Lex tosses her backpack in the bed of the pickup truck and climbs behind the wheel. Leaning over the seat, she opens the passenger door, allowing Scorvo to climb in beside her. Thanks to the truck’s oversized interior, Scorvo is able to fit inside, his beaded dreads brushing the ceiling of the cab.


    “Buckle up!” Lex jokes. “I don’t want to get a ticket.”


    Scorvo mimics her actions without much enthusiasm. The seatbelt presses uncomfortably against the metal of his armor. He is unable to keep his eyes from wandering to Lex’s front, the clothe belt nestled snuggly under one chest mound and over the other. After a moment of staring, Scorvo settles his gaze forward, peering straight out of the truck’s windshield.


    “A negligible difference,” Lex says coyly. “How negligible?”


    It is Scorvo’s turn to roll his amber eyes upward. Pressing the green button on a remote clamped to the pickup’s visor, Lex waits for the front gate to open before driving through it.


    -


    -


    “We’re here,” Lex exclaims.


    She pulls up beside a land rover parked in front of an ancient-looking log cabin.


    “I know the ranger. Strange—I don’t see Phillip''s ATV. He’s probably out doing rounds. I’m not going to bother signing in, because we really aren’t supposed to be here right now. He’ll know it’s me. Don’t worry. The camera hasn’t worked in ages. It’s mostly for show. Scares the local kids so they don’t vandalize the place. Come on. We’ve got a ship to catch.”


    Lex bounces out of the pickup and drops down the door to the truck bed. She pulls out her backpack, which has slid into a corner, and softly closes the truck bed. Scorvo lightly touches Lex’s arm, his round amber eyes staring down at her in the darkness.


    “Are you absolutely sure you want to do this? Once we are there…There will be no turning back,” Scorvo warns.


    Lex’s eyes harden and a smirk turns up the corners of her mouth. For a moment, she entertains the idea of mocking the enormous hunter''s display of genuine concern. Not unlike his brother, Scorvo possesses an immense capacity for compassion. Something she''d never believed possible, watching Scar skewer the late Charles Weyland on his fearsome blades. There is more to these otherworldly hunters than meets the eye.


    “You coming?” Lex says, casually shrugging into her backpack.


    Strolling away, Lex does not even look back. A knowing smile builds on Scorvo’s face. Well chosen indeed.


    -


    -


    In a dense part of the woods, a river winds through the trees. An abandoned ATV is parked beside the river, a body sprawled on the ground a few yards away. Glazed human eyes stare up at the nighttime sky, a bullet hole dead-center between them. Dried blood coats the pale skin around the ragged wound and flies buzz in and out of the artificial orifice. Ranger Phillip Espenza had been dead for more than several hours. Long before his idling ATV ran out of gas.


    The ranger’s murderers are not far from the scene of the crime. Enjoying the spoils of their misadventure.


    Cosmo Blankenship stretches noisily and manspreads on the lush grass that is his blanket. Trent, Cosmo’s youngest brother, sits by the small fire they have burning. He uses the flames to light a joint. Taking a long drag, Trent hugs himself and moves his legs up and down, bending them at the knees before straightening them out again. The third member of the party, Johnny Carvello, glances over at Trent with disdain.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    “Do you have to smoke that crap around me, you dumb bastard? I told you I hate the smell of that crap!”


    “It calms me down, okay? I mean, we did just kill a man. A ranger, Johnny! What if someone comes looking for him? We were supposed to lay low. Wait until the heat went down…And then escape with the cash. We weren’t supposed to kill nobody!”


    “Shut the hell up, Trent!” Cosmo roars. “And you…Leave him the hell alone, okay?”


    “Whatever, man! He’s your damn brother!” Johnny barks back. “I still say we shouldn’t have brought him along on this one.”


    “And I don’t give a damn what you say, Johnny! He’s here. Get over it! Now, will the two of you just shut the hell up, so I can get some sleep? Please. Damn! Like a bunch of catty schoolgirls!”


    Johnny opens his mouth to retort, but thinks better of it. He lies back against a rock and takes a pack of cigarettes from his breast pocket. He glowers at Trent with a menacing scowl. Cosmo’s kid brother is now high as a kite, his eyes unfocused and his body swaying gently back and forth.


    “Aw, man! Talk about sorry!” Johnny mutters to himself.


    A few moments later, Cosmo is asleep and Johnny is nearly in snooze land as well. The loud snapping of a twig causes Johnny’s head to shoot up from its resting place on his chest. He climbs quickly to his feet, pulling a pistol from the waistband of his pants.


    “What the hell was that?” the frustrated murderer whispers into the still night air.


    “Probably just an animal. Take your paranoid ass back to sleep, Johnny! Jeezus!”


    “Nah! Weren’t no animal! Listen!”


    With a sigh, Cosmo throws his hands into the air. Johnny isn’t the only person having regrets tonight. Cosmo wonders if it would be a good idea to just off the crazy hothead and be done with it.


    “I don’t hear a thing, Johnny. What am I listening for?”


    “That’s just it, Cos. It’s sort of like when the forest gets quiet before you take out that prized buck. Or the quiet before a real bad storm. The animals ain’t talking no more. Something’s got ‘em scared. Real scared. I’m thinking…We’ve got company.”


    Trent, still caught up in his high, jumps to his feet and turns in a semi-circle.


    “You think they’ve found us, Cosmo? Oh god! Please no! Please. Don’t shoot us! Oh god! I don’t want to die!”


    Johnny has had enough. He coldcocks Trent with the butt of his gun. Trent goes down in a heap, holding the side of his head. Anger courses through Cosmo and he leaps to his feet.


    “What the hell did you do that for?”


    “The little bastard is gonna give away our position,” Johnny answers.


    Cosmo closes the distance between himself and Johnny in less than twenty strides. He stands directly in the thinner man’s face.


    “If what you say is true…Our position has already been compromised. Remember your training, soldier. And don’t you ever do that again! You understand? Or the next thing you’ll feel…Will be a bullet through your head. Same as the ole ranger over there. How does that compute in your little brain?”


    Johnny glowers at Cosmo but keeps his thoughts to himself. As a former military sergeant, Johnny understands the value of the chain of command. Right now, Cosmo is big man on campus. It won’t always be that way. One day, he will have the goods. Then, Cosmo will be begging him for scraps and leads. Cosmo walks to his kid brother and offers him his hand.


    “Come on, kid. Get up!”


    Trent rubs at his bruised temple and hauls himself unsteadily to his feet. Cosmo grips Trent’s left shoulder with one hand, and holds up two fingers with his other hand.


    “How many fingers am I holding up?”


    Trent squints and tilts his head to one side.


    “Two?” It comes out as more of a question than an answer.


    Cosmo snickers and slaps Trent on the shoulder. He is anxious to get everyone back on a good footing. No one wants to shoot their brother or their best friend.


    “See, you’re alright. Everyone’s alright? Right? Let’s not have any more of this badmouthing and bickering, okay? We’ll fan out and search the area. If we don’t find anyone lurking…Good. If we do…We smoke ‘em! Real simple. Okay?”


    Trent nods without much enthusiasm. Johnny simply takes the safety off of his weapon, an evil grin on his cruel face.