Hunting

It didn't take long for the small group to pass. Only a few minutes or so from when she heard them to when their footsteps ended. Fret was still scared of letting her breath out though, even after she stopped hearing the repetitive footsteps of the group that had just passed. She wasn't familiar with the area and had no idea how she had stumbled onto a main thoroughfare for the hunters. She must be very near one of their camps for this many of them to be walking around.

Even after the war had ended, there were still these small bands of the seemingly mindless drones. Fret knew that they weren't mindless though, just pitiful and confused. They served no purpose anymore, where they had once been useful. They tried to maintain their previous lives but with no direction and nobody driving them, they had become barely human. Mainly surviving to survive. She had seen their camps, their homes, if you could call them that.

There were no colors, there were no women, there was no joy. Just a maniacal desire to be left alone and a reputation for killing those who didn't. Fret opened up her journal to the makeshift map she had been updating and drew a skull with a circle around it in the area where she was. She would let the mayor know about the encampment when she got back to her town and people would avoid the place.

Better for everyone that way.

The wind picked up, pushing at her from behind. She felt the smoothness of the scar above her ear as she pulled the hood over her head. A reminder that she needed to be more cautious and stick to the main roads. But she could shave a whole day off the trip if she cut through the valley. Even though the place gave her the creeps with the blood marred trunks of the trees that never seemed to wash away.

Still, the pay this time would be worth it. Not too often you get a blacksmith to give you both the item to be delivered and an advance with the promise of double if she got their early. She waited an extra two minutes of eternity before she pulled her heavy pack back on her shoulders and crept across the path towards her destination.

The puma's eyes were the only thing that moved as it watched the little girl appear from the side of the path and start heading directly underneath the tree it had been sleeping in. The smell wasn't entirely appealing as it leaned forward and stretched it's legs, it's back and tail extended fully to really get them awake after a good slumber. Smell or not, it moved like something that was worth sinking your teeth into.