It's been a while and Lucas is cooking for Ashly at the moment. "That man Easton hasn't returned yet hasn't he? That Mindy girl sure is quite odd, I'm sorry I have to keep an eye on you." He says as he continues to cook.
"Yeah I know what you mean, they don't trust me at all and it's fine. I get what they are looking at, and it makes sense to me. They had a terrible encounter last time, and are just being cautious, I'm at least glad it was you Lucas." Ashly says with a smile, this in return gets Lucas smiling ."I can't wait for this to be over and who knows, they might apologize and thank me."
"Look at you Ashly, you're definitely acting differently. It seems these sessions are helping out after all, you aren't angry at all." Lucas says not looking at Ashly and she can't help but smirk. "I hope he returns before we have to do a search, we aren't to familiar with this forest so we will slow them down."
Meanwhile just on the other side, Eder and Agnes are still at the community. "So Agnes, how much do you believe this has to be the work of her? I don't want it to be but there are signs." Eder says with a stern look, he has been staring at the fire for a while.
"I'm completely sure Ashly had something to do with Easton, he never goes out like this. It's the first time he has done this since 11 years ago. Ashly definitely did something to him, but that doesn't explain what Mindy is doing. That girl is so infatuated with Ashly, there's no chance she has decided to leave. Mindy would of definitely hated staying far from her, Ashly must have forced her to run off." Agnes says.
"That must be the truth, maybe Ashly forced Easton to hide away. He was one of the first ones to suggest her leaving after all." Eder says as he looks at Agnes, and then I to the forest. He is staring at the director of where Ashly and Lucas are staying at. "I hope we are wrong, but just in case we have to have some of our people looking over her. Tomorrow when we do this search we will have Ashly monitored from afar." Agnes agrees with him.
[Day 3]
"Well since Easton hasn't returned we have to search for him. He might have gotten injured as where Mindy lives is quite slippery. We need to make sure Mindy didn't leave some things that would cause him to get hurt. Easton is a smart man but sometimes he likes to get himself in trouble, we have to search for him now." Agnes says and every one is divide into small groups.
"Well at least these people have some sort of plan when they go missing." Ashly says which some people bat an eye at her. "I mean it's great that you are all prepared for these sort of things that's all." Ashly says and they all look away which makes Ashly feel a tad bit irritated. "Lucas we need to get away from these people, they are not looking too kind on me. Maybe they want me to get lost or something, it's just us two, and we don't know most of the layout." She whispers to Lucas, but another member walks to them.
"Here is a map to the location you two will be searching, it's not perfect, but we made it on the last minute." The man says as Lucas holds the map of what seems to be the northern region of the forest. "Make sure to never leave the area as we don't want to be searching for more people."
"Don't worry we will listen, right Ashly?" Lucas turns to Ashly who nods. "I'm great at reading maps so this will be easy, if we get into trouble I'll make sure to let you all know." They begin the search, Lucas guides Ashly to the north side and Ashly is smiling.
—————
Its the previous night and Ashly has snuck into Mindy's cabin. "Wake up Mindy, it's time to go outside and get some exercise." Ashly whispers as she enters Mindy's room "You too sir, how could I forget. You're the first one to go outside, Mindy wait for me alright?" Ashly then lifts Easton's body up, and drags him outside.
Ashly brings him to a secluded area, "Alright, you will be staying here for the rest of your time." Ashly says as she drops him inside a ditch. "Thank goodness she has a shovel for this, I would hate leaving you in the open." Ashly begins to bury him in dirt, she notices diggging is much more difficult, but she doesn't want to stop. She keeps on shoveling until she believes he has been buried enough to not be noticed.
"Alright it's been a few hours I think, Mindy's body should be next but fuck. I should find a better spot for her and I'm tired. I'll bury her as soon as I can, but first just in case." Ashly returns to Mindy's place, and takes her body with her. "I won't leave you here, that's too obvious." Ashly drags her body further than Easton's. "Where is that ditch when you need it."
————
"Ashly come on." Lucas says as Ashly looks at him. "You were spacing out a bit, guess you didn't sleep well yesterday either." Ashly nods, but can't help but smirk. "Well that's not too much of a problem, you're an adult and I'm not here to judge you."
They are searching around the area, Lucas begins to go through some bushes. Every time he does he always comes out a bit dirtier than before. "Well Lucas, if he was hiding in bushes he would of spoken when we get near. You're dumb, and sometimes I don't understand you at all." Ashly says which embarrasses Lucas, they continues to walk around. "Don't you think it will be better to just separate?"
"No can't do Ashly, you don't know this area at all. Besides this man doesn't trust you, what if he runs away from you?" Lucas says trying to not insult her. "Don't stay to far from me alright, I'm the one with the map anyways." Ashly stays silent and follows him.
Ashly doesn't really seem to be happy with Lucas decision but can't argue with him, "Well Lucas, what if we have a mark, one where we can return if we separate." Lucas seems interested by her idea. "Just mark a tree with a knife and label it on the map. We can check the map and make a mental note, and if we get lost we can retrace our tracks."
"You know Ashly, you're much smarter than you know. I can get with that, we can split up, and return here after we are finished. To be more cautious let's make it once ever hour, we have to return here and mark the map. We mark the areas we explored, and see how much we have left." Lucas says and Ashly pats his back. "Well Ashly, which side should we Decide on?"
"I'll take the right, it's smaller than the left. I am agile so I'll be done searching by the time the second hour has hit." She says and Lucas agrees. Ashly grabs her knife, and carves a big triangle on a tree, this is their spot. "Well Lucas, make sure you don't get too scared without me." Lucas smiles and Ashly leaves on her side, Ashly begins to walk to where she left Mindy. "I got lucky today, Mindy you're too much for me to handle."
