The Hunting

Chapter 15

            When we got back to where the camp was, we were immediately interrogated by Pietra. Calum and Javier were watching us.

She sneered at us, "Where were you two?"

Nate spoke, "As you saw, I went after her when she stormed off. We winded up finding a small creek that we can go collect water and berries in the morning. We were walking back when Don ran into us."

Don nodded, "Yeah, they weren't too far from here actually. No suspicious behavior at all."

Pietra looked at me, waiting for me to speak. Still shaken up from what happened, I quickly stated, "Well I went and peed behind a bush, started walking back, ran into Nate then Don and now here we are."

Pietra glared between the two of us. Finally, her gaze lightened. She spoke as she stuck her nose up in the air, "Fine, I guess your excuse seems legit enough."

I exhaled. Thank goodness.

After everyone seemed to settle down, they started to get ready for bed. I looked at Nate, "So who is going to go first tonight?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "It seems pretty late. You need some rest for the hunt tomorrow. I'll take the first shift."

I nodded. Don was taking the first shift tonight, so he kindly granted me his bedroll again. I looked at him, about to object. He raised his hand, "It's no worries. When I overheard that Nate is taking the first shift I volunteered myself to the first watch. That dude cracks me up."

I chuckled lightly, "Yeah, he does that."

Don nodded and went over by the fire. I laid down and closed my eyes. As I started to drift off, I thought about the kiss. I still can't believe that happened. That was my first kiss! I kind of liked it tho- NO! How could I think that? We are basically fighting for our lives here and he kissed me. I don't even know how I feel about him. I've never truly put into any thought about it. The last thought that I had before I fell asleep was about the hunt.

I woke up to someone gently rubbing on my shoulder. I groaned and snuggled deeper into the bedroll. I heard Nate's voice, "Come on Arden, it's time for you to get up."

I slowly sat up. Looking at him, I let out a big yawn. I stood up only to see Nate lay down in my spot. I looked over to who was sitting at the fire, it was Calum. I walked over and sat down on the ground across from him. I looked at him still groggy from just waking up, "How's it going?"

He shrugged "It's going fine. By the looks of things, we have about one to two hours before we needed to be headed off to go hunt some more."

Of course, Nate watched most of the night. I'll talk to him about it later. I perked up with the mention of the hunt, I spoke eagerly, "Oh yes, about that. When I used the bathroom last night, I came across a small creek with some rosehip bushes. I was thinking we could stop there first, check to see if there are any animals drinking, if not we can head back into the forest because there will more than likely be animals deeper into the forest than out here. We could divide and conquer. Perhaps make Don, Pietra, and Nate search for wood, berries, water, and whatever else we might need. By the sounds of it, there won't be much out on the prairie, so we are going to need to stock up before we leave here."

Calum nodded, "That's a good idea. Having them gather other supplies while we're hunting is smart. So we have two groups looking for resources. All that is on the plains are prairie dogs and if we're lucky a small pond. We need to get as many supplies as possible. The real question is, can we trust Don and Nate to collect the right berries?"

I chuckled softly, trying not to disturb everyone else from sleeping. "That is a good question. If anything we can all walk to the creek together and I can show them which ones are correct. I didn't see anything bad though. It was dark, so I might've mistaken some of the bushes. Although I have seen plenty of rosehips, so I can honestly make it out from a mile away."

Calum was silent for a moment. He was looking at me, almost as if he had something to say. He sighed, "You know, for whatever you are, you're not half bad. I still don't know what I think of Nate, but this whole time I've been trying to figure out who and what you two are. You two are completely different people. You're really intelligent, smart, and quick. You are strong enough to put up a fight but smart enough to know when to stand down. The only thing that Nate has got going for him is his wit."

I shrugged, "Nate can be smart and calculated sometimes. It's a lot like Jaiver with being strong, he has to want to actually do it. He's not too bad of a hunter, but he is pretty impatient when it comes to stalking. He knows that the people around him are thinking too so he doesn't really try. You are right though and don't tell him I said this, but he is pretty funny. I've become so used to his humor that I have learned to laugh internally so he doesn't grow a big head."

He responded almost cheekily, "You speak of him fondly. It's almost like you like him or something."

My face lit up like a campfire, "No! I do not like him." I scratched the back of my head, "I've just known him for a while, just like you have with the others. I can't help that it makes us close."

Calum nodded smugly, "Mhm, okay whatever you say, Arden."

I groaned in irritation, "You know what, for the longest time I thought you had a stick shoved up your butt, but it turns out you're just like Nate."

Calum chuckled heartily, "Yeah, that is slightly true. In our group we all have labels. I'm the leader, Don is the funny one, Jaiver is the silent one, and Pietra is – is

"- the beauty?" I finished for him.

He smiled softly, "Yeah, yeah she is."

We were silent for the rest of the time. I honestly really respect Calum. He doesn't want to blame us for who we might be, he wants to figure it out first. Pietra is his soft spot, which is adorable – even though Pietra is kind of a psycho. He is just really genuine and honest. He reminds me of Tatum. I shook my head. Do not think about that. You will get all sad. You're alive, you can make it back. Even though I did not want to think about it, I couldn't help but think about the Burrow. I smiled as I thought about him and Shelby. If they are not together when-if I get back then I swear I will make them get together.

After a couple of minutes of thinking about my friends and mother, Jaiver woke up. He looked at me and Calum. He nodded our way as he trotted off into the woods. Before he came back, Pietra woke up. After the next hour or so, everyone else woke up. As we started gathering our stuff, Calum told everyone what was going to happen.

He cleared his throat, "Alright everyone, we are going to have a couple of long days ahead of us, we need to stay focused and alert. What we're going to do is spilt off into two groups. Don, Pietra, and Nate: you all are in charge of gathering water, wood, berries, and anything else you will find useful for our trip. Jaiver, Arden, and I will go hunt. Once one group is done, we will meet back here. First, we are all going to go to the creek that Nate and Arden saw last night to gather water and berries. Any questions?"

We were all silent for a moment before everyone looked at me. Don raised his eyebrows, "You don't have any questions, Arden?"

I shook my head, "Nope, I'm good."

Calum nodded knowingly, "Alright. Arden, Nate, lead the way."

Nate and I stood side-by-side as we showed everyone the way. It took us a couple of minutes to walk there. When we did, I instantly started looking around. We all started filling our canteens. I nudged Nate, "There are some bittersweet berries on the north and west end, be careful of those alright. Do I need to show you which ones are bad?"

Nate looked at the ground sheepishly as he nodded.

I sighed as I showed him which bushes not to pick from, I pointed to them as I spoke, "These are bad. Definitely do not pick those. Okay?"

He smiled, "Okay, got it, Arden. Thanks."

After a couple of minutes, Calum walked over to me and handed me my bow, arrows, and quiver. He looked at me, "Are you ready?"

I smiled at him, "Born ready."