"You want to look at your zone, don't you?" Chelsey asked.

"I do," Henry answered.

Chelsey shrugged.

"Why not? What's the worst that could happen?"

"Well, we could die," Henry said with a smile.

"Could you imagine? We'd have to wait another day to go to Londontown and get British food. A real tragedy."

"I imagine. So, you'll do it?" Henry asked.

"Sure. I have to admit that I'm curious too. I was the last one of the four. I never got to experience exploring a new zone."

Henry nodded. The two of them set off down the white gravel trail, leaving their bags of food behind. They kicked up dust from the path with every step they took. It was quiet. Henry heard no animals or birds calling to one another.

Not long after, the terrain around the path began to change. It was turning rocky, and the grass gradually became stoney dirt. The first thing of note they saw were cacti growing around the path. He saw both the familiar paddle-shaped cactus covered in purple prickly pears that grew all over Texas and the less common barrel cactus topped with beautiful red flowers. Soon after that, both live oak and cedar trees started to appear. He could see hills rolling in the distance, lightly covered by oak forests.

"Ringing any bells?" Chelsey asked.

"This is the Texas Hill Country. My hometown was in this part of Texas."

"Does that narrow down the Ghost Story?"

"Probably not. I grew up here. I still can't think of anything this could be."

"I see. I have a question for you. It's a bit off topic, but it's something I've been wondering about," Chelsey mused.

"What is it?"

"You're from the year 2007, right? What's it like?"

"Uh, normal, I guess. Honestly, not much has changed."

"Have we landed on Mars yet?" She asked.

"No. I don't think we've gone back to the moon either."

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"Really? Well, that's disappointing. What about flying cars or teleporters?"

"No," Henry said with a laugh, "We got the internet, though."

"What's the Internet?"

"Well it's… You know,that's actually a really good question. Imagine that you could send a message to someone in Africa, and it would get there instantly. That's not the only thing it can do. It just allows you to send information through the air, I guess. You can watch a video on a cellphone that someone in Europe uploaded instantly."

"Now that sounds like something from a sci-fi movie. What's a cellphone?"

"Oh right. Y'all didn't have those. It's a phone with no wires. It fits in your pocket."

"Like Star Trek?"

"Actually yeah. A lot like Star Trek."

"Last question."

"Shoot."

"What about holograms?"

***

After another ten minutes of walking and disappointing information about the future, they came to a metal high fence. Fence posts were driven into the earth and wrapped with wire fencing. The fence seemed to run for miles in either direction. The trees and brush around the fence had been removed. The gravel road continued to their left, running along the outside of the fence. Henry had seen this sort of fence many times before. They were used for keeping exotic game animals inside a piece of property. They were necessary for any animal that could jump a cow fence.

"High fence. Must be a ranch," Henry remarked.

"Like a cowboy ranch?"

"Maybe, but probably not. You don't use a fence like this for cows. More likely a hunting ranch for Whitetail or other exotics. Although it could be a wildlife preserve, there are more of those than you'd think in the Hill Country. Only one way to know for sure. No barbed wire, so it should be easy to climb."

He approached the fence. He put his hand on the wire to hoist himself. Intense, agonizing pain immediately lanced across his body. Sparks flew from the fence in showers of glittering light. Henry's body convulsed, spasming out of control. He was literally shaking back and forth. He tried to let go of the fence but couldn't. It was like his hand was glued tight. The pain was excruciating and seemed never-ending. Time slowed as pain flowed across his body. It felt like he was there for hours. Black filled the corners of his vision.

He felt himself being thrown back from the fence. He was in the dirt now. His legs kicked and shook uncontrollably. He had to breathe, but he couldn't. His lungs were burning. Chelsey's face came into view with a terrified look.

"Are you ok?" Chelsey asked, panic seeping into her voice.

He had to breathe. Finally, he took a deep gasping breath. Henry turned to look at Chelsey and continued to gulp air like a fish out of water. The pain slowly receded, and his mind became clear again. He tried to speak. The only word he could manage to get out was, "Ow."

Henry sat up with some effort.

"What happened?" Chelsey asked.

"Electric. It's an electric fence. Fuck, I didn't know they made them with fencing like that. It almost killed me."

"Electric fence? Why would that be here?"

"They keep people out of your property..." Another more frightening thought crossed his mind: "or to keep something in."

As those last words sunk in, they both turned to look at the fence and the land beyond it. Suddenly, the idea of exploring a new zone didn't seem so entertaining. Henry couldn't begin to imagine what you would need an electric fence this tall to trap. Images of the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park came into his mind. That idea would have been ridiculous, of course, anywhere but here.

"I think we should leave. I've got a bad feeling," Chelsey said.

"Yeah, me too."

Chelsey let Henry lean against her for support. He needed it. He could barely walk without tripping and falling to the floor. It was like the electricity in the fence had fried his muscles. It was a very uncomfortable feeling. Occasionally, his body would be racked with another uncontrollable spasm. Still, they walked as quickly as they could. Henry wanted desperately to get away from the electric fence and the Ghost Story it hid.

They reached the center wheel and collected the bags they had left behind. Everything was exactly as they had left it. By now, Henry was feeling better. He was still a bit sore, but the spasms and muscle jerks had stopped.

Henry made a conscious decision not to be adventurous again. As you can imagine, he was afraid of ending up the cat that curiosity killed. He very nearly had; though he couldn't have known it, the voltage running through that fence was more than enough to stop his heart. In fact, it was something of a miracle; it hadn't killed right on the spot. Henry was lucky in this particular instant. Something you could not claim of him often.

The two of them made their way to the cave, where the others waited. They had a story the others would be very keen to hear. Yet Henry wasn't in a good mood. That fence and his zone in general had triggered something in his memory. He was sure he knew it, yet he couldn't recall. It was a maddening experience, like when you have a word just on the tip of your tongue. There was one thing he was certain of: He would know his Ghost Story, when he saw it.