The Observers (Part 2) The dead woman rides for free

Part 1

I’ll get right to the next part of the email. I hope you’re beginning to see now why I’m worried about my cousin Carrie. The worst part of it all, for me at least, is that none of this brings me any closer to finding her.

It just leads to more questions without answers.

Maybe someone out there will have more luck deciphering the clues contained within these emails. I feel like there’s something that I’m not seeing.

The Observers – Part two

May 2020

Garrett is saying something about the waterfall feature to the left of the bus and I finally manage to form some words to try and get his attention.

Nassir: Outside! They’re outside! Lots of them!

Everyone else has gathered on the other side of the bus and are looking out the windows and listening to Garrett speak. When I start to call out they turn around and look back my way with widening eyes into the trees as we begin to hear the footfalls of many people moving outside. I look down out my window and see the shapes are not coming into focus any more clearly. Despite the fact that they are only a few feet away, they seem to remain as dark shadow-forms with no discernable features.

They begin to climb up onto the back and sides of the bus, poking at the tires with long spears. Drowning out the sunlight with their light-absorbing bodies. The effect is terrifying, like being plunged into unexpected darkness going through a dark tunnel on a waterslide.

Garrett: Hang on to something. Full throttle forward.

The bus accelerates rapidly and I am thrown backwards in my seat as the trees begin to speed past us again. Shadowy forms fall off of the bus one by one, being ripped away by the wind. It seems they have almost no weight to them, as they flutter like leaves and drift off into the sky. The sun is finally shining through and they seem to have all fallen off of the bus after a minute or two of driving.

I look back to see the hoard of dark shadow creatures still standing in the roadway behind us. Their faces watching us as they get smaller in the distance.

Nassir: What the hell were those things?

Garrett: I have no idea! You’ll find there are all sorts of things on this side of the giant oak tree that don’t make much sense. But that’s the fun of it! Don’t worry you’re safe. This bus is impenetrable.

Nassir: How do you know that, if what’s on this side is beyond anything we’ve experienced? We’re in another dimension, correct? So they might not play by the same rules over here.

Garrett: So far, we’ve found all of the realms play by the same fundamental laws of physics. Not only that, but they’ve all had breathable air and quite hospitable environments. It would appear that earth is a haven for organic life, no matter which reality you experience it in.

Nassir: At least from what you’ve seen up until this point.

Garrett: Correct. One other thing that’s been the same in nearly every instance is that there are intelligent creatures similar to humans in most of these realms. We’ve conversed with several of them.

Nassir: You made contact? You actually spoke to a creature from another dimension?

Garrett: Indeed I did – and in English! Just last week, in fact. There was a city, about eighty miles from our relative location. I’d like to see if there’s something like that here, in this reality, as well. That was the first one of its kind we found.

Nassir: A city? Holy shit.

Garrett: There’s no guarantee that we’ll find the same thing in this place, but it’s not so far to go. It’s worth taking a look, don’t you think?

Nassir: I’m up for the challenge. This is an experience of a lifetime, after all. Just promise me that if things start to go south we’ll turn around and get out of here.

Garrett: Deal. I’m glad you’re here, Nassir. I think it’s time the world found out about this. If you’ll excuse me a moment, I need to speak with Carrie about something.

He went back to the front of the bus where he sat down next to his lab assistant. My photographer Ramone came back over and sat down next to me. He had gotten up to look at the waterfall on the other side of the bus before the shadow people had appeared. I noticed his face was pale and he was trembling.

Nassir: Are you okay? You don’t look so good.

Ramone: I took some pictures of the waterfall back there. I was just looking through them and, well, I think you need to see this.

Nassir: What is it?

Ramone proceeds to show me the viewfinder of his camera. The screen displays a large waterfall, towering into the heights above. Not a great photo, since it was taken through a window. But then he zooms in and I see why he was so afraid. There is a large form standing in the trees, watching the bus. It is different from the shadow creatures on the other side, and blends in well with the foliage. It looks like a huge man with the body of a tree. His massive face had a beard made of moss, and he looks acutely aware that we do not belong there. His arms are crossed, his brow furrowed in concern.

Nassir: Oh. Yeah I can see why you’re a bit shaken up. That thing is huge. And almost invisible in the trees.

Ramone: We were looking right at it and didn’t even notice it. Should we show it to Garret? Maybe it’s important.

Nassir: It might be worth mentioning. Especially considering the fact that we’re surrounded by trees. He seems a bit preoccupied at the moment, though.

Ramone: What did he say to you anyways?

Nassir: He told me he’s spoken to the creatures in other dimensions. He’s made contact. He said he talked to one last week in a *city* in a different world than the one we’re in right now. It even spoke English, apparently. We’re headed in that direction now. He wants to see if there’s something like that here as well.

