After coming back to the camp, Mark talked a bit with John and Jane, eat the last pieces of jerkie he had and went to sleep, but even before he could fall asleep inside his tent he heard shots coming from outside.
Mark stood up and ran out of his tent to see what was happening, and before he could even come out of the truck circle, Frank stopped him.
"Its all good now, we caught the mole," Frank said in a loud voice, not only for Mark to hear but to everyone that was coming out of their tents.
'What mole?' asked himself Mark, not knowing what Frank was talking about, but then he remembered about the fish and bait thing that Frank told him, and guessed he was talking about the traitors from the army.
Mark and a few others walked outside of the circle with Frank and they saw Jane coming out from behind a small bush with her sniper rifle still smoking.
Her thin silhouette, but full of curves, reflecting on the moonlight was akin to a goddess of death coming to call upon the frail souls.
Mark shook his head and dispersed the nauthy thoughts and looked at the truck, where a man was laying dead with his hand stuck between the truck's door handle, as if he was shot while trying to open the door of the truck
"Are you ok?" Mark asked when Jane came closer, but it was a rhetorical question. He knew she was fine, because he only heard a single shot.
"I'm fine. I'm glad that I didn't have to wait for the entire night. The guy seemed to be in a hurry to go back to the army"
Frank came closer to Jane and said, "Thank you again, Jane. You are a trustworthy sniper as always."
"It was nothing. Anyone could have stopped that man, he didn't even wait long, as soon as everyone went to the tents, he left. It's just an amateur trying to profit from the information you released yesterday"
Hearing that, Frank nodded and seeing everyone out of their tents, thought that was needed that he told them something about what just happened, "Everyone! This man here" said Frank pointing to the dead body hanging on the truck door, "... was trying to sell our position and the information about the lake to the army. That was the only possible reason for him to sneak out in the dark of the night and try to steal a truck from our camp. We gave everyone a choice when we left the base, and everyone standing here today chose to be here. "
Hearing what Frank said and, no one objected what was done, and a few even cursed the dead man. After all, if he escaped, they would be dead too, because if the army knew about their general direction, it would be a matter of time before they could track them down with choppers.
"After this event, we will put a guard watch of four people alternating during night," said Frank, "I didn't sugested this before because I was suspecting that someone among us would try to betray us and I wanted to deal with this as soon as possible, because tomorrow we will be able to trust each other and grow together. Now.... Who will volunteer for the first watch?" Frank said and a few people immediatly raised their hands.
The rest of the night passed eventfully as everyone slept their deserved quote after two days on the road.
...
In the next day, even before the sun came out, the camp was already bustling with all kinds of sounds, from people doing small chores to some already preparing to go hunt.
Mark woke up with the noises around his tent and came outside.
The sun was starting to come from behind the hills and made the fresh air of the night slowly turn warmer, the same feeling that everyone got when camping outside. As if the air was getting warmer by the seconds.
Mark looked around at the camp, everyone busy getting ready for the promised day were they would gain powers and could not avoid but think about how empty that promise was, After all, the number of mutated animals was not that big, that if they even found a single normal animal, because the forest behind the camp was not that big from what Mark could see.
Mark knew that Frank was trying to take control of the situation and unite the group of strangers, but the promisses he made were so empty as Mark's belly now.
Just thinking about the lasts jerkies he ate yesterday and when he would be able to eat again, made the humor of Mark turn for the worst, the day didn't seemed so promising anymore, nor the rays of sun pleasant to the skin.
~sigh~
Mark let go a depressed sigh, grabbed his sword and his backpack, and closed his tent. The rest could wait. It was time to go hunt, while he still had energy in his body.
Walking amidst the tents Mark stumbled on a old man, it was the same old man from the fight back on the barracks. Mark never learned the old man's name, but he was glad he survived the fight. Because that old man seemed someone who already saw way too much even for an old man.
"Going already? It's better if you wait for the others," said the old man.
"The best time to hunt is in the early morning when the animals go out to drink water or hunt too, if at least there was a small river close to here...."
"There is a creak less than half a mile inside the woods," said the old man while grabbing a backpack from inside the tent. "Lets go. I will show you, I discovered yesterday while I was taking a ... dum.. a tour."
Mark furrowed his brows but avoided doing any comment about an old man priorities, or why he went so far inside the woods just to... take a tour. "Will you not wait for the others?" Mark asked because it was what the old man just said to him.
"What? You don't want this old man company? I'm not a brunette, but I also know how to shoot."