The Night Slayer

Lost and Alone

"I'm absolutely certain that I've seen this tree before!" Kate said, becoming more agitated with every step. Her boots were now muddy and her legs were aching from the never-ending hike.

"Well they all look the same, so how can you tell?" asked Nick defensively. Walking behind Kate, he was growing tired of her slow pace as they made their way through the overgrown bush.

"Because this one has a claw mark down it, and I remember thinking how odd it was when we walked past it about an hour ago." Kate replied. She thought back to when she saw the deep scratches running the entire length of the tree trunk and remembered how out of place it had looked. Now, staring at the saw marks, Kate decided that it must have been from some sort of Koala, or maybe a Goanna. However, the claw marks seemed too large.

"We just can't be sure, and this map says we are nearly there. Don't worry. We'll find it soon." said Nick, trying to comfort her. He walked up behind Kate and admired the unusual claw marks on the tree. He too, couldn't think of any reasonable answer to what had left such big claw print.

"I'm tired" Kate moaned, turning around and looking at Nick. His short, dark hair and his large green eyes stared back at her. Beads of sweat sitting on the end of his nose from the effort of walking through the undergrowth. His muscular build was heaving up and down, trying to take in as much oxygen as possible.

Kate's princess-like complection often fooled people that she was a very delicate person, but in truth she was a Tom boy through and through. Her dark blue eyes complimeted her long brown hair beautifully. She was only wearing plain old clothes for the trip, so that she wouldn't get anything nice dirty, but it didn't stop her from looking stunning as always.

"Yeah, me too. We can both rest when we get there, but until then, we should try and keep walking." Nick said. He gazed around at their surroundings, just making out the high mountain range ahead of them where they were heading for. It still looked a very far way off. He sighed. All he felt like doing was resting, but he knew there was not enough time for that.

They had been stumbling through the bush for what seemed like hours. Already, it was becoming darker. Nick had allowed only one hour to walk from the car to the river running along the base of the mountain range where they were planning to camp. Now he realised that he should have allowed much longer.

Their packs which were originally quite easy to carry, were now becoming very heavy and difficult to wear as they continuously had to crawl over fallen trees and duck under low branches. The further into the bush they went, the thicker it seemed to become. Nick estimated the distance to be about three kilometers, but what he did not consider was that it was three kilometers of treacherous, overgrown terrain, untouched by humans and apparently left alone by animals too.

The sun was becoming low on the horizon. The fresh Autumn wind began to blow furiously through the trees as night set in, creating menacing creaking and whistling noises amongst the branches. Tall trees swayed all around and small sticks and leaves began to fall to the ground as their surroundings took on a life of their own. 

They couldn't help but feel small and vulnerable looking around at the large, swaying trees that smothered them. They could hardly make out the cloudy sky through the treetops. 

The pair of hikers were now panicking that they would never find the river in the darkness which threatened, and even if they did, setting up their camp without sunlight would be very difficult. The wind grew stronger still, and blew Kate's hair around in her face. Brushing her hair away, she turned to Nick. 

"How could you get it so wrong?" Kate yelled. "This is just ridiculous! We are completely lost, and it's all because of your bloody planning! What are we meant to do when it becomes dark? Just stumble around the woods, hoping that our feet hit water?"

"Calm down!" Nick shouted, just as angrily. "How was I to know that it would take this long? It's not like anyone has been here before! I made a reasonable guess, and it happened to be wrong OK. This will work out!"

"How the hell is this going to work out?" Kate snapped back. "Did you even think to bring any torches?" Nick gave her a shocked look of sudden realisation. "You forgot them didn't you?"

Nick began leading them along a very narrow and overgrown game trail that appeared as though no life had travelled through it in a long time. Nick sighed out loud as he saw a thick barrier of blackberries covering the path up ahead. He knew that by the time they were able to get through it it would be long dark.

"I think we should maybe stop around here for the night, because it's gonna get very dark." Nick suggested, without much enthusiasm. He was already beginning scanning the area for any place to pitch their tent, but the bush was so thick it didn't seem hopeful. 

"Shit! This sucks! Why did we ever think that coming out here would be a good idea?" Kate groaned as she threw her hat on the ground.

Trying to sound optimistic and cheer her up, Nick turned around and gave Kate a big hug. "It's not as bad as you think Kate. It'll still be fun once we get the fire going and set up the tent."

Just as Nick finished reassuring Kate, a slight drizzle began to fall. They both sighed. Maybe this was going to be horrible after all. 

They kept walking towards the mountains for another ten minutes, until they came across a small clearing, just big enough for the tent and a fire. It was surrounded by thick bush, and the area itself was far from void of undergrowth. 

"This'll have to do" Nick stated, dropping his heavy pack as they walked into the clearing. Kate walked up beside him just as a lound roar of thunder burst from the clouds in the distance. They both jumped with a fright. 

"Well, at least there's no lightning" Nick said optimistically, just as an incredible bolt of lightning struck just a few hundred metres away.

Kate gave him an uneasy smile as she too dropped her pack against a tree.