PART 5: DOMUM
Several months had passed, and now it was time for John to go home and return to his old job as a lumberjack. He said his goodbyes to his SFT team members Allie and Drizz, who came up to him and hugged him. "Promise me, someday we will meet again," Allie said. John gave a thin smile, "Of course, I won't forget all of you."
John then shook hands with the others and left. He brought a gun for protection because there were many dangerous things in the forest that he didn't know about.
On his journey, John got lost and stopped to rest under tall trees while eating his provisions. He tried to draw a map and estimate how far his home was.
His method worked, and John arrived at his home just before sunset. He went straight to his house and searched for his wife, but he was shocked to see that the inside of the house was very different from when he last left it. He wandered around, amazed. "Hanna!" He called out to his wife, but there was no answer at all.
Suddenly, John started to panic and feel confused. He put down his bag and hurried to see his known co-workers at their homes. John asked each one of them, but they all seemed confused.
Finally, he arrived at Jack's house. "Jack, have you seen my wife? I said goodbye to her last month to join the SFT."
Jack's face looked surprised and confused. "Since when did you have a wife, John? Aren't we all still bachelors here?" John was also shocked. "What do you mean? Don't you know Hanna? My wife?" Jack let John into his house, and they continued to talk inside. "Hey,
John, we're still young. None of us have ever been married. What do you mean by calling her Hanna?"
John suddenly felt dizzy and started to bleed from his nose. He immediately fell to the living room floor.
"Where am I?" he asked.
"You're in the hospital, John. What have you been doing all this time?" John sat up slowly. "I joined the SFT last month because someone invited me to join. Then I went to the middle of the forest, to our base camp, and patrolled there."
Jack said, "I understand. Why didn't you talk to me earlier?"
John answered confusedly, "I don't know, Jack. Lately, I've been getting frequent headaches."
Jack put John to sleep and said, "Sleep if you need to. Tomorrow, I'll come back to visit you. You need to rest more."
John thanked Jack and went back to sleep that night.
The next day, Jack didn't go to work and went straight to the hospital with his friends to visit John. They brought some food and drinks. When they arrived, John was already waiting for them at the entrance. "Are you feeling better, John?"
Jack started the conversation. John replied calmly, "Yes, my friend. Thank you so much for your help."
They continued their journey home with Jack's truck...
Upon arriving at Jack's house, they held a small party to welcome John's return, but something was off.
That day, John seemed different from his usual self. He became quieter, and his friends asked, "What's wrong, John?
What are you thinking about?" "It's nothing, Will. I just don't feel well today. Enjoy the party," he replied.
They partied until evening, and John asked to leave early. He walked slowly, deep in thought. Who was me? What was im doing here? Why did i imagine having a wife?
What's wrong with me?
Fragmented memories began to piece together bit by bit...
That morning, John went to work as usual, the only difference was that no kind-hearted wife was accompanying him. John also appeared increasingly melancholy and quiet.
When he went to retrieve his axe which he kept behind the house, he was startled to find that it was smeared with dried blood. He immediately cleaned it and tried to recall what he had done before. He remembered that he had last used it to wound a wolf that had attacked him.
"Oh, yes, I used it to fight off the wolf that attacked me that time," John thought to himself. He then quickly cleaned and sharpened his legendary axe again while breathing a sigh of relief because in his mind he was afraid that he had killed someone with the axe.
After finishing sharpening and cleaning his axe, John immediately rushed off to work. Everything seemed normal here, except that John forgot that the hunter had already cleaned his axe after it had been stuck in the wolf. John had brought his axe home clean that time.
So, whose blood was smeared on John's axe now...
John's work as a lumberjack can sometimes be monotonous and repetitive, but there have been a few instances where he found himself in humorous situations.
One time, while he was sawing a large tree trunk, his foot got caught in a crevice in the ground. He stumbled and fell forward, causing the saw to fly out of his hand and into a nearby tree. The saw got stuck in the tree, and John had to climb up to retrieve it. As he was trying to pry it loose, a group of birds suddenly flew out of the tree, startling him and causing him to lose his balance. He tumbled down to the ground, landing on his back, with the saw still stuck in the tree.
Another time, John was working with a new chainsaw that he wasn't familiar with. As he was cutting a thick branch, he accidentally hit a knot in the wood, causing the chainsaw to kick back and hit him in the forehead. He stumbled back and fell into a nearby pile of sawdust, looking like a cartoon character with a bump on his head and sawdust all over his clothes.
There was also a time when John was working with his friend, Will, who was new to the lumberjack business. Will was using a handsaw to cut a small branch, and John was watching him closely. Suddenly, Will lost his grip on the saw and it went flying into the air, landing in a nearby pond. John burst out laughing, and Will was left embarrassed and soaking wet.
Despite the occasional mishaps and funny moments, John always took his work seriously and made sure to stay safe while on the job.
After finishing work, that day John went straight to the city to buy supplies and some bottles of drinks. He went to the nearest supermarket, driving his father's old truck.
John was born in a small village on the outskirts of the city on November 28th, 1990. His father was a farmer who liked to gamble and drink a lot. John knew nothing about his mother. Since he was a child, he never saw her. His father told him that his mother had left him, but later he said that she had abandoned him and that he was the one who had raised him.
John's father was a strict disciplinarian and one time he even slammed John against the wall because John kept asking about his mother's past. His father would often beat him when he returned from drinking and gambling until one day, he died in a car accident when his car collided with a truck. Since then, John inherited all of his father's assets, including his old truck.
