12 Near Dark

Near dark,.. Sun falling.

They watched from the vantage for the rest of the day with their new friend, the Ovcharka.

He shared their food and water,.. their evening meal.

As it grew dark they chose to pull back into the forest to make their night camp, hidden again amongst the trees but with the additional security and companionship of the Ovcharka.

Recoil didn't seem to have the same aversion for physical contact with the mountain dog, as it snuggled up beside her giving her warmth.

That night, again Vladimir woke after several hours sleep and slipped out of the forest and knelt looking down into the valley.

It was a moonless night and a small glow could be seen in the distance close to the horizon.

He ran low towards the light.

Eventually he was close enough to make out a campsite of perhaps around 20 people, it was hard to see their true number as the majority were sleeping lumps huddled under blankets, and in tents.

Three were still awake. Of which two held long knives and whose eyes occasionally observed the surrounds of the camp. Whilst a third sat using the fires light to, he held a short knife and appeared to be sharpening the ends of lengths of wood just over a meter long. Vladimir spat into his hands several times grabbed dirt of the ground and smeared his face, then he crawled head low in towards the group until he was within hearing range.