The Last Camping Trip

Suspense Stories | Aug 27, 2014 | 16 min read
96 Votes, average: 4 out of 5
At age twenty-seven, Steve was no stranger to slacking on the job, in spite of growing up in a working middle-class neighborhood in Queensbury, New York. Currently, he held a job as a forest ranger patrolling the tourist attraction of scenic Prospect Mountain in Lake George, New York. As usual, Steve was on his second break even though he merely started his shift less than two hours ago. His routine was to walk up a hiking trail to his favorite spot overlooking the Adirondacks Mountains to relax and enjoy the scenery while smoking a cigarette. He remembered as a child coming here with his parents and always liked the peaceful surroundings, the sounds of birds chirping, and the magnificent views of the lake in the distance.

Steve pulled out a pack of cigarettes from inside his jacket pocket and placed one cigarette between his lips and lit it. Moments later after taking a few puffs inhaling the dark fumes into his lungs, he felt something hit him on his neck right below the right ear. With his left hand he felt the object and instantly knew that he had been struck by a sharp instrument. Steve fell backwards and started to gag spitting out blood. He had been stabbed through one side of the neck with the knife exiting out of the other side. A figure of a tall man came into his view, leaned over, and yanked the twelve-inch hunting knife out of Steve's neck. Cigarette smoke was seeping out of both wounds on the neck as blood began to ooze out. The lifeless body laid as the killer stripped Steve out of his ranger uniform. Finally, the killer kicked the corpse down the cliff. There was a deranged smirk on the killer's face, as he stood there looking at the body rolling down the steep rocky embankment.

Two hundred and twenty five miles away in Montclair, New Jersey, four college friends were about to begin a Labor Day weekend trip to Prospect Mountain in upstate New York. The meet took place on the front steps of the maroon brick building better known as Dickson Hall, which served for many years as the gathering place for college students attending Montclair University. Rays of sunshine played peek-a-boo through the branches of the maple trees surrounding the building. The grounds were covered with perfectly manicured lawns surrounded with various patches of summer flowers.

Kathy was the first to arrive driving her white RX5 BMW, which had been a present from her parents when she graduated high school three years earlier. Kathy was considered a rich snob by most college students who had the privilege of meeting her either on the grounds or in a classroom setting. No matter where she went, Kathy had a certain presence about her that people could not easily ignore and her persona did catch the attention of everyone around her.

Sitting next to her was Janet, which unlike Kathy had to struggle through most of her life. She came from a poor family living in North Newark, where her mother solely raised her with five other siblings. Her major in college was criminal justice and all she ever dreamed of was someday becoming a detective and start her own investigation involving her father's so-called disappearing act.

Kathy drove up the circular driveway and parked in front of a ‘No Parking' sign.

"So, are you excited about going camping?" asked Kathy looking at Janet.

"Yeah, very much; I've never left the state of New Jersey so going to New York is going to be an exciting adventure."

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, I am not. My mom always scared the heck out of us with her stories about people disappearing or being mugged and killed in New York City and shit like that, so I never had the desire to leave the state," explained Janet.

"Girlfriend, you don't know what you are missing. When we get back from this trip, we are going out to Manhattan for a girl's night out. I promise you will have a great time."

"I don't know about all that; anyway, where the hell are the guys? Didn't we say seven o'clock sharp?"

"There they are!" pointed Kathy towards the intersection down the street.

Seconds later Ron pulled up in his bright yellow-orange Hummer. He was a handsome man with a shaved head who believed he was God's gift to women. However, Ron loved his car even more than women and even nicknamed it ‘Sweety Tweety'.

Jake, who was Ron's best friend, sat in the passenger seat. He had just awoken from a power nap as he was rubbing his eyes. He was not as attractive as Ron but the ladies adored him anyway because of his charming personality. He hated to catch a ride with Ron because he knew that everyone loved to make fun of Ron's car and on occasion they even got into altercations with other students because of the teasing.

"We could see you coming a mile away," said Kathy.

"Didn't I tell you to stop the jokes about my car?" said Ron.

"OK, you got me. Sorry. I know how sensitive you are about your precious car."

"Now you're pissing me off, I am not sensitive!"

