The strange encounter leaves the knight quite bemused. He had no idea that the mist would reanimate bodies in mere minutes. He had assumed it might have taken days. Whatever the mist does to one's body, it obviously does not require blood to still flow through your veins for your corpse to stand up and move again. Can this happen to any body, regardless of the cause of death? It seems that direct damage to the brain, or beheading in general is the most effective means of stopping them. Either way, it's fortunate that young Willard had already departed. Who knows how he would've reacted if he saw this. Atticus doesn't know of all the mysterious ways the mist works, but he uncovers things bit by bit. Now is not the time for study and contemplation, however, as he shakes his head of distracting thoughts and climbs on to Annaliese's back and continues forward.
Another two hours of trotting at a deliberate pace, and no other undead had been encountered, but trees are starting to become more common. The knight ascertains that he's likely closing in on another forest; the one where the first Legion checkpoint rests. There, he intends to stay overnight and continue his journey in the morning. He doesn't want to travel at night by himself if he can help it, and the sun that is resting in the mist-obscured sky is already descending from its apex. He's surprised at the lack of rotting enemies he's come across since parting ways with young Willard, but assumes that they've spread out more and more over the months, due to their aimless wandering. As for young Willard, he must be about halfway to Zenith Gate by now. If he was lucky, he might have stumbled upon another charitable Mistwalker with a horse to take him the rest of the way.
As Atticus passes time with various thoughts, he comes across a large wooden sign at the side of the road, weathered and partly rotted by an absolute lack of maintenance for months. It reads “Newmanstead.” He and Annaliese pass it, and soon after, short wooden fences come into view, surrounding the perimeter of the village. Behind those fences are multiple homes, all dilapidated and messied by the same lack of care the sign had seen, but exacerbated by likely looting. Some homes are in front of a clearing of what seems to be the remains of patches of small farmland. Thankfully, the knight still had his apples and peaches, so he felt no need to risk eating mist-exposed fruits and vegetables at the moment.
He does become curious, however, at what these abandoned buildings might be hiding inside them. He doesn't wish to unnecessarily waste any time, as daylight will be precious commodity on this side of the barrier, but he feels a sense of obligation to patrol the area for the sake of Mistwalkers who will pass through after him, especially the foolish, ill-prepared, inexperienced commoners who might venture into the fog and make it this far only for the coin. Old and young Willard come to mind, but at least they had good reason to be here. There's also a tiny chance he could find someone holed up in one of the homes. Part of him would also like to find some coins or small valuables to sell, but he knows that's probably not a realistic expectation at this point. He heaves a small sigh and dismounts his horse, taking only his dagger in expectation of a potential encounter.
He calmly approaches the first house he sees: a small, modest place. The door is already slightly ajar, so he pushes it inward lightly, and it simply swings open the rest of the way on its own. He peers in from outside, standing adjacent to the doorway to view the interior from a safe point. The whole house is just one large room with two empty beds, broken wooden stools, storage chests, and a fire pit for cooking. Of course, all the furniture is damaged and various small items are strewn about, and it goes without saying that the chests are open and totally empty. Who knows how many people came here and attempted to find new plunder?
Satisfied, he moves on to the second house, which is directly across the dirt path. It's slightly larger and has an attached pig pen, which contains no remnants of the animals that dwelled there, excluding the dried-up, rancid gruel in the feeding tub. The door into the home is wide open, so he peeks in and is greeted with another scene that showed signs of repeated attempts at looting. There's one bedroom near the back of the home, so he steps inside, making sure to lift his feet over the dismantled furniture. His boots press down on the dry, filthy wooden floor panels weakened by months of being exposed to the elements and covered in dirt, which causes some audible crunch noises with each step. He reaches the bedroom, and sees what he expected to see: an opened and empty storage chest, a bed left as a wooden frame after being stripped of its cotton and furs, and no sign of anyone having lived there in months. Are looters even taking feather mattresses?
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Once back outside, he walks to the third house, which is next door to the second and has a patch of potato farmland behind it. Again, the front door is wide open, and the front room has a fire pit and tipped over dining table. However, something catches the knight's eye. Underneath the table is wooden panels of the floor, lifted and moved to the side, and underneath the spot they were in is broken bricks covering a small empty hole. He recalls young Willard's description of the location of his grandmother's treasure box, and puts two and two together: this is the Reese residence. Staring at the empty hole, Atticus does believe that a small chest could fit inside. It's saddening that their fortune was stolen from them by plunderers, but expected. It's not as if they didn't have a good hiding spot for it, but you can't hide many things from a particularly clever thief. Other than that, there's nothing of interest in this room, so he moves to the short hallway leading to two bedrooms facing each other. The left seems to be the parents' room, with one large bed, again stripped of its mattress and cottons, and the right is for the children, which has two smaller beds. Everything of even mild value has been taken, of course.
He approaches the fourth house, which is directly across the path from the Reeses' old home. Unlike the previous buildings, the front door is tightly shut. Atticus tries to push it open with steadily increasing force, but it's absolutely sealed. He walks up to a near window, but notices that it's partially covered by wooden boards. The middle board had been broken toward the interior from outside, meaning someone already probably tried to get in at some point in the past. The knight leans toward the window and peers inside. He sees an interior similar to the second house, but is caught off guard by an unsettling sight: a corpse at the dining table; it's back facing towards the window and door. It's bent over, with its face down and arms stretched forward across the surface of the tabletop.
Curious as to whether it is undead or not, Atticus knocks on the wooden boards to try and catch its attention. First is a series of soft knocks. No response. Then he knocks three more times, slightly harder and louder. Still no response. He contemplates leaving well enough alone, as even if it were mobile, it'll be trapped inside, but his curiosity gets the better of him. The knight approaches the door once again and takes a deep breath. With one incredibly strong kick with all of his weight behind it, he manages to force the door open and practically off its hinges. He looks back at the village behind him to make sure the crashing noise hasn't attracted any unwanted attention, and fortunately sees nothing other than Annaliese, who is still standing patiently.
Inside the house, a lot of furniture has actually remained intact, albeit also covered in a thick layer dust. At the fire pit, plates, pots, and pans are stacked neatly to the side, and stools still sit upright with all of their legs attached. No tables are overturned. Storage chests and tied up sacks remain sealed. He stands before the dining table where the body rests, and sees little disturbance around it. It's mostly bone, but patches of greyish flesh remain, and has a foul, rotten odor coming from it. It's obviously been sitting there for quite some time – possibly since the very day the mist came in. The knight's investigative gaze slowly drops to the floor below the cadaver, where he sees a lone bloodied dagger. He cautiously approaches the unknown stiff from the left side, and notices two new details: remains of longs whiskers on its face – proving it to be a man – and long-dried blood coming from a wound on his neck, staining his clothes and some of the floor under him. Judging by the what he sees, Atticus can only assume it was self-inflicted.