A. N: Warning: This chapter contains weirdness towards the end. Enjoy!
Chapter: TWO
The trail to Fawn Lake was unclear at the best of times. There were many places that looked like turns but were really just small side paths that led to nowhere. You had to have a sharp eye if you were going to make it the whole way without getting lost. If it were cloudy, the best thing to do would be to wait until the sun was shining.
Officer Alexander Brown was too cocky for his own good. He thought he could walk the whole thing without a single problem. Two days ago he walked the Fawn Lake trailhead and got lost going down one of those trick paths. It was pouring down rain and the mud had covered up most of the trailhead. Alexander had gone camping up at Crescent Lake during his downtime. Alexander Brown was a police officer in Starcrest, a city close to Pineridge. He was a tall, brown-haired muscular man around the age of twenty-nine. Most people considered him to be a good fellow, but his cockiness and sarcasm sometimes got him in trouble. This incident is a good example of that fact.
He had been trying to find his way back for two days now but all his efforts just seemed to push him further and further into the forest. It was nearly eight-thirty PM and the light was beginning to fade. Alexander decided that it was a good time to set up camp for the night. Hopefully, he could catch something to eat. It had been two days since his last meal, although, to him, it had seemed like a lifetime.
I could really go for a nice, juicy burger right about now, Alexander thought before mentally slapping himself. Thinking such things would just make him hungrier. If he wanted food, he would have to work for it.
Just before he was about to stop and set up camp, Alexander heard a faint hum in the distance.
That sounds like machinery! He thought, hopefully.
He decided to walk toward towards the sound, hoping it might be someone that could direct him to town. He was a long way from Starcrest so the closest town would have to be Pineridge.
Although it had only been five minutes, Alexander felt like his legs would collapse if he had to walk any longer. Finally, as if an unknown force had answered his pleas, Alexander finally arrived at the source of the hum. It was a man in a logging outfit. The hum Alexander heard was the chainsaw the man was using on a big log.
A sudden jolt of fear coursed through Alexander. He had just watched "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" the night before going camping at Crescent Lake. He mentally slapped himself one again. It was just a movie. Things like that just didn't happen in real life.
"Excuse me, sir. Sir!" he tried to get the logger's attention over the roar of the chainsaw. The logger stopped the saw before turning around to look at Alexander.
"Yeah? What do you need?"
"I was just wondering if you could help me get to town from here. I got lost up on the trail to Fawn Lake."
The logger laughed a hoarse laugh, "Yeah, that one's a killer! Sure, kid. I can help you find your way," he revved up the chainsaw and heaved it out from the log, "to the afterlife!"
Rnn! Rnnn! Rnnnnnnnnnn!
"Shit!" Alexander exclaimed as the psychotic logger advanced forward. Alexander fumbled around in his jacket for his handgun. He got it out and triggered the laser sight.
"Stop, or I'll shoot!" The logger just laughed and came faster.
Alexander was faced with no other option than to fire the weapon. He squeezed the trigger.
BAM!
He fired but the bullet had bounced of the spinning blade of the chainsaw.
"Damn!"
He fired again and this time it hit the weapon dead on. The logger was now just mere feet away from leaving Alexander as a bloodied, decapitated corpse lying motionless against the muddy forest floor.
The logger laughed some more as he raised the saw up to Alexander's neck. Alexander tried to back up but tripped on a branch and fell on his back. Suddenly, the chainsaw gave one final chug and then:
Ka-BOOM!!
It exploded, showering the night sky with bright sparks! The logger immediately went up in flames and hopelessly ran around, the flames burning him up until he finally fell, charred and blackened, against the muddy ground. He was dead.
Alexander was left on the ground, horrified and relieved at the same time. On one hand, he was, against all odds, alive. On the other hand, he had just killed another human being. Sure, he would be long gone before any police officers discovered the burnt, blackened body of the logger, but he had taken another life. As a police officer, he was supposed to help preserve life and arrest those who killed others. Although, Alexander was just protecting himself from being murdered by the deranged man. After all, he had assaulted Alexander, not the other way around.
Quit beating yourself up! He thought to himself, That psycho would have sliced your head off! It helped a little.
That was when Alexander saw the thing that gave him some real hope: a truck. It looked like a beat up old clunker to Alexander but if he wanted to get out of the forest, it was as good as anything. He suddenly realized that it was probably the logger's truck that he was seeing. He hesitated for a bit. Was it really right to steal the man's truck right after Alexander had just burnt him to death with his own chainsaw? Hunger and fatigue overtook Alexander and he decided to take the truck, despite his own moral views. His life came first.
The door was locked so Alexander just shattered the window with his combat knife. Sure enough, the key to the ignition was sitting right there on the seat. He fastened his seat belt, put the key into the ignition, and drove off.
After ten minutes had passed, Alexander could finally begin to see city lights up ahead. He was approaching Pineridge.
I can finally get something to eat, Alexander thought happily, I'm starving!
