Rider Displaced

Chapter 2

It's been around 40 hours since they last woke up in the middle of the forest, and since then they've been walking east. Or rather he's been walking east, Amber was usually flying around him in a constant circle, keeping an eye on him and their surroundings. When they were last on the ground together, she informed him that the forest went on beyond the horizon and there was a chain of mountain ranges surrounding them, so they were completely lost. Fortunately he had come across a trail that lead up north then split leading east and west. Following his original plan he picked east, hoping to come across some civilization out here.

Right now they were making a pit stop off the side of the road, using this opportunity to get some food in them as they were running on fumes at this point. They last ate breakfast 10 hours ago, and the sun would start going down in the next 2 hours, so they would enjoy some supper and walk another 2 hours before finding someplace to sleep the night off.

Amber was enjoying a doe which she had caught out in the forest and was gladly tearing into it's flesh to sate her hunger. This was so they could save her nutrition packs for a rainy day. Meanwhile Walker pulled out one of the MRE's, not wanting to hunt game and risk drawing attention. He did have that bow with him so he didn't waste any bullets and let every being in 100 kilometers know where he was, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was cooking it as he would have to use an open flame to cook his meat, likely to draw attention. But that didn't stop him from enjoying a warm meal. The MRE's were packed with a special pad holding heat stones that when crushed became as hot as fire yet did not burn or produce smoke. He grabbed the foil covered pad and crushed the contents inside, feeling it quickly heat up before he placed it inside an insulated pouch along with his meal. It should be heated up in around 10-12 minutes.

"How're you holding up?" Amber asked with bits of meat dangling from her blood stained maw. Her amber eyes looking down at her rider as he looked back at her.

"Alright I guess, all things considered." He sighed while rubbing his hands together, having removed the gloves earlier. "I'm just very worried right now. Not only should we've been able to find someone, but someone should've found us already." Every 4–6 hours he's been trying to reach someone on his radio. Every attempt ended the same with nothing but static on the other end. At one point he believed it to be broken but was proven false after taking it apart and checking the components. Among his associates he was considered a handyman having fixed complicated equipment before, including radios. At one time he even helped out a couple of guys running a motor pool fix an MRAP they needed to get running. All of this was thanks to his old man who taught him all of these skills since he was 12 years old.

Unfortunately he found nothing wrong with the radio, meaning that it wasn't unable to receive radio signals. There were just no radio signals to receive. But why?

"It has to be some sort of dark zone. That or all communications in this part of the world are shot for some reason. It feels like we're all alone."

"At least we have each other." Amber said with some comforting words. "Even if it's just us two, we will remain strong until we find our friends again. We're gonna pull through this, and hopefully find answers."

She started reaching over and licked the side of Walker's face, covering it in her saliva and drips of blood from her meal. Walker only laughed as he reached up and wiped the side of his hair with his hand. "Thanks for getting blood in my hair, you overgrown reptile." He joked sarcastically which earned the dragon's equivalent of a laugh from his partner.

"Want me to scout ahead of the path? I can look where it leads and report back to you before sundown tomorrow."

"As much as I want to agree, I rather prefer we stick to where we can still see each other." Walker answered. "We're in unknown territory, and I don't want you to risk putting your life in danger while on your own. Beside, I feel more comfortable when I can see you over me."