Hunted - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The rumble of the trucks changed as they slid off the asphalt. Coming to a stop on the side of the road, the passenger door of the lead truck popped open and Sgt. Henson dropped out. He began shouting for all of the slayers to "FORM UP FOR SCOUT DUTY!"

Hunter dropped from the back of the third truck in line and began to unpack his uniform and weapon. It had become second nature to strip and change in front of his fellow slayers, but now that he and Holland had shared themselves, he felt a little awkward.

He glanced over to where she was changing and let his eyes roam across her lightly freckled skin. She hadn't looked or spoken to him since the fight in the woods this morning. She was not looking at him now. In the dimming light of dusk, it looked as if she had actually turned her back to him. Fastening the last few buttons that closed his blood red uniform, he folded his hood through the side loop and looked towards the sergeant.

"Slayers! There have been sightings of wolves on the move all day. Blackhawks and Raptors have been harrowing the ones found out in the open, but those have been few and far between. From reports radioed in by the pilots, we have a MAJOR push heading directly into the draw up ahead. To get where we are going, we MUST travel at night, which means we have to move ahead of the trucks and clear the way. Your mission is to move out into the areas on both sides of the road and find out if the s.o.b.'s have set up any ambushes. We move out in 10 minutes."

Hunter turned and looked at the two hills that framed the road cut into the rock. The road wound out of sight as it dipped deeper between the rock and forest on either side of the asphalt. A cold dread crept across his skin as he looked a the terrain they would have to clear for the trucks to pass safely. He preferred finding paths the wolves used and the waiting for them to come back. This mission called for all of the slayers to seek out and destroy, and no matter how quiet they were, that many people moving through underbrush at the same time is going to be pretty loud to a wolf.

His mind working fast, he looked around and found Holland staring first at him, and then the mountains up ahead. He raised his hand and signaled for her to join up. She smiled and began moving towards him. He pulled his hood from his belt just as she walked close.

"I'm sorry,..." she started to apologize when she was close enough to whisper to him.

"We don't have time for that right now. I'm going to move early and get away from this crowd. I was wondering if you would watch my back," Hunter whispered.

"I'll do better than that. I'll be your second."

"Holland, I'll be the first in the jaws of any trap. I don't want anyone with me, and I certainly do not intend to crash into the underbrush with 500 other slayers."

"What better reason for me to go with YOU!" she whispered harshly, "Will it not be better to have the room to move than to be crammed in with the rest of the company?"

Looking over her shoulder, he noticed that one of the other senior slayers was already slipping into the woods on the left side of the road. Knowing he only had a few more minutes before the whole group moved, he looked back at her expectant gaze. She had only been a slayer a couple of months and had never been on a moving hunt. It was probable that the only way she may survive this night was to come with him. Right now,though, it was time to move.

"Alright," he saw the smile cross her face, "but we have to move right now. Are you ready?"

"Yes sir!" she breathed loudly as she thrust out her chest. Her smile broadened as she watched his eyes slide down her body.

"Holland," he said as he met her eyes again, "we can't afford any distractions. You watch me and move when I move. If I stop, you freeze. You'll have to be more in tune with the forest than you ever have been before. Maybe, just maybe, we'll both come through this night alive."

"I understand," she said as her face became serious.

Hunter motioned to the right and, pulling on their hoods, they quickly disappeared into the darkness.

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RisingMoon looked to the four big males that hid with him. All of them were watching the two humans that faded in and out of sight as they moved through the darkening underbrush. Looking back to where he thought they were, he noticed the slightest movement of the smaller one. Amazed at the way they seemed to vanish in the darkest shadows, RisingMoon glared as they reappeared when they moved through a patch of fading sunlight. It had to be the covering they wore, he thought. Something about the color made them invisible in the darkest parts of the forest.

The breeze was wafting up the sides of the rise where they crouched. With the huge group gathered on the road, he thought he should be covered in the smell of human, but all he could smell was the fresh earth of the woods.

Realization began to dawn in RisingMoon's eyes. He had the answer! It was the coverings! Invisible to their eyes and their noses, the humans could hunt with impunity. He had to get word to BloodClaw; so much the better if he could take one of the humans below to his leader. A plan began to form in his mind.