Tower 4 - S1E6: Crazy

Episode Date: January 25, 2021

Mike hightails it out of Enos Lake just as the sun rises. As he makes his way back to the tower he gets the sudden urge to contact Gene. Since he is near Over Arch he should be able to reach him. But it turns out it's all for nothing when Gene dismisses everything he says. When Mike does eventually make it back to Tower 4, he finds a surprise waiting for him... but what could it mean?Music:"Lone Harvest" and "Nervous Piano" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/"Tower Score 1" by Brett Wilkins @wilkinsmusicfl Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Season 1, Episode 6. Crazy Last night, hell, I hardly moved. I did read through the rest of the journal, though, trying to find something, anything to make sense of all this. But sadly, it didn't help. I quickly packed everything up and high-tailed it out of there. I kept both the knife and bear spray handy, but the woods remained quiet, save for the occasional bird call or buzzing insect.

I just wanted to get back to the tower, hell, far enough away from the lake so that I could reach Amber. But that's when I thought about Gene. I was closer to Overarch. I could possibly contact Jean from that position, but I chance it? I quickly sifted through my packet on the map. Okay, so I'm here, and overarch is north. Where the hell is the trailhead? I must have passed the trail intersection on my way here. It looked like I had about two or three miles before I would intersect with the overarch pass.

Okay. I should eat something, but I was too nervous. Keep moving. As I headed back, I found another surprise. The bear carcass. It was gone. Only two vultures remained and seemed to fight over a bit of scrap. Where the hell did it go?

That animal or creature or whatever it was, Must have gotten it. I picked up the pace. It was by sheer luck that I spotted the overarch pass. It was hidden by overgrowth, and the only reason I discovered it was because I needed to tie my shoe. I noticed a plank of wood partially covered by weeds and dirt. The letters were faded, but I could still make out. Overarch. To chance her to just head back, I could.

could contact Amber and she can get in contact with Gene, except I still had a ways to go. I once again pulled out the map. Overarch was only about a mile from here. I could reach Gene within another 30 minutes, whereas it would be another five or six miles before I would be able to reach Amber again. Fuck it. I chance it. I had to let Gene know what I saw or should I say heard last night. I don't know. The climb was excruciating. The path we've back and forth.

For only being a mile, it took longer than I expected. The rocky top was void of trees and overlooked Enos Lake. I didn't see anything down below. I really hoped I was far enough north to reach Jean. I switched to channel 4. Gene, do you copy? Gene. Gene, this is Mike of Tower 4.

You copy. Shit. I'm a fucking waste of time. Gene, this is Mike. Do you copy? Anybody at the Ranger Station. Do you copy? Hello?

This is the Ranger Station, copy. Yeah, yeah, um, is Gene there? This is Mike of Tower 4. One second, Mike. I believe he's busy at the moment. No, no, no, you have to get him. It's urgent. Okay, one second. I paced back and forth while I waited for Gene's voice. Mike, you there?

Yes, Gene, this is Mike. Well, I'll be. Where the heck are you? I'm an overarch. Is that so? Amber told me you had headed to Eno's Lake. Tell me you have good news. Actually, I have something to tell you, but it isn't good. Oh boy, should I be sitting down for this?

I just... I don't know how to say this. Did you find the father and son? It's not about them. What the hell are you getting at, Mike? Wait, hold on a second. Let me take this into the other room. Maria's given me to stare down.

Okay, go ahead. What you got for me? I know this is all going to sound weird, but here it goes. Yesterday, when I got to Enos Lake, there was a man. I tried calling out to him, but I guess he didn't hear me, and he ended up walking into the woods. I tried to follow, but I lost him. A man? A grown man and child? No, no child, just some guy, and he wasn't dressed for a hiking trip.

He's wearing beige pants and a dress shirt. Well, that is odd. There's more. After I lost sight of him I set up camp because the storm was moving in I stayed by the lake Right before the storm hit I I heard some noises

Something large was moving through the woods Like what A creature It was big Knocked the trees aside like there were nothing That's so, did you see what it was? I didn't get a good look It was dark and just about the storm

But I think it attacked that guy But you didn't see it No but I'm I'm telling you, whatever it was, it was big. But nothing's out there now. I haven't heard anything. Well, it must have been a grizzly. No, no, it wasn't any bear.

