I thought she needed help when I first saw her.
It was my first time backpacking on my own. I had been on a handful of trips before with friends but I decided it was time to challenge myself. Besides, it’s so hard to coordinate scheduling with everyone and now half of my friends are married. I thought it would be easier to go alone.
I decided to take Deadman’s Loop, a trail local to my area. I was about two days into a four day trip when I saw her standing to the right in the tree line. Her clothes were tattered and she carried no pack. She was no hiker. The weirdest thing was her smile. Anywhere else it would have simply come off as polite, almost benign but out here in the condition she was in was immediately unsettling.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
She didn’t say a word. She just kept smiling then stepped towards me. I stepped back but she kept coming. She reached her arms out towards me. I tripped back over a rock as she gripped my shirt and it tore as I fell backwards into a small flowing creek. She stopped just short of the water.
I stood up, my pants and the bottom of my pack now soaking wet.
“What the hell is your problem lady?”
I stepped towards her but something about her smile stopped me. It wasn’t right. Then I noticed more figures in the trees behind her. More people and they were smiling and just staring at me.
I started to walk back and crossed to the opposite side of the creek from them. None of them followed. I turned and started to run to put some distance between me and them. I ran so hard and so fast I was barely paying attention to what was in front of me when I almost ran into two more people walking on the trail.
I barely stopped and they turned startled and my heart was racing. For a moment I thought it was more of them but they were normal. They were a man and a woman who appeared close to me in age. I was actually relieved when I saw the upset looks on their faces.
The man stepped between me and the woman and said, “Hey man, what’s the matter with you?”
I pointed back behind me trying to catch my breath, “There were... people... they were smiling... and they tried to attack me.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Kyle, maybe he needs help?” The woman suggested.
I hunched over and took a moment to catch my breath.
“There are strange people in these woods. I saw them back before the creek. There’s something wrong with them. I don't know how they all got out here.”
“Are you on something man?” Kyle asked.
“No just listen, I think you might or we might all be in danger.”
“I think you need to step back and leave us alone.”
The woman pointed her finger down the trail and asked, “Who is that?”
I followed her hand and saw a man walk out onto the trail. I could see he had a slight grin on his face. He calmly set some kind of object down in the middle of the path then disappeared back into the trees.
We all slowly approached the object. Once we got closer I could see it looked like a pair of eyeglasses. The woman gasped and hugged Kyle.
“Jenny, what’s wrong?” He asked.
Jenny’s voice quivered, “Those look like my old boyfriend’s glasses.”
“Derrick?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
Then Kyle turned to me, “Is this some kind of prank bro? How did your friend have Derrick’s glasses?”
I sighed, “I swear I don’t know who that was or who Derrick is. Why would I?”
“Derrick’s her late boyfriend,” Kyle said.
Just as he said that a branch snapped at the tree line. Several more people with smiles were standing and staring at us.
“Let’s get out of here,” Jenny pleaded.
We began walking away from them. The couple reluctantly let me tag along with them. All I knew is I didn’t want to be alone in that forest anymore. Eventually we all stopped to regroup and discuss a plan.
Kyle spoke first, “Maybe we should head back the way we came. We don’t know what’s ahead of us.”
“And run back into those people? Besides, there’s more of them on the other side of the creek. We’re better off pushing forward. I assume you guys parked at the trailhead like me. If we just stick together and finish this loop we can all get out of here.”
“Don’t tell us what to do man! We don’t know you, why should we let you come with us?”
Jenny interjected, “He’s right and he should come with us. There’s strength in numbers.”
“Do either of you have any weapons?” I asked. “We may need them. Who knows what those people are capable of.”
“I have some bear spray,” Jenny said.
“I have my pocket knife,” Kyle added.
Then I lifted my coat to reveal a handgun, “And I have my nine mil. Let’s be ready for whatever happens.”
They eyed my gun but didn’t say anything. Soon we were continuing on the trail. For some time we were silent. We didn’t see any more of those people and it almost felt like a normal hike again. The birds were singing and there was a pleasant breeze blowing through the trees. I started to want to pretend we weren’t in any danger.
Eventually Jenny turned to me and said, “Hey, I think I recognize you. Did you go to Grandview High? Weren’t you on the baseball team?”
I smiled. I hadn’t thought about that in some time.
“Why yes I was. I pitched. Did you go there?”
“We both did but we’re class of nineteen. You’re a little older right?”
“Yeah I graduated in seventeen. I didn’t really have any friends in the younger grades besides my teammates.”
Kyle interjected, “Baseball, that’s kind of boring isn’t it?”
