Viscious 2: Cult of Kellan

Where There's Smoke...

*Kellan's POV*

Hours of wandering aimlessly have done nothing to aid me in my search of Shyla. I can not let her reach the others. I can only hope she is still hiding from me or possibly dead from sustained injuries, but somehow I know better. It can never be that easy.

After roughly the first hour I decided to backtrack and research the area where we were in hopes I would find her bedded down in the brush like a wounded deer. When that failed, I decided to drag the bodies of the man and woman away and hide them as best I could in brairs and with lose dirt and pine needles. Just enough to blur them, the brain and shadows should do most of the work for me. At least long enough for me to do what I need here and split.

As the sun rises, my frustration threatens to boil over and ruin me. I'm thinking with emotion instead of logic and I become increasingly paranoid of bumping into the others, fearful Shyla has reached them already and they might lay in wait for me. I'm also starving, and tired. Food is a luxury, I can deal with that later, but water is a necessity. I need water.

"Nick! Dylan! Kristi! Shyla! Riley!" I hear a man's voice, followed by another far off in the distance.

The voices continues to call, somewhat frantic as their pleas go unanswered. I debate announcing myself and trying to get closer to them, understanding that there is safety in numbers and I could use them for access to the house. It is best after all to keep friends close, and enemies closer. I also know from experience that one wrong move or too much trust could mean harm or death. Those people, save for those I've elinated, could be with them and lying in wait for me. I'll drink creek water first.

Sweat puddles in my shoes, and my socks slide about and irritate the hell out of me. I can feel blisters forming on the backs of my heels. A few errant flies and insects buzz and trail me, and I swat a few out of the air. I lunge at noise several times too, expecting each rodent or squirrel that scurried from the busses to be a large angry freak on the offensive. It's equally relieving, and unnerving that I have yet to encounter a single soul.

"Damn it..." I grumble.

All this roaming and wasting time and still no Shyla, no Alina, and no water. My mouth is hot and dry as gravels. I feel a bit disoriented from exhaustion as I come up over another embankment, and finally a clearing. In this distance I hear the low hum of moving water, breaking the silence of the woods. Instinctively I move towards the sound, searching for its source.

My legs are throbbing, and I waste little time as I stagger towards the sounds of water. I can't pass out. I can't become weak. There are plenty of people here to overpower me, and several close in size to me. Raymond possibly even being my match in strength and stature. I have to get water, and I have to take a moment to rest.

I come across the clearing with a stagger, taking in the telltale signs of camping. There's faded patches of grass in a large rectangle, sections of cans and water bottles. Stones in a mishap ring with ash that was once a bonfire, and has since grown over. How long has this been here? It's old, the ash is cold. But it isn't entirely grown over, suggesting that it has been used within the past few days or weeks. Alina perhaps?

Alina. The thought of Alina having passed through gives me a temporary buzz, and I press on quicker to the edge of the clearing. A crisp breeze refreshes my body, but suddenly leaves me nauseated with unexplained paranoia.

Death. The stench of death. It is so strong now that it turns my stomach, and I almost abandon my need for water. I could kill Corey and John for stripping me of my gear. Had I still had my bottle, I would even have to decide between dehydration or vomiting.

My hair stands on its end as I decide to scout the source of the odor and shake off the unnerving feeling that has seized my body. It's likely a small pest, or a deer. Things die in the wild, things eat in the wild. It goes hand in hand. So it makes sense to catch a whiff of death in the wilderness.

The stream comes first, thankfully, and I fall to my knees in the shallow cool water. I dip my face in to wake myself. I shake the water beads away and start gulping water from my hands. Ahhhh. Relief. Sweet relief. I recall Alina, tied and roasting in that hot shed and I wonder if she too felt this sort of relief when she had finally gotten a sip of water? Karma is a fickle thing, and I don't miss the irony of my sore leg and intense thirst.

I wade upstream in the crystal clear water, cursing that I hadn't thought to remove my shoes before I jumped in. The stench gets more offensive as I pursue it, and soon I find the source.

Not far from the embankment on the other side of the small stream, an adolescent bear hovers over something and almost purs in content. By time I have noticed it, it has noticed me. It stops eating and raises to its hind legs. I immediately freeze, and look down. It snarls and raises its head in warming, but I don't look straight at it. I train my eyes to its feet, and take a few slow steps back.

A shirt? Something peach, or pinkish catches my eyes and it is unmistakable. A top. A female's top. My eyes widen and I furiously try to see what is beneath the bear. I need to be higher. But I'm not going to risk it. Could it have found one of the clan in the woods and attacked them? Whatever it has is not fresh, to have such a smell though.

It roars, louder this time and shakes it shoulders with menace. I glance up before I realize what I have done, and I see light colored bits of hair. More shreds of a shirt, and bone. Mangled, broken bits of bone. This was a woman perhaps, but without the hair and shirt bits I would likely have never known. The torso is a mess of meat that has been well picked over. I drop my head completely, and try again to shrink back.

My legs tremble, and I fear very little, but I am genuinely scared. No man can handle a bear no matter his shape, and I am nowhere near in the shape to even think about it. I feel small, frail and puny. The bear stares me down with no mercy for what it will do of it feels  threatened. It's gaze is decided, cold and predatory. The way I have stared down so many before killing or maiming them. I freeze in place, knowing now if I run it will chase me. I ease down to my knees and shiver as I strain to avoid eye contact.

Time stands still, and leaves me with only my reflection in the water staring at me awkwardly for however long this standoff lasts. I'm cold, and I'm desperate to get away. Especially before the sun goes down. I've got so much to deal with, still so many people to find.

The bear turns away from me, to finish its corpse, and I use this moment to back away swiftly and I dash from the stream into a thicket on the bank. From here I stagger through the thorny brush and fume as my arms are torn in sacrifice to guard my face.

I make it as far as I can through the thicket before I exit and come out into the open trees. I should be well away from the bear, I have made it closer to the house and in good timing. The sun is setting and I prefer be closer to the house before dark. Alina is somewhere here, and if she is able she will want to be near this house too. Or near the road. And where she is trying to head, is where I have to be. I either have to kill each of the others, or take care of her and get out of here.

That familiar frustration threatens to spill over once more, and I have to look to the sky to clear my head and focus. The stars glitter against the charcoal backdrop. What appeared at first to be clouds or fog whisp about tree tops and my mouth gapes it the obvious sign. Smoke! Where there's smoke, there's fire. Someone has light a fire, and why would any of the lunatics light one out here? They have the house and the fire pit in the back should they need warmth or to cook something.

It has to be Alina. An exhausted, weary Alina who's needs outweighed her common sense here. The smoke undulates like a beacon in the sky, and it might as well have an arrow pointing to her location. If I can see it, others can.