That’s when my harness hit a piece of rubber sitting on the line. It was a brake of some sort, and my whole body jerked forward, recoiling me backwards just as quickly. Twirling around before planting my feet and steadying myself enough to where I could stand on my own, I unhooked and placed my hand on the tree.
Leaning forward to look over the edge, never letting my hand leave the tree, I could see them below. There was simply no walking up to a nice little ladder and crawling up. Oddly, many of the Zs were wearing Hawaiian t-shirts. I thought of the plane crash. Perhaps the plane we’d spent the night at had been coming back from vacation.
Aloha, Zs.
Grabbing my attention, I could hear the steady purr of the zipper in the distance. The rest of the men would be coming down shortly.
Peering toward the fortress, I shuddered at the thought of what lie ahead.
Chapter 24
They won’t respond. Those bastards are done responding to anybody.
As we stepped onto the wooden bridge, I clasped one of the railings with my tired hands. Frayed rope moved through my sweaty palms as I bounced up and down with each step forward. Afraid to look down, I couldn’t help but keep my eyes fixed to the enormous structure ahead.
It wasn’t quite square in shape, although it seemed like whoever built it tried to make it so. Without any solid right angles, the fortress had a series of uneven walls with railings and windows throughout the first floor. Growing through and around the walls, many of the branches reached from the structure like eerily knotted fingers waving for us to enter.
Lifting my head, I could see that the second floor only had one window, which was covered with some sort of blanket that flapped in the light breeze. Leading up to the top of the fortress was a ladder which reached out toward the highest part of the canopy, leading to what I could only imagine was some sort of lookout tower.
Making the fortress seem almost electronic or mechanical in nature, I could see the series of wires, which Jarvis had noticed, running up and down the tree bark, leading to some sort of generator or solar power… maybe both.
As we reached a wooden deck that ran around the circumference of the main section of the fortress, the four of us ducked against the lower part of one of the wooden walls, stopping to hear if anybody had detected us.
Nothing but the moans from the dead called out into the forest.
We knew the zip-line was awfully loud, and we wouldn’t be surprising anybody with a visit. However, we still proceeded as if the place was filled with the Stripes. None of us knew what to expect as we walked through the front door.
I’m sure we couldn’t have guessed if we tried.
Wiping the sweat from my brow, everything in my body wanted to turn around and dart back toward the zip-line. It felt like death was crawling up my spine, whispering in my ear that this could only end poorly.
Over time, I’ve learned to trust my instincts. They mean everything. We ignore them at our own peril.
Looking at me, Kyle lifted his hand to the small door leading to the main room of the bottom floor. Reluctantly, I crouched forward, ready to move in. Nodding to Kyle, I lifted my hammer and sprang into the room the moment I heard the rusty hinges swing open. With Kyle and Aidan right behind me ready to pounce, we silently surveyed the room and glanced at each other through the corner of our eyes. Not a creak or movement in the place… for now.
To my surprise, we stepped into what I can only describe as a holy cathedral of sorts. There were four rows of pews all pointed toward a large cross that held a meticulously detailed wooden statue of Jesus Christ, complete with an orange-painted stripe running across his chest.
Gripping the base of the hammer, I quickly realized that the crazy factor had just shot through the roof.
Stepping around the makeshift benches and altar, I cringed ever so slightly as I heard the boards creaking under my feet. There were dim rays of sunlight shooting in through the cracks between the boards, showing how terribly uneven the woodwork actually was. I certainly wasn’t a building inspector, but even I could tell that this place wasn’t exactly up to code.
Walking through another door, around the other side of the thickest tree that ran up through the middle of the room, we saw that the inside of the place was outfitted with some dim lights. We could also see a pump of some sort that appeared to be able to pull water up into the fortress itself.
Darkness nearly swallowed a cabinet that lay at the far end of a filthy kitchen where the pump ran into an oversized bowl. Drawn toward it, I crept over to its large doors and lifted my free hand to a sticky wooden knob. Taking a breath in, I pulled open the door revealing a wall lined with canned foods and glass jars. Letting out my breath, I realized that these guys had more food than they probably knew what to do with. It was four or five layers deep and well preserved.
Picking up one of the glass jars, I twisted it around to see an inscription written on a piece of duct tape on the side. All it said was:
Lifting one eyebrow, I showed it to the rest of the group, and then placed it back down while picking up another jar. Curiously, I noticed a circular object floating in the jar of liquid. Raising the glass cylinder up the light, I gasped.
“Ahhh shit!” I heard myself say out loud as the bloodshot, and heavily dilated eyeball, stared back at me through the rounded glass.
Nearly dropping the jar, I felt my heart sink into my stomach as I looked down at the rest of the jars. With my eyes now adjusted to the dim light, there were obvious pieces and parts of human remains filling jars in the cabinet as they came fully into focus.
Thinking back to what Aidan had told us about the Stripes, I suddenly understood why there were never any bodies found at the battlegrounds…
Kyle, Jarvis, and Aidan hastily stepped back from the cabinet, spreading out around the rest of the room, as I stood there dumbfounded, still holding the eyeball jar.
“Let’s keep moving. I don’t want to end up in that cupboard,” Kyle whispered under his breath with a twinge of disgust, while looking over toward a set of stairs leading to the second floor.
Shaking my head, I placed the jar back in the cabinet and pushed the door tight with both hands. Swallowing a bit of vomit, I backed up and turned toward the stairs. My senses were on high alert as I reached over and started twisting my wedding ring around my finger. Letting go, I clenched both fists and tried to shake the fear off my body as a dog would shake water off its coat.
We still needed to find truck keys and a radio. Without them, this risk we’d taken would be a total loss. At the moment, our best bet was that they sat at the top of that winding staircase which led to a room filled with nothing but black.
It was time to continue exploring what Aidan had earlier called a tree house of horrors.
Following behind the group, stepping past the altar, I watched as Kyle slowly started his ascent. His weapon was drawn, held out above his head and leading us like a guiding light up the staircase. As he reached the top, we all paused to listen. Still no noise, but the room was devoid of light. Glancing back at me, he nodded as I raised my hammer and followed close behind.
Ducking his head, Kyle disappeared in the darkness. My heart was thumping through my chest as I followed closely behind him. Stumbling around in the dark while my eyes fought to adjust to the shadows, I was able to make out a few bunk beds in the corner with mounds of fur blankets draped across them. Under one of the bunks, I could just barely make out a larger mound of blankets. Leaning in, the hair on the back of my neck shot straight out as I saw one of the blankets move.