“Some people think so but I think it’s fun.”
“Babe, shut up! You know I love baseball,” Jenny laughed.
“That doesn’t make it any less boring.”
We all talked for a while, getting to know one another. We swapped stories about shared teachers and Jenny asked me about the year we went to state. Kyle wasn’t a very active participant in that part of the conversation. At some point we had to stop and make camp because the sun was starting to set and none of us wanted to take any risks getting lost in the woods at night.
We found a nice flat spot that already had a built up firepit and plenty of firewood left by the previous people who passed through. I built a big bright fire. I didn’t know if it would ward anything off but it comforted me.
Soon we were sitting in silence consuming our dinners. I finished off the contents of a MRE while they ate some pork and beans. We watched the woods for faces but there were none. I hoped that we were out of the territory of those things but deep down I knew this was just the beginning.
After we finished eating we set up our tents. I crawled inside and listened. Crickets chirped and owls hooted but I still had a hard time falling asleep. My knife and my gun served me as welcome bedmates as I eventually drifted off to sleep.
I woke to the sound of tapping on the fabric of my tent. I instantly sat up. My heart was racing and adrenaline surged through my veins. I quickly began unzipping my sleeping bag and just as I got a light on something tore through the tent.
I cut a hole in the fabric on the opposite side and quickly grabbed my gun as I rolled out. I held up the light and it crawled out of the hole I made. I stepped back and it stood and came right for me. It looked like a normal person, except the grin which was the same as the rest. This one looked like a man. I held up my gun and fired three shots into its chest. It barely flinched. I backed right up to the other tent when I heard Kyle’s voice.
“What the hell?”
He had finally peeked his head out of his tent. As soon as Kyle was present that thing suddenly turned away from me and marched back into the forest. I shined my light around in the woods and it seemed like that was the only one around. For now at least.
I looked down at the gun shaking in my hand. “It almost got me,” I said. “It came right through my tent. When I shot it, it acted like it was nothing!”
I heard Jenny whisper, “How are we supposed to stop those things?”
“We need to stick together. It turned tail the second Kyle came out of the tent.”
I spent the rest of the night in their tent. It was awkward and cramped and Kyle kept his eyes on me but nothing else bothered us. By the time the sun rose I was still exhausted and we still had at least one more night out there. There wasn’t any sign of the one that attacked me the previous night or any of the other ones.
I didn’t bother packing my tent as it was torn to shreds and soon we were back on the trail again. We didn’t bother with breakfast. I think all of us silently agreed that we’d rather be out of those woods sooner rather than later. We all talked very little. We never felt like we were alone.
The sightings were gradual at first. We would see one occasionally walking in the distance or hear a branch snap behind the brush but for some time they kept their distance.
Then they would stand in the treeline. They were almost like trail markers or road signs pointing the way. We tried our best to ignore them and stay close to each other. Kyle was always in the middle.
After some time we saw another standing in the middle of the path. This one appeared to be a young man close to us in age. Above its smile it wore glasses and it took me a moment to recognize but they were the same glasses we had found on the trail on the first day since this started. Jenny immediately froze.
Her voice was barely audible, “Derrick?”
Suddenly, Kyle began stomping right towards it. His fist was balled ready to hit it.
“Get the fuck out of here you freaks! Stay the hell away!”
It started to step back into the woods as if inviting him to follow. I ran after Kyle grabbing him by the shoulder in an attempt to stop him. All I received in return is an elbow to the nose. My eyes were watering and for a moment my head was spinning. I could already feel blood pouring out my nose.
By the time I recovered enough to look up I could see Jenny standing between Kyle and the false Derrick. It stood grinning just a few feet behind her but it was as still as a statue. There were tears in her eyes.
“Please Kyle stop! I need you. I know that’s not the real Derrick. Please stay with me.”
Kyle looked at her and slowly his fist began to unball. As he did that the thing calmly retreated back into the woods.
“I’m sorry. Just seeing it wearing his face makes me so angry. He was my best friend too.”
Then he turned to me and said, “Oh and sorry about your nose man.”
I shrugged.
We continued on. Kyle and Jenny held hands as we walked. Eventually we stopped to have lunch. I sat close to them as I had to be but was by myself as I ate. To my surprise Kyle sat down in front of me.
At first he didn’t say anything. He just watched me while I watched the forest. He broke the silence first.
“Hey man, sorry I’ve been a bit of an asshole. I swear I didn’t mean to elbow you. I just get so defensive of Jenny. To be honest sometimes I think she’ll find someone better than me.”
