The Hunt of the innocent

The Hunt of the Innocent She held on to the fragile branch with a death's grip as the roaring water threatened to drag her away. She gasped, the bubbling swirls entering her mouth. There was no hope left... until she opened her eyes and realized how close to the shore the current was pushing her. She swam with the currant to the edge of the shore and grabbed the closet branch. She hoisted herself out of the river and laid on the grassy bank. Furthermore, she lay there for ten minutes, just letting the sun's rays dry her as best as expected. She got up and looked out towards the river. She saw the overturned canoe float by, then two of the oars floated by. Likewise, she snagged them up and set them up against a tree. She then walked a few feet into the woods and picked out a few long ferns. She may only be twelve years old, but her dad taught her a lot of survival techniques to survive the forests of the world. As she was going through the leaves and straightening them out; she thought of the times she went hunting with her dad and camping. She was an only child, so her parents shed a lot of affection on her growing up. Now, they were lost somewhere down the river or up it. She wasn't really sure where on the river she lost them. She finished with the leaves and built a small shelter with the two oars and fern leaves. Likewise, she climbed under the makeshift shelter and laid down. Not only that, but she laid there just looking up at the stars, wondering if she would ever see her parents again. She fell asleep and slept on through the night. She woke up to a stream of bright light shining in her eyes. She sat up and climbed out of her shelter. She stretched her arms out behind her and then saw something shiny in the river. She walked down to the edge of the bank to see what was floating in the river. The currant floated the shiny object towards the edge and she reached out and grabbed the object. It was her father's lighter, a Zippo with a eagle on the front. She went back to her shelter a few feet away from the river and built a small fire pit. She gathered a few small branches she found lying nearby and threw them into the pit. She then lined the bottom of the pile with dry grass and twigs and lit the fire. She made a fishing rod and cast the makeshift line in the river. She sat down and watched quietly as the river flowed steadily in front of her. After a hour, she got up and checked the line and found a small catfish on it. She gutted, filleted and cooked the fish, then ate it as she listened to the soundtrack of nature playing behind her. She could hear movement in the brush behind her and the soft sound of the river flowing in front of her. She finished up her breakfast and decided to make herself a spear out of wood and rock. She knew she was going to need more than just fish to eat. She marked each tree she passed with a piece of string from her skirt.

She hiked on for about two miles and finally found a young buck feeding from a small grass patch. She took her spear and raised it above her head as she snuck up quietly behind the young buck. She got close enough that she could plunge it into its side and followed suit. The young buck yelped out and she took her spear out and stabbed it again. The second strike killed it and she grabbed it by its hind legs and dragged it back to her camp. Her father taught her everything she needed to know about field dressing a deer. She did what he taught her and placed the meat she could eat on a stone lying nearby. She then took the fur skin and washed it off in the river. Afterwards, she hung it in a tree to dry off. She then went over and rebuilt her fire pit. She took some of the meat and cooked it. She ate those few pieces and decided to take a dip in the shallow part of the river. She hadn't showered in two days and washing in the river was the best she could do for now. She swam for about an hour and then climbed out and dried herself off. She went over to the furry skin she had Hung earlier and realized it was dry enough for her to lay it down. She laid it on top of the fern leaves inside her hut and laid down herself. She really didn't know what else to do after wrapping up the remainder of the deer meet. She laid there and watched the sun sink behind the mountain range in the west. As the night set in, she could hear the sounds of a coyote or wolf behind her. She grabbed a few sticks and lit the top on fire, then placed them around her camp. She went and laid back down and fell asleep watching the perimeter of her camp. She woke up to the sun shining it's rays down upon her; warming her from the night's brisk cold. She sat up and saw that the package of meat she had sitting next to the fire pit had been torn open. She crawled over to it and looked inside the wrapping. There was still two huge pieces of meat out of the five she had inside, untouched. She rewrapped the left over meat and stored it in a small hole just outside of her hut. She then went over to the river and checked the fishing line. No fish this morning; she took it out and recast it into the river. Just as she was about to turn around and go back to her camp; a shot rang through the air and hit a tree close to where she was standing. She dropped to the ground and covered her head. She waited a few minutes and when she realized another shot wasn't coming, she got up and ran into her hut. She covered herself with the deerskin and waited as she watched out the side. She saw a large man in camouflage come out of the tree line across the river. He was holding a long rifle and searching for what she could only assume was her. She ducked under the deerskin and continued watching. The man treaded across the river to her side. He climbed out onto the bank and sat for a few minutes before venturing into her camp. She hid herself as best she could as he investigated

