Rise Of The Hunters - Chapter 30

“I don’t know what to do.”

Xun read the words a second time. They were in a completely different handwriting. He had slept some, but when he woke up, he had spied the open book, and couldn’t help himself picking it up to resume reading.

“Everyone’s acting weird after Josh died yesterday. They’re trying to say he jumped off the tower, but I know he was pushed. Susan’s boyfriend, Brett, was trying to pick a fight with him yesterday after she was found dead. Everyone’s on the fence about what to do. Josh was saying that she killed herself after she was in the fight with the monster, but Brett was sure she was shot by someone else.

“They buried her last night out by the beach, but Brett couldn’t go. Everyone knows he was at the bar getting drunk. I’m pretty sure I saw him leaving the tower after Josh ‘jumped’. What do I do? I found this diary, and it only seems right to write these things here. Should I turn him in as a witness? His dad is the leader at the moment. Most of the stuff they’ve brought in to the place was arranged by him. Will they force Brett to leave? Will they kick me out for making stuff up? Can I live with myself if I say nothing?”

“I finally went to Brother Pete, and told him everything. He cautioned me to be quiet. He told me that normally, he would insist that I tell, but because of how dangerous it was right now, he wasn’t sure what Brett and his family would do. It seems that they are pulling all of the strings and anyone who spoke up against them would be kicked out, or disappear. He told me I could talk to him at any time, but he didn’t want to see me come to harm like Josh did. That scared me. What do I do?”

Xun looked up and rubbed his eyes. He needed to get up and move. He was stiff everywhere and still had to get breakfast before he could leave to start scouting the area. Knowing how precarious his new job was, he didn’t want to give anyone any reason to be mad with him. Who ever this new person was, he could understand their uncertainty.

Packing his bag, he was quickly leaving the library. It was just starting to get light out as he entered the cafeteria. There weren’t a lot of people there, so he was able to grab his food and get out of there without too much trouble. The lady behind the counter was watching him like a hawk, so he made sure to only grab what he was going to eat right then, determined to find food while he was out so he didn’t have to live with the scrutiny.

Why did they care so much what he ate? He could understand if he was hoarding or being a glutton, but he didn’t think he was going to cause too much trouble if he grabbed an extra apple for later. Shaking his head, he tightened the straps on his bag, and headed to the gate. It was the same guard he had seen when Hayden had come with the deer the other day. The guy nodded at him, not giving him any trouble at all as he left.

After studying the map so much the night before, he didn’t waste any time turning and walking swiftly to the north. There was a ridge, halfway up the mountain that he wanted to climb to. If he headed at a steady pace, he was sure he could get there by midday. It was a high enough vantage point to let him study the entire valley and decide his next course of action.

The walk was good for loosening all of the sore muscles from the days before. He kept a close eye on his surroundings, pausing often to examine the trails and tracks he came across. There were many he recognized, such as deer and hog, but there were a few that he didn’t. Noting them, he looked forward to looking in one of the books he carried to compare them with. Even if he didn’t have the book, he would eventually learn what those tracks went to.

It was midmorning when he found the acorn tree. The squirrels were swarming everywhere, trying to shove them in holes that were too full, and burying them all around. A woodpecker had taken the acorns and had decorated one of the nearby trees by drilling holes all over it and shoving in the acorns. Xun took advantage of the bounty to fill a small pouch in his bag. They would be a nice treat later.

Following a deer trail for a while, he noticed some hunters had been here recently as the sound of flies and the cawing of birds drew him to a small field filled with berry bushes. The thorns were protecting the small blackberries, but he didn’t hesitate to grab a few to snack on as he made his way close enough to the kill sight to confirm it was the guts of a deer that had attracted so many scavengers. Leaving the area before a larger scavenger decided he looked like a better meal then the rotting bits, he started to climb up the cliff side. It was a steep climb, but nothing he couldn’t handle.

As he popped his head above the edge of the ridge, he was startled to see a big sheep staring him in the face. Swiping with his hand out of pure instinct, he hit the sheep on the side of the head. With a sharp cry, it fell over on its side. The other sheep, that were on the ridge with it, bounded off like arrows up the side of the mountain.

Xun climbed up the rest of the time, watching the sheep cautiously. It didn’t move, could it be dead?

Kicking it carefully, he took out his axe, moving around to its head. He was sweating, expecting it to jump up and attack him at any moment. Its eyes stared blankly ahead. He had scared it to death.