Mapping the Frontier

Rising from my crouch atop the slick ceramic insulator, I stepped along the damp oak crossarm to face the morning horizon. Beyond the dense wall of tangled branches, the mist broke to reveal towering concrete spires and steel grids rising in the distance. The wilderness served its purpose for conditioning, but true predators hunt where civilization condenses into narrow canyons. Balancing on the narrow wooden tip, I shaded my eyes with one gloved hand, tracing the straight lines of elevated railways and glass towers cutting the fog. An entire metropolis lies ahead, teeming with fresh adversaries. My watch here is concluded; the hunt moves to the concrete domain.