Ramone: If there is, I’m not sure I want to see it. Those shadow things back there didn’t seem too happy with us being here. Even the trees look angry, and that tree-person definitely wasn’t happy to see us.

Ted: What tree-person?

He sneaks up on us quietly without us realizing it. He looks at us with his steel blue eyes and appears completely confident, as if it is his job to look after our safety. I suddenly get a feeling what this man’s real occupation is. He and Wayne had claimed to be journalists. I realize now they may actually be our protectors. I probably shouldn’t have pissed them off earlier.

I decide it may be in our best interest to share the information with these men. It doesn’t make sense to continue the pattern of lying. Maybe some honesty will have a positive effect.

Nassir: Take a look for yourself.

Wayne: What the hell is going on?

Ted: They were trying to hide this, some tree creature in the woods. I overheard them talking about it.

Nassir: We weren’t hiding anything. I just finished saying we should share this information with Garrett.

Ted: Sure you were. Hey, Garrett! We’ve got a situation.

He takes the camera and stalks off to the front of the bus. Ramone is about to say something about how it’s his equipment the man is walking away with, but I stop him. I’m suddenly picturing a “Lord of the Flies” situation developing here. I don’t like the team dynamics that are being cultivated at such an early stage of our journey.

Ramone mentions to me that it’s probably a good idea if we go up and talk to Garrett as well. If we don’t then it will only be a one-sided story, and coming from Ted that could be trouble.

Garrett: You guys weren’t going to share this with the rest of the class?

Nassir: We were, actually. Ramone was just showing it to me a few seconds ago. We hadn’t had a chance it to show you yet.

Garrett: But you were planning on it?

Nassir: Of course! You’re the expert here. We’re just along for the ride.

Garrett: Alright. We’ll have to be careful. This means not all of these trees are simply trees. Some may be able to ambulate, and do quite a bit of damage judging by the size of this one. Good job catching it on film, Ramone. Can I have a copy of that picture, please?

Ramone: Yeah, no problem. Can I have my camera back now?

Garrett nods at Ted who hands it back to him. Garrett is still sitting in his seat with a small bemused grin. He doesn’t seem worried at all. He reminds me of an Elon Musk or Steve Jobs, one of those billionaire tech CEOs who don’t seem the least bit concerned with the problems of us mortals.

The bus suddenly begins to stop and we are thrown forward. Ramone and I end up tumbling into the front of the bus and I bang hard against the glass with my neck and shoulder. Ramone lands upside down on the stairs leading to the door. I see he’s bleeding from a head wound when he looks up at me.

We’re unable to see the front of the bus because of the tinted glass, but that changes a moment later when Garrett calls out to the voice activated technology.

Garrett: Display front window.

Suddenly it appears as if the entire driver’s compartment has disappeared.

We look out at a perfect video image of the front of the bus. He had done this before when we were nearing the huge tree that divided the realities but it was still amazing to me, the image is a flawless picture and it looks like we were staring out into the open air in front of the bus from the perspective of the front windshield. The technology is one-of-a-kind as far as I can tell.

There are several trees blocking the road. The gravel laneway can be seen extending beyond them, but three huge oaks are now rooted there, blocking the way. The trunks of them are unusual-looking, and appear to have malformed faces barely visible in the organic grooves and turns of the bark. They look dissimilar from the tree-man in Ramone’s picture, though.

The bus idles silently while we wait to see what Garrett will do.

He looks to the right and says something into the walkie-talkie. The bus begins to turn sharply in that direction, the tires crunching the gravel road as the wheels make the dry turn.

We start moving again and I see what Garret is looking at. There is a narrow dirt road that is leading into the forest to our right. It takes us down a steep hill.

Nassir: What are you doing? That hill is too much of an incline for us to get back out if that road is a dead-end. We have to turn back.

Garrett: It will be fine. The tires and engine on this bus are far superior to anything you’re familiar with. If there’s no way around this roadblock down that side-road, we’ll turn around and go back. Okay?

The way he says it doesn’t offer much chance for argument. I wordlessly go back to my seat as the bus suddenly take an alarming dip down the embankment. The woods outside become steadily darker and block out almost all of the suns’ rays as we begin to descend towards the floor of what appears to be a wooded valley.

The bus begins to pick up speed again and soon we are travelling very quickly, the trees a blur to the sides of the bus as they go by.

Nassir: I don’t like this.

Ramone: I don’t either. He’s got a weird look in his eyes, doesn’t he? Like he doesn’t seem worried out here at all. I don’t know how many times I’d have to do this to not be freaked out by the fact that we’re travelling through a different dimension right now, by the looks of it.

