Alex and Mike were in a forest cabin that belonged to Tucker and Dale — two friends who hoped that the forest house they had bought would become a great place for a quiet vacation. But they still had no idea that this area where their forest cabin was located was quite unusual. Even Alex didn't know this yet, and therefore another headache attack would soon await him.
But right now, all of Alex's thoughts were occupied with Hannah's story. She had become a victim of an unknown man who attacked her in the forest. Tucker and Dale sat closer to listen to Hannah's story, because she had run into their cabin in the middle of the night, and they really wanted to know what had happened to her. Hannah, sitting on the bed, looked at Alex and nodded after hearing his request to tell everything that had happened to her.
She trusted Alex and knew that he was the one who had saved her in the past. Taking a deep breath, Hannah began to tell the story from the very beginning, just as Alex had asked. She started with how she couldn't fall asleep and decided to take a walk, as she always did. Gradually, Hannah moved on to how she realized she had taken the wrong path and was about to turn back.
And just as she wanted to return, she saw a man who stepped out from behind a tree, repeating strange words. At this point, Alex slightly raised an eyebrow and wanted to clarify with Hannah exactly what the man who attacked her had said.
Eventually, Hannah reached the moment when the stranger caught up with her, and it became difficult for her to continue the story. Hannah tightly clutched the blanket in her hands, remembering that she had almost died. Dale noticed Hannah's behavior and wanted to comfort her. But Tucker, standing nearby, pulled his friend back, letting him know that now was not the time for that.
"Alright, Hannah. That's enough. You did great. It's sad, of course, that you got into shit again. But that's just life," Alex said, patting Hannah on the hand as a sign of comfort, showing that she didn't have to continue telling what had happened to her.
"Yeah, Hannah! You really did amazing. You didn't just manage to escape, you also beat the crap out of that bastard. You're very strong and brave. So cheer up," Dale chimed in, quickly nodding his head with a nervous expression on his face.
Tucker looked at his friend and just shook his head. But he didn't deny that Hannah was truly brave for managing to escape from someone who wanted to kill her. Mike looked at Alex with a glance, asking if he had understood something. Alex shook his head, showing that he wasn't going to say it here.
He took his phone out of his pocket and texted Samantha that he and Mike had found Hannah. Immediately after the message, Samantha called with questions. Alex got up from the chair and motioned for Mike to follow him outside. Hannah wanted to get out of bed and follow Alex, but he gently told her that she should rest a little more.
"Dale, keep an eye on Hannah. After all, she hit her head pretty hard on a branch. Oh yeah, these must be yours, Hannah. Here's your phone and glasses. The glasses are unfortunately slightly cracked, but at least you'll be able to see the faces of your saviors," Alex said, taking Hannah's phone and glasses out of his shorts pocket.
"I'll watch over her. No need to worry," Dale said, quickly nodding his head.
"Thank you, Alex," Hannah said, taking her things from Alex's hands.
"Don't thank me. We're friends. And buy me coffee already, I'm tired of working for free," Alex said, rolling his eyes with a smile on his face.
Hannah froze for a moment after hearing Alex's words, then chuckled softly. She understood that Alex was just trying to lift her spirits, and he had succeeded. Chuckling, Alex and Mike left the room. And as soon as Alex stepped out, the smile on his face changed to calm, as if he had never smiled. Mike, walking beside him, couldn't help but notice such a sharp change in Alex's expression.
Once outside, Alex told Samantha what had happened to Hannah. Samantha listened carefully to everything Alex said. And as soon as Alex finished, he asked her not to tell anyone that Hannah had been attacked. Mike, standing nearby, nodded his head, agreeing with Alex's decision not to mention the attack so as not to cause unnecessary panic.
Samantha understood this perfectly too. Alex immediately explained that Samantha should tell the others: Hannah had gotten lost and hit her head while trying to find her way back, and that she had been found by Tucker and Dale, who were returning from fishing. After finishing the conversation with Samantha, Alex sighed heavily and lit a cigarette, massaging his temples to get rid of the headache.
"So what are you going to do? Search for this psychopath throughout the entire forest?" Mike asked, standing next to Alex.
"It's not hard. What worries me is something else…" Alex said, exhaling cigarette smoke and looking at the forest in front of him.
