As they reached the shooting range Chris walked forward as he turned to them with a smile.
"Ta-da. Pretty rad right." Chris said as he looked at the two.
"Yeaaaah..." Sam said as she looked at the range.
"Gotta say, I wasn't expecting something like this on the mountain." Daniel said as he looked at the range.
"Come one Sam, Daniel. Look at these beauties." Chris said as he gestured to the range.
"Beauties is not the word that comes to mind. Why is this even here?" Sam said as she looked at him.
"What do you mean?" Chris asked at her question.
"Why the hell is a shooting range doing at the base of a ski lodge?" Sam said as she looked at the two boys.
"Well, I guess she has a point about that." Daniel said as he looked at Chris.
"Uh. Dude. Have you two ever met Josh's dad?" Chris asked as he looked at the two as he got gun on his hand.
"Yeah?" Sam said a bit of a questioning tone.
"Nope." Daniel said with a shake of his head.
Chris looked at the two of them as he heard them before he shook his head and looked at them.
"He thinks he's like, Grizzly Adams, or something like that. Wanna try?" Chris said to the two of them.
"Uh, no. You go ahead Grizzly." Sam said as she looked at him.
"Let me try after you're done." Daniel said as Chris nodded at him before turning around.
Sam looked at Daniel in surprise at his words as he looked at her and raised his eyebrows.
"What? Not everyday you get the chance to fire a gun." Daniel said to her with a shrug.
"Whatever you say." Sam said with a shake of her head.
"Alright, here goes." Chris said as he got ready with the gun.
Sam and Daniel watched as Chris took aim before he shot a sandbag, then two cans and another sandbag. Sam and Daniel were impressed by it as they looked at Chris.
"Wow, nice shooting Tex." Sam said with an accent.
Daniel and Chris looked at her with an amused look when they heard her as she walked forward and stood beside him on the range. Daniel followed as he placed his hands on the counter and looked at her.
"Alright, I'm bad. I'm a badass." Chris said doing a slightly exaggerated movements with a smile which got a chuckle out of Sam and Daniel.
"I'm gonna go ahead and guess it was a wild case of beginner's luck." Sam said as she looked at her bespectacled friend.
"That seems very likely." Daniel said with a chuckle.
"Nah, I don't think so, girl, dude." Chris said as he got ready with the gun again.
"Well, anybody with a brother could shoot a bottle that big that close." Sam said with a smile on her face as she looked at Chris.
Chris just smiled and aimed again as Daniel watched patiently for his turn. Just then a squirrel came out of the woods and got on a barrel as the three saw it.
Chris's eyes widened at the new target before he aimed his gun at it. Daniel's eyes widened when he saw where he was aiming that gun while Sam was focused on the squirrel.
"Wai-" Daniel tried to stop him as he raised his hand.
But it was for naught as Chris pulled the trigger and shot the gun. The bullet went and hit the head of the squirrel, mutilating it as its lifeless body fell on the barrel.
"Aaaaahhhh!" Sam screamed in shock and fear when she saw that happen.
"Dude, what the hell?" Daniel said in shock as he looked at the dead body of the squirrel.
Sam looked at Chris with an angry look on her face as she glared at him as Chris was surprised by her reaction.
"Why did you do that?" Sam asked him with a bit of anger.
"Why are you getting mad at me for?" Chris asked her when he heard that.
"Why did you shoot the squirrel Chris?" Daniel asked him as he looked at the guy.
"Why are you two ganging up on me? As far as I am concerned, that was just a rat with a bushy tail." Chris said as he looked at the two.
"That doesn't mean you can just kill a squirrel like that." Sam said as she looked at him.
Daniel wanted to comment but he felt a bit of unease as the wood around them seemed to change due to the death of the squirrel. Then he caught sight of a crow that was rushing towards Sam as his eyes widened.
"Sam watch out." Daniel said as he got in the middle of the two.
"Huh?" Sam turned to look at him in surprise.
Her eyes widened when the crow started to attack Daniel as he has his back turned to it while he covered his neck and head with his hands as it clawed at him before flying away.
"Ok, I was not expecting a crow to attack me." Daniel said as he winced a bit.
The crow had managed to scratch his ear a bit, it wasn't much but it was only a graze so to speak. Sam immediately looked at him in concern as she looked at him.
"Daniel, are you okay? I'm so sorry." Sam said as she looked at him with a worried face.
"It's fine Sam. Besides, you couldn't have seen the crow. I'm alright though, at least you aren't hurt. And luckily, I'm not that hurt as well." Daniel said as he looked at her.
He looked at his arm which is covered by the coat he is wearing, which now has a few tears on it thanks to the attack of the crow.
"What in the world is wrong with that crow?" Chris wondered out loud.
"Who cares? Here, let me see." Sam said as she looked at her friend.
"I'm fine. It's just a scratch." Daniel said as he shook his head.
"We have to take a look at it when we get to the lodge." Sam said as he nodded at her words.
"Well, why don't you try to shoot Daniel? That ought to get your mind out of this." Chris said to him as he presented the gun to him.
"Well, I guess." Daniel said as he took the gun.
"And you. Don't ever do that again. You can't just kill a harmless animal." Sam said as she turned to the guy.
"Hey, it's no big deal." Chris said to her as he raised his hands at that.
Sam just looked at him disappointed before she shook her head. She saw Daniel aiming with the gun before she saw the cable car reaching the station.
"Hey, our ride is coming." Sam said to the two of them.
"What? I was just about to start." Daniel said as he looked at her.
"Yeah." Chris said as he looked at her.
"Well we don't want to be late for the gathering. Come on Daniel." Sam said as she left the two.
Both boys watched him before they looked at each other.
"Is she mad at me?" Chris asked Daniel in a whisper.
"She likes nature. You just killed a squirrel. Of course she would be mad at you." Daniel said to the guy with a shrug.
"Okay. Maybe I was a bit insensitive." Chris said to him with a shrug.
"You're not at all sorry for its death, are you?" Daniel asked him.
"It's a rat with a bushy tail. I won't be sorry for that. Well, let's follow her." Chris said as he walked towards Sam.
Daniel watched him leave before he looked at the gun in his hand. He sighs and placed it on the counter and turned around to walk away. But he stopped himself as he looked at the forest around him as he felt a bit uneasy about it, the recent attack from the crow not doing him any favours.
"Just in case." Daniel said as he grabbed the gun and it's extra ammo as he pocketed it and jogged behind them.
He caught up to them as they reached the front of the house as Chris took notice of the gun in Daniel's hand.
"Why did you take the gun with you?" Chris asked him confused.
Sam heard him as she turned to look at Daniel in confusion at his actions.
"I just wanted to take it with me. I don't feel that comfortable at night." Daniel said as he walked with them.
"Don't worry about it Daniel. We were here the previous year. Nothing will happen." Sam said to him with a smile.
"Well, on another note, it is... It is definitely weird to be coming back up here since last year." Chris said nervously as he walked with them.
"Yeah, I swear. The moment I got here it just all came flooding back." Sam said as she was reaching the door.
"If you two were uneasy then why did you come?" Daniel asked a bit confused.
"Josh is the one who called us. We can't exactly refuse considering what had happened." Chris said to him as Sam nodded in agreement.
"Well, let's just hope that no one plays a prank like that one again." Daniel said with a sigh as the girl nodded.
Sam then turned her attention to the door while Daniel looked at the forest, feeling a bit uneasy.
'For some reason, I don't think this forest is as simple as it looks. Which shouldn't even be a worry in the first place.' Daniel thought to himself in wariness and confusion as he looked at the forest.