2019-09-04 - Horror in the Forest

It was a good time for a camping trip! The weather wasn't sweltering, there were no rain clouds. She had managed to make arrangements for Wishbone to be watched for the day and a half or so they were going to be up here. Not like they were too terribly far away from home anyhow. She had suggested they start from one of the actual hiking trails nearby and split off from there to find a good camping spot. And so this meant Garrett got to load up his Wrangler with all their supplies and Kelsey and head over to the parking area where the trails started!

Kelsey had volunteered to take care of their provisions so there was enough water, snacks, and a small cooler with some sandwich stuff that should last them for their trip. "I think we're off to a good start." Eyeing the sky again as she helped unload stuff, situating things for optimal carrying.

Garrett glances skyward, then nods and smiles his agreement. "I'd say so, yeah." He situates things in a backpack that, in all honesty, is probably bigger than is necessary for this trip, something clearly meant for more extended hiking trips, but he doesn't seem concerned. Not like he has to carry it for more than a day or so, after all. He checks over straps and cinches things down, draping a rain poncho over the whole lot just in case, before giving a satisfied nod. "So. Where first?" he asks, lifting the bag overhead and letting it fall into place on his shoulders.

Once everything is situated, Kelsey is silently glad once more that she decided not to bring Wishbone. Get back into the groove of camping things first and then bring him on the next trip. "Hmmm..." Walking over to the listing that explained all the trail starts and had a map. "How about this one?" Pointing to a trail, following it a touch. "Looks like it goes on for a decent bit, so should have some good points to go off trail and find a place to camp out. And maybe some neat things."

"Hmmm..." Garrett hoists his pack and tightens up the shoulder straps as he moves towards the trail guide, following Kelsey's finger along the path. "Looks promising," he eventually agrees, grinning. "That is...." He turns, looks towards the few trail heads that meet at the parking lot. "That one, yes?" He nods towards the trail in question then glances at the cooler. "I'll haul it in if you haul it out in the morning?" he offers.

Kelsey followed his gaze, studying the entrance and then nodded. "Yeah pretty sure." She agreed, double checking one more time with the map. Nodding once more in affirmation. Then grinned to him with the question of the cooler. "Sounds like a deal to me." Checking the Wrangler once more. "Think we got everything! Ready to head up?"

"Was born ready," Garrett confirms, grinning back. He makes short work of lashing the cooler to the bottom of his pack, adjusts the new load, then nods. "Lead on. Think we've got everything here, yeah?" He locks up the jeep and clips his keys to his pack with a satisfied nod. "Let's go find what we can find!" With a smile, he sets off, letting Kelsey take point.

The final touch, Kelsey wrangled her hair into a quick ponytail so it wouldn't get in the way while they walked. "Onward!" She agreed, heading towards the trail. "Figure we've got penty of daylight to find a good camp spot and then explore a fair bit." Glancing over to him before focusing up on the trail. This one was marked for more experienced hikers because there were some sharp drops and such later on down the path. Things you needed to be cautious of because one wrong step would send you flying. "Is it silly that I think it'd be really cool if we stumbled upon some like really old, old village remains or something? Like from even before Gray Harbor was a thing?"

"Sounds like a plan," Garrett calls forward, bouncing on the balls of his feet a touch. "That is not even a little weird," he promises, eyes ahead, mostly watching Kelsey and how she reacts to the trail to know when he might want to pay attention to his feet. "I mean, a little creepy if we actually do, mind. Kind of like that sawmill, yeah? But not weird to want to. S'why we're out here, yeah?" he points out.

"Mm fair point." Kelsey conceded. "It would be so creepy. But, pretty epic. Great inspiration for a story probably." She mused, and then smirked a bit. "Did you ever get around to your little scavenger hunt to find one of my stories?" She asked, curious mostly. She was primarily keeping her eyes out for a good spot to veer off path. "Any sort of things you're hoping we might stumble upon?"

"Nothing that I think was you, yet," Garrett responds, shaking his head. "I'll find it eventually, though!" he 'warns' with a chuckle. "So, how likely do you think it is we actually run across something like that, a random old village from God-knows-when?" he asks, interested in the idea but sounding more than a little skeptical about it. "People would know about some old village in the woods, you'd think, yeah?"

