The sound of motors and purring engines assaulted my ears as I slumped against my chair. The only other noise that was fighting for first place was the heating of my RV, as it was on full blast. I usually tried not to max out the heating and cooling of my little home on wheels, better for the battery, but it was the middle of December right now, and winter was in full effect.

  Growing up in North Carolina, I had gotten used to weather and temperatures changing on a dime. One day it could be a normal spring day, a nice and easy heat filling the air, the next Winter had descended to come back with a vengeance. Apparently, the further north or south you got, this tended to stop happening.

  And if you go north enough, you’ll find that you’ll freeze your ass off even in summer.

  Learned that the hard way.

  And Wisconsin was definitely north enough to count. Even the heater wasn’t quite keeping the cold away. I had ended up heading into my bedroom and grabbing a jacket to keep myself warm. I suppose being stuck in traffic did have its benefits. Just wish that it would clear up!

  What should have been a two-hour trip tops was on hour three and I was still a dozen or so minutes out of Houndsmith National Park! I was already contemplating throwing a frozen pizza into the oven. But traffic was moving just enough that if I got out of the driver's seat for a minute, then I would have an angry trucker honking at me. Nearly had that happen when I went to get the jacket.

  At least I had enough crosswords, word searches, and sudoku to last me a decade, so that was helping pass the time. Now if only I could find the word ‘Mythical’.

  Eventually, time passed and I found the end of the black pavement road. I had expected a car crash or something but instead I just saw a white Chevy car surrounded by yellow tape. Police cars were all around it with a few other vehicles. There were also a bunch of people walking around the car or looking in it.

  The entire thing took up two of the three lanes as a rather frustrated-looking man in an orange jacket was doing his best to direct the three lanes into one. It all looked like an utter mess to me as I put done a completed wordsearch and glanced over the little scene. It looked like they were investigating the car for something. What I had no idea, but the thing looked perfectly fine.

  With nothing much to do as I waited for the last leg of this distraction to be over, I looked over at the treeline of the nearby forest. Now that I think of it, that was probably the National Forest that I was heading to, or at least a part of it. Made me feel better since it meant I was close to my goal.

  As I was about to look away, I felt a dull pain in the side of my head. I let out a sigh as I rubbed the spot that it was coming from. It was a decently common occurrence throughout my life. It would just randomly flare up for a few seconds before going away. Dad never bothered to get it checked out and I wasn’t going anywhere near a hospital unless I was on death’s door.

  It wasn’t too bad, just a dull ache, but there had been a few times it had felt much more sharper. The last time I had felt the sharper pain had been around the time Dad had died. I remember joking that it was my own personal Spider-Sense to my dad before, the joke now felt bitter after he left.

  The pain left as quickly as it appeared and I once more took in a slow, deep breath before letting it out. My attention fell back to the road as I fought for my place in the lonely lane. After about five rather long and annoying minutes, I was able to get in and start getting out of the traffic jam. I let a grin overcome my face and had to fight off the urge to flip the bird to the cars behind me, many of which were honking in outrage.

  I glanced back at the scene before driving off. Not sure why, curiosity or some kind of sixth sense telling me to look, I suppose. I was glad I did because I was able to see the front of the car, which had been hidden from my view while I was stuck in traffic. It became abundantly apparent why they were investigating the car.

  The front hood looked like it had been hacked apart.

  Someone or something had cut up the front end of the car. It looked like it had run into a blender and lost. I tried to think what could have caused that, but my mind was drawing up a blank. A bear was a good contender but the animal would have no reason to do something like that to the car. Not unless they were hiding some very good-smelling food in the engine. I suppose a man with some kind of weapon could do it, but still, that kind of damage wasn’t something a normal guy should be able to do.

  My mind whirled in thought as I drove away from the scene and back into open traffic.

  Eventually, my mind settled and I mostly forgot about it.

  But the uneasy feeling in the back of my mind didn’t go away.

  I ended up entering the Forest via a campground that sat along its border. The campgrounds themselves weren’t anything special, offering what many would consider the bare minimum of water and electricity. I was very tempted to pick one of those spots, but knew that they would cost money, unlike the other spots that would be spread around the larger area of the first.

  I did however, park near the camp store and got out of the RV. The store was a small thing that didn’t look like it would offer much. I noted a small shed with a large amount of bundles of firewood that had a for sale sign on it. I definitely would like to get a campfire going, but I wasn’t going to waste money on firewood when I had an entire forest to get some.

  I walked up the ramp into the store, the door’s handle rusted over from years of weather and the hinges squeaked loudly as I opened it. The inside was small, probably only able to hold five or six people, with a small selection of camping goods lining the walls. There was a desk with an older lady behind it who was currently on the phone. Upon seeing me, she held up a finger to tell me she would be with me in a minute after she got done talking to whoever she was talking to.

