Chapter 4:
Veronica and Claire walked out of the West office and back out into the hallway. Considering this small section of the first floor explored, they decided to continue on and finish it. As they carefully headed down the long marbled hallway, they could see that there was a window right at the end that was boarded up.
A lone zombie was standing just on the other side in a daze before slamming itself against the boards when it noticed them. It was no threat, however. Drawing closer, they realized the window sat at the base of the winding staircase leading up to the other floors.
They were about to go up them when Veronica saw a lone door just across from them. Remembering the film that they had found, she tugged on Claire's sleeve, a little nervous to speak since they didn't want any unwanted attention. However, just as they were about to walk over to it, they heard a screech come from above them.
They both looked up in time to see a zombie lean over the edge of the banister of the second floor. It reached for them from there before it tipped over it, plummeting down at them. It made a loud thud against the floor that would make any normal person sick before starting to get back up.
The one time I would ever want to see someone actually die from falling, they don't. Veronica quickly ran over and kicked the zombie back down before it could stand. She took out her trusty hammer and stabbed the claw into its head, killing it permanently
"Gotta watch our ammo," she whispered as she put her weapon back. Claire gave her a nod before they both finally made their way over to the door. Since Veronica was closer, she went first to carefully peek inside. The room was dark, but they quickly found it to be empty. Veronica closed the door behind them and locked it while Claire walked across the room to turn on the light. It was small and plain, but it was safe.
In the middle of the room was a desk with a book and a lone typewriter sitting in the middle unused. There were lockers sitting against the wall and a coat hanger with dusty jackets hanging from it. In the far corner sat another big black box, similar to the one out by where they had met. Since the walls were concrete and that the metal door could be locked, they considered it as another safe room to go to. It felt like they were in some sort of fucked up video game.
On the other side of the room was an entryway that led to the darkroom that they needed. It was very small compared to the room it was connected to and, of course, dark. There was a lone red light shining down onto a sink holding the components to expose unused film. A potted plant with red leaves sat on a cabinet containing different chemicals, which they thought was strange but ignored. Veronica took out the film they had found from her pouch and looked at her companion.
"Let's see if I can get this thing to work," she said before rolling up her sleeves. Amongst all of the supplies, she was happy to find a pair of gloves to use, since she didn't want to have to wash her hands with possibly contaminated water afterwards. Once on, she got to work on the photo, but found herself pushing her hair back a lot from getting in the way. Ugh! I forgot to bring a hair tie! Just as she had that thought, however, a pair of warm hands reached over her and gently pulled her hair back.
"Here! This will help!" Claire said before putting Veronica's long hair into a low ponytail with a black hairband. The brunette felt her heart skip a beat as the blood rushed up to her cheeks. This was an innocent gesture and all she could think about was how intimate it was. Soft hands playing with her hair was definitely a weak spot.
"Oh! Thank you! I don't have any hair ties on me," she said while trying to play off her blush.
"It's no problem! I have a few extra on me, so you can keep this one!" Oh.
"Thank you, Claire! That'll be very helpful!" With her hair out of the way, she continued to do the job. While she did that, Claire leaned against the wall in waiting.
"So, uh, if you don't mind me asking, where are you from?" she asked. Veronica glanced over to answer.
"Oh, I live over in California. Near the Los Angeles area," she replied before turning back.
"Really?! That's really far from here!" Claire responded, her eyes wide in surprise. "Did you really drive from all the way over there?"
"I did," Veronica nodded. "My friend had just moved here with her dog after graduating from college and I wanted to visit and see her new place. So, I decided to road trip it and look at what ended up happening. I did try to call her at a gas station just outside of town, but no one answered. I thought they were just busy, but obviously, that wasn't the case. Though with such a long drive, it's no wonder my car broke down." Claire hesitated for a moment before responding.
"Yeah, I guess so...Hey, um, I'm really sorry about your friend. I hope she was able to make it out somehow."
While it was a nice thought, Veronica knew deep down inside that she didn't, but she pushed that thought away to keep her head level. Now was not the time to start grieving, that would have to wait until later.
