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IT’D BEEN WEEKS AND there was still no sign of the Producers. Jethro was glad. He liked the thought of young Producers running free through the forest. He inhaled deeply, savoring the scents of the forest—rabbit, squirrel, earth. He’d missed this. He didn’t ever want to go back to living in the suburbs and managing the Producer encampments. He should flee the Protective Services and live out here. He sniffed again, half-hoping to catch a whiff of Trinity. He’d caught her scent when they’d first set out, following the Producers’ trail away from the encampment. No one else even noticed it, but he’d recognize her scent anywhere. It’d accompanied her into his dreams every night since he’d seen her in his basement.
As soon as possible, the Producers had moved from the brush to the clearer sections of the forest, thus leaving no trail of broken branches and smashed bushes. The Guards had resorted to following the scent but that hadn’t taken them far. The smell of Producer had been all over the forest and then it’d vanished, replaced by pine and herb. He had no idea what Trinity had used to cover their odor and he wasn’t going to try and figure it out. Conguise and Jason expected him to help and he was, but he didn’t have to like it. He didn’t have to like Captain Calvin Folgrant either.
The captain was arrogant without cause. If he were the best the Almightys had to offer, Hugh and the others would never get caught. Cal had spent most of this morning droning on about how important it was to be quiet in the forest, especially when hunting. It was hard to keep a straight face when he’d catch the disgusted looks the Guards shared with each other. There was no way anything didn’t know about their approach with Cal’s constant chattering, but finally the captain had fallen silent.
“This way,” said Brick, one of the Guards. He had his head tipped back, sniffing the air. “Producer, I’m sure.”
Jethro’s nose twitched. Sure enough. It was Producer. Cal’s entire army followed Brick through the forest. He trailed a little behind the Guards, not wanting to be in the lead and give any indication that his sense of smell was better than it should be. He also didn’t want to be in the back because that was where Cal and the other Almightys were and he didn’t get along with them. They were condescending toward him and the Guards. Only the threat of being sent back to the Producer encampment had kept him from punching the sneers off their faces more times than he could count.
As they continued following the faint odor of Producer, the morning turned into late afternoon. Some of the Guards were grumbling but he didn’t care. The longer it took to catch the Producers, the longer he got to enjoy the forest and since Cal had insisted on bringing his entire troop, they weren’t going to capture anything. Even quiet, fifty Guards made noise and gave off scent. He hadn’t seen so much as a squirrel in their path.
The ripple of the command to stop filtered through the troops. He leaned back against a tree, enjoying the sun on his face. This was typical of Cal’s astute leadership. They had even less of a chance of catching anything when they weren’t moving.
The Guards parted as Cal and his second approached.
“Jethro, take four Guards and continue on. If you find something report back,” said Cal.
He pushed off from the tree. “Yes, sir.” So, Cal wasn’t stupid enough to keep hunting with an entire troop of Guards. That was a surprise.
“Take Indy, Brick and those two.” Cal pointed to two other Guards and then faced Jethro again, his lips twitching in amusement. “I expect results.” His eyes darted to his second. “Or Jason and Conguise do. I don’t expect anything from you.”
“Yes, sir.” He kept his face impassive as he turned and headed into the forest.
Cal had purposely picked the worst Guards in the group. Brick was as dumb as his name. He was big and muscular but stupid and the other two were so young that they should be home playing with toys not running around in the forest. Indy was another story. The Guard was about his age, had dark brown hair, kept his beard neatly trimmed and had brown eyes that sparkled with humor and intelligence which was Indy’s main problem. He was smart and found amusement in almost every situation, causing him to take nothing seriously.
They made their way through the woods in silence, none of them except the two, young Guards happy about this assignment. Jethro knew it was a waste of time. Whatever Producers had been in the area were long gone, warned by the approaching troop of Guards. This was sabotage on Cal’s part. When they went back into town in a few weeks, the captain could report to Jason and Conguise that Jethro had been given an opportunity to capture Producers but had failed.