  I nodded in return and started to look over the various supplies they had for sale. Stuff like paper plates, plastic utensils, fire starters, along with some matches, and a dozen different other things you would want while out in the woods, but still wanted some modern convenience. Nothing I needed desperately and none of it was reasonably priced enough for me to actually buy it.

  Years on the road had turned my once horrid sense of budgeting and money management into a deadly weapon.

  I did fight the urge to snag one or two items while the lady was busy talking in the background. The first year of my RV lifestyle hadn’t been kind to me and I had resorted to shoplifting to get by at times. I had never gotten caught doing it, but it was still a bad habit that I was doing my best to clamp down on. It was one thing to steal when you needed to; it was another to do so just because it was easy or convenient.

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  I saw some brochures on the side of the lady’s table that advertised the forest as a whole and quickly grabbed one. Opening the thing up showed me a map of not just the campground but most of the National Forest as well. The campground itself only took up a small bit, with the rest being a series of either dirt or gravel roads that spread throughout the forest. There were various different designated camping sites dotted along those roads, it also showed that about half of the forest was completely untouched.

  I knew from experience that none of these spots would have anything but a somewhat cleared-out spot for camping and maybe a fire pit. At the same time though, most of these spots were probably meant for either tents or campers. RVs were an iffy thing for most national forests and even then, you had to watch how long you stuck around.

  The last time I had talked to a Forest Ranger, things hadn’t gone great. I didn't want to tempt fate by sticking around for too long.

  “Sir, can I help you?”

  I jump a tad bit at the sudden voice but quickly get a hold of myself before turning around. The woman at the desk was done with whatever phone call she had been making and was now offering me a smile. She looked to be in her 50s or so with graying brown hair done up into a bun. She wore worn and used clothing in the form of a pinking blouse under a light brown sweater and some faded blue jeans.

  I offer my own smile back as I step up to the counter and speak, “Yes Ma'am, I was just hoping to ask some questions about the park?”

  “Oh? Well, I can tell you a good bit about Houndsmith’s history. Been working here for 30 years now! I could probably retire but some of my best memories were made here. Oh, but I’m sure a fine young man like yourself has better things to do than listen to an old woman talk about her glory days. Names Abigail but most folks call me Abby. What do you want to know?”

  I shuffle a bit at her words and hold back a frown. There was nothing wrong on her part, but it was clear she was an outgoing and social woman who loved to talk to people. Sure, I could talk the talk as it were, but half the reason I enjoy my RV lifestyle is just not having to interact with people for too long. But again, I wasn’t going to be rude just because I was a little bit antisocial.

  “Nice to meet you Abby. Names Edgar, but most people just call me Eddy or Ed. I got an RV with me and was wondering what the park’s policy is on camping in one. Don’t want to cause any trouble or anything like that.”

  She just continued to smile at me, “Well, if you pay for a site in the campground, you should be fine.”

  Despite myself, I frown a bit at her words before pulling back my smile, “What about some of the places deeper in? Afraid I don’t have much money and I know that most places let you camp you out for a few days.”

  For a second, I saw some emotion flash in her eyes but it went too fast for me to see what it was. “Oh, well as long as you keep whatever site you're at clean, you should be fine. Though the Park Ranger usually asks any person who has been around for about a week to make plans to leave, if you know what I mean. Especially with something big like an RV. You sure you don’t want to just buy a site here for a few days? It’s decently cheap and you get access to water and electricity, even got a sewage dump if you need it.”

  I took in a slow breath as I thought about it. Some water and electricity would be nice, could charge up some batteries and power banks I had. And while I tried to avoid using the toilet in the RV there had been a few times in the past few weeks I had been forced to use it. It was a tempting offer and I was about to ask about the price.

  But instead, I clenched my teeth and let out a slow breath between them as I pulled myself back in. I had plenty of water in the water tank of the RV and other containers I kept in the outside storage. Not to mention, I could probably use the solar panels to charge up a decent bit of my stuff while hanging out for a week.

  Hell, now that I think about it I might be able to get some food while in the park. It had been a while since I had hunted and skinned a squirrel, bunny, or anything else like that. But I could still remember my dad’s lessons about it. And if I were deeper in the forest, the less likely I would run into a Ranger who would object to me killing some of the wildlife.

  I mean, I get it that I wouldn’t be hunting any animal in a National Forest. But it’s not like I was just going to kill it and leave its corpse. The first thing Dad had taught me when he first started to take me hunting was not to shoot anything that you weren’t planning on eating.

  Hunting and murdering were two very different things.

