Infection - Part I

Chapter 2.

The team made their way deeper into the darkened forest. The coniferous forest only seemed to get in size the deeper they ventured.

The mere trail they followed slowly began to disappear, getting smaller in size and vaguer in colour. 

Una was still ahead of the group, with her hand on the holster of her belt, she wanted close access to her weapon. "We can't be too far away..." she said, glancing back at her 3 colleagues who followed her close.

Not long passed before a scent hit Valerie, it was strong, ammonic. It made her stomach swirl with slight sickness.

"Do you smell that?..." Luke was the first to comment about such. 

"Yes... We're getting closer..." Una replied.

'It doesn't smell promising...' Valerie thought to herself. It seemed the scent only grew stronger the further the group proceeded down the small trail. They were headed in the right direction.

The first drops of something - at first - unknown were noticed moments later. Tim and Una approached what they saw, kneeling before examining the drops. Making a subtle suggestion, they were soon to be proven correct that the red drops were blood.

Stepping aside, Una radioed the station, announcing their finding. "There's blood present on the trail. I repeat, there is blood present on the trail.".

"We've dispatched a unit to your location. They should be with you shortly," their station responded. "Meanwhile, report back if you find anything else.".

With that, Una turned back and approached her group. "Alright, we will proceed down the lane. Dispatch has sent a unit to our location, so we should get back up soon enough.".

"Should we wait for them?" Tim asked, looking at Una.

"We'll continue for a bit more before we turn and head back toward the parking to meet the backup unit.".

Tim nodded at Una's response and with that, they continued down the trail. They followed where the blood led the way. It wasn't long before the mere yellow rocks of the trail were replaced with nothing but mud. Clear footprints indented into the ground, where was once grass.

Valerie looked at the indentations on the ground, they seemed fresh. As if someone was here not too long ago. "The footprints seem fresh..." she let her thoughts out as words.

Backtracking a step or two, Una lowered herself closer to the ground. "Indeed so... the footprints are fresh...". With that, she looked up at Tim.

Clearing his throat, Tim averted his eyes from Una toward the rest of his colleagues. "Be careful everyone, the murderer could still be here.". Pausing for a moment, Tim looked back at Una. "Should we turn back?".

"We'll continue a little bit more and if we find nothing, we'll begin our way back.". However, just as Una finished talking, a crunch of a branch sounded. Immediately, Una as well as the rest of her enforcement pulled out their guns, pointing them at any threat.

"Hey!? Is anyone here?..." Tim began. "If so, we ask you to show yourself. Immediately.".

"We are armed and we will use our weapons if necessary," Una added. "So, if anyone is present, we ask you to cooperate with us and show yourself.".

Moments of silence passed, it was then that Una lowered her weapon. "It was probably an animal," she said. Placing her gun back into her holster, she cleared her throat and rubbed her sweaty palms off her trousers before proceeding to further follow the swirling trail of mud.

The group took a few more steps before speckles of colour began to show through the rustling leaves. The colours of the tents.

"I think this is it..." Una said, further approaching the yellow, blue and orange in the distance. "The camps..." she let out under her breath as she bent a few tree branches out of her way to help her see.