“Oh. It’s all good. Don’t worry about it and I’m sure you two are great together.” I didn’t know what else to say but he kept looking at me like he expected me to say more.
Eventually he spoke, “I remember you too. We actually had a class together. We both took Spanish together.”
I couldn’t remember him for the life of me but I said, “Oh yeah Mr. Flores’s class. That’s right.”
He smiled, “Yeah, we sat in the same cluster. You were always talking to Melissa. Do you still talk to her?”
I remembered Melissa but she was about the only thing I remembered.
“Not since before she had her kid.”
“That’s too bad.”
Our conversation ended as Kyle noticed something behind me. “What is that?” He asked. I turned to face what he was looking at. Just underneath a rock on the trail was what looked like a photograph. He walked over and picked it up.
“Hey man, what is it?” I asked.
He didn’t acknowledge me at all. He turned and beelined straight towards Jenny. There wasn’t an ounce of affection for her on his face. He held up a polaroid for her to see.
Her face went pale and I managed to see it over her shoulder. It was a picture of Jenny in a bed with another man and judging from her haircut in the photo it was recent.
“I... don’t know... how. That isn’t real!” She sputtered.
Kyle’s eyes were wide, “Don’t lie to me! I knew there was something going on between you two! That guy wasn’t even funny and you laughed at everything he said!”
Then he dropped the photo into the dirt and turned away.
Tears were flowing now, “Please Kyle I love you... I’m sorry.”
“You can find your own way out of here. You’re not my problem anymore.”
He started to walk away and I tried to grab him and stop him. He turned and grappled with me then managed to land a heavy punch on my jaw. I let him go.
He immediately began walking.
“We can’t let him go,” Jenny pleaded.
“If he wants to walk straight into those things let him. I’m tired of getting hit in the face.”
She sniffed but didn’t say anything else.
After we finished packing we headed out on the trail. Kyle was nowhere to be seen. I could see his tracks for sometime until they vanished suddenly and completely in the middle of the trail. I did not mention this to Jenny.
Jenny for her part wept as we walked and went on about Kyle.
“I can’t believe I let him walk away like that.”
“You don’t believe I meant to hurt him do you?”
“What have I done?”
Her voice was an ambient buzz to me. My only goal was to get out of there alive not to be a councilor for her relationship issues. Mostly I just let her talk while I watched the treeline.
The sun was beginning to set as we crested one final hill overlooking the parking area at the start of the trailhead. There were two vehicles there. My truck and presumably Kyle and Jenny’s car. The parking lot was separated from the trailhead by a narrow stream that flowed year round. At this time of year one could simply hop over the stream to avoid touching the water.
At the bottom of the hill facing into the trees was a figure that looked unmistakably like Kyle from behind. Before I could say or do anything Jenny was already scrambling down the hill.
I shouted, “Jenny, wait!”
She ignored me and I watched helplessly as the figure turned around just as she reached it. It indeed looked like Kyle. Remarkably so. At this distance I could tell no difference save for the calm grin plastered across its face. Jenny’s reaction was too slow and the figure grabbed Jenny in an iron grip and began dragging her into the forest.
She screamed. I sprinted down the hill but three more of them emerged from the forest blocking my path. I stopped as they began advancing toward me all the while I could hear Jenny’s screams move deeper and deeper into the trees. I took a step back then felt something from behind grab my pack.
I struggled for only a moment as I unclipped the pack and ran towards the parking lot avoiding the things in front of me. They moved with intention and purpose but at a speed no faster than a brisk walk. I looked back only a moment to see about a dozen of them coming after me.
I sprinted and jumped across the stream and ran straight for my truck. As I turned to face them I could see that they were all stopped just before the stream. Not one of them took a step further. I could still hear Jenny’s screams ringing in my ears but there were too many. I got into my truck and for a moment my stomach dropped as it struggled to turn over but then the engine suddenly roared to life and I immediately peeled out onto the road.
I didn’t look back, I didn’t slow down, I never stopped until I was out of those woods and back on pavement. I never told anyone in town what happened. Maybe I should have told the police but I didn’t see any point. I didn’t think anyone would ever believe me and I didn’t want to be implicated in anything. I eventually heard about Kyle and Jenny’s disappearance on the news. Their bodies were never found.
I haven’t been the same since. Every stranger’s smile makes me shudder. I haven’t been in the woods since and I hate being alone. Worst of all I see Kyle and Jenny’s faces everywhere. In my thoughts, in my dreams and sometimes in random crowds but what I fear most is the day when I run out of places to go and I see them with grins plastered on their faces.