Back to John in the supermarket, he bought a lot of food and drinks and loaded them into his truck. He then went to the hardware store to buy the tools he needed for work and stopped by a gun store to buy a dozen ammunition for his weapon, which he got from his friends at SFT. He then rushed home.
Upon arriving at the housing estate on the outskirts of the forest, John met Jack again.
He got off the truck and greeted him while giving him some food as a thank you. Jack offered to come over for a coffee, but John declined as he had a lot of work to do. "See you tomorrow morning, Jack," he said before leaving.
After returning from his tiring daily activities John immediately arranged the things he had just bought, he took his food from the truck and put it in the fridge, and the tools and the bullets into the basement of his house, When John was arranging his tools in the basement he accidentally stepped on the ground there that seemed to be different from the other land around it, the land looked like a former excavation, but John ignored it because he did not remember anything about the land
John rushed to take a shower and after that watched TV on his comfortable sofa while enjoying the snacks and drinks he had just bought, he watched the news.
"It has been reported that a large number of people have disappeared starting from
February until now, and still no traces or clues have been found by the local police"
"The average victim is a person who lives near the forest or a tourist who is traveling in the forest"
"People are advised not to go into the forest for a while until this investigation finds a bright spot, this possibility is not the work of wild animals or people who get lost, so I report from the city center, thank you"
John, who saw the news, was immediately furious "Of course, it wasn't the work of wild animals because I just saved people from kidnappers while in SFT, I think the kidnappers are still many and in groups, and they target humans to trade their organs, or maybe they are a gangster who wants to control the forest area to take his wood"
Yes... that must be the point because the forest here is indeed famous for its abundant wood and fertile soil,
"If I were them I would find a hidden place in the forest and grow cannabis there hahaha, I can also set up a cocaine business and human trafficking without being found out if I hide in the forest, set up several bases, and dig underground holes for hiding"
John was immediately silent and thought "Wow, that's right, lest there are gangster groups here who want to use this forest as their dark business, I have to call Allie to let them know"
John got up and called Allie...
Hang up the phone...
"Hello John, how are you? Did you miss us? haha"
"Hi Allie did you hear the news tonight?" John looked panicked
"No John, what's wrong? It seems important that you called at this time of night"
"Yes, it was just reported that in our place there are a lot of missing people, I assume that this is an invasion from the gangsters to control this forest and make it a base, I want you and the SFT comrades to be more careful at this time although this is just my assumption, I have a very strong feeling towards this, and do you remember the incident of the woman screaming that we finally found out that the woman has been kidnapped by someone? I assume that it's not just that person, but it's a group, stay alert because there might be a retaliatory attack from them since we have captured 1 group of them"
"Oh my gosh ok John I will tell the others about this, Thank you very much"
"Sure Allie if you need my help just call and I'll go there with my other friends"
"OK John I understood, have a nice day"
John hung up the phone and went to the basement to reload bullets and prepare his weapon in case things went wrong, after that he smoked on the terrace of the house while thinking about the right solution for what happened here.
John wants to make this place comfortable and safe for visiting tourists
As John was smoking on his terrace, he realized that he needed to take action to ensure the safety of the area. He didn't want the gangsters to take over the forest and turn it into a hub for illegal activities. He needed to do something before it was too late.
John decided to talk to the local authorities about the issue. He knew that he couldn't take on a group of gangsters alone and that the police needed to be involved. He quickly made some calls to the local police station and scheduled a meeting with the officers in charge.
During the meeting, John explained his concerns and shared his observations about the missing people and the suspicious activities in the forest. He also offered to help the police in any way he could, including using his expertise as a former logger to track the culprits. The police were grateful for John's help and promised to investigate the matter thoroughly.
In the following weeks, the police increased their patrols in the forest, and the local media covered the issue, which raised awareness among the residents. John also kept a close eye on the forest.
The next morning, John woke up early and decided to take a walk in the forest to investigate. He brought his rifle and a bag of equipment just in case he found anything suspicious. As he walked through the forest, he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. The birds chirped and the sound of leaves rustling in the wind was peaceful.
John felt relieved that there didn't seem to be any immediate danger. However, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. He remembered the news report and wondered if there were any clues that he might have missed.
He walked deeper into the forest, he saw a group of hikers on the trail. They seemed to be having a good time, chatting and laughing. John approached them and introduced himself, asking if they had seen anything unusual in the forest lately.
The hikers looked surprised and confused. They told John that they had been hiking for a few days and didn't notice anything suspicious. John thanked them and continued his walk, feeling a bit embarrassed that he might have been overreacting.
After a few hours of walking, John decided to head back home. As he walked towards his house, he noticed a small clearing in the forest that he hadn't seen before. He walked towards it and found a few broken branches and footprints.
John's heart started racing as he thought he might have found some evidence of the gangsters he had suspected. He took out his camera and started taking pictures of the footprints and the surrounding area.
However, as he looked closer, he realized that the footprints were from a deer, not a human. He felt relieved and a bit silly for jumping to conclusions. John realized that he might have been a bit paranoid and decided to take a break from thinking about the news report.
He went back home and decided to spend the rest of the day relaxing in his house. He sat on the porch with a cup of coffee, he felt grateful for the peaceful and beautiful surroundings. John decided that he would continue to be vigilant and observant, but not to let his imagination run wild.
John realized that sometimes fear can lead to overthinking and paranoia, but it's important to stay informed and aware of one's surroundings. He made a mental note to always investigate any suspicious activity but also to take a step back and assess the situation calmly