Snippet #1670745

Jason shifted uncomfortably in his perch, a little put-out by the pain in his spine. Trees were not by reputation the most luxurious of seats, but the elevation was nice, as were the clean and sharp smells of sap and needles. He scanned the woods with a careful eye, giving extra time to anything he thought suspicious. Squirrels and small birds flitted and fluttered about in the duff, needlessly drawing his attention and rifle more than once. The crisp northwest breeze played tricks on him with whirling leaves and shivering branches. The whole forest was alive with movement, something that quietly irked the urban hunter. It was his job to pick out the movements that mattered.

Only dimly aware of passing time and the trespasses of other contestants into his field of fire, Jason allowed himself to breathe deeply and focus on the sounds of the woods. Chirps, snaps, the trickle of water, a distant gunshot... no good. There was noise alright, human noise. Simply too much to filter. A sliver of doubt niggled its way into his brain. He'd gambled on the imps' inevitable return to the clearing to mislead pursuers, but perhaps he'd judged the creatures unfairly. They weren't desperate criminals, just creatures unlucky enough to look like Muppets rejects with spikes and claws. They wouldn't be following the same rulebook that he expected them to. In fact, he began to worry about passing the test. He'd heard sporadic gunfire and shouts already, probably heralding the sucessful killing of an imp or two. How many had been captured already? How many remained? What if--

"Hey! Name's Aiden" someone yelled from nearby.

Jason had been out of human contact for long enough that it took him a second to realize that swinging about to bring his rifle to bear was not appropriate conduct, especially not in a tree. He almost slipped, but caught himself with a panic-fueled lunge for the trunk. He shakily turned to find a brown-haired woman staring up at him, shielding her eyes from the sun and smiling thinly.

"But my codename's gonna be Maxie, if you're wondering, once I get into A.S.C.O." she continued. "I'm going to go find a water source, trying to find some springs to lead me to one" she stated simply. The unmistakable confidence in her voice gave Jason pause. The woman seemed unshakably certain that she was ASCO material, and her equipment agreed. Her choice in armaments was to be admired.

"Eh? How'd you come up with that?" he asked. He felt as though he'd met her before, though that was improbable.

"Well, I mean, in an hour or two, when they start getting thirsty, their noses will bring them to the spring. Maybe it'll be a better place to camp out?" She casually pulled her hair out of a ponytail and began to reshape it into a sloppy bun as she answered.

Jason stared at her blankly. That was actually a very sound idea. Logical.

"Well, ma'am, that sounds like a really good idea. You thought of it first, so I'm not gonna wrest it away from you, but if you'd like, maybe I could come with you?" he asked, turning the statement into a question by raising his voice slightly.