"Eventually!" Kelsey agreed with a laugh. "If you read through everything you'll statistically have to find it." Then shrugged, thinking over the middle-of-the-woods village. "Honestly? I dunno. It's a lot of forest. Hard to say how far it's actually be explored with a thorough hand. I think it's highly doubtful there's a whole overgrown village though. Maybe an abandoned cabin or two. That seems more realistic." Kelsey offered. "A whole village I think would have been spotted at some point. Maybe." Slowing to a stop and turning to the left to study the forest in that direction. "This looks like a good place to step off." And then did just that! Starting to walk off trail.

"...I hope I don't have to read the whole internet to find it. Not sure I've got that sort of free time," Garrett muses. Kelsey's assessment of the possibility of overgrown villages seems reasonable, though, and he nods. "Yeah, cabin seems more likely." A pause. "Harder to spot, though, compared to a whole village, I'd think?" He shrugs, then lengthens his stride as Kelsey steps off the trail. No point walking single file if there's no trail to stay on, so he moves more or less beside her as the terrain allows. "Crap, wait, one second. Can you fish the GPS out of this pocket?" He reaches awkwardly behind himself, patting his pack. "Want to make sure we can find this path again on the way out," he explains.

"Oof I hope you don't either. No one should ever spend their free time just trying to hunt down a single story." Kelsey laughed. "Yeah definitely. A whole village would be so easy to spot I'd think." Idly glancing around as if trying to maybe spot said village. "Oh! Shit you're right." About the GPS! That was important! Kelsey shifted her walking and moved over to his pack to dig out the GPS. The zipped the pocket back up. "Good thinking. Or else we'd probably be screwed." She booted the GPS up and then handed it to him, figuring he'd know how to work it better than she would.

"You could save me a lifetime of searching a just tell me," Garrett points out, tone more teasing than actually suggesting the challenge end prematurely. Once the GPS is retrieved he pokes at it for a few moments before giving a satisfied nod. "There. Should keep us from getting too lost." Looking rather relieved, he puts the device in a more easily accessible pocket for future use, in case they find something worthwhile! "Alright. Back to it?" He begins walking slowly in the direction they had been going.

"I coulddddd, but there's no fun in that." Kelsey laughed, letting him set up the GPS. "Good. If we get lost, well, hopefully there's a signal around wherever we end up.' She mused and started walking with him again. Taking it easy since this wasn't a regular path. "First step, find a good place to set up camp and ditch this gear for a bit." Kelsey nodded. "So, I think we sort of touched on it...but what do you actually do for work?" Curious. Knowing it had something to do with nature, or the environment or...something.

Garrett lets out a greatly exaggerated huff of faux-disappointment. "Fine, keep your secrets." He grins, then glances upward. "Yeah, hopefully we'll find a clearing or some such so the signal doesn't get blocked," he says, then shrugs. "Or we'll just not get lost. Let's try that, yeah?" he suggests with a chuckle. "Work? Park ranger up at Olympic. What that entails, exactly, depends on the day. Sit in a tower and make sure the place doesn't start on fire, go with whomever to wherever so they can research whatever, check over numbers and whatnot, maintain trails, patrol trails, check up on hikers that get turned around.... you name it."

"Secrets are fun." Kelsey wiggled her fingers at him. "We'll try not to get lost., Seems like a good plan to me. " Is agreed to whole heartedly. As Garrett explains his job, Kesley grins again. "So, basically, you're working right now. Going with whomever to research whatever. Sounds like a neat job though. With how much you like the outdoors." She kept her eyes out for a good clearing, or at least a place to set up a good camp. "Make sure to mark the camp on the GPS too - so we can find it again."

"...you're right, I should absolutely be charging by the hour," Garrett agrees with a little smirk, head on a swivel as he, too, keeps his eyes peeled for a good site to make camp. "Good call. Finding our way out is good, but I'd like to do it with my stuff, not just the clothes on my back." He fishes the GPS out now, just to have it on hand as a reminder once a suitable location is found. "How big of a clearing we want? My tent isn't that big. Yours?"

Kelsey says, "You can just put it all on my tab." Kelsey winked. "My tent isn't too big either. Just a single person one." A slight shrug of shoulders. "Enough room for the tents and a little fire pit should be plenty I'd think." After a few more minutes of walking, "I think I might see a possibility?" Pointing a little towards the right. "In the distance? I could be my eyes playing tricks but let's take a closer look?" Adjusting her path slightly."

