A little after midnight Jack poked his head from the tent. He crept around the bushes between their tent and the house and studied carefully, looking for any sign that his parents were still awake. When he was satisfied, he summoned Ben and Stephen.
The beginning of their trip was very slow as they dodged from shadow to shadow. They wore their darkest clothing and carried little: Ben had their remaining walkie-talkie, and Jack and Stephen carried flashlights that were turned off. They picked their way along the path by the moonlight.
Having started out tentative and silent, they adjusted quickly to the hike. Jack led the way and he soon began to trust his ability to move down the path without being able to fully discern the way ahead. Stephen followed Jack, and Ben followed Stephen.
“Hey, you guys ever hear about that snake last summer?” asked Ben.
“Are you just trying to scare everyone?” asked Jack.
“No, seriously, you didn’t hear?” said Ben. “Last summer this guy’s six-foot boa got out of his house and lived in the woods for weeks.”
“Shut up!” said Stephen. “That’s the oldest story ever.”
“Whatever, you don’t have to believe me. Some guy almost hit it driving down Kirkpatrick Road.” maintained Ben.
“Oh, wait — I heard about that,” said Jack.
“You guys are full of shit,” said Stephen.
“Really. I saw the picture in the paper,” replied Jack. “The worst part was that when they caught it, it got upset and disgorged.”
“Yeah, that’s the one,” agreed Ben. “Snakes get scared and throw up so they can run away.”
“Well I do know about that,” said Stephen, “but I still say you’re full of shit.”
“Anyway,” continued Ben, “what they didn’t say on the news was that it disgorged a whole baby.”
“No way!” said Stephen.
“Yup, a baby,” said Ben. “The thing had eaten the girlfriend’s baby just before it got away.”
“Now you’ve gone too far,” said Jack. “I remember the snake, but there’s no way it ate a baby.”
“Hey,” added Stephen, “you know what they call it when someone tries to scare their friends at night in the middle of the woods?”
“What?” asked Ben.
“It’s a rare condition,” said Stephen. “It’s called ‘douche-ism’.”
“Yup,” said Jack. “You’ve got the douche-ism, Ben. Worst case I’ve seen in years.”
“You might be in luck though, looks like we’re out of the woods for now,” said Stephen.
The sky opened up as the path led to the power-line cut. They were suddenly surrounded by a full dome of stars. The sky was so black and deep that Jack almost lost his balance. Out in the open, with more light from the moon, they talked less and walked faster through the night.
When they got to the quarry where they had witnessed the shooting, Stephen convinced his friends to go to the floor of the pit. They peered around carefully into the darkness and then dared to use their lights. Stephen combed the ground where they had seen Smoker and bag-man cavorting. His prize was four shell-casings — one small and the other three large. Pocketing the casings, they headed towards where the car had been parked.
Rounding a sharp corner of the quarry, Ben, in the lead, stopped abruptly.
“What?” hissed Jack.
Ben pointed and Jack could barely make out a dim red glow ahead. They stood stock-still for minutes, taking shallow breaths and collecting all the sensory input they could. Ben began to move again. When Jack and Stephen began to follow, Ben turned and held up his hand, signaling them to stop. Ben continued alone. He returned several minutes later.
“Campfire,” Ben said. “It’s almost out.”
The three approached cautiously and found what Ben had described. The few pieces of wood left were scattered. Someone had attempted to put the fire out some time before. Silent, they continued cautiously until they found the parking area empty.
“So where’s the walkie?” asked Ben.
“Hard to say,” replied Jack. “Try yours.”
Ben triggered the call button on the walkie-talkie and they were rewarded with a faint ringing off in the bushes. The boys had to search carefully — rationing their battery power on both the walkie-talkies and the flashlight — before finding the lost radio.
“Awesome,” said Jack. “Now let’s get back before my mom catches us.”
With renewed purpose, the boys headed back on the long trip to the tent.
When they left the power lines and were back on the path through the woods, they had spread out. Ben led the way, and Jack followed a good twenty feet behind. Even further back, Stephen brought up the rear.
Stephen startled Jack and Ben: “Hey, guys, get over here,” he said.
“Did you find a giant baby-eating snake?” asked Jack.
“Funny,” said Ben.
“You have to see this,” said Stephen.
Jack and Ben back-tracked to find Stephen crouched in the middle of the path and studying the bark of a large tree. Almost at ground-level, a red dot of light glowed on the bark.
“Check that out!” said Ben. “Where’s it coming from?”
Stephen put his hand over the dot and the dot responded by lighting up the back of his hand. Jack bent to get a better look and then began to turn his head.
“Don’t look into it!” ordered Stephen. “It might not be safe for eyes.”
“Good point,” said Jack.
Jack put his hand in front of Stephen’s and then began to move in the direction of the source.
“Oh shit!” said Ben. “Wait, guys! That might be one of those laser-sights for a gun. Get your hand out of the beam.”
The three stood back. Jack spoke first: “Nah, that doesn’t make sense. Why would it be pointed at a tree and be that still. I don’t think someone could hold gun that still.”
Stephen picked up a stick. “Let’s follow it.” He adjusted the stick carefully to center the beam on the end and then began to walk into the woods away from the path. He lost the beam often at first — it rose slowly as he moved away from the tree — but once he guessed its approximate path, he was able to follow it faithfully.
Jack’s eyes were trained on the stick as he backed up, ahead of Stephen.
“Hey,” said Ben, “I’m going to stay here so you don’t get lost.”
“Oh come on,” replied Stephen. “Check your compass, and come with us.”
“You guys have the flashlights,” replied Ben. Jack and Stephen were now about thirty paces from the path, and they kept moving away.
“Shit,” said Ben as he headed into the woods to catch up.
Ben reached his two friends; they were tracking the laser at about knee level.
Crouching ahead, Jack made an observation: “The trees are really thin in this direction. Looks like it opens up to a clearing up ahead.”
“Where are we, anyway?” asked Ben.
“I think this is the spot where the path gets close to Route 203,” answered Jack. “But it’s hard to tell. We’re definitely going to have to check this out again in daylight.”
“Wait — what happened?” asked Stephen. He was looking at his stick, which no longer carried a dot of light.
“Did you move?” asked Ben.
“No, it was right here.”
They strained to look into the night.
“Hold still,” said Jack as he moved in front of the stick. “Do you see anything?” he asked Ben as he looked down at his own body.