger generation it was a devastating loss. 

Since the land was sold, my friends and I had half jokingly vowed revenge against the guy and our stolen land. Which over time grew into a real concrete mission that we spent many days brainstorming and preparing for. It was fun, we felt like criminals planning the perfect heist and in a way we kind of where.

Our deadline was adulthood, we agreed we had to take our revenge before we could be charged as adults. As from what we heard the owner was the type to press charges on those that ‘wander’ onto his property. And with our senior year looming around the corner, enacting our plan took on a new urgency. 

But finally after years of speculation and prep we had the perfect opportunity to test our plan. And as I finished packing my backpack with everything I could think to bring, I felt a sense of immense pride at what we had accomplished so far. Caught or not, we would remember this for the rest of our lives.

————————————————————————————————————————————————

Slowly I inched my window open as quietly as possible, the hot noon air flooding through as I threw my leg over the window seal. I glanced back to my room one last time half expecting my mom to be standing at the door. Hopefully by the time she notices I'm gone, I'll already be across town neck deep in a trespassing charge. I dropped to a low crouch as I finished pulling the window shut behind me, and once I was far enough from the house I ran the rest of the way. If everything is timed right, my friends should swing down the street just as I reach it for the perfect getaway.

But of course as usual, Shaun was not on time and so I crouched behind some brush and waited.

I leaned in from the treeline to scan the road again, reluctant to leave my only respite from the beating summer sun. Still nothing, they should’ve been here already, and they know I’m fucked once my mom catches me sneaking out again.

Chancing another glance down the road, I finally spot Shaun’s ancient ford explorer making the turn at the top of my street. I spotted his mop of shaggy blonde hair behind the steering wheel, as they pulled over jaggedly and I scrambled into the backseat. I settled into my chair with a mocking “took ya long enough”, before noticing that George wasn’t the one in the passenger seat. 

“Samantha?” I asked as she turned back and her green-speckled eyes met mine, hazel brown curls swinging over the seat in her wake. I forced a fake smile as she spoke “Hey Daniel, we used to chat in chemistry last year” she explained our familiarity with the rest of the car. “Shaun told me about what you guys were doing and I am totally down.” 

“Oh did he?” I shot a glance to George across the backseat. 

Much too tall to be anywhere but shotgun, he sat with his legs spread awkwardly so his knees weren’t crammed into the chair in front of him. His usual mane of thick curly hair was cut short for the summer, his dark brown eyes the same color as what remained on his head. George and I had known each other since we were little kids, if i’d call anyone my best friend it would be him. My mom calls George her second son, he lived with us for over a year back in the seventh grade while he was having family issues.

We exchanged a brief look and I understood why Samantha was here. His smirk and shooting glance at our driver confirmed for me that Shaun had a thing for her, and like it or not he was our friend and the only one with a car. 

“Yeah I mean we really could use all the help we can get and she won’t snitch.” Shaun chimed before Samantha had to.

I didn’t feel keen on adding someone to our mission who I’d only talked to a handful of times, but admittedly she was cute and I could help break the ice between her and Shaun.

“So she’s all caught up then?” I ask toward Shaun but George answers.

“Pretty much yeah, she's in it for the deer or squirrels or whatever.” 

Samantha half scoffed “I’m in it because that guy is a total rich asshole, buying up woods that the whole community used? Just to shoot animals? He doesn’t sell meat, he's a game hunter. Killing just for the sport of it.” Samantha increased in volume as she detailed his crimes. 

“Yeah my little brother’s scout troop used to do pretty much all their camping and hiking with the kids there, he was super bummed about it being closed to the public.” Shaun added. 

“My Dad was saying they sold it to the guy because our town is flat broke.” George said bluntly as he fanned himself with his shirt collar.

“So is he really out of town? Like you guys are sure?” Samantha questioned, poorly masking her worry. 

“Well he's either out of town or he shot himself in his cabin” I teased morbidly before continuing. “My mom said he hasn’t come into town for groceries in a month.” 

“Well why would that mean he’s out of town? Couldn’t he just order groceries or something?” Samantha persisted. 

“The property is a total internet dead zone, when Daniel and I went to scope out the riverbed last week we couldn't get any service.” Shaun answered.

We spent the rest of the ride going over our precautions and the overall plan, we felt proud of how well we thought things out. We joked that we were professionals, and that this would be our ultimate heist. It’s like the stars themselves had aligned to allow us to take revenge for the loss of our fort in the woods. The place where we had our first beers, where George allegedly got his first handy, where we smoked our first bowl out of an apple and Shaun threw up from coughing too hard.  

The plan was perfect, the town had been in a drought so long that the river running through the hunters property had completely dried up. The river water was funneled out of a wide concrete irrigation tunnel at the edge of his property. The waters of which typically ran too high and fast to even swim through, but ever since the river dried up, it became nothing more than a dingy concrete passage wide enough to fit a car down. Which is exactly what we planned to do, after we scouted out the entrance on foot a few weeks prior. We figured with a little maneuvering and the help of four wheel drive, we could enter through the rocky riverbed and circumvent the perimeter fences all together. 

