The afternoon sun was high and, despite the canopy of green overhead, it still beat down on you with that familiar summer heat. It would be enjoyable, were you not dragging every bit of luggage to your name by hand on an ill-kempt dirt road. Admittedly, it was still gorgeous out, and you felt reassured as you reminded yourself what lay at the end of this damn trail.

You had landed a position as a counselor-in-training at Camp Crystal Lake, doing most of their dirty work. Cleaning up after kids, washing dishes, etcetera. It'll be fun, you told yourself. It was a chance to get out, see some nature. You'd spoken briefly with one of the wonders of the camp when you called about the position: an older woman who said she owned the place and ran it with her son.

You wondered how much of this land they actually owned. Seeing just how expansive it was now that you were in the dead center of it all, you found it hard to believe they could afford the upkeep of such a large piece of land on summer camp profits alone, especially one this far down a dirt road.

Wait... Where was the road? Shit, where were you?

Well, this was a little too much nature. Before the realized it, you'd made a couple of wrong steps off the beaten path straight into unfamiliar territory — a thicket so vast you could barely see the light of day. You tried to turn around and retrace your steps back to the path, but it's as if they'd finished, blending in with the rest of this unnavigable forest.

You were pretty sure you still remembered the direction you were supposed to be headed, so you started walking again, now trudging through thick kudzu with your heavy bags in tow. The more you walked, the woods just seemed to get deeper and deeper. It was almost eerie how quiet it was out here. Being immersed in nature was one thing, but it felt like you were the only living, breathing thing for miles.

After a few minutes of treading, your ear caught a sound — a thumping noise somewhere off in the distance. It was almost rhythmic, like... chopping?