I heard you had a run in with a bear by Site 5. I did, but this, whatever it was last night, that wasn't a bear. I don't know, Mike. The only large animals you're going to find out there are moose and grizzlies. A grizzly can shake trees. Big enough one can. They often use them trees as backscratchers. You start seeing them trees.

sway, you got a feeling for just how strong those bears are. But it was pushing through. I once saw a grizzly the size of a Vogue's wagon. No kidding. I watched it chase down an injured deer, knocked two trees out of the way like they were kinling. It wasn't a grizzly. Gene, I saw another bear, a black bear, dead on the side of the trail.

Bears fight over territory. Although I don't know what black bear would want to fight a grizzly, they're usually much wiser than that. Now, if you didn't find that father and son, that's not good. You mentioned another person out there with a grizzly in the vicinity. Hell, we got ourselves a real problem. What I want you to do is just head back to your tower. No need to stay out there right now.

I appreciate you helping us out like this. So you don't believe me? It's not that, Mike. You've been out there nearly a month now. The woods are a scary place, much different from city life. But I do take what you say very seriously. That's why I want you to get out of that area. seems unsafe. Just get back to the tower.

Why didn't he believe me? Was my story that ridiculous? A creature, a monster, I still had no idea what was out there, but the only thing that was for sure, it definitely wasn't a bear. I was nervous I was nervous about my walk back. I had my knife handy the entire time. But besides seeing two squirrels on a wood Pecker, the trek was rather uneventful. Even calming.

Halfway back to the tower, I tried contacting Amber. Amber, you copy? Amber. No answer. Half hour later, I tried again. Amber? Amber, you there? Maybe I was still too far out.

I walked another three miles and tried again. Amber. You copy? Amber? Amber. Two hours passed. I never stopped to eat since I was antsy to get back to the tower. I continuously looked around, nervously. I felt weak. I decided to eat a protein bar while I walked. I could feel my energy diminishing and my legs were killing me. I figured I had about another two-hour.

I figured I had about another two hours, six miles left. I tried Amber again. Amber, you copy. Amber. I had to be close enough. Where was she? Amber? Amber? What the huh? The whispering reminded me in my first night here. I couldn't make out what was being said. Amber? Amber? Amber?

Amber? Amber, did you hear that? Hear what? Of course not. I'm sorry, Mikey. I dropped my radio from the tower earlier today, and the damn thing bounced all the way to the bottom of the trail. The thing was smashed.

But luckily, with my expertise and hands-on capabilities, I was able to fix that radio, and voila, working. I wasn't even listening to Amber. Who the hell was that over the radio? I'm actually pretty shocked, because I'm not usually good with my hands. Ask my ex-exam. but it's fixed, and I'm glad you're okay. Did you find the hikers? Oh, what?

Did you find the father and son? No, I, uh, I didn't. Are you okay, Mikey? Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Okay, sounds convincing. Did you talk to Jean? No, I told you. The radio was broken. I guess I could have used the bear.

Now that I think about it, but I was so fixed. on repairing this one. I'll contact him now and let him know you didn't find them. Don't worry about it. I already talked to him. You did? Yeah, I went to Overarch. Oh, well, what did he say? He's going to look into it.

Amber, can I ask you a question? You don't have to ask whether or not you can ask me a question. Just ask it. How well did you know Jerry? Jerry Campbell? I don't know his last name. The lookout of the Tower 4 last year? Yeah.

Not well. I talked to him only a handful of times throughout the summer. Why? I just wanted to know more about him. But why? I heard movement in the woods and instantly froze, until a small rabbit appeared and hopped away over a hill. Foo.

Mikey? Sorry, what? Why do you want to know about him? I... I just... I didn't know whether I should tell Amber everything or not. Would she think I was crazy, too? I just wonder how he was

What does that mean? When you talk to him, did he seem off? Shoot, you want to know if he couldn't handle the loneliness? Are you sure you're okay? Okay, here we go. All the weird things that have been happening, the music, the static, the eye carvings, the large creature that shakes trees.

