Ryan waited in the car outside Mark’s house, adjusting the radio and looking around at the neighborhood. He felt out of place here, it was too clean and each house looked like every other house to him. It made him wonder if he was in a horror flick.

Ryan held out the file to Mark as the other climbed into the passenger seat then started the engine.

"It's a girl"

"How do you figure? It's the tits right, the tits gave it away?" Ryan smirked as the car went into motion.

"I don't hunt girls."

"That's a dumb rule. Some of the best hunts are with girls, they're nimble."

"Knock yourself out." Mark said closing the file.

"She's scheduled for after lunch so at least she's going to have a full stomach, that's a good thing right?"

"You're all heart." Mark settled back into the seat and made himself comfortable for the long drive.

Ryan continued to talk, though mostly to himself as Mark blocked him out, "Rachel Boseman. How come Indians don't have any real Indian names anymore? Just once I'd like to go after a Kicking-Tree or Crazy Horse. Doesn't Crazy Horse sound like someone that would be a challenge?"

Rachel's house was full of activity as the adults moved about cleaning while the kids raced around messing it up again. Her mother, Grace, was in the kitchen scrubbing thirty year old glass jars so they could be boiled over a fire for sterility; two of Rachel's aunts help her by stacking them. In the living room Rachel darted around with her teen cousins and several preteens playing tag.

Rachel was quick but not as quick as the others, and started to admit to herself that she would run out of energy long before they did.

"I got you, you punk." Rachel jumped over the twenty-year-old couch trying to grab Patrick, the five-year-old lightning bolt. Her fingers just missed him as the giggling kid raced for the corner of the room.

"I saw that." Grace said as she came to the door, her short heavy frame filling the opening.

"Saw what?" Rachel stood up straight with her hands behind her back as she tried to look innocent. The younger of the kids mimicked her.

"Yeah, I'm watching you, woman." Grace pointed at Rachel, who just smiled.

"Aunty, someone's here," Yelled Junior. The nine year old was looking out the window.,

"Oh yeah, who's that?" Grace said as she went to check, "Someone wants my Salmon, eh? No one’s getting that."

Rachel grabbed Patrick and tickled him, which sent the kid into a giggle fit.

"Rachel, take the kids into the room." Grace said in a panic as she stared out the window. Rachel stood up straight to see the two men coming up the front lawn. "Rachel, take them now."

"Mom, no." Rachel said, her voice calm.

"Do it now." Grace looked at Rachel, not used to being defied when it counted but paused when she saw the resigned look Rachel gave her.

"Mom..." Rachel shook her head slightly.

Grace’s face dropped and she mouthed the word 'No.' The Aunts started moving quickly and grabbed the little ones. They headed for the bedrooms. The mood of the room not lost on them as they started crying.

Grace’s breathing quickened as she stepped toward Rachel. "What did you do? What did you do, my girl?"

"I said no."

Grace started to say something but jolted at the sound of Ryan knocking on the door. Grace began crying and the door was knocked on again.

Rachel took in a breath and walked to the door. She put her hand on the handle and waited.

Grace wiped her face down, then nodded as Rachel opened the door to Ryan and Mark.

"Ms. Boseman, we're from the Department of Indian Control. Would you be so kind as to present us with your Status Tag?" Ryan stated.

"Please don't, please wait for her father. Her father will be here soon." Grace moved toward the door but Ryan held his hand up causing her to stop.

Rachel handed her tag over to Ryan who scanned it before handing it back.

"Mr. Conner, can you please confirm that Ms. Boseman identified herself and is of status?"

"I concur." Mark said, listening to the sounds of crying kids coming from somewhere in the house. This was why the two women were calm instead of running or attacking. Ryan didn't even have to hint, fear for the others would make them behave.

"Ms. Boseman, I ask that you come quietly and make this easier on everybody." Ryan stared at her, trying to read her.

"Her father is just up the road." Grace pleaded softly.

"I won't run." Rachel added.

Rachel spent the drive to the hunting grounds in a daze, her blood pumped full of adrenaline but she was working hard not to give them the satisfaction of her fear. She repeated silently to herself 'He'll come for me, he'll come for me...'

"Oh come on, what's this?" Mark said from the passenger seat, it brought Rachel out of her own head to look forward. She didn't realize that they were there already and it filled her with more dread.

"Lay off." Ryan said. He pulled the car up next to a two hundred thousand dollar red sports car with its trunk open. Charley leaned on the back with a Smith and Wesson M&P 15T Automatic rifle. To his right was Tanya in daisy dukes and a t-shirt tucked in. She was only eighteen years old and looked out of place next to Charley at fifty. She was also in shape with large boobs while he was more than thirty pounds over weight.

"What the hell is that rifle?" Mark asked.

"They're out from Toronto. She just turned eighteen and for her birthday Daddy bought her an Indian."

Ryan said in awe, "That's his daughter?"

"I doubt it."

Ryan chuckled and shut the engine off.

Rachel watched the two white people waiting for her as Mark and Ryan climbed out of the car. The two Indian Agents moved to the other folks and shook hands, chatting up front about the weather or whatever passed for small talk. At this point Rachel didn't care.

That's when Rachel noticed Damien by the red car staring at her, dressed almost the same as the other two agents but immature. Damien smirked and then turned his attention to the group.

She looked to the back of the seat in front of her and softly talked to herself. "I can't do this, I can't do this."

