You don't always see danger coming but sometimes you feel it watching and by the time you understand what's out there…it's already too close. The ground was wrong. Jasper knew it the second his boot pressed into it which was very intentional. They were all tired and hungry haven't been shaken from the ridge escape and focused on staying upright and not reading the world beneath them. Jasper slowed down enough to confirm it, he realized that they were not in the wild anymore but in someone else's space. The group members felt it too through their instinct because everything was dead quiet, no distant wind or insects was noticed. Stacy stepped closer to Jasper and asked.
"You feel that too?"
And Jasper nodded once
"Yeah."
Immediately the others tightened formation because something deeper than thought was telling them that the place was wrong. And then the fire sign appeared like a marking on a rock which was faintly carved but sharp and recent
"What is that?" Someone asked
"Territory." Jasper answered
One of the survivors from earlier spoke with his voice shaking.
"Raiders…"
That was a different kind of threat because raiders were brutal, very organized and quite unpredictable
Stan Looked around and said.
"We should move. Now."
Jasper shake ms his head slightly and said
"We already moved."
"What does that mean?" Stan asked
"It means they already saw us." He answered
Because that possibility is worse than being chased and it also meant they they were allowed in. As more signs emerged with broken branches and stacked stones and subtle pattern in the ground.
"They're signaling each other" Stacy said
"Tracking movement." Jasper nodded
Haven been know that they were not escaping but being watched, their steps were being watched and hunger made it worse as their focus slipped. Jasper stopped.
"We don't keep walking blindly." He said
"We can't stay here!"
"We're in their zone!" Someone snapped from the group.
"Exactly." He nodded
They all came to realize something very crucial at that moment that running blindly deep met might be exactly what the raider wante
"We observe." Jasper concluded.
"We don't have time for that!"
"We're starving!" Stan added
"Then you're already dead."
The statement hitted differently and directly because that was the fact.
"Then show us." Stacy siad
Jasper moved immediately to higher ground and signaled for them to stay back. He watched as minutes passed painfully slow and then he saw movements far out which were barely visible. They were three to four figures patrolling. Jasper tracked their routes and timing and then he saw something was that they were not alone either, they had a hidden stationary with layered surveillance. As Jasper returned to the group he said to everyone
"They're not just guarding this place."
"They're controlling it."
"How many?" Stan asked quietly
"Enough." He replied
"We can't fight that…"
Because fighting isn't the answer.
"We don't fight," he said
"We disappear."
"How?" Stacy asksed
Jasper pointed to the Terrain
"Patterns go both ways."
Nobody understood what he was saying so he explained fast.
"They expect movement along certain paths."
"They watch open areas."
"They track noise." He said
And then he took a good look at all of them
"So we do none of that." He concluded.
The plan was very risky but a smart one, so they moved again differently and minutes passed by and there was no detection and for an moment it felt like it was working and then a sound came from within, one of the weaker survivor breathed heavily and Jasper understood that they were about to break and that meant death for everyone. He moved very fast and covered his mouth and the group froze watching and waiting because if the made any noise it's over. As seconds starched too long, another sound came through but not from them. It wa a voice from ahead.
"You're not as quiet as you think."
Every muscle in the group locked and they turned slowly and there he was standing in the open armed and relaxed watching them like he's been there the whole time. He was not surprised or threatened, he was just expecting them. The man tilted his head slightly, almost amused.
"You made it further than most." He smiled faintly.
"That makes you interesting." He said.
Jasper's eyes narrowed because in that moment he realized the most dangerous truth yet: They weren't trying to avoid the raiders…They had just walked straight into their selection process.