"I hope so too. Thank you," she sighed. Claire stuffed her hands into her pockets while leaning her head back against the wall.
"On another note, though, that's really cool that you live in L.A.! I visited once or twice while on vacation from school, but don't tell my brother," she smirked. Veronica smiled at the thought. "It was really nice over there."
"Well sunny California will never disappoint with the weather until you have a heatwave and you desperately want it to rain. Then you're out of luck," she replied. They both giggled at that, the air around them lightening up from the current situation. It was a nice reprieve, even if only for a moment. "What about you? Where do you live?"
"Oh, not that far from here! About a state over near where I go to school. It's a close enough distance to visit my brother here, but far enough to have my privacy. He really doesn't need to know what I do in my spare time."
"I totally get it! I'm still in school too and live with my parents. Going out to have fun with friends can sometimes be tricky." Claire nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. It can be frustrating sometimes! So if you live with your parents, then how old are you?"
"20. College girl and all that. And you?"
"19! Also a college girl and all that. Small world!" Claire smiled excitedly.
"No kidding! Just a year older too? Nice," Veronica giggled. "Well since we're getting to know each other, got any pets?"
"No, I wish. Can't afford it at the moment, but I've been eyeing this cat at a nearby shelter."
"Aw, how sweet! Love cats."
"Got any critters yourself?"
"Two dogs. A black labrador named Cupcake and a small corgi named Sprinkles. While they constantly bark at nothing outside of the house, they're both good girls."
"That's adorable! I think it's safe to say we're going to be good friends despite the constant bombardment of zombies."
Both girls laughed but were in agreement. New friendships even in dark times such as these were nice. It was kind of relieving to Veronica to feel somewhat akin to someone here. Claire stretched for a moment while thinking out her next sentence carefully.
"So, do you have a boyfriend waiting for you back in L.A.?" Veronica could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks as she was not prepared for that question with the current state of her feelings. She had never been so happy to be doing something else to keep her mind occupied.
"No. Not really."
"What about a girlfriend?"
Veronica froze and turned to look back at Claire in surprise. Despite it being an innocent question, she couldn't help but wonder if this was a revealing moment. Their eyes met and Veronica felt her tongue weigh like lead in her mouth. She was also not exactly sure how to respond due to their current predicament, but she didn't feel like Claire would be upset with her answer.
Her thoughts flew around her head at a hundred miles per hour with questions and scenarios. Was Claire in the same boat as her in terms of liking girls or was she just an ally? Claire didn't seem to be the type to be an asshole about that. Would this be a bad time to say something? What would happen if she did, considering the small crush she had on the other girl? Should I even be having hope about this? Claire seemed to sense the uncertainty in her.
"What? You never know nowadays. People have their preferences!" Veronica internally sighed in relief before quickly turning back to her work. At least, Claire was understanding and for a moment she was almost compelled to tell her, but she couldn't seem to do it. What am I afraid of? I guess being stuck in the closet doesn't help with things.
"You're absolutely right," she answered quickly with a nod. "Uh, no. I'm a single pringle!" she said before clearing her throat. "Do you?"
"No. Not really. My last little fling ended about a month ago and it really didn't work out, so I decided to take a break." That was really vague in terms of gender, but she's single!...I should really not get my hopes up here!
"Ah, I see," Veronica said before finishing her work with the flip of a switch, leaving the room bathed in red light. With what just happened, she really wanted to ask if Claire was into girls, but it just wouldn't come out. So, instead, she turned and took off her gloves. "Well, we can finish this conversation later. Now, all we have to do is just wait. This could take a minute."
To waste some time, the two walked back out into the next room where they began searching for any supplies. They didn't find much in any of the lockers, only a lone can of gunpowder. But there was a book lying open on the table that did catch Veronica's attention. It was open to a page on medicinal herbs, so she began to skim through it. She hummed as she took in the information.
"Whatcha got there?" Claire asked, walking up from behind to glance over her shoulder. Veronica held up the book for her to see.
