Skinwalkers and Night Land Nav

Skinwalkers and Night Land Nav

Intro:

Hello constant listener. Did you miss me? I’ve missed your company too. While I’ve been away I’ve been gathering more stories to to tell to you, more places to bring you, and am glad you are here with me. Tonights tale has been submitted by an anonymous subscriber. If you’d like to follow me on Twitter, my handle is @copper_shock. This story is from the perspective of a male.

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I’m Tasha Wheelhouse and this is Coppershock.

 

Body:

This story is one that I often question my own sanity. Because, I don’t know how it could even be possible. It’s one of those moments you experience that echoes through you, it’s so visceral and real.

 

I was in basic combat training, and a lot of things were changing for me at that point in my life. I had decided to break away from some of my family ties, needed direction, and the ROTC seemed to welcome me into their fold. This particular week we were going through an exercise called Night Land Nav.The goal of the exercise was to take a team of men and navigate through the landscape in pitch darkness. No lights were permitted. Your team was given a map, a compass, coordinates, one set of NOD (Night Observation Device), and emergency chemlights (‘chemlights’ are what you would call them glow sticks.). We had marched out behind our sergeant who was the only one holding a flashlight. When we reached the original point, he stopped and turned to face all of us.

“Alright boys. You have everything you need to follow the coordinates, and get back here.” The sergeant took out a marker from his pocket. “If I see a one O’ you with a flashlight, chemlights, or I just plain find you. You’re getting one of these.” He fiddled the red marker between his fingers showing it to all of us. It meant he’d draw a red line across our neck.

“Out here in the vast wilderness of Fort Sill, Oklahoma. You won’t see hills, trees, nor city lights. Judging by this sky, you won’t even have God himself to help you tonight.”

I looked up. The sky was nothing but black. No stars, no heavens to guide us. There was however flashes of heat lighting. Stretches of electricity racing in between clouds, lighting the ground below  for only a second.

“All right. Get organized, and get going.”

I turned to my team. I was going to take lead of my squad.

“Ok guys. Column formation, all of us walking in a line. Belzer.” Belzer lifted his head to me. “You’re the tallest, take the front, count your steps. Gibbons. You’re the shortest, hang in the back and count your steps also. Both of you keep your pacing even. When we reach a checkpoint check with each other to gauge how far we’ve actually gone.” Private Belzer and Gibbons nodded and went to go stand in their respective spots.

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“Hallows. I want you wearing the NOD’s, and holding the compass telling us the direction to go. Me, Kipps, and Longmier will be security detail.”

Hallows nodded and picked up the Night Observation Device and started to strap it to his face. They were large and heavy. I’d worn them once before. It’s not the bright green emerald color you’ll see on ghost hunting TV shows. It was more of a silver mercury. No depth of field because it picks up Ultra Violet light, and it doesn’t cast the same shadows you would expect it too, but at least you can make out shapes.

Longmier, and Kipps picked up their M4 Carbines, and holstered them in a gip in front of their body. For exercises like these, our guns were more for practice. At the end of the muzzle of my gun, it had a little metal box screwed on. We call these “Blank Firing Adapters.” It disables the gun from firing at all.

“Lights out, let’s go!” The Sergeant turned off his flashlight forcing all the other troops to start their trek.

“Let’s move.” I said. Our lined formation followed Belzer as he started taking his first steps forward. When we reached the first coordinate checkpoint both Belzer up front and Gibbons in back stopped almost simultaneously. My troop was going to kill it. Hallows directly behind me did the math for the next checkpoint and we started to move again. Looking back at it, I wished I’d paid more attention after the 3rd checkpoint, because Kipps stopped the squad, and raised his gun toward the distance.

“You hear that?”

“Hear what Kipps?”

“I just feel like we’re being watched.”

“It better not be the sarge. Let’s keep moving quicker.”

We continued onward picking up our pace. Thankfully the next 2 checkpoints went by just fine.  I felt my boots crunching over brush and dirt. We were making amazing time, and I had no doubt we were going to be the first troop back to base. I could hear heavy breathing picking up around me and I decided to give my squad a quick break.

“Ok guys, defensive position. Everybody’s back facing in. Weapons out.” I sat down next to Hallows, then I hear him utter a curse under his breath.

“What’s up buddy?” I said cheerfully. I remember a huge difference in the fact that I spoke in a regular voice and Hallows returned it with a hushed whisper like he didn’t want someone to hear, and that I should speak quieter too.

“I just saw something.”

“I thought we lost the drill sergeant!” I said.

“No. I don’t…. It’s over there. I just saw.. Saw it shift.”

