Page 19 of The Outcast
Aubri made a sound of agreement. “Bianca was ignored when she spoke up. That’s unacceptable to me. I won’t tolerate misogyny.”
“How long do they have left?” I raised my arm to look at my wristband, but Banni was faster and answered:
“One hour and forty-three minutes.” Tapping his temple, he said, “I have a timer running.”
In three hours, the sun would be going down. “They need to get a move on.”
It took another forty minutes before two members from group B returned with two hares and some berries, bark, and pine needles they had foraged.
With their camp almost ready, three of them worked together on skinning the hares and roasting them on sticks over the fire.
“Hallelujah, I think we might actually have dinner tonight,” Banni muttered low.
“Oh shit.” The first drop of water on my forehead made me hold out my hand. Then I felt another drop of water. “I hope they know how to cook in the rain.”
Indiana chuckled low. “I’m so happy we’re sleeping in a tent and not in some moss-covered shelter. I bet they’ll have a wet and miserable night.”
Aubri shrugged. “They’re welcome to leave anytime they choose to. We’re not training sensitive princesses. I want these Explorers to be as badass as Huntsmen.”
Banni frowned. “Huntsmen are soldiers skilled at fighting. Why would Explorers need to be great fighters?”
“That’s not what I meant. If you take away the fighting from the training of a Huntsman and leave the rest, then you know what I want for these Explorers. I want them to be an elite unit with insane precision and determination. They will know everything about survival in the wild and first aid, and they’ll have incredible stamina and fitness.”
Aubri and I had been friends since childhood, and I had supported and consoled her when her childhood dream of becoming a Huntsman like her brother burst. We were both rejected when we applied to be full-time firefighters. Aubri and I both longed for a chance to show the world, but our fathers and brothers in particularly, what we were capable of.
“Most of these people look fit already,” I said.
Aubri grinned and elbowed me. “Not half as fit as they’ll be when we’re done with them.”
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CHAPTER6
Cultural Session
Banni
We were supposed to wake up the candidates at six in the morning in what Aubri referred to as military style. But when we crawled out of our tent on the first morning and walked up the hill to the two groups, we found Keith, Lilly, and Allan sitting outside by a fire.
“Good morning.” I went to sit on a log by the fire next to Lilly. “Did you sleep well?”
She was leaning forward, still in her sleeping bag, holding a stick over the flames with a piece of meat. “I hardly slept at all.”
“Because of the rain?”
“Because of fear that one of the men would do something to me in my sleep.”
I lowered my voice. “Did they?”
“No. They snored.”
“Then you have nothing to worry about. Men tend to be harmless while snoring.”
“I’ve never slept with men.” Lilly’s eyes were puffy with dark circles underneath. “Is that really normal in France?”
“Yes. I’m sure that when you get used to it, you won’t think about it at all.”
“It feels unsafe to me. If my father knew, he would shit a sheep for sure.”
