Survival -Guardians of Vesturon [1] by A.M. Hargrove Read Free Book Online Page A

route. He loved the Appalachian Trail as it gave him access to virtually the entire Eastern United States.
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    Darryl Carter pulled into the town of Sylva, North Carolina, shortly before Thanksgiving. The town was small with a population of about 2400. The setting was idyllic in that it was in the heart of the Great Smoky Mountains, surrounded by majestic views. Darryl did not notice any of that. He was on a scouting mission. He was intent on looking for potential prey, a young female unaware of her surroundings. Sylva was a good place to focus on, because it had the draw of being in the mountains, which attracted all the hikers. It was also only a few miles from Western Carolina University. This was a Mecca for young females that loved the outdoors. Yes, this was going be a great place for Darryl to hunt and to accomplish more “missions.”
    He spent some time wandering around the town and hanging out at some of the coffee shops. He ventured to the university a few times just to see what kind of targets he would have. He found a couple of internet cafes where students would hang out and socialize. He was getting a very positive feeling about this place.
    One afternoon, he found himself walking along the streets of downtown Sylva when he spotted two females that matched up perfectly to the kind of game he wanted to hunt. They looked to be wholesome, not the kind of trashy city girls that wore pounds of make-up on their faces. These girls were not fancy but just plain pure; they were precisely what he wanted.
    He followed them from one store to another and decided he’d sit and wait for them to come out. He didn’t figure they’d notice him because they’d been busy chatting to each other. Darryl never could quite figure out how women could talk so much; sometimes, he wished they’d just keep their mouths shut. After he watched these two for a spell, he decided it was time to start tracking them.
    Suddenly, Darryl felt like someone was watching him. That one girl with the blond hair started looking his way. He should have kept his distance, but he didn’t figure they’d see him follow them. He was wrong. Damn . They kept walking and headed straight for the police station. It was time to hightail it out of town. He would have to change his plans and head up to the mountains and hide out for a while. Darryl didn’t mind that. He was a patient man, and being patient always awarded him a better prize.
    Darryl wasted no time in getting back to his car and drove straight up to the park on US-441. When he got to the Oconoluftee Ranger Station, he turned right and parked his car in an obscure spot on a rarely used forest service road. He got out, went to the back of the car and removed his license plate. He didn’t need to worry about the car’s VIN; he had scratched that out a long time ago. He grabbed his registration from inside the car, and then he retrieved all of his gear. This included a backpack filled with his survival tools, food and sleeping bag. It also held a small camp stove with a tiny tank of propane, some water purification tablets, a headlamp, a good length of rope, matches, and all of his ammunition, including six loaded clips for his 10 mm semi-automatic Glock and twelve aluminum broad head arrows for his crossbow.
    He put on his camo pants and made sure his holster was in place. Next came his jacket, then a black hat pulled down low on his head, and finally, his pack. Darryl made sure his water bottles were full, slung his crossbow over his shoulder, and took off up the mountain.
    He was feeling a little down because he had built up his hopes for those good looking girls he saw back in town. He figured he would have to put that on hold for the time being and focus on the woods. With any luck, he would find something that interested him. He was getting itchy for a good hunt, and he knew this time of year could put a real damper on things. He’d just have to be patient.
    If things got too bad, he