apocalypsehowcomm | Event - Appalachia: Into the Pines

Appalachia: Into the Pines

Footage plays on the television as a new story comes on, showing a series of sweeping vistas, intercut with clips of wolves that have clearly been filmed at some local wildlife sanctuary. "As far as anyone knows it, the last wolf to ever freely roam the Allegheny Mountains was slain in West Virginia in 1897. Daniel Stoffer Hamrick saw to the beast's passing, and the woods in our part of the world have gone quieter ever since. Appalachia does not forget its history, though. It buries it beneath coal and flyash, debts and white powder and pills. And the blood of people taken before their time, by the mines, by the mountain, by things we don't have names for, just hurt. But Appalachia does not forget.

"This is Cindy Parsons with Channel 5, Wolf News." Footage cuts to a newscaster standing outside a gated apartment complex with FYRE's logo emblazoned on it. "As we know, our beloved Wolf Pen is home to one of the biggest FYRE worker housing complexes in Wyoming County. It is a monument to the history of our town, and this week, we'll be on the lookout for visitors from all over the country, coming to see the grand re-opening of the historic Bluestone Mine as a museum."

Footage cuts to a nondescript businessman, identified by the news footage as Carl Watts, CEO of FYRE. He's smiling blandly as he stands at a podium and gestures to the entrance of the mining tunnel behind him. "The Wolf Pen community has been a partner to us for decades now, and we knew it was finally time to give something back to all y’all. We'll have our soft opening on Monday with a full Rumble Down Under party in the old mines scheduled for June 15th. We'll have a live bluegrass concert and anticipate a huge influx of tourists to the area to help out our neighbors itching for a few more pocketbooks to tend to." A wink.

The footage returns to Cindy. "FYRE has stated that this new museum will provide an educational tool and tourist attraction for those wanting to learn about West Virginia, Wolf Pen, and the hard-working men and women who have made this beautiful part of our nation their home. Time will tell. Time is always telling when it comes to the promises of people who have used our land and our bodies to line their pocketbooks. They fill our blood and our lungs with black tar and-"

Cindy cuts out and is replaced by in-studio anchors. "Thank you, Cindy!" a blonde woman says, smile just a little strained. "I think we're all looking forward to seeing the big opening by FYRE on Sunday and that rocking good party next month. It should be a gneiss one! Now to Tim with the weather. Tim?"

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Right, that's it, [ Hickey says, as he pulls the knife out of his pocket. He shifts to a defensive stance, ready to attempt to fight back against whatever the hell's out there. ]

If anybody's playing silly games, this is your last warning, [ he calls out. ] I'm—

[ but the rest of his sentence dies in his throat as something big and white, moving fast enough that it's hard to get a good look at it, absolutely bodies him, knocking Hickey to the ground with a thud. ]

Oh, my god-- use your knife!

[Misty casts around for something - anything - that she can use as a weapon, and lands on a fallen tree branch, small enough for her to wield but hopefully hefty enough to do at least some damage. She picks it up, swings it at the creature's back--

-- And lets out a scream as she's struck down by a second creature that immediately sinks its teeth into her shoulder.]

[ He is using his knife. He tries to stab at the creature, feeling his blade sink into something. But soon after he feels claws on his chest, something tearing into his flesh. Hickey lets out a yelp of pain before gritting his teeth as he continues to try and fight the thing off.

But he feels himself bleeding, he feels something else chomp on his leg, he knows he's got to keep fighting and keep trying otherwise this thing will kill him—

—and then it stops. Then there's nothing. He should be bleeding, he knows whatever this is tore his chest open. But it's...not. He's fine. ]

[When the attacking animals just... evaporate, fading away into nothing, the final dregs of a scream still echoing in her throat. She doesn't move, because every part of her tells her that she can't: she's been savaged, and every bit of her is unusable, either torn into or ripped off. She's dead. She's dead, she's dead, she's completely--

She's not dead.

She twitches her hand, then lifts her head.]

... Cornelius?

Nobody calls me Cornelius, [ he points out, still on the ground. He's alive. He's breathing? But he should have died, he knows he should be dead, it was just like last time, he knows that feeling, he hates that feeling—

but here he is. Alive. ]

Everybody just calls me Hickey, [ he continues, as he pushes himself up to his feet. He looks down at his knife: no blood.]

Right. We need to get the hell out of here.

We still don't know how to do that.

[She points out - but even though there's a definite shakiness to her voice, she's still alert and put together enough to stagger up, brush herself off, and take a good look around.]

Right, that was. That was clearly all in our heads. Which means the rest of this might be, too. So if we just pick a direction and walk...

[ Hickey's keeping that knife at his side. No way in hell is it going back in his pocket now. No, Misty says that might be in their heads but he refuses to believe that. Something was here and then it wasn't...and he kind of wants to know what it was. ]

Sounds as good as anything, [ he admits, with a shrug. Hickey looks around and then points to his left with the hand that's holding the knife. ] That way.

Have you ever hallucinated like that before?

[She asks, legs only a little unsteady as she tromps through the underbrush. Keep strong, she tells herself fiercely. Panicking is how people die.]

Me? No. But I know people who have. But that...it wasn't instantaneous. There was something in the tinned food. We ate from the tins for a while, and it was only after that when they started to hallucinate.

[ Hickey's taking the lead, moving through the woods with a determined little stomp. They're getting out of here, dammit, and it doesn't matter what it takes. ]

Okay, well... where did you have dinner tonight? Where did you hang out before coming out here? Have you had any other strange encounters today?

Sandwich in the hotel lobby. The bar in town—and no, I didn't drink. And not today, but yes to yesterday.

[Hmmmmm. She certainly can't think of an hallucinogens that would stay dormant for that long before kicking in.]

What about nonalcoholic stuff? Did you leave a drinking glass unattended anywhere, or a water bottle?

Dunno why you're asking me if I'm drugged when you saw the same things I did, [ he points out. ] What about you? Did you leave a drinking glass unattended anywhere?

I'm asking myself these same questions too, in my head.

But, no, I didn't.

So if all this is happening and we can't find something that could explain a hallucination for both of us...then we're not hallucinating and it's really happening.

[Misty sighs, running a hand through her hair.]

Probably.

[It's not the most comforting answer, but it feels like the most likely one at this point.]

But then-- what were they? They were so-- so.

[So tangible. So real. She runs her fingers over her arms and belly, checking for wounds she can still remember feeling but that aren't there.]

They weren't real, [ Hickey says, more for himself than for Misty. He could feel the teeth, feel the claws still tearing into him. But he's not hurt, is he? He's up in one piece. And if he tells himself this enough, maybe he'll believe it. ]

It's some supernatural nonsense playing silly games. They aren't real.

Supernatural nonsense playing silly games is still real. So they were real, but they weren't...

[She trails off, picking up the pace a little.]

It doesn't matter! We're fine.

We are fine, [ Hickey says, to reassure them both. ] It's—

[ But his words are cut off as he hears more howling in the distance. Fuck that's not good. ]

We need to go.

Event - Appalachia: Into the Pines

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