"It's a book on medicinal herbs that grow around here in the Arklay mountains. It says that there are three types that could be really beneficial to one's health and, considering the situation we're in, this could be really helpful! But looking at the pictures, I feel like I've seen this plant before." Claire looked over them and hummed in agreement.
"You know what? I think I have, too! I think there's a red herb here in the darkroom," she told her before jogging over to grab the potted plant. The two girls looked between it and the pictures before coming to the same conclusion. "Looks like it's an herb. Should we take some of the leaves?" Veronica thought about it for a second.
"Well, the red herb only works if combined with a green or blue herb, so unless we find-," she stopped herself mid-sentence as a thought popped into her head. "Wait...now that I think about it. I have seen the green herb. A couple of times, actually, here in the station!"
"Yeah, you're right! I've seen them too! There was one back near the reception area and in that storage room!"
"Not just there. I think I saw one right outside this room!" Veronica exclaimed before setting the book down and walked over to the door. She carefully peeked outside to make sure there were no zombies around then glanced down at the floor. There was indeed a potted plant with green leaves. She quickly brought it inside their safe room and compared it to the pictures in the book. "This is a green herb, alright!"
"Now that we have it, we can also take the red herb!" The two girls began picking leaves off of the plants and crushed them into a powder. They put it into a plastic baggy they had found amongst the film stuff, and Veronica was designated to holding it.
"So, there are three herbs, right? What does the book say they do exactly?" Claire asked. Veronica looked over the book then decided to just tear the page out for them to take.
"It says that the green herb heals basic injuries, the blue treats poisons and the red one is only useful when combined with the other two. It basically makes the other two stronger but doesn't do anything by itself. But it doesn't say how to use them."
"I guess we'll just have to figure that out when the time comes," Claire shrugs. With the room thoroughly explored, the girls prepared themselves for going back out. The picture still had less than an hour to develop, so they would have to return eventually.
Carefully walking out of the room, they looked up the long winding staircase leading up to both the second and third floor. They could barely make out the sound of gurgling coming from somewhere above them, but they didn't know where from. The duo glanced at each other before starting their trek upwards. Coming up to the second floor, they found some ammo lying in a puddle of blood by a closed-off shutter. Clearly, that way was not going anywhere.
In the other direction, they came across a door that said it was the men's locker room, but they didn't walk in. Instead, Claire gasped softly before running past it. Veronica quickly followed and realized why. The hallway was blocked with a giant blockade with seemingly no way through. Claire took out her map and hastily looked over it, but considering that it was only for the first floor, it was useless.
"This hallway was supposed to lead us to the S.T.A.R.S. office!" she huffed before folding the map back up. "We'll have to find another way through."
"There's gotta be more than one way to get there. Maybe…" Veronica glanced around and saw the stairway to the third floor. "Maybe we can go up and around! It'll take a little longer, but hopefully, it'll be open!"
"Good idea! Let's go!"
They went back the way they came and continued on up the stairs. As they took each step, they found it was eerily quiet. Besides their footsteps, they could only hear the rain hitting the windows around them and the low creak of the chandelier swinging slightly from the ceiling. They didn't hear any more zombie noises, which confused them since they had heard it before. Maybe it had left? That thought put Veronica on edge.
Reaching the third floor, they found another box of ammo sitting among some boxes then noticed the debris on the floor. At the end of the hall was a padlocked locker standing in front of another blockade, but right next to it was a wall that looked like it was smashed through. Chunks of brick and concrete were spilled out onto the floor, but it was the immense size of the hole that was strange. That and the shadow of someone standing in the light coming from the room made the brunette nervous.
They carefully drew closer, but before they could relax at the prospect that the shadow wasn't a danger, something leapt out at them. Claire shouted in surprise as a zombie came at her, hungry hands grabbing at her arms. She grunted in the struggle as her gun was knocked out of her hands. But before Veronica could even do anything, Claire reached behind her and grabbed her knife. She plunged it into the zombie's head and shoved the body away from her as soon as it grew limp.
