Strangers in the Woods

The moon breaks through the trees as I carry my supplies to the camping site. When I get to my tent, I set everything down and sit down. I look up towards the sky that twinkles like it’s filled with pixie dust. I close my eyes as a small breeze brushes my face.

There’s a light rustling near the bushes in front of me and my eyes snap open. But there’s nothing there. I get up to look around but I still don’t find anything. It must have been nothing.

I decided to head back and go to sleep now. I get back to the tent, but there’s something off. The supplies that I brought with me, it’s all gone. But how?

I start to turn around, but I’m stopped by a voice and the feel of something brush against my head.

“Who are you?” The voice says.

I slowly turn around to see a woman armed with a rifle that’s pointed right at my head. I take a small step back as I say, “I-I’m Jared… Jared Hemingway. Can you lower that, please?”

The woman’s eyes narrow, but she drops her gun slightly and I let go of the breath I was holding. I look at her, she still has her hand firmly holding the rifle as if she’s waiting for me to make a move. But instead, I don't move and try to get an explanation.

“May I ask who you are and why you were threatening me with a rifle?” I ask, the shock showing in my voice.

She stares at me a moment with her eyes still narrowed, but then she puts the rifle back in its sling before extending her arm.

“Rachel Telling.”

I take her hand and shake it, waiting for her to finish her answer.

She lets go. “And, I apologize, but I had to ensure you weren’t a threat.”

I take a deep breath. “Well, I’m glad that you realized I wasn’t one before you pulled the trigger.” I gesture towards the rifle that is now on her back.

She smiles. “Yeah, I am really sorry about that. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

I shrug. “It’s no problem. But may I ask why you took all my supplies?” I nod to my now empty campsite.

Her eyes widened. “Oh, yeah sorry. I needed to make sure you wouldn't have any weapons that you could use against me.” She walks back to behind a tree a couple feet away and brings back my bags. “Here you go.”

I grab them. “Thanks.”

She sighs. “Well I guess I should get going now.” She turns to walk away, but I grab her arm to stop her. “Wait.” I mean surely I shouldn’t let her be all alone in the woods in the dark, right?

“Why don’t you camp here with me, at least for the night?”

She smiles lightly before saying, “Well I wouldn’t want to intrude-”

“Nonsense. Please, I insist that you stay the night.” I interrupt. “Besides, I could use the company.”

She thinks for a moment before smiling again. “Okay, I’ll stay the night. Thank you.”

. . .

While she sleeps, I lay awake. I haven’t been able to sleep as easily these past few days because one thing is always clouding my mind. I won’t be able to rest again until what I must do is finally done. I close my eyes and continue on looking into the darkness.

The next morning, I found myself alone in the tent. I figured she must have left already. I was hoping I could at least make her breakfast first. Sighing, I open the tent only to fall back surprised.

Rachel hadn’t left after all; she was making breakfast at the fire pit. When I walk out, she turns to me and smiles. “Hey Jared, I hope you don’t mind but I’m making us some omelettes.”

I smile. “No, that’s great. Thank you, Rachel.” She smiles then turns back to the fire.

I turn away and decide to get a head start on my work. I retrieve my terrestrial telescope from the tent and set up at the end of the tree line of the forest until I find what I’m looking for. I line up with the eyepiece and I see it.

The Lab.

A massive white building with a giant fence lining the property. Inside, I see lines and lines of robots with multiple guards patrolling them. I back up from the telescope in disgust. It makes me sick to my stomach to see this happening. I have to do something to end all of this.

I walk back up the telescope and gaze through once more. The robots are still lined up like they are being given instructions of some kind. I’m about to back away again, but a sudden movement keeps me there until I see it. One of the robots in the last row turned away from the guards and was looking straight at me.

“Jared?”

I jump and fall back taking the telescope down with me. I look over to see Rachel watching me.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sneak up on you like that. But…what were you doing?” Her eyes flicker to the telescope now on the ground beside me before meeting my eyes again.

My heart quickens. “Oh, uh it’s fine, Rachel. I was—I was just… bird watching. Yeah, bird watching, I found some pretty unique ones.” I look up at her, praying that my lie worked.

She looks skeptical and doesn’t say anything for a moment, but then she clears her throat. “O…kay. I’m just…gonna go back to the tent.” She turns and begins to walk away.

“Okay, I’ll meet you back there in a minute.” I say, hoping my voice stays level as I watch her disappear through the trees.

As soon as she’s out of sight, I quickly pick up the telescope and line it up to the lab again. I gaze through to find that all the robots and the guards have now retreated back in the building, including the one who looked right at me.

I sigh. I want to tell Rachel, maybe she could even help me. But I don’t know what her reaction will be, and I can’t afford it if she goes around telling people of what I plan to do. So I just have to hope she doesn't get too suspicious while she’s here.

I pack up the telescope and start heading back through the trees to the tent. While I’m walking, I can’t shake the thoughts running through my mind. I put my hand in my pocket to feel the most important piece for all of this. I mean how hard can it really be to blow up the lab by myself. All I need is to sneak in close enough to the fence and drop a few grenades along it and then press the button. Easy.

I just know I have to do this. Everyone loves the idea of robots joining their everyday lives, but I know better. They will eventually turn on us and they just can't be trusted. The only thing we can do—that I can do— is destroy them. For the better of everyone.

When I finally reach the tent, I find Rachel sitting near the fire. I’m about to say something, but something stops me. She is staring right into the fire and doesn’t even seem to have noticed me walking in front of her.

“Rachel?” My voice comes out more of a whisper.

Her head snaps up at me. “Oh, hi.” She stands up and takes a step towards me. “I was just waiting for you to get back. I was going to go gather some more wood for the fire, but I wanted to let you know first before I went off.”

“Oh…okay. Yeah, that would be great. Do you want me to come with?”

“Oh, no it's okay. You should just get some rest after all that bird watching.” She says, smiling but it’s not quite meeting her eyes.

“Right, yeah I’ll do that.” I say as I feel my heart trying to escape my chest.

She walks off into the trees, leaving me alone with my thoughts once again. I take one of the omelettes she made earlier and lay down in the tent.

Eventually, I begin to drift off. But I end up waking up to the sound of the tent opening. I open my eyes to find Rachel standing over me, rifle in hand, pointed right at my head.

“Wh—what are you doing?” I try to move away, but she only moved the rifle closer.

She keeps her gaze on my eyes. “I’m sorry it had to be this way, but we can’t just let you go.”

Confusion swarms me. “Rachel, what are you talking about? Who can’t just let me go?

She hesitates as if I surprised her before saying, “We can’t just let you keep running around, it’s too much a liability.”

“What are you talking about? What did I do?” My voice breaks. Did she find out I was lying about bird watching and this is some sort of payback? Or did she somehow find out what I was planning to do…but what does that have to do with her?

All of these questions are flooding my head as I’m waiting for her to answer. But she never does. I see the bullet leave the barrel as it races to my forehead, knocking me to the ground. She shot me, yet… I don’t feel a thing. No pain. I reach my arm up to feel where the bullet hit, but instead of flesh, my fingers feel wires.

No, it can’t be. How could I be the very thing I wanted to destroy? Why?

“I’m sorry it had to be this way, Jared.” Rachel’s voice comes in a hushed whisper before everything turns black and the life I thought I had turns into nothing but the illusion it always was.

…

“Mrs Telling, great work eliminating the threat. However, another defective robot escaped this morning to the city. I need you there as soon as possible to ensure the future of The Lab.”

“Right away, boss.”