The Forest Whispers To Me (DammitMax)

"Bet your ass I do." He said eagerly as he strapped his pistol to his waist. While he had no intention of even touching it, it was always nice to know that the back up was there. "Come on, I think this hotel has a cafeteria somewhere. Some coffee and warm food would be wonderful."
 
Jax followed Thomas out of the hotel room, being sure to have the card key with them before the closed the door. They walked down the hall towards the lobby, a young man taking up the post at the front desk. He seemed quite bored, he was sitting and flipping through a trashy gossip magazine. Jax wondered if he was the one to slip the note under the door. Across the lobby were a set of glass doors that led out to a small dining area with a self serving buffet. Entering the room Jax saw that no one else was there, everyone else must have still been asleep, it was still a bit early. Grabbing a plate she helped herself to the scrambled eggs, sausage links, and some fresh fruit they had out, she went to make herself a cup of coffee after setting her plate down at a table.
 
Walking in, Thomas took in a deep breath through his nose and let it out. "Ahh yeah. Pancakes, you are mine!" He said eagerly as he grabbed a plate. Really, it was nice not having to wait for other people, and that he could just grab what he wanted. However, while on the outside, he looked rather calm and somewhat goofy, on the inside, particularly in the back of his mind, he was going over what the note said. While yes, it very well could have been a simple joke, whoever made it had taken it a bit far. Shrugging to himself, Thomas decided to just settle on the fact that whoever left it was simply an asshole.
Stacking his plate high with pancakes, Thomas got some coffee and sat down, happily munching away on pancakes. Maybe it was an unconscious effort to pass the time, or maybe it was mere superstitious worry in his head, but his mind couldn't help but wander to the stories of the Melon-headed Kids. According to one of the stories, the children were subjected to experiments where fluids were injected into their head, exacerbating their already existing hydrocephalus. Some stories suggest that they were the result of resorting to cannibalism and inbreeding, but whatever it was, those stories weren't local to Vermont, so he didn't really know why he was in such a bother about it.
 
Coffee in hand Jax took her seat across from Thomas, taking a sip from her cup. Her sister used to tease her that she was never very pleasant until she had her morning coffee. Picking up her fork she stabbed at her eggs, going over a list in her head to make sure they didn't forget anything for their trip. While she never cared much for staying on the safe side of things, she knew it was stupid not to be prepared, especially when you were going to be by yourselves out in the woods miles from any help. She checked off everything in her head while she ate, content when she thought of nothing they had forgotten.
Finished with her food, Jax stood up to take her plate and utensils over to where a small sign indicated for you to drop of your dishes. Sitting back down she continued to drink her coffee waiting for Thomas to finish his stack of pancakes.
 
Looking up at Jax, Thomas arched an eyebrow. "Goodness girl, did you even taste it?" he asked teasingly. "There's no rush Jax, the forest isn't going anywhere, and we have plenty of time. Then again, I do like to eat, and you have the stomach capacity of a bird." He opened his mouth to say more, but he stopped, not wanting to get coffee thrown onto his face. "Anyway, love, I'm almost done, then we can get this show off to a proper start." Not long after, he was finished and deposited his dishes where they needed to go. "Off we go then, huh?" he asked her eagerly, his anxiousness to get out to the woods was apparent, and he was rocking back and forth on his feet.
 
Thomas was right to stop teasing when he did, Jax was indeed close to dumping coffee over him. She admitted she had a pretty small appetite, tending to eat smaller meals throughout the day. Jax wasn't too much in a hurry to get out, part of her was still in the process of waking up. When he came back from disposing of his plate she stood up "Yeah, I'm ready to get started." she agreed and walked with him out of the dining area, tossing her empty paper coffee cup in the trash. Exiting through the front doors the made their way back to the car.
 
An eager smile was plastered on Thomas' face, and he got into the car with a rather happy bounce. It was clear to see that he was in a good mood and fully awake, mornings not really being a problem for him as his job at the prison required early hours. "What say you we get some good driving music going eh?" he asked, not really waiting for a reply as he plugged his phone into the USB port of the car's radio. Now, in this case, driving music meant loud metal, but he figured the boost wouldn't hurt matters.
Thomas started up the car and chose a song, his hands gently patting out the rhythm on the steering wheel. Pulling out onto the road, the car was soon up to speed and heading towards the starting point of the hiking trail, still about 25 minutes away, according to the GPS. He let out a laugh, "Mutant children, what a strange little story...."
 
Jax hopped into the passenger seat, buckled up and ready to go. The music definitely helped with waking up, as Jax watched the buildings fade away into woods. "Strange, yeah. A lot more original than saying it was Bigfoot." Jax agreed smiling a little. "How far in do you think we'll get today?" she asked. The woman felt they should at least get 10 miles in, and hopefully there might be some caves to explore too. Jax had packed climbing gear just in case since you sometimes had to propel down to reach the mouths of some caves.
 
Thomas shrugged, "Hopefully we'll at least get a good ways today for a start, given that today we're starting later then we're probably going to for the rest of the trip. Also, I'm not familiar with Vermont trails and forests, so I have absolutely no idea how the terrain will factor into this. What I do know, however, is that I'm itching to get out there, and I have a feeling that you feel the same way." He shifted a bit so that his pistol was pushing against the seat, and his hand habitually, and unconsciously reached down to make sure everything was where it should be.
 
"I'm pretty excited to get out there, yeah." Jax grinned "I brought some disposable cameras, get photographic evidence of those mutant children." she laughed. She was hoping to see some cool wildlife, maybe not as wild as feral kids, but some cool pictures of deer would be nice. Picking at her finger nails she looked out the window, they hadn't passed any buildings for a while now. It was going to be nice to be away from people for a while.
 
Thomas grinned and laughed, "Snap some pictures, send them to the tabloids, profit." He though about it for a moment, and then grinned again at some of the dumb shit he had seen on them while waiting in line at the store. Celebrity births alien, was it an affair? and his personal favorite, Creature from the black lagoon spotted in North Carolina. Thomas shook his head. People were willing to believe damn near anything. Looking out the window, then back at his GPS, he saw that they only had a few minutes left. "Not long now Jax." Even if they had only left the hotel a little while ago, it already looked like they were hundreds of miles into the back country.
 
When they had finally reached the gravel entrance to the trials, Jax was nearly shaking with excitement not wanting to stay still. The second they were parked she jumped out of the vehicle and went to collect her backpack from the trunk. Going through it she got out her hunting knife and strapped it to her right leg, never could be too careful. Sh also paused to take out a couple of the cameras and stuff them in the pockets of her cargo pants.
 
Grinning, Thomas met her at the trunk, grabbing a few of his things. "Easy there sparky, there's plenty of nature and plenty of time for you to enjoy it. He grabbed a few more things out of the trunk and put them in his backpack, checking it a couple of times to make sure he had everything. First aid kit, food, blah blah, all the essentials and a few other things were in there. "Alright then, I think I'm set and ready to go, what about you, Jax?"
 
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