the rest of her camp. He walked on into the forest behind her camp and she slowly came out from under the deerskin. She counted her blessings he didn't see her. She decided it was a good idea to pack up what she could carry and move further down the river. She figured it would be better to stay along the river since he went further into the woods. She hiked for about five miles and found a small cave along the edge of a cliff, next to the river. She decided she was far enough for the man not to find her and settled herself into the cave. It was roughly six feet high and four feet wide, yet below under the small spring of water within the cave, it seemed bottomless. She laid the deer skin down on the west side of the cave, where the rock was the smoothest and then built a small fire pit in the middle of the cave. There was a small opening in the ceiling of the cave, so she wouldn't smoke herself out. She took out one of the pieces of meat she had and cooked it over the fire. After she finished cooking and eating it, she decided to go sit outside the cave and watch the stars for a while. It was a beautiful night and she didn't want to waste it away sleeping. She was sitting there watching the night sky with all it's wonder, when she heard rustling in the leaves above the cave. She quickly got up and ran inside the cave and put out the fire. She waited quietly as she listened to what sounded like footsteps coming down from on top of the cave. Suddenly, she saw the large man from earlier that day that shot at her. He was standing there looking everywhere but the cave. She knew he couldn't see the opening of the cave without light; so she sat and watched him silently. He sat down and laid his rifle next to him on the ground. She thought this would be the perfect opportunity for her to get his gun and shoot back. Yet, she didn't have it in her to shoot him. Instead, she snuck up behind him and knocked him out with a rock. She grabbed his gun and packed up her things, then left. She hiked all night until the sun was barely coming up behind her in the east. She had pocketed a dozen bullets for the rifle and she decided to try and hunt with it. She loaded up the rifle and hiked on, stepping carefully as to not scare any potential prey away. She found a pheasant and shot it, then tied it to her pack and hiked on. She kept hiking until sundown. She approached the edge of the mountain and she decided to rest there for the night. She found herself a couple strong branches and some dry fern leaves and made a hut for herself. She climbed inside when she was done and fell asleep. She slept on through the night due to being so exhausted. She woke up to a small puppy licking her nose. It was crying and whimpering while it licked her. She woke up and pet the puppy on its head. She got up and the puppy eagerly followed her. She looked around the camp and saw a mangled heap lying by the edge of the river.

She then realized why the puppy came up to her. The mangled heap was the puppy's dead mother lying there by the river. It looked like it had been shot through the neck and some kind of other animal had feasted on her through the night. She buried the wolf as best she could and went back to her hut. The puppy was lying by her fire pit, waiting patiently for her. She named it Nala and she made a long rope out of several tree barks and fern leaves. She then made a noose at one end of the rope and put it around the puppy's neck. She tightened it just enough for her to keep control of her, but not enough to hurt her. They then hiked on through the mountain range, going west as they hiked on. They walked all day, well into the night; she wanted to put as much distance between them and the hunter following them. They got twenty miles into the mountain range and finally decided to rest for a while. The puppy was the first to plop down right where they stood. It was a good spot, she could build a fire without worrying about starting the forest on fire in this spot. They were in a small clearing in the middle of the forest that left more than enough space for her to build a good size fire. She tied Nala to a nearby tree and built a medium sized fire pit. She then laid her deerskin down and untied the puppy. Nala came over and laid down on the deerskin. She sat down next to Nala and pet her to sleep. She sat there for a while until she suddenly heard a shot come out from the darkness in front of her. Nala jumped up and began barking and growling towards the darkness. She grabbed the rifle next to her, lifted, aimed and fired into the darkness. She heard what sounded like something falling to the ground and her and Nala ran towards it. They ran several feet into the darkness before they found the large hunter, lying on the ground and bleeding from his right side. She nuged the hunter, but he didn't stir. She put the rifle around her shoulder and bent down to grab the hunter's feet. She tied him to a tree when she got back to her camp. Her and Nala sat down in front of the fire and waited for him to wake up. She knew his wound wasn't very deep and he would probably wake up in no time at all. Ten minutes later, he woke up. He struggled for about five minutes to get out of his binds and then stopped once he realized it was useless. She looked at him carefully and then asked him why he was hunting her. He sat quiet for a moment and then said she didn't need to know. She called bs and she asked him again. He shifted a little in his bonds and then let out a long deep sigh. He looked up at her and told her he was hired to kill her whole family. He told her that her dad was into some shady business deals and didn't hold up on his end of the bargain. Therefore, it was ordered by his boss to kill them all. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. As far as she knew her father was the owner of his own construction company. What could possibly be shady about that, she wondered.

