Having made it to the sixth tower it was just like he'd said, her productivity hadn't gone down, in fact it might have improved since she was sleeping better, typically exhausting herself before bed. Daryl still went out to find the wolves so she worked the whole time he was gone, she felt like she was getting more done now than she had been before when working was the only thing that kept her mind off of her break-up.
Getting up from her desk she refilled her coffee mug, stepping over their makeshift bed on the floor. Since they both couldn't fit on the cot comfortably they'd asked for more blankets to be brought out, using the excuse of how cold it was. Which it wasn't a lie, it was getting colder for being the beginning of October, but they mostly kept each other warm. She would be done with this tower the next day and knew that there were only two more left, and once those were done Rangers would be able to stay in them again while she installed the solar panels and protection system. Since the Rangers could be out there…she technically wouldn't need Daryl anymore.
Sitting back down in her chair she looked back at the bed of sheets. Ren had never known how nice it could be to sleep in someone's arms until she woke up in Daryls. She'd never really liked facial hair either, but she actually liked the feeling of his against her skin. She knew that at some point they were going to go their separate ways once she was done with the towers and went back to California, she just never thought it would come as quick as it was. It was probably only two weeks at this point. She had to push the thought from her mind.
Her phone started ringing and she looked back at the desk, hitting the speaker button after she answered, "What's up?"
"Just seeing how you were doing out there." Becca said.
"Well it could be worse." She sighed.
Becca chuckled, "And how's that?"
"I could be stuck out here with Chris and Veronica." Ren smirked.
"Very true. God how could he even stand to have sex with her. Her voice is already so high pitched." Becca laughed.
"Trust me he's not much better when he cums." Ren told her.
"I thought you said he was good." Becca almost sounded offended.
Ren pointed at the phone even though she was alone in the room, "He was when you asked, but you asked when we were first having sex."
"Wait so he got worse as time went on?"
"It's like he got complacent." She laughed, "Like his thought was 'well, as long as we both get off'."
"Wait, so what is he like when he cums? Because you can't just lead me on like that and not tell me."
"Imagine the noise he would make if Hammond punched him in the stomach." Ren said and her friend busted out laughing on the other end of the line.
"God, I want to hear that but from your brother actually punching him in the stomach." Becca said through her laughter.
"Trust me if Hammond had his way, you'd get to." Ren laughed along with her.
"Fingers crossed on that one."
"So, why'd you call, because trash talking my ex can't be it." Ren leaned back in the chair, kind of enjoying the break from work for once.
"No, but it's along that vein." Becca told her, "I know you're really good at compartmentalizing, but that doesn't mean this isn't effecting you. I wanted to make sure you were actually doing as good as you seem."
"Yeah." Ren thought about it, "Yeah I really am. I think the fact that I'm not home and so things aren't normal are actually helping, because there isn't a change to my day to day."
"That make sense." Becca replied, "So does that mean that things will be rough when you get home?"
"I don't know. Maybe." Ren tried not to think about the sheets behind her on the floor. "I had been considering getting another apartment in that building, so I might look at that, see what other floor models they have so this way there's an entire change from life with him to life without him."
"Free of him, it's life free of him." Becca told her, "And I think that's a good idea. We can make it into a sweet pad for you to bring hot guys home and then you can give me all the dirty details and I can live vicariously through you."
"You know I don't do that." Ren laughed, "And I'm going to tell Greg you asked that of me."
"Eh, he won't care, he gets the same thing from his brother. We're now that boring couple that just stays home and watches tv all night now." Becca overexaggerated her sigh.
"Hey that's a very safe thing. One night, Chris and I went out and we met this girl that wanted to start a business with him and that apparently led him into her pants." Ren heard Becca laugh.
"Wait! Isn't there some guy you're out there with?!"
"Yeah, Daryl."
"Yeah, Daryl." Becca repeated in a mischievous tone.
"What about him?" Ren laughed again.
"He's perfect rebound material." Becca explained, "It's just the two of you, you both release some carnal needs, then you never see each other again when the jobs done. It's fucking perfect."
"It's fucked up. He's a really nice guy and I would feel bad using him like that." Ren told her. That's what she'd been afraid of Daryl thinking when they first started sleeping together, but it wasn't the reason she slept with him, plus the fact she wasn't liking the whole never seeing each other again thing. But Becca was right it was inevitable. "I think I'll just continue getting my kicks from imaging Veronica and Chris living in her tiny ass apartment with three other roommates."
"If you say so." Becca had a smirk in her voice, before getting distracted, "Hey I gotta go, Justins doing his walk arounds."
"Good luck." Ren laughed as her friend hung up. She continued working and heard when Daryl got back and smiled as he came in the door, "Welcome back."
"Yeah." He walked over to the map. Ren stayed seated but followed his walk, spinning the chair as he moved across the room, normally he at least said thanks.
"Everything okay?" She asked him.
He hesitated, "Found the wolf den."
"That's good isn't it?" She walked over to where he was leaning over the map. When he looked up at her she understood from the sad look in his eyes, "They plan on killing the wolves don't they? Because they attacked people?"
"Yeah." He stood up and put a hand on her shoulder as her eyes went sad, "Sorry."
