Rosaline studies the landscape. It takes only a short moment before she sees the point of interest, a deer. Not very large, but enough for them. She hears Sweetie gulp down a breath and watches as her face presses up against the scope on the rifle.
CRACK! The bullet whizzes from the barrel ferociously screaming across the field, and impacting with a loud 'THUD' into the side of the deer. The animal stalls, for just a second, then collapses to the ground.
Sweetie jumps up, tossing the blanket off them, and throwing her arms high into the air.
"!Mamey!" she exclaims.
Rosaline stands to her feet, laying her rifle against the log.
"Mamey?" she asks, with an inquisitive look.
Sweetie, feeling quite proud of herself, looks to Rosaline.
"It's like, 'this is easy' or 'easy peasy.'"
Rosaline chuckles, "Okay..."
"What?" -Sweetie's eyebrows raise- "I'm cute!"
Before Rosaline can respond, "DAMNIT!" is yelled from behind them. Hawaii slides down from his perched nest.
"I had it in my sights!"
"Too slow chacho!"
"As much as I hate to admit it, Sweetie is our best shot." he says.
She looks to Rosaline, a smirk spanning across her face, "Damn right!"
"Calm down now. Best shot for sure, but a poor hunter overall."
"Hey, I do the part that matters most!"
He laughs at her braggadocios manner.
"Loser walks, chacho!"
"Yeah, yeah." he says, shaking his head as he sets off to claim their dinner.
Sweetie pats Hawaii on the back as he passes them, still boasting about her victory. Her attention turns back to Rosaline. The two stand silently, gazing into each other's eyes, a big smile painted across Rosaline's face.
"What?!" Sweetie asks.
"That was impressive."
"I know!"
Rosaline rolls her eyes, "Shut up!"
Sweetie giggles as she picks her rifle back up.
"Let's go pack everything up."
Rosaline grabs her rifle, and the blanket, and follows Sweetie up the hill. Hawaii is clever with the way he lays their supplies out, making the repacking process a short one. A trait he no doubt picked up from the ever-organized Zee.
Hawaii rejoins them as they're finishing up. The three trek back across the woods on their way to the farm. As is The Family's usual practice they do not return down the exact same route they traveled previously. Hawaii has taken to believing it's better if they don't always keep the same paths. To him, it's better to have multiple options in the event an escape is necessary.
Their return path leads across a patch of land where a house once resided. The building now rests in ruins, probably destroyed by weather over time. There is a small dilapidated barn on the land that is, for the most part, somehow still standing, as well as a spring house near a small creek.
The three decide to break for a moment, laying their packs down near the spring house, then setting off for the creek. They wash their faces, drink some water, and take a breather on the creek bank.
"It seems like you've scouted around the farm pretty well." Rosaline says.
"Mostly. There are still some areas we don't know very well, like this one." Hawaii replies.
"How often do you see diseased or Adapted out here?"
"Adapted? Like Talkers?"
"The smart ones." says Rosaline.
"Not very often. We haven't had a serious encounter in over a year."
"That's lucky. We saw them a lot on the road. It did thin out as we got closer to this area though."
"I think it's because there wasn't much out here before it all went down, so there isn't much reason now for them to be around here now."
"Whatever it is, I'll take it." Sweetie interjects.
Her comment brings forth a smirk from Rosaline. Sweetie notices her reaction, waits for her glance, then winks at her.
"We should get moving again. It's already going to be dark before we get back. I don't want Zee to worry." Hawaii says.
They retreat back up to the spring house and grab their gear. Hawaii throws the deer over his head, laying it across his shoulders so that his backpack keeps it in place.
"Hello! How are you doing?" a voice calls out them.
Their bodies stiffen. This voice came from the other side of the spring house. Hawaii peeks around the corner to see a man standing about twenty feet away from them. He's old, dirty, and shaking.
"Hello?" the stranger says again.
"Shit!" Hawaii whispers, looking back to the women. Tension mounts in them, they know they can't run. The stranger speaks, it's either Adapted or a real person, either way it'll follow them, and there's a good chance it's not alone.
"I know you're over there. I saw you runnin'. Do you need some help?"
Hawaii's breathing increases, sweat beads on his forehead, he looks to his hunting partners, but no one has an answer for this situation. Rosaline's mood has noticeably dropped. She doesn't appear worried or anxious, her face is as stern as they've seen her yet. Sweetie's leg nervously twitches, her face is flushed, and she bites her bottom lip as her eyes race back and forth between Hawaii and Rosaline.
Hawaii puts his hand up to them and slowly nods his head.
"No, no help. Please go back the way you came." Hawaii yells at the stranger.
"No help? Are you sure?"
"We're sure. Please leave."
His eyes sway to Rosaline. His are filled with concern, but hers hold only anger.
"If you need somethin' fixed I'm real good with my hands." the stranger says.
"We don't need anything." Hawaii replies.
"Why you hidin? Is someone hurt? I got a place nearby. It's safe. I got medicines inside."
Rosaline intently shakes her head back and forth, "That's a lie." she whispers.
"No one is hurt. Leave us alone. Go back the way you came." Hawaii hastily says.
"Oh now," -the stranger's tone lowers, becoming flat and devoid of the previous enthusiasm- "you and I both know I can't do that."
The group exchange glances. The reality of the situation setting in for Hawaii and Sweetie.
"You can. Just turn around and walk away."
"No, no I can't. I've seen you, can't ignore that."
"This doesn't have to be like this."
"I
