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The Story of Atlas: A Hero Among Us
A work by NEWS TODAY
The following was transcribed and summarized by forensic experts at NEWS TODAY from the recordings found on the recovered GoPro-X21 device of Atlas Miller. Actual footage of the events that take place on the evening of May 21st and morning of May 22nd is graphic and not fit for public release.
THU, 05.20.2100, 14:17 PST
Atlas Miller’s room looked disastrous as he dragged out even more clothes, searching through the tall, long-neglected piles of clothing that sit at the bottom of his closet. A glance in the mirror shows that Atlas has already donned the gear that he will be wearing for the day, and he must be searching for the finishing touches for his tightly packed military tactical rucksack, which lies open on the floor. Atlas is wearing boots that look like they have been used for hiking dozens of trails already but have been cared for very well and don’t show signs of breaking down. His jeans and pullover suggest that he is looking for some protection from whatever he is preparing himself for, and his hat has a GoPro-X21 attached to it. Atlas has also armed himself with a utility belt that contains a flashlight, a machete-like knife with his name engraved in the handle, a map with a pen attached to it, and a GPS device. In the mirror, it seems that Atlas is excited with twinges of nervousness that flare as he zips his bag, having attached the final piece of equipment he had been looking for, a small, standard issue medical kit. Atlas must have been aware that his journey would not be a walk in the park.
Atlas pulls his map from the utility belt and checks it, seemingly for reassurance. The map has two points circled on it, one with the coordinates written next to it. The first point is in the town of Kearny Mesa and the second is on CA-76 east of San Diego. The coordinates seem to be on the border of the Cleveland National Forest in the former city of Lilac. Atlas replaces the map in his belt and goes to his desk. Among the scattered pieces of homework and aged news clippings about the Cleveland National Forest Fire of 2020, there is an invitation to explore the forest and see what secrets lie within from the “Murmur Corporation.” This invitation lies beside a letter saying that Atlas has been chosen to receive a scholarship from the Corporation for his unending compassion for the environment and the world that he lives in. Atlas tears the invitation to the forest and leaves confetti sized scraps on his desk. He then removes his hat; the recording device pans to reveal his face and then cuts to black abruptly.
TRANSCRIPTION NOTES: The Cleveland National Forest Fire of 2020 is known to be one of the most horrific natural disasters in recorded history and the slow response of California Fire Departments were called into question after the fire had been extinguished. The fire devastated many lives, but the extent of what truly happened is not public knowledge. In the aftermath of the fire, there was an influx of government agencies and a large portion of the forest was cordoned and fortified, no civilians have been allowed to enter in the eighty years since.
****FOOTAGE FROM RECORDING DEVICE SKIPS AHEAD****
THU, 05.20.2100, 19:43 PST
The video footage flashes with gray noise before revealing the face of Atlas Miller, sitting in the driver seat of a vehicle. As the camera returns to its mounted position just above Atlas’s eyes. Atlas exits his Guglielmo Marconi pickup truck and grabs his ruck sack from the backseat. Atlas ensures that the waist strap of the bag is fastened, revealing that he is still wearing his utility belt, and then walks away from his truck. Atlas is in the edge of a forest, a glance at his GPS allows him to pick the direction that he wishes to journey. The GPS also indicates that Atlas exited his truck at the point that was circled on the map in the previous recording. The path that is programmed into the GPS suggests that Atlas is planning to walk South for exactly 2.3 miles.
TRANSCRIPTION NOTES: After the event detailed in this transcription, Atlas’s mother, Clymene notified NEWS TODAY that the invitation to enter the forest that was sent to Atlas from the Murmur Corporation, once pieced back together, indicated that Atlas and the other three scholarship winners were going to enter the forest by government escort on Friday, May 21st.
After returning the GPS to his tool belt, Atlas proceeds to the bed of his truck where a four-wheel ATV has been stored. He then attaches ramps to the end of the tailgate and unstraps the ATV. Atlas then double checks that the ramps are secure, climbs into the truck bed and starts the ATV. Atlas is careful to move very slowly as he offloads the ATV, making sure to stay on the ramps. Once the rubber hits the ground, Atlas drives the ATV for about fifty yards and parks it, backed up to the edge of a steep hill or ravine that would hide it from the vision of anybody who approached from behind it. Atlas then returns to the truck and retrieves a camouflage netting from the rear seat of the truck and drapes it over the ATV, making sure to conceal it from every angle. Atlas then reloads the ramps to the bed of his pickup truck, checks his work one more time, and drives to a place where it appears that the fence has been battered down by Atlas’s truck. The remainder of this portion of video portrays Atlas driving to his home in Kearny Mesa, where the recording device is turned off before Atlas exits the vehicle.
TRANSCRIPTION NOTES: It is likely that the guards who patrol this area found the damaged portion of the fence and repaired it within the next twenty-four hours.
****FOOTAGE FROM RECORDING DEVICE SKIPS AHEAD****
FRI, 05.21.2100, 07:58 PST
Atlas has donned his cap. He is sitting on his bed, looking into the mirror that stands across the room from him. He appears to be calm, but his body shows signs of his nerves that he may not be aware of. Atlas’s right leg is bouncing with a high intensity and he proceeds to check his watch nearly every ten seconds, indicating that he is likely waiting for a specific time to arrive, but time is not moving as quickly as he would hope. At Atlas’s feet are the bag that he prepared the previous day, bursting even more from the seams, as if Atlas has packed even more equipment, and the utility belt, which is stocked exactly as it had been before. After approximately two minutes, Atlas’s routine watch-check indicates that it is time for his departure. He dons the utility belt and grabs the bag before leaving the room, walking to the kitchen, kissing his mother goodbye and leaving his house.
