38

Remy

According to Nova, she usually went on hunting trips twice a month. They had other hunters that would go out at other times on a rotating schedule, but they still tried not to go out too frequently to cause a local scarcity.

However, this time of year was different. The Emberwood Fest was one week away, and along with it came an influx of people who came to celebrate, and they were all bringing their appetite. That meant we needed additional meat, and with meat smokers and freezers, we could stock up ahead of time.

While I still wasn't thrilled about the idea of a festival, it was happening either way, and people would need to eat. I volunteered to go on the hunting trip with Nova and Eden, and I planned to keep my contrarian opinions to myself for a change.

Admittedly, I also wanted to go on the hunt because it got me out of the house. I wasn't used to spending so much time stuck inside, especially not such a small, dark home. The baby had been crying less since the goat arrived, but there still seemed to be a dark cloud hanging over everything.

Boden was sleeping odd hours, and it was rather jarring to be sleeping alone after such a long time. Serg had been spending more time away from the house, since he was working on getting extra pastries and other treats done for the fest. Max was busy being a new father, and he was still overwhelmed, but he seemed mostly happy. Stella and Ripley… I didn't know what to make of either of them. They spent so much time staring off into space and sleeping.

And I had no idea how to help them. I wanted to, but I didn't even understand what was wrong.

That was the real reason I asked to go on the hunt. I couldn't stand to be trapped in that house, useless and unable to help. So I went to go where I could do something.

I left after dawn. Boden had just fallen asleep, so I kissed him on the cheek and didn't wake him before going. Max was up feeding the baby with a bottle, and I promised that I'd be back by tomorrow night.

The town was still quiet and slumbering when I met Nova, Eden, the mule, and two wolves nearby the exit.

"Good morning, ladies," Mayor Vaughn called and waved at us while he speed walked past us. "I can't chat because I have much too much to do today, but I want to once again thank you for all your service, and I wish you well on a splendid hunt. Bring home tasty bear meat!"

"We'll do our best," Eden said, but he was already disappearing around the corner.

"We're hunting bears this time?" I asked.

"More meat to feed more people," Nova explained as we headed toward the exit. "Plus it helps spook the bears away so they're less likely to bother visitors or refugees."

"But don't bears keep the zombies away?" I asked.

"Zombies are easier to handle than bears," Nova reasoned. "We just feed ‘em and stay out of their way."

"Bears aren't contagious," I argued.

"Yeah, but zombies aren't 300-pounds of muscle with a bite force of 1,000 pounds and wingspan of two meters, and they can't reason or open doors the way a bear can," Nova said. "Zombies are way easier to kill."

"And yet we're out here hunting bears," I said.

"Well, we can't eat zombies," Nova replied. "But if you don't want to go on the hunt, you can always stay back."

"No, I want to go," I said, and because I felt like I had to give a reason for being so argumentative this morning, I added, "I've just never been on a bear hunt before."

"Without the wolfdogs, it can be dangerous and difficult, but with them, it's not so bad," Nova said.

"We're going after black bears, and they're not quite as big and bad as grizzlies," Eden added, trying to assuage concerns that I didn't even really have.

In a group like this, and after seeing the way the wolves helped us on the last hunt, I had no real fear of the difficulty or danger. The wolves are also much more co-hunters than Ripley, who still behaved like a cat.

We left through the gate and went west and slightly to the south. Eden said that more bears lived down that way. We avoided the sheer waterfall trail where Garrison had fallen to his death, and instead took the sloping path and staying to the west.

The air was cold, even for late September, but it had a density that I couldn't explain. It felt heavy and thick and ominous.

The sky had been overcast all day, beginning a dull pale gray that made it look like all the color had been drained. But by afternoon, the clouds had grown dark and angry, and more concerning, the air had warmed some, adding a chill humidity.

"It's too late to go back," Nova said, and the clouds thundered overhead. A cold wind blew through the branches of the pine trees around us. "We need to make camp now and set up a shelter. Whatever's coming tonight, we need to prepare."

"What about the bear hunt?" Eden asked.

"The bear doesn't matter," Nova said. "We're switching to survival mode now."

Nova's plan was to build a tree pit shelter right where we were. She picked the evergreen with the fullest, densest branches, and she told me to start digging out a pit next to it. It had to be at least two feet deep and wide enough to hold all three of us and the wolves. Nova went to work on the lower branches of the tree with her axe, and Eden went to find dry kindling for a fire.

I dug quickly, using the shovel from the mule's pack. My hands were tough and calloused from my life at the lakehouse, but I still managed to get a few new blisters.

All the thundering had me fearing rain and hypothermia, but when the sky finally opened up, it was heavy, fat snowflakes that fell. A thunder snowstorm was rare, but I had been in one once or twice.

Nova used the branches she cut to make a lean-to roof against the thick trunk of the tree, leaning over the pit, and secured with a rope.

I kept digging, right up until Eden returned with the sticks for the fire. Nova tied down the mule close by, under the branches, and she covered him with a blanket.

The snow came down fast and heavy, and I couldn't believe how quickly it was accumulating on the ground. Eden got the fire started, and the wolves began howling and barking nearby.

"What's that?" I asked.

"They found something." Nova hurriedly made a torch with a stick, a rag, and fire, and she grabbed her bow and arrows. "Stay here. I'll be right back. "

Eden was crouched in the shelter, feeding the fire, but I stood outside, watching Nova disappear into the swirling snow.

The wolves suddenly stopped barking, but I couldn't see the light from Nova's torch. For a moment, there was nothing but the wind howling through the trees, and then there was a loud cracking of branches.

"Remy!" Nova called. "Bring me my knife."

I grabbed her hunting knife from her bag, and I made my own torch and raced into the dark forest, following her footsteps that were already disappearing in the fresh snow.

Finally, I saw her light, and I found her crouched by the body of a black bear.

"The wolfdogs treed him, so I shot him," Nova said as I handed her the knife.

"I thought you said that the hunt didn't matter," I said.

"We can really use the hide," she explained as she stabbed into the bear's chest to start slicing him down the middle. "We're caught up in a freak snowstorm, and we need all the shelter we can get because we're ten miles from home."

The wolves started growling, staring out in the forest and the blinding snow. I worried there might be another bear until I heard the familiar death groan of a zombie, and it was alarmingly close.

I held my torch out and stood behind the wolves, blinking back the snowflakes, when something finally came into the light.

It was a young boy, no older than six or seven. He was looking right at me, like he could actually see me, but he had the ashy green skin of a zombie.