Though the entrance plane was solid and avoided the perimeter cameras, the plan would go nowhere if the hunter was home. As we surmised it was only a matter of time before we ran into another trail cam and he would catch us.

We didn’t tell Samantha, but the entire plan relied on the assumption that the hunter didn’t have a remote alert system. But we assumed that with no reception, or wifi coverage he most likely couldn’t digitally check in from out of town. We had accepted this risk, but it seemed that Shaun had neglected to mention that the plan hung on a ‘most likely’.

Soon we spotted the perimeter fence behind the thin line of roadside trees. Thick 8 foot columns of black steel jetted out from a concrete base, held in place by crossbeams of thinner metal that gave it a picket fence like structure. Each column came to a point at the top, too tall for wildlife to escape. The fence stretched endlessly in each direction, running the entire 20 acres of land, boxing it into a neat rectangle. 

We passed by the front gate, our excitement building as we followed the road along the fence line toward the riverbed. We double checked our bags as we neared the turnoff, and I took a moment to show our spray paint to Samantha. Finally we turned off the road, the car bumping and jolting on its old shocks as we passed over rocks. 

“Okay this is it, it’s gonna be bumpy in the riverbed so hang on. George, can you guide me?” Shaun asks, turning around to us. 

“Gotcha” George hops out of the car and steps into the tunnel as Shaun turns his headlights on. “Okay looks like it’s clearest on the left side, take it slow!” 

George’s voice echoes through the tunnel as he shouts over the engine. It takes us a few minutes to navigate his car out of the river bed, but after some maneuvering and bumped heads we emerged into a small clearing of trees. 

“So are you guys just gonna spray paint some shit? Or are we taking some real revenge?” Samantha says as she reaches in her bag and produces a small claw hammer. 

“Whoa we aren’t here to kill anyone” I laugh at her sudden escalation, eager to ignore her question as we did really only plan to write some crude messages on his house or spray whatever we came across.

“Im not gonna hurt hurt anyone, it's to smash any trail cams we find.” She retorted.

“Oh good idea, we were just gonna spray over the cameras we found.” Shaun admitted before stepping out of the car. 

“Shit destruction of property? Now we reaallly can’t get caught.” George says sarcastically.

“Well, did you guys plan for what we’d do if he catches us?” Samantha prodded  

“Oh yeah Daniel’s got it covered, remember buddy relax your throat and don’t forget eye contact.” He jokes. “I want a good clean game down there, don’t neglect his balls and watch the teeth” he says in a mock transatlantic accent. I laugh shoving him away.

“Common guys really?” Shaun rolls his eyes at us, and George and I exchange a look before I shake my head disappointedly. 

“Yeah man knock it off there’s a lady present” I say in my best impression of a nassaly virgin. 

Shaun softly socks my shoulder “Not in front of my car dude” he says with a fake dude-bro cadence and Samantha giggles, prompting me to raise a smug eyebrow at Shaun.

The joking died down as we finished collecting our gear, the mission ahead causing a nervous excitement to fill the air. I noticed some distant darkening clouds, and decided to point them out mostly to break the silence. 

“Didn’t it say there was a chance of rain tonight?” I pointed as I spoke. 

Shaun squinted up at them before answering “Well it looks like they’re headed away from us, so we should be fine. But even if it does start to rain, the river shouldn’t get enough water to cause a problem before we can hike back to the car.” He assured us, and I believed him. 

“And if it does?” Samantha asked after a brief silence. 

“Then we climb the perimeter fence and walk home with our dicks tucked between our legs.” George answered before us. 

“Pretty much.” I add, already imagining having to ask for Shaun’s car back and trying to explain how it got there in the first place.

“Alright seriously we should get moving, we only have like six or so hours until the sun starts setting and-“ suddenly I’m cut off by the sound of all four of our phones going off at once. Our ringtones blaring from our pockets as we scrambled to check them, the jingles overlapping into an overwhelming digital orchestra. 

Finally I declined the call, “no caller ID” I say as it silences. 

“Same here” Samantha adds, we all exchange looks. 

“Should I call back?” George asks, already moving to redial. But before he could hit the button all of our phones went off a second time. This time all of us declined the call instantly, except for George who was raising the phone to his ear and saying “hello?” 

“Dude hang up!” Shaun shouts as George says hello a second time. 

“It automatically hung up.” George says, pulling the phone from his ear and examining the screen. 

“Let’s just put them on airplane mode so they can’t receive calls” I say while already doing so. 

“How can we all be getting called at once?” Samantha questions as she follows suit.

“I’m not sure” Shaun admits and I feel a creeping dread, yet not enough to deter me from our mission. We speculated for the next half hour what could have caused it, but even as we did, our legs carried us deeper into the woods. Our mission had just started, and it felt like each of us was eager to prove that we wouldn’t be the first one to turn back.

Tasked with cleaning out a storage unit that had belonged to his missing uncle, our protagonist Isaac begins to discover strange and disturbing things within. Leading him to close kept secrets and dizzying discoveries, Isaac’s world begins to unravel as he pursues the mystery despite the growing danger in the short horror story My Uncle was Obsessed with Holes.

Part 1 The Chest

Part 2 The Cabin

Part 3 The Hole

Post editing, probably the final version.