"You joke until the bill comes in the mail," Garrett teases, then nods. "Sounds good to me. Let's go check it out." He turns, adjusting course to stay with Kelsey and scout out the possible clearing. "Did I already ask you what you do, besides explore the woods and write haunted music box horror stories?" he asks with a smile.

Kelsey chuckled at that, keeping her focus ahead on the spot she saw. "I mean, probably. But it's unremarkable so you might not remember." She laughed. "I just do odd jobs mostly. Like, running errands for people, doing that food delivery stuff. Painting people's doors and things like that." Making a thoughtful noise as the space came into view. "Hm. A possibility? Might be something better though." As they walked, both of them would feel a strange sort of tingle up their spine. The sort that make your hairs on the neck stand on end. It made Kelsey shudder and stop for a moment, wrinkling up her nose and looking around quickly. Maybe a little wary but - nothing looked different or weird or out of place. "Weird." She murmured. Maybe it was just some animal watching them.

"Right! I do remember you saying that. Sorry. Lot of new people, get some of who said what mixed..." Garrett trails off with a little shiver, pausing mid-stride. "Kind of chilly here in the woods, huh? Guess the tress keep it cooler than you'd expect," he reasons, giving one more little shake to try getting the last of the weird feeling to go away. "Yeah, we can do better," he agrees a few moments later, nodding and continuing the search for a campsite.

"Hey, no problem. There's way more interesting people in this town than me I'm pretty sure." Kelsey shrugged. "Good that you're meeting lots of people though yeah?" Nodding a bit as she looked around one final time. "Yeah, guess they do." Starting to walk with him again. "I agree. There's gotta be something better."

"Come now, don't be like that. You are plenty interesting," Garrett assures with a grin. "Setting your own schedule and all that, leaves you time to do stuff like hiking through the woods and all that, yeah?" He glances back at the almost-campsite, giving his head a little shake, before his eyes are forward again. "Hm. Really though we'd run across more clearings than we have," he thinks aloud, continuing to glance about. "...you know, or overgrown villages. Whichever."

"The flexibility is nice." Kelsey admits. "Sometimes I feel like I could be doing more? but then again, as long as I'm not having to beg people for money - I think I'm doing just fine." She nods in agreement. "Yeah, I'd think so too. Maybe we just picked a bad spot." They walk for a little while longer and Kelsey's eyes widen. "Uhm...what were you saying about overgrown villages?" She asks, disbelief coloring her tone.

Because less than half a mile a head of them....there's a goddamned village. Except for the fact that it doesn't even seem THAT overgrown. Yeah there's vines crawling up some of the sides of the wooden buildings that they can see. There's just square cutouts for windows, maybe? Kelsey looks back over her shoulder. Oh fuck.

"Uhm...Garrett. Get out the GPS yeah?"

If Garret happens to look behind them as well, he'd see that it appears the trees are starting to close in behind them? As if blocking them from turning around.

"Flexibility is nice," Garrett agrees. "As is not begging. All in all, could be doing a lot worse." He nods, but then he's slowing, and then coming to a stop beside Kelsey. He doesn't look back over his shoulder, too distracted by the sudden village appearance, before lifting the GPS. "Right, should definitely mark this," he says, half to himself, thumb working over the device without looking, banking on muscle memory... until the lack of reassuring beeps makes him look down after all. "Hm. No signal. You'd think the clearing from the buildings would be more than enough," he grumbles, holding the device up and giving it a couple taps on its side, as if that ever works.

Kelsey glances over. Yeah, no surprise there. She's got a sinking feeling that she might know exactly what's going on. And man does she feel sorry for Garrett that he's stuck here with her. Just. Stay. Calm. As long as there's no damn worms everything will be alright. Right? Right. "Maybe if we get closer to the village?" She suggested, grabbing his arm - trying not to be too abrupt about it - but she will drag him towards the village and away from the encroaching trees if needed. Focus dead ahead. Because if she looks behind her again, she's definitely going to lose her cool.

All kinds of terrible thoughts and memories are starting to crop up. "Maybe it's some kind of historical attraction thing." With no defining signs and not a tourist in sight. The village looks old and abandoned. But oddly, with signs of life like - people had been living here for a while, but then recently and abruptly decided to leave. Hello beginning of a B-Rated horror movie.

