Night of the Corps Horror: A Fictional Scary Story

By DeVonte Roberts, St. Paul Field Crew Leader/ AmeriCorps member

The following is a fictional scary story that I created in the spirit of Halloween.

Night of the Corps Horror

Deep in the woods in a town far away
Is a history of evil that lives in our day

October 31st, 1925

It was the 13th night of a 2 week spiking trip
And the 4 person crew was exhausted from a full day of removing invasives
and gridding for embers after a prescribed burn in Collierville
They thought they could end their trip of labor with an old fashion night hike
They had no idea what would come of this innocent venture
They packed light
Only bringing their phones, flashlights and bottles of water
They went off into a trail that they thought was part of the burn
But since the trailhead led up to what seemed to be a mountain
They dismissed the coincidence and proceeded without further caution
Webbed with tall grass, bushes, and branches
The crew used their bottles and flashlights to waft through the thicket
Until one crew member murmured about a burning sensation that was traveling around their forearms
Without batting an eye, another crew member quickly shined their light on the victim
And to their alarm, there were slash marks whisked from their hands to the elbows
As they inspected further they found it was not only the arms but up to their neck and running down the back
The injured member reassured the crew that it was harmless and insisted they keep moving
That was until the burning intensified moments later
Scratching the wounds only made it worse
Minutes later, the crew shined their flashlights back on their comrade and noticed slow bleeding from the lacerations
In a panic, they backed away and urged this member should head back to the campsite and dig in the first aid kit for proper ointment
But before they could take off, one crew member noticed something sticking out of their pant sleeve
They used the buff around their neck to pull out what they identified as the culprit to the cuts
It was…. WILD PARSNIP
With blood, now dripping from their shirt, the injured member ran off into the dark to where they assumed they parked the truck
And then there were 3
The crew decided to push forward
As they were very close to the mountain they so eagerly wanted to see the viewpoint from
There was, what seemed as, a lane of trees that stood near each other
Tall, but with low reaching branches sticking down
So the crew did their best to duck down and avoid getting scratched
What they didn’t notice was the spread of vines they were stepping through
Every now and then, tugging away at what felt like a grip around their steel toe boots
The crew continued to make large strides in a low position but couldn’t help getting snagged
One crew member tripped over
Pacifying the concern of the other 2, they attempted to stand but kept feeling an imbalance from the vines
It happened again
And then another time
At this point they started giggling to themselves from the bizarre predicament
One of the 2 members turned around because of the laughter
But they realized that they were much further ahead than they thought
What came next was completely unexpected
They squinted first at their falling friend, to make sure they could spot them properly
Then they tightened the squeeze of their gaze
And witnessed the vines moving
Slithering on the ground like snakes, the vines came around the ankles of the member left behind
So the other 2 crew mates ran toward the entanglement
But the vines fastened and yanked back on the legs of the young worker
Slamming them to the ground and dragging them off
Screaming and yelling for the other 2 to run faster, the poor kid was pulled through the dirt and ashes from the burn
The vines whiplashed the body then hauled it through brushes of stinging nettle
Trying to keep up, all the other 2 members could hear was crying and more yelling
And then… there was silence
It appeared their 3rd was gone
And even worse… they had lost their way
And were in a part of the forest that they had not previously seen
They agreed the best thing to do was call for help and get back to the truck
But of course… there was no cell service in the area
So they darted out
Trying to retrace their steps but too scared of getting trapped they sprinted blindly
Not foreseeing what was ahead, they kept hearing the swooshing of something in the distance
First the noise was far but then it got closer the more they ran so they started slowing down
They tried to pace their heavy breathing so listen closely as they turned their heads everywhere
Trying to locate what was causing the audible force
And while one members eyes were averted toward the moon
A swinging of thorns from a large black locusts whacked them over
Without thinking the last member jolted faster than they ever have
While running they kept feeling the poking of something in their pocket
But out of fear of getting caught they kept sprinting and ignored the tension
Somehow they had made it back to the truck
Diving into the driver’s seat and turning the ignition on, they suddenly froze
Remembering that they had a drip torch in the truck bed, they walked over and held it up while staring frightened at the forest that had tormented them
Reaching into their pocket out of curiosity they pulled out a lighter
And then
Just like in the movies
They flickered the lighter and lit up a few sticks to make a fire
They dipped the torch into the small flame and ran toward the evil forest in rage while yelling something
No one knows what the 4th crew member said
But its reported that the evil forest they burned up had a tracing of burn marks and ashes that spelled out what they believe was their final statement
“Y.O.”

-FIN

Dedicated to the memory of lost heroes.