"Holy shit, Claire! Are you ok?" Veronica asked while picking up Claire's gun to hand back. The taller took it in gratitude as she nodded.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm ok," she breathed before reaching down to take her knife back. "Just came outta nowhere!"
"I never thought zombies could surprise you like that! That was so weird!"
"I didn't even hear it! We gotta be more careful if they turn out to be smarter than they look." Veronica nodded in agreement as they walked into the messy room. It was a small office with many bookshelves and a desk. On said desk was a lit lamp with a miniature mannequin standing in front of it, the source of the shadow. There was also a key sitting on it that was quickly picked up by Veronica. She examined it and noticed that one end of the key had a teal colored spade on it.
"A key! Clair, look!"
"Nice! You found it!"
"Yeah! Maybe there really is more than one key for each shape," she suggested as she put it into her pouch. It was starting to get noticeably full, and she was hoping they would come across another pouch soon.
"It would make sense! At least we have this one so we can get back to the main hall easily." With that said, Claire slowly opened the next door ahead, hoping that it led past where the path was blocked. The two girls both walked into a dark cramped hallway, light only coming in from the window near the end of it. It was really dusty and cold, the only sound being the wood creaking beneath their feet. The chill air made the back of Veronica's neck shiver, so she took down her ponytail and slipped the hairband around her wrist.
There was only one path to take since the blockade was to their left, so straight it was. They carefully turned the corner to find another cut off hallway. The end of it was blocked by some boxes and it seemed like the only way through was through a door that sat next to a cart of books. Deciding to check the boxes, Claire walked over and was surprised to find a note written by someone in a rush.
"What does it say?" Veronica asked from behind. Claire turned to her and began to read aloud.
"'To any survivors, Consider this a gift for anyone still unfortunate enough to be alive. Keep your eyes peeled for those creepy fucks that look like they were skinned alive- 'lickers'," we call 'em."' Veronica's eyes widened as images of skinless monsters crawling on the ceiling came to mind.
"Lickers?! You mean those things downstairs?"
"'They're blind as bats, but their hearing more than makes up for that. So long as you don't run around like a total idiot, guns a-blazing, you should be able to slip right by them...probably. Either way, make like my grandma and creep around as slow as possible around 'em, yeah? Anyway, not that I wanna go, but duty calls. That, and I've got a friend to avenge. - David."' Claire handed the small slip of paper to Veronica for her to see.
"Holy shit," she whispered as she read over the words. "It has to be talking about those monsters we saw. They looked like they were turned inside out, all muscle."
"And all claws. The tongue must be able to hurt somebody if they're called 'Lickers'," Claire suggested as she took a lookout of a nearby window. She didn't really see anything in the darkness of the city besides the destruction on the streets.
"Jesus. What else do we have to worry about in this city?"
"Who knows at this point. Let's just hope this is the worst of it." Veronica had a fleeting thought that it probably wasn't.
"Well, at least we know they're blind. All we have to do is just sneak by them, right?"
"Seems like it. We did it before, so that seems to be the strategy with getting by them."
"We just have to be careful. Who knows how many of those things are running around here!" Veronica noted as she slipped the paper into her back pocket.
"Right. Before we enter any room, we should listen first. Those things are loud."
Taking their words to heart, they stood quietly outside the nearby door before walking in when deemed safe. Carefully peeking in, they found a trashed storage room that smelled of musty cement and the decay of bodies. It was strong enough to hit them immediately even when the room was large.
The ceiling looked as if it could cave in on them with how many holes there were. It was a mess that was made as if it was to be under renovation but then the outbreak must've happened before they could fully finish. The people must have tried to use the room for a hiding place as well.
A light on the floor lit up their side of the room, revealing more giant scratches on a pillar, much to their horror. They suspected it was a licker, but it seemed to be gone now. On a dresser, nearby, Claire found more gunpowder and more planks of wood on the floor. It also looked like there were old art and pictures lying around, including a creepy looking jester doll. Comforting.
Turning the corner they were met with a corpse lying on the floor with its head blown up. Possibly the work of a rookie cop. Next to it was a door that was lit up by a light right above it, however, a bookcase was tipped over, blocking the way forward.