"Alright you guys. Are we going to stand around and argue all day or are we going camping?" questioned Jake.

"Yeah guys, come on. Let's cut this shit and get a move on," said Janet.

"OK, but I need to drop my car off by the dorm," said Kathy.

"Un-freaking-believable," added Jake.

After getting rid of Kathy's car, as Jake puts it, every one jumped into the Hummer and finally departed. The air temperature was 72 degrees and they cruised with the sunroof open. The powerful Bose stereo system echoed down the streets blasting a song on a pop radio station. The song was ‘Holiday' by Madonna.

"How appropriate, come on you guys, sing with me," pleaded Kathy.

Kathy started to sing out loud snapping her fingers to the beat of the music. Everyone joined in the singing. "If we took a holiday, yeah…took some time to celebrate…just one day out of life…it would be…it would be so nice…holiday, celebrate, holiday, celebrate."

When the song ended, they all looked at each other and laughed in unison. Finally, their last camping trip together had begun and the excitement amongst the college friends was evident. Even though most of the time they quarreled like brothers and sisters, they did care a lot about each other.

The Hummer cruised up the Garden State parkway, heading north towards the New York Thruway. Surprisingly there was minimal traffic on the road even though it was a holiday weekend. After four hours and twenty minutes on the road making two pits stop along the way, they arrived at Prospect Mountain in Lake George, NY. Ron parked his vehicle in the visitor's parking lot, which had quite a few vehicles already parked on the premises. It took Ron a few minutes to finally choose the perfect parking space. First he checked the ground for any foreign objects and then looked at other vehicles in the parking lot to see if they seemed old or had scratches or dents on them. Ron would never park next to such vehicles. Finally, he found the right spot and parked.

Every one exited the Hummer, grabbed their bags, and headed towards the foot of the mountain where the map for the hiking trails was being displayed in a glass encased bulletin board. Studying the map, each of them had a different idea on which trail to take to reach the camping ground. After a few minutes of discussion and the flipping of a quarter, the guys finally won and they headed up the mountain through the medium impact steep trail.

At first they moved quite rapidly but as they continued their pace began to slow down because of the rocky steep incline. Along the way they passed dark green foliage of tall Willow Oak, Austrian Pines, and Norway spruce trees. On occasion they witnessed wild rabbits playing in the distance hopping along the bushes in addition to deer staring at the human intruders who were walking through their woods.

After thirty minutes of hiking, the silence was broken by Jake. "Hey guys, did you hear that sound?"

"What sound?" asked Janet.

"Some kind of weird thumping sound coming from over there," said Jake pointing out to the woods on the right side of the trail.

"Jake, stop it! This is not funny. You just want to scare us," said Kathy.

"No, guys, I swear to you. Something is out there and it is not some kind of wild life."

Everyone stopped and remained quiet. All that was heard was the wind in the distance moving some bushes and tree branches around. Nothing else out of the ordinary was heard.

After a few seconds, Ron spoke. "Relax everyone, that's just the wind playing games with us."

At that moment, an arrow from a crossbow swooshed passed Jake's head cutting slightly his left ear. The arrow made its way penetrating Ron's chest. Instantly, Ron dropped his duffle bags and fell to the ground grabbing on to the bloody arrow. Without thinking he yanked the arrow out screaming in horror. Next, he lost control of his footing and stumbled down the side of the hill rolling down picking up speed within each passing second.

"Oh my God, Ron!" yelled Kathy.

Jake immediately began to run down the hill in pursuit of Ron. It was difficult to keep up because he kept tripping over twigs and rocks along the way. Kathy and Janet watched speechless from above. Abruptly, Ron disappeared from eyesight. Unfortunately, he had fallen into a six foot deep man-made trap consisting of fishing net camouflaged with scattered leaves. At the bottom of the hole several three-foot sharp wooden stakes stood in place. Ron had no chance in surviving the fall and died instantly from the stakes piercing several areas of his torso.

Jake finally reached the opening of the trap and looked down noticing that Ron was dead. He collapsed to his knees and began to sob mourning his best friend.

"Come on, we need to get out of here," said Janet panicky looking at Kathy.

