"Damn it!" Liam shouted, watching the deer run away.

Watching Liam miss, Abigail shook her head and thought how it wasn't easy to take down game. Though the deer was the one they'd seen since beginning the hunt, the mood of the group dropped.

Michelle moved close to Liam and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You'll get it next time," she said.

"Yeah," Liam nodded his head dejectedly.

Lightly elbowing him, Michelle teased, "You better let us see your great archery skills soon."

"You better watch out. I'll hunt so many deers that it'll feel like your giving birth." Liam shot back in good humor but ended up blushing with the last word mentioned.

Hearing Liam mention such a topic, Michelle's face turned red as she walked away from him.

Helen laughed, "Nice job!"

"Shut up!" Liam's face was equally as red as Michelle's as he tried to act natural.

As they laughed at Liam's misery, Abigail kept an eye out for any tracks. Deep inside, she slowly became frustrated due to the lack of signs of small or large game. They'd already been walking around for several hours and the deer was the first one seen.

"At this rate, we're going to be heading back with nothing to show," Abigail stressed, thinking to herself.

Gripping one of the daggers in her hand, she stressed about the idea of her mother and their position inside of the community. If Abigail came back, again, with nothing to show, she worried that the community would kick them out.

Thinking of her mother back in the open world, scavenging for food, Abigail shook her head. "It's because I'm around that she hasn't been able to solidify her place in the community," she frowned, thinking how her mother was still relatively youthful in appearance and many of the older men had shown interest in courting her.

"I need to be able to handle myself out in this world," Abigail thought to herself, not willing to be a burden.

"You okay?" Sheila's voice interrupted Abigail's thoughts.

Looking to her friend, Abigail just said, "Just thinking how the deer was likely our best shot for bringing something back."

Sheila's expression spoke volumes about not believing Abigail's words about only thinking about the deer. Looking like she didn't want to mention something her friend didn't look ready to talk about, Sheila asked, "What do you want to do?"

Gazing at the direction the deer had gone, Abigail said, "I think we should go after it."

"Do you think we can catch up to it?" Sheila asked in a doubtful voice.

Taking in a deep breath, Abigail shook her head. "Probably not, but I don't know what else we can do." Using a hand to indicate in front of them, Abigail said, "We haven't seen any signs of animals."

Instead of answering, Sheila stayed quiet.

Footsteps were head as Helen approached them. "I'm guessing the two of you are debating about going after that deer?"

"Yeah. I don't know what else we can do, other than going back to the community with nothing to show." Abigail said bluntly.

Helen understood the gravity of the words spoken. The expression being equally grim, thinking about the consequences of coming back with nothing.

They all understood that the community could only exist because everyone contributed. In the past, there may have been such things as handouts, but such ideas belonged to the old world.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Coming back with nothing would only lead people to think they were a burden to the community.

"Let's bring back some meat," Helen finally spoke after being silent for so long.

Even after hearing Helen's agreement to her plan, Abigail felt a sense of strain building up. Helen's words only help to drive in the need to show results and the consequences if they didn't.

"Okay." Abigail nodded.

Turning to look back at the rest of the group, Abigail called out to them, "We're going to chase after that deer!"

"What?!" Rodger asked in a surprised voice, along with everyone else.

Abigail didn't bother to debate with them, jogging in the direction the deer dashed off in.

Both Sheila and Helen didn't say a word and kept pace with her, though in the background they heard the group gather their gear to follow, some cursing about how crazy it was.

"Make sure to look out for any signs of game or bandits," Abigail turned her head to say to Sheila and Helen.

Only a grunt was heard from the two as they made they left the road and entered the forest again.

In front of them, the deer tracks were easy to spot with it flinging up dirt as it ran away. The distance between the front and rear legs were far enough to give an idea of how fast it was moving.

Abigail wasn't a professional tracker, so didn't know how long the deer to maintain its pace. But she didn't try to think about such things. The forest was barren of animal life, so they couldn't afford to let such a chance to escape their grasp.

--------

Her lungs felt like they were on fire, as she attempted to keep her breathing even while jogging after the deer.

"It doesn't look like it's slowing down," Sheila gasped.

They had been jogging a what seemed like forever, hoping to see the deer beginning to slow. There would be moments when the deer would stop but would continue. It was likely trying to sense any danger from predators.

Whenever there would be moments when the tracks showed the deer looking around, Abigail thought they'd see the deer panting and giving up. Unfortunately, they didn't see anything like that.

"Let's get back to a walk," Abigail announced, slowing her pace.

All of them were gasping for air as they went back to walking. No one bothered to complain, as they focused more on catching their breath.

Abigail looked up at the sky to see the sun's position. They didn't have much time before they were expected to arrive home. It felt like time was working against them, forcing them into the worst outcome.

"What's up with this forest?" Rodger panted as he walked.

Looking back, Abigail saw that out of everyone, he looked worse. She wondered whether it was due to his position under his father, not needing to be a part of the hunting party. It was likely his need to look good in front of Abigail that he joined them.

Though his words came from being tired, Abigail admitted that his words were right.

"There have been zero signs of anything but this deer," Liam complained, partially leaning on Michelle.

Judging by Michelle's expression, she suspected that Liam wasn't as tired as he pretended but she didn't voice an objection.

Abigail grinned at the sight, thinking that the two of them made a good couple though both would deny such a thing in a heartbeat. For some reason, the two were adamant about maintaining the appearance of just being friends.

"We may not be getting any deer, but it looks like Liam may come out okay from this hunt," Sheila said in a quiet voice, making Helen giggle as they looked at the two.

Liam noticed that they were looking at him, and looked embarrassed though he didn't stop from leaning on Michelle.

"Hey, Michelle," Abigail began to say but stopped, looking in front of them quickly.

"Do you smell that?" Helen asked.

Timothy, who was between those in the front with Abigail and back with Rodger, asked, "What are you...?" Before his eyes flashed in recognition.

Rodger, Liam, and Michelle looked confused but soon they realized what everyone else was talking about.

As they walked closer to the smell, Abigail felt her heart drop.

"I guess we don't need to worry about catching up with the deer," Liam said.

In front of them, the deer they'd been chasing was impaled on the side of a tree. It's head torn off, lying several feet away. The head looked as if it was tossed to the side, by whatever impaled the deer.

None of them could say anything as they stared at the carcass of the deer. Seeing such brutality was foreign to them, causing them to look at it with confusion.

"What could do something like this?" Michelle asked.

Abigail didn't answer as she walked to the front of the deer. She got chills from seeing the imagery.

Staring at the thing that impaled the deer, Abigail slowly noticed how the deer wasn't impaled by a weapon or branch. Getting close to the object, her heart slowly started to beat faster and the hair on the back of her neck raised.

"Abigail," Sheila managed to whisper.

Raising a hand to say she wanted quiet, it felt like something was beginning to form in her mind.

"I think we need to head back now," Abigail said in a shaky voice as she started to put things together.

"We need to warn them...," Abigail looked to her friends realizing what had happened.

A voice of a woman yelled out, "Help! Is anyone out there?! Please, he's bleeding out!"