When did something happen to you that was straight out of a horror movie?
Escape and Rescue
The dogs were snarling and pacing on the bank just above our heads, their claws scraping on the rocks. I felt around underwater with my free hand and found a bunch of smooth creekstones. I grabbed as many as I could hold and threw them hard downstream, making big splashes about 20 feet away.
The rifle swung toward the sound and fired. The crack so loud my ears rang. I used those few seconds to pull Samantha sideways into this undercut section of the bank where the water had carved out a shallow cave.
The overhang blocked the dogs from jumping straight down on us, but they were going crazy up there, barking and digging at the edge. I pressed two fingers against Samantha’s neck and found her pulse, weak and uneven, skipping beats. Her lips had turned this awful purple blue color, and her skin felt like ice.
The cold water was killing her, and I knew we had maybe minutes before her body shut down completely. But if we moved now, that rifle would cut us down. I looked upstream and saw a big fallen tree lying across the creek about 15 feet away, its trunk making a bridge to the other side.
I made the hardest choice of my life right then. I propped Samantha against the bank in the deepest part of the shadow and pushed myself out into the open, sprinting for that tree. The rifle cracked and bark exploded off the trunk right where my head would have been if I hadn’t ducked.
I threw myself across the log and rolled down the opposite bank, making as much noise as possible, crashing through the bushes. I kept moving loud and fast, snapping branches and kicking rocks, anything to keep his attention on me and away from where I’d left Samantha.
The kidnapper was shouting commands at his dogs, and I could hear him moving along the creek edge, his boots crunching on gravel as he tried to track where I’d gone. I circled back through the thick brush, thorns ripping at my face and arms, leaving bloody scratches everywhere. The undergrowth was so dense, I had to push through with my whole body, branches catching my clothes and hair.
I could hear two of the dogs following my trail while the other two stayed with their master, their barking getting closer behind me. I crashed through a wall of blackberry vines that tore my shirt to shreds and finally reached the creek again downstream from where I’d left Samantha.
I slipped back into the water and waited upstream, staying low, the current pushing against my legs. I found her exactly where I’d left her, slumped against the bank, her head barely above water. Her body was completely limp when I pulled her up. No response at all, just dead weight in my arms. I threw her arm over my shoulder and started dragging her downstream, keeping us both in the water.
Even though the cold was making my muscles cramp, every step was agony, my legs burning from the effort of fighting the current while supporting her weight. The dogs had found where I’d crossed back into the creek, and now they were splitting up. Two of them crashing through the brush on my trail, while two stayed with the kidnapper on the opposite bank.
I could hear them getting closer, maybe 50 feet behind us now, their barking echoing off the rocks. Up ahead, I spotted a concrete pipe, a culvert running under what looked like an old logging road, the opening just visible through the trees.
I half carried, half dragged Samantha toward it, her feet dragging in the water behind us. The pipe was maybe three feet wide, barely big enough for a person to crawl through. I pushed Samantha in first, shoving her limp body into the dark opening, then squeezed in after her.
The bottom of the pipe was covered in nasty mud and debris, sticks and leaves and trash that had washed in during storms. We had to crawl on our bellies through the muck, the smell of rot and stagnant water making me gag. Samantha wasn’t moving at all, and I had to push her ahead of me inch by inch through the freezing slime.
The pipe was longer than I’d thought, maybe 30 feet, and completely dark in the middle where no light reached. My shoulders scraped against the concrete sides, and I felt things moving in the mud beneath us, probably rats or bugs. Behind us, I could hear the dogs barking at the pipe entrance, their sounds echoing through the tunnel.
The kidnapper’s voice followed, yelling something I couldn’t make out over the noise. I kept pushing Samantha forward, the mud so thick it was like crawling through cold pudding. Her body was completely limp, offering no help at all, just dead weight I had to shove through the muck. Finally, I saw light ahead, the other end of the pipe, and I pushed harder, desperate to get us out of this nightmare tunnel.
We emerged on the other side, covered head to toe in black mud and slime that stank like a sewer. The stink was so bad I almost threw up. But at least the mud coating us might mess with the dog’s noses. I heard the kidnapper’s voice echoing from inside the pipe behind us, angry and yelling at his dogs who were barking like crazy at the entrance we just crawled through.
