Devon had frozen, his mind quickly calculating the auras. He found roughly twenty three individual life forces there.
"But how are we supposed to find food here? All that's around us is this black mountain rock," a man with a deep, raspy voice stated inside the cave.
Silence fell for a few seconds, broken only by the crackling sound of wood burning in a small fire.
"Yeah, there's no visible plant life here, true... even animals wouldn't be able to survive this environment," a woman's voice confirmed, sounding weary.
Then, another woman's voice suddenly broke the quiet with a hysterical edge. "But my kid needs to eat! What am I supposed to do?!"
"Shut up! If you need to, go find your own damn food for your kid! You already know that if we step outside, we could die!" The deep, raspy voice of the first man roared, snapping at her. Following the shout, the faint sound of a small child weeping in fear reached Devon's ears.
"Hey, hey. There's no need for that. Everyone's hungry right now, man."
"Yeah, let's just figure out a way together, calmly."
The sound of someone giving a furious, guttural snort filled the air, and the cave fell silent again. Devon remained rooted to the spot, his brain working fast, processing the information.
Soundlessly, he decided to retreat back to Raline. He didn't forget to give her a sharp, hand signal to stay silent. She understood immediately, remaining perfectly still as Devon carefully picked her up. They started their slow, quiet descent down the mountain.
He moved swiftly. In a very short time, they reached Bony. He just looked at the skeletal horse, who seemed pleased his new master had returned, and then it simply fell in step behind him as they walked away from the spot.
The chain of black rock hills had several peaks, and each peak seemed to have potential hiding spots or small caves. Devon was now actively looking for one. He selected a cave that wasn't too far but directly faced the cave housing the people he'd just eavesdropped on, maybe a few dozen meters away. His intention was simple, he needed a place to observe the group without being seen.
After finding one, he entered with Raline and Bony. The cave was small but spacious enough for all three of them. His sister initially complained, vehemently, about sharing their space with the undead horse.
"I don't want to share a room with that creepy horse, Dev," she grumbled, constantly darting nervous glances at Bony, who was now sitting down comfortably, all four legs folded under him, its skull facing the cave mouth like a loyal guard.
"Bony has to be here. If it stays outside, some other monster might spot it and then find us," Devon stated firmly, using a tone Raline knew meant no further argument would be tolerated, or he would be angry.
She immediately fell silent and didn't protest again. However, her eyes still flickered toward Bony, who now casually lowered its head to the floor to rest, completely unconcerned. With a frustrated sigh, she began helping her brother take some food items out of the backpack.
Using some dry branches they had collected earlier, Devon quickly started a small fire and began heating a portion of their canned goods. They ate their combined breakfast-lunch—canned peas and corn, mixed with several slices of bread that he had pre-pressed to make them dense, ensuring they had enough bread for at least a week.
"What did you see in that cave just now?" his sister opened the conversation, chewing a mouthful of peas and corn, which she had placed on a slice of bread with a bit of mayo and hot sauce. Devon, at least, hadn't forgotten to pack crucial things like condiments and salt.
"There are people in there," he answered casually, still munching on his own food, eyes focused on the flame.
Raline furrowed both her brows. "Then why did you leave? Isn't it good that there are other humans besides us?"
Devon glanced at his sister, who was sitting to his front-left side, paused his chewing, then continued eating. "Humans, when they're truly desperate... can do things that are totally irrational."
She stared at her brother, confusion in her gaze. He stopped chewing again to explain.
"They're running out of food. If we just waltz in carrying food, it's not impossible they'll try to take it from us. Like, seriously."
Devon's reasoning wasn't baseless. It wasn't that he didn't want to help others, but he wasn't a saint intending to sacrifice himself for people he didn't know. Yet, he wasn't evil enough to let them starve either.
He was simply trying to think rationally, as he always did. He was a street kid. On the streets, everyone sought advantage by any means necessary, often involving cunning tricks to benefit themselves alone.
Raline often heard her brother's stories, especially when he was harassed by other street thugs who didn't like Devon protecting shop owners or street vendors. He was seen as a traitor for fighting those thugs.
She nodded slowly, confirming her understanding of his point. "...I get it now."
They continued eating in silence. After they finished, Devon stood at the cave mouth, carefully surveying the scene outside.
The area was eerily quiet, truly like a place of the dead. The trees were all dead, their trunks dry and brittle, looking like they had grown tall and then suddenly been deprived of all water.
The place felt like it was once fertile and lush, but had suddenly been struck by a deadly blight. The purplish-black rock seemed to be actively poisoning the entire area, preventing any life from thriving.
And of course, herbivores wouldn't exist here. As a chain reaction, no carnivores would hunt them, and humans, as omnivores, wouldn't be able to survive either.
But Devon wouldn't give up. He would find a way to survive, even if it meant risking a trip back to Newark to gather more supplies for himself and his sister.
While sweeping his gaze across the entire black mountain range, his Death Sight picked up movement from the cave housing the humans. Several auras were now moving out of the entrance. He quietly retrieved the binoculars from his backpack and smiled faintly upon seeing his sister had drifted off to sleep.
Using the binoculars, he adjusted his view toward the cave mouth. Five men emerged. Two looked like office workers, dressed in trousers and button-down shirts. Two others wore t-shirts and jeans. The last one was wearing pajamas.
Each of them carried a long stick, sharpened to a crude point at the end, except for one man who seemed to be holding an actual pistol. They descended from the cave nervously, with cautious and jerky movements, clearly anxious.