They heard the camp before they saw it. When they finally saw it, Will wished they hadn't.
Will led them through the trees, following Khan's silent adjustments. They found a vantage point on a shelf of foundation stone swallowed by moss—elevated enough to see, dense enough to hide in.
Five men.
Maddie dropped into a crouch next to Will. "Tell me I'm seeing things," she whispered. "Look at their belts."
Will already was. "Real blades. Not Tutorial scrap."
Allison slid up on his other side. "It's not just the blades. Look at the archer. Those arrows are uniform. Machine-fletched. And the guy on the left has a fully stocked trauma kit."
"They didn't scavenge any of that," Maddie said. "They unpacked it."
Will looked at his own gear: two Tutorial rations, a folding knife, and a rusted pipe. "How?" he asked quietly.
The same way kings have always been prepared while peasants scramble, Khan rumbled in his mind. Someone knew this was coming. Someone has known for a long time.
Will concentrated, pushing his [Predator's Instinct] toward the camp leader. He just wanted a level. A threat assessment. Anything.
The blue interface flickered, glitched, and spat out a single line of red text.
[Target Level Exceeds Observation Threshold]
Will winced.
"What are you squinting at?" Maddie whispered.
"Trying to see if the System will give me a read on them."
"And?" Allison asked.
"It told me to mind my own business." Will rubbed his temples. "They're too high-level. Or they have gear that blocks it."
Of course they do, Khan said. You do not wear armor like that and leave your status open to any peasant peering through the bushes. Stop staring at him before he feels it.
People can feel you looking at their stats?
The dangerous ones can.
Will blinked and quickly looked away from the leader. "Okay, so we can't stat-check them. We assume they can kill us in five seconds flat."
"I was already assuming that," Maddie said dryly. "Nice of the System to confirm."
Will shifted his gaze past the armed men, taking in the rest of the clearing.
"Oh, god," Allison breathed.
The captives were mostly women, with a handful of children pressed close to their mothers. They sat in a tight cluster on the dirt.
"They aren't even testing the edges of the camp," Maddie observed. "They already know what happens if they try."
"Look at the men," Will said.
Four men were hooked to a picket line. Real steel chains. They wore heavy harnesses across their chests, loaded down with modern gear. The guards were using them as pack animals.
"You don't just find chains like that in the woods," Maddie whispered. "You bring them because you're planning to fill them."
Recognize what you are seeing, Khan said quietly. This is not chaos. This is a harvest.
Will pointed to the man standing slightly apart from the rest. Mid-thirties, gear perfectly maintained, no decorative scrap. "The guy in charge. He's not doing this for fun."
Down in the camp, one of the chained men stumbled under his load. The leader didn't raise his voice or draw a weapon. He just looked at the nearest guard and nodded. The guard stepped up and delivered a swift kick to the man's ribs.
Allison flinched. Will memorized the leader's face.
A lieutenant, Khan noted. Competent. Following orders he believes in. More dangerous than a man acting on his own, because he carries the weight of something larger behind him.
Will signaled the group back with one hand. Slow. Quiet.
They retreated twenty meters to a natural hollow in the treeline.
As they settled into the brush, Don shifted his weight nervously. His boot came down hard on a dry piece of deadwood. The crack echoed like a gunshot.
Will's heart spiked. He looked toward the camp.
At that exact millisecond, a rusted billboard a quarter-mile down the hill finally lost its hundred-thousand-year battle with gravity. It collapsed into the canopy with a metallic roar that shook the basin.
Down in the camp, the guards drew their weapons and spun toward the distant avalanche of metal, completely ignoring the hollow.
Maddie stared at the dust rising in the distance, then looked slowly back at Will.
"Did you do that?" she whispered.
"I didn't touch anything," Will said.
I am beginning to hate your stat sheet, Khan muttered.
It took a full minute for the adrenaline to bleed out of the hollow.
Then Curtis spoke up.
"Okay, look," Curtis said, his voice measured. "We don't know the whole layout. Don and I can stay here, keep eyes on the camp, track their movement patterns. Will, you take Maddie and Allison, find a route around the far side. We meet back here in ten minutes."
Maddie stared at him. "You want to split up. With an armed kidnapping ring fifty yards away."
"It splits the risk," Curtis argued smoothly. "We gather more intel. Plus, it keeps you and Allison out of their direct line of sight if they push patrols out."
The logic was solid. It also conveniently put Curtis out of Will's sight for ten minutes.
Will thought about the whispering on the trail. He looked at Curtis's perfectly calm face, then shifted his gaze to Don.
Don wouldn't meet his eyes. "Are you sure, Curt?" Don muttered.
Curtis didn't look at his brother. "It's the smart play."
Maddie opened her mouth to refuse.
Will caught her eye and nodded. "Great idea," he said.
Maddie closed her mouth. She shot Will a look that could have melted lead.
They split.
The moment they were far enough into the trees, Maddie rounded on him. "Why did you agree to that?" she demanded.
Khan, Will thought. Why did I agree to that?
Don't ask me, Khan replied. Watch.
Watch what?
Let's see exactly how lucky you are, boy.