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Standing atop the moss crusted trunk of the fallen tree Lily, Max, and Marston were finally able to see over to the other side. There, isolated by steep sheer rock faces on all sides save for the one where Lily stood, was a fat trunked tree. It stood tall and healthy with thick branches and colorful leaves that splayed outwards like open welcoming hands. At it’s base strange flora grew unmolested by the various critters the jungle likely had, or once had.
Surrounding the tree was flat ground interspaced with tall, lush green grass of the darkest hue. Wispy little insects, the kind that made people rub their eyes thinking they had floaters, drifted around the miniature glade as a gentle breeze swept down through the little area. Standing over the enclosed, almost secret space gave the strangest impression of peace in the otherwise foreign place.
It all seemed so natural, so untouched by human hands that out of the corner of their eyes the three were able to quickly spot something out of place…
There, sitting in the tall grass barely visible among the blades, was a large wooden chest. Made of dark wood and held together by a studded iron framework the container appeared very old, without actually seeming old. It was the kind of thing anyone could recognize as being a museum piece, a surviving antique or a replicate one would find in museums on medieval history.
Yet it showed no obvious signs of rot, rust, or deterioration other than the traces of dirt and pollen left on it by the forest. The chest remained amongst the grass like a child playing hide and seek. Trying to keep out of sight, but quietly hoping to be found…
-
Behind them Ceder stood with a unguarded smile on her face and her hands wrapped around her sides. Marston's simple comment, the fact he agreed with her, had made her feel happy. It felt rare that she made suggestions people didn't immediately shoot down or brush off. The girl's gaze turned to the older women, Quiet, hopeful she might have something to stay.
But Quiet said nothing.
Whatever happiness Ceder felt was momentary though as the Batter's announcement withered her insides. His words, already cold and frightening, stung. Though it was simply a gesture and an implication of her weakness the teenage girl couldn't help but feel he was right.
"Maybe I shouldn't have come, but I don't want to be alone. Not again..." It was the Batter's mention of Spectres, of ghosts, that really got a shudder out of Ceder.
She had experienced physical the undead. Shambling, hungry corpses wandering through the streets of Raccoon City with near skeletal canines and horrid, skinless creatures with long tongues. Just the idea that even after they were killed, try and properly, that they could come back even without a body...
Ceder looked back to Quiet in desperation to take her mind off such things. She found the women had turned away from the group climbing atop the log and moved towards Abe and Kerrigan.
Quiet had overheard the little creature's suggestion and couldn't have agreed more. They had no idea where they were, not really, and even less idea of what was ahead.
"If this group is anything to go by we could come up against virtually anything. Knowing what we're going to face before hand is vital if we're to survive." Quiet thought as she approached the two, hoping Kerrigan was still listening to her thoughts.
Normally Quiet would have simply gone ahead herself. Scouting and sniping went hand in hand. With her abilities, the ones the parasites in her body granted her, she could have blitzed ahead in an unseen blur. Picking out hostiles was something Big Boss, the Venom Snake, had her do countless times. However she was dehydrated and with no obvious source of water nearby further exertion could potentially endanger her.
It wasn't like Afghanistan or even Africa. Wipe open, predictable, and with plenty of mercenaries and soldiers to loot from. She was alone with complete strangers in a world that made no sense. Quiet felt, if not outright knew, that if she tried to act like the battlefield was unchanged she would most certainly die.
The silent sniper's thoughts were broken as she heard footsteps follow in her wake and glanced over her shoulder to see Ceder following close behind. In a rare moment Ceder actually made eye contact with Quiet and smiled sheepishly back at her.
"Can I come-" Before Ceder had fully phrased the question Quiet shook her head and the girl's smile dropped away.
"But-" Quiet's eyes narrowed and in an instant dark spots appeared around her eyes. Like liver spots almost they formed a butterfly-esque pattern that could easily have been mistaken for makeup or camouflage paint.
The appearance of the spots stopped Ceder cold but she didn't look away, didn't leave like Quiet had hoped.
"Please, I want to help..." Ceder looked to Abe and even Kerrigan with hopeful, almost desperate eyes.
Far to the south on the other end of the forest Naked Snake, lying in tall grass and surrounded by 'civilians', would be met with familiar memories of the area. Before he had fought Ocelot and ended up jumping down into the depths of the crevice to avoid bees of all things, there had been a base. Down to the south there had been an enemy encampment, small but well setup.
They had radio equipment, a food storehouse, a munition's depot, and a bunkhouse. Though they also had machine gun emplacements and an attack helicopter, albeit a landed one. Past all that there had been an electric fence with an accompanying minefield, a swamp with leeches and crocodiles, and past all that there was the abandoned factory where had first rescued Sokolov and met Eva.
There was no telling if any of that was still the same or if the area was somehow alerted, compromised like everything else.
Still, some idea of what he might face was better then none...
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