After he buckles his seatbelt, Atlas turns to look back at the house. It is a small, yellow house made of stucco. There are a few flowerpots on either side of the door, between which Atlas’s mother waves proudly. Atlas returns the wave before checking his rearview mirror, catching a glimpse of himself. Atlas’s face has changed. Where there was once calm is now nerve and fear. Atlas’s eyes shine as if they have begun to spring tears. Atlas, seeing his current demeanor, continues to look at himself in the mirror, seemingly manually rearranging his face until he peers on with a cold and determined look. It seems that Atlas knows that he must leave his trepidations behind in this instance in order to face what is to come.
After a long drive, Atlas arrives at his destination. It appears that he has arrived at the site where he will meet the rest of the caravan that will travel into the forest. Atlas exits his pickup truck, retrieves his bag, and heads towards the check-in area where he checks in with a security guard. After he is checked in, Atlas sits in some chairs where a couple other teens have already taken a seat. Their interactions with him suggest that they have previously met, or that they are very friendly upon first impressions. After a short wait, and the arrival of the fourth member of their group, a guard approaches and indicates that they are now going to be transported into the forest. The group then exits the building and boards a vehicle that is waiting for them outside.
Atlas doesn’t participate in much of the conversation during their short trip, throwing in the occasional agreements and opinions. His speech is very professional and nonpersonal. After a short journey, the group arrives at a gate in the fence, where they are waved through by security guards on either side of the vehicle. Once they have driven through the fence, the gate closes behind them and the vehicle turns around before the passengers are asked to exit by the driver. The driver’s eyes meet Atlas’s camera’s lens in the rearview mirror, he has an apologetic look, as if he knows that there is a danger lurking, soon to befall these teenagers.
As they exit the vehicle and gather their belongings, the teenagers all seem to spread apart from each other take their final glances at each other before choosing the direction that they would like to wander in. Atlas seems to have already decided his heading without checking his GPS device. He begins his journey. Atlas walks, at first, with the slow pace of a curious teenager. After nearly a hundred steps, Atlas stops and looks around, totally encircled by trees. Along with the trees, bushes and insects are scattered within the camera’s view. After Atlas has walked for just over a half mile, he comes to a ridge where the terrain begins to slope downward. Before his descent, Atlas checks the GPS device, corrects his heading a few degrees to the north, and begins to descend.
TRANSCRIPTION NOTES: Atlas’s GPS device is programmed to take him to the location of his ATV. The terrain that lies between the drop-off point and the ATV’s location is hilly and rocky. Atlas will need to be careful to avoid multiple types of wildlife, including rattlesnakes, mountain lions, and rodents (whose fleas can carry the bubonic plague).
As Atlas is descending the slope, he does not face much trouble. There are a few points where Atlas’s boot slips and he flails his arms to recover balance, but otherwise, the descent does not prove to be too difficult. Atlas retrieves a pair of sunglasses from his backpack, nearly halfway down the slope, the sun is shining through the trees and reducing his vision. As Atlas dons his glasses, he turns his head in the direction of a chirping noise. The sound comes from a Starling that is perched on a branch approximately 20 yards from Atlas. The noise that the bird is making can be described as a high-pitched whistle that resembles an electric zap because of the vibrations in the tone. Atlas does not appear to give the bird a second thought because he returns to his task and continues his descent. The rocky terrain coupled with the underbrush of the forest means that Atlas must exercise caution as he takes each step. As the terrain levels out, Atlas picks up his pace, knowing his destination and the daunting tasks that he will soon face.
After Atlas has traveled for a mile and a half (based on horizontal measurement by our analysis team), Atlas has an unusual encounter. As Atlas is rounding a rather large boulder, a deep growling and the sound of a large animal moving through underbrush alert him, prompting him to draw his machete from his belt, holding it in his left hand with a reverse-grip position near the center of his body, prepared for anything that he may encounter. With a creeping pace, Atlas continues to round the boulder. On the far side of the boulder, Atlas discovers the threat that he suspected, a mountain lion is in the distance, approximately 15 yards from Atlas’s position. The lion is not alert to the presence of a threat in the vicinity and is moving in a northerly direction. Atlas waits for the lion, not moving an inch until there is a significant distance between them.
TRANSCRIPTION NOTES: As Atlas first encounters the mountain lion, it is likely that he is aware there is nowhere to go but forward. Turning back would be just as dangerous as moving forward. Atlas cannot exit the forest and must face its dangers as they present themselves. It is likely that Atlas was aware that mountain lions could be present in the CNF and prepared himself accordingly for this exact situation.
Just as Atlas takes his first steps after his close encounter with the mountain lion, his foot falls on a snake that must have crept onto his path in the calm of the moment. Atlas retracts his foot as soon as he hears the distinctive hiss and rattle of the snake, but not before the rattlesnake strikes, biting Atlas on his right leg, through his pants and just above the level of his boot. Atlas quickly transfers the knife to his right hand in a forward-grip position and slices downward, following the form of his leg closely. The machete finds its target and severs the head of the snake, still attached to his leg, from the rest of its scaled body. Atlas quickly drops the knife, removes his rucksack, the medical kit still attached, and drops on his left knee.