"Just don't tell me it's what I think it is…" Mike said, staring at Alex.
"To confirm it, we need to catch this idiot. But if everything is confirmed, my vacation is over," Alex said wearily, exhaling and pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Poor you, kid. And how are you going to find the guy who attacked your friend?" Tucker's voice came from behind Alex and Mike.
Alex and Mike turned their heads and looked at Tucker, who had come out of the cabin. After listening to Hannah's story, Tucker had become slightly gloomy from everything he had heard. He could understand that experiencing something like that was very difficult, and it wasn't a situation to ignore.
What worried him especially was that the one who had attacked Hannah was still wandering somewhere in the forest. And therefore, he really didn't like what was happening. Tucker fully agreed with Alex's words that the vacation had been ruined by such an event. Stepping outside, Tucker stood next to Alex and Mike and spat on the ground with irritation on his face.
"You have a dog, right? Let's use it. Everything else is just details," Alex said, throwing away his extinguished cigarette.
"Junkers? In a way, that option could work. Just don't forget that without a scent, that dog is unlikely to find anything," Tucker said thoughtfully, putting his hands in his pockets.
"Where's that rock Hannah used to fight off that bastard?" Alex said with a slight smile on his face.
Tucker thoughtfully looked toward the forest, because he didn't remember where he had thrown the bloodied rock. Sighing, Alex sniffed the air and began searching for the rock. Mike and Tucker decided to help Alex find the bloodied rock so the dog could pick up the scent. Alex pretended to look for the blood-covered rock, and after a couple of minutes of searching, he found it in the thick grass.
Taking the rock in his hands, Alex sniffed it and nodded. Holding the rock, Alex entered Tucker and Dale's cabin. Entering the room, Alex hid the rock behind his back and, without saying a word, approached the dog Junkers, grabbed him by the collar, and led him away.
"Why do you need my dog? What are you going to do with him?" Dale asked, seeing Alex's actions.
"We need his help. I'll bring him back soon," Alex said, shaking his head to show that everything was fine.
Dale could only nod with a stunned face, not understanding what Alex wanted from the dog. Seeing Dale's nod, Alex led Junkers outside. Once outside, Alex brought the bloodied rock to the dog's snout so it could catch the scent. Mike and Tucker watched what Alex was doing, waiting to see if it would work or not.
"Come on, boy. Don't make me work more than necessary. Find that bastard for me, and in return I'll give you a treat," Alex said, stroking the dog's head.
"I don't think it works like that. Junkers is a pretty stupid dog, just like Dale," Tucker said, watching Alex.
Alex just rolled his eyes and looked at Junkers. The dog leaned closer to the bloodied rock and sniffed it. After sniffing the rock, Junkers suddenly lifted his head and began looking around, trying to catch the scent. Having picked up the smell, Junkers let out a low growl and began following the trail of the blood scent. Seeing that Junkers had caught the scent, Alex smirked and gave Tucker a thumbs up.
"We'll go search. You guys do your own thing for now. Once we figure everything out, we'll come back," Alex said, holding Junkers' leash as the dog tried to pull forward.
Tucker just nodded and waved his hand, showing that everything was fine. At the moment, he had already had enough shocks and unpleasant information. Alex looked at Mike, and he nodded. Holding Junkers' leash, Alex and Mike followed the dog to find the man who had attacked Hannah.
Watching Alex and Mike leave into the forest with the dog, Tucker took off his cap and wiped away sweat. Shaking his head, Tucker decided to distract himself and do what he had come here for — setting up his forest cabin. Entering the forest cabin, Tucker saw Dale sitting at the table with Hannah, discussing various things.
"Where did those two go? And where did they take Junkers?" Dale asked when he saw that only Tucker had returned.
"To find a maniac killer, idiot. Why else would they need the dog. They didn't take it for a walk. You don't do that either," Tucker said, unable to resist rolling his eyes at his friend.
"Why?" Dale asked, chuckling slightly as he looked at Tucker.
"So he doesn't come back. For God's sake, Dale, use your brain. Anyway, where's my beer," Tucker said, sighing tiredly as he walked to the fridge with beer.
Hannah, sitting at the table in front of Dale, understood what he meant and lowered her head in fear. What had happened to her caused her to feel a surge of fear, and she wanted to talk to someone to ease it a little. That was why she continued talking with Dale, because it helped her.
