Civilization

Chapter 3-3

When Annie Cooper opened her eyes, she quickly looked around and saw no transport pod.

“What happened to the transport pod?” she asked with a touch of panic in her voice.

“Magic,” Murdock said with a little chuckle as he turned to lead the way toward his home.

The pair walked for, what seemed to Annie, a long time before Murdock turned toward the stream. They were already well past being seen from the transport pod. Annie had no idea where they were or what direction they were traveling. Murdock stopped at the stream to refill his waterskin and drink his fill. When he was finished, he offered the waterskin to Annie and she drank heavily as well. When she finished, she handed the waterskin back to Murdock who promptly refilled it.

“Hungry?” Murdock asked offering her some smoked venison in his open hand. Not knowing what it was, Annie gingerly picked out a piece and took a small sample bite.

“That’s pretty good,” she said with relish. “What is it?”

“Smoked venison,” Murdock said as he popped a piece into his mouth and started chewing it. “It’s good for traveling or when you just want a little something,” Murdock said while chewing.

“It’s quite good,” Annie said while chewing. Obviously, table manners don’t apply while walking in the wild, she thought.

Murdock suddenly leaped over the stream and was heading on. Annie looked down at the stream and hesitated for a second. She saw Murdock going on without her, so she tried to leap the stream much the way she had seen Murdock do and was surprised that she managed to get across the stream without getting her feet wet. She didn’t know why. Maybe it was the exercise or the fresh air, but the leap seemed to be easier than she would have originally thought. By trotting a little, she managed to catch up to Murdock in short order.

“That was easy,” she said with pride as she caught up to him.

“You may want to stop talking when out here,” Murdock said to her quietly. “It’s wild out here and there are plenty of creatures that would like a freshly revived, weakened human for a snack. It would be best not to advertise our presence.”