Waiting for my death | Horizon zero dawn fanfiction

Chapter 18: The Lodge

Never would I have expected my house to look this abandoned, depressing, old fashioned and hollow. The red painted oak plants were disintegrating slowly as water dripped down black pipes. Windows showed nothing but empty blackness inside, our shadows blending together as one on the tall rusty brown doors. The flowers and plants growing in the sides of the garden have withered  into a peculiar orange color, almost invincible among tall grass which hadn't been cut in months. I remember how our cat Pringles used to happily patrol around here. Now his ashes are buried somewhere in the woods surrounding our suburban village, uniting with the soil where daisies could one day grow and bless his sweet soul.

"What was up with you and Cassie?" Cordelia asks as I'm inspecting our roof made out of black brick walls, her words almost fading away from my mind before they could enter.

"Huh?" I reply with a muffled voice. 

"Don't play dumb. I felt it from a mile away, there was some sort of unspoken tension between you two, and it wasn't the good kind. What was up with that?"

"What? I have nothing against Cassie!" I say defensively, turning my head towards her, the breeze catching my hair in the process.

"I never stated you did. But you do, don't you, eh?"

I snare angrily at her. She folds her arms warily and squints down with narrowed, avoiding eyes.

"It's nothing worth dwelling on. She is nice and I respect her, okay? My opinion on her doesn't matter, it's all childish anyway," I reply, more mannered and developed this time.

"I mean, I don't give a shit honestly," Cordelia chuckles, "Ivy spoke very highly of Cassie to me. But she seemed so dry in person. Perhaps she was just shy."

"Good for her, then." I say passively. I start swinging my backpack in front of me, violently rummaging through it and shoving away clothes and hygiene items until my hand reaches the deer sculpture. The amount of times I had double checked making sure it was still there, Ivy's potential last message, stored in one simple item. Aside from Cordelia, this sculpture was the most valuable treasure I brought home with me.

"Let's go," I say, turning away from my house and taking off towards the woods again.

"You don't want to go inside first?"

"I'm not going anywhere until we figure out what sort of message is stored in here."

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After walking for twenty minutes, my intuition finally informs me that we're close to the lodge. Sounds of leaves crunching beneath our feet and our heavy breaths are accompanied with bird chattering and the hissing sound of the wind. The road I had entrusted so many times before was almost starting to grow away with weeds and grass, making me unsure whether we were on the right track or not.

"I can sense a signal through my focus," Cordelia says, "there's definitely something nearby. I do not know what it is though, so don't get your hopes up too much. It could be anything."

"Anything could still mean Ivy's message."

"Please, Liv, we haven't eaten anything since yesterday, we both need a break."

I make an abrupt 90 degree turn. Cordelia stops in her steps along with me. My upper and lower legs were aching tremendously from walking so terribly fast without any energy.

"I'm sorry. But I can't eat or drink or do anything until I know for sure. This slab might not even mean anything, but it's all I have left to have faith in. My parents and sister have their Jewish religion to rely on when things get dark, but I don't. I have this deer sculpture and this slab and god knows I would worship them if what you're saying about the message thing is true."