She wanted to return to the others, but she understood that it could be dangerous because the man who attacked her might come back for her. She didn't know why, but she felt that this man who attacked her had come specifically for her. But what Hannah didn't understand was why this man had targeted her specifically.
Dale looked at Hannah, and after Tucker's words, he realized that the man who attacked Hannah might come back. Slapping himself on the forehead again for his stupidity, Dale shifted his gaze to Tucker, who had already opened a beer with the face of a man who was fed up with everything. Only his restraint kept him from complaining that everything was going to hell at high speed.
"Listen, Tucker. Let's do this — you finish your beer. Then I'll help you with whatever you want. It's better to distract ourselves from all this. We can't help with anything anyway," Dale said with a smile, looking at his friend.
"Fine, that works, thanks," Tucker said, taking off his cap and nodding.
Meanwhile, Alex and Mike continued walking through the forest accompanied by the dog Junkers. Throughout the entire way, they didn't say a word to each other and simply searched for the one who had attacked their friend. Mike didn't know what Alex was going to do after they found the attacker and didn't want to ask questions about it. Mike's phone beeped, and he took it out of his pocket, seeing a message notification from Jessica.
Mike looked at Alex with a question about what he should reply. Alex almost rolled his eyes, reminding him to just write that they would be back soon and that Hannah was fine. Mike nodded and quickly typed a message and sent it. Putting the phone back in his pocket, Mike looked around and saw an old, barely noticeable abandoned cabin that was hard to spot among the trees.
"Look, there's a cabin," Mike said, patting Alex on the shoulder and pointing in the direction.
Hearing Mike's voice, Alex looked in the direction he was pointing and nodded. Turning aside, Alex and Mike headed toward the old cabin. The closer they got, the louder Junkers growled, as if he didn't like the smell coming from the cabin. Catching the scent, Mike covered his nose with his hand, feeling an unpleasant sweetness hanging in the air.
Mixed with this smell was a thick stench of rot that literally penetrated the nostrils, causing very strong disgust. And the closer they got to the abandoned cabin, the stronger this smell became. Already a couple of meters from the cabin, Mike's face took on a greenish tint, and a lump appeared in his throat, as if one more moment and he would throw up the breakfast he had eaten.
Alex lit a cigarette, stopping at the cabin door, and calmly pushed it open. The door creaked open, and an even more nauseating smell hit Alex and Mike in the face. And what Mike saw inside the cabin caused him to have a vomiting fit. Mike turned away and began throwing up at his feet, holding onto the door frame.
Mike couldn't stop vomiting from what he saw. Even for him, who had seen a Wendigo, this sight was beyond the pale. All the walls and ceiling of the abandoned cabin were covered in old dried blood. And everywhere lay mutilated, decomposed bodies of women, holding stained dolls that looked like children in their hands.
"Mike, you okay?" Alex asked, patting Mike on the back to help him come to his senses.
"Fine… Probably. What the fuck is this shit. What the hell is going on here?" Mike said, wiping the remnants of vomit from his lips.
"This is exactly what you're thinking… I'll go in and check what's inside. Stay here. Or come in. It's up to you, you're already an adult," Alex said, exhaling cigarette smoke and shaking his head slightly.
Mike swallowed, suppressing the remaining nausea, and looked into the forest cabin again. He perfectly understood that all this had been done not by some monster, but by a real human being. And looking at the mutilated bodies of the women, Mike at that moment wanted to strangle Jessica's cousin named Pete, who had bought a forest cabin in a place like this.
Taking a bandana out of his jacket pocket, Mike covered his nose and, trying not to look at the decomposed bodies of the women, entered the cabin after Alex. The dog Junkers did not enter the cabin but only whined at the entrance, pacing back and forth, not daring to go inside. Examining the cabin, Alex was looking for confirmation of his thoughts. Because the mutilated female corpses with children's dolls in their hands were only indirect confirmation of the thoughts in his head.
"What are you looking for in this place?" Mike asked, standing behind Alex.
"Clues. If this is connected to what I think, then everything will become simpler," Alex said, rummaging through old cabinets.