Atlas works quickly, likely with the knowledge that any hesitation in treating his injury could be deadly. Atlas removes the medical pack from his bag and quickly unzips it to remove its numerous contents. He searches through the left side of the kit, removing some gauze and bandages as well as a sterile wrap that contains a capped needle. Atlas then searches through the other side of his kit, removing a syringe that is marked “Broad-Scale Antivenom.” Atlas then attaches the needle to the syringe, making sure to plunge the syringe so that no air remains in the needle, wipes down the inside of his right elbow, and carefully injects the antivenom to his veins. Once the injection is complete, Atlas removes the needle and discards the instrument. He then wipes down the area of the bite with alcohol wipes and wraps the wound with the gauze, bandaging the area. Atlas then grabs a pair of scissors from the kit and cuts from the bottom of his pants leg to halfway up his calf. His leg has already begun swelling near the snake bite wound.
TRANSCRIPTION NOTES: The side effects of a rattlesnake bite can be very severe and felt instantaneously. There is likely to be pain at the site of the wound, as well as numbness, lightheadedness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, sweating, salivating, blurred vision, and difficulty breathing. These side effects will be minimalized or absent if an antivenom treatment is delivered quickly. There is also a likelihood of extreme swelling in the area of the snake bite.
After Atlas has packed his medical kit away, which has proven to be very useful, he checks his GPS tool, there is less than three-quarters of a mile until Atlas reaches the point where he stowed his ATV. Atlas continues his journey, limping at a steady pace. The varying camera angle suggests that he is paying extra attention to his foot placement. Atlas walks for around ten minutes before stopping, retrieving a bottle of water from his bag and drinking a small amount before replacing it. Another check reveals that Atlas is only a quarter mile from the ATV. Atlas also checks his leg, revealing that his calf has swollen significantly and there are some purplish discolorations as well. Atlas pushes through, completing the journey to his ATV with an ever-worsening limp.
As Atlas nears the ATV’s location, he notices that the fence has been re-constructed where it had previously been destroyed. Atlas continues further, activating his GPS to guide him to the location of the ATV. Once Atlas recognizes the camouflage netting that he placed on the ATV, Atlas quickly closes the distance between him and the ATV, pulls back the net, and takes a seat on the ATV. At this point, Atlas has been hiking through the forest for nearly four hours, snake encounter included, and the sun is beginning to set on the western horizon. Atlas looks at his watch. The time is 7:37 PM. Before he moves the ATV, Atlas takes a break.
Atlas sets his bag and belt on the ATV, relieved from the weight of his gear. As he is unzipping his bag with one hand, Atlas massages his leg with the other hand. The sound of Atlas’s grimaces can be heard on the recording. The first thing that Atlas pulls from his bag is the medical kit, so that he can replace the bandages on his leg. Once his wound has been re-dressed, Atlas retrieves a meal kit from the bag. It is a standard MRE meal kit that the military uses. Atlas digs into his meal, having eaten nothing throughout the day. By the time he has finished, Atlas has eaten his entire MRE, drank a bottle of water, and eaten a package of peanuts.
Atlas apparently decides that it is time for him to create his camp rather than travel any further this evening because he has begun to clear a small area on the ground and gathered stones that, encircled, will serve as a fire pit. Atlas also gathers some small twigs and dried brush. Once they have been arranged, Atlas retrieves a flint striker from his bag and strikes into the brush, sending glowing sparks flying until one of them catches on the brush, smoldering. Atlas then blows on the smoldering brush until a flame suddenly bursts from it. Once the fire is self-sustaining, Atlas retreats to a log that lies nearby and works to reprogram his GPS device. The new destination that is set for the device is located north of his current position, nearly 10 miles in the distance. Atlas then places the GPS device back in his belt and takes a sleeping bag from his pack. Atlas places his hat on the ATV facing the dim campfire and his sleeping bag before he returns to his bag and rests.
TRANSCRIPTION NOTES: The distance and direction that Atlas has programmed into his GPS device suggest that he is traveling to the abandoned town of Pala, California. Pala was ravaged by the fire in 2020 and has not been returned to since. It is likely that this is the headquarters for any government operations within the forest. The casualty reports that were released after the fire are suspected to exclude most or all of the population of Pala. It is possible that no one who lived in Pala survived.
As Atlas sleeps, the fire slowly reduces to embers and the night grows ever darker. Atlas sleeps restlessly in the night, obviously pained by the snake bite but fatigued from the previous day. Although Atlas is quiet in the night, the forest’s volume only intensifies. There are instances that creatures can be heard, roaming outside of the view of the camera, possibly drawn close by the fire. At one point, the view of the camera is obscured by hundreds of black specs that fly in the space between Atlas and the camera. A few of the specs land while others leave the camera’s view. The specs that have landed are Starlings, just like the ones seen previously in the day. The Starlings that have landed speak small amounts of speech, screeching their messages in a high-pitched haunting manner. Some of the birds say “fire” some of them say “they’re all dead” while others say, “ turn around” the most haunting of these messages was “you won’t make it through the forest.” The presence of these birds and their terrifying murmurs seems to lead Atlas to an even more restless state, he is sweating and seems to be having nightmares. As the night carries on, more and more Starlings land around the campfire. Some of the birds even land on Atlas momentarily until he shifts, and they scatter from his movements. This continues as the glow of the fire is reduced completely and the camera begins to receive only black footage, but the sounds and words of the Starlings remains until they must have left Atlas, just before sunrise.
