Blud Ridge Mountain

By Chris Carroll

Follow the story of Russian soldiers embarking on a covert mission, navigating the treacherous Appalachian Trail, dodging unsuspecting hikers, mountainfolk, and even mysterious forest creatures that seem to hunt them. Their stealthy journey through the ancient woods brings them closer to their clandestine objective within the heart of the United States.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chris Carroll
• Release date: Mar 26, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224370849

Book preview

Blud Ridge Mountains

By Chris Carroll

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

BLUD RIDGE MOUNTAIN

First edition. March 26, 2024.

Copyright © 2024 Chris Carroll.

Written by Chris Carroll.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Blud Ridge Mountain

Chapter 1 –

Chapter 2 –

Chapter 3 –

Chapter 4 –

Chapter 5 –

Chapter 6 -

Chapter 7 –

Chapter 8 –

Chapter 9 –

Chapter 10 –

Chapter 11-

Chapter 12 –

Chapter 13 –

Chapter 14-

Chapter 15-

Chapter 16-

Chapter 17-

Chapter 18-

Chapter 19-

Chapter 20-

Chapter 21-

Chapter 22-

Chapter 23-

Chapter 24-

Anyone ever lost in the wild knows, that nature wants you dead.

David Mamet

Chapter 1 –

Some of the oldest parts of America remain untouched and unmolested by human hands. Those that respected and understood the relationship between nature and mankind are nearly gone and forgotten. But the wilderness remains. The wilderness perseveres. It was my hope that I would never return to such a place. It is strange how fate and destiny end up working out. But through matters beyond my control, there is no escaping my past. The brief we received was short. We had already received confirmation from the advanced party that paved the trail and set up our path. Despite all of this, the feeling of impending doom was overwhelming. It was my hope that this mission could be completed without any sort of problem, but the nagging thought persisted in my mind. The fact that the predecessors accomplished their mission offered little comfort. I hated it. I was of the opinion that I have so much left to live for.

As the plane carried me and the rest of my squad over the North Atlantic Ocean, rocking and bouncing with the changes in pressure and atmosphere. It would be our luck that we would take a small plane. I did my best to use the motion to rock me to sleep with no avail. Without anything to occupy my mind, I found myself bored beyond what I thought possible; therefore, I started looking over at my fellow comrades. In total there was five of us, all a part of the Russian Army with our own very specific roles to play once we made it to the United States. Our leader, Sergeant Ivan Gorski sat quietly, he was on his cellphone despite the many warnings from the pilot and crew to not use his phone. He probably wanted to communicate with his family as long as he could, rather than acknowledge the harsh reality that he probably faced never seeing them ever again. I thought his features were one of the most interesting out of our group. His dark hair and big brow almost made him look primitive. The bulky winter clothes he wore did a poor job of concealing his muscled frame.  The serious demeanor he sported dissuaded any attempts from the flight crew to address his lack of consideration for federal flight regulations. He didn’t wear any of his military uniforms. None of us did. Our goal was to remain inconspicuous, lest our mission fail before it even began.

I shifted and forced myself away from his view, I did my best to stay away from him normally as he hated conscripts. The sergeant joined the Russian Army because of his sense of honor and devotion to country. If it was his duty to die in the dirt or lose limbs or possibly never see his surviving family again and to only get small rations for food as recompense, that was perfectly fine. In fact, he thought it was honorable to die for his country.  It was something he always let us know, and he ensured we never forgot it. I didn’t know his age, but I could see that he did have a salt and pepper tinge to his neatly cut hair. He had to be mid-thirties at least. I felt his eyes leave his phone screen and I quickly as subtle as possible, turned away to look over at the rest of the squad. They were all sleeping. I didn’t know how they did it. With the loud turbines and the flying noises made by the aged plane, it was nearly impossible to tune them out.

I sighed. In my mind I still didn’t understand the mission, or at least my place in it. With everything happening back home it made no sense to send a group of soldiers to another country as opposed to the front line. But then again, it wasn’t as though I was a part of the planning. I could only do what I was told, and I was one of the unfortunate few to be selected for this special assignment. Me, being one of the only conscripts chosen because of my past and connection to the United States. This was one of the few times I could ever remember flying and it was nothing like television and film made it seem. My memories gave me glimpses of the past flights, like when I was leaving the United States, but I was much too young to accurately recall. As the plane rocked and rolled, my nerves were keeping me on edge. In efforts to calm my nerves and think positively, I tried to get a glimpse out of the window of the plane. But the seat that I had offered very little room for movement. I dared not risk unbuckling as turbulence in the aircraft could create problems for everyone. Once again I could feel the glare from the squad leader. I stopped moving and pretended to yawn and fidget like I was trying to sleep. With the periphery of my sight, I could make the sergeant’s face turning back to his phone.