Mike nodded, thinking he should help Alex find clues. Trying not to approach the corpses, Alex and Mike searched the cabin. But all they found were old tools covered in long-dried blood. After a short search, Alex found an old, worn diary. And before Alex could open the diary, the sound of a broken branch came from near the cabin.
Alex and Mike exchanged glances and quickly hid behind the open door. A moment later, the sound of footsteps was heard, as if a limping person was walking. Alex raised a finger to his lips, showing Mike that they needed to stay quiet. Mike nodded, gripping a rusty hammer in his hands. The footsteps got closer, and then came the sound of a floorboard creaking. At the same moment, Alex kicked the wooden door.
The wooden door slammed into someone with a crash, followed by the sound of a falling body. Mike reacted quickly and immediately ran out of the cabin. Running out, Mike kicked the man in the face who had fallen to the ground after being hit by the door. During his kick, Mike didn't hold back and hit the man's face hard enough that his head hit the ground with a distinctive sound.
"Nice reaction, Mike. Looks like you didn't just go to the gym," Alex said, exiting the cabin after Mike.
"I had to. I understood that something like this was unlikely to happen again. But I still took precautions," Mike said, nodding with a smile on his face.
"And apparently not for nothing. So, here he is — our attacker," Alex said, lightly kicking the man.
"Yeah, this is most likely the one who attacked Hannah. What are you going to do with him?" Mike said, turning the man's head with his foot to make sure it was the same man who attacked Hannah.
"What do you mean, what? I'm going to have a nice chat with him. He owes me answers. So grab his leg and let's drag him," Alex said, grabbing one of the man's legs.
"Where?" Mike asked, frowning slightly.
"Into the cabin. He likes this place so much. Now he's going to have a fun time here," Alex said with a wide smile on his face, turning his head toward Mike.
Seeing the smile on Alex's face, Mike flinched for a moment, frightened by such a smile. But the fear instantly passed when he remembered what this man had been going to do to their friend and what he had done to those poor women.
Frowning, Mike grabbed the man's other leg. And together they dragged him into the cabin. The dog Junkers ran out from behind the cabin and whined softly. Alex smiled and took a couple of snacks from his pocket and threw them to the dog. Dragging the man into the cabin, Alex slammed the door shut. Humming a tune, Alex sat the man on a chair and began tying him up.
"You do this so skillfully… This isn't the first time, is it?" Mike said, watching Alex's actions.
"You guessed right… Oh yeah. What happens next is going to look pretty unpleasant. And most likely you'll need another therapy session… So if you don't want to see this, it's better to go outside," Alex said, finishing tying the man to the chair.
"I'll stay. What this man did is way worse than what you're going to do," Mike said, shaking his head.
"Well, it's up to you. Don't complain later if you have nightmares," Alex said, starting to rummage through the old cabinets.
"Has Samantha done this too?" Mike couldn't help but ask, watching Alex.
Alex turned his head and just smiled in response to Mike's question. Mike understood without words that Samantha had done the same thing. And he wondered what Samantha had been doing for the last six months they hadn't seen each other. Sighing, Mike shook his head and looked at Alex again.
By this point, Alex had taken out all the rusty tools he could find in the cabinets. Holding long rusty nails in his hands, Alex reached out toward Mike, wanting to take the hammer from him. Mike handed Alex the hammer and took a couple of steps back. Alex approached the man who was tied to the chair and positioned a nail over one of the man's hands.
Soon, loud male screams of pain began to come from the old cabin. The scream was so loud that the birds nearby flew off in all directions, and the dog Junkers immediately ran back to his owner, whining loudly. The screams continued to come from the cabin, with rare moments of silence followed again by screams of pain.
When the male scream of pain subsided, it was followed by calm silence with barely audible male voices. And when one of the male voices fell silent, there was a sound as if something sharp was piercing flesh, followed again by a scream of pain. After a rather short ten minutes, the male scream stopped sounding in the forest, and the tightly closed cabin door swung open.
Mike was the first to exit the cabin, his face showing no emotion. He was able to understand what Alex meant when he said that his methods could cause severe mental trauma. But what Mike heard from the man Alex had tortured helped him understand that this man fully deserved such a fate. Alex came out after Mike, wiping his bloodied hands with a handkerchief. Throwing the handkerchief aside, Alex lit a cigarette and exhaled the smoke.
