The Hunted

Two men were crouched behind a clump of brush. One of the two slowly pulled himself up from his crouch, peeking over the top of the thistles and dry leaves. The moonlight glanced off his wide open eyes. He began to shake. He lowered himself back down and turned to his companion.

"I know it," he said as he wrapped his arms around himself, "there's something following us . . . it's after us."

His partner shook his head slowly. "Come off it, Abel. Please. For the past six nights you've been rambling on about this. It's getting . . . "

"Shhh!!!" Abel hissed. "Don't speak so loudly! We might be heard!"

The other man, Jon, rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say . . . "

Morning came and the night had passed without incident. Abel was no longer worried, for only at night he grew wary of something following them. During the day they were safe, according to Abel.

The two headed west, hoping to find the end of the forest, or some sort of help. For the past week the two had traveled through endless woods. They hadn't meant to be in this forest. But they hadn't meant for the plane to crash either. They hadn't wanted it to happen, but it had.

A bad twist of fate and they were stuck in the middle of nowhere. What would have been a peaceful flight had turned into a tragic accident. But one good thing occurred: both men had escaped the wreck without injury.

So they traveled onward, hoping to find something or someone to help them. But they found nothing.

That night, after two very exhausting days of hiking through the forest, Abel had suddenly become suspicious, convinced something was following them. From that night on, Abel would go into a strange state of mind every night, sold entirely to the belief that they were being followed. And every night Jon got more annoyed and tired of Abel's ravings.



The day passed slowly, and the going was difficult. But both men still had hopes of finding help. They had enough water, (streams in this wood were plentiful), and there were wild berries and other things that were edible. So food wasn't that much of a problem. The problem was trying to get out of the forest.
Night came, and Abel once again became wary. He walked closer to Jon, and looked this way and that, watching for movement. The strange feeling of being followed had come upon Abel again, but tonight it had gotten worse.

"Oh man," he groaned, "it's back again. I sense it. It's behind us. It's watching, looking, stalking. Jon, man, it's there again!"

Jon clenched his fists. He decided he'd try to ignore his friend this time. He kept on walking. But Abel didn't stop.

"Jon," he whispered, "stop! We gotta stop! If we keep moving, it'll hear us and know where we are. We have to stop!"

Jon kept walking. Abel ran up from behind him and grabbed Jon's shoulders. "Listen Jon! We have to stop!"

Jon turned and pushed Abel off of him. "Ok! Fine! We'll stop. My God, you've gone mad!"

The two stopped and found shelter under a pine tree. It began to snow. Jon curled up and went to sleep. But Abel was wide awake. He was fully alert and watching.



The next morning, Jon woke up to find Abel asleep, in an upright position, his eyes half open. He shook Abel's arm and Abel sprung up suddenly.

"Ah! What the . . . ? It's here!" But he calmed down when he saw it was Jon. "Oh, I'm sorry." He muttered, but then his voice suddenly rose. "Don't scare me like that!"

After a quick drink at a nearby stream, the two once again set out in search of help. But they found nothing. The forest seemed to never stop. It was like it went on forever. Their hopes were finally beginning to dissipate.

Night fell and both men were incredibly sore and exhausted. But this did not keep Abel from not being alert. His paranoia set in again.

"It's there. It's there again!" Abel quickened his pace. "This night we must not stop. It's too close to us."

Jon stopped. Abel turned, shaking. "No! You can't stop! C'mon!"

But Jon didn't move. Instead he walked over to a large grouping of bushes and sat down next to them. Abel ran over to him.

"You idiot!" He tried to pull Jon up, but with no avail. "C'mon man! We can't stop!"

"No," Jon replied angrily. "You go on ahead. I'm staying here."

Abel let go of him and turned away. "Fine! You stay and get killed! I'm sure you will if you stay there. I'm going!"

With that, Abel ran off into the trees. Jon curled up and went to sleep. But ten minutes later he was awakened by heavy breathing. Abel was back.

"Jon, man, it almost had me! I saw it . . . it's eyes! I almost . . . man, I'm scared!"

Jon's anger flared. For the past eight nights now he had to sit and listen to Abel ramble on about being followed. And now all that anger that had he had been holding back began to vent. "Abel!" He said through gritted teeth. "You are mad! There is nothing following us! Come off it! I am so sick of your . . . insanity! Not once have I noticed anything following us. Not once! Just give it up!"
But Abel was not persuaded. "No! It's there, Jon. I'm sure of it." He stood up. "You can ignore me all you want, but I am not going crazy! There is really something out there!"
Abel glanced around cautiously, looking for movement or the same flickering eyes he had thought he had seen earlier. However, he saw nothing. But he knew it was out there, somewhere, and it was watching him. He shuddered at the thought.

He turned to Jon, but he was asleep now. Abel turned back, watching the woods.



Another week passed. Seven more days they had walked, and still they had found nothing. And seven nights they hid, from the thing that Abel was sure was out there. And seven nights Jon had to endure Abel's worries.

But it was worse now. Abel was so wary that the slightest noise made him jump. But his paranoia wasn't the only thing that was growing. Jon's anger was growing, and very rapidly at that.

Night came. The two men were sitting in a little ditch next to a stream. It was the fifteenth night of their plight, and this night was no different than the others.

"Oh . . . " Abel said. He was shaking from fear. "It's back again. It's on the other side of the stream." He pointed across the stream, towards the trees.

Jon didn't reply, but instead stared up at the tree canopy. He couldn't even talk to Abel anymore. And now it came to the point where Jon didn't want anything to do with his friend.
Abel stood and gazed across the stream. His eyes grew wide. "There! In the bushes! It's there!"
He turned and ran into the forest. Jon called after him, but his yells went unanswered. Abel was way out of earshot.

"Stupid fool," Jon muttered.



Abel returned an hour later. The sun had just come up and the forest was lighting up some. But when he reached the spot where Jon had been earlier, Abel found no one. There was no sign of him; Jon was gone. A terrible fear came upon Abel.

"My God . . . " he breathed, "it got him . . . he's . . . "

His words were cut off as a shadow leapt out from behind a tree.

Abel felt the side of his head explode in a sudden blow to his skull. Warm liquid splashed across his face and shoulder. It was his own blood. Abel staggered forward, suddenly faint and woozy. He stumbled into the stream, water splashing as he kicked in a daze, trying to go forward.

The shadow came up from behind him and gabbed him from behind. Abel screamed and tried to fend off his attacker, but he was already weak from the loss of blood. His movements slowed and he could barely move.

The shadow pushed Abel down into the water. Abel, in a last burst of adrenaline, swung upward and struck the shadow dead in the face. The shadow swore and slammed Abel down into the rocky bottom of the stream.

Abel sputtered under the water as water filled his lungs. His body heaved and convulsed as the oxygen left his body. Small bubbles left his gaping mouth and floated to the surface. Eventually they stopped rising. Abel no longer was struggling.

The shadow stood and with a left hand wiped blood from the bloody lip Abel had inflicted. The shadow swore, then began to speak to the corpse that laid just under the surface of the water.

"I'm sorry, Abel," Jon said. "It had to be done."
Jon watched as blood flowed down the stream, turning the water red. But he didn't care. He felt no remorse. Abel had driven him mad, and he could not have taken anymore. He couldn't have stood any more of Abel's insanity.

He turned and walked out of the stream. He didn't look back once as he disappeared into the trees.