Free Dead Tree Forest by Brett Mcbean

direction. Chris also started walking, but headed towards the right. The gym bag was more awkward and heavier than the Esky.
    Arsehole , he thought, but soon all thoughts about Brian left him and he concentrated on listening out for Ginnumarra.
    * * *
    “You really hearing some dead Abo’s voice?”
    Ray was beginning to wish he was by himself. Brian was starting to get on his nerves. “Yes, I hear her,” Ray sighed as they trudged side-by-side through the woods. “Go on, laugh. I don’t give a shit any more whether you believe me or not. I just want to get to the lake and find the amulet.”
    “Hey, doesn’t matter what I think. After all, you lied to me about why you wanted to come here, so why should I believe you about anything else?”
    “Fuck man, we back to this? I thought I explained it to you: I needed manpower to help get the treasure, but I knew you wouldn’t come if I told you the truth. You would’ve laughed and told me to get fuckin’ real.”
    “You think I’m that shallow? You think all I care about is money? You don’t think I care about Gemma too, and would’ve come if you had told me the truth?”
    Ray glanced at Brian, now looking around sixty, maybe even older. His breathing was loud and harsh, his body shorter, more stooped. “You would’ve come even if you thought this whole legend was bogus?”
    “Hell yeah. Jesus, it sounded like fun regardless of what lay at the bottom of the lake. The treasure was just the icing, man.”
    Ray faced the front. “Well shit. I apologise then.”
    “Doesn’t matter now. We’re both gonna die. Shit, I’m gonna miss Claire. What do you think our families will think happened to us?”
    “I dunno,” Ray said, voice shaky. “I guess they’ll assume we got lost and froze to death.”
    “If only they knew the truth.”
    “Yeah,” Ray said, panting, legs feeling weaker with every step.
    “Wonder how the Ab...Chris is doing. He wasn’t looking too good back there.”
    Neither do you , Ray thought, but then he supposed he wasn’t looking his best either. Without a mirror, he had no idea what he actually looked like.
    But maybe it was best he didn’t see himself.
    Ray held up the hand that wasn’t holding the Esky; his skin was saggy with wrinkles and dotted with liver spots.
    Knowing he was aging rapidly and seeing it happen were two very different beasts.
    It was bad enough seeing his best friend aging before his eyes; he didn’t need to witness it happening to himself.
    Ray lowered his hand.
    Come on Ginnumarra . Where are you?
    They walked through the deathly silent forest, their breathing the only sound. Brian’s was the loudest: a wet wheezy noise that made Ray think of a balloon filled with phlegm.
    It’s all those damn cigarettes .
    But his breathing didn’t sound much better.
    Ray wasn’t sure how long they walked for; it felt like hours, but was probably only around twenty minutes. Ray feared they would never find the right path again, that Ginnumarra’s voice was lost forever and they would eventually get too old and collapse to the ground, dead.
    And then get sucked into the earth, like Nathan and however many other poor souls had wandered into this forest, whether by chance or curiosity; sucked down into God knows where.
    But then Ray’s ears twitched and through the heavy silence he heard the faint sound of a girl crying.
    “I think I hear her,” Ray said, and was shocked to hear the old man that spoke.
    Breathlessly, Brian said, “’Bout fuckin’ time.”
    They trudged along in a straight line and the crying grew louder, like a great howling wind sweeping through the forest.
    “We’re on the right track.” Ray stopped. He drew in a deep breath. “Chris!” he shouted. The shout was weak and raspy. “Chris, hey, we’ve found her!” His shouting didn’t echo, and he hoped Chris could hear him, wherever he was.
    Out of breath, Ray turned to Brian. “I hope Chris...”
    His friend of twenty-two years was on the