"And so the vacation has come to an end. And I had such high hopes," Alex said, shaking his head from side to side.
"This is some kind of fucking nightmare. A child-killing cult. This is already way beyond any limits. I knew that cultists are sick in the head. But to this extent," Mike said in a heavy tone, having difficulty processing everything he had heard.
"Cultists are like that. Trust me, I've already met enough of these lunatics," Alex said, exhaling cigarette smoke and raising his head to the sky.
"Do you know something about this cult? What was it called…" Mike said, shifting his gaze to Alex.
"Covenant of the New Ezekiel," Alex replied, lowering his gaze.
"Yeah, that one. Because of how you worked on that bastard, it was hard to make out his words," Mike said, nodding and crossing his arms over his chest.
"I think I've heard of it… Hard to say right now. But the point is that this bastard might not be alone here," Alex said, stroking his chin.
"Then let's go back for Hannah and then to the others. I'll call Jess for now to warn her," Mike said, frowning as he took his phone out of his pocket.
Alex looked at Mike, once again making it clear that certain things shouldn't be said. Putting the phone to his ear, Mike raised his hand, showing that he would only warn Jessica and the others to be careful. Alex just nodded, listening as Mike spoke on the phone.
At that moment, Alex was trying to remember everything he knew about the so-called "Covenant of the New Ezekiel" cult. Before leaving, Alex glanced at the cabin and, after thinking a bit, decided to burn it along with that bastard who hadn't answered most of the questions. The tips of Alex's fingers glowed slightly as he threw the smoldering cigarette inside the cabin.
And a moment later, fire began to spread across the cabin floor, flaring up very quickly. Mike just glanced over his shoulder, seeing the burning cabin. Looking at Alex, Mike continued walking forward, talking on the phone with Jessica, trying to calm her down while in the background Josh's worried voice could be heard, wanting to go after his sister. Looking at the burning cabin, Alex folded his hands in a short prayer and followed Mike.
Walking next to Mike, Alex recalled the "Covenant of the New Ezekiel" cult and how it had appeared and who was behind it. And what was causing Alex a headache was who was really behind the creation of such a cult. Thinking about those who were truly behind all this, Alex irritably clicked his tongue. He already wanted to have a nice chat with these people, but since they decided to crawl out at such a time, Alex would be only happy to have a nice conversation with this group of people.
Covering his lips with his palm, Alex bared his teeth in a bloodthirsty smile, revealing his sharp teeth. Anticipation of the upcoming slaughter grew inside him. Mike, who was walking ahead, did not notice Alex's behavior and, after finishing the call with Jessica, ended the conversation. Putting the phone in his pocket, Mike turned to Alex and noticed him just lowering his hand from his face.
"I still couldn't understand why that bastard decided to attack Hannah. He was muttering something about the Antichrist, but I didn't understand a damn thing. Why not someone else?" Mike asked, thinking over everything he had heard.
"There's only an assumption. If you want, I can tell you while we're heading back," Alex said, lighting another cigarette and turning his head toward Mike.
"Go ahead, I'll listen. After all, you have much more experience in such matters than I do. And I don't like that some bastard from some pathetic cult decided to attack my friend," Mike said in a gloomy tone, nodding his head.
"Because Hannah has no one," Alex replied calmly, raising one finger.
"In what sense, no one?" Mike asked, frowning, not seeing any connection in Alex's words.
"In the literal sense. We all came in pairs. Only Hannah and Josh came as brother and sister. Now connect these two factors with the nonsense about the Antichrist. And you'll get the answer," Alex said, crossing his fingers and giving Mike a clear answer.
"Wait. You mean all that biblical nonsense about the birth of the Antichrist? Are you saying that the bastard who turned into charcoal killed all those women and chose Hannah only for this reason?" Mike shouted angrily, stopping and looking at Alex with shock in his eyes.
"That's right. An apocalyptic cult and all that. That bastard himself admitted that their community killed all their children. But the fact that this bastard was so far from his community is what's really problematic," Alex said calmly, throwing the extinguished cigarette at his feet.
