...fuck.

I knew I was in no shape to break camp, but giant flying carnivores were a good enough reason to try anyhow.  This still seemed far to surreal, but panicking would have to come after getting well away from here and whatever those "griffin" things were.  It took all I had to force the growing fear and confusion to the rear of my mind to be dealt with later.  Not getting eaten seemed like a better plan than breaking down anyhow.

As I loaded my pack into the bottom of the cart, I was contemplating how to get away.  There really didn't seem to be too many options due to the forest and probable return of the griffins.  The big thing was the meat.  I needed food as I was down to just a day or two, but the reaction from the creatures about eating a "pony" made me a bit wary.  It would have to be cooked and tested in small samples to make sure it wasn't poisonous.  Considering that the griffin had a good view of the game bags hanging from the tree, I didn't want to grab them at this point.  All it would do was alert whatever came after that there was someone else was here.  Considering the griffins apparently could smell blood, that would be bad.  Thankfully I had the majority of the meat loaded in the cart already.

So many things on my mind as the few contents of the blind were quickly broken down and placed into their places on the cart.  After only a handful of minutes it just left the hard part, breaking down the blind.  It wasn't hard, just a pain in the butt to assemble really.  Uprooting the dull grey stakes I had pounded into the moist ground was a simple affair.  A sharp tug on the rope attached to them and the stakes slid free of the ground.  One after another, I walked in a small circle around the blind uprooting the small spikes and tossed them over the top of the blind.  After a moment, I was left with a tangled mess of dark green paracord and the camo netting that was draped over the hide.

Knowing I could figure the tangle out later, I just stuffed it on top of my pack in the cart.  This left me with a series of mirrored panels that reminded me of a funhouse up close.  They were the secret behind how blinds like this were pretty well invisible if the hunter took their time placing the setup.  For all the complexity, all this was fairly simple to take apart.  The mirrored panels came away with little more than a tug to break them free of the nearby panels before lifting them up and away like a giant lego set.  This was the fun part on a sunny day, but in the gloom of the forest it was downright irritating.  One by one, the panels stacked into slots built into the cart.

Holy crap I look horrible.

My battered reflection met my eyes while I worked.  Up close, the mirrors revealed just how bad it could have been through the map of smooth pink burns across my face.  

So freaking lucky.  I'm stuck in Wonderland or a realistic coma.

Working as quickly as possible, this was still the longest and most stressful part of disassembling the hide.  Every few seconds I'd pause to listen and look around swearing I heard something.  Thankfully each time I was proven wrong.  Eventually, I was faced with little more than a hook studded aluminum frame with waterproof fabric stretched over it.  This was the fun and easy part.  At the top of each aluminum pole was a series of pins with a ring attached to each.  Pull the pins to unlock the frame and then push everything toward the center of the blind.  Easy. A moment later, the entire assembly was in the cart with bungee straps holding it down.

Confident that everything was snugly packed away and the rifle was cradled carefully, there was only one thing left to do.  Inwardly groaning, I lifted up on the pull bar and pushed the kickstand under the cart up with my foot.  This was going to be a long walk.   I purposely chose a long curving path toward the stream while mentally steeling myself for the cool water ahead of me.  The first step was chilling at first, but quickly only became cool as water coated my legs.  A moment later, the cart was lightly bobbing against the current behind me while I tortuously turned the damned thing to face upstream.  Hopefully with the tracks pointed downstream anything would think I took that path, instead of upstream and using the current to wash away my footsteps.

This was going to be a long afternoon. Next Chapter: 04. Cold Comfort Estimated time remaining: 35 Minutes