Without saying a word, the two glanced at each other before proceeding down the path, unexpectedly following the trail. Max hadn''t noticed it, but he and Richard had inexplicably gotten closer to each other, walking side by side.


    As the two walked Max became more cognizant of his surroundings. They were alone, there were no cameras on this trail, and zero supervision. And while the public wasn''t allowed on the trail there were a few ways in and out that didn''t involve stepping directly on school campus. Someone could easily come and go as they pleased, especially after school hours, and while the school was relatively far from the forest it wasn''t impossible for more voracious wildlife to wander inside.


    As the two got closer they began to hear a loud buzzing noise permeating through the fog infecting the trail just as the smell had done. Whatever it was, it likely attracted the attention of the other wildlife as bushes nearby began to shake with tepid curiosity.


    They were getting closer, its silhouette shaping the surrounding fog. Max looked down and saw a splatter of blood, and entrails plastered on the pavement. Accidentally stepping on a muddle of red meat himself, Richard immediately bent over to his side, and puked, adding to the gruesome scene unraveling before them, as well as the hot stench of death.


    As Richard threw up Max continued to walk, his arm covering his nose, his breathing ragged and unsure. The very thought of inhaling this smell was like poison to his mind, and breathing it in made his insides tremble, but he pressed on, nonetheless. A few feet from the gore was the body.


    It was a stag, a large one at that. Struggling to see past all the flies Max squinted, checking for wounds. The buck was laid out on its side with a single incision starting at the neck stretching all the way down to the groin. Max made some startling observations before turning back to Richard who was just catching his breath.


    Max walked back to Richard, careful not to step on the entrails strewn about.


    "We should go." Max said simply.


    "Huh?" Richard said wiping his mouth, "it''s just a bit of roadkill."


    "Roadkill?" Max repeated. "Do you see a road?"


    "Same difference." Richard said finally recovering from his excursion. "It''s disgusting sure, but we shouldn''t let this keep us from practice."


    Max looked at Richard closely, it was clear he was avoiding the scenery. To him he probably just assumed this was a rabbit or something that just happened to smell extra bad.


    "I think you should take a look and see for yourself."


    Richard waved his hands and pulled back, clearly apprehensive to the suggestion. "No, no I''d rather not puke my guts up again."


    Honestly, Max couldn''t blame him. Being a host to dead animals was nothing new to Iyola avenue. Last year on jogs Max, and the team came across dead squirrels, and other rodents fairly often, at least once every other week. From Richards perspective this was probably just another rodent that just happens to smell very bad.


    "That''s a fully grown adult deer. One that''s had its neck snapped, and insides torn out. There''s no sign of a struggle, and that smell is because whatever did this didn''t even eat anything, they just left the corpse and all its insides here for us to find. Do you understand?"


    Max wasn''t sure if it was because Richard couldn''t believe it, his own curiosity, or a weird sense of bravery but with his mouth still covered, Richard slowly turned his head, moving his eyes over to the desecrated corpse. The moment they connected Richard turned away in disgust, and started to pace back in forth with his hands on his hips nodding his head almost in disbelief.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "Alright, yeah," he said almost sputtering. "God man this is just so disgusting, uh, let''s at least make it to the track, it''s closer than if we were to walk all the way back up."


    "Sure." Max agreed. The two carefully stepped around the corpse, and continued their journey down through Iyola avenue. "Oh, wait." Max said revealing his phone. He opened the camera application, and snapped a few pictures.


    "Gonna report it to the school?" Richard asked, looking away from the corpse.


    Max put his phone away, and continued down the trail with Richard leaving the corpse behind, allowing it to be swallowed by the hungry fog.


    "No, I''ll send the pictures to you, and let you take care of that." Max said.


    "I should''ve figured, but yeah I appreciate that."


    It wasn''t long before the two started to approach a clearing in woods, the paved trail ending at a large patch of grass that led directly to the track, and inside it was the large football field.


    "What do you think that was?" Richard asked.


    "I''d rather not think about it."


    Max couldn''t afford to waste time thinking about something like that. Whether it was done by an animal, or some deranged individual had nothing to do with him or his goals. Whatever the answer was he was sure the school would deal with it - after all it was Eden High we were talking about, and Kacey would make sure the problem was dealt with.


    The important thing was that they were out of the woods, and on the field now. While Iyola avenue saw virtually zero-foot traffic over the summer, the field on the other hand did, and most animals weren''t comfortable being out in the open in a place that was usually full of humans, so in Max''s mind they were safe, at least for now.


    "I can''t think of a lot of animals that would do something like that, but man what if it was a person? That''d be really scary huh Max?" He asked chuckling lightly.


    ''Ah, so he''s back to his usual jovial self then huh?''


    "Undoubtedly." Max said with a blank expression.


    "Hey Max, now that we''re out go ahead and send those pictures; I don''t think anyone will be going in there for a while, but I really want to be sure. I''m gonna send them to Kacey ASAP."


    After Max sent the pictures the two kept walking across the field toward the parking lot. Max was disappointed since he was starting to look forward to practice, but after what they witnessed he had a knot in his stomach that''d take the rest of the day to untie. Richard on the other hand...


    "So, what now man, you wanna do a few laps?"


    "You still want to exercise after that?" Max asked.


    "Eh, the past is the past." Richard said laughing. Then without waiting for Max to reply he took off on the track. From Max''s perspective it looked like he was in a sprint, but in truth it was only a light jog, Richard was an incredible athlete.


    Max looked back at the trail leading into Iyola avenue before taking a deep breath, and catching up to Richard. A year before Max had no issue keeping up with Richard, but because he had no intention of running this year he''d been completely overtaken. One lap in and Max''s legs started to hurt, and he was gasping for air repeatedly. Despite the pain Max was still an athlete at heart, and used to this feeling, and so like any good athlete he pushed through it.


    A mile later Max was hunched over his knees gasping for air, his lungs desperate for that cold autumn oxygen. A moment later he was on the ground sitting back, and taking in the chill of the air. After another lap Richard did the same, but he was less tired, and could''ve continued if he wanted to.


    "Yeah, you''re gonna need some work." Richard said between labored breaths.


    "Shut. Up." Max said wiping sweat off his brow.


    Richard laughed, how he managed to find the air for it after a mile of running Max did not know.


    "So Mad Max, those new students you''re watching over – are they gonna join track? Could always use some new members you know."


    "I doubt it." Max said. "What about your sister? She gonna join?"


    "Hmm maybe, she did say she was interested in cheer leading so Kacey will probably help her with that. But I don''t know, our parents are pretty strict on her."


    "I''m guessing that''s part of the reason she''s been home-schooled her whole life?"


    Richard broke eye contact with Max and stared off in the distance, down past the parking lot, and into the fog that covered the streets below.


    "It''s kinda hard to explain but, we have another sister. But she went missing when she was little, so our parents are very strict on Lily." Richard shrugged, "It''s not right, but I can''t exactly blame them."


    "That''s... Rough man, I''m sorry." Max said looking down at the track.


    Max was surprised that someone like Richard had demons in his closet too. So not wanting to lose their only daughter, their parents kept Lily close, perhaps too close. It reminded Max of the orphanage, and how claustrophobic he felt growing up. He thought of Caleb, and how claustrophobic he feels now.


    Richard stood back up, and reached his hand out to Max, who took it and groaned as Richard pulled him to his feet.


    "Alright man time for post workout stretches!" Richard said excitedly.


    After the stretches were over Max and Richard went their separate ways.