𝖘𝖍𝖔𝖔𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖘 || 𝘥. 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳

𝟎𝟎𝟖 ⌖ kill it with fire

Her eye twitched at the jab. "We're just trying to help, sir. The more the merrier, right?"

"If you say so," Roy grumbled, shouldering his own rifle.

They set off into the woods shortly after that. Roy took the lead with a sort of arrogant stiffness that seemed to offend Dean on a primal level. It didn't take him more than an hour of trudging through the woods before he decided to challenge the guide.

"So, Roy," Dean said as they waded through the thicket, keeping close pace with Fitz. "You said you did a little hunting."

"Yeah, more than a little," the older man said tartly, making note of a broken tree stump as they passed it by.

Fitz took a long stride and got in front of Dean as if she could sense a fight brewing. Her break action sat open at her hip, a loaded shell in each barrel: one silver, one salt. Dean found that her revolver was strangely absent, and wondered if his snide comment from yesterday had convinced her to leave it behind.

He ignored the idea and took another big step, leaning in front of Fitz, now in the lead again. "What kind of furry critters do you hunt, Roy?"

The guide didn't miss a beat, slowing the pace to survey the area. "Mostly buck, sometimes bear."

Dean stifled a snicker and took Roy's sudden lethargy as a chance to take charge. He sped up and grinned. "Tell me, uh... Bambi or Yogi ever hunt you ba—ghk!"

Fitz yanked him backwards by the handle of his backpack. He stumbled and nearly broke his neck turning to face her, accusations written all over his face. She maintained eye contact with him as she lifted a stick with the toe of her boot and tossed it a few inches forward.

A bear trap snapped it clean in half, and Dean winced.

"You're right," Roy said, adjusting one of his backpack straps with a sneer. "She is taking it seriously enough for the three of you."

With that, he surged forward again, and Fitz let Dean go with a sigh. He made a show of stepping over the bear trap. "I saw it, you know."

She shrugged in response and kept going. After that, Dean made no other attempts to get out in front of her, lest she be the one to take his foot off. At some point, their hours of silence broke as Dean and Hailey started to lag behind. The Collins girl voiced her suspicions as to their real reason for joining this motley crew. Fitz didn't attempt to engage, but she caught the tail end of their conversation.

"Sam and I are brothers. We're looking for our father. He might be here... we don't know."

"And what about... Fitz?"

A pause. "She's like Roy. A trail guide. Doesn't matter... I just figured that you and me..."

Fitz turned the rest of it out, breaking into a jog to catch up with Roy. He acknowledged her with a curt nod and then set his eyes back on the trail. "Is your name really Fitz?" He paused to reconsider his question. "It's just... it's a bit silly."

"Everyone calls me Fitz," she said, unzipping her windbreaker and tying it around her waist, nimbly stepping over a gnarled root stuck six inches in the air. "Watch your step," she called back. Dean and Sam jerked to attention and then kept their eyes on the ground beneath them.