FERN

"Where did you learn to do that?" Tex asked as I placed the poultice over the bear's wound.

"My daddy." I slumped back against a tree. The energy I'd had to keep going was gone. Could I even hunt here? Did they all talk? Why could it talk?

The look on Tex's face conjured memories of Daddy purchasing livestock at the fair. He studied me like a prized pig. "Do you know more about plants around here? Which ones are edible? Which aren't? Can any be used as a weapon?" He rattled the questions off one after the other without sounding rushed. His voice was a slow drawl, matching his name.

"Do people call you Tex because you talk like that, or do you talk like that because your name is Tex?" I plucked the question from the air so I wouldn't have to voice one of the many kicking the inside of my skull. To question was to acknowledge, and to acknowledge would solidify what was happening. My stomach clenched and growled, taking large, chomping bites at my backbone. I needed to hunt, but the odds of me finding anything else were slim, and I wasn't sure I'd be able to take the shot if I did. How would I eat? How would I live if I couldn't hunt?

"Is there someone following you?"

I jerked my gaze back to him. "No. Why? Did you hear something?"

He shook his head. "You're looking around like you're waiting for something." He shifted, then flinched and pressed a hand to his bandaged arm. "They call me Tex because I'm big."

Oh. Well. Heat crept up my neck and into my cheeks, and I willed it back down with an intensity I didn't know I possessed. "Nobody is following me. I was hunting. I guess I still am." My stomach rumbled again, shouting it's opinion. I'd ignored it for too long. The rabbit had been too small.

Tex watched me with an intensity that made me feel like he could read my thoughts, and those feelings only strengthened when he answered the question blaring the loudest among them. "Its a mutation. The government has been dumping chemicals in the river not far from here, and it's done some things to the wildlife and the people who come in contact with it."

Images of extra eyes and ears assaulted my thoughts. "What kinds of things?"

He didn't speak for a moment. His attention kept shifting back to the plants, the poultices, my bow, then me, and I suddenly felt like I'd fallen into the opposite side of the hunt. "Things like me. I was six feet two inches when I first set up camp here. Now, I'm six foot nine. I weighed two-twenty. Now, I weigh two-eighty. I'm all muscle, Darlin', and while I don't sit on my ass, I don't lift near enough weight to be this way."

I examined him like a circus attraction, searching for wonders and oddities. He didn't look odd at all. Just big. His veins didn't bulge any more than daddy's had. His skin was deeply tanned, his arms coated in dark hair, and his hands had the same work-worn appearance of any farmer I'd ever met.

"Would you come back with us?"

I blinked and forced my mind to repeat his question. Come back with them? To their camp? Did I want to do that? "I'm not sure." I broke eye contact and looked around at the trees, the rays of sun breaking through the canopy. The birds gossiped among the branches, and cicadas hummed their constant songs. I'd been alone for so long, and I liked it that way. It was smarter, easier, safer. But maybe he had food. He didn't look like he'd been missing any meals, and I had to admit, despite the circumstances, it was really nice to speak out loud to another person.

"It's the least you can do," Tex drawled. "After all, you are the one that shot us. What if it gets infected? What if we need more of this stuff you made? We don't know how, and if I'm completely honest, I'd kind of like it if you'd show us."

I weighed my options. He had a point. I'd never stop wondering if they'd healed properly. The last thing I needed was more guilt and dark thoughts to torture myself with. "Will it change me? The chemicals?"

Tex shook his head. "Not unless you try to. Our site isn't like some of the others. If you swim in the right spot every day for a couple of months, sure. If you don't want to be as big as Texas," he winked, "then I'd suggest you bathe in the water further up."

"There's more than one?"

"At least six that I know of, and I plan to go find them all and see what makes them tick." He shifted upright and gripped the bear's ear, giving it a tug and a hard shake. "Wake up, Maurice! This girl's stomach growls any louder, and I might just let her eat you."

The bear shook him off and grumbled, "My butt hurts. Go away."

Tex's forehead furrowed, and he turned to me as if I were a doctor about to deliver bad news. "Are you sure he's alright?"

