Chapter Thirteen: Questions

I can do nothing but stare at the face of the long-dead woman.

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen a dead person. Hell, it’s not even the tenth time.

But here? What is she doing here?

I can hear the trees at the edge of the clearing crackle and pop. The noise reminds me of where I am and pushes me back into action. Leaning forward, I grab the woman’s remains and haul her out of the pit. With my mind in turmoil, the stench of her rotted body is forgotten, and I quickly lay her out on the ground. I look at her one more time before I begin the process of unlatching and pulling all of the bodies out of the remaining holes.

It takes time that I probably don’t have to spare, but I ignore that fact and continue on until it is done. After an unknown amount of time, I have all of the bodies lying next to each other in the clearing.

As I expected, all of them are human.

In various states of decomposition and disarray, twelve human corpses all stare lifelessly into the sky. Some look to be missing limbs, while others have visible stab wounds riddling their bodies. Stepping forward, I numbly begin the process of going over each body’s wounds.

First body: The woman I dug up originally. She looks to have been in her early thirties. Her hair is brown and her eyes are the same. She is wearing a nurse uniform from the hospital I had been at before coming here. Cause of Death: Stab wound to the heart.

Second body: An older man with a full gray beard. He wears a leather vest and button-down shirt. He also has one of those southern ties on, I don’t remember what they are called. His eyes are blue. Cause of Death: Internal bleeding.

I thought I was the only one here.

Third body: A young boy, probably no older than a freshman in high school. He is wearing the oversized gray sweatshirt they give to overnight patients. I assume he was wearing the matching sweatpants, but everything below the ribcage is missing. Cause of Death: Exsanguination.

There were at least twelve other people in the cave.

Fourth body: A young woman. Early twenties… maybe twenty-two or three. That would make her only a couple years older than I am. Spearhead to the throat.

Why was I the only one left in the cave?

Fifth body: A male doctor. He is still wearing his surgical scrubs. Shattered skull.

Did they leave me behind?

Sixth body: A man wearing a graphic T-shirt and dark jeans. Disembowelment.

Did they leave me to die?

Seventh body: Exsanguination.

Eighth body: Missing head.

Ninth body: Asphyxiation.

I stop thinking and methodically go over the last few bodies. The process fills me with disgust, but I have already learned what I needed to about these people. They were clearly killed by goblins. The wounds look completely unlike the ones I had found on the goblin corpse that I came across while following the ice trail. There is one thing I notice, however, that I don’t think was done by goblins. I walk back over to the body of the man with a graphic T-shirt and jeans. I roll up his pants and take a closer look at his ankles.

There is a cut on both of his heels. Each cut travels straight through his Achilles tendon. The cuts are also clean and precise.

It reminds me of a scalpel.

I’ve found similar wounds on four other bodies. I make sure to shelf the information away before beginning to strip a few of the corpses. I have a hunch that I will need to follow up on if I end up getting out of here, so I make sure not to take the exact clothes of any one in particular. Going ahead, I grab the dark jeans of the man closest to me, the hoodie of the young boy, and the socks and shoes of the person with the same size feet as me. Putting on the various clothing over my makeshift underwear, I retrieve my mace and head back toward where the shack was.

By now, almost all of the clearing is ringed by flaming trees. It seems my plan for a few easy levels has now turned into a full-blown wildfire. I can’t really muster the will to care very much right now, so I continue running past the cinders of the shack and onto the path that heads out of the camp.

Remembering how far I had to hike before the fork, I make a quick pit stop at the pond that I had spotted before. When I arrive, I find that the wildfire is spreading a lot faster than I had previously thought, as the entire area is filled with flames as well. While quietly thanking my trait, I run straight through the fire and into the pond. After I have had my fill, I make my way back to the main path and am about to continue toward the fork when I feel a warm breeze drift between my legs. Looking down in confusion, I realize that I had made a slight miscalculation.

My clothes don’t have Thermal Resistance.

I click my tongue in annoyance before running back to the clearing half naked. Since I’m in a hurry, I just grab some random articles and book it back to the trail. I am thankful for my earlier trip to the pond as I sprint all the way to the fork. Checking out both ways, it looks like the left path is clear, but the right is not. I want to continue down the left path regardless, but instead I hike off the side of the fork and get into a prone position in the grass nearby. I am far enough away from the trees to not burn my clothes again, so I settle on the ground and stare down the right path where I had spotted an approaching group.