And then I see some guy in the woods dressed like he just got into a scuffle during church mass. Uh, what in the house? How are you talking about? I decided to tell Amber everything that I had experienced. She tried comforting me, but it was in a condescending way. She didn't say anything different from Gene, also offering the option of a grizzly bear

being the culprit behind the swaying trees. And the guy? It's a park. And while in that section of forest, maybe close, that doesn't mean people won't break the rules. You told Gene all this? Yes. What did he say?

He said get back to the town. he would handle things. Sounds about right. How far are you? Not far now. Okay. So you're not going to tell me about Jerry? What did you want to know again?

Did he seem off? The first day we started was the first day I talked to Jerry. He was short with me, didn't talk much, so I never went out of my way to strike up a conversation. The only times we really talked were when there was a fire, or Jean wanted to know how his stock was holding up. Oh. I'm sorry. if you wanted more. Gene told me that he went a little stir-crazy. Started hiking up to Overarch to contact Gene and complain about weird, uh, weird.

Oh, shit. What? Like me? I didn't say that. You think he was going stir-crazy? You think the woods are getting to me? No. No? I'm not making this stuff up. I don't think you are. Jerry was a different fella. Gene told me he started complaining about the job. He wanted to know.

But this isn't the kind of job he could just walk away from. He did, though. Packed up his stuff and took off. That's what I ended up taking over. For a lookout? In Tower 4, yeah. Wait, you stayed in Tower 4? For the last month of the season last year, Gene took over Tower 3.

I took 4. Hmm. What? Nothing. I don't think you're going crazy, Mikey. But hurry up and get back to the tower. Okay. Thank you.

I got back around five. When I approached the door, I noticed it was slightly ajar. How? I shut it and locked it before I left. Didn't I? I slowly walked inside, but nothing had been stolen and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I looked back at the door. I know I didn't leave it open.

I continued looking around for anything that may be different. That's when I noticed. outside smoke Oh shit I yanked the radio off my belt Amber Amber you copy Yes Mikey

There's a fire north I see smoke Relax I already know about it Oh You do Sorry I should have told you earlier

Spotted a couple hours ago Already calls it in Oh Okay Sorry By the way I talked to Jean He told me

me there was a grizzly attack two weeks ago north of Tower One. Really? Yeah, so they have some people going out to look for it. They usually don't come down this far. The people? The bears. Oh. It's like she was trying to comfort me, but I still had a hard time believing the thing I heard in the woods was a bear.

There was no way. It was much, much bigger. So, just be careful when you're out and about, especially if you're taking a bit of a bear. especially if you're taking a shower. Bears know that's when you're most vulnerable. I'll be careful. Thanks for calling in, and keep me updated if you notice anything with the fire.

But for the past hour, it doesn't look like it's moved much. A lot of the ground is still wet from last night's storm, so I doubt it'll spread far. Okay. And Mikey? Yeah. Take some time and relax. Get some rest.

We'll do. I set the radio down on the table and plopped on to bed. bed. I was exhausted. I started thinking about the previous night. Even if they could explain the tree movement and the strange noises as a bear, what about the man walking around in the woods, the scream? I wasn't imagining things. I turned on to my side and noticed my laptop.

It was closed, but the little blue light was on. How? I shut it down when I left yesterday. Someone was in here. Someone was definitely in here. I got up and walked over to it. I lifted the top and the black screen flashed a word document which displayed a series of numbers. 1.2337.

The numbers repeated down the page. I never typed that. I looked around the room. Someone was in here, but why did they type this? what the hell was going on was I really going crazy I didn't feel any different I stared at the screen 1 2337 what did it mean Tower 4 Written and edited by Robert M. Lam

Story by Robert M. Lam and Dylan Whitehead. Starring Jack Austin as Mike. Gina Coyle as Amber. Brian Messick as Gene. Co-starring, Corey Pettettit, music provided by Kevin MacLeod of Incompetect.com and Brett Wilkins at Facebook.com slash Wilkins MusicFL. If you enjoy Tower 4, visit 7LAM.com for more audio dramas such as this. Also, don't forget to follow 7LAM on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, at 7LAMP podcasts.

This has been a seven-lamb production.