The Participants by Brian Blose Page A

thing I've ever observed,” Hess
said.
    Elza held out her hand. “What did you
buy?”
    “Not a tent. Those things cost an entire
woman this far north.”
    “You don't have a woman to trade.”
    “A lot of the people we meet think
otherwise.”
    “What did you buy?”
    “Nothing.”
    “That will make a wonderful dinner tonight.
Or perhaps we will eat those skins you insist we carry
everywhere.”
    Hess shrugged. “He offered a bundle of
apples for a deer pelt. We need the material to build a tent.”
    “D o you intend to starve to death?”
    “We're going to set up camp for a few days
so we can hunt,” Hess said.
    “So I have to spend all night making traps?”
    “I thought we might try something different
this time. I want you to come with me. You can have one of my extra
spears.”
    Elza raised a brow. “You say I scare away
the animals when I go with you.”
    “Animals are a lot like men. Too much
talking keeps them away.”
    “And they both smell,” Elza added.
    Hess stopped walking and pulled his three
spears free of his pack. The things broke faster than the
fire-hardened variety used by settled tribes, but otherwise served
them well. He selected one and handed it to her. Elza hefted it
overhand.
    “No, no, no,” Hess said. He dropped
everything to the ground except one spear and demonstrated the
proper stance. Elza mimicked him as best she could. When he shook
his head, she fixed him with a warning look. “What am I doing
wrong?”
    Hess put his last spear down. “Try
again.”
    She bent slightly at the knees and lifted
the spear up to her ear. Hess stepped close and placed one hand on
her shoulder. “Lean forward.” His other hand touched the hip
closest him. “Center yourself.”
    “I'm not very good at this,” she said.
    The breath of his laugh tickled her cheek.
“It might take some time.”
    “I suppose I'm not getting any older,” she said.

Chapter 17 – Zack / Iteration 144
    Zack looked every direction as he turned from
route 356 into the plaza's back entrance. None of the cars appeared
occupied as he passed them. His heart beat out a steady rhythm.
Zack drove slowly around the outer perimeter of the parking lot,
then parked close to the entrance of the grocery store.
    I'm ten minutes early.
Maybe they're not here yet. Zack kept the
truck running in case he needed to escape fast. As the minutes
ticked by, he imagined the various ways the Observers could best
him. Well, they could taze me and drag me
away before anyone objected. They could show up dressed like cops
and shoot me. They could call the real cops on me, then wait for me
to be released from questioning. They could release Lacey in bad
condition and ambush me at the hospital.
    At ten o'clock, Zack tensed
when a man approached his truck. I should
have stopped to buy a weapon. Even a knife would be better than
nothing. The man unlocked the door of a
car parked next to Zack's borrowed truck, got inside, and drove
away. Zack glanced to the clock. It was a minute past
ten.
    Zack twisted around in his
seat, looking in every direction. The only people he saw were
carrying bags of groceries to their vehicles. None of them looked
suspicious. He sank back into his seat and glanced at the clock. It
was five after. They're not releasing
Lacey. They just wanted me to come back.
    He threw the truck into drive. There were
five of them. It was probably safe to assume that one of them would
still be at the farm watching Lacey. The man called Ingrid had
released him without revealing himself. That left only three of
them to worry about.
    I don't know the first
thing about espionage , Zack thought. He
slowly circled the lot a final time and moved to the back entrance,
expecting someone to pull out and block him. His truck returned to
route 356 without incident. Zack watched his rearview mirror as he
drove, but no one followed him.
    He decided his course on the fly. He would
return to the trailer park, pack a bag, and get lost. The