SHIFT

Chapter 3: Rattlesnake

Alec Bay

Tasmania

Alec woke to the sounds of birds singing. He unzipped his tent and stretched, breathing in the crisp air. Last night's fire had burned out and he sat down and poked at it.

Looks like I'm the first one up. Might as well get some breakfast going.

Using fire starters, Alec was able to get a small fire going despite most of the wood being damp with morning dew. The smoke rose in a column of wisps which Alec followed with relaxed eyes. His breathing steadied and he allowed his whole body to relax.

The sound of a tent zipper interrupted Alec's meditation. He looked up and saw Arno leave their tent. They were dressed in a large jacket and track pants, and looked mildly warmer than they had the day before.

Arno mumbled a greeting to Alec before walking away from the camp. Alec was about to grab some food out of his pack when another noise came from Arno's tent. Moments later, Adrienne emerged.

"Good morning!" Adrienne smiled at Alec, stretching her arms above her head.

"Morning it is," Alec's eyes narrowed slightly as he smiled at her, nodding his head towards her own tent. "Your tent a bit big for you?"

"Huh?" Adrienne sat next to him, rubbing her eyes.

"Never mind, its none of my business anyway," Alec smiled to himself as he began to heat up some sausages and eggs.

After a moment, Adrienne must have processed what Alec had said. She laughed, "Oh... Arno's sweet. Neither of us are used to it being this cold so I jumped in with them. Body heat's the best thing for a cold night."

Body heat, sure, Alec thought to himself. Aloud, "If you say so."

"I do say so," Adrienne rolled her eyes and took some bread from her bag.

Arno returned and sat on the other side of the fire. Soon Martina and Sadie got up and they all had breakfast. Quietly, they packed all of their gear and started walking further into the forest.

Arno once again took the lead, looking at every potential sign of the thylacine. At about midday, they came across the carcass.

Alec smelled it before he saw it. What was left of the kangaroo was scattered around the base of a large tree.

"Could this be it?" Sadie asked, turning her nose up at the smell.

"Yes, look at this," Arno pointed at some tracks in the soil leading south west.

Alec took some photos of the prints, which looked similar to most dogs'.

"Looks like we're a few hours behind it," Arno began walking in the direction of the tracks. "Be careful not to step on the prints, we may need to back track."

Sadie was the first to bring out her rifle, and while she did so she lagged behind. Arno brought theirs out while on the move. Before long, Alec was the only one not carrying a rifle.

"You ever used one before?" he asked Martina.

"My father used to take me to the range. I'm familiar enough. You?" Martina kept looking ahead.

"Once. My cousins took me hunting. I didn't like it. I shot a deer, it was a poor shot. I was with it when it died."

"That's when you got that shift?"

"Yes."

"Shhhhh," Arno spoke softly from the front of the line, and from then they walked in silence.

Everyone stopped suddenly as Arno put up their hand. Up ahead there was a stream, and on the edge, only meters from where they stood, was an animal that made all of them hold their breath.