“Can I take a look?” Hallows neatly removed the NOD’s from his head and handed them to me.  I pulled them over my eyes and my whole vision is blanketed in silver. I saw the Oklahoma plains before me, and just ahead there was what looked like a divot, or dip in the landscape. A humped over grey mound sat there, pulsing like it was taking long heaving breaths.

“Is it a deer or cow on it’s side?” I whisper to Hallows.

“No, no way. I really don’t know how to describe it… I really don’t think you’ll believe me.”

“Hey, it’s moving again. Growing bigger like it’s standing up?”

“What is going on over there?” I heard Belzer ask from the other side of the circle.

“Shhh!” I cut him off, “I need everyone to be quiet. Something doesn’t feel right.”

The grey mound near the dip in landscape started to unfold. I saw a long arm, skinny and stretched move from the hunched body to the ground to help lift itself up. It started to crawl on all fours, in a quick but almost predatory fashion. Its fingers fanned out into what looked like pointed sharp rods. The anthropomorphic shape stood upright, it’s legs apart, arms bending in at it’s sides. His head still down. As he lifted his head I felt my heart drop. Antlers? And then his face revealed. I know this because I actually saw it’s eye’s in the NOD’s. Two bright almond dots in his head as he stared right at us. His face was covered in what I think was a mask, some kind of fur and muzzle attached to his face. I saw through the NOD’s that the man was actually naked.

I immediately stood up alarmed.

“We have to leave, now.”

Hallows stood up with no complaint. My ears perked up. I could hear the pattering of feet on distant brush leaping toward us.

“Run now!” My squad immediately start to bolt with me, we had lost all sense of our coordinates and not knowing where we were going. I start heaving breaths, my heart pounding. I felt every branch, every bush that snagged on my uniform as I ran. How fast does that thing go? I do a quick check to count my squad around me. After a few minutes we all slowed down and doubled over, gasping for air. The blood in my head is pumping so hard my vision is distorted, I’m so scared, and everything in my goggles makes the whole landscape look like it’s moving. I am the only one with NOD’s who can see out here. I scan the horizon in all directions from where we stopped.

“What was back there?” Gibbons was the first one to speak. “Why are we running?”

Hallows started blurting words out.

“It.. it was some guy. But he looked like an animal. He didn’t have any clothes on..and..”

“No clothes? Who’s gonna be out HERE naked? We are literally in the middle of nowhere.” said Kipps.

“I’m telling you, that’s what we saw. Right Ryan?” Hallows looked to me.

“I saw more than just some naked guy. He was too big to be a human, and he had actual antlers on his head. Maybe some kind of animal mask, I mean, he looked  half animal.

“You guys know where we’re standing?” Said Kipps.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“We’re at Fort Sill. This place was the end destination of the Trail of Tears. You know what that was right?” Kipps now was starting to become agitated. “Don’t you remember this from grade school? Our president Andrew Jackson in the 1800’s issued an “Indian Removal” Policy. We forced thousands of indians to march across the land from Mississippi to here. The travel conditions were so bad that a lot of people died. The whole route was littered in bodies. Anyone who wouldn’t march out of their land onto the Trail of Tears, was massacred. When they reached Oklahoma, for those that actually did, they were ushered into an American death camp.

“Oh yea yea. Isn’t Geronimo buried here?” Hallows asked.

“Yes he is buried here at Fort Sill. It’s strange. He was given a headstone because he was regarded as a very brave person. And while Indian burials vary, a headstones very much a christian thing. Not all indian burial grounds are exactly plotted or marked. But they are for sure off limits.”

“Why are we getting an indian history lesson?” Belzer interrupted.

“Because. From what you’re telling me, it’s extremely similar to something my uncle once told me when he was really drunk. I don’t think he meant to talk about it.”

“What did he tell you?” I asked Kipps.

“My uncle is Navajo, his mother is of the ‘Big Water People’. He lived on an indian reservation, and grew up with indian traditions. Each year was this huge festival, people would dress up in elaborate costumes, headdresses, and dance around. They’d drink, smoke peyote, it was always a big thing. As an adult he converted to christianity, and to help support that minority group, his church would hold a party the same night as the festival to help entice converts to stay sober and still enjoy company.

The night of the festival he was leaving his church and giving two missionaries a ride home in his truck. On a back road there were two drunk men who stumbled out in front of his car. He hit the brakes hard, and turned heavily to give the two men a wide berth. There was a small glint in their eye, and it was in a very strange way. My Uncle didn’t think to watch them, but the two missionaries in the seat next to him followed watching them all the way around. Then as their heads were turned all the way back, my Uncle heard them both gasp at the same time.

