When Carmen hears strange noises, the hair on the back of her neck instantly stands on end. She’s heard this noise before; it was eerily familiar, and yet she couldn’t place it. Until she noticed what looked like a strange bird perched on a tree.
She couldn’t make sense of what kind of bird it was. When she got closer, the noise from the bird started to hurt her ears. Carmen tried to approach the bird to see what it was, but the pain started to hold her back. She had a feeling she wasn’t welcome here, but she decided to ignore the pain and just try to get closer. Then the pain got so intense in her ears that it almost made her collapse. Carmen screamed in pain; her ears were burning due to the high-pitch sound coming from the bird. This bird did not want Carmen to come closer. Carmen had to know what this was, but at a certain point, the pain in her ears became unbearable. By then, she had already fainted.
After a while, Carmen suddenly woke up. She did not hear the sound anymore, but she had an enormous headache with intense pain. She managed to get to a safe distance to regain her strength again. She grabbed her camera to zoom in on the bird again. Then she realized that her camera was broken because she had been unconscious for a while. The afternoon passed faster than she had hoped. It was slowly getting dark, and she began to see less. It was no longer a safe situation to stay here. Carmen decided to go home.
That night, Carmen could not fall asleep. She kept tossing and turning, but she couldn’t let go of the event with the bird. She decided to go to a friend for advice. Carmen had to get someone on her side, and she had to tell her story. She told Amy, her friend, what she had found and what had happened. Amy instantly turned pale; she was initially way too scared to join Carmen, but Carmen managed to convince her. However, Amy wanted to ask some local people about the incident first. Carmen and Amy went inside the town to talk to some older people who had lived there for a very long time. Carmen was convinced someone had to know something about this bird. When they asked an old lady, she was shocked and walked away. What was going on? Everyone they tried talking to seemed way too scared to talk about the bird. This could not be a coincidence.
Amy wanted to leave it alone, but Carmen had to figure it out. She would not let this go. Amy was really scared but did not want to leave her friend alone. Amy struggled with the decision to join Carmen, who wanted to go back to the bird. She convinced Carmen to at least buy some earplugs; this would reduce the sound of the bird. Carmen knew exactly where to go; she had memorized where the bird was. Then she realized something: Amy said that they weren’t allowed in this part of the forest, but Carmen had never seen signs stating that. She tried to pull up a satellite view on her phone but there wasn’t any service in the more remote regions. If they needed help, they couldn’t get it.
Finally, Carmen decided to pause and check their location again. She was able to get a weak signal on their GPS tracker that indicated they were close to the spot she had seen the bird. Carmen now saw the spot where she had seen the bird, and she approached cautiously. She took a few steps closer and suddenly fell over, her foot tangled in something. Amy hurried over to help her remove her boot and get free. When they looked up, they were staring at the bird. Instantly, both their ears almost exploded with pain. Amy had never felt something like this before; she almost fainted due to the sound. When Amy got the chance, she crawled up on her feet and ran away very fast, leaving Carmen behind all on her own.
What she saw next shocked her. Carmen was crawling on the ground. She had managed to get her earplugs in her ears; however, they did not seem to help. The sound pierced right through them. She ran over to the house immediately. She was completely out of breath when she got there. Hysterically, she tried telling the ranger, Mark, what had happened, but he did not believe her. Mark did not really want to help Amy at first, and he felt like she was making up a story, but she kept pushing him to help. Mark eventually gave in to calm Amy down, but Amy felt like Mark had something to hide.
While going back, Mark was awfully quiet. Amy had not told him where exactly the bird and Carmen were, but Mark seemed to know instantly where to go. He walked in a straight line to the place with the bird. Had he been there before? Amy was shocked. When reaching the place with the bird, Carmen was gone. Amy did not believe her eyes. They had just been here. Did she get out safely? Mark told Amy that no one was there and that they should get out of the forest. Amy should not be here. Mark did not even want to look further, and Amy realized that the bird was still in the tree. This time, when she approached it, it did not make a sound. Was it even a bird? Mark got really angry when Amy moved closer. It was like he did not want Amy to move any closer to the bird. Mark led Amy away from the bird.