I tried to think of my family. My thoughts didn’t go to my parents, who died at a very early age for me. But to the family that was left back in Russia, or at least the ones that left to go further into Europe. They, who had the better judgement to leave the country before the government could impose any control and servitude. My family didn’t want to leave what was our home for many generations, and they begged and begged me to join them, but I didn’t listen. It was my ignorance, arrogance, and pride that I thought I would be looked over and not selected for service. But I was wrong. That was almost a year ago, now I, and my squad are headed to Canada to enter the United States to wreak havoc across their country. I swallowed and felt uneasy. It had been years since I was on this side of the world. Now instead of a sense of familiarity, I had a feeling like this mission would be sending me off to my doom.

Chapter 2 –

Sidorov! Daniel! Get up!, a gruff voice yelled in Russian.

I opened my eyes, and I could see Corporal Dimitry Popov staring daggers into my skull. Corporal Popov was second in command and the one person that I knew could be cruel and sadistic at the drop of a hat. He had a notorious reputation for being a massive asshole. Even some of the other noncommissioned officers and brass would steer clear of him. His expressions were always that of a predator looking to pick off a quick meal. From what I could tell from his accent was that he had a Polish ancestry, but I had given up trying to think why he was serving in the Russian army. Everything I knew and learned about him was against my consent. I didn’t feel the plane moving anymore and the noise of the air and turbines were gone. With my significant powers of deduction, I had discovered that we had landed. Phase one of our mission was complete.

The rest of the squad was already off of the small plane and the crew were waiting by the exit door. A pained look of forced pleasantness was etched across their faces. They were obviously more than ready to be rid of us. I put their misery out of my mind. I grabbed my bags and departed the plane. At first impressions I could tell it was a small runway and looked private. It was nearly empty if not for the various smaller aircraft idling near hangars and the tarmac. The Canadian air was crisp and bit into my skin. There was an abundance of people in the small craft, and it became quite stuffy after a while, therefore I removed my outer garments that were making me sweat. Now I was wishing I didn’t stow them away. Near the other side of the plane there was my comrades, privates Ivanov and Minsky unloading our bigger baggage. Watching them work was my corporal, who yelled orders arbitrarily and made unnecessary threats to their lives for moving so slow. I hurried myself over to assist when I noticed the corporal had set his sights on me.

"Get over here private!", Corporal Popov yelled.

This time it was in English. I could hear the European accent heavy in the words. His veins were popping out of his neck and his pasty face was getting a dark red. His English was normally horrible, but the growling and furious tone he inflected into his words made it sound passable.

I didn’t respond. Pretending to be dumb was my only defense. It was something that I had learned during my short time as a soldier. I quickly moved faster to get to the other soldiers. For the few of us in the squad there was more than enough bags. I guessed that some of them had mission essentials, the others had weapons, and our clothes. All in all, it wouldn’t have seemed like it should have taken so long but it did. The cold and the flight made us all sluggish. With all of the luggage off the plane the crew and the pilots stood around and watched us leave. Corporal Popov started walking away after grabbing his bags and Ivanov, Minsky and I did the same. Private Talgat Minsky had long black hair that pushed regulations and a large body that did the same, he didn’t say much but loved wrestling and riding horses. And it was rare to never see him eating. At first, I figured he was another conscript like I was, but he wasn’t. He spat and cursed in some Kazakhstan slang that I didn’t make out and carried the larger bags. Private Mikhail Ivanov grabbed half of the remaining bags and left me the rest.

L-let’s go, Daniel., Mikhail said in broken English and did everything in his power to keep up with the larger Kazakh. He leaned to one side as he carried the bags. Mikhail Ivanov was smaller than the rest of us. His short stature usually left him being the target of the NCOs and even some of the officer leadership. He had short, buzzed scalp and he looked nearly bald. He was the quietest one out of our squad and kept himself. I stayed silent as the grave and followed my peers. There was nothing I wanted more than to run away and disappear into the Canadian landscape but knew that I wouldn’t get very far. Desertion meant death or worse. I didn’t want to end up in prison in some foreign country or risk what would happen if I got sent back or if my family was discovered after my desertion. The sun was beginning to set and the cold clung more to me than when first got off the plane. I could slowly see my breath forming into thick mist and my lungs stung with frigidness. I grabbed the luggage and followed behind everyone going to the closest hangar.