He looked into his rear view mirror. The two drunk men had broken out into a sprint at the truck. And while the truck was going 25 Miles Per Hour, they were gaining on him. That is not only fast, but inhumanely fast. He hit the gas harder until he  lost them. The Missionaries were both shook up and later described to my Uncle why they continued to stare at the two men as he drove by. They wondered if their legs were broken because they did not look like ours. Their knees were not bent forward, but bent  backwards like an Ostrich. And when they started to run to the truck, they grinned and bared a full row to jagged teeth.

My uncle then told me what he calls these people. Skinwalkers. People who willingly allow animals to possess them and are able to do inhuman feats. It’s not a good thing.” Kipps finished and my entire squad was captivated.

“You’re saying what Ryan and I saw may have actually been half human? And our weapons don’t work. Awesome.” Hallows exclaimed throwing up his arms.

“Let’s get this together then.” I said.

“We don’t even know where we are anymore.”

“What if we….”

All of us froze to our spot. A deep growl could be heard just behind us. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

“Come on! Run!”

We all started to move again as fast as we could. Eventually reaching a dirt roadway up ahead. Then I heard someone fall and tumble into the dirt and brush. And then his scream. It was Gibbons. I turned to look with my NOD’s and saw him on the ground with the large animal man hovering over him. Gibbons was gripping his arm like he was hurt, and pressing his heels into the dirt to try to crawl away.

Then a rushing of a car on the dirt road behind me. It was an old 1940’s white truck, curved fenders, and a red ambulance cross painted onto it’s side. A loud whistle emitted from the cab of the truck as it raced past. It was so painful and loud that all of us covered our ears. When I looked up again, I saw that the skinwalker had started to bolt into the distance.

Gibbons was still moving.

“You saw that right? Everyone saw that?” Said Kipps.

“Longmier come help me grab Gibbons!” Longmier and I rushed to Gibbons on the ground. He was covered in dirt, and his left arm was bleeding a little. It didn’t look bad, it just kind of looked like he had more or less cut his shirt and arm on a tree or something.

“Hey man you OK?” I propped him up and could feel from my hand on his back that he was shaking. Hallows called over to us.

“Hey guys! What if we ruck march along this road until we can get back to the FOB?”

“I second that.” Belzer said.

Long mier and I got Gibbons back on his feet and joined the group. It took us an extra hour, but we finally were able to find the last checkpoint. Sergeant was waiting there for us, and he was angry to say the least. And as the Sergeant was laying into me Hallows piped up.

“Drill sergeant! We saw someone out there!”

“You saw someone? Out here?” The Drill Sergeant said almost confused.

“Yes sir. And he was, well naked.” I added. The sergeant gets this strange look over his face of what almost looked like fear.

“We’re gonna go see the Captain.” I felt my eyebrows raise. The Captain was not only the commander of the squad, not only of our platoon, but of all of our company. Hallows and I followed him into the Captain’s tent. While he and I stood to attention at the back. The Captain finally looked to the two of us and said,

“At ease. Will you tell me exactly where you were on this map?”

Hallows nodded as he was the only doing most of the navigation for the exercise. He pointed to the map. My Captain’s face goes red as he leans his weight onto his desk looking at my Drill Sergeant.

“What were you thinking?!” He bellows. All the blood drains from my drill sergeants face. And the Drill Sergeant started to say,

“That’s where I went out earlier today to plot the points for the drill.”

“Let me make this abundantly clear. NEVER go out there.” My Captain then stood straight up and walked around his desk never breaking eye contact with my Sergeant. “This area. Is indian burial ground, it’s sacred for them, and we’ve made a simple promise not to take a damn stroll over their graves! Do you hear me?”

My Drill Sergeant looked like he was about to be sick. Hallows and I exchanged looks. Kipps was right. Then my thoughts drifted to Gibbons.

“You two are excused.” Captain said to Hallows and I. We left to go find Gibbons in the bunks. Turns out Longmier, Kipps, and Belzer hadn’t left him the entire time. His arm was patched up, but something in his eye’s had changed. He was still in shock.

“Gibbons. What did you see? You were the closest to it.” I asked

“Not to be dramatic. But I saw a monster. You said you thought he was wearing a mask? That wasn’t a mask at all, that was actually his face. I smelled his breath and it smelled like food left over for too long in a kitchen sink, like he  ate raw meat all the time and it was stuck in his teeth.”

The group of us looked at one another. We all knew together that we had seen something unnatural, and something we couldn’t explain. For the next  Night Land Navigation Drill, I was rather tentative about going. But, nothing like that has ever happened since. From what I learned about skinwalkers and Kipps, we were all apparently very lucky to be out of there alive.

 

End of Skinwalkers and Night Land Nav.
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