Amy wanted to call the police, but Mark immediately refused. He told Amy to calm down and that he would help look for Carmen. Amy got a weird feeling about this, but she agreed anyway. She thought it was weird that Mark did not want to get the police involved. She decided to play his game and follow him. Amy noticed that there was a series of wires that seemed to go around the perimeter. They were about shin height and looked like they were designed to make people trip. The trip wire seemed to lead around the area where the bird sat in the tree. Amy thought this was really strange. Mark seemed to easily navigate around the trip wire. Then Amy saw what it was: it was a camera attached to the tree. Amy felt even more unsafe. This couldn’t be good.
When confronting Mark, he did not seem impressed. He acknowledged that the camera was there. He said that there were more cameras in the forest and that this wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Then Amy heard footsteps. Amy heard something in the distance, and she felt her heart stop for a moment. Who was approaching them? She decided to just walk towards the bird to see what would happen, but instantly when moving towards the bird, Mark lunged at Amy. He tried keeping her from the bird. Now she definitely knew that Mark could not be trusted. Immediately, she tried shaking Mark. She kicked him to get loose and decided to make a run for it. She had to warn the police. Without any hesitation, Amy made a run for it. She couldn’t risk getting caught by Mark or someone else that was approaching them.
She did not stop running. She heard dogs barking. Suddenly, Amy tripped over a branch. She hurt herself so much that she could not run any further. Amy was a little scared. Then she saw two German Shepherds getting closer to her. Why were these dogs following her? Then suddenly, the dogs were called off, and a man approached them. Who was this mysterious man? Mark and another man approached Amy. He did not seem like he had any bad intentions, but he looked very serious. Amy was instructed to follow them and remain quiet. Amy obeyed them and followed the two men. She wasn’t sure what would happen, but she knew that it would already have happened if they had any wrong intentions.
Then she spotted where they were going: a military compound. Amy was totally baffled. Now she realized as well that Alex was in full uniform. He had to be military. What had she done? Amy decided to keep quiet, as she soon would find out. As they entered the military compound, Amy’s mind raced with questions and uncertainty. The connection between the mysterious events in the woods, the bird, and this military facility remained shrouded in mystery. She felt a mix of apprehension and curiosity, knowing that whatever lay ahead would shed light on the enigmatic puzzle she had unwittingly become a part of.
Amy continued to follow Mark and Alex, her heart heavy with anticipation as they ventured further into the heart of this unexpected and unsettling revelation. When she entered the military compound, she saw Carmen. Carmen was being treated by a nurse as she was hurt pretty badly. Amy was extremely happy to see Carmen, and likewise was Carmen, but now Amy demanded answers.
Alex started explaining to Amy what had happened. Amy and Carmen had breached military ground. They had ignored earlier signs in the forest to turn back. The bird they had seen was a new security system to incapacitate the enemy with sound. Amy’s relief at finding Carmen was immense, but her happiness was tempered by the realization that they had ventured into a highly secure military area. As Alex explained the situation, Amy and Carmen came to understand the gravity of their actions and the true nature of the bird they had encountered. It was a state-of-the-art security system meant to protect the military compound from unauthorized intruders. The forest was a part of the perimeter defense, and their presence had triggered the system. Amy couldn’t help but feel a mix of embarrassment and relief, knowing that they were safe but had unwittingly crossed into a highly restricted area.
Amy realized what they had done. She wasn’t aware they were on military ground. She apologized immediately to Alex. Alex seemed a little frustrated because the system could have been compromised. They got a warning and something else.
Carmen and Amy were both treated for their injuries. They also had to sign a contract to never speak about this incident to anyone. They now realized their mistake, but they told the military to better secure their secret military site. They were fortunately released.
As they left the military compound, Amy and Carmen had learned a valuable lesson about the importance of respecting boundaries and security protocols. They knew they had narrowly avoided a more severe outcome, and their encounter with the military had left them both humbled and cautious. The mysterious bird and the secrets of the woods were behind them, and they were eager to put this harrowing experience behind them and move forward with their lives.
