Selena watched each of her friends in turn at their respective tables. With the exception of Sara, they al seemed to be in relatively good spirits, and they were in good health too, she noted with satisfaction. The happiest circumstance of this new community lifestyle was that she trusted them al . It had not always been that way. Before his attack, the traitor, Clint, had gone out of his way to harass Selena regularly. For a long time, she was the only one who knew that he was a danger to them al . He was dead now.
She had kil ed him herself. It was a gruesome but necessary task. Al their lives had been at stake. That didn’t mean she was free from the haunting memory. It was one thing to use her sling to bring some of their enemies down in the dark, but quite another to take the life of someone she knew, with nothing but a knife. An awful chil and sense of wrongness always fol owed her thoughts of that memory.
It was like hel had visited earth, and how depraved Clint had been didn’t make a damn bit of difference to how she felt. She hoped against desperate hope that she would never have to kil again, wondering often how Dan was able to deal with the weight of his vastly higher body count. As of yet, she hadn’t wanted to bring it up. This was a time for enjoying life and being thankful for it.
Breakfast was over quickly and they al began to filter out to start their day. Selena left the cleanup to the others for once and trotted outside after Shane and his girlfriend, Gina.
“Shane,” she cal ed, hurrying to catch up.
“Hey,” they both responded in unison, slowing their walk.
“Would you mind if I came hunting with you the next time you go out? I’m feeling stir-crazy.”
The two of them halted, looking concerned. Selena wondered if her request had sounded desperate and she felt suddenly nervous.
“It’s not a big deal. I just feel cooped up, that’s al ,” she amended.
“Okay,” Shane answered with a patient smile. “If you want to, that’s fine. Gina, here, won’t come if I drag her, so it’l be nice to have someone to talk to.”
“Hey, you al have fun with that. I’l just be here sleeping in a boring bed at night and eating Blaire’s boring cooking,” Gina told them with a sarcastic smile.
“Bah,” Shane waved her off, pretending the novelty of such things weren’t a big deal.
“So when are you going out next?” Selena asked, trying to keep the urgency out of her voice.
“Just a couple of hours, so you’d better get ready.”
“Oh! Right,” Selena answered, darting off with a wave.
“Meet me at the fire pit at noon. I’l bring the food,” he cal ed after her.
On the way back, she couldn’t peel the grin off her face. Shane usual y went for three or four days, but Selena only needed a few things, no matter how long they would be gone.
When she was back at the cabin, she grabbed her pack and threw in a change of clothes, a thin blanket, her sling and a water skin. Last but not least, she took the pouch that she kept ful of comfrey. It was her favorite herb for helping wounds to heal.
Selena did not intend to simply tag along. She was a mean shot with her sling. It would be nice to get a chance to put her skil s to good use again.
Waiting for noon was difficult. She tried to do some leather stitching on the pair of pants she’d been working on, but couldn’t stay focused and just wound up pacing around outside a while before they were supposed to meet. She realized that she felt better already, just knowing that she was going to get out for a while.
When Shane appeared, she tried not to look too excited. They set off for the horses together without much conversation. Selena wasn’t just looking forward to getting away from their base. She enjoyed Shane’s company, just like everyone else did. It was hard
not
to get along with him, and once he got to talking, he always had interesting things to say. When they’d first met, Selena would have sworn he was no older than seventeen. That was until his receding hairline confused her into asking about his age. It turned out he was in his thirties. This explained some of his quiet wisdom.
When they found their horses in the field, they were promptly approached by their favorites. Around here, it seemed that it was the horse that chose the rider, and the rider never complained. Star was Selena’s dapple-gray mare, and she looked just as eager as Selena to leave.
