Sticks And Stones 2 - Sample

With the long awaited release of Cut And Run: Sticks And Stones Part 2 just ahead, I thought that I would give you guys a sample to whet your appetite.

Coming soon from Back Road Books!

Copyright ©2016 by Charlie Morgan

When we walk among the burning dreams...

Blackberry Winter was in full swing when Jake and his hunting partner, Gary, hit the woods on the southern end of the Lowe Road. This last stretch of woods was all that was left to explore on a weeklong excursion.

Jake was tall, muscular and worked as a court clerk during the week. In his free time, he was completely absorbed in his hobby. In his youth he had been introduced to a film that would change his life. The Legend of Boggy Creek was a drive-in era, cult classic. It told the true story of a giant, hair-covered creature that terrorised a small Arkansas town. His interest quickly grew into obsession as he read all the books, articles and reports that he could get his hands on. In his teenage years, he would hit the woods when school was out, hoping to find some sign that hinted of a creature passing through.

Gary was tall, skinny and drove a cement truck during the week. He'd met Jake through a mutual friend several years back. Seeing that both of them shared interests in Bigfoot and Cryptozoology, a friendship quickly grew that eventually led to outings to look into any local reports. When the incidents of the Lowe Road  finally broke after the attack on a logging crew, Gary was in shock to see such a significant event happening so close to home.

Both men had planned the weeklong vacation into the mountains, camping and seeking whatever evidence they could lay their hands on.

So far, the trip had been a complete bust. The only thing they'd found was a big, steaming pile of shit that turned out to have been manufactured by a black bear that they saw just forty yards ahead of them.

They passed the site of the Laymon Logging Company incident and came up empty. Most of the forest floor was covered in branches and fallen trees. The clear spots had been riddled with tracks of the logging crew, paramedics, police, etc. If there ever were any tracks made by the creatures, they'd long been destroyed.
Gary froze in front of a large fallen pine. There were dark, rust-colored stains along the bark. His stomach began to churn as he tried to picture what had happened. I wonder if this is where one of those men was killed?

The local newspapers had gone wild when one of the injured men told what had really happened. The original story, told to the press by Laymon, had been that the men had been attacked by a bear who had a cub nearby.  Speculation began when analysis of the bite marks and other injuries pointed toward another, unknown, culprit.

When the injured man awoke after surgery, the story he'd told had been much more bizarre. He'd said that a dozen, or so, hair-covered things sprang from the forest. They ran on two legs and were gigantic and fast. The first man had fallen before he had time to react. The creature swiped at his head, snapping his neck with one thunderous blow. The other creatures charged at the loggers like the gates of hell had opened; spitting forth it's berserker warriors.

One of the men had managed to bury an ax into the chest of his attacker. The creature, enraged by pain, shot forward and sank it's teeth into the man's skull, shattering bone with ungodly strength.
From atop the hill, RJ Laymon raced to his truck and grabbed the .38 Special that he kept in the glovebox. He returned to scene and began firing at the attackers. Several fled at once after the first shots rang out. The rest soon followed as shots continued to strike around them. The whole event lasted almost two minutes, but to those who were there, it seemed like hours.

In the end, two men were dead and eight were severely injured. No bodies of the creatures had been recovered.