[Intro — A Cappella, Low Harmonies] First light is coming. The fire's burning low. Miles from a highway. And farther still to go. The rifle is loaded. The woods haven't stirred. Just me and the darkness And one distant bird. [Verse 1] Fresh tracks in the mud. Big buck by the stride. Been following since sunrise Up the mountainside. Wind in my favor. Sun at my back. Nothing but silence And prints in the track. I've done this a hundred times. Wait. Watch. Breathe. Follow the ridgeline. Move with the trees. Then something crossed his trail I'd never seen before. Too wide for a dog. Too deep in the forest floor. [Pre-Chorus] Keep downwind. Keep moving slow. Watch where the broken branches go. Stay real quiet. Take your time. Every track will tell a story If you know how to read the signs. [Chorus] Read the tracks! Read the ground! Every broken branch will tell you where he's bound! Keep the wind against your face! Keep your footsteps light! There's a buck somewhere ahead of you And plenty left of light! Take your time! Don't lose the trail! You've done this all before! One set of tracks keeps leading you Deeper than before! [Verse 2] By noon there was something wrong with the track. That buck wasn't walking now. Hooves dug deep where he'd kicked off hard. Something had spooked him somehow. I figured maybe he'd caught my scent. Maybe I'd pushed too near. Then somewhere behind me a dead branch snapped. I turned. Nothing there. Kept heading uphill through thicker pine Till red showed through the snow. I hadn't fired. Hadn't seen the buck. But there he lay below. Still warm when I found him. Steam rising in the air. No feeding marks. No missing meat. And strange tracks everywhere. [Pre-Chorus] Keep downwind. Keep moving slow. There's something here I don't fucking know. Stay real quiet. Rifle tight. Whatever ran that buck to death Might still be here tonight. [Chorus] Read the tracks! Read the ground! Something else has crossed them And it's circling around! Keep the wind against your face! Keep your rifle tight! There's something in these woods with you That never crossed your sight! Take your time! Don't lose the trail! You know what tracks should do! One set leads toward the buck... And one leads back to you. [Verse 3 — Faster] I turned toward camp. Three miles back. Kept checking behind my trail. Something moved whenever I moved. Stopped when I stood still. Crack to the left. Crack to the right. Something keeping pace. Every time I picked up speed, It stayed just out of sight. Then something struck me from behind. Drove my face into the ground. Tore straight through my shoulder And vanished without a sound. I rolled with the rifle. Finger on the trigger. Nothing there to see. No growl. No eyes. No shape in the trees. Just blood running down my sleeve. [Instrumental Drop] It could've killed me. [Pause] It didn't. [Low Harmony] It wanted me to run. [Chorus — Urgent] DON'T READ THE TRACKS! JUST FUCKING RUN! WHATEVER'S IN THE TIMBER ISN'T SCARED OF YOUR GUN! DON'T STOP TO LISTEN! DON'T TURN TO SEE! EVERY TIME YOU THINK IT'S GONE, IT'S CLOSER THAN IT SHOULD BE! THREE MILES BACK! DAYLIGHT'S DYING! NOW YOU FINALLY KNOW— YOU NEVER LOST THE THING BEHIND YOU. IT JUST LET YOU GO! [Bridge — Breathing and Forest Ambience] Nothing behind me. Nothing ahead. Nothing but breathing And blood in my head. No branches breaking. No footsteps near. No movement. Nothing to hear. [Pause] That's when I knew. [Long Pause] It was close. [Instrumental Break] [Verse 4 — Frantic] Camp through the trees! Truck by the fire! Fifty more yards! My lungs are on fire! Keys in my pocket! Door in my sight! Something behind me Is matching my stride! Forty! Thirty! Twenty! Ten! I hit that door running And threw myself in! Locked every lock! Rifle raised! Nothing came running. Nothing gave chase. I sat there shaking, Trying to breathe, Watching the darkness Between all the trees. [Silence] Then something... Scratched... Across the roof. [Final Chorus — Low, Predatory Harmonies] Read his tracks. Read the ground. Every broken branch will tell you where he's bound. Keep the wind against your face. Keep your footsteps light. There's a frightened thing ahead of you That's running out of light. Take your time. Don't lose the trail. You've done this all before. One set of tracks keeps leading him... Straight back to his door. [Outro — Instruments Fade] First light was coming When I headed out alone. Miles from a highway. A long way from home. I came here looking For something to hunt. [Long Pause] So did it.