"Yeah. Maybe if I get up on a roof or something, maybe?" Garrett is apparently unaware of the elevated level of weird that is afoot, mostly focused on the malfunctioning electronics. High ground and/or clearer skies are the usual fix, so no reason not to think that won't work now, right? He doesn't fight Kelsey on being led towards the village and away from the trees, still trying to poke at buttons and refresh things on the GPS. Anything to maybe make the thing work as advertised. "Yeah, maybe. Probably a popular field trip spot, if a bit off the beaten path," he agrees.

If Kelsey had been thinking straighter, she might have thought better about going right into the village, because this was clearly going to be some kind of trap. Or something. Probably. Shit.

Now that they're in the village, it's about this time - while Garret is looking for an easy roof to get on - that he'll notice this too. Not only are they in the village. They're trapped in the village. If the enclosure of trees forming a wall around them is any indication- and the way the impossibly tall tree tops are bent forward at the perfect angle to prevent anyone from trying to climb out too.

"Don't suppose you have any signal on that thing?" Kelsey asks with a touch of a waver in her voice. Trying to quell her rising panic.

Garrett is clearly getting frustrated, giving the GPS a shake before shoving it in his pack in disgust, looking up... and noticing how thoroughly stuck they are. He blinks a few times, turning a slow circle and seeing how the trees are arranged around them.
"...the hell...?" He drifts to Kelsey's side and gives her a nudge, too disbelieving to panic (at the moment), nodding at the wall of trees with a disbelieving look on his face, jaw slack and hanging open.

"So. Remember when I said this town was weird?" Kelsey asked - though her voice was a whisper - not looking at Garrett. Just trying to find any kind of opening. Taking stock of the situation - the buildings. There were about 7 in total. Three on each side and 1 at the head of it all. Like a city hall or something. Exhaling slowly.

Then there was a screeching sound,like feedback from a speaker system. "No where to runnnnn. No where to hideeee. Only place to go is inside..." A voice echoed from...everywhere. It sounded sing-songy and sinister. Like a crazy person might.

She grabbed Garrett's hand then, squeezing it- trying not to completely lose it.

"...I think, maybe, you understated the weird..." Garrett responds in his own low whisper, his hand in Kelsey's tense and sweating in a way that has nothing to do with temperature. His other hand maintains a white-knuckles grip on the GPS like it's a security blanket. The voice seemingly mocking them sends a shiver down his spine. "The fuck is going on here, Kelsey?" he asks through a tightly clenched jaw, looking side to side, over his shoulder, trying to look everywhere at once.

Kelsey feels terrible, underneath the fear. Because, she is TOTALLY her fault. It has to be. She's been abusing her powers, using them for stupid stuff more than just when necessary. Trying to lure a Dark Man...is this the consequence? Or just a warning? Kelsey doesn't know and she can't fully comprehend it. "We can-" She starts to say, then the ground starts to shake. She stumbles but manages to keep her balance. "Let's go inside!" The building at the head seems to be the one to go into because the buildings on either side are starting to grow and twist rather rapidly as if trying to push them towards it "Let's get out alive first! And then we can talk." Starting to drag him in that direction.

Garrett is in no position to argue with Kelsey on what to do, and is immediately following Kelsey, not really needing to be dragged. There's no way he's letting her more than a couple steps away from him for the foreseeable future. "So what, we just play along and hope for the best?" he asks in a rush as the 'main' building draws closer. Suffice to say all his years of outdoors experience have not come anywhere near preparing him for whatever is happening.

"Basically." There's a hopeless kind of quality to the word as they reach the safety of the building. Which, from the outside was an old wooden structure just like the others! But now that they're inside - is some kind of abandoned factory looking warehouse thing. The doors slam behind them...and then disappear. So, uh, so much for leaving I guess! There's a big red button in the center of the floor. There's old machinery and boxes and then like scattered about. Three doors on the opposite end.

Kelsey is trembling but somehow hasn't had a total meltdown yet. Still holding Garrett's hand in a death grip.

"The only way out is through. You know what to do."

There a barely audible squeak from Kelsey - struggling to find her voice, but she does manage to point to the button on the floor.

"...you're fucking with me, right?" Garrett is perhaps giving Kelsey a tad too much credit to think she could have arranged all this. Or, more likely, he's just trying to convince himself it's less weird than it actually is. He jumps when the door closes and vanishes behind them, staring in shock at the now empty wall. "...Fuck. Me." Is a resigned 'oh shit' more than anything as he looks at the button. "I... I guess..." He doesn't let Kelsey go, moving forward to step on the button and see what happens.