Atlas wakes at 9:53 AM. He begins his day by kicking dirt onto the already non-existent fire for good measure. He then pulls a snack from his bag which he eats quickly accompanied by a bottle of water. He then redresses the snake bite again. The swelling seems to have subsided a bit and the coloration has nearly returned to normal. Atlas then packs up his sleeping bag, puts on his belt, and straps his bag to the ATV. He then starts the ATV, checks his GPS device, and begins to drive towards Pala, CA.
TRANSCRIPTION NOTES: The ATV is all-electric Guglielmo Marconi. This means that there is a very low sound output, Atlas likely does not worry about the forest patrol hearing him travel.
Although the use of an ATV considerably increases Atlas’s travel speed, the travel is still slow, due to the constant obstacles and lack of a path through the forest. There are several points in Atlas’s morning when he has to take a longer path than directly walking because the ATV would not fit between obstacles or climb the slopes as readily as necessary. At some points, Atlas stops and checks his GPS device, making sure that he is still on track and hasn’t gotten turned around. At one point, Atlas checked his device and saw that he had gone a half-mile in the wrong direction after taking a significant detour to avoid a seriously rock-filled area.
After nearly an hour of travel, Atlas checked his GPS. He had traveled half of the way to Pala. Atlas parked his ATV in the shade at the base of a rather large tree and at lunch. The low position of his leg for the past hour had made the swelling increase a bit but after he cleaned and redressed the wound, it seemed to be faring well. Once Atlas had rested for nearly fifteen minutes, he continued riding until he was just over 500 feet from where his GPS said Pala should be. This was about another hour of travel time. At this point, it is early afternoon and Atlas is about to discover the secrets that lie within the city of Pala. Atlas completes his journey to Pala as he walks into the ruins of a city that has been razed by fire and overrun by nature in the time since its fall.
The city of Pala has been reduced to the frames of houses and buildings, trees growing in the middle of former streets and vines engulfing most of the standing infrastructure. Atlas begins to walk through an area of the city that seems to have been the former school. Outside of the crumbling skeleton of a building, Atlas finds a scorched, stone sign that reads “Pala: God’s Promise to The World,” the stone is located in front of a jungle gym that has been melted. The playground looks as if it were made of gelatin and was naturally stooping under its own weight. In the parking lot of the elementary school, Atlas finds dozens of vehicles. As Atlas moves into the portion of the building that still stands, he sees classrooms, and offices. As Atlas enters the first classroom he sees, he follows the wall to the left of the door and discovers a bookbag hanging in a locker. Atlas then checks the rest of the lockers and finds that all of the lockers have bags in them. Atlas moves on to the offices near the front of the building. Inside the first office, Atlas finds evidence that the fire did not just wipe out Pala, but the people inside it as well. The front office has multiple evacuation safety bags lined up just inside the door. It appears that the people in the school prepared for a fire but did not evacuate quickly enough. Once he finds the equipment bags, Atlas runs outside, takes his hat off, and throws it toward one of the cars sitting a few feet away.
The hat lands on the ground and Atlas comes into the field of view of the GoPro. Atlas is pacing back and forth outside of the school, tears rolling down his face. Atlas has just discovered that the population of Pala was not evacuated before the fire, not even the kids in the school. Even if Atlas expected that this was a possibility, seeing the carnage that the fire wreaked upon the city and the school has sent Atlas into an emotional spiral. Atlas continues to pace, kicking dirt in all directions. As his emotions take control, Atlas collapses on the threshold of the school, unable to support himself. The devastation that Pala has experienced is now playing across Atlas’s face.
Atlas moves from his spot, replaces his hat, and returns to the front office of the school where he finds an old marker in one of the emergency bags. He takes this marker and returns to the sign outside, scribbling to make it say, “Pala: God’s city of embers.” Once Atlas has finished, he leaves, walking past cars and houses that have been scorched and completely destroyed by the fire.
Once Atlas has returned to his ATV on the outskirts of the city, he starts it up and drives. Atlas’s hands are shaking as he takes the handlebars into his control. He drives without checking his GPS device. The direction is determined to be South, although it does not seem to matter to Atlas which direction he is heading. Atlas is driving at a faster pace than he had before, weaving through trees, around rocks, and across plains. As Atlas enters a more densely forested area, he runs into a swarm of Starlings. Hundreds of Starlings are flying across Atlas’s field of vision as he is flying through the forest. Atlas continues to drive although his visibility has been reduced by the birds. Although there are many birds surrounding him, Atlas continues to successfully navigate through the woods at an alarming pace. The Starlings in the view of the camera seem to shift from flying in random directions to flying in the same direction that Atlas is driving.
The GoPro can barely see anything except for a flurry of black feathers, wings, and beaks. The Starlings are no longer flying alongside Atlas but are flocking to him, surrounding him completely. Atlas’s left hand can be seen shooing the birds from his vision, trying to clear his view. The birds continue to swarm around the ATV until the ATV is launched over a ledge, the GoPro’s camera can only see Atlas’s arms release the ATV, flailing in midair, before the audio and video feed from the GoPro stop.