She decided she didn't want the details at the moment and told him to stop hunting her. He said he couldn't because he was ordered to kill her. She told him if he continued following her and trying to hunt her; she would begin to hunt him instead. He laughed at her, what could a child possibly do to him? She shot the rifle above his head and he quieted down immediately. She told him she was leaving him there and it would be wise to leave her alone. He just said whatever and he would see her soon. With that she left him alone and walked further west into the mountain range with Nala. She didn't know how long it would take him to untie himself, but she was going to make sure she was far away when he did. Her and Nala kept hiking until the sun went down and she sat up camp. The night went on without a hitch and they woke up to a rainy morning. She put everything away and they hiked on through the mountain range until they came to a desert valley. She was guessing they were in death valley by now. She was relieved each night they rested for the next three nights, nothing bothered them. By the morning of the fourth day, they had run into the interstate that went from the mountains to the ocean coast. They followed the interstate until a young lady with a semi pulled over for them. Nala was just a puppy, so it didn't bother people for her to be with her. Just as she was about to climb in the semi truck, a shot rang out from the desert behind her and hit the lady driver in the head. She turned around and saw the hunter reloading his gun and taking aim at her. She jumped into the truck and ducked on the floor. Once the shooting stopped, she sat up and started the semi. She pushed the dead driver out the door and closed it. She then put it in gear and stepped on the clutch and gas pedals. They slowly took off, with the hunter running and shooting at the truck as she drove on. Nala kept growling and barking out the window as they drove away. Although she was scared out of her mind, she kept driving until they finally reached the entrance to los Angeles. She pulled over in the first gas station she saw and parked the semi. She got out and ran into the gas station and told the cashier what was going on. She went back to the semi and got Nala; and she felt a sharp sting in the back of her left shoulder suddenly. She got back inside the gas station and the cashier pointed out she had been shot. He quickly grabbed some gauze and patched up the wound as best he could. She sat down behind the counter until he could get the police there. In the meantime, someone was outside shooting at the gas station. They stayed ducked down behind the counter until they heard sirens. Only then did the gunshots stop. He rose up after not hearing anymore gunshots and looked out the window. He told her the cops had the man in the back of a cop car. She heard that and got up to go outside to meet with the police. She went outside and one officer by the door lead her to his car. He sat her down and she told him everything she knew.

He assured her that she was now safe and wouldn't have to worry about running anymore. A DCS worker came from the state office and took her and Nala to a group home. A few months later, the state had a trial. The man was found guilty and charged with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. It came out during the trial that he had rigged the canoe to sink on them and eventually cause the drowning of her parents. She already had presumed that, so it didn't come as a surprise when he admitted to it. She just didn't understand why he had done it. She figured she probably wouldn't until she got older; she still had a child's understanding, no matter how wise she was for her age. The court put her with her aunt and uncle in los Angeles, while the hunter was sentenced the death penalty. All she knew was that when the day of his execution came, she would be sure to be there. © Mindy sleeper