35

You step to River's corpse and wave away a mass of flies though clearing them seems a lost cause due to the sheer number swarming the flesh. Based on decomposition, he appears dead for roughly two days. His body has numerous lacerations—one deep from his neck to the side of the left ribcage. His hands are also cut and show multiple stab wounds. Fingernails are torn or darkly colored with pasty blood. His shoes are gone and feet appear caked with dirt. His right arm is broken and shoulder is dislocated. Drag marks are faint across the ground from a nearby tree. His lips are dried and cracked, though now larva of some insect has burrowed in and nested.

You look closer at the wound in his stomach, and see the skin separated and a piece of bone is missing, as if someone broke off a rib.

Starr's body is similarly decomposed, though she appears to have less cuts and physical damage from a fight or struggle and more from insects and vermin. Her throat has purple bruises and bulges out along the sides. She has a similar cut along her ribcage with a bone missing.

"We should get going," Heather says, eyeing the surroundings.

You nod and move away from the bodies, following Heather back into the silent forest