It was a solid truck, from the look of it, so the force of his thrusting made me slightly nervous.
I tried not to show him that I noticed but I could hardly keep my upper lip from curling in disgust.
“You look mighty pretty for going on a week-long hike,” he answered in a redneck kind of condescending tone.
“I like to be prepared,” I answered, feeling a shiver run down my spine, “So, when should we get going?”
“I guess there’s no time like the present,” he replied, showing me a grin that was obviously missing teeth.
I swallowed hard and again, reconsidered being alone in the woods with this man. Although, I eventually decided that it was probably better to be with someone, as creepy as he seemed, then alone.
Besides, I had already paid him, and he still showed up. I decided that had to count for something. Even if he was dirty and disgusting, he had to have work ethic and honor to some degree. He didn’t take the money and run, so that had to prove something to me. I wasn’t sure what yet, but I was hoping after hiking with him, I would find out…and it would be positive.
So, I shook my head in agreement, trying to also shake off the bad feeling that was gnawing at the pit of my stomach.
I waited for Mitch to lead the way, figuring that if I followed him, it would be safer, and I could keep an eye on him.
To my surprise, the first few days yielded nothing to fear and I was starting to settle into my own, achieving the idea of becoming one with nature. We were deep into the mountains by now and although the tour guide still seemed weird, backwoods, and a little overbearing, I had decided that he wasn’t dangerous. Besides, I wasn’t there for him. I had hired him. I was in the mountains for the experience and to let go of my stress. I had some issues that I needed to come to terms with and I had decided a while ago that I wasn’t going to let anyone get in the way of me finding my peace. Therefore, there was no way in hell I was about to allow this creepy guy to take that away from me, so I resolved to ignore him as best as I could and focus on the majesty that surrounded me.
The trails we walked along were rocky and rough, but the terrain was fun and challenging. I didn’t feel threatened by it, especially because the weather was predominately in our favor.
It was hot at times, but Mitch was good about stopping to get water and ensuring that we were both hydrated.
As the air thinned further, I started to feel more tired and we tended to stop to catch our breath and drink our water more often.
Of course, there were plenty of other factors that attributed to this as well. While I couldn’t and didn’t want to know Mitch well enough to speak for him, I knew that the muscles in my legs had shredded a while ago. Now, it was all I could do to keep pace with Mitch’s long strides as we crossed the stone-laden path that coiled up the mountainside.
Along the way, we passed many small towns, carved right into the side of the mountain, almost like posing as a work of art. Each town had a breathtaking view and I found myself contemplating, more than once, what it would be like to leave my life behind to disappeared into a carved oasis.
Of course, I knew that was out of the question for me but being that the townsfolk were the only people I had to talk to, considering I didn’t talk much to Mitch, made me feel a connection to them as I grasped for every strand of intrigue this trip held.
While I knew that it probably wasn’t great, I was happy it wasn’t just me who Mitch seemed to be awkward around. When we were in the town, Mitch tried and failed to talk to every woman he came within eyeshot of and didn’t seem to be too well liked by anyone.
Searching for a bright side to all of this, at least the townsfolk seemed to know who he was and, aside from rolling their eyes when they found out he was my tour guide, no one expressed that I should tread lightly.
Still, I couldn’t help but think this was strange. After all, if the guide came up here a lot, it would make sense that he had at least one friend.
Although, with each town we passed through, the reactions were the same. There didn’t seem to be one person who was pleased to see Mitch, although everyone was hospitable to me.
This experience was echoed for the first few days, until a few nights into the trip, it started to get late. So, we decided it would be a good idea to start to set up camp for the night.
This always seemed like the strange part for me. Perhaps it was because I was truly alone, in the dark with a man I didn’t trust. Sleeping was difficult, so I was perpetually exhausted. On this evening, we had maneuvered through a long day of tough terrain. I was extremely tired because of it and hoped that finally, tonight, I would be able to get some sleep.
However, as soon as we stopped and started to gather what was needed for a successful campsite, I started to get an extremely odd feeling from the guide.
Mitch had acted slightly strange all day, but he was always strange, so I had learned to ignore him.
However, today, I noticed that I was exceptionally tired. Even though the day was long, and the terrain wasn’t easy, I took pride in keeping myself in shape. So, when I failed to put up my simple tent without stopping to take a sip of water, I thought that my fatigue was particularly strange.
Feeling my mouth almost immediately dry out, I downed a large swig from my water bottle and immediately felt my stomach curdle in protest. I made a face, glaring at the water bottle but was unsuccessful in figuring out why it made me feel sick.
“Are you okay?” Mitch called from his side of the campground, almost as though on cue, which I tried not to find strange.
“Yeah, I’m fine…” I offered dismissively, putting my water bottle down on the ground and groaning softly. I shook my head to clear out the fog but was completely unsuccessful. In fact, the shake of my head immediately caused me to feel dizzy.
Coupled with my upset stomach, I was happy that I was sitting down.
I closed my eyes for a moment, drawing in a deep breath, until I noticed a douse in light in front of me.