Rise Of The Hunters - Chapter 23

“Well, well, well! Xun, right? Apparently, Max didn’t include you in your own celebratory party!” chortled the man who wore the glasses. He set some papers down on the table, on the stage, and poured himself a glass of water from a pitcher on a table near the back of the stage.

“I went to Bob’s Bar, if that’s what you mean?” said Xun, confused.

“Really? Well, then, that’s quite remarkable!” said the woman who also wore glasses. She sat down and began to straighten the much larger pile of papers she had brought with her.

“Shall we go ahead and ȧssign Xun a job, even though Max isn’t here?” asked the other lady, her hair still piled on top of her head. Xun wondered if it was stuck like that, he couldn’t imagine how long it must take her to pile it in such a way every morning.

“We might as well, if we wait on Max to sleep off his drunken stupor, poor Xun will be here all day!” The man sat down with his water and motioned for Xun to come on up onto the stage.

He made sure to stand on the mark.

“Do you have any jobs you would prefer?” asked the lady with the glasses.

“You’re ȧssuming he had a chance to read the list, Mary,” said the man taking a drink.

“I’m sure Max would not have skipped out of that. He may not like much more than fights and hunting, but you have to give him a little credit.”

“I did read the list of jobs, but I’m afraid I didn’t understand many of them. Can I just be a hunter? I know how to hunt.” Xun was a little afraid they would give him a long tedious job that would take up most of his time, or would put him with a lot of people.

“We actually had a job in mind for you, that is very similar to hunting, that wasn’t on the list,” said the other woman.

“Are you sure, Lisa? We got rid of the job years ago because the last person with it just hid and wasted our time.” Mary was frowning as she looked at Lisa over her glasses.

“Jerome recommended it, and I agree with him. With the results from the trials that Trudy gave us, we think he would be an excellent candidate for this job.” Lisa met Mary’s gaze and didn’t back down.

“Fine. Xun, we would like for you to be a scout.” Mary took off her glasses to look at him. “This job is not an easy one. It requires you to learn the surrounding landscape and to travel over it every day. If any large herds of animals come into the valley, you would notify the hunters, if you see schools of fish, you’ll need to let the fishers know, and of course, if there are any dangers, you need to let us know as soon as possible. In the winter, it would be your job to warn the hunters of any possible avalanches from the mountains, as well as dangerous animals that might be moving through. As I said before, the last person who had this job, merely found a place to hide and didn’t actually do anything. We ended up kicking him out of the compound completely, so make sure you report in weekly to us what you’ve found. If you find you have extra time, then please, find something more, within your capacity, to do to aid the community.”

“Thank you very much!” he managed to finally stutter.

“I suggest you head to the library and familiarize yourself with the area by looking at the maps we have. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to verify their accuracy when you go out, either.” The guy, Jerome, didn’t even look up as he said this, otherwise he would have wondered at the look that flashed over Xun’s face. The other two similarly missed the look, as they were busy going through papers.

“We’ll have to notify the guards of the arrangement, so you won’t have to leave until tomorrow,” he added, glancing up at him.

Xun nodded his head several times, unable to believe his luck. How could he have gotten the perfect job? It was almost like someone was watching out for him! The feeling was very weird, and he hurried out of the auditorium before they could change their minds.

Not wanting to get stopped, he avoided looking at anyone as he hurried to the library. There were people reading books, but he was able to steer clear of them as he looked for the maps the leaders had mentioned. He finally found them on the second floor in a small room. There was nothing else in the room, except the huge map on the wall, and a couple pieces of paper scattered on a table surrounded by five chairs. Xun glanced at the papers, but they seemed to be notes about the map.

As he looked at the map, his first thought was that whoever drew it was really good, but as he got closer, and saw more detail, he realized it was just like the little pictures out of some of the books. Xun didn’t know how the books were made, aside from what he had been told by people, that machines were used to make them. But how could a machine that made the little books and papers that he had seen, also make this huge map that spanned the width of the wall?

The compound was easily marked in a valley between mountains that stretched far to the north and south along a coast. To the west, past a large flat plain, there was an ocean. Xun had ever seen an ocean, but he had heard of it. The size on the map boggled his mind, and he made a mental note to see it soon. To the east, he could see the path he had followed through the mountains and the possible location of the last compound he had stayed at. But the map stopped there.