***THE GOPRO’S RECORDED FOOTAGE ENDS AFTER THE ATV CRASH***
Works Cited:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/cs/main/!ut/p/z0/04_Sj9CPykssy0xPLMnMz0vMAfIjo8zijQwgwNHCwN_DI8zPwBcqYKBfkO2oCADIwpjI/?position=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&pname=Cleveland%20National%20Forest-%20Outdoor%20Safety%20&navtype=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&ss=110502&pnavid=150000000000000&navid=150100000000000&ttype=main&cid=FSE_003789
https://www.crittercontrol.com/wildlife/starlings/starling-noises
https://www.healthline.com/health/rattlesnake-bite
THU, 05.20.2100, 14:17 PST
Atlas Miller’s room looked disastrous as he dragged out even more clothes, searching through the tall, long-neglected piles of clothing that sit at the bottom of his closet. A glance in the mirror shows that Atlas has already donned the gear that he will be wearing for the day, and he must be searching for the finishing touches for his tightly packed military tactical rucksack, which lies open on the floor. Atlas is wearing boots that look like they have been used for hiking dozens of trails already but have been cared for very well and don’t show signs of breaking down. His jeans and pullover suggest that he is looking for some protection from whatever he is preparing himself for, and his hat has a GoPro-X21 attached to it. Atlas has also armed himself with a utility belt that contains a flashlight, a machete-like knife with his name engraved in the handle, a map with a pen attached to it, and a GPS device. In the mirror, it seems that Atlas is excited with twinges of nervousness that flare as he zips his bag, having attached the final piece of equipment he had been looking for, a small, standard issue medical kit. Atlas must have been aware that his journey would not be a walk in the park.
Atlas pulls his map from the utility belt and checks it, seemingly for reassurance. The map has two points circled on it, one with the coordinates written next to it. The first point is in the town of Kearny Mesa and the second is on CA-76 east of San Diego. The coordinates seem to be on the border of the Cleveland National Forest in the former city of Lilac. Atlas replaces the map in his belt and goes to his desk. Among the scattered pieces of homework and aged news clippings about the Cleveland National Forest Fire of 2020, there is an invitation to explore the forest and see what secrets lie within from the “Murmur Corporation.” This invitation lies beside a letter saying that Atlas has been chosen to receive a scholarship from the Corporation for his unending compassion for the environment and the world that he lives in. Atlas tears the invitation to the forest and leaves confetti sized scraps on his desk. He then removes his hat; the recording device pans to reveal his face and then cuts to black abruptly.
TRANSCRIPTION NOTES: The Cleveland National Forest Fire of 2020 is known to be one of the most horrific natural disasters in recorded history and the slow response of California Fire Departments were called into question after the fire had been extinguished. The fire devastated many lives, but the extent of what truly happened is not public knowledge. In the aftermath of the fire, there was an influx of government agencies and a large portion of the forest was cordoned and fortified, no civilians have been allowed to enter in the eighty years since.
****FOOTAGE FROM RECORDING DEVICE SKIPS AHEAD****
THU, 05.20.2100, 19:43 PST
The video footage flashes with gray noise before revealing the face of Atlas Miller, sitting in the driver seat of a vehicle. As the camera returns to its mounted position just above Atlas’s eyes. Atlas exits his Guglielmo Marconi pickup truck and grabs his ruck sack from the backseat. Atlas ensures that the waist strap of the bag is fastened, revealing that he is still wearing his utility belt, and then walks away from his truck. Atlas is in the edge of a forest, a glance at his GPS allows him to pick the direction that he wishes to journey. The GPS also indicates that Atlas exited his truck at the point that was circled on the map in the previous recording. The path that is programmed into the GPS suggests that Atlas is planning to walk South for exactly 2.3 miles.
TRANSCRIPTION NOTES: After the event detailed in this transcription, Atlas’s mother, Clymene notified NEWS TODAY that the invitation to enter the forest that was sent to Atlas from the Murmur Corporation, once pieced back together, indicated that Atlas and the other three scholarship winners were going to enter the forest by government escort on Friday, May 21st.
After returning the GPS to his tool belt, Atlas proceeds to the bed of his truck where a four-wheel ATV has been stored. He then attaches ramps to the end of the tailgate and unstraps the ATV. Atlas then double checks that the ramps are secure, climbs into the truck bed and starts the ATV. Atlas is careful to move very slowly as he offloads the ATV, making sure to stay on the ramps. Once the rubber hits the ground, Atlas drives the ATV for about fifty yards and parks it, backed up to the edge of a steep hill or ravine that would hide it from the vision of anybody who approached from behind it. Atlas then returns to the truck and retrieves a camouflage netting from the rear seat of the truck and drapes it over the ATV, making sure to conceal it from every angle. Atlas then reloads the ramps to the bed of his pickup truck, checks his work one more time, and drives to a place where it appears that the fence has been battered down by Atlas’s truck. The remainder of this portion of video portrays Atlas driving to his home in Kearny Mesa, where the recording device is turned off before Atlas exits the vehicle.
TRANSCRIPTION NOTES: It is likely that the guards who patrol this area found the damaged portion of the fence and repaired it within the next twenty-four hours.
****FOOTAGE FROM RECORDING DEVICE SKIPS AHEAD****
FRI, 05.21.2100, 07:58 PST
Atlas has donned his cap. He is sitting on his bed, looking into the mirror that stands across the room from him. He appears to be calm, but his body shows signs of his nerves that he may not be aware of. Atlas’s right leg is bouncing with a high intensity and he proceeds to check his watch nearly every ten seconds, indicating that he is likely waiting for a specific time to arrive, but time is not moving as quickly as he would hope. At Atlas’s feet are the bag that he prepared the previous day, bursting even more from the seams, as if Atlas has packed even more equipment, and the utility belt, which is stocked exactly as it had been before. After approximately two minutes, Atlas’s routine watch-check indicates that it is time for his departure. He dons the utility belt and grabs the bag before leaving the room, walking to the kitchen, kissing his mother goodbye and leaving his house.
