The Hunting

Chapter 18

         We have been walking for hours now. The landscape hasn't changed a bit since we started except now when I turn around the forest looks like tiny trees in the distance. I sigh. This is so boring. All there is brown and green grass. I looked up. That's the one interesting thing about being out here. Being deep within a forest, I never really had the opportunity to see the sky. There are openings in the forest where you can look up, but it's not that much. My pass time has been looking at the clouds and seeing if I can find any shapes in it. So far, I have found a rabbit, an arrow, and a face. Javier, who I am still walking next to looked over at me. He raised his eyebrow at me questioningly. I shrugged. "This looks so desolate."

He nodded in agreeance.

Our exchange was brief, I then turned my attention to the people ahead of me, who were having more interesting conversations. Pietra and Calum seemed to be talking about where to set up camp, but I couldn't hear exactly what they were saying over Don and Nate's banter. Don pipped, "Dude, squirrels are the best. Catching them takes some major skill. They can climb trees within a blink of an eye."

" Are you kidding? You can see squirrels climb. The only way to go is up for them. Rabbits, however, are trickier. They are all over the place. They can go down holes, run under a bush. They are a lot harder to kill than squirrels." Nate responded.

I rolled my eyes at their conversation. I looked down at the arrowhead I was carving, I'm on my fourth one now. Javier is still working on his first knife. This time, he was very focused on what he was doing that he didn't notice me looking at him. His brows were furrowed and his eyes were narrow. He was working on the tip of the knife. He looks kind of cute... STOP! I shook my head lightly. Arrowheads are more simple to make rather than knives. With knives, you have to make sure the weight is distributed evenly, you want it thin and not too heavy. It has come a long way since he started. It was about midday when we left the forest, now it's getting closer to sundown.

Calum and Pietra turned around suddenly. Calum spoke briefly. "We are stopping here for the night. I see a small stream that we can get water. There's also a tree so we will have a little bit of shelter. Instead of choosing shifts, I am assigning them. This is just how it is going to be. Depending on how it goes tonight, we might change it up tomorrow. Tonight Pietra and I will go first, second will be Don and Nate, and third will be Arden and Javier. Arden and Nate, I understand if you want to fight this, but frankly, I'm with the only person that would want to kill you two so it will be fine." I swear for a second Pietra smirked. He continued, " We will all take a couple of hours and when it is dawn, you two will wake us up. If it goes well, then you two will take the first shift tomorrow night because your day will be the longest does that make sense?" We all nodded, he continued, " This person is your partner. As you all can see, there isn't a whole lot room to work with because of the tall grass. So, you will be sleeping next to them. Also, if we are spread out, people will be less likely to see us. Nate, you can borrow my roll, Pietra, you'll need to give Arden yours. Are there any questions?"

Everybody looked at me. I groaned, " No, I don't have any questions."

Calum nodded, "Alright, it'll be a couple of hours before sundown, so everyone can work on different projects that we have or we need to get done. Jaiver and Arden, continue working on weapons. I will continue on this hide. Pietra, keep watch. Don and Nate, work on food and go fill everyone's water."

We all started setting up camp. We started by hanging the food bags from the sole tree. With the swords, we all started whacking away at the long grass to make small areas where we could sleep and work. Javier and I worked together in our area. Calum wanted us to spread out, so we walked ten yards away from everyone else. Pietra walked over to me to hand me her bedroll. "Don't get too comfortable." She remarked.