I dragged Samantha further from the pipe opening into some thick bushes. Her body completely limp and not responding to anything. My hands were shaking as I pulled out my phone, wiping mud off the screen with my already filthy shirt. One bar of signal appeared for just a second, and I typed as fast as I could with my frozen fingers, just managing to send 911 help with our GPS location before the signal died again.
The message showed as sent, and relief flooded through me for about two seconds before I heard something that made my blood run cold. An ATV engine roared to life somewhere up the hill, loud and louder. Samantha’s eyes fluttered open for a moment, and she mumbled something I could barely hear about another drainage tunnel, a bigger one she’d seen during her escape.
The ATV was definitely coming our way now, using the old logging roads to get ahead of us. I grabbed Samantha under her arms and started dragging her through the undergrowth. Branches scratching my face and arms as I pulled her dead weight. Her legs weren’t working at all anymore, just dragging behind us, leaving marks in the dirt.
Every few steps, I had to stop and listen for the dogs or the ATV, trying to figure out which direction they were coming from. The engine sound got way louder, and through the trees, I saw headlights bouncing down the logging road, maybe 100 feet away. I pulled Samantha behind a huge fallen oak tree just as the lights swept right over where we’d been standing.
The ATV stopped and the engine cut off, leaving this awful silence except for my own breathing that sounded way too loud. I pressed my fingers against Samantha’s neck, searching for a pulse and finally found one, but it was so weak I could barely feel it. Her skin felt like ice, cold and waxy looking even through all the mud.
I rubbed her arms and chest as hard as I could, trying to get some warmth into her body while staying hidden behind the log. The dogs burst through the bushes about 30 feet from us, but something was different. They were running in circles, sniffing the ground where we’d crossed earlier, confused and whining instead of their usual tracking behavior. The mud and creek water had definitely messed up their ability to follow our scent.
One of them kept circling back to where we’d been, nose to the ground, unable to figure out where we went next. I made a quick decision and pulled off my muddy shirt, tying it around a thick branch. With all the strength I had left, I threw it as far as I could in the opposite direction from where we needed to go.
The dogs immediately took off after it, barking and crashing through the bushes toward where it landed. I lifted Samantha up in a fireman’s carry, her weight making my muscles scream in protest, and started moving toward where she’d pointed earlier. My ankle rolled hard on a hidden route, and pain shot up my leg like someone had stabbed me with a hot knife.
I bit down on my lip to keep from crying out, and kept moving, limping now, but not stopping. Through the trees ahead, I could finally see what Samantha had been trying to tell me about.
A concrete drainage pipe way bigger than the one we’d crawled through, maybe four feet across, running under what looked like a real road. I could hear cars passing overhead, actual traffic, normal people who had no idea what was happening down here.
My heart started pounding with hope as I stumbled toward it. Samantha’s weight getting heavier with every step. The pipe opening was partially hidden by overgrown vines and bushes, which was probably why the kidnapper hadn’t found it yet. I could still hear the dogs barking in the distance where they’d chased my shirt.
But it wouldn’t be long before they figured out they’d been tricked. The kidnapper’s voice carried through the trees, calling the dogs back, sounding angry and frustrated.
I pushed through the vines covering the pipe entrance, and saw it went all the way under the road, maybe 40 feet, to the other side. Water trickled through the bottom, just a few inches deep, and the concrete walls were covered in green slime and moss. I shifted Samantha’s weight on my shoulders and ducked into the tunnel, my back screaming from carrying her.
The sound of traffic overhead echoed through the pipe, cars and trucks passing by completely unaware. My injured ankle nearly gave out when I stepped on the slippery bottom, but I caught myself against the wall and kept going. Behind us, I heard the ATV start up again, the engine revving hard as the kidnapper raced along the logging road, trying to figure out where we’d gone.
The tunnel seemed to go on forever, each step harder than the last, with Samantha’s unconscious weight on my shoulders. Light appeared at the far end, actual daylight, and I pushed myself to move faster, even though every muscle in my body was on fire. We were almost there, almost to the other side, where there were cars and people and help.
I pushed Samantha into the tunnel opening first, and her body went completely limp as she collapsed in the shallow water at the bottom. I crawled in right behind her and my shoulders scraped hard against the rough concrete sides that were way tighter than they looked from outside.
