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When the first hiker saw her, she stopped about ten yards from Marlene and stared, slack jawed, as the others caught up to her. The hikers were all in their twenties and thirties; one might think they were college friends who'd kept in touch after school. The men all wore beards, and them women were muscular, prim and simple looking. One of them said, "Hey, what's the matter? Are you all right?"
Marlene didn't answer. All of her attention was focused on certain pinpoints scattered on the surface of her body: her left nipple, a fingernail, a spot above her right knee. With her skin a creamy white, she seemed to have taken off more than just her clothes but also an invisible layer she'd always worn up until now.
The woman asked again, "Are you okay? Has someone hurt you?"
The man next to her added, "Do you need a doctor? Do you want us to help?"
These questions were echoed by the other hikers. Marlene felt her confidence dwindle. She didn't want their concern or pity. She wanted their admiration.
In a breaking voice, she whispered, "Just look at me."
One of the women said to her friends, "Come on, let's go. This lady's giving me the creeps."
The hikers filed past and continued down the trail. The women regarded her more severely than the men, but even the men avoided looking directly at her, preferring to stare down at her feet. Long after they'd passed out of sight, Marlene could hear their scornful laughter rising through the forest. This aroused her, since part of her liked being treated with contempt.
On and on she hiked, until she came to the riverbed the waitress had told her about. The footbridge was narrow and splintery, and she nearly fell into the muddy river as she crossed to the far bank. This high up the mountain, the trees gave way to scrub brush and boulders, and the open terrain made her feel even more naked than before.
Following the waitress' instructions, she went ahead another twenty paces, then turned off the trail and skipped across a field of broken rocks. The ground was murder on her feet, but there was nothing she could do about it.
All of her attention was focused on certain pinpoints scattered on the surface of her body: her left nipple, a fingernail, a spot above her right knee. |
Mercifully, the mountainside sloped downward again, and soon she was back in the forest, only this time without the benefit of a trail. The sun was low in the sky, and she began to worry that she might not find Pike's lair before nightfall.
She eventually came to a small clearing, where she noticed a faint humming noise. The sound was so out of place that she thought at first she was hallucinating, but no — she distinctly picked out the dull roar of a motor, and voices conversing in low, lackluster tones. When she peered deeper into the woods, she saw nothing to indicate where the noise was coming from. No point in standing here forever, she thought, and called out, "Hello? Anyone? Where are you?"
Like two armed sentries, a pair of young boys appeared, both carrying flashlights and dressed in identical uniforms with name tags pinned to their chests. "Shit!" one of them said. "It's a naked lady!"
Marlene covered her breasts with her hands. "It's okay," she said. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm trying to find Heath Baxter."
The boys recognized the name. The one who'd already spoken said, "He's working in sporting goods. We'll take you to him."
"Sporting goods?" Marlene wondered but came out of hiding to follow the boys through the woods.
They walked for another few hundred yards until a faint light, like a will-o'-the-wisp, glowed up ahead. Marlene stopped to catch her breath. "What is it?" she asked.
Neither boy answered. Instead, they swung their flashlight beams around, picking her out of the darkness.
"I'm sorry," she said and lowered her head. "I know I look disgusting to you."
The boys didn't understand her, so they turned and trudged on.
At a certain point, the trees thinned out, revealing a vast expanse unlike anything she'd ever seen before. Moving past the
His eyes gleamed cheerfully. "You've got balls, lady. I've never met a nudist before." |
boys, she stepped onto a surface of newly spread blacktop. Its smoothness came as a relief after walking on the trail all afternoon. The area around the parking lot was lit up with giant stadium lights that ran on power generators — the motor sound that she'd heard earlier. Beyond this nimbus of light, a deep blue forest extended on all sides, sloping upward to the mountains, which looked remote and two dimensional, like scenery in a stage play.
In the foreground stood Mr. Pike's fully functional Kmart. The sign hung over the main entrance, which consisted of sliding glass doors that opened onto the foyer. Through the display windows, she could see dozens of cashiers standing idle at their workstations. They appeared lifeless behind the glass.
A handsome man welcomed her, and she read the solid gold name tag on his jersey: Nathaniel Pike, Store Manager. "You must be Stuart's wife," he said. He took little notice of Marlene's nudity, except to glance down at her breasts. His eyes gleamed cheerfully. "You've got balls, lady. I've never met a nudist before."
Marlene instinctively brought her arms around her chest. The blazing glare of the stadium lights made her feel visible from a great distance. "I'm sorry," she said.
"Don't be. Hey, you've got nothing to apologize for. I've seen far worse, believe me."
Pike's creation had a hypnotic effect on Marlene, and she found herself forgetting herself entirely, even as she began to attract the attention of the people inside the store. "It's beautiful here," she said.
"Come on, I'll give you a tour." He presented her with his arm, which she hesitated to take. "It's okay, Marlene. No one's going to hurt you."
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