He is taking numerous pictures as we go, rapidly filling up a large SD card that’s in the camera. He tells me he has several spares, and is not worried about running out of space. Good news, considering we still have a ways to go at this rate. Pictures of the city would be highly interesting and more than newsworthy if we can get them.

Nassir: Are you sure you’re okay with all this? I know you’re a pro and everything, but this is getting a little out of hand. You just say the word and I’ll tell him we want to go back.

Ramone: We’ve already come this far. Let’s see where this madness leads.

Nassir: Okay, just tell me if you start to change your mind.

The road through the dark forest extends for a while and I use the opportunity to type up my notes. As I do so, I notice that the time on my laptop is no longer running at a normal speed. The minutes pass by in roughly the span of 100 seconds, I realize after counting for myself.

I mention this to Ramone and he’s initially shocked, insisting that I show him so he can see for himself. After witnessing it, he remains silent for a minute or two as if in thought, then seems to make peace with the strangeness of it. He says it tracks for how weird everything else is on this side of the oak tree.

The path ahead is bumpy but the bus handles it beautifully and it feels like we’re riding on air as we continue through the trees. The road never bends but continues straight as an arrow as far as the eye can see.

After driving for what feels like hours, we see a structure up ahead. It is a quaint little house, painted black. Smoke rises up from the chimney and as we approach I see there is a figure standing out front waiting to greet us. It appears to be an old woman dressed in a black funeral dress that looks like it’s from the Victorian era, or whatever the equivalent is of that in this world. A dark veil covers her face.

The bus stops a little ways away from her and she remains stalk-still, awaiting us.

The sight of her terrifies me. I don’t know what it is, whether it’s her hands, far too pale, that appear to be holding a small bag in front of her. Or if it’s not knowing what is beneath that veil. What horrors.

She begins to walk towards us.

Nassir: Garrett, we need to get out of here. Back up the bus, please. I’m begging you.

Garrett: Hang on, she’s trying to make contact.

Nassir: You said we could leave if we asked! If we felt like we were in danger! I feel like we’re in danger right now, can we get out of here?

Carrie: I don’t like this.

Garrett: Let’s just see what she wants. She can’t get in.

As he says those words, the doors at the front of the bus open up and the smell of foreign air comes wafting in, with it the odours of rotting vegetation and something else, rotten and infected.

The woman in the pitch-black funeral dress enters the bus. I see Garrett’s jaw is agape and he clearly did not authorize her entry. It is the first time his calm demeanour has broken during the entire journey.

Garrett: How? Close doors. Close doors! CLOSE THE FUCKING DOORS NOW!

I look to the right and see the entire hoard of shadow creatures is approaching from the right side of the bus.

They have followed us here and are closing in quickly. I look around for anything to use as a weapon. I am so distracted by this new terror I hardly notice the woman in black is now walking down the aisle towards me.

She stands over me, looking down. I can barely make out the features of her face, seeing the outlines of a dark visage that should not, could not be. There are worms moving in and out of her eye sockets. Her nose is gone and only two dark holes are there where it should be.

Woman in black: You should not have followed him here.

Nassir: I – we – I’m sorry I didn’t know. I’m so sorry.

Garrett is screaming at the driver to reverse, full speed, and the bus suddenly accelerates backwards. The door at the front of the bus is still open, and the shadow people are closing in on that side. My heart is pounding and I hear Ramone praying in Spanish again beside me. I think it’s a Hail Mary.

Woman in Black: The hoard is coming. The city. Take me.

She seems to be speaking to Garrett, but he isn’t paying attention. I agree for him, and beg her to take a seat far away from me. I try not to be rude about it, but the smell of her is horrible. It is like month-old rotting flesh on a 100 degree day.

Thankfully she moves away from me and takes a seat near the front. Garrett gets up to his feet and walks over to her. I see him talking quietly to her for a minute and then he nods and she nods back at him. Then he walks to the front of the bus and begins to speak to us again. The bus is still flying backwards and I can’t understand how he is walking around and standing there with the constant jostling movement it.

Garrett: Okay, everyone. It looks like we have a guest with us for our trip into the city. She’s going to be our guide, and says she can get those trees out of the way for us. So let’s be nice to this.. err.. lady who’s going to help us out, alright?

He smiles broadly at me and I look back to see Tom and Wayne are sitting there with wide eyes, staring alternately out the window at the hoard of shadow creatures that we have just barely escaped, and at the woman in black who is now humming an off-key tune from where she sits. I suddenly get the feeling that they were not aware of the potential horrors we would be facing here.

The sickening smell of the woman in black is now permeating the bus, making everything stink like death and rotting flesh. The soft, off-key humming continues and I grow more and more terrified with every passing second that she remains in the bus with us.

Whatever that woman is – she is not going into the city to help anyone – I am completely certain of that.

JG

TCC