Wound
It was a dark and stormy night. John traipsed through the forest on his way back to his cabin in the Adirondack Mountains. In the flashes of lightning, he could see bits of the deer trail he was following. He didn't need much more than that since he had navigated these woods for at least forty years. Exploring them had been his favorite pastime as a kid. Back then, he spent whole summers enjoying the outdoors with his father, older brother Mark, and later, by himself. John was a loner and didn't much like people. He did like the girls so that was a problem. Sometimes he would invite a girl from town out to the cabin. But she had to be a special type. The hike from the dirt road took about three hours. The cabin had an Osburn 1100 wood stove, good for up to 1400 square feet that was entirely adequate for its 1000 square foot single room. It was tight, with R-30 insulation on walls and ceiling. John and Mark hauled it in by mule a few years back. A few logs in the stove kept the place nice and toasty all night even in the coldest weather.
Tonight, John was returning from Sabattis a little too late. He started back about six o'clock, but with the storm it was taking longer than he thought it would. He had dinner with a girl and asked her to the cabin, but she wasn't "comfortable" with the idea, he thought bitterly. He paid over $40 for that meal and that was after spending all day with her. Susie was a hiker and enjoyed the outdoors. But he'd only met her a couple weeks ago and he only came into town once a week. She wasn't convinced he wasn't some kind of maniac who preyed on defenseless women. Oh well, he'd try again next time. Now he had to focus on getting back. The flashes showed him the trail but they also shocked his dilated eyes, making him walk slower. The storm was probably a factor in Susie's decision not to come tonight but he had assured her, he was entirely capable of handling any situation. She had even liked his description of the cabin – a bunk bed, wood stove, table and four chairs, and provisions for three months. He even had a library of sorts with books he had collected for forty years. His favorites were pulp fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s such as Argosy, Spider, Shadow, Doc Savage, Adventure, Amazing Stories, Black Mask, Dime Detective, Flying Aces, Horror Stories, Marvel Tales, Oriental Stories, Planet Stories, Spicy Detective, Startling Stories, Thrilling Wonder Stories, Unknown, and Weird Tales. He didn't mind leaving them out here because he'd never heard of a criminal in these parts, and he had a hidden safe that would protect them in case of fire. He had heard of the Million Books bookstore in Dayton Ohio that had burned to the ground along with piles of precious pulp magazines.
He had about an hour to go he figured, from where he was now. Should get him to the cabin by ten o'clock. Of course, that's if nothing else slowed him down. It had been raining on and off the whole hike but his camo slicker was more than up to the task. He was thinking what Susie would look like in some camo sleepwear lingerie. So he didn't see the figure on the ground before he stumbled over it. He hadn't seen anything during the previous flash so after he picked himself up and turned around, he was VERY curious as to what had tripped him. It wasn't moving so that was good. A wounded animal makes for a VERY hostile opponent. It was large and looked about 75 kilos from where he was standing. He pulled out his tiny, three-AAA, LED flashlight and cautiously approached the figure. As he turned the light on its head, he distinguished facial features.