"These are the boys you were talking about?" Cole's eyes shifted from the photo he held to the lifeless woman on the ground. "You should've lowered your weapons!" He exclaimed, anger building up—anger at the woman's foolishness and anger at himself for being unable to prevent it.

Cole tucked the photo in his pocket and looked around. No immediate movement from where he had seen the footsteps earlier, but he did hear distant sounds from the direction he had come.

In a flash, Cole climbed up a tree with a swiftness he didn't even realize he possessed. He quickly dressed in the cloak he took from the woman and stowed his hat in his portable inventory. With an arrow aimed and ready, he zeroed in on the direction of the sound, waiting.

Not much later, a shadowy figure, hooded and clutching a staff, started moving in his direction. Oblivious to his presence above, their steps displayed uncertainty and apprehension. Cole assumed, by their features, that it was indeed a woman.

She wasn’t one of the brothers, but maybe she was with the dead woman.

Growing restless, Cole waited. He hadn’t planned on shedding more blood today, but he’d do what was needed. When the woman finally laid eyes on the body below, her face painted a picture of pure horror. As she yanked off her hood for a better look, recognition hit Cole like a brick.

“Give me one reason not to kill you right now,” Cole said in a deep, hurried tone.

The woman looked up, but her eyes didn’t find Cole. Despair lingering in her gaze, she grabbed her staff with both hands and started speaking,

“I’m not your enemy. I'm just searching for someone,” she replied, striving for composure.

"That line brought no good earlier today," the man replied. She finally located his position, flinching when she noticed the arrow pointed to her heart.

"I'm speaking the truth." She replied.

"I know you are," he responded, his voice strained, almost as if it pained him to admit it. "That's what concerns me. You came searching for me, didn't you?" The woman, Cole knew was Sofia from the camp—the obvious number 2 in the chain of command replied with her shoulders lowering and her voice full of relief.

"It's you! I've been looking everywhere for you," she said, raising her staff as she spoke.

"Better keep that thing away," Cole advised, still with the same edge to his voice.

"Sorry," she replied, setting the staff down. "See? I mean no harm. I'm here to help."

Cole downed the bow and arrow and removed his hood. That made the woman change her expression. This hood can actually camouflage me. What a discovery.

“Sorry if I can’t trust someone who has already sneaked up on me. What do you want with me?” He said, dropping from the branch, walking toward her, and kicking her staff away.

“I’m not sure what you’re doing, but I want to help. Are you looking for the strange woman’s kid, aren’t you?”

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Cole analyzed her for several seconds before replying. The silence seemed to make her more nervous.

"Yes," he whispered.

"I want to help. We're all vulnerable now with the recovery lower. If something were to happen to you, I couldn't live with myself, knowing I didn't aid her," Sofia said, gripping her shirt with one hand as her commitment weighed heavily on her. "You understand, right?"

"Yes," Cole said, his tone somber and succinct.

"May I join you?"

"I doubt I could deter you if I tried, huh?" he remarked, already turning away and retrieving his hat from his portable inventory.

"No, you couldn't," she responded.

"Very well. Let's proceed. Help me hide our tracks, but ensure the others remain visible." Cole started cleaning up their tracks, but Sofia remained halted.

"Shouldn't we bury her?" Sofia's voice broke the silence, causing a pang of pain in Cole's heart.

"We don't have the luxury of time. Someone might be searching for her," Cole responded, continuing to walk, unwilling to face the result of his actions on the ground. "If she's still here when we return to camp, we'll bury her."

"We can't just leave her exposed like that. Let's at least cover her up," Sofia persisted. Cole nodded in agreement.

Together, they began gathering larger branches and leaves, placing them over the woman to shield her body, creating something akin to a burial mound. Cole wasn't sure of its effectiveness, but the gesture eased his conscience slightly.

"Can we move on?" Cole's voice held an edge of annoyance as he started to walk away. Sofia remained silent.

The pair trekked for hours, the silence between them undisturbed. Cole found himself pondering about Sofia and her selfless actions – something he could uncomfortably relate to. Still, he doubted if their motivations were at all similar.

With sunset approaching, Cole aimed to cover as much ground as possible. He pushed on, disregarding his growing hunger and thirst, keeping his eyes on the objective.

His mission was clear: find the woman's son, confront his captors, and ensure the boy's safe return to his mother. But after that? Perhaps seek out Sun Tie and offer assistance? Deep down, Cole felt that bridge might've been burnt for good and wondered if it was for the best.

Cole knew his other personal quest might remain unfulfilled, but he was determined to aid those he encountered. In the past few days, no one seemed more in need than the woman with the pointed ears.

"Did the child get separated from their mother on the integration?" Sofia inquired, her voice cutting through the quiet, trailing behind Cole.

"His mother claims he was abducted."

"By whom?"

"Those employed by her owner." Uttering the words left a cold feeling in Cole's stomach, thinking of such disgusting individuals.

"Will you kill them?" she questioned further.

"If it comes to that."

"Like you did with that woman earlier?"

"That's right!" Cole snapped, anger evident in his voice. "Do you have an issue with that?" He had already turned to face Sofia, but she remained unfazed, merely halting to meet his gaze.

"No, I don't. She attacked, and you defended yourself, didn't you?"

"Yes," he replied more softly, his anger diminishing, and continued walking. The apocalypse seemed to be pushing Cole to his emotional edge.

As he tried to gather his thoughts, a peculiar sound from the left caught his attention, like the very ground was shifting, though no tremors were felt. Sofia paused, scanning the horizon, both anticipating some sort of event.

But nothing happened.

They exchanged a brief, wordless look and continued, with Cole leading the way, guided by the trail he was following.

About an hour later, Cole started spotting the lifeless bodies on the ground. He couldn't make out all the creatures, but jaguars, wolves, monkeys, and birds were among them.

The bodies looked untouched, almost like they had been perfectly stuffed by a genius taxidermist. Cole made a quick hand gesture for Sofia to stay silent. She nodded, her eyes reflecting a growing unease.

A distant flapping grew louder. As Cole looked up and further, his heart stopped.