The Ritual

Hutch identifies the marks on the trees as runes; he and Luke saw similar ones a few years prior. Phil says the runes feel wrong. Hutch shows them where he thinks they are on the map, and Luke suggests that they go back the way they came. Dom disagrees. Hutch suggests they follow the trail that took them to the house in the other direction, because they only have one day of food left. Luke is concerned that the trail will lead them the wrong way and wants to retrace their steps. Hutch wonders if they can even find their way back past the mutilated animal in the tree because they ran away from it so wildly. He convinces Luke to take the trail.

Hutch thinks about the dream he had in the house. Two figures told him to go upstairs and he couldn’t resist. He remembers urinating on himself, smelling “goaty breath” (75), and seeing the goat in the box kick with its hooves. The box had a spot for his neck to rest on, where the hooves would hit his head. Luke woke Hutch just before the hooves made contact. In the present moment, Luke breaks Hutch’s reverie.

Luke spots two buildings near the trail. He is ahead of the others and they see the buildings when they catch up. Hutch notes that the buildings seem to be an old settlement, and have been untouched for a long time, since the forest has grown over and around them. Dom swears and holds his bad knee. Luke suggests Dom and the others rest while he goes to see what’s ahead.

Finally, Luke is able to walk at the pace he wants. He is angry at Dom for slowing him down and complaining. Phil has been silent. Luke walks for about 20 minutes and, out of earshot, curses Hutch’s shortcut. He sits down and eats an energy bar. When Luke continues to walk, the trail becomes more overgrown. He discovers a standing stone covered in ivy.

Hutch notices how silent the forest is, but doesn’t tell the others. They walk slowly down the trail until Hutch tells them to stop. He checks the compass, and notices that they are still going in the wrong direction, deeper into the virgin forest, and shares this with the others.

Luke notices the runes on the standing stone, then sees two other standing stones. However, he has to crawl on the trail, without his pack, to reach them. He ends up in a clearing in front of a church and realizes he crawled through a cemetery.

Luke curses and punches branches as he retraces his steps and thinks about his dream. He reaches the others, without his rucksack and with a fresh cut on his face. As they reunite, Luke is upset at how little progress the others have made. Hutch asks Luke about his pack, and Luke explains that he wanted to get back to the others as quickly as possible. When Luke asks the others if they are taking their situation seriously, Dom insults Luke. Luke pushes Dom, and Hutch pulls Luke away from Dom. Dom swears at Luke and starts walking toward him. Luke punches Dom twice.

Dom cries. He says he won’t walk near Luke and insults Luke some more, calling him immature and unable to hold down a job. Dom punches Luke. Luke punches Dom five more times. Dom collapses. Hutch pulls Luke away from Dom, and confronts Luke about his behavior. Luke feels like he has destroyed his friendships with the others, and tells Hutch he is willing to take off on his own to get help. Hutch says Luke just needs to calm down.

Luke explains his anger at the lack of progress. Hutch explains that he was trying to lift his friends’ spirits since they were struggling to walk. Luke tells Hutch about the church and cemetery with the rune stones. Hutch is excited to see them.

The men make it to the cemetery. Hutch notes a stone pile, a cromlech, from the Bronze Age, and a passage grave from the Iron Age. Some of the stone coffins were built in the Stone Age. The area was tended to for a while, which is why they can see the features. Hutch leads them into the church.

Inside, Dom and Phil sit down. Dom holds his knee. Luke feels guilty about hitting Dom, and thinks about other moments when he lost his temper and became violent in London.

Hutch examines runes and other symbols on the church’s arch. As he walks around, he falls through the floor. Luke carefully approaches Hutch and says the place feels unholy. Hutch gets out of the hole and the two men approach the altar, which seems to have a baptism font. There are no crucifixes, or other Christian symbols, only runes in the church. Hutch thinks they are the first ones to have seen this place in a very long time, and wishes the circumstances were better so they could get credit for the discovery. Phil starts shouting outside.

Luke approaches Phil, who is out by the thick forest, and asks what’s wrong. Phil runs toward the church. Luke calls for Hutch, and he doesn’t answer. Inside the church, Hutch falls into the floor again trying to run to help Phil. Hutch discovers human remains, including the bones of children, piled up with animal bones, from various times, under the floor.

Phil tells them that they are being followed. He saw something in the woods when he was going out to urinate. It was the same thing he saw in his dream. Hutch tells the others about the human remains and Dom falls silent. Hutch says Phil saw a regular animal, and this bad place is getting to him.

Luke again suggests retracing their steps. Dom doesn’t want to see the animal strung up in the tree, and Phil doesn’t want to see the black house. Dom and Luke start arguing, and Hutch begins groaning into his hands until they stop. Luke relents and says they can look for a new path on the other side of the clearing.

Luke finds a creek and they are able to drink as much as they want. They travel until 7 pm, then make camp. The rain and trees mean they have little light even during the day. The ground under the tents is rough and uneven. Phil’s jeans have cut into his legs and he takes them half off, then lies down in a tent. Hutch prepares the last of their food. Luke is angry at the others for not being willing to go back. He is also angry at Dom and Phil for not physically preparing for the trip. Luke plans to go off on his own to get help in the morning, and tells Hutch. Hutch doesn’t argue this time.

The men eat their small dinner, and Hutch says it is the best meal he’s ever had. Luke worries about running out of cigarettes. He thinks about his loneliness, and apologizes to Dom. Dom rejects his apology and tells Luke to not talk to him. They argue and Luke asks why Dom is always picking on him. Dom insults Luke and Luke stops feeling guilty about hitting Dom. Luke continues to press Dom for a reason he is constantly contemptuous toward Luke. Hutch apologizes for making Luke feel isolated. Luke clarifies that Hutch isn’t the one who has made him feel bad.

Dom rants about how Luke has wasted his life and hasn’t accomplished anything. Luke says he doesn’t want to live like Dom and Phil, and asserts that his freedom makes the others jealous. Phil insults Luke, and Dom says he doesn’t want to live like Luke.

Hutch tries to stop the argument, and this angers Luke. Luke points out how Dom and Phil argued with their wives at Hutch’s wedding. Hutch says Luke has gone too far. Dom says they are in this situation because Luke is too broke to afford a proper vacation. Luke says he’s leaving in the morning.

Hutch and Luke sit up talking after Phil and Dom fall asleep. Luke thinks about how he doesn’t have a career, wife, and children like his friends. He admits to Hutch that he fought a stranger in a London train station and generally has a lot of anger.

Hutch tells Luke that Phil’s wife, Michelle, kicked him out of their house after his property business started failing and he became bankrupt. Dom and his wife are also separated; they broke up before Hutch’s wedding. Dom is also bankrupt after losing his job in finance. They wanted to go on vacation to forget about these problems and became angry at Luke because he doesn’t have the same problems.

A crash in the forest distracts Luke and Hutch. Luke says it’s the same noise he heard outside of the house the previous night. They hear loud animal noises. Hutch says they need to make sure their food is buried to keep the animal away; he guesses it’s a badger or bear. Hutch goes into the tent with Dom to get some sleep. Luke smokes a cigarette, then goes into the tent with Phil.

Luke dreams about skins being taken off and put up in trees. He hears animal noises and feels like the forest is an enemy army. As the creature approaches in his dream, Luke is woken up by screaming.