The expression on Kelsey's face reads 'I wish' when Garrett asks if he was fucking with her. If she could stop all this right now, she most certainly would! She follows Garret over to the button. Dreading it. This red button might as well be one of her boogeymen.

When Garrett steps on the button there's an audible click of it setting into place. There's a big timer that lights up on the far wall with the three doors with 1 minute on the timer. A more robotic voice reads out:

"Pick. A. Door." The timer starts to tick down.

"They're going to be trapped. They have to be." Kelsey finally finds her voice, sounding panicked. "But we have to pick one." Like she's been through this before.

"This game show is the worst," Garrett whispers, looking at the doors. He takes a deep breath, weighing his options, before giving his head a little shake. "Probably doesn't matter. I don't think there's a new car behind one of them." With another deep, shuddering breath, he begins to walk straight forward, towards the middle door. Almost as an afterthought, the GPS finally gets stuffed back in a pocket of his pack. Maybe having both hands free is a good idea.

30...29...28...

"It really is." Kelsey agreed quietly and nodded again, yeah there likely wasn't. She follows him towards the middle door. "Should we open it together?"
Pulling her flannel down a bit over her hands - just in case.

23...22...21...

Garrett swallows heavily, then ponders. "...no,if it's going to fuck us up, better that's it's just one of us," he answers, and without further ado, reaches out to open the door, wincing a bit and turning his face away as he does so.

The timer stops! The door opens! Nothing flies out at them!

Did they choose right?

Probably not. Because the walls of the hallway are actually not walls at all. They are giant rollers with spikes on them, like meat grinders. And they start spinning slowly.

"Let's see if you've got what it takes. Or if you're just chopped liver." There's a cackle along with the voice this time. There is a door at the other end of the hallway. The grinders start to pick up speed and...are they getting closer?!

"RUN!" No time to think about it!

Garrett stares in horror for a few moments before coming to his senses. At the shout from Kelsey he takes off, legs eating up the ground beneath them... and then he's clear!... he thought, until a few moments later he feels himself behind pulled back. His backpack gets caught on one of the 'teeth' of the rollers, and Garrett sheds it in a rush, watching wide eyed as it and all the things inside it are thoroughly destroyed.

Garrett makes it look easy! Aside his backpack getting shredded. Kelsey is hot on his heels but she isn't as lucky. Her backpack manages to get caught up in the grinder - yanking her backwards. She struggles and twists to shed the quickly dissolving pack. Which leads to flannel ALSO getting tangled in the mess.

There's a blood curddling scream from the blonde as the spikes start slicing into her. A surge of adrenaline is the only thing that keeps her from getting completely chewed up and dead. She leaps that final distance, hitting the ground and rolling. Coming to a stop near the door and Garrett's feet. Her left arm is a mangled, bloody mess, a couple small chunks of hair are missing. her right thigh is injured, though not so bad that she can't walk.

The grinders come to a stop now that they are both on the other side and there's a click of the door unlocking. Kelsey is in shock, she has to be. Because she's completely silent, but her eyes are wide and there's obvious pain on her face. But she just can't muster up any screams.

The scream immediately ruins any momentary relief he may have been feeling that it was just his backpack, not him. And then there's a thoroughly bloodied Kelsey laying on the floor. "Oh fuck, holy shit.... oh God...." Garrett kneels beside her, at a loss what to do. Any first aid supplies he may have had with him were likely in his pack, so he improvises and takes his shirt off, wrapping it around the mangled mess of an arm to try doing what he can to limit the bleeding.

When Garrett starts wrapping her arm, that's when Kelsey screams. "Ohh fuck! Jesus christ!" She's looking pale. Of course she's looking pale. "I c-c-I can't..." She starts hyperventilating, tears running down her face.

"The fun's not over yet. Go on through, you'll love it I bet." The voice liked rhyming too apparently. So very annoying.

"FUCK YOU!" Kelsey screamed at that voice, through those tears. She thought she was done with all this. "H-h-help me u-up." God it hurt. Everything hurt. But...they had to keep moving. She had to get Garrett out of this mess.

Garrett winces when Kelsey screams. "I know, I know, I'm sorry," he says in a rush as he manages his improvised bandaging. The robotic voice gets a vague glare over Garrett's shoulder before he works his hand under Kelsey's good shoulder and tries to help ease her to her feet. "We're gonna be alright, yeah?" he tries to reassure, though his shaky voice probably doesn't do much to inspire confidence. Once Kelsey is up and on her feet, it's forward for them, though he's going slow to account for his companion's bum leg, blood loss, and presumed shock.