"Bu-But that species is endangered, I looked it up when I found out that's what you were doing out here." She looked back at the map, "It's not their fault that humans go into their territory, they shouldn't get killed for that, and hell they're probably used to scavenging campgrounds for easy food with the messes people typically leave behind. There has to be something-"
"Ren…" His voice was soft and she looked back up at him, "The world just don' work like that."
"The worlds always been different for me…" She looked away, out the window. Daryl knew what she meant, her life hadn't been normal in the sense that everyone else's had been. He actually related to her someway in that sense. "Are…are you going to be the one to do it?"
"What?" He asked.
"Are you going to be the one killing them?" She turned back to him, her face slightly harder, hiding the fact that she was upset.
"Nah." He shook his head, "Ranger's gotta do that. I just track 'em down."
"Oh…okay." She walked back over to the desk, a distracted look on her face.
"I'll wait until they come to drop off more supplies for us to tell 'em though." Daryl offered, "Let the wolves have some more time."
"Thanks." She gave him a small smile.
Ren had prepared herself for this, she wasn't going to let this fly. Finishing packing up her stuff she took a deep breath before walking out of the cabin and climbing down the ladder. Murray was talking to Daryl, "So the West Path to the seventh tower is typically out this time of year, so you probably want to be taking the North Path."
"Sounds good." Daryl replied, noticing Ren toss her bag in the back of the truck, a focused and stern look on her face. He knew she'd heard him telling Murray about the wolf den, so he also knew she wasn't happy. When she slammed the door of the truck shut the two men stopped for a moment and looked at her as she leaned against the back of the truck. Daryl looked at the man, "Maybe we should get going."
"I don't think we should." Ren turned to look at them.
"North Path is a long one, you don't wanna be unpacking in the dark." Murray smiled at her.
"I don't know that I'll unpack at all." She told him.
"Huh?" Murray was very confused at her tone, Daryl however should have seen this coming, he told her to stand up for herself and what she wanted after all.
"Don't kill those wolves." Ren said, her voice stronger and more sure than she'd ever heard it.
"They're hostile to humans and have caused serious injuries, it's protocol in this situation, ma'am." Murray explained.
"I don't care what your protocol is. The wolves must have had a reason for moving into territory they don't typically go into." She stepped closer to him, her arms crossing. Daryl watched as she stood tall, honestly, he was weirdly proud of her. "I don't think they should be punished for that."
"Unfortunately things don't work like that." Murray started to open his mouth again but she cut him off.
"They do now." She was stern. "You all are getting a state-of-the-art protection system put into all of your towers to protect this forest. What's the point in protecting it if all of the things that live inside of it aren't alive anymore? So, I should just call my boss and have him decide to put this system in another forest instead of yours."
"You can't do that. We've already told the state of Georgia that we're going to be fully operating off of the grid. People are already wanting to camp out here." Murray shook his head at her, "This will be great for the towns economy, you can't just stop."
"I can and I will. Find out what the source was for the wolves moving out further, why they attacked a campground. Fix that issue. Because that issue will affect the whole ecosystem. And if you lose the ecosystem, then it doesn't matter how many people want to camp out here because the forest will die." Ren told him.
"What're you some kind of ecologist too?" Murray looked her up and down.
"No, my mom was. Relocate the wolves to another part of the forest, another pack will move in and by that time happens, you should have the issue fixed so no more attacks happen. Wild wolves don't just run up on people for no reason." Ren stood her ground, "Either that or I'm telling my boss and going home."
Daryl's chest went tight at those words, she would really go home, he'd never see her again. He didn't want that to happen yet at all, "She's right Murray. No huntin' limits means less prey for them so they move further out lookin and find food left at campsites, they learn it's a place to get meals regularly, they get braver and then they attack."
"You know you're one of those hunters Daryl." Murray looked at him, ignoring the small smile on Ren's face at Daryl siding with her.
"I know. I'm willin to hunt less if it means this don change out here." He leaned against his truck, "Means more years of huntin I'm able to do."
Murray looked between the two of them before running his hand down his face and sighing, "Fine. We won't do anything with the wolves until we address the issues at the campsites and find a suitable place for the animals to be relocated since they already know the way to get to the sites."
"Thank you." Ren gave him a sincere smile and he couldn't help but smile back as he waved her away.
"Go on now. Get to the next tower before it gets dark."
Letting out a small laugh she opened the door to Daryls truck and climbed in. He wasn't far behind her and once the vehicle was started she looked at him, "Thanks for choosing my side."
"You're right about it." He shrugged, "Ain't fair to them when people are the ones messing up."
"I know…but still you didn't have to. So, thanks." She gave him a big smile.
He let out a slight laugh, his lips curving a little as he moved onto the dirt trail and muttered, "Welcome."
A/N: I'M SO SORRY! My hard drive crashed and it's been in the shop for weeks and they managed to repair it but I lost a bunch of stuff on it. So while I'm back, the chapters might take me a bit because I lost the outline I had for this story and now I have to re do it and cross check it with what's already been written to make sure everything is still accurate. But I should hopefully not lose anymore progress on it before it's done haha.
Be sure to let me know what you guys think. Be back with another chapter soon!