Mike just irritably squeezed his face after hearing Alex's words. Everything he had seen and heard made him not only angry but also want to figure out the whole situation. Taking a deep breath, Mike looked at Alex and nodded, showing that they could continue. Alex nodded back, and they continued walking to return to Tucker and Dale's forest cabin.
Alex was thinking about taking Hannah back to Samantha and then going to solve the remaining problems. Returning the same way, Alex and Mike very quickly reached the forest cabin. Coming out of the forest to the forest cabin, Alex and Mike stopped, seeing a very strange picture before their eyes.
Nearby, under a tree, lay the corpse of a man with a broken neck, who looked like the victim of an accident. Walking a little further, Alex and Mike saw another corpse in a dug hole, pierced with a wooden stake. Alex immediately used magical vision and saw that Hannah, Tucker, and Dale were all fine.
"What the hell happened here?" Mike asked, looking around and trying to understand the situation.
"This is called the most pathetic kidnapping attempt. Look, there's another corpse," Alex said, pointing to the side.
Mike looked in that direction and saw the corpse of a man lying near the pickup truck. Alex approached the corpse and turned it over with his foot, noticing that the man had died because a board with nails had pierced his head. Mike immediately headed to the forest cabin to make sure everything was okay. Alex followed Mike and immediately ran into the forest cabin.
Entering inside, Alex and Mike saw Tucker and Dale covered in blood, while Hannah lay unconscious on the couch. Tucker and Dale were looking at each other with frightened eyes. And when Alex and Mike burst in, they grabbed the first thing that came to hand. Seeing who had burst in, Tucker and Dale breathed a sigh of relief. Mike ran up to Hannah and checked her breathing and pulse.
"We were gone for half an hour, what the hell happened?" Alex asked in a tired tone.
"I don't know… It all happened so fast. Some guy threw himself into the wood chipper," Tucker said, trying to come to his senses after what had happened.
"Again? Threw himself into the wood chipper?" Mike asked, turning his head toward Tucker.
"Yes! I'm telling you. I bent down for a log. And some guy ran and — bam — threw his head into the chipper," Tucker said, unable to hold back his emotions as he tried to wipe the blood from his face.
"Dale, what about you? And why is Hannah unconscious again?" Alex asked, holding back a smile on his face.
"I… We… She… I was digging a hole. Then two guys rushed at us, shouting something. One tripped and broke his neck. And the second… He took and impaled himself on a spear… And Hannah fell into the hole and hit her head when she fell on the ground," Dale said, almost crying as he described everything that had happened.
"So people appeared and started killing themselves?" Alex asked, feeling that one more moment and he would start laughing.
"Yes! They just appeared and started killing themselves all over the plot. That's exactly how it was, we had nothing to do with it," Dale said, quickly nodding his head.
"And another one by your car?" Mike asked, feeling the full absurdity of the situation.
"That one just flew into the house, hit his head on an old beam. And then got hit in the head with a board," Tucker said, beginning to realize the full absurdity of the situation.
"I told you we needed to properly nail that board," Dale said, looking at Tucker.
"Dale, not now. Is this really the moment you need to talk about this? We have 4 corpses on the property. That's four times more than necessary. What are we going to do with them?" Tucker said irritably, starting to scold Dale for stupid questions.
Alex and Mike looked at Tucker and Dale, who had started arguing with each other, then glanced at each other. Alex's lips trembled from the restrained desire to laugh. He thought that what was supposed to happen in the original timeline with the group of students would not repeat itself.
But fate had made itself known again and done it in a very unique way, doing this to the cultists. Mike didn't even understand how he should react. He couldn't believe that those who needed Hannah would just kill themselves out of their own stupidity. And he was sure that if he told anyone, no one would believe him. Alex sighed and began to calm Tucker and Dale so they could calm down and talk normally.
To be continued...
(Anyway, I tried again to fit everything I was thinking into one chapter. But the battering rams in my head rebelled against the rule of the main cockroach. Well, that's my problem, don't worry about it. Next, I'll try to explain a little lore and the reasons why. Some of you may not have played Outlast, and you'll certainly be wondering what the hell is going on here. I'll explain it all the same way I always do. There's not really much lore, unless they delve too deeply into it, and I won't touch on some plot threads that were in the comics. Well, you get the idea. Now I'm going to go eat. Peace, love, and, frankly, my editor decided to live in my basement.)
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