"Are you for real, girl? We can't just leave them down there alone. We need to go and help them."

"Fuck that. You go down there if you want but I am getting the heck outta here!" said Janet.

Janet gathered her belongings and continued to walk up the trail. Kathy stood there looking at her in disbelief shaking her head from side to side gritting her teeth. "Un-fuckin-believable; wait for me! I am not staying here by myself to be hunted down like an animal!"

Back at the site of the man-made trap, Jake finally composed himself realizing that there is nothing he could do for Ron at this time. Slowly he started to hike back up the hill unaware that someone was following him.

After a few minutes Jake heard sounds of twigs splitting and dry leaves crunching coming from behind. Like a deer on his tracks, Jake stops and turns around slowly but the sun between the tree branches momentarily blinded him. Just as he raises his right arm to cover the sun from his eyes, a hunting knife pierces his palm and stabs him in the right eye. The knife is hastily retrieved by the killer as he continued to viciously stab Jake over and over again mutilating the face to no recognition. The lifeless body fell to the ground.

Kathy and Janet finally arrived at the top of the mountain exhausted. They spotted a forest ranger station and stormed inside startling David at the front desk.

"Please help us, we were attacked and two of our friends out there possibly needing medical assistance!" blurted out Kathy talking frantically while trying to catch her breath.

"Whoa there pretty lady, what did you just say?" said David as he stood up.

"She said that there is a motherfucker killer out there and we want you to do something about it, you fucking dimwit!" yelled Janet.

"Hey, first of all watch your language around here if you want any help. Second, let me see what I can do for you ladies as right now I am here by myself. My partner Steve went on a fifteen minute break about 5 hours ago and he hasn't returned."

David sat back down and picked up the desk phone. "Um, I guess I'll call the local authorities and see what they suggest. You can have a sit over there on the bench and I will be with you shortly."

One mile away on the far end of the camping grounds, Julie and Tom lay inside a tent caressing each other. They have been dating for three months and this was their first camping trip away from friends and family. The previous day and night were uneventful except for the multiple times that they made love during the day and night like wild rabbits. As a result, Tom was exhausted and fell asleep in Julie's arms.

Minutes later Julie began to shake Tom. "Tom, wake up!"

"What is it Julie? Can I just rest before we go at it again?"

"No, stupid, there's something outside; listen!"

They both heard a strange sound of some object banging against a nearby tree.

"There," Julie whined holding the sheet to her mouth.

"Get a hold of yourself. It's probably nothing to be alarmed. Let me go take a look."

"No Tom, don't go out there. It could be a bear or something worse."

"Relax babe, I promise I'll protect you from whatever it is. I'll be right back."

Just as Tom stuck his head out of the tent, a harpoon was forcefully inserted through the back of his head coming out of the mouth sticking to the ground like an oversize Shish Kabob. The killer quickly pulled the harpoon back out as Tom's lifeless body fell to the ground.

Julie screamed hysterically from inside the tent curling up into a fetal position. Seconds later, the killer began to strike the tent piercing it with the harpoon missing Julie a couple of times before stabbing her first on the left thigh, and finally right between her perky breasts.
Once the screams and movement inside the tent subsided, the killer walked away with pure satisfaction.

Police sirens were heard in the distance as the New York State Police arrived at the ranger's station. Five police officers hurried in including Sargent Eric Miller.

"Hi, I am Officer Miller, and you two are?"

"I'm Kathy White and this is my friend Janet Rivera."

The women explained what happened to Officer Miller and a search party was immediately ordered for the entire vicinity. After what seemed like an eternity, Officer Miller came back into the station with some news.

"Well, ladies. You are very lucky to be alive," said Officer Miller.

Officer Miller revealed that two days ago a disgruntle man had escaped the mental ward from nearby Warrensburg Hospital. The man, whose name was George Sykes, was caught on camera robbing a sporting goods store just outside of town. He continued to explain that the man had brutally killed the store owner and his female assistant dismembering their bodies. Several items from the store were stolen including a hunting knife, fishing net, a silver head harpoon with a wire, and a powerful crossbow among other items.

In addition, he went on to disclose that during the intense search the police were able to locate the bodies of two young men that fit the description of Ron and Jake. Hearing the terrible news, the women gasped and began to sob uncontrollably while holding each other.