  “Sorry Ma’am, but I’m going to stick with the free sites. It’s tempting but like I said, I don’t have much money. Got to save as much as I can.”

  Once more, I see a flash of emotion in her eyes that swiftly goes away. But this time I’m able to see it a bit better. I had expected something along the lines of anger, probably mad she couldn't get some money out of me or something like that.

  I was not expecting concern.

  “Oh…Well if you really want to, then go ahead. Just… be careful out there young man.”

  The warning, along with the quick look of concern, put me on edge. I was missing something here. Maybe the Forest had a bad reputation that I wasn’t aware of because I wasn’t a local? I had plenty of memories of Dad complaining about idiots coming into the forest he helped manage and doing everything stupid and even getting themselves killed.

  Just then, my mind flashed to the traffic jam I had just been in, not even an hour ago. It hadn’t been too far from here and now that I think about it, the road had run along the outside of the forest. There might have been a connection there. Or maybe my paranoia was getting the better of me. Either way, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

  “Is everything all right Ma’am? Should I be concerned about something?”

  “Oh, it's nothing really. It’s just that…Houndsmith has gotten a reputation for being dangerous over the decades. It seems like every year we have a dozen or so incidents out in the Forest. Usually, just campers or hikers running into a black bear or something else that you don’t want to come across in the middle of the woods. Just be mindful of the wildlife and you should be fine.”

  My unease still didn’t go away. I was more than aware that National Forests weren't the safest place to be in. Nature was nature after all, even with an entire state department governing these places, they can’t be everywhere. Accidents were more common than most people think in these places. As long as you were prepared you should be fine.

  But that sort of thing never really factored into a Forest’s reputation, or at least it had never done so in my experience. The National Forest Service was just as dedicated to preserving the images of these places as they were to preserving them. A few animal attacks a year won’t cause too much harm to the place.

  In the end though, I just pushed down my own concerns. This conversation had already gone on too long for my taste and I could already feel the urge to enjoy some alone time. Besides, it was entirely possible that Abby was just an overly concerned woman. She seemed like the type of person to see every accident that happens around her as her fault for not stepping in and stopping it. Commendable to a point, but not very welcome in my case.

  I gave Addy another smile, doing my best to make it seem as genuine as possible. “If that's it, then I should be fine Ma’am. I appreciate the concern but this isn’t the first time I’ve been in a forest like this. I’ve got plenty of experience being out in the woods. You have a good day and thanks for the help.”

  I didn’t give her much time for a response as I turned around and made my way to the door. She just barely got out a ‘You're welcome’ before I had opened the door and was once more outside. Outside, I once more took in a slow and deep breath of air before letting it out just as slowly.

  Most of my social battery had been taken up by the junior mall cop this morning. I already didn’t feel like entering much before talking to the lady, now I just feel like sitting on the couch in the RV and just existing for the rest of the day. Though if I did that, someone might knock on my door and ask me to move the vehicle.

  Damn…I used to be so much better at this. This sort of thing had always been a problem throughout most of Elementary and Middle School. But thanks to some friends and my Dad, I had started to push my limits during High School. I would never be a social butterfly or any shit like that. But by the time I had graduated, I was confident in going to college and dealing with this on my own.

  But then…Dad died and I ended up dropping out of college to take care of his affairs. By the time everything had been taken care of, the economy had went to shit and I was forced to sell the home and take to the road. I suppose two years of traveling and not interacting much with folks had ruined all my hard work.

  I slowly made my way to the RV, all the while looking around me. The campground itself wasn’t very large; I could pretty easily see most of the sites from the camp store. It did look like there were a few camp sites deeper in though. Most of the ones I could see were empty but I saw a few campers and tents about, along with a few people.

  Off to the side, I saw the paved road transitioned into a dirt road that led deeper into the forest and the Park proper. I could already tell that it wasn’t going to be fun driving my large RV down the road but as long as I was careful, it shouldn’t be too much trouble. The map I had should help me find a place that was out of the way from the more developed and thus more popular sites.

  I stopped by the RV’s door and took a moment to look out into the woods. It was midday now and the sun shone down, revealing miles of trees. I was lucky that it hadn’t snowed and according to the radio, it wasn't going to be snowing anytime soon. I had always assumed that it snowed most of the time in the northern states during winter but apparently, while it was more common than in the southern states it wasn’t terribly common.

  The more I thought about this, the more excited I was getting for it. A few days of solitude deep in the woods actually sounded rather nice right now. Give me some time to decompress and think about what I could do about my slowly dwindling supply of money. A little vacation in a way, I guess, even if my life was pretty much one long never-ending vacation at this point.

  With one last look towards the forest, I opened the RV door and jumped in.