when: attack aftermath [ the emergence of Suresh ]
where: just outside of the farm
who: open starter! pls come and say hi <3
tw: descriptions of death/corpses
Some grave amount of absolute fuckery had obviously occurred.
Grave being the optimal word, given that the corpse of the fellow on the ground at his feet wasn’t in one. A corpse - just beginning to attract insects. A feast for the flora and fauna. It’s half covered by bushes, so whether he died here, or crawled away from an unfortunate incident only to meet his fate at this spot isn’t obvious at first glance. Nor is the cause of his death... But given the grim, open eyed visage... It’s safe to say it wasn’t a natural one.
Not that anyone ever really passed naturally on Meridium.
The island ate, swallowed, tore, clawed and brutalised the survivors here. Like a rabid dog trying to rid itself of fleas - biting and scratching at the irritant on it’s back.
It only made Gabriel dig his heels in deeper.
But uncertainty - could be an animal ravage... Could be a fucking sky dragon given the shit he’d seen so far. Uncertainty enough to have him pull a three foot machete from a leather strap at his waist.
Silence.
Listening for any sounds that might reveal the perpetrator of the unfortunates recent demise. Not air attuned but acute enough to hear a close range attack. What he does hear, are footsteps. A shadow of another person peeling onto the edge of perception.
“Is this what we’re doing now?”
An idle question - posed grim and deep, gesturing with the rounded end of the machete toward the spectacle. Of course the ‘we’ is ironic coming from him. He tends not to consider himself part of that overall collective. Even coming this close to the farm was a rare occasion. A journey based on need rather than desire for any kind of interaction. He’d come for some supplies. He’d found -- a fucking mess.
“Just leaving bodies to rot where they fall.”
Shrugging off his outer shirt, he crouches next to the corpse, fingers turning the torso toward him. It’s clearer now. Neck broken... No animal did this. The shirt is draped across the face of the body - perhaps to spare the other from a gruesome sight. Perhaps to mask the twist of his blade into a better grip should they turn out to be the one who separated soul from body - and weren’t quite sated with the taste of one death on their tongue...
“You know anything about this? -- Speak up.”