Mist Valley

​Mist Valley, you may have heard of it. It is a forest up north inside a steep valley. The only way in and out is with some heavy duty climbing equipment or a helicopter. Of course, as the name suggests, the forest is often clouded with mist, but fog would be a better description. If it wasn't for the tall pine trees you couldn't even see the forest. It was the perfect place for a resort. The atmosphere was magical. At least, that's what thoughtless entrepreneurs considered an ideal resort location.

​Of course it was a mistake from the very beginning. Some places were meant to be left untouched. Not for the sake of the environment, but for the sake of the people. Mist Valley was heavily occupied with predators, from snakes to bears. At first we didn't find anything but small, peaceful wildlife. It was a harmless valley.

We constructed an elevator that ran up one side of the valley. Built a wonderful resort, filled with everything that our valued customers could need. It was Shangri La. According to our online records we had nearly thirty customers, a real achievement thanks to our marketing department, considering the price for a nights stay. We had the place staffed to the brim, but trained them to stay out of sight. Best give the impression that people are ready to help, but not that you will find an employee every few meters.

"Sir, can you please just explain why we have forty bodies in front of us," the officer asked. I could see annoyance growing in his tone.

It wasn't an easy question to answer, but yes, it was indeed a necessary one.

"I'm getting to that," I replied, continuing my story.

"I hope so, cause as pretty as this place looks the last thing I want to hear about is the staff quality considering every single member is torn to shreds!"

His voice was firm and terrifying, so I got to the point quickly.
We lost the hiking group three days past opening day. After the residents got comfortable we continued our expansion work. See if we can find new areas to set up more buildings or perhaps create a tour through the magnificent forest. We assumed it was the wolves, but we found another survivor a few days after and he explained it was in fact the bears.

Needless to say we were shocked by the news, but we had to consider the possibility that there was wildlife in the forest. However, although bears are seen in the state we definitely did not expect to find them in a valley such is this. It isn't possible to have such a vibrant ecosystem of so many animals. Yes, the survivor was battered and delusional, but it wasn't hard to realize he was telling the truth. Bears of all things. We scouted the entire valley with high-tech drones that didn't find such heat signatures.

Next came the snakes. We believe they entered the building through the vents.

"The vents?" the officer asked raising an eyebrow.

"The vents."

"Right, continue, I guess."

The officer shook his head, noting down everything onto a pad. As ludicrous as this tale was, he had to believe it. Some bodies were still whole, but with skin a strange colour. Definitely unusual, but not when snakes are involved.

We of course called you the moment we found the bodies from the bear attack, but when the snakes entered the resort. we called everyone. We launched another scouting party, but this time we were hunting. We found a newly formed cave, clearly erosion of some kind finally opened the way to another valley. It explained why the animals appeared out of nowhere, but we couldn't understand why the animals swarmed into Mist Valley.

It was almost biblical, as if the valley was an ark for every predator.

"Perhaps it was," the officer noted. "The lands above aren't exactly fruitful considering the weather, but as you explained, the valley was populated with plenty small, harmless creatures; in other words, the perfect prey."

"Are you saying we were considered food from the get go?"
"Trust me; nothing is more dangerous than a hungry predator. The snakes behaviour is a little bizarre, but I suppose you don't have much security against them."

I had to admit the open air theatre wasn't a tactical decision, but it certainly was a lovely experience the second day at the resort. I never saw such happy residents before, especially after the amount we were charging them.

"Now, can you tell me how you made it through this ordeal?" the officer asked, his eyes darting to the twenty other patrolmen that were armed with shotguns. The story was off-putting.

I made it through this all thanks to the small command centre we have above the lobby. I pointed it out to him. It was outfitted with radios and displays showing consumption of goods and electricity. The windows were tinted so nobody could see in, but I certainly can see it. At first I thought it was a mistake not to have any ventilation, perhaps there could be a fire, but we had a window installed on the side, which was luckily stuck.

I ran inside there and sealed the doors as I was being pursued by some rabid dog-like creature. Once inside I began to make calls to the outside world for help and at the same time be forced to watch the beast tear into my clients and staff. It was a nightmare.

The officer sighed and gave me a hard stare before finishing off the report in his notes. I could tell his was not pleased with my act of cowardice, but the hunting party had the only weapons. There wasn't anything I could have done. Whether he realized that or not didn't matter, we weren't safe in this valley and we had to get out of it soon.

"Thanks for the story. I suggest you abandon your resort idea."

"Abandon?" I asked surprised. "We can cleanse the valley of animals; make it a five star resort again!"

"Who's going to trust you people again? I sure as hell wouldn't. I'm sorry, but I recommend you find your boss and tell him if he continues to bring people down here the lawsuits will stack up till he is bankrupt, in prison or both."

Before I could counter he tapped his notepad and walked away. Not far, because a pack of wolves tackled him to the ground and began to tear him apart.

Maybe he is right. The resort game isn't for me.

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