Ferdinand’s team arrived at the scene only to be devastated that they were too late. Their readied rifles and blades lowered as they looked at the hanging bundles of thick vines in horror. Those emerald green vine bundles that were at least as thick as their arms told them all they needed to know. Their dry mouths hung agape. The silence of the forest suddenly felt a lot scarier. The towering trees suddenly looked a lot more intimidating.
“We should go.” Ferdinand tried to usher his team back to where they came from. “There’s no point in staying any longer.”
All the soldiers looked at Ferdinand at the same time.
“But, it’s Commander Covington. It can’t be.”
“He may have escaped. He may be hiding somewhere, waiting for help.”
Before another loyal fan of Conrad added on to the nonsense, Ferdinand bit out, “Count the number of bundles. You know how many there were in Covington’s team, right?”
“But…”