Chapter 30

“Robert, we need to talk.” I said, way more calmly than I felt. I was armed and he wasn’t, but who knows what other things a guy can do if he can make himself invisible. “That’s a hell of a Skill, can you teach it to me?” I asked to the empty space around me.

The pause was lengthy. I can only imagine what he was thinking, totally disarmed and facing an armed and armoured man standing between him and the escape route.

“Yes, I know you’re there. More importantly there are others who can do the same. I just want to trade information for information.” I called out.

Minutes passed and I was beginning to think that I should just strip out the rest of his stuff and jump out of here, when he appeared: out of attack range just ahead and to the side of me.

I’d planned not to startle, but the human mind is really not prepared for a threat to suddenly pop-up from nowhere. Far away, sure. From the side, OK, but looking directly at some open grassland in front of the forest and then having a guy simply appear in front of you will pause your brain a moment. My knife and shield were in my hands in an instant, my armour followed half a heartbeat later.

When I look back on it, I’m kinda impressed that I managed to utter: “Robert Vittorini, I presume?”

Robert was about my height (bit taller, of course), with plain hair and a scraggly 10-day beard. His backpack looked like it had a thousand miles on it and so did his boots. I slowly reached into my side pocket and pulled out a breakfast bar, lobbing it to him. Robert caught it silently, glanced at it then moved his backpack to the front of himself and rifled through it for a few moments, finding what he was looking for and lobbing it to me. The lump looked like some homemade jerky and I sniffed it.

If you’ve ever eaten Giant Rat (smoked Giant Rat) you might know what it was that I just assaulted my nose with. For the rest of you, imagine a used sneaker, that sat in a hot car for a week, then was pissed in by a cat ... and you’ll have an idea what it smelled like. My face must have showed my revulsion.

“It’s a lot worse than Giant Crab, but better than Giant Millipede ... or starving to death.” He said with an accent that sounded a lot like mine.

“You’re far from home Robert...” I stated, trying to appear both at ease and in control of the situation.

“I’d guess you are too. What can I do you for?” He asked politely, tearing the wrapper from his breakfast bar and taking a big bite.

“Water?” I asked, knowing just how dry those bitches were and tossing one of my water bottles to him. “What is this, anus jerky?” I joked, holding the possibly edible lump of something-or-other Rat out and away from my face.

He took a swig after opening it and listening for the telltale ‘crack’ that signified it had never been opened before.

A smile, small victories.

“How’d you know I was there?” He asked while chewing. Direct, to the point, not accusatory at all. Refreshing.

“I have a Skill. You noticed your weapons disappearing? well it’s part of the same Skill.” I paused a moment, but he just chewed and silently sipped from my water bottle. “My partner has a similar skill. The ‘depth’ ain’t the same, but the ‘range’ is ten times what mine is.” I mentioned with a bored voice, trying to appear non-threatening. “It’s your skill I want to learn about, that and your ‘set’ items.”