Tanya banged on the window startling Rachel, who looked over at the blonde looking in at her.

"Hey..." Tanya said. "I love your hair."

Rachel walked several feet in front of Mark as they moved through the forest and she wondered if this was the route they took Jacob on his day.

"Up here's good." Mark indicated. Rachel stopped to see where he meant and moved to two trees next to each other. "Have a seat, bring your knees up and it'll help with the nausea."

"I'm not nauseous." Rachel considered it and except for her heart beating faster than normal she was holding herself together. She put her hand on the tree and went about slowing her breathing down.

"Deep breaths, hold it in for three seconds and then let it out." Mark said but stopped when she gave him a look.

"I know what I'm doing." She said. He shrugged and leaned on his usual tree. "Why are you doing this?"

Mark slid down and pulled out his gum, going about putting the piece in his mouth.

"I asked you a question." She said.

"And I'm choosing to ignore it."

"You owe me an answer."

"I don't. This isn't the first conversation I've had that starts like this. I know where it goes and I know what gets said. And then I watch you plead with me, so I'm stopping it before it starts." Mark said and held the pack toward her.

"Wow, I'm sorry," Rachel emphasized, "I didn't know life was so hard for you. I apologize. You shouldn't be put through something so inhuman as having to listen to the people you're carting off to die. Can you forgive me? And can you do it quickly cause I'm running short on time...you fucking coward."

Mark stared at her. "Ok, I haven't heard that before."

"You should have to listen to everybody you bring out here, and you should keep your mouth shut while they do it. Stopping them ‘cause you can't handle what they have to say makes you a pussy. You want to stop me, fine, shoot me. Otherwise shut the fuck up." She finished and sat back against the tree.

"I'm sorry."

"Not sorry enough." Rachel leaned her head back against the tree. She watched Mark nod. "Is this where you brought Jacob?"

Mark didn't want to go this route. "Yes."

"What about him? Did he beg? Did you let him?" She asked.

"No." Mark smiled thinking on it, "No, he did good out here."

Rachel studied Mark and then laughed. Mark tilted his head and watched her.

"You liar." She accused.

"Why would I lie?"

"I've known Jacob since we were both babies. He probably still slept with a candle lit all night. That guy was scared of the dark. Scared of everything in it." Rachel chuckled.

Mark spit his gum out to the side. "No, he didn't handle it well."

"Yeah, doesn't get any darker than dead." Rachel stopped laughing. "He was still a good guy. And you killed him. Why do you do it?"

Mark didn't know how to answer her, not honestly anyway. The truth, far as he could figure, was for the security the money brought him, the lifestyle that he was used to now and wanted to continue. He and his wife had a certain level of privilege afforded to them based on the subjugation of the native people. It was only in the last few years after it progressed to its logical conclusion that it wasn't sitting well with him. If he were to be honest with her, and himself, he would prefer to go back to the world when he could easily justify white privilege to himself by ignoring them. That was hard to do when they challenged you on their way to die.

The phone rang. Neither of them reacted to it.

"You better get that." Rachel said.

Mark reached into his pocket and brought the phone to his ear, he listened for a moment and then put it back in his pocket. The two locked eyes for a moment, both knew breaking this moment brought on the unthinkable.

"Don't run. Everybody runs and there are only two places to go. Both make you a clear target." Mark said as a matter of fact, and then put some empathy into the next part. "Find a place to hide, wait out the two hours."

Rachel waited for it to sink in and climbed to her feet. She gave him one last look of contempt before turning to leave. She walked off into the trees as Mark watched.

Damien felt like he was the kid people left in their cars at the mall, sitting in his vehicle flicking the window button on the door as he waited.

He liked that Tanya girl and she had him wondering what it would be like to be with a white girl. Could it be that different than being with an Indian? Would it be that different to be with a girl that wanted to be there?

The computer screen lit up switching automatically to the map program, the word 'searching...' on top before it settled on two arrows; the blue one represented Damien's car while the other was Ryan's. There was a white dot half a kilometer from those two representing an unauthorized electronic device.

Damien sat up to zoom in to get the reading; it was low wattage. Someone had a phone or similar sized device.

Damien hit the switch to bring up Ryan and Mark’s GPS signatures neither were near the third item. He smiled. There was another party out here and he decided that this was his chance to partake.

Damien stepped out and walked toward the forest.

Rachel moved through the trees at a steady pace, her hands were together as she nervously fiddled with her fingers. Repeating to herself, "He's coming for me, he would know, and he'll come for me."

She came to the edge of the trees and stopped to look out at the vast fields with knee high wild grass. It was three kilometers uphill before the inch thick trees headed off to the valley. If she ran as fast as she could it would still take her twenty to thirty minutes to reach the other side. She wouldn't be able to do it though, she knew she didn't have the endurance even if she was running for her life.

A sound caused Rachel to come out of her head as she glanced off into the forest, the trees here were far enough apart to see a good distance but there's bush up to her waist and shadows.

She saw movement at first, from further up the lines of tree, a form of sorts followed by the sound of the first shot. The bullet whizzed past her more than ten feet off, she still winced and backed up a few feet before she moved back into the safety of the trees.

Rachel started running hard through the trees trying to put as much distance between herself and the shooter.

She slowed down and then came to a stop when she came to the edge of the forest on this side; the ground dropped six feet into the Tait River; fast moving and two football fields wide before hitting the other side.

Her lungs emptied out of fear.