O’Donnell wasn’t lying. While the trees ahead of them were definitely younger and smaller than the rest of the dense wood, they were all big enough to make getting a jeep through them impossible.

“We turn around, try one of the southern or eastern roads,” Matsuda said.

“There’s no guarantee they’ll be passable,” Gutierrez said.

“No, but there is a guarantee that this route is not,” Matsuda pointed out.

“It would take hours just to get back there. And then maybe a half-day to make it back around to Portland, and that’s under ideal conditions,” Gutierrez said. “My family might not have that long.”

“My girlfriend either,” Wil added. Matsuda shook his head.

“They might already be dead,” he said.

“And they might be alive, but the longer we stand here, the less likely that is,” Gutierrez snapped. “Now either help or take a hike.”

Matsuda took a deep breath and said nothing.

“We’ve been driving on this logging trail for almost thirty minutes, going 20-30 miles per hour that whole time,” O’ Donnell said into the silence. “Maybe we can just walk it.”

“Walk to Portland?” Gutierrez said, her voice going up a notch. Wil flinched and swept his gaze around. The jeeps had been parked front to back, but all four of them had gotten into O’Donnell’s jeep to talk, with windows up and doors locked. Wil didn’t think Gutierrez’s voice, even raised, would carry far beyond the confines of the jeep, but he’d rather not take a chance that something would hear them.

They weren’t that far from where Ranger Jacobs had been turned into red paste. Whatever had done it could still be nearby, skulking between the dark columns of the pines.

“Not all the way to Portland, just the highway,” O’Donnell said. “This logging trail wasn’t that long, based on the map. I mean, the trail isn’t on the map, but I know where we are. Look.”

O’Donnell pulled a fold-out map of the park and the surrounding area out of a pouch at his side, along with a compass. Wil and Gutierrez leaned forward out of the backseat and Matsuda adjusted his glasses.

“This was the ranger trail, and the radio tower where Jacobs…where we were before,” O’Donnell said as he pointed at the map. He dragged his finger along the thin green line of the ranger trail and stopped at a curve. “This is where the logging trail began, roughly. So at the rate we’ve been going, we’re about here.”

O’Donnell pointed farther up northeast of where the ranger trail curved. It was about five miles short of the highway.

“We hike through the woods, hit the highway, wave down a car or maybe get lucky and hotwire one,” O’Donnell said.

“If we want to do that, we’d be better off going back to the main Park entrance and just going around that gorge with the meteor in it or whatever it was,” Gutierrez said.

“If it was just a normal obstruction, I would agree,” Matsuda said. “But that rock or meteorite, whatever it is, what it did to that Ranger, it could have done to other people or animals in the area. Being at ground zero for something like that does not seem wise to me.”

“Well, yes, but does walking five miles through that sound like a good idea?” Wil said and pointed out at the woods. The inside of the jeep became silent as everyone looked out the windshield.

It had begun to remind Wil of the bottom of the ocean. The thick branches of the pines, bristling with their green needles, cast the forest floor in surreal emerald darkness. The pines themselves could have been vast stalks of kelp or other sea-plant. Motes of dust drifted lazily past the windows of the jeep, the particulate remains of unseen life. The gloom obscured everything beyond a certain radius, which shrank with every passing second as the sun came closer to setting.

It didn’t help matters any that like the ocean, there were any number of predators out there: some small, like Matsuda’s squirrels that had devoured the dog; others large, like the Sandoval-thing, or whatever had smeared Ranger Jacobs across the earth like jam across so much bread. It would be impossible to spot something until it was close enough, until it lunged out of the encroaching green darkness.

Shit, if I wasn’t crazy before, this would definitely do it for me.Three hard-asses and a suicidal technical artist and their adventures in the sea of trees. What a time, Wil thought and bit his lip to keep from giggling.

“Even under normal circumstances, a walk through dark woods is dangerous,” O’Donnell said. “Now…shit, I dunno.”

“Those things might be out there, but they’ll probably definitely be by that rock,” Gutierrez said.

“There’s also the matter of all our supplies,” Matsuda said. “We can carry some, but not all of it.”

“Fuck, forgot about that,” Gutierrez said.

“I’m going to Portland,” Wil said. “And this looks like the best way to get there, right?”

“Well, maybe the fastest,” O’Donnell admitted. “Maybe not the safest.”

“It would probably be suicide to go alone,” Matsuda said and Wil almost laughed again. He caught Gutierrez give him a look but ignored it.

“I’m going too,” Gutierrez said. “There’s nothing out here. No people, no campsites, and most of the game trails and hunting grounds for animals are back the way we came. We have enough supplies here for days, and even if there’s trouble on the highway, it won’t take us that long to get into Portland or find a gas station along the road to resupply if we have to. But I’m not going to spend a day running around this park when the road to Portland is maybe five miles in front of me.”

“Shit,” O’Donnell said. “Well if you’re going, I’m going.”

“Gee, thanks,” Gutierrez said, but with a note of sincerity.

Matsuda looked between the three of them and shook his head, making his jowls sway.

“Suicide to go alone,” he admitted. “We should decide what to take with us, and then hurry before it gets much darker.”

They finally gave Wil a gun. Gutierrez called it a Sig Sauer, and it was supposed to be pretty good. She told him the basics in a 90-second crash course in their jeep: trigger, hammer, safety, clip, never point it at anything you aren’t ready to kill, and keep it in the holster. She did give him a holster to slide onto his belt, and was adamant about using it.

“None of that bullshit tucking it in your pants crap,” she said. “Good way to shoot your dick off or give yourself a new asshole or something.”

“Holster only, got it,” Wil said.

“I think that’s it. Got your bag?” Gutierrez asked. They had consolidated the supplies into two heavy-duty backpacks stashed in the trunk of the jeep. They were still leaving a lot of supplies in the jeep, but they weren’t going to be going away empty-handed either.

Wil’s pack alone could probably keep him fed and hydrated for two-or-three days. He also had enough basic medical supplies, flashlight, batteries, and other essentials that would help him deal with most problems to be found in the wilderness. There was also a map, compass, flares, poncho, blanket, multi-tool, field-knife, matches, and some extra rounds of ammo. Wil also carried his rope.

The rope wasn’t really essential but it was easy to carry and might provide some use down the road. He’d also been tasked with carrying a bit of extra water while the others carried some extra ammo for the rifles and shotguns.

They had agreed to distribute the supplies evenly. That was in case somebody had an accident and lost a bag, or ——heaven forbid——got killed, they wouldn’t lose all their food or whatever in one go. Everybody’s bag was as close to equal as it could be, save for the aforementioned additional ammo and water division.

Gutierrez carried her pistol and a shotgun, Matsuda had his hatchet and the AR-15 as well as a pistol, and O’Donnell had a scoped hunting rifle and pistol. Wil kept his wood-axe as well as the pistol at his side.

The only major issue was Wil’s footwear. He hadn’t planned to come up to Oak Rest for hiking, and wore ordinary sneakers. The two rangers and Matsuda each had hiking boots and thick socks.

“Your feet are gonna start to hurt pretty quick,” Gutierrez said as she shouldered her bag and tightened the straps.

“Yeah, well, more motivation to get out of this place,” Wil said.

“We should keep it down while we move,” Matsuda said. “No telling what’s out there.”

“Agreed.” O’Donnell said. “I’ll take the lead. Gutierrez, you bring up the rear. You two in the middle.”

“I’ll follow behind the ranger, if you don’t mind,” Matsuda said. Wil shrugged and fell into step behind the old man. The four of them set off into the dark green gloom of the silent woods. Within minutes, the shadows swallowed them, and left nothing behind.