Hara sat up after a few minutes of enjoying the silence, her phone in her hand once again, she dialed another number and let it ring.

"Sahra here? How may I help you?"

The only female among the rangers chirped as she picked up after the first ring.

"Hey, Hara here, I'm coming over later in the day to check the river out after yesterday's storm rain, and another thing, think you can look over my sector next week Tuesday until I'm back? "

She didn't talk for long and directly went to the point, knowing Sahra was never one to talk around the bush or waste time, she was a busy woman and mother of three, one teenaged girl and two twin boys going to preschool.

"Yeah, sure I can, it's not that much extra work anyway, as for the river, I'm there right now and it looks pretty good, nothing too bad as far as I can see, it'll recede on its own, but feel free to come over later."

The woman spoke, her speech fast but understandable, Hera nodded along and after a quick goodbye, hung up.

Sahra knew to call her if anything went wrong or was out of the ordinary, as did all of her rangers, she just liked to remind them, but Sahra's memory was nothing to scoff at and would likely be taken as an insult to her character.

She wrote down a quick note and dialed the next number.

"Hara? what do you need?"

The young man picked up after the third ring and answered cheerfully.

"Hey Mike, I'll be gone next week for a few days."

Once again not one to talk around the bush, as she herself wasn't one for needless pleasantries, the girl went right to the point.

"Huh, leaving with Ellen to check out the mountains?"

Quick-witted as always, and a bit of a rumor addict, the cheerful and upbeat ranger on the other line guessed her purpose for leaving.

"Got it in one, Sahra will be looking over my sector for a bit, but don't be shy to call if something comes up that needs me, got it?"

She chided him, remembering the upbeat, but at times shy, man not calling her after a roadblock and causing a bit of a delivery delay in the past.

"Got it Boss-Lady!"

He cheered and hung up, not having anything to report as he likely just woke up.

Hara sighed but shook her head, she already knew this would happen, having spent years at each others side, she knew their habits and personalities too well to be surprised, he may come off as rude sometimes, but it was just his brain running a mile a minute at all times.

"I swear, he's a grown man but comes off as a hyperactive 16-year-old."

She grinned at her description and dialed the final number in her quick call list.

"What?"

The gruff and worn voice of the most senior rangers barked as he answered nearly instantly, likely waiting for her call but making a show of it, she grinned helplessly while rolling her eyes, he came off as rude and mean but had a soft heart.

Once, she was a bit afraid of him, but after seeing him bottle feed an orphaned fawn, she could never take him seriously again.

"It's me, old man, I'll be gone next week, beast rumors, Sahra's covering me, Mike's covering for Ellen."

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"Shut it you brat and do your job already, no time for small talk."

After finishing his bit, he hung up on her.

"Pfft, old goat." She huffed out a laugh and stood up, beginning to get ready to go out and patrol around her sector.

________

She tied her hair up in a bun and suited up, knee-high and waterproof boots on her feet, tear-resistant trousers secured with her belt adorned with small pouches to hold all of her equipment, shirt and jacket, both warm and resistant to wear and tear, all in muted colours to blend in and protect her from the environment she trudged through daily.

They were all a little costly, but essential to do her job, sure, others would dress differently, but she preferred this equipment as it made her feel safer than without.

She took her bag with her, checking it as she did daily.

Flashlight and batteries? Check.

Solar charger and phone? Check.

Walky-talky? Check.

Signal flare? Check.

Rope? Check.

Bug-spray? Check, check, check.

Multi-purpose tools? Check.

Knives? Check.

Firestarter? Check.

The list went on and on as she packed to prepare for the worst, just as her mentor taught her, although the woman, old as dust she was, might have been a bit paranoid, not that her student minded, she'd rather be over-prepared rather than under-prepared.

As her mentor used to say, rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.

She was just about to leave, already locking the door to her cabin after having checked that all windows were closed and locked, as well as her backdoor, as a call came through.

She unlocked her phone and looked at the caller.

"Old Chief"

"Hello Chief, what can I do for you?"

She inquired politely, pausing in her motion as she listened at what the elder had to say.

"Hera, my dear, could you check routes 5,12, and 7 for me?"

The soft and kind elderly voice of her Chief came through.

"Yes, of course, in that order of priority?"

She kept her voice even and clear as she spoke, not wanting to take up more of his time, he was a busy man.

"Yes, a few deliveries are supposed to arrive today, after yesterday's weather, I'm afraid that the roads will be blocked."

He told her of his worries and she nodded, even if he couldn't see.

"I understand, I'll have it done as fast as possible, do you want me to call you immediately once I've checked one over?"

She asked her leader for further instructions as not to worry him further.

"That would be great, thank you for your hard work, as always."

He told her kindly and hung up, she sighed softly, dialed another number on her phone, and finished locking her house up.

She left with quick steps, not wanting to leave her leader waiting or longer than need be.

She called another ranger and let her phone ring as she walked in the direction of the Sry forest.

The roads that were in her sectors were 7 and 12, number 5 bordered on the forest she was responsible for, but it wasn't technically in it, and as it was the largest and best-maintained road they had, it would take too long to check it alone, as they would need to walk along with it to the border of their territory to make sure there were no obstructions in the road.

"Hello? Keith Warren here."

The familiar voice of the ranger came through and she answered.

"Chief asked me to check on-road 5, think we can take your land Rover?"

She asked, already knowing that he would want to come along with her to check the road, as A, it was a request from the chief and he didn't want her to miss something, and B, they could be considered as business rivals.

Once there was a position in the village that was the "Forester", capitalization fully earned, and their job was to watch over every forest that was in the territory that belonged to the village.

It may sound like a lot of work for one person, but it actually wasn't, it was a job that required little effort and brought them respect and a cushy life.

The minimum required of them was to respond to urgent situations and relay information to the chief, they would be the boss of every other forester and ranger.

The CEO in the forest area, second only to the Chief himself, one could say. This means, whoever got the job could sit back and relax, ordering people around as they pleased.

The position once belonged to her mentor and was left empty after her passing.

The woman was a very responsible person who didn't take advantage of the title and power the job gave her, using it only in emergencies.

She was out and about nearly every day, all day, taking her student with her to help her and because of this, many considered her the soon to be "Forester", as such, other rangers and foresters from other forests didn't like her as she was their competition and the likely inheritor of the title.

She wouldn't mind if someone else took the title, as long as they didn't abuse the power and brush all of the responsibilities off on others, sadly, everyone competing for the title didn't fit that criteria, that was not the case for everyone, but those people didn't fight tooth and nail for the title, too focused on their own work to really care.

"I'll get the rover ready, meet you at the Manson's house?"

Her coworker asked, the meeting place commonly being referred to as the start of road 5, the only pave two-line road their village had.

"Got it, be there in 40 minutes."