These two soldiers are very strong, especially the one carrying me since he, even if holding me in his arms, maintained a good speed without slowing down, with his limbs steady, firm,  not giving in to fatigue, hiking down the mountain while still being inside the woods, an already taxing walk, as the other guy stayed at the front cutting the leaves and opening a path among the wilderness.

But of course, in such jungle, our travel would hardly go uneventful.

I knew the path we were taking well, but with no way; and no wish to; communicate with them I stay silent, hearing the strange sounds their mouth makes as they keep talking, sometimes looking at me, as if waiting for some answer that I was unable to give.

And yet, with attentive eyes, I look at their lips, their sounds, and learned… after all I had to play my part well.

“I think the kid is stupid.”

“Harper, that’s just mean, he is just scared, that’s all. He has more guts than you, surviving here alone for who knows how long.”

The other one spits on the floor, one of the few to have his mask down, revealing an unkempt bear growing on a square jawline.

“Or maybe someone just dumped him there to die. Who is he anyway? Finding a survivor, naked like that, no tools or anything, that’s a first. How the hell could he have survived until now? There is some bullshit in there, and is starting to stink.”

The other sneers, making me think that they were fighting or disagree on something.

“Or he could just be a poor soul that was robbed until there was nothing left.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever makes you sleep at night, Bennett.” The one carrying me, Bennett I think? Well, he didn’t seem happy, but they soon stop talking, finally attentive to their surroundings, for we had reached a very dangerous place...

But no silence could keep them safe, not in these woods, were predators lurked everywhere… Some right beside them.

And humans weren’t exclusively my favorite prey per say…

At the foot of the mountain, where we were reaching by now, was a swamp. You may think it is a strange location for such a thing to be… because it is. Because, in fact, it was artificially made, scavenged by the crunchy type of meal.

Made literally by hand by the ghouls.

They would take the soil close to rivers and make many holes around it, all interconnected enough so that the constant water coming from the river descending from the top of the mountain filled those vein-like curves on the earth, turning into a stale water mixed with soil, making it tick, brownish, and impossible to see through the insides or know how deep it was.

Or if anything lurked deep within…

And I was actually partially guilty about it being made there by the ghouls… because they did that to hide from me.

 Being able to echo-locate and move in daylight, it was easy for me to corner any unlucky ghouls that I could find inside a cave, even more after mapping most that there were in these woods and knowing the place at the back of my head.

So they were actually clever enough to make a new hiding place… underwater.

They did not need to breathe while sleeping, and not that much in general, so they would dive in and sleep at the deepest part of the swamps, making so many holes and crevices that it was almost impossible to find them, especially without being able to see, and since they were underwater my echo-locating vision did not work, and when I could open my eyes at night, well, so could they, managing to escape that way.

Little clever creatures… That were unaware of the predator that has enter their domain.

Add that to the growing list of benefits for having this new disguise. That thought makes me smile, even when both start to walk among the water, not like they had a choice, after all like obsessive tireless creatures these ghouls would make new holes every day, making so that the swaps never stop growing, leaving once hidden roots apparent and changing drastically the view of the place.

And, of course,they made so that the swap takes a very wide area, making it almost impossible to avoid… unless you want to take the long road, which would be as bad since no one wanted to stay out at night when they would wake up from their sleep.

If none of those were bad enough swaps were bad on their lonesome, with crocodiles lurking underneath, and solid paths that suddenly would lead feet first into a pool of water, the tick murky liquid being hidden by green plants, making it difficult to distinguish when water and soil collided.

I turn my head to the side, smelling the humid air, knowing even before taking the smell that this place was the home of many ghouls, but for the first time I can look down where they laid and try to find their bodies amongst the dark waters.

Unfortunately, even if I could look, I could not see, these human eyes of mine being only good for keeping my eyelids open in broad daylight, but sucking in regards to everything else.

Well, that explains why humans are so easy to ambush with these dull senses of them.

But even if I was capable of seeing them in my other form, my weight was impossible to change and every heavy step announced my presence there, and these ghouls would quickly change from hunting to fleeing mode, quick slippery things they were....

But not now… they did not know that I was there, and that would be interesting to see…

“Can you walk?” The one carrying me asks, but I only look at him as his lips moves as he sighs after receiving no answer. He puts me down then, taking his jacket off and helping me wear it, the sleeves being too long on my arms and torso but mostly because it was big to begin with so it would be wearied on top of other protective gear and shirt.

While Bennett arm holds me over the shoulder with one hand, his other one draws a gun from his side, a silver firearm with a long thick barrel and muzzle that had a strange design, with open parts in between what looked like metal scales that let into view a bright stone of some sort.

I have no time to properly look since he holds it away from me and starts to shush me forward, making me look towards where we were heading.

These soldiers must have used this passage to get up the mountain beforehand since there was an already made up path to the side, almost too discreet to be seeing, with grey strong ropes attached from tree to tree, serving as a railing and pointing the parts without water.

The other guy, with the knife ready, goes first, one hand on the rope, eyes attentive and looking over the murky waters, no taunting words coming from their mouths anymore, all sounds being take in with extreme attention.

But these artificial swamps where weird… because they did not have the usual animals around, save for a crazy crocodile or two who dared to swim in these waters, and it makes it eerie… quiet.

Beyond the rustling of leaves and the howling wind it seemed that even the birds avoided this place, making their speeding heart sound like drums and their raspy breaths, even if trying to even it out, like the beating of wings throughout the swamp.

These parts of the wood contained an almost tangible aura of death, a murky dense smell followed by many crooked trees with dark wood filled with moss and the moving seemly floor, vines falling like limbs and obscuring the view even more.

A bubble, or a gurgling sound, would from time to time come from the murky water, making both stop walking and stare at the place, weapons ready, holding their breaths.

The worst thing was that, even where the water was somewhat clearer, it reflected the trees above with its dark green leaves and its shadows, making that, no matter where we look, we could not see  inside these waters, and not even how deep they were.

Both soldiers bend their knees to have more equilibrium as they advance slowly, every step carefully taken, searching for the packs of land amongst the murky waters filled with dirt and leaves, blending in with the floor.

And turning these lands into a very deadly trap.