After he buckles his seatbelt, Atlas turns to look back at the house. It is a small, yellow house made of stucco. There are a few flowerpots on either side of the door, between which Atlas’s mother waves proudly. Atlas returns the wave before checking his rearview mirror, catching a glimpse of himself. Atlas’s face has changed. Where there was once calm is now nerve and fear. Atlas’s eyes shine as if they have begun to spring tears. Atlas, seeing his current demeanor, continues to look at himself in the mirror, seemingly manually rearranging his face until he peers on with a cold and determined look. It seems that Atlas knows that he must leave his trepidations behind in this instance in order to face what is to come.
After a long drive, Atlas arrives at his destination. It appears that he has arrived at the site where he will meet the rest of the caravan that will travel into the forest. Atlas exits his pickup truck, retrieves his bag, and heads towards the check-in area where he checks in with a security guard. After he is checked in, Atlas sits in some chairs where a couple other teens have already taken a seat. Their interactions with him suggest that they have previously met, or that they are very friendly upon first impressions. After a short wait, and the arrival of the fourth member of their group, a guard approaches and indicates that they are now going to be transported into the forest. The group then exits the building and boards a vehicle that is waiting for them outside.
Atlas doesn’t participate in much of the conversation during their short trip, throwing in the occasional agreements and opinions. His speech is very professional and nonpersonal. After a short journey, the group arrives at a gate in the fence, where they are waved through by security guards on either side of the vehicle. Once they have driven through the fence, the gate closes behind them and the vehicle turns around before the passengers are asked to exit by the driver. The driver’s eyes meet Atlas’s camera’s lens in the rearview mirror, he has an apologetic look, as if he knows that there is a danger lurking, soon to befall these teenagers.
As they exit the vehicle and gather their belongings, the teenagers all seem to spread apart from each other take their final glances at each other before choosing the direction that they would like to wander in. Atlas seems to have already decided his heading without checking his GPS device. He begins his journey. Atlas walks, at first, with the slow pace of a curious teenager. After nearly a hundred steps, Atlas stops and looks around, totally encircled by trees. Along with the trees, bushes and insects are scattered within the camera’s view. After Atlas has walked for just over a half mile, he comes to a ridge where the terrain begins to slope downward. Before his descent, Atlas checks the GPS device, corrects his heading a few degrees to the north, and begins to descend.
TRANSCRIPTION NOTES: Atlas’s GPS device is programmed to take him to the location of his ATV. The terrain that lies between the drop-off point and the ATV’s location is hilly and rocky. Atlas will need to be careful to avoid multiple types of wildlife, including rattlesnakes, mountain lions, and rodents (whose fleas can carry the bubonic plague).
As Atlas is descending the slope, he does not face much trouble. There are a few points where Atlas’s boot slips and he flails his arms to recover balance, but otherwise, the descent does not prove to be too difficult. Atlas retrieves a pair of sunglasses from his backpack, nearly halfway down the slope, the sun is shining through the trees and reducing his vision. As Atlas dons his glasses, he turns his head in the direction of a chirping noise. The sound comes from a Starling that is perched on a branch approximately 20 yards from Atlas. The noise that the bird is making can be described as a high-pitched whistle that resembles an electric zap because of the vibrations in the tone. Atlas does not appear to give the bird a second thought because he returns to his task and continues his descent. The rocky terrain coupled with the underbrush of the forest means that Atlas must exercise caution as he takes each step. As the terrain levels out, Atlas picks up his pace, knowing his destination and the daunting tasks that he will soon face.
After Atlas has traveled for a mile and a half (based on horizontal measurement by our analysis team), Atlas has an unusual encounter. As Atlas is rounding a rather large boulder, a deep growling and the sound of a large animal moving through underbrush alert him, prompting him to draw his machete from his belt, holding it in his left hand with a reverse-grip position near the center of his body, prepared for anything that he may encounter. With a creeping pace, Atlas continues to round the boulder. On the far side of the boulder, Atlas discovers the threat that he suspected, a mountain lion is in the distance, approximately 15 yards from Atlas’s position. The lion is not alert to the presence of a threat in the vicinity and is moving in a northerly direction. Atlas waits for the lion, not moving an inch until there is a significant distance between them.
TRANSCRIPTION NOTES: As Atlas first encounters the mountain lion, it is likely that he is aware there is nowhere to go but forward. Turning back would be just as dangerous as moving forward. Atlas cannot exit the forest and must face its dangers as they present themselves. It is likely that Atlas was aware that mountain lions could be present in the CNF and prepared himself accordingly for this exact situation.
Just as Atlas takes his first steps after his close encounter with the mountain lion, his foot falls on a snake that must have crept onto his path in the calm of the moment. Atlas retracts his foot as soon as he hears the distinctive hiss and rattle of the snake, but not before the rattlesnake strikes, biting Atlas on his right leg, through his pants and just above the level of his boot. Atlas quickly transfers the knife to his right hand in a forward-grip position and slices downward, following the form of his leg closely. The machete finds its target and severs the head of the snake, still attached to his leg, from the rest of its scaled body. Atlas quickly drops the knife, removes his rucksack, the medical kit still attached, and drops on his left knee.
