The Bounty Hunter's Trilogy: Chosen By Fate

Chapter 15. Hidden in Plain Sight

We traveled as far north as we could for the day, but when the sunlight started fading away, we pulled over and parked in the middle of the woods. Since there wasn't any other light than the head lights on the truck, we wouldn't be able to see anything. I jumped out with Travis and Lacy. Travis camouflaged the truck while I got a bunch of dry sticks and Lacy scanned the area for any hunters or other people who might find us easily. "The area is clear," she said just as I gathered heat around my fingertips and lit the small pile of wood. She sat down on a log beside me. "We need to talk."

"About what?" I stoked the fire and gave it a bit more heat, accidentally singeing the knee of my pant leg in the process. I poured a little bit of water over it to make sure it didn't turn into a full-fledged inferno.

"Well, it's Chad. I couldn't tell he was different, but when we got closer I noticed all of the bounties around him, watching him. Once we were in the city, I could tell though. It's like he has some sort of sensor shield or something."

I shrugged. "Maybe that's his ability. Maybe he never noticed because nothing else can find him. We just need to figure out how it helps us."

Lacy nodded and took a water bottle out of her satchel, opening it and taking a sip. "And we need to keep him away from those bounties. If they got him they'd be impossible to find and stop. But there's just something... off about him." I thought back to the book store, the woman's words running through my head. They had to leave.

"What happened to the people in the shop?" I asked.

Lacy frowned. "Civilians are to them what cows are to us. They're a normal part of their diet." I cringed thinking of the fact that probably twenty people were dead or dying for those horrible beasts. An uncomfortable silence settled around Lacy and me, the only sounds coming from the crackling flames in front of us. Lacy hugged her knees as she turned from the flames and I heard somebody climb out of the truck.

Chad came over and sat beside me with Henry on his other side. "So I'm willing to listen. I know what I saw back there and I want some answers." So we each took a turn explaining things to him. After we filled him in as best as we could without being able to really show him anything from the base, he nodded and looked up towards the stars but they were blocked out by trees. "So I have the ability to keep a low profile? I can hide really easily?"

"As far as we can tell, that's exactly the case." Lacy smiled, looking sympathetic. We all knew exactly how this guy felt, though normally he would be getting a tour of the base by now. We weren't exactly in the position to give him a tour, though. That would have to wait. "Now we don't have any extra weapons besides the emergency caches we have. There isn't another one for over seventy miles east of our current position. We have a small one in the truck but the others are really scattered. We also have gear for you. It'll help keep the bounties off your trail. Though if you just hid out in the truck it wouldn't matter. Its interior is lined with the same fabric."

Lucas came over with a pistol and a gear suit for him. I was just wearing mine right now under my clothes to make sure I was warm enough. What I was glad about was Chad already knew how to shoot a gun. I took him about fifty yards deeper into the trees and practiced with him, bringing the bullets back to me with my abilities and reforming the metal so they were usable. Of course, without powder, they were now kind of useless. But they'd be good to take back home.

"So can you control everything?"

I shrugged. "I guess. I haven't tried everything yet."

"Yeah but like if somebody was drowning could you move them up by pulling the water towards you?"

"Maybe, but I haven't really had the chance to test that part out yet." We chatted about books and things while he practiced to help him relax, and it turned out we had almost nothing in common. He liked more historical and factual books. I preferred books aimed more towards the fiction genre. But we did both like watching BBC, though his reason was probably because he's British.