The door opens! ...and it somehow manages to be worse than the meat grinders. There's wide- seemingly bottom less pit with a precarious looking bridge. No way to go around and it leads to the other side that has another door! ....Will it ever end? Kelsey is gritting her teeth, whimpering, but trying to swallow it down.

"Cross the bridge and perhaps you'll live!"

That god damn voice was going to haunt her. Kelsey looked to Garrett uncertainly. "Maybe you should cross. Without me." A shallow, but sharp intake of breath. "I don't know if it'll balance right with you helping me."

Garrett swallows heavily when he sees what lies ahead. For a moment, it seems as though maybe he's actually considering Kelsey's idea. But a moment later he's giving his head a shake. "Don't be stupid. We're both going across." He takes a deep breath, just staring at the bridge. "...somehow. I think... maybe if I carry you across instead of trying to walk side by side?" he suggests.

Kelsey looks extremely dubious at that suggestion. "Carrying me? That sounds..." dangerous. One wrong move and they'd both go tumbling over maybe. She drew in another breath and focused up on him. "You're the one who's not injured so...you really have the final say. I just think..." you should save yourself. Kelsey didn't get a chance to say that out loud though - distracted by another big timer lighting up. 5 minutes.

To cross a cavernous bridge or die trying.

Lovely.

"Well you can't walk without help." Garrett says this as a statement of fact, glancing down at the injured leg. "And I can't help you if you're walking in front of or behind me." He says nothing of the possibility of him just going without her. "Can you hold on to my back with the one arm? That seems like the biggest setback." And then there's a timer rushing them and he's turning his back to Kelsey, arms hanging down to grab her legs for the least fun piggy back ride ever.

"I think so." Kelsey says, a little scowl at the timer - which quickly dissolves into another pained expression. She moves up close, wrapping her good arm around Garrett's neck and trying to leverage herself some so it was easier for him to grab her. She was feeling pretty faint - but at least his shirt seemed to be holding for now. Leaning her forehead against his other shoulder, she tried to collect herself. "Okay...okay. I'm ready." Once he had lifted her up and they got situated.

"Okay. Just like any other hike. Just a backpack. You've crossed narrow walkways with a heavy pack, it's just like that." Garrett gives himself a pep talk under his breath as he helps Kelsey get situated. He tightens his grip on her legs as he lifts, a quick 'Sorry,' over his shoulder before he takes that first step out onto the bridge, slightly leaning forward to try keeping him and Kelsey as balanced as possible.

Whatever he as to do. Garrett can likely feel her heart racing as she tightens her grip on him. Trying not to choke him in the process. The bridge actually looked a little more sturdy up close. Kind of. There were ropes on either side to hold on to - but it was still hanging over a bottomless pit and easily swayed. Some of the boards in the distance looked a little sketchy.

And there was a light breeze...seemingly from no where. Hopefully it stayed light!

Deep, slow, but far from steady breaths as Garrett tries to keep his shit together. "Just like that ridge in Texas. There's even handholds here. Practically a cake walk." Garrett continues to quietly reassure himself as he moves across the bridge. Left foot/right hand, right foot/left hand. Try not to tip the bridge over. "Of course there's wind, why wouldn't there be wind?" Garrett's attempts to force himself to stay calm are... not entirely successful, his speech getting a bit quicker. Not quite manic, but certainly not as calm as his words try to suggest. "Doing okay back there?" he asks his passenger, though he doesn't turn his head away from the goal for even a moment.

Kelsey shuts her eyes tightly, she's putting a lot of trust in Garrett right now. Primarily because she has no other choice. "We'll be fine. It'll be okay. You're doing great." She murmurs, trying to be encouraging - though she's totally learned today that she is terrified of heights. "I've been better." Kelsey gives a weak laugh. "But I'll be okay..."

The timer is down to 2:45 and they're just now nearing the halfway mark. Garrett might need to step it up! Oh and that wind? It's stepping up some too.

"Good. Yeah. We'll be fine," Garrett says continuing his progress, glancing at the clock. A little over two minutes to get halfway. No need to rush. Rushing leads to mistakes. Garrett maintains his pace, at least until that breeze picks up. "Fuck!" He leans accordingly as the bridge sways, going down to one knee until the wind dies down. At least, that's the plan, until the wind pointedly refuses to die down completely. So with a deep breath and some time lost, Garrett pushes back to his feet and, once he has a feeling for just how the bridge is swinging, continues his perilous trek, now with and extra touch of leaning sideways into the wind as he walks.

