15 Chapter 14 - Hayden

Hayden pulled back on the bow, breathed out, and let go of the arrow. It left like a whisper. The string was still vibrating as he lowered it to see the deer jump, then fall. With a big grin, he quickly moved towards it.

"Where do you think you're going?" The oily voice sneered off to his side, and he slowed with a sudden sense of dread.

"That's my deer! Who said you could kill it??" A tall boy, almost a man, stepped out from behind a tree where he had obviously been hiding. He had short blond hair that he had styled into a spiky mess on top of his head.

"I saw it first." Hayden's voice sounded weak, even to him. He watched helplessly as two other boys stepped out from behind other trees, smirking in his direction. How could he have not lost them? They must have spied him crossing the bridge and followed him from there.

"It's ours now!" said one of the two. His hair was cut super short on the sides and styled into a mohawk on the top. The dark oil he had used shone in the light of high noon.

As the three started moving towards the deer, he knew they would break the arrow and take the kill for their own. Panic coursed through his body as he realized they would give him a new job if he lost one more arrow and returned once again with nothing to show for his effort. The leaders refused to believe him, over their own sons.

Darting past them, they paused in surprise, Hayden grabbed his arrow and kept running. These idiots could have his kill, he would find another one, but they couldn't have his arrow.

Shouts of rage erupted from behind him, but he was smaller and faster than them through the thick brush, quickly disappearing into the bushes. He slipped underneath one, and forced his heavy breathing to be silent as they pounded into sight.

"Where did he go?" hissed Alex, the boy with blond hair. His feet paused right in front of Hayden's nose.

"He couldn't have gone far," growled Gavyn. His mohawk was starting to droop and he paused to straighten it out, wiping the excess grease onto his already shiny pants.

"Forget him. He has to return to the compound eventually. Let's go dress out that deer before something else finds it and steals it from us." The third boy had a normal haircut. His hair was as unremarkable as the others were flamboyant.

"Nathan's right, Alex. Let's go. We can beat him up later." Gavyn turned to follow Nathan as Alex looked around for a few more minutes.

"I was so close to getting him kicked out, too!" seethed Alex as he finally followed his friends.

Hayden started to breath a little easier once they were gone. He quietly crawled out from under the bush in case they were still close by, and hurried away. There had to be more deer nearby.

After several hours, he found himself halfway up a mountain, stalking a large buck. It turned into a small crevasse, which surprised him. Deer don't normally like to go into caves. Hurrying to keep up, he glanced inside, and saw that it wasn't a cave, but a hole through a couple foot thick wall of rock. On the other side, he could see more trees and a small meadow.

Excitement coursed through him as he stepped cautiously into the valley. He could see the other side and realized it was a dead end. There didn't appear to be any other ways in or out of this hidden paradise. How could no one have found this place before?

Turning around, he realized the hole was at an angle. If he didn't walk up towards it at just the right angle, it would look like nothing more than rock. Thanking the buck that led him here, he slowly began to explore.

He rejoiced in silence as he realized someone at sometime had groomed this valley as a survival retreat. Fruit trees and nut trees filled the valley below him. Berry bushes covered the ground. Everything may have been organized at one point, but it was obvious they were wild now. Due to the generous amount of food, he could see tons of game overrunning the area. Rabbits and squirrels played, unafraid of him as he approached. The sound of water tumbling nearby drew him deeper into the valley.

Water bubbled up from a stone fountain, heavily overgrown, it showed wear and tear from the many years it must have sat here. Hayden took a moment to get a drink and laughed out loud when he startled a frog. It relinquished the pool with a deep croak before hopping away in indignation.

Determined to return tomorrow to explore more, he decided he needed to get that buck he had seen earlier. He needed to make sure Alex and his gang didn't succeed at getting him kicked out of the compound. Thinking about them made his blood boil. With fresh determination, he headed towards the small meadow he had spied when first entering the valley. He imagined that would be where the deer would be, and was quickly rewarded.

It was very busy rubbing the velvet on its antlers against a tree, so didn't notice as he drew closer and got into position. Drawing his bow back, he breathed out and let the arrow fly. The deer lay down right where it had stood.

A huge grin burst across his face as he hurried to it. The spread of the antlers was the biggest he had ever seen. If he could get it back to the compound without Alex and his lackeys catching him, no one could say he was slacking off.

Not wasting any time, he dressed it out and quickly created a travois using some young trees and a rope he carried on him for just this occasion. Tying the carcass to the two poles, he hefted the ends and began dragging it back. Hayden couldn't wait to see the looks on everyone's faces when he got there.