Atlas works quickly, likely with the knowledge that any hesitation in treating his injury could be deadly. Atlas removes the medical pack from his bag and quickly unzips it to remove its numerous contents. He searches through the left side of the kit, removing some gauze and bandages as well as a sterile wrap that contains a capped needle. Atlas then searches through the other side of his kit, removing a syringe that is marked “Broad-Scale Antivenom.” Atlas then attaches the needle to the syringe, making sure to plunge the syringe so that no air remains in the needle, wipes down the inside of his right elbow, and carefully injects the antivenom to his veins. Once the injection is complete, Atlas removes the needle and discards the instrument. He then wipes down the area of the bite with alcohol wipes and wraps the wound with the gauze, bandaging the area. Atlas then grabs a pair of scissors from the kit and cuts from the bottom of his pants leg to halfway up his calf. His leg has already begun swelling near the snake bite wound.
TRANSCRIPTION NOTES: The side effects of a rattlesnake bite can be very severe and felt instantaneously. There is likely to be pain at the site of the wound, as well as numbness, lightheadedness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, sweating, salivating, blurred vision, and difficulty breathing. These side effects will be minimalized or absent if an antivenom treatment is delivered quickly. There is also a likelihood of extreme swelling in the area of the snake bite.
After Atlas has packed his medical kit away, which has proven to be very useful, he checks his GPS tool, there is less than three-quarters of a mile until Atlas reaches the point where he stowed his ATV. Atlas continues his journey, limping at a steady pace. The varying camera angle suggests that he is paying extra attention to his foot placement. Atlas walks for around ten minutes before stopping, retrieving a bottle of water from his bag and drinking a small amount before replacing it. Another check reveals that Atlas is only a quarter mile from the ATV. Atlas also checks his leg, revealing that his calf has swollen significantly and there are some purplish discolorations as well. Atlas pushes through, completing the journey to his ATV with an ever-worsening limp.
As Atlas nears the ATV’s location, he notices that the fence has been re-constructed where it had previously been destroyed. Atlas continues further, activating his GPS to guide him to the location of the ATV. Once Atlas recognizes the camouflage netting that he placed on the ATV, Atlas quickly closes the distance between him and the ATV, pulls back the net, and takes a seat on the ATV. At this point, Atlas has been hiking through the forest for nearly four hours, snake encounter included, and the sun is beginning to set on the western horizon. Atlas looks at his watch. The time is 7:37 PM. Before he moves the ATV, Atlas takes a break.
Atlas sets his bag and belt on the ATV, relieved from the weight of his gear. As he is unzipping his bag with one hand, Atlas massages his leg with the other hand. The sound of Atlas’s grimaces can be heard on the recording. The first thing that Atlas pulls from his bag is the medical kit, so that he can replace the bandages on his leg. Once his wound has been re-dressed, Atlas retrieves a meal kit from the bag. It is a standard MRE meal kit that the military uses. Atlas digs into his meal, having eaten nothing throughout the day. By the time he has finished, Atlas has eaten his entire MRE, drank a bottle of water, and eaten a package of peanuts.
Atlas apparently decides that it is time for him to create his camp rather than travel any further this evening because he has begun to clear a small area on the ground and gathered stones that, encircled, will serve as a fire pit. Atlas also gathers some small twigs and dried brush. Once they have been arranged, Atlas retrieves a flint striker from his bag and strikes into the brush, sending glowing sparks flying until one of them catches on the brush, smoldering. Atlas then blows on the smoldering brush until a flame suddenly bursts from it. Once the fire is self-sustaining, Atlas retreats to a log that lies nearby and works to reprogram his GPS device. The new destination that is set for the device is located north of his current position, nearly 10 miles in the distance. Atlas then places the GPS device back in his belt and takes a sleeping bag from his pack. Atlas places his hat on the ATV facing the dim campfire and his sleeping bag before he returns to his bag and rests.
TRANSCRIPTION NOTES: The distance and direction that Atlas has programmed into his GPS device suggest that he is traveling to the abandoned town of Pala, California. Pala was ravaged by the fire in 2020 and has not been returned to since. It is likely that this is the headquarters for any government operations within the forest. The casualty reports that were released after the fire are suspected to exclude most or all of the population of Pala. It is possible that no one who lived in Pala survived.
As Atlas sleeps, the fire slowly reduces to embers and the night grows ever darker. Atlas sleeps restlessly in the night, obviously pained by the snake bite but fatigued from the previous day. Although Atlas is quiet in the night, the forest’s volume only intensifies. There are instances that creatures can be heard, roaming outside of the view of the camera, possibly drawn close by the fire. At one point, the view of the camera is obscured by hundreds of black specs that fly in the space between Atlas and the camera. A few of the specs land while others leave the camera’s view. The specs that have landed are Starlings, just like the ones seen previously in the day. The Starlings that have landed speak small amounts of speech, screeching their messages in a high-pitched haunting manner. Some of the birds say “fire” some of them say “they’re all dead” while others say, “ turn around” the most haunting of these messages was “you won’t make it through the forest.” The presence of these birds and their terrifying murmurs seems to lead Atlas to an even more restless state, he is sweating and seems to be having nightmares. As the night carries on, more and more Starlings land around the campfire. Some of the birds even land on Atlas momentarily until he shifts, and they scatter from his movements. This continues as the glow of the fire is reduced completely and the camera begins to receive only black footage, but the sounds and words of the Starlings remains until they must have left Atlas, just before sunrise.
Atlas wakes at 9:53 AM. He begins his day by kicking dirt onto the already non-existent fire for good measure. He then pulls a snack from his bag which he eats quickly accompanied by a bottle of water. He then redresses the snake bite again. The swelling seems to have subsided a bit and the coloration has nearly returned to normal. Atlas then packs up his sleeping bag, puts on his belt, and straps his bag to the ATV. He then starts the ATV, checks his GPS device, and begins to drive towards Pala, CA.