Alexander drove a little further until he finally reached a small restaurant on the outskirts of the town. It looked like an old red and white shack but the Starcrest Officer was too hungry to care. The sign read "Pappy's House of Flapjacks."
Alexander sighed, Only because I haven't eaten in two days.
Alexander got out of the logger's truck and entered the building. It reeked of coal and didn't have many lights.
An old man walked up to Alexander and clapped him on the back happily,
"Hello, sonnyboy, and welcome to Pappy's House of Flapjacks! I'll be your pappy for today."
"My 'pappy' died two years ago from a cocaine overdose," replied Alexander, "I just want some food."
"Don't be silly, sonnyboy! We're all your pappy here at Pappy's House of Flapjacks! Now, what would you like?"
"I'd like a large double cheeseburger with all the fixings," he said. Finally, he was going to get some real food!
The old man looked puzzled.
"Sorry, sonnyboy, all we have here are flapjacks." Alexander sighed again. Was it too much to ask to get some meat?
"Okay, what kinds of 'flapjacks' do you have here? I'm starving."
"Well, sonnyboy, we have the Pappy Stack, the Old Coal Mine, and the Beefly Special. What would you like?"
"What's the 'Pappy Stack'?" Alexander asked, his voice dripping with fake curiosity.
"The Pappy Stack is three flapjacks stacked with syrup. We have three kinds of syrup: maple, boysenberry, and the Coal Miner Special."
"Okay then, what's the Coal Miner Special?"
"Well, sonnyboy, I'll tell you. It's maple and boysenberry with a hint of apple."
"Oh, gee," Alexander said sarcastically, "so I can have maple, boysenberry or maple and boysenberry! Ah, the decisions."
"I'll have the Old Coal Mine, I guess." he decided.
"Well, the Old Coal Mine is two big flapjacks with sprinkles of Emergency Waffles."
"Why are they 'Emergency', exactly?"
"Sonnyboy, if we run out of flapjacks, us retired coal miners have got to eat something!"
"Sure. That makes lots of sense." Alexander replied sarcastically.
"What's the Beefly Special?"
"Two flapjacks and two Emergency Waffles in the shape of a beefly."
"I'm gonna stick with the Old Coal Mine."
"Okay, sonnyboy, that'll be seven bucks."
Luckily, Alexander had his wallet with him in his coat. He pulled out the money and handed it to the strange old man.
Finding a table wasn't hard. Aside from tired looking old man with a cane, Alexander was literally the only one inside. He found the cleanest table there was and sat down, waiting for his food.
"Huh, flapjacks," he said to himself, "why can't I just get a nice, juicy cheeseburger?"
After a few minutes wait, Alexander's 'pappy' came back with an empty plate. For seemingly no reason, he swung the plate to the ground and shattered it in to pieces, leaving a large shard of ceramic in his hand.
"Any final one-liners, sonnyboy, before I drive this into your throat?" Without warning, the man aimed the shard right for Alexander's throat. He dodged, but the shard still grazed his left arm, leaving spurts of blood all over the table.
"What the hell?!" Alexander shouted before taking out his badge.
"Starcrest Police Department! Don't move!" Alexander took out his gun and pointed it at his 'pappy.' The old man just laughed and came forward.
"Sorry, sonnyboy, but gold miners like you just can't be allowed to live!"
Alexander dodged again as the waiter aimed another blow to his throat.
"Gold miner my ass! I am a certified Starcrest police officer. Now, I order you to freeze!"
He shot the waiter's arm, forcing him to drop the shattered plate.
I can't believe I just shot that old man! He thought, horrified at what he had just done. Now, the other employees were advancing upon him as well. They held shards of glass, forks, knives, anything that could be used as a weapon. Alexander bolted out from the table as the old waiter lunged at him again.
"Ahhhh!" Alexander felt the prongs of a fork dig deep into the back of his neck. He turned around and fired his gun. The bullet hit the man right in the face and he dropped like a rock. Alexander saw that it was the waiter whom he had shot in the arm. Now, he was asleep. Forever.
Two kills in one day. Two lives taken. The logger and an old man that probably had a wife and grandchildren, grandchildren who would never see him again. Okay, granted, he had tried to kill Alexander, but Alexander could have run out without firing the gun. How many more lives would be wasted?
Alexander ran outside, hopped in the stolen pickup, and headed towards the nearest motel. Fortunately, he had enough money to check out a room, stay overnight, and head back to Starcrest the following morning. If he could help it, he was never going back to Crescent Lake again.
What is with these people, though? Alexander wondered, First that logger and then those 'pappy coal miners' or whatever they were called. This whole place has gone to hell.
He wondered what he would look like to the motel employees, all covered in mud and blood. At this point, though, he didn't really care.
Alexander checked in, ignoring any questions about why he was covered in blood. He got a room and drifted off to sleep.
Images of old men and chainsaws haunted his dreams.
A. N: Wow that was long. No offence to coal miners. The employees there were never coal miners anyway. Reviews would be greatly appreciated!