“Smell that,” said Brick, grinning. “We found the scent again.”
“Yeah.” Indy turned toward Jethro. “Producer. A lot of scent but it’s old.”
He nodded. He’d realized that over ten minutes ago.
“I don’t think there’ve been any Producers around here in weeks,” said Indy.
“Are you sure?” He was positive.
“Yeah. The first scent we’d caught had been fresher. We must’ve lost it somewhere and picked up this trail.”
“Hmm.” He wasn’t sure what else to say, since he agreed. He wanted to tip back his head and inhale deeply, catch all the scents in the air, but he didn’t dare.
“We should report this to the captain,” said Indy.
“Not yet. Let’s follow the trail a little longer to see where it leads.” He was in no hurry to return to the others.
“It’s not going to lead to any Producers,” grumbled Indy.
“Humor me or do you want to go back and listen to Cal gloat?”
Indy eyes widened and a smile spread across his face. “I thought all you Almightys were best friends.”
“Hardly.” He headed into the brush.
“I’d keep that quiet, if I were you.” Indy jogged to catch up with him. “Some of these idiots are loyal to Captain Cal.”
“Good to know.” He didn’t care what Cal thought of him, but the man was going to report on his progress which would eventually decide his fate. He didn’t want to lead his own troops against Jackson, Hugh and Trinity, but he also didn’t want to run the Producer encampments. Eventually, he’d have to send Producers to the Warehouse District and he wasn’t ready for that. He needed time to figure out how to get out of both of these jobs and still keep his home.
His nose twitched. Guard. He paused, holding up his fisted hand to signal the others to stop. This scent was fresh. The Guards were close. The urge to track them down, to hunt, was strong but he didn’t want to catch them. If he were alone, he’d stalk them through the forest for the challenge, but he wasn’t alone. If he caught them, he’d have to turn them over to Cal. “Ah, it’s getting dark. We should go back. Let Cal gloat and be done with it.”
“You just said...” Indy stared at him like he was crazy.
“Come on.” He turned around. He could live with the Guard thinking he was an idiot.
“Why did you stop?” Indy looked back the way they’d been heading.
“Because I decided it was time to return.” He kept marching forward. “Now, come on.”
Brick and the others followed him.
“I’ll catch up.” Indy darted off in the direction they’d been traveling.
“Wait here,” he ordered the three Guards as he ran after Indy. The damn Guard would catch the scent soon. He skidded to a halt.
Indy stood with his finger on his lips to signal silence. The Guard pointed through the vegetation at a clearing. It was an abandoned camp. The old scent of Producer, Servant, Guard and Grunt assailed his nose. He wanted to punch Indy in his smiling mouth. This camp had to have been used by the Allied Classes. Only the AC would be this large, diverse and deep in the forest.
Indy nudged him and pointed to the far side of the camp. Three Guards sat in a circle. One was putting a rabbit on a spit over a newly started fire. The other two were taking food out of their backpacks.
There was no way they’d capture these three, especially since he wasn’t going to be very helpful. Physical work wasn’t expected of him. He was an Almighty. He signaled for Indy to circle around to the other side, but the Guard shook his head, giving him a disgusted look. Indy tapped his nose, pointed at the AC Guards and held his fisted hand up in the signal to wait. Dread filled his chest. Even Brick was smart enough to come running at the scent of fire and roasting rabbit.
He needed to do something fast or they were going to catch these Guards. “We...” He caught Indy’s wrist, stopping the Guard from covering his mouth.
Indy’s eyes widened for a second as he grabbed Jethro’s arm with his other hand and headed away from the camp. Jethro walked as loudly as he could, earning him more disgusted looks from Indy, but his efforts were wasted because the AC Guards didn’t move. He would’ve heard them if they had.
Indy stopped when they were several yards away from the camp. He dropped his hold on Jethro’s arm and studied him. “How’d you block me?”
“It wasn’t hard. You were slow.” He didn’t shout but he wasn’t quiet either.