TRANSCRIPTION NOTES: The ATV is all-electric Guglielmo Marconi. This means that there is a very low sound output, Atlas likely does not worry about the forest patrol hearing him travel.
Although the use of an ATV considerably increases Atlas’s travel speed, the travel is still slow, due to the constant obstacles and lack of a path through the forest. There are several points in Atlas’s morning when he has to take a longer path than directly walking because the ATV would not fit between obstacles or climb the slopes as readily as necessary. At some points, Atlas stops and checks his GPS device, making sure that he is still on track and hasn’t gotten turned around. At one point, Atlas checked his device and saw that he had gone a half-mile in the wrong direction after taking a significant detour to avoid a seriously rock-filled area.
After nearly an hour of travel, Atlas checked his GPS. He had traveled half of the way to Pala. Atlas parked his ATV in the shade at the base of a rather large tree and at lunch. The low position of his leg for the past hour had made the swelling increase a bit but after he cleaned and redressed the wound, it seemed to be faring well. Once Atlas had rested for nearly fifteen minutes, he continued riding until he was just over 500 feet from where his GPS said Pala should be. This was about another hour of travel time. At this point, it is early afternoon and Atlas is about to discover the secrets that lie within the city of Pala. Atlas completes his journey to Pala as he walks into the ruins of a city that has been razed by fire and overrun by nature in the time since its fall.
The city of Pala has been reduced to the frames of houses and buildings, trees growing in the middle of former streets and vines engulfing most of the standing infrastructure. Atlas begins to walk through an area of the city that seems to have been the former school. Outside of the crumbling skeleton of a building, Atlas finds a scorched, stone sign that reads “Pala: God’s Promise to The World,” the stone is located in front of a jungle gym that has been melted. The playground looks as if it were made of gelatin and was naturally stooping under its own weight. In the parking lot of the elementary school, Atlas finds dozens of vehicles. As Atlas moves into the portion of the building that still stands, he sees classrooms, and offices. As Atlas enters the first classroom he sees, he follows the wall to the left of the door and discovers a bookbag hanging in a locker. Atlas then checks the rest of the lockers and finds that all of the lockers have bags in them. Atlas moves on to the offices near the front of the building. Inside the first office, Atlas finds evidence that the fire did not just wipe out Pala, but the people inside it as well. The front office has multiple evacuation safety bags lined up just inside the door. It appears that the people in the school prepared for a fire but did not evacuate quickly enough. Once he finds the equipment bags, Atlas runs outside, takes his hat off, and throws it toward one of the cars sitting a few feet away.
The hat lands on the ground and Atlas comes into the field of view of the GoPro. Atlas is pacing back and forth outside of the school, tears rolling down his face. Atlas has just discovered that the population of Pala was not evacuated before the fire, not even the kids in the school. Even if Atlas expected that this was a possibility, seeing the carnage that the fire wreaked upon the city and the school has sent Atlas into an emotional spiral. Atlas continues to pace, kicking dirt in all directions. As his emotions take control, Atlas collapses on the threshold of the school, unable to support himself. The devastation that Pala has experienced is now playing across Atlas’s face.
Atlas moves from his spot, replaces his hat, and returns to the front office of the school where he finds an old marker in one of the emergency bags. He takes this marker and returns to the sign outside, scribbling to make it say, “Pala: God’s city of embers.” Once Atlas has finished, he leaves, walking past cars and houses that have been scorched and completely destroyed by the fire.
Once Atlas has returned to his ATV on the outskirts of the city, he starts it up and drives. Atlas’s hands are shaking as he takes the handlebars into his control. He drives without checking his GPS device. The direction is determined to be South, although it does not seem to matter to Atlas which direction he is heading. Atlas is driving at a faster pace than he had before, weaving through trees, around rocks, and across plains. As Atlas enters a more densely forested area, he runs into a swarm of Starlings. Hundreds of Starlings are flying across Atlas’s field of vision as he is flying through the forest. Atlas continues to drive although his visibility has been reduced by the birds. Although there are many birds surrounding him, Atlas continues to successfully navigate through the woods at an alarming pace. The Starlings in the view of the camera seem to shift from flying in random directions to flying in the same direction that Atlas is driving.
The GoPro can barely see anything except for a flurry of black feathers, wings, and beaks. The Starlings are no longer flying alongside Atlas but are flocking to him, surrounding him completely. Atlas’s left hand can be seen shooing the birds from his vision, trying to clear his view. The birds continue to swarm around the ATV until the ATV is launched over a ledge, the GoPro’s camera can only see Atlas’s arms release the ATV, flailing in midair, before the audio and video feed from the GoPro stop.
***THE GOPRO’S RECORDED FOOTAGE ENDS AFTER THE ATV CRASH***
Works Cited:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsinternet/cs/main/!ut/p/z0/04_Sj9CPykssy0xPLMnMz0vMAfIjo8zijQwgwNHCwN_DI8zPwBcqYKBfkO2oCADIwpjI/?position=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&pname=Cleveland%20National%20Forest-%20Outdoor%20Safety%20&navtype=BROWSEBYSUBJECT&ss=110502&pnavid=150000000000000&navid=150100000000000&ttype=main&cid=FSE_003789
https://www.crittercontrol.com/wildlife/starlings/starling-noises
https://www.healthline.com/health/rattlesnake-bite