After the horses were tacked up, the journey began. Only now, once she was mounted, did Selena take the time to admire her surroundings. If she was going to be stuck living in one place, then this was where she wanted to be. The little sanctuary that she now cal ed home was nestled in the bowl of a natural crater, a geographic anomaly whose high bowl of a natural crater, a geographic anomaly whose high wal s offered excel ent protection from wind and intruders. A sizable pond lay on its northeast side. The cabins, which were once part of an ecological research facility, sat in the western vicinity. There were grassy fields to the northern and southern ends. The horses preferred the fields to the south because of the shade provided by the dappling of oak trees. It was also closer to the pond where they got their water. The southwest path was the only clear way in or out. This bottleneck was another advantage to living in Brian’s Crater. It was easy to defend, if anyone managed to find it at al .
Selena and Shane rode slowly up this trail, which wound up steeply for a while before the crest, where the gradual descent began.
Sucking in the crisp air with relish, Selena could tel that the temperature was warming ever so slightly as the late spring progressed into summer. The afternoon was perfectly clear and the view was stunning. The thick forest of conifers ranged out in al directions beyond the shrub land that lay in a ring around the Crater.
Shane led the way up the northeastern slope. By the time an hour had passed, the pair of them reached the forests edge and disappeared under the branches of its thick, majestic trees.
If she had known what they were going to find, she might have turned around.
Two
It was their third day out before Shane and Selena fel ed a pair of wild turkeys, and late evening by the time they slung them together and headed back to the stream where they’d left the horses. So far, Shane hadn’t seemed intent on pursuing any other game they’d run across.
Selena trusted his methods, but she was curious enough to ask questions when they were bedding down for the night.
“How far do you think we are from home?” she asked him, drawing her blanket up and lying back to look at the gently swaying treetops in the gathering dimness.
“I don’t know, maybe ten miles?”
“Oh. That’s farther than I thought,” she mused, frowning.
“I figured you’d have a better gauge than me. You spent al that time ranging.”
“No,” she sighed. “I was never in the deep forest much. Just skirted around it for cover, and wandered through a lot of flat shrub land. I’m starting to realize how terrible my sense of direction is with al these hil s and trees.”
“We’d better not split up. I’d get in some pretty big trouble if you got lost out here.”
“You? What about me? Dan would kil me if I got eaten.”
“Point taken,” he answered, laughing.
Selena smiled, but soon began to wonder about their safety in earnest. Bears and mountain lions had once been uncommon, but their numbers were growing quickly.
Fortunately their preferred prey was multiplying even faster, so they were less and less likely to bother with humans, but that didn’t mean that attacks never happened. The forest was perfect for an ambush every step of the way, whereas out in her open land she could spot predators when they were very far, giving her plenty of time to find safety. “Why do we have to be so far away before we hunt?” she asked, trying to disguise the concern in her voice. “I’m sure there was game closer to home.”
“I like to get out good and far so we don’t overwhelm the same area with our scent,” he answered, not noticing her worry. “And you’d be surprised how many animals we go through aside from the Crater’s livestock.”
“That makes sense. Is that the only reason?” she asked, just to keep him talking. She needed the distraction.
“Wel , I do like to scout around and learn the land,”
he admitted. “I’ve been through every nook and cranny for miles and miles. Don’t know if it makes any difference, but I real y like knowing my way around.”
“So how do you do it?” she pressed on. “Everything looks the same. You can’t see far enough to get the lay of the land.”
“I think you just have to memorize what’s around you more often than you would out in the open. Take more mental snapshots.”
“What’s a snapshot?” she wondered aloud. She’d been too young at the time of the Crash to remember such once-common terms.
“It’s an image, a picture taken by a camera. Do you remember cameras?”
“Oh yeah, I think so,” she answered, wondering at al the marvelous technology that had been lost, and whether it would someday be rediscovered. Vague memories of little hand-held phones and flashing boxes of black and silver bubbled back into her mind.
A pack of coyotes broke the night’s stil ness with a chorus of ululations. They listened quietly for a while until Selena spoke again.
“Shane? How old were you during the Crash?”
“About eighteen. You didn’t miss anything.”
Selena scoffed and turned on her side to face him, although she could barely make out his form in the darkness. “You real y think things are better now?”
