Favoured Lands - Death Peddlers 3

 As dusk began to settle, the two men finally started to let their guards down. The territory became more and more familiar. The large shallow water ways had given way to first a short span of sinking, sucking, mud, which the men knew well to navigate around--albeit slowly. Then the terrain turned into rocky shale, sand, and finally firmer ground along a wall of thorny black berry and bushes and firm ground with sparse grasses sprouting up here and there. The open water of the vast wetlands lapping gently, like a sea.

Rusk and Koran typically kept several caches hidden across the western territories  both north and south of the Domes, and even some deep into the east. Some even had small little hidden refuges where the men could rest without too much bother of setting up camp or scrounging to around to set up a security perimeter. They were drawing closer to one of the later now, which put both in good spirits.

The high thorny wall black berry bushes dripped heavy with wet berries. The men ate the sweet fruits greedily as they followed the high wall along a south easterly descent. It wasn't far before they came across the first  small but brisk brook running into the great shallows appearing from under the forest of vines and thorns, They stopped to capture and filter water for their canisters and gut the eel.

Koran made short work of the task, leaving the guts where they landed; rather than wash the area and throwing the guts into the creek. He and Rusk had  just spent a good portion of the day crossing and working around that vast shallow lake and he needed to conserve his energy.

The two hadn't gone much further when  a coyote stepped briefly out from the sharp, clinging briar. It scooped up the guts and quickly disappeared into the impassable wall . 

The event rattled Koran enough that he forced Rusk to stop, "I think we should avoid the refuge tonight," His typical, I don't give a fuck demeanor, couldn't disguise his unease. Rusk sighed inwardly.

"I am not up for a hammock tonight. You got the lions share of that floor last night."

"Most hunters and contractors like us die in the comforts or near their own safe zones,," He reminded Rusk.

Rusk shrugged began walking in the general direction of the cache.

Koran made an exaggerated gesture of defeat and followed. The blackberry briar was high, even though the lands were relatively flat. It made seeing around any corner uncertain and Koran's attention was on super alert.

When the coyote appeared a second time--this time stopping several yards in front of the two men and staring at them defiantly as if sizing them up, Koran felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle.

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