?Chapter 47

  New Opportunities

  ?

  Dan shook his head as Jimmy strolled out of the rocky hills.

  “Yo? What was all that about?”

  “I can see it.” The Archer just stared at the river, eyes red and raw.

  The bearded man stared at his friend.

  “I’m going to need more words here, Jimbo.”

  The lean man looked from the river, to Dan and back, “Can you not see it flowing?”

  “...Yeah.. water flows… are you feeling okay buddy?”

  Jimmy let out a sharp bark of laughter.

  “No, not the water itself, what is in the water itself.”

  Dan threw his hand up in surrender,

  “I don't know man, fish? I'm tired, we still have meat if you’re hungry.”

  Jimmy took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes with exasperation.

  “The Qi. It Flows. Coming deep from within the mountains. I saw it. Look.”

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  Dan’s beard shifted in the breeze as his face scrunched up in confusion.

  He relaxed with a puff of air, “Dunno Jimbo, I can't see shit.”

  Jimmy shook his head as he put his glasses back on, looking around at the activity.

  Chris and Kim sat in cultivation.

  His eyes flared with light.

  Chris’ Downhill Stream Feed is violent.

  An accelerating current of energy, like pressurized air being fed into a furnace, hanging in delicate balance.

  I can feel the heat from here.

  Can smell the singed hair in the air.

  The difference in Kim’s technique is profound.

  A deep, quiet lake.

  Inexorable, methodical, drawing in everything that falls within reach.

  Definitely not meant for speed.

  Feels like a storm front moving in.

  Water droplets hung in the air, glistening.

  Loyal pooch lying next to her, looking damp and annoyed.

  He met Luna’s eyes and chuckled.

  Her paint-brush tail twitched in response

  He noticed the bodies stacked at the tree line, trash picked up, George reinforcing the fortifications.

  He pulled out of his focus, sound slowly returning to the world.

  His frames felt like lead weights on his face.

  Behind the lenses, his vision pulsed in time with his heartbeat.

  A rhythmic throb of white-hot data that made the physical world feel thin and fragile.

  “-just going to keep ignoring me huh?”

  Jimmy looked to his friend, “No, Dan. We are moving.”

  “What? Why? You want to drag everyone into the mountains because you saw some glowy water?” Dan scratched his shiny head. He looked at the rest of the group.

  Dirty, moving slowly, eyes tired and sunken.

  His father winced as he stooped to grab a rock.

  “That's tough ground. Chris with his leg, my dad, your mom. It won't be easy man. What's wrong with this?” He gestured around at the half salvaged camp.

  He is still thinking small.

  “There is power in those hills. We are taking it.”

  Jimmy’s head snapped northwest.

  “We are in a race. We do not know the finish line, or who we are competing against."

  He pointed at a distant peak.

  “I did find a short-cut, but we should hurry.”

  “Or something will beat us to it.”