Cold water trickled through the bottom of the pipe and soaked through my pants and shirt as I grabbed Samantha under her arms and started dragging her deeper into the darkness. My back muscles burned from the awkward position, but I kept pulling her further from the entrance until we were maybe 20 feet in where the light barely reached us.
I remembered the emergency blanket in my pack and fumbled with the zipper with numb fingers until I found the small packet. The metallic material crinkled loud in the confined space as I shook it out and wrapped it around Samantha’s shaking body.
Her skin felt like ice and she wasn’t responding when I said her name. But at least she was still breathing. That’s when I heard his voice echoing from the tunnel entrance and my whole body went rigid with fear.
“I know you’re in there.”
A rock flew past us in the darkness and clattered off the concrete wall just inches from my head. He was trying to scare us out, but the tunnel was too small for him to fit through easily, and I could tell from his voice he wasn’t coming in after us. I pulled out my phone with shaking hands and couldn’t believe what I saw on the screen.
Two bars of signal showed in the corner, and my earlier 911 text had actually gone through with an automated response asking for more details. My fingers were so cold and wet, I could barely type. But I managed to text our exact location using the GPS coordinates on my screen. I told them about the armed kidnapper hunting us and that Samantha was dying from hypothermia and needed immediate medical help.
The battery warning flashed 5% and my stomach dropped knowing the phone could die any second. I hit send just as a gunshot exploded into the tunnel and the sound was so loud in the confined space my ears started ringing. The bullet bounced off the concrete walls and I felt burning pain slice across my forearm where a fragment caught me.
Blood started soaking through my sleeve and I pressed my other hand against the wound to stop the bleeding. I knew we needed help fast or we were both going to die in this pipe. So, I started whistling as loud as I could. Three sharp blasts over and over, the sound echoing out both ends of the tunnel and hopefully reaching someone, anyone who might hear us.
My lips were numb from cold, but I kept whistling that pattern again and again while pressing against my bleeding arm. Then I heard the most beautiful sounds in my entire life above us on the road. Car doors slammed and voices started shouting and then a siren came screaming toward us, getting louder every second.
The kidnapper cursed, and I heard his footsteps running away from the tunnel entrance as more car doors slammed above us. I kept whistling and shouting, “Help! We’re down here!” until I saw flashlight beams sweeping across the tunnel entrance.
“This is Park Ranger Perry. Is someone in there?” a woman’s voice called out, and my whole body started shaking with relief so hard I could barely answer.
“Yes, please help us.” “She’s dying.”
Ranger Perry crawled into the tunnel with a big medical kit and a headlamp that lit up the whole space as she moved toward us. She was talking into her radio, calling for backup and an ambulance while checking Samantha’s neck for a pulse.
“She’s hypothermic and going into shock,” she said while pulling out warming packs from her kit.
She activated them and tucked them under the emergency blanket around Samantha’s core and neck while checking her breathing. More flashlights appeared at the tunnel entrance, and I heard deputies shouting orders and the kidnapper’s ATV roaring away in the distance, but I didn’t care about him anymore. All that mattered was that Samantha was getting help, and we were finally safe.
Ranger Perry wrapped gauze around my bleeding arm while keeping one hand on Samantha’s wrist, checking her pulse.
“You did good getting her this far,” she said.
“The ambulance is 2 minutes out, and we’ve got units pursuing the suspect.” She pulled out an oxygen mask and fitted it over Samantha’s face while more deputies crawled into the tunnel to help. My vision started getting fuzzy around the edges, and Perry noticed right away.
“Hey, stay with me,” she said and wrapped another emergency blanket around my shoulders.
“You’re both going to be okay now.”
The paramedics arrived and had to carefully slide Samantha onto a backboard to get her out of the tunnel without hurting her more. They started an IV right there in the pipe and I watched the clear fluid drip into her arm while they worked.
When they finally pulled me out of the tunnel, my legs wouldn’t work right and a paramedic had to basically carry me to the second ambulance.
The last thing I saw before they closed the doors was deputies spreading out through the woods with flashlights and dogs searching for the kidnapper who’ tried to kill us both. The ambulance doors slammed shut and we were racing down the mountain with sirens blaring while the paramedic kept working on Samantha’s IV line.
