The Cabin in the Woods

My story begins with a long hike into the dense woods of a forest in upstate New York. My wife and I were out on a nice sunny winter day in February. We were all geared up with backpacks, snacks, water, flares and other necessities. The hike started off like so many others with a gradual climb that then progressed to a steeper incline. We must have been a bit out of shape from the long winter as we had to stop along the way to catch our breath. The day was getting long and we knew that soon we'd have to start our way back down the mountain. Nevertheless, we needed the rest. We broke out the snacks and talked about how great it was to finally be outside. As we ate, we could hear a rustling in the distance and had this eerily odd feeling that we were being watched. I said to myself, great.... all we need are some people to bother us or even worse, rob us. As time would tell, bothering us would be the least of our worries...

We finished our snacks and headed back down the mountain. The day was getting away from us quicker than anticipated and the sun was setting fast. We started looking for the mile markers, but they were all on the ground and seemed to have been "chewed" off the trees? Now I started to get really worried. We tried to head towards what we thought was the trail head, but seemed to find ourselves deeper into the forest. Again, we had this uneasy feeling that we were being watched. As we kept moving, we came upon a dog of all things, just roaming around in some brush up ahead. We thought, ugh, what else can happen. Fortunately the dog came right up to us and seemed very friendly. We shouted out to see if maybe its owner was in the area, but we got no response. Then the dog barked loudly and other dogs barked in response. We weren't quite sure what to make of this.

Now it was really getting dark and we were starting to panic. For all of our great planning, we now had no cellular service for our phones. The dog (a good sized breed I was unfamiliar with) was still with us and seemed to be nudging us in a certain direction. It seemed so friendly, but it had these odd yellow eyes? Cautiously we followed. The dog led us to what appeared to be an abandoned cabin. It had now started to snow, so as much as we didn't want to, we went inside to get shelter from the deteriorating weather. We looked at each other and decided we had to stay. I mean, it was only for the night. What could happen... right? We'd head out first thing in the morning.

We settled in with supplies we had. We couldn't believe how unprepared we had been to find ourselves in this situation, but we were happy for that dog who had oddly led us to shelter.... or so we thought..... It wasn't long after we were settled in that we began to hear howling.

It did not seem to be the same type of barking that we had heard earlier with the dogs. This was deeper and sent a chill down our spines. I cracked the door open to take a look and could still see the dog paws in the snow from earlier. We huddled together not really knowing what to do. The howls stopped.... but only for a short while. This time, they seemed closer and more intense. I went to crack the door again to see if I could see anything and this time the dog paws were replaced with much longer paws... and there were only two this time instead of four. I slammed the door and we started to barricade it as well as the windows. As I moved past a window, I saw those same yellow eyes that we had seen on the dog that led us here. Suddenly we heard a thud on the roof of the cabin. Someone or something was walking around. Then we heard multiple sounds coming from the roof and all around the cabin. Then it went completely silent....

We could not believe what was happening! Soon the "dogs" were howling again almost in unison as if talking to one another. The banging on the roof and walls of the cabin was piercing right through our bodies. Was this how it was all going to end for us? As memories started to quickly flash by, seemingly accepting the end, we noticed the sun just beginning to peak above the horizon. As the howls got louder and louder, we both decided to go down fighting and see what was terrorizing us. We un-barricaded the door, looked at each other and were ready to accept our fate. Just as we did, the howling stopped. The sun was now clearly moving above the horizon. The "dogs" were gone. In shock, we gathered our things and bolted out of the cabin. As we did, we noticed some shiny objects half buried in the snow? There were four at various places around the cabin. We picked them up and brushed off the snow. On one it said "Private John Jones, U.S. Army Special ops 1946". Another said "Private Joseph Smith Special Ops 1945". The other two "dog tags" were similar to the first ones. What had we stumbled upon at that "Cabin in the Woods"?