Free The Novice Prey & the Daring Prey by S. J. Lewis Page B

pouches and started it up. She didn’t know who had invented the things, but whoever it was deserved a statue somewhere.
    She returned to the map and studied it. She’d been planning to change her campsite tomorrow anyway, so why not drop by Jackson’s as well? If she was worried about someone telling the hunters which way she went when she left there, all she had to do was head in one direction until she was out of sight and then change course. Or maybe just keep heading in the same direction because the hunters might assume that she’d change direction once she was out of sight? Alexa shook her head. She didn’t want to over think this, but she was so new to everything that she couldn’t help it. She might have a map now, but there was still an awful lot that she didn’t know. For example: How many hunters were after her? Were there even any, given the competition she was up against?
    No, forget that. She didn’t know how many hunters or groups of hunters there were out here, but some of them had to be looking for her, and it was safest to assume that everybody she might come across had her on their list. Given that, there didn’t seem to be any good reason to go to Jackson’s at all. She still had plenty of supplies: There was still her third cache, sitting hidden and, she hoped, untouched in the woods. Hell: For all she knew the campsite she’d abandoned might be perfectly safe to go back to after all. No, there was no compelling reason to go to any of the trading posts. None whatsoever. Except…she wasn’t used to all this running around in the great outdoors. It had its moments, to be sure, but she found that she missed human contact. She also missed hot showers, indoor plumbing, fresh, cooked food, cold drinks…the list went on. Surely it wouldn’t be too much of a risk to make a quick visit to Jackson’s, not if she planned carefully and thoroughly enough ahead of time.
    She quickly ran over what she knew: She’d be safe at the trading post even if hunters showed up as long as she didn’t stay too long. Okay, so what if hunters showed up while she was still there? Well, there was always the chance that they wouldn’t be after her, in which case she’d be able to leave without any trouble. And if they were after her? Well, that could be a problem. She might be able to just outrun them if it came to that. It would be better to outwit them, though. That was how that Elf-Girl had done it, wasn’t it?
    Yes, but she was Alexa Marx, not Elf-Girl. She was going to have to sleep on this and make some sort of decision in the morning. There was still a little daylight left, though, so why not move her camp now? She’d seen a couple of places that provided better cover than here. Besides, it would be good practice to see how quickly she could gather everything up and get a move on.
    It didn’t take that long, only five or ten minutes, if that, and some of that time was spent making sure she hadn’t left anything behind, even the least little bit of trash. She shouldered her pack and set out for the best site she’d come across: Some time ago, a big pine had toppled, taking a smaller tree with it. Underbrush had sprung up around the downed trees, and now there was a tangle of vines and prickly bushes hiding a space just a bit bigger than she needed to spread her sleeping bag. Even better, the pine still had plenty of needles on its branches. They were all brown, and came off easily, but if she was careful she wouldn’t disturb them and they’d provide even more concealment. She worked her way in, left her pack there and then went back to try and hide whatever traces she’d left behind her. By then the sun was down, but there was still a bit of light left to see by. She laid everything out and settled in for the night. After all her activity that day, it felt good just to lie there and relax. Even the noises of the night insects sounded restful. She didn’t think she’d ever come to prefer this sort of