As to not alarm them any further, he omitted the part that they also found two other dead bodies of a man and a woman by the camping grounds. However, he did reassure Kathy and Janet that they are doing everything they can to find the person responsible for the killings. As a result, the entire surroundings have been declared a crime scene and the park was temporarily closed.

After the women finished giving their final statements including contact information, they caught a ride back to town from Office Miller. The officer dropped them off at an Avis rental car place as they were not able to take Ron's car since the police had to impound it due to the developing circumstances. Kathy rented a red Toyota RAV4 and after leaving the car rental place, they stopped over at a McDonalds for a quick bite to eat. Later that evening, they headed back home to New Jersey not saying much to each other along the way.

One hour into their trip, Kathy and Janet decided to book a motel room and spend the night near Albany, NY before continuing the journey. They stopped at a Super 8 motel and after paying for the room at the front desk, they went to the room located at the far end of the building. The room number was 13 and though they did not liked that particular number; the clerk lied explaining that unfortunately it was the only one that was clean and available at the time.

The women drove the rental car and parked in the parking space just outside the room. They unloaded their bags and walked inside the room forgetting to lock the door. By this time, both were incoherent and just wanted to take a shower and get a good night sleep. Though the room was clean, it did have a musty odor and felt kind of muggy. Janet cranked the window air conditioner, which made a loud humming sound. Instantly, some cool air filled the air.

The women took turns enjoying a hot steaming shower and laid down in their individual bed staring at the ceiling. After a few minutes, Kathy got up and went back to the bathroom. With the door left open, she pulled down her red silk panties and sat on the toilet.

"I'm never going camping again in my life, that's for sure," said Kathy from the bathroom.

"Amen to that! And we didn't even get a chance to put up our tents either; how funny is that?" responded Janet.

"I wouldn't call it funny; the whole thing is just tragic. How are we ever going to face the parents of Jake and Ron?" An awkward silence filled the room.

Moments later Kathy walked back into the room and found Janet fast asleep. She switched off the lights and turned on the television switching channels until she found the local news. She was hoping to hear that the police had captured the killer putting an end to this nightmare. At that time, the Labor Day holiday weekend weather outlook was being discussed. Afterwards, a commercial break popped on the screen. Ironically, the commercial on the television started to play the "I Love New York" tourism jingle.

"Really? You got to fucking kidding me," said Kathy switching the TV off.

Exhausted, Kathy fell asleep within seconds of her head hitting the soft pillow. Two doors down a mysterious man had checked into room number eleven just minutes after they arrived. The man had been following the women ever since they left the camping grounds earlier that day. Kathy and Janet never suspected a thing but perhaps he was just there to watch over them.

The tall husky man sat on the side of a queen sized bed nervously smoking a cigarette. His right leg moved impatiently up and down while holding on tight to a black duffle bag. Displayed on the side of the black bag was the words John's Sporting Shop in bright green letters. Slowly, he unzipped the bag and retrieved a pair of dark green fishing gloves and a twelve inch blade hunting knife. He also retrieved a bottle of Jack Daniel's whiskey, twisted off the cap, and took a long refreshing swig. Putting on the gloves, he stood up, and placed the knife inside his NY Forest ranger jacket pocket. Dry blood stains were visible on the knife and his long sleeve gray shirt.

Displaying a silly grin on his unshaven face, he exited the room. He walked down the corridor as his heart pounded in his chest in excitement as he approached his targets. George paused in front of Kathy and Janet's room as drops of sweat began to form on his greasy unwashed forehead. He gently grabbed the doorknob and began to turn it slowly. To his surprise the door was unlocked so he entered the room without incident noticing his intended victims lying on the beds.

No more than 100 yards away sitting in an unmarked car was Officer Miller. Unfortunately, he had fallen sleep and did not notice that the strange man he was following had come out of his room and was entering room number thirteen.

Throughout the day the officer had been in surveillance of this man who had been following Kathy and Janet since they left the car rental place. The vehicle was registered to Steve Jenkins who worked as a park ranger in Prospect Mountain. Officer Miller found the situation odd but at this time he did not have probable cause to approach the suspect. It never dawned on Officer Miller that the stranger was instead George, the suspected killer whom they have been searching for back on Prospect Mountain.

