Alan Baker wakes up in the woods of Northern Ohio. He wanders aimlessly through the dark forest, keenly aware of the obstacles that surround him. He detects a faint light in the distance and travels in its direction. Eventually, he stumbles upon a campsite. A husband, wife, and son see that he is disoriented, sit him down and give him something to drink. Alan cannot answer any of their questions… How old are you? Where do you live? How do you know that your name is Alan Baker? What are you doing out here in the woods? Alan has no explanation and eventually, the family decides to take care of him instead of persisting.
The young boy, Ricky, keeps Alan company while the parents make something for Alan to eat. A child of 9 (9 years and 10 months if you ask him), Ricky is inquisitive, outgoing, eager and is totally entranced by this stranger. Alan doesn’t speak much, he doesn’t have a frame of reference to really say anything, and he doesn’t have any experience to share. It’s just as well because Ricky is so excited that he is talking a mile a minute. He tells Alan how the family is traveling across the country on an extended summer geocaching adventure, about the things that they have seen, and some of Ricky’s favorite geocaches. Suddenly, Alan sees movement in the distance.
“Ricky, did you see that?”
“Come on Alan, it’s pitch black out there, I can’t even see my hand in front of my face?”
Alan persisted, “Really, there is someone out there. You better go into your cabin with your parents.”
Moving through the woods, it became apparent that Alan’s vision at night was far superior to those he was spying upon. Six dark figures, dressed in black clothing, all armed with some kind of weapon. He could hear one of them say that they were closing in on the crash site. Clearly, these shadowy figures were a danger. He surprised the first one, knocked him out cold and tied him up without making much of a sound. Alan was able to manipulate the light and generate the illusion of movement among the enemy. This created confusion and some of them began to fire upon each other. The resulting carnage left none of them standing.
Alan ran back to the cabin to find the family safe. He told them of what had happened. The adults were concerned, but Ricky was excited.
“WOW! You’re like one of those superheroes… just like Captain Cache!”
