273: Search and Rescue Stories (Volume 6) | Creepypasta

Part 9.

It's been a while, hasn't it? I know everyone says it, but time has this really strange way of flowing when you're an adult.

I guess I'm at that age where I'm in between being a kid and getting old.

Or maybe that's your entire life.

In between things.

It's summer now, which means we're dealing with a massive influx of people in the parks.

We're an incredibly popular camping destination because of our large amount of campsites in various scenic areas.

And in the summer season, these camps are almost always operating to full capacity at any given time.

We're well staffed, and all of us know what to look for, what to expect.

We have teams standing by in the event of any kind of emergency.

Even so, people still manage to slip away.

In response to a couple of other incidents at the same site, we installed a camper near the entrance, and a ranger stays out there every night.

We rotate, so everyone spends one night a week there.

I chose Wednesdays, as these tend to be relatively low key, with only our long-term guys around.

This particular day had been humid, like the inside of a locked car.

All of us were relatively miserable, but the camper had a small AC unit, and the campers and I took turns sitting in it until the sun went down.

We all bedded down, and I had the AC turned up as high as it would go.

It's a loud unit, so I had earplugs in.

The camper is tiny but comfortable, and I fell asleep relatively quickly.

I woke up in total silence, and it took me a minute to realize that that was the problem.

The AC had stopped, and there was absolutely no sound outside.

I sat up, and the sheets didn't make any noise.

I clapped.

Nothing.

I yelled.