Tales of the Wastelander Ch. 54 - Teaser (Patreon)

“There you are.”

She knelt beside a familiar cluster of broad-leafed shrubs, spotting another patch of those berries she, Chelsea, and Markie had when they first started traveling with Zahn. Each one nearly the size of a small plum, their deep blue-purple skins glistening beneath beads of morning dew. She picked one carefully, and the skin yielded ever so slightly beneath gentle pressure.

Bringing it close, she inhaled the sweet and fresh fragrance she remembered, and it was exactly the rich scent she’d hoped for. One cautious bite confirmed they were ripe and juicy, as she had hoped. They were bursting with sweetness balanced by just enough tartness to keep it refreshing.

“Oh… everyone’s going to love these,” Samara laughed softly.

Within minutes she’d gathered as many as she could comfortably carry by folding the front of her overshirt into a makeshift pouch. The harvest nearly overflowed, which was good enough for her. Turning back toward camp, Samara smiled to herself as breakfast had just become considerably more interesting.

And for the first time that morning, her thoughts weren’t consumed by difficult conversations waiting somewhere in the future. For now, there were friends to feed, and that was enough.

Samara returned to camp, holding the bundled fabric against her stomach with both hands while carefully picking her way through the last stretch of undergrowth. The arrangement wasn’t particularly dignified, and she had to walk with the slightly awkward gait of someone carrying something considerably more precious than it actually was.

But she didn’t care, as the smell alone made it worthwhile. Sweetness rose from the pile with every step, rich enough that she had already eaten another two on the way back despite telling herself that she would wait for breakfast. Smoke curled lazily through the trees ahead, which told her that everyone else had woken up.

By the time she emerged into their campsite, Rayleena and Zahn were already awake. Solena was helping her mother coax the cooking fire back into something useful while Rylan was stretching beside the cart. Chelsea was sitting on her bedroll, looking as though she had only recently remembered that consciousness was something expected of her in the morning.

Khara was doing considerably better, though she still looked wrecked, as she wasn’t used to sleeping on the road just yet. Zahn looked up from where he was checking one of Shadow’s harness straps. Then his eyes settled upon Samara’s improvised bounty and his hands stopped.

“Where did you find those?”

“Good morning to you too,” Samara grinned.

“I am serious,” Zahn breathed, his voice sounding almost reverent. That caught Rayleena’s attention, as she turned from the fire, wiped her hands against her skirts and stared.

“What?” Samara asked, looking between them.

“Where did you find those?” Rayleena asked as she got to her feet.

“That is exactly what I asked,” Zahn stated.

“Are these secretly sacred or something? Because I already ate a few, so if I’m about to get executed, I’d appreciate breakfast first,” Samara joked, glancing down at the berries. Chelsea finally looked over, and whatever sleep remained on her face disappeared.

“Holy shit,” she gasped, those words catching Khara’s attention as well.

“Oh.”

Solena stepped closer, and Samara carefully lowered the bundled front of her shirt, showing off the enormous berries. Even Chelsea, who had eaten them a while ago when they found that dead Darkwolf, stared at some of the specimens Samara had gathered. Several were substantially larger than the ones they’d previously found, their blue-purple skins swollen and glossy with ripeness.

“This thing is ridiculous,” Chelsea breathed as she picked one up.

“That’s what I thought,” Samara agreed.

“I’ve never seen them grow that large,” Rylan noted, examining another, larger berry.

“Neither have I,” Zahn said as he exchanged another look with Rayleena. That was when Samara finally realized their surprise wasn’t about the berries themselves.

“You didn’t know they were here.”

“We’ve been coming through this place since we were younger than those two,” Rayleena said, indicating her children. “There were always berries farther west, especially toward the water, but never here.”