“Shhh.” Indy glanced around and the tension around his eyes eased as Brick and the other Guards crept up to them. “Boys, we found some Guards.” He turned to Jethro. “Wait here. It’ll only take a minute.”
“No. I’m coming with you.” He’d use the opportunity to make as much noise as the average Almighty did when trying to be quiet, which was a lot.
“I’d rather you didn’t,” said Indy.
“Too bad. I’m in charge.” He almost cringed at the words. He sounded like Cal and every other asshole Almighty in the troop.
Indy rolled his eyes, but didn’t say a word as he led the way back to the camp and ordered the others to surround the area. Jethro had stomped and hit every dried twig and pile of dead leaves he could, but the AC Guards were chatting and focused on their meal. They were fools.
Jethro held his breath as one of them looked up and sniffed, but the AC Guards were upwind from them. There was nothing else he could do. His four Guards were too close now. If he made a noise, his Guards might get hurt. He couldn’t do that. He wasn’t a traitor.
In a coordinated action his Guards stepped out of the brush. The AC Guards scrambled, but it was too late. His Guards were trained in combat and had the element of surprise. In less than ten minutes, the three AC Guards were tied up in the center of the old camp.
Indy jogged over to him, a huge grin on his face. “Captain Cal isn’t going to like this.”
He didn’t either. Perhaps he could arrange to set them free on the way back to the others, maybe not all three of them, but at least one. “Ah, we need to take them back—”
“Captain Cal will want to see this camp.” Indy gave him another disgusted look. “We should be able to figure out which direction the AC headed from here.”
“Yeah, right.” Another thing he didn’t want. “Go back and get the captain.”
Indy turned to the youngest Guard. “Speck, you need—”
“No.” His voice was low and commanding. He needed Indy gone not one of the other idiots. “I said you should go.”
Indy gave him a puzzled look. “I thought we could start interrogating—”
“The captain will want to do that. Plus, you should get the credit for this.” He slapped Indy on the back. “You were the one who wanted to keep going.”
“Thanks.” Indy gave him a suspicious look.
“I’m not Cal. I believe in acknowledging good work, no matter who does it.”
“I’ve never known an Almighty like you.” Indy sent him another suspicious look before jogging into the forest.
“Brick, you and the others watch these guys.” He turned and headed into the forest.
“Sir,” called out Brick. “You shouldn’t go out there alone.”
He didn’t need this right now. He needed to hide any traces of the Allied Classes’ trail he could. “I won’t go far, but I have to take a shit.”
“Oh.” Brick chuckled. “First capture can do that to a guy.”
He slipped into the brush and headed a few yards out. He had to be far enough away that his Guards wouldn’t hear him. He raced through the forest, his feet silent in the grasses. He inhaled deeply but there were no scents, nothing but pine and herb. It didn’t make sense. If the odors had dissipated naturally, there wouldn’t have been the faint scent of Producer, Guard, Servant and Grunt all over the abandoned camp. He stopped. There were some broken leaves and branches. It wasn’t much but it was a sign. He followed the path for a little way and then snapped some twigs and tore some leaves. The sap would be stronger on the fresh breaks. A smart Guard would wonder why some of the scent was fresher, but this army didn’t have too many smart Guards. He cringed. That wasn’t fair. Most of them weren’t dumb; they just weren’t used to the forest.
He continued to circle the camp, doing his best to hide any paths. Lucky for him, the AC had done a good job of concealing their trail. The sound of the approaching army drifted to him on the wind. It was time to go back. He’d done what he could to protect Jackson and the others. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much he could do for the three Guards they’d captured, but it wasn’t all bad. Sure, the Guards would be questioned and taken into custody but he’d have a favorable report given to Conguise and Jason. He wouldn’t have to go back to the Producer Camps yet and that gave him more time to figure out a way out of this mess. The only worry was if the prisoners talked. Hopefully, Hugh’s Guards were more loyal than that.