George opened the door and entered the room gently closing the door behind him. The air conditioning unit was loud enough that the women did not hear anyone coming into the room. The figure stood there staring at the sleeping beauties as the red glow of a Red Roof Inn neon sign across the street flickered on and off with the red glow reflecting on their beautiful faces.

George gingerly walked and stood between the two beds glancing back and forth at each of his victims. For reasons that went back to his childhood, he despised bleached blonde women so he decided to attack Kathy first. He retrieved his hunting knife and slowly raised it ready to strike but at the last second he instead decided to take a pillow and cover Kathy's face pressing down forcefully suffocating her. Kathy woke up but was unable to fight her attacker as he had her pinned down to the bed. After struggling for a few seconds, Kathy's body finally gave up and lay there motionless. George removed the pillow from her face and gently caressed Kathy's blonde hair placing it back in its place.

Unlike Kathy, Janet was a brunette which excited George. As he stood there staring at her, he instantly felt an erection pulsating through his pants. Just about when he was about to bend down to grab Janet by the neck, she opened her eyes, which prompted George to immediately cover her mouth to muffle her screams. Next, he grabbed both of her arms and swung her body across the room hitting a mirrored armoire. After she fell to the floor semiconscious, George got on top of her pinning her to the floor and began to strangle her with his strong left hand while the right hand reached between Janet's legs to rip off her panties.

At that moment, Janet's adrenalin kicked in and she drove her right knee into George's crotch causing him to stagger backwards as he grabbed his manhood. Janet managed to get up and ran towards the bathroom when suddenly George swung his knife slicing her left ankle. Janet let out a scream and fell to the floor but was able to crawl into the bathroom closing the door. She locked the door and sat in front of it holding her bloody ankle. Seconds later, the immediate pounding on the bathroom door startled her as she sobbed uncontrollably.

The commotion inside the room finally managed to wake up Officer Miller across the parking lot. Quickly he exited the car and ran towards room thirteen storming inside just in time to see George standing by the bathroom door banging on it and swearing out loud.

"You fucking bitch, come out so that I can fuck your brains out!" yelled George.

"Freeze, police!" said Officer Miller.

George stopped and turned around holding his bloody knife.

"Drop the knife or I will shoot!"

George did not oblige and instead charged like a mad animal towards Officer Miller raising the knife to stab him. Instantly, Officer Miller shot George twice on his torso as the body jerked from the impact of the slugs. A third bullet hit George on his neck and a final one on his forehead. His body fell backwards twitching briefly and with his long legs kicking before finally laying there motionless.

Officer Miller walked over to the body and checked the inside pocket for identification. He opened up the attacker's wallet and realized that the picture on the driver's license showed Steve Jenkins name but the photo was not the person he just shot. Finally, he put two and two together and realized that this person had to be George, the Prospect Mountain killer.

Officer Miller walked over to the bed and felt Kathy's pulse. At that moment, Janet stormed out of the bathroom limping and sobbing loudly, which startled Office Miller forcing him to point the gun towards Janet. Realizing that it was Janet, he put his gun back in his holster just as Janet collapsed in his arms.

"Are you OK, ma'am?"

"I am now," said Janet while hugging him tightly.

Feeling a bit uncomfortable, Officer Miller managed to sit Janet on the bed next to Kathy's body.

"Wait here while I call out for assistance."

Officer Miller walked out of the room and went to his car to make the call. At that time, a crowd was gathering outside. Back inside the room Janet felt something move on the bed behind her. Nervously, she turned around and to her surprise it was Kathy who was just coming out of unconsciousness.

"Kathy, thank God. Are you are OK?"

"What happened?" said Kathy in a state of confusion.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you later. I am so glad you are OK," said Janet as she hugged her friend.

Shortly thereafter, Officer Miller returned to the room and saw Kathy and Janet hugging each other. He managed to smile giving him a sense of gratification.

"Hang on ladies, help is on its way."

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Sandersreggie8483 Dec 14, 2016

good story. you're a great writer

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