As Ashly begins to quietly bury her, Ashly becomes a bit worried. They can be nearby, and she knows these people don't trust her. There is a chance she could be spied on, Ashly is outside of where she should be searching. She continues to bury her, Ashly isn't even halfway yet she knows she has to return to their spot already. "I'll be back Mindy." She whispers as she leaves the shovel on the ground.
"Ashly there you are, you were a bit late, and I was getting worried you got lost." Lucas says as he was tapping his foot. "Alright Ashly, mark all the areas you have searched, I have already marked my part." He hands her the map, and Ashly marks some random parts of the lower area. "Well it seems you didn't do much searching, that's much less that I did and I have the larger area."
"Well, theses areas are quite challenging to traverse. Don't blame me for trying to not get hurt." Ashly says and Lucas apologizes to her. "Well I guess we have to continue then, we can't waste time."
"Alright Ashly, but we have to return after two more hours. If you ever finish your area return and you can search with me." Ashly nods and leaves him alone quickly. "Bye then."
Ashly returns to Mindy. "Fuck, I won't bury her completely within two hours." Ashly grabs the shovel, and begins to dig and cover her faster. Ashly feels a bit tired. "Be lucky you have some form of resting place. I doubt when I die people would care enough to bury me, I might be like those bodies, abandoned and only reserved by the cold temperature."
….
"Well that doesn't bother me as much as it should." Ashly continues to bury Mindy, Ashly's hands feel a bit sore, but she doesn't stop. Ashly has no time to waste, she would allow her hands to bleed before anyone finds Mindy's body.
Mindy's body by the time the sun is almost half way, has been mostly covered. If Ashly continues at this pace she will definitely bury her completely within 30 minutes. "Fuck, I almost forgot. I have to return back to Lucas, I'm late." Ashly drops the shovel, but before she can run she stops as she thinks she heard something. She looks around staring at every tree, could it have been someone. No she must be getting a bit paranoid as she begins to return to their spot.
"Sorry I was a bit late, I got lost on my way back." Ashly says as Lucas hands her the map. Ashly makes sure to cross of a much bigger area than before.
"Ashly you seem a bit tired, with how much you covered I guess it's natural. I know what I said but slow down a bit, I didn't mean for you to go at this speed." Lucas says with a worried face, he looks at Ashly's hands and they seem worn out and dirty. "Don't try to get too dirty Ashly, you could get infected with something if you get injured."
"Yeah I know that Lucas, I'm not that stupid." Ashly says and Lucas apologizes once again. Ashly notices how her fingers are hurting a bit, and it's a hassle for her to move them. "I'll see you once I finish my search Lucas, don't bother me as I'm almost done." Ashly then leaves, she must be quick as what she has left unmarked would only take 20 minutes at best.
"I'm back and this will be my last visit, this is too annoying to continue. I hope I never have to bury another body again, I would rather die than to do this." As she continues to complain she picks the shovel back up. She can't stop, not now since she has gone too far. She begins to shovel once again, her hands are sore, and she is much slower than before. "Oh great, my hands are being useless at at time like this."
Ashly doesn't stop, she forces herself to continue. The dirt has become a bit muddy because of the river, but that just makes it easier for her.
"I don't really know how to search for people, all I know is that I have to look around. No, what did Diego tell me about this?" Lucas asks himself as he continues to look around, he is searching every bush, checking the corners of all the trees but nothing. "I think it would of been better for Ashly to check these places with me. It was a good idea to separate, but thinking about it now, it was only good as that, an idea." Lucas has been looking back to where Ashly's area was.
Lucas has a bad feeling that they are being watched. "Alright, if Ashly finishes early does that mean she might want to find me? No she wouldn't, she would just go back home or wait back at the location."
Lucas continues to search around and as usual he finds nothing. "Well that's it, most of the place has been cleared." Lucas marks a big chuck out already. "Ashly should be done by now, I guess it wouldn't hurt to search a bit longer. They have a missing person and I would hate to know that one of my searches isn't doing their best." Lucas for the better or not decided to spend half an hour more.
Lucas climbs a big boulder and sits down for a bit, his feet have been hurting for a while. He tried to ignore it for the sake of the search, but it's killing him. "Five minute break is all that I need, nothing more and then I'll be back."
————-
"Alright I guess I have done enough searching for now, Ashly is definitely angry at me for being away for too long." Lucas begins to walk back to their spot. "After telling her to not be late I decided to do the same, what kind of person am I." As he returns he notices Ashly hasn't returned at all. "That's weird, she should of been here or she must have left." Lucas holds up his map, and he still has a big part left to explore but Ashly? She should be done already.
Lucas decides to wait a bit, ten minutes, and if she ain't back then he will search for her.
…
It's been ten minutes and Ashly has yet to return. "What is taking her so long?"
"I'll go check around for her on the area, maybe she got lost again." Lucas then without further question begins to walk into the direction he last saw Ashly. He sees footsteps, multiple footsteps and choices to follow the most northern one. "Ashly are you there? Please tell me." Lucas says with a loud voice, he continues to follow the foot steps for a while. As he keeps on moving north he hears shoveling?
Lucas then walks pass a bush and there he spots Ashly, she is tired and her hands are a bit bloody. He looks down at what she has been digging and he barely sees a finger. "Ashly, so this is where you been?" He says with a worried face, Ashly looks at him with a face he can't understand. Before he could say something Ashly asked him to help her. "Yeah sure Ashly, is that Mindy?" Lucas begins to run at her.