“It’s better for
me
. Guessing it’s better for you too.”
“But not everyone,” she put in after a moment’s thought.
“Dan’s better off too,” he told her, guessing at her thoughts. “I don’t know if
he
knows it, but if things were like they used to be, his hands would be pretty tied.”
“Why?” Selena asked with mounting interest.
“Wel … can’t imagine what he’d do for a living.
Could’ve been a cop, but a lot of those caused more trouble than they fixed. Would’ve made him crazy. If he was in the armed forces like his dad, who’s to say he’d agree with whatever politician was sending him out to risk his neck or kil for ‘em? I dunno, he’s a total stickler for real, honest justice and things were pretty corrupt back then.”
Selena digested that for a while. She supposed Shane was right. This was probably the best time for Dan to be alive. Now he real y had the power to be the best man that he could be.
“Funny he wants things to change so much,” she said quietly.
“That’s why it’s a good time for him. World’s ful of opportunities from where he’s standing. There are so few people left, the decisions they make are a lot more important.”
Selena nodded although she knew he couldn’t see it.
“Don’t tel him I said so, but I hope he doesn’t get his way too much,” Shane continued. “I like things the way they are now. ‘Progress’ is short for problems in my opinion.”
Selena smiled, feeling inclined to agree. “Your secret is safe with me,” she promised.
They fel silent and it wasn’t long before Selena’s exertions got the better of her and she was fast asleep.
When they woke, she had a hard time shaking the chil of dawn. She kept her blanket wrapped around her like a shawl when they mounted up and continued on their roving trek.
“Want to see something interesting?” Shane asked just after they’d set off.
“Sure,” she answered brightly. “I’m up for anything.”
It was amazing how much better she felt being out and about, despite the fact that the forest wasn’t her favorite landscape. She was enjoying al their exploration. It was shaping up to be just what she needed.
They rode on for what Selena guessed was about a half a mile before she spotted an abrupt break in the forest ahead. She fol owed him cautiously out from beneath the dark sweeping branches of the trees and they emerged at the edge of a wide highway.
Selena peered to the right and the left where the road snaked through the hil s.
“It’s a five-lane freeway,” Shane explained with a twinkle in his eye. “You know what’s funny? I drove this once.” He looked wistful until the moment was interrupted by the clopping of hooves.
The two of them instantly reined back and plunged into the shadows of the trees until they were a safe distance from the road. For once, she was glad for the cover of the sprawling green limbs above them. Her pulse was jumping nonetheless. She wanted to get away quickly and quietly, but Shane stayed put, where they could just see who was passing by.
The time ticked by with agonizing slowness. Selena was beginning to grow curious and the suspense was agitating.
Just when she thought she couldn’t handle another moment of waiting, a huge white shape became visible through the trees.
“What in the hel is that?” she whispered with wide eyes.
A few seconds passed before Shane’s face brightened with interest.
“It’s a wagon,” he breathed.
Selena watched with amazement and knew it was true. A pair of husky horses walked in front, pul ing the rig behind them. She could make out the wheels spinning slowly under a big canvas tent.
Shane quickly reached into his saddlebag and pul ed out a smal scope. He put it to his eye and watched as the wagon drew paral el to where they stood in the trees.
“Two folks up front, the bigger one’s at the reins,” he narrated quietly as they passed.
When the wagon pul ed ahead far enough to become almost ful y obscured by the trees, Shane nudged his mount towards the road.
“Shane!” she hissed.
He turned and gave her a sheepish smile before creeping right to the edge of the road.
Selena watched in horror as he lifted his scope again.
What he saw made him grin back at her before waving her over.
She shook her head, more for her own benefit than his because, to her complete bewilderment, he began to fol ow them.
Selena ground her teeth and urged Star forward while al her instincts prompted her to bolt in the other direction.
“So stupid,” she muttered furiously under her breath as her mare trotted to catch up.
Al too soon, they were riding along the road without the protection of the trees, completely exposed.