"The arrow didn't hit anything important, and he's not bleeding anymore. It's not uncommon for bears to sleep a lot this time of year. By the end of November, he'll likely be already hibernating."

"Our bears are a bit different," he said, but he seemed to take my words to heart and, after one last scratch behind the monster's ear, stood and motioned for me to follow. "The camp's not far. We generally don't venture too much without a larger group."

I packed up my few supplies, snubbed out the fire, then hoisted my pack and met his pace. We trudged through the leaves, walking in silence for a while until we topped a final hill.

A campground spread out below. Not just because they'd made it, but because that's what it was. A block building marked bathrooms still stood off to one side, the remnants of vending machines perched by its doors. A paved narrow road formed a circle through the clearing, and led off toward the water, where a boat ramp was just visible between the trees. All around, tents, RVs, fires, grills, monstrous bears and equally monstrous men. They congregated in clusters, talking and laughing, some playing cards, some eating what appeared to be fish.

A lone woman faced away on the far side, average-sized and seemingly normal, and I released a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. I had no desire to be seven feet tall, no matter it's advantages. My stomach growled again at the scent of cooked food, and my mouth filled with saliva.

Tex cupped my elbow with light fingers. "C'mon, Darlin'. Let's get you fed, then you can tell me some more about the plants and what they do."

He led me down the embankment, and I offered tight smiles and polite nods at the many curious stares that magnified toward me. Suddenly, I was the sideshow. Not the bears lounging around like lazy dogs. Not the giant men all armed to the teeth with semi automatic weaponry. Artillery lined every available space. Rounds of bullets draped over tree limbs, boxes of shells left open on flimsy folding tables, big guns, small guns, guns taken apart, guns put together. If I didn't know any better, which I didn't, I'd assume I'd found an army camp full of soldiers readying themselves for attack.

"Don't be nervous," Tex murmured. "We're reserving all those bullets for the Capitol." He pulled me along. "What's your preference? I can have someone catch you a fish, or we can pick something out from the stock pile." He glanced at me. "How long has it been since you've enjoyed good old fashioned processed cheese in a can?"

"You have outside food?" I almost couldn't form the words. The minute I imagined the taste of prepackaged junk, my tongue went on strike. It lay heavy and dormant, making demands and refusing to behave until they'd all been met.

A broad smile stretched across Tex's face. "I'll make you a deal. You agree to teach me about the plants, and anything else you may know about finding food out here, and I'll give you full access to the things we gather on our supply runs."

He pulled me again without waiting for a response, steps almost too long for me to keep up with, and didn't stop until we reached an old plastic shed held shut by a chain and an open padlock. He removed it with one hand and pulled the chain loose.

The doors swung open, and my eyes feasted on the piles of food within. Chips and cookies. Sodas and snack cakes. Cans upon cans of anything imaginable: pastas, soups, stews and meat.

I hesitantly stepped inside and wrapped my fingers around an off-brand cola.

Tex tilted his chin up. "Go ahead. It's yours."

I popped the top and took a long drink that burned my throat, then hissed and fought to catch my breath. It had been so long, I could almost feel the sugar soaking into my system.

Tex crouched down and forced his too-large frame inside, then leaned around me to grab a big variety pack of potato chips from the shelf. "What kind do you like?"

I stepped aside to put space between us, then without stretching my arm, pointed to another shelf behind him. "If it's alright, I'd rather have a can of those raviolis. I haven't been getting enough fat in my diet."

His head tilted back as he reached behind him and grabbed it, then inspected the nutritional guidelines printed on the label. "You know a lot about that then? What the body needs to stay healthy?"

"I don't know about healthy." I took it from him as he held it out. "But I know what it needs to keep from shutting down." I wanted to pop the top and eat them cold, but I knew that waiting to heat them up would be well worth it. A hot and hearty meal. The feeling of being truly full and content.

He hummed, back to studying me like I had a treasure hidden behind my back. "Let's get that warmed up, and you can tell me a bit more about it while you eat."