Inside the hangar there were a few Canadian mechanics wearing their coveralls and talking amongst themselves. They set their eyes on us, briefly stopped talking, and they continued laughing to themselves about hockey or syrup. As far as I could tell our mission had yet to reach any snags. The airport officials didn’t seem bothered by our arrival at all and kept their distance. I could only imagine how we looked. And smelt. Corporal Popov was near the hangar opening smoking. He got annoyed looks from some of the other attendees of the hangar, but he paid them zero attention. It was for the best. Corporal Popov would’ve had zero qualms with addressing anyone that disturbed him or inconvenienced him in any sort of way. It was who he was.

What d-do you think we...we are doing?, Ivanov asked me in his horrible English.

I didn’t see him walk over to me, but I honestly didn’t know how to answer.

You could ask the corporal?, I offered while shrugging, also responding in English. It was a part of our mission to remain low profile and not speak anything except English when we landed in Canada. There was to be no speaking of any language that could give away that we were from East Europe. Yet already the corporal and private Minsky had already broken that rule.

No, I don’t think we sh-should..., Ivanov replied. He looked like he was debating in his head about walking over to the man smoking and in an obvious bad mood.

If our appearance wouldn’t give us away, then this poor soul’s horrible English would I thought.

H-how do y-you speak English s-so well?, Ivanov asked me, stuttering.

I sighed and said, I lived some time in the US before coming to Russia as a child. And I was always on Discord before I was conscripted. In team chats and such online. It helped. But for now, I think you should remain quiet. You’ll give us away..

The private looked down and nodded. He went back to standing by the bags looking miserable. The other, much larger private was snacking on some sort of protein bar which I could only guess to how it would contribute to his already gargantuan size. The sight of the granola and frosting made my stomach twinge in pain. I couldn’t remember the last thing I had eaten. There wasn’t much to be done regarding the welfare of the troops in this unit. Fending for yourself was one of the many perks. A loud rumbling caught my attention.

Outside of the hangar a large SUV pulled up. It had it’s lights on and was purring like a six-ton lion. I saw that the Sergeant was sitting in the passenger seat, the glare of the lights prevented me from seeing the driver. The SUV honked and we once again grabbed our bags and made our way over to the vehicle. It was a dark color and an earlier model American utility vehicle. Three rows of seating and the heat was blasting. Once again, I felt like I would be sweltering in the backseat. After the bags were tossed into the back and everyone was loaded up, the huge vehicle lurched away as the engine obliged the gas. With the gear and the men, it was a tight fit, but hopefully the journey wouldn’t be very long.

There was little said on the drive. The driver had a medley of different pop and techno songs which sounded like the usual western trash. The vehicle was old and extremely dusty. Every breath felt like sand in my lungs and my eyes watered with the flying debris. With the music and the sounds of the road and engine, it was just loud enough to prevent me from slipping off into slumber. I moved in my chair and saw that everyone save for the sergeant was asleep. The sun was closer to the horizon now as purple and various shades of blue and black streaked the sky. The windows were frosting up: I guessed that winter was lingering on and tried not to think about our mission. I didn’t mind the cold, it’s just not the same as it was back home. I wrapped myself up more in my outer garments. There would need to be a substantial change to my wardrobe if this weather was to be our future. I didn’t want to lose any fingers or toes in the process of serving my country. I clenched my hands into fists and crossed my arms tighter.

To keep my mind busy, I tried to count the passing cars but gave up as there were very few cars and far too much time in between them. I wished I’d invested in some entertainment before embarking but it was too late now, I did my best to steel my mind to the wandering thoughts and boredom. I closed my eyes shut hard this time and refused to open them until we were at our destination. Hopefully I would get as much sleep as possible. Hopefully...

Chapter 3 –

I did not know how long the drive was. I did not know how far away we were from the airport. In fact, I didn’t know much of anything really. I only stirred because of the squeaking brakes and tires. The others with me were following suit, we all probably wanted to steer clear of the Sergeant and Corporal. Having orders barked at us after such a long voyage would not have been the most desirable of things. The large vehicle was hot, and the air was stale with the breath of us troops and the heated air. I tried not to think about the last time any of us had a moment for personal hygiene. I could already taste some of their body odor. I waited to get out of the vehicle as the others could face the leadership and be their targets. Better them than me. I looked around and despite the gravel road, I noticed that we were surrounded by trees. Dense and thick, I could hear