Kelsey yelps as the bridge starts swinging. with the wind. Oh god. They were going to die. They were totally going to die. Her grip manages to tighten when Garrett stands back up. 2:00 on the dot.

Thankfully, the window slowly seems to be dying down. Though the bridge is still swaying. "We're. Almost. There. You can do it." Eyes on the prize!

"We're almost there. We're almost there. We're almost there." The words become something of a mantra for Garrett as he moves forward... and once the wind dies down, does pick up the pace a little, especially as they're drawing closer to solid ground "We're going to be okay. We're almost there." The fact that there is someone literally clinging to him for their life is probably a strong motivator for him to make sure he places each foot just right as he moves just a touch faster.

Left foot. Right foot. Left. Right. Just a few more steps..

And they make it! Garrett will feel himself touching down on to the solid land with 15 seconds to spare. Close one! Kelsey loosens her hold just a little bit when she realizes they've stopped swaying. There's that click of the door unlocking too.

"Oh please let it be over." She murmured.

A heavy sigh of relief comes from Garrett when he hits solid ground again, leaning hands against either side of the door, leaning forward as he gasps for breath, just this side of hyperventilating. "Holy hell that was insane," he manages between breaths. "You okay?" he asks. Once he calms a bit he takes another deep breath, letting it out slowly, shakily before reaching for the door. "Please be a five star restaurant on the other side of this door," he whispers before taking hold of the handle to open it and see what else awaits them.

Kelsey gets herself back on to her own two feet...because who knows what's on the other side of the door. "I...I'm fine..." Well, as fine as one can be with her injuries. When he opens the door it's just a...pitch black room! And then there's a rather powerful gust of wind that sends them in through the door and tumbling down. Down. Downnnnnn. Apparently there was no floor!

"You win this time. Just wait until the next." That voice echos.

It might feel like they're falling forever, until finally they land with a thud on the ground - like they maybe just fell out of a one story window or something. And it's sunny, and there's trees and leaves and the sound of birds chirping. And it looks like they got deposited back on to the hiking trail they started on because you can justtttt barely see Garretts Jeep through the trees.

Kelsey just lays there on the ground. Her good hand balled into a fist that she is biting down on to stifle her cry of pain from the landing. The shirt wrapped around her arm is soaked through with blood, though at least it looks like she's not bleeding from her leg anymore.

"Son of aaaaaaaa-oof!" Garrett has the ei d knocked out of him by the surprise landing, though he pushes to his feet really none the worse for wear, psychological trauma aside. "What in the hell was th- fuck!" Garrett rounds on Kelsey as if to demand answers.... only to realize whatever hallucination they had just partaken in was, in fact, real. "Shit, Kelsey, okay, the Jeep isn't far, then we can get you to the hospital," he says quickly, kneeling beside her. His shirt is not doing much now, but is probably better than nothing so he doesn't mess with it. "Can you walk at all? Otherwise carrying you a bit further isn't the end of the world." He is already assuming her preference will be the latter and starts trying to work his arms /gently/ behind her shoulders and knees to get her to the Jeep.

Kelsey could probably walk, it would just be slow going. So him carrying her was for the best. She doesn't protest him picking her up. Her pale skin is paler than normal and she looks like she might be on the verge of passing out. "Sorry, sorry, I'm sorry." The words are mumbled, head rolling to come to a rest on his shoulder. Thankfully though, no more terrible and strange things happen so Garrett's easily able to make it back to the Jeep!

"Hey, it's alright, pretty sure you weren't behind that," Garrett reassures Kelsey as they go towards the Jeep. Bright side, all their stuff is gone, so there's plenty of room for him to get the back seats folded down so Kelsey can try to make herself as comfortable as is possible, which probably isn't very, but it's better than nothing. "I'll drive careful. You're gonna be alright," he assures. That's all he can do, though, so after that it's to the driver's seat to make for the hospital.

When Kelsey is back to not almost dying - she and Garrett can have a long discussion about what the hell just happened! And also maybe swear off camping in this particular forest for a while. "Tell 'em, something...wood chipper.." She is gripping the back of the seat with her good arm tightly as they drive. Struggling to stay awake. Thankfully the hospital wasn't very far.