Casimir studied his surroundings; dense, green leaves and bushes completely covering the plain. The air was fresh, tasted good.
Beautiful..
"It's rare to see such an untouched area nowdays, it's good to take it in"
Casimir looked over his shoulder, Kyra, too, was observing her surroundings.
"Yeah", he replied.
She turned to him, eyeing his green tinted hair
"What's up with your hair? Is that natural?"
He chuckled. "Yep, 100% Natural! Got it from my parents."
"Your parents, huh. What're they like?"
They were walking side by side now, Kyra looking him straight in the eyes.
"They were nice, always tried their best. My mom had some anger problems, but I was a handful, if I'm being honest."
Kyra looked as if she was about to continue speaking but stopped herself. Instead, she stuck her hand into one of the pockets on her coat and pulled out a long bar wrapped in a thin, silvery sheet.
"Here!" Kyra unwrapped the top portion of the bar, breaking off a piece.
"Is that chocolate?!" Casimir's eyes gleamed. snatching the square from Kyra's fingertips and consuming it within less than a second.
Kyra giggled, sticking a piece of the bar in her mouth.
The path they had been walking on was getting smaller and smaller, reaching its end.
"Hey, the path ends here we'll have to go straight through the woods"
Casimir nodded.
The path was elevated three feet or so off the ground on a hill of sorts.
"make sure to watch your step" warned Kyra.
Casimir grabbed multiple sturdy branches to help him safely make his way down the hill and into the open woods. Kyra following not too far behind.
It was dark, it gave the forest an eerie feel.
"Stop" he whispered, "over there"
Casimir pointed towards a group of three dead ones, around forty feet into the distance.
"I'll go to their left, you go to their right. We'll draw them apart with noise and take them out without a problem" Casimir explained.
"Sounds good, mister strategist" Kyra replied with a smirk.
They split up. Casimir slowly making his way behind a tree to the left of them. He whistled, the sound echoing through the cold, dark wilderness.
He hears the faint noise of Kyra clapping her hands in the distance, two of the dead going his way and one going hers.
"Of course I get the larger group.."
He grips his trusty crowbar hard walking towards the dead.
Casimir lunged, crowbar in hand slamming it into the side of the first, knocking it off balance, "I need to get some distance between the two"
He stepped back, carefully creating distance.
He uses the bar to take the second off its legs, proceeding to plunge it into its head again and again until all that remained is mush.
The other one closed in. Casimir raised his weapon, but lost his footing and fell backward.
"Oh shit, oh shit!"
The monster lunged. Its rotting hands clutched at him, jaws snapping for his throat. Casimir wrestled with it, pushing the crowbar up into its chest. He heaved, using the leverage to force it off of his, getting the upper hand and stabbing the base of the bar through its skull multiple times, his breath laboured.
"Hey, Cas!"
Casimir looked around before spotting Kyra, beckoning him towards her.
"You gotta see this!"
Casimir moved his hair from his face and began to approach her.
Cas? That's new..
He followed her lead through the array of trees until they were met with a slight opening dominated by a small, wooden cabin.
"TA DAAAA!!" Kyra proudly exclaimed, arms open and pointing at the cabin
"Great going, Kyra!"
Kyra and Casimir high-five and make their way to the door of the old worn-down cabin, the sound of old metal and moulded wood scraping as they opened it.
"I can't see anything!" Said Casimir.
"Give me a second-"
Click, a ray of light shoots out from the flashlight Kyra was holding .
"Oh fuck.."
Casimir turned to her. Her hand was covering her mouth.
"What is it?"
She pointed.
Casimir's eyes followed and then widened.
A body.
"Looks fresh…" said Casimir becoming paranoid of his surroundings.
Suddenly, the room was filled with light, it caused Casimir to wince.
"Found the switch," Kyra said. "Guy must've had a working generator set up."
Casimir looked around. A small stack of envelopes sat on the bedside table. He exhaled.
"Look," he said, walking over and picking them up. "It was a suicide." He held up the four notes, each labeled with a different name.
"Well that's a relief.." Kyra mutters, moving to inspect the body.
"Gunshot." She bends down to grab the small blue revolver from the floor "still has 3 rounds in the chamber, I'll hold onto it for now"
Casimir stared at the letters in his hand.
"I feel kind of bad for the guy, not to mention he clearly had people who cared for him… They don't even know."
Kyra started to scratch her chin, thinking about what to do next.
"You stay here, I'll go on a supply run and find a shov-"
"I'll do it!" Casimir butt in, eager to do the task himself.
Kyra smiled "Well, aren't you a gentleman" She held the gun out to casimir "take this, you might end up needing it."
Casimir took the gun and shoved it into his pocket, grabbing everything he would need and leaving everything he wouldn't in the cabin and opening the door to leave.
"Be safe, Cas!"
"I'll try my best" he said with a grin on his face, waving goodbye.
As Casimir takes his first steps back into the forest he sticks his hand into his side pouch, pulling out a small, orange, empty bottle.
He sighs deeply.