Hunt

Chapter 15: What goes up

Believe it or not, talking hunting for a little bit with Nick before class actually helped to ease my anxiety. While the mountain of schoolwork was only getting higher and higher I had managed to find some comfort in the fact that school wasn't the only thing that mattered in my life right now. Weird as that may be. I just can't wait to be done with it all, to be done with school and never have to worry about it again. I could put all my energy into being a better hunter.

Walking back to my car after the last bell rings I make a mental note of things I had on me and the things I would need to get before tonight: Change if clothes, extra water... the list of hiking equipment slowly diverts into hunting gear as I continue to plan out my Friday evening. "Okay... I'll need to stop by Paul's before... I'm almost out of scent blocker and my silver supply is running low. Shit I guess he does owe me for that exorcism he baited me into last month..." I grumble absentmindedly to myself as I fumble for my keys.

"Hey Kyle, ready to go?" Reyna's voice from behind stops me mid-thought. Reyna and Julie had arrived together. "Julie seemed adamant about you driving her home."

"Yeah, she seems to be allergic to taking the bus. Or walking," I say with a smirk towards Julie, who just rolls her eyes. "Hop in, I got to pick some stuff up from home anyways. It's on the way and shouldn't take too long."

I make my usual drive home, possibly beating my previous record with an especially vocal Julie in the back seat protesting my reckless driving style. Quickly storing my school stuff I grab what I need from my room, going over the hiking portion of the list I had made back at school. Changing clothes and throwing on some hiking boots I meet back up with Reyna.
"Good to go, anything you need?" I ask.

She shakes her head with a smile, "Nope! I'm good to go, let's hit it."

Bidding Julie farewell, we pile back into the car before she can make any embarrassing remarks. I make sure to tone down my driving this time since we weren't in as much of a rush.

"Hey Kyle, were you driving that crazy to distract Julie?" Reyna asks as we're pulling into the parking lot. "Just wondering since I noticed the towels you have in the back seat."

"Yeah..." I say with a nervous chuckle, "I still need to clean all that up. Didn't want to alarm her." I had completely forgotten to clean up the backseat while I was moping around the last couple days. Luckily I had enough foresight to dump some towels in the back before my depressive slump. "I'll have to get that done at some point this weekend."

The hiking trail I had picked was relatively short in comparison to others that I know of in the area. However, it was more public and had a great payoff if you could actually get to the top. Checking my phone one last time before shutting it off, I verify nobody had tried to contact me. The parking lot was surprisingly empty for a Friday afternoon, especially with the uncommonly warm weather we'd been having. Locking the car we begin walking, taking our time on the trek up. Reyna had a lot of questions about the area and the wildlife we could encounter out here. Most of which I had answers for.

"I've heard from people that the rain is what gets most people who come out here, but from what I've seen this last week or so it's not been too bad." Reyna says as she hops a fallen tree that was blocking the trail. "I guess it's almost summer, I can't imagine it's always this nice."

"Haha yeah, The weather is much nicer in the summer. Stay here until the winter and you'll understand what everyone's talking about." I hop the tree after her. Even though I was in relatively good shape I was wheezing and having to pause to catch my breath. But Reyna just kept going, hardly seeming to break a sweat. "Jeez I must be out of shape, this must be nothing for you," I wheeze.

She pauses, waiting for me to catch up, "I've always had good endurance," she chuckles. "I've tried to spent all my life outdoors. Long distance was my sport in track."