On the far side of the room was a section that seemed like it was barred off with what they presumed as important artifacts. In this area, they could see a statue of a woman just behind the bars. Something about it seemed like it was important for their journey. They were about to make their way over there to see it but were stopped in their tracks.
"Oh my god!" Claire gasped covering her mouth in horror.
There was a giant hole in the planks of wood that were covering the bars. It was big enough that it would allow them to walk in, but that wasn't what stopped them. Right on the other side of the entrance was a pile of dead officers lying on the floor. Flies buzzed in the air as the stench of blood grew intense in such a small space. Severed limbs coated the floor and a dozen blank eyes stared every which way.
Veronica's stomach had finally had it and began to churn. The smell was enough to send her over the edge. She felt the bile rise in her throat causing her to turn and make it a few steps before heaving her guts out. While a pile of dead bodies was nothing new at this point, her stomach had fought the urge to vomit for the longest time. It could no longer take the pressure.
There was also something weird about them. They didn't look like they were torn apart by zombies or lickers. It seemed too organized to be. Veronica wasn't thinking about that too much at the moment, however; too busy throwing up what little food she had that day. She barely grew conscious enough to hear Claire's footsteps come up from behind her and then suddenly, her hair was being pulled back again. A warm hand rubbed along her back gently as she retched a last time.
"Oh fuck," she croaked.
"Are you ok?" Claire asked, her voice gentle. Veronica wiped her mouth with her sleeve before looking over at the other brunette.
"Y-yeah. I'm sorry. I just," she swallowed the spit in her mouth, "couldn't hold it in anymore." Her throat burned from the bile and she really wished she had some water to wash it down, but she wasn't going to risk a possible infection.
"It's ok. I honestly don't blame you at this point." Veronica nodded as she looked down at her sleeve. Grossed out by the spittle smeared on the fabric, she decided to roll up her sleeves just a little. It's not like they protect me that much.
"I guess, but the timing is a little inconvenient, don't you think?" she sighed, glancing down at the puddle at her feet. Her cheeks warmed as the sudden wave of embarrassment of throwing up in front of a pretty girl overcame her.
"It could be worse. You could be peeing your pants in front of a licker," Claire joked, trying to make the other girl feel better. The smile playing at the corner of her lips was a telling sign that it worked.
"True. Now that would be terrible!" She looked back up at her companion, blue eyes meeting brown ones. The feeling of Claire's warm hand on her back was all she could feel and the tension between them in that small attic space was slowly growing. It may have only been a few seconds, but it felt like minutes.
The low light accented Claire's face and she was stuck staring at her beautiful features. For a moment, it even looked like the other was doing the same, her eyes flicking down a few times to her lips. Questions from the previous conversation downstairs came to mind immediately. It wasn't until a fly came buzzing past them to remind them of where they were. Claire cleared her throat as she patted the other girl's back one last time before finally dropping her hand.
"Are you feeling any better?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine. Thank you, Claire." She gave a nod back in return before the two turned back to the carnage in front of them. Veronica had to swallow intensely to keep herself from having a repeat of the past few minutes. If anything, Claire seemed to be having a similar reaction herself.
"Ugh, I think it's the smell that's the worse part. They must have been rotting up here for a few days now," she noted.
As they walked closer, Veronica noticed a sheet of paper sitting on a table just a few feet away. She reached out to grab it while Claire peeked into the caged part to find a clear path to the statue. Skimming over the words, she gasped softly in horror at what she was reading. Claire turned back to see what was the matter, only for Veronica to hold out the paper for her to take. Reading over it, she realized why the strong reaction.
'Damn those corporate assholes! They cut me off! After all I've done for them! But if that's how it's gonna be, so be it. I'm gonna have a little fun of my own as the world goes to shit. I boarded all those filthy pigs up in a steel pen, and set some C4. All I gotta do is detonate it and it's "sayonara suckers"! But it's no fun if it's over too soon, so maybe I'll give that one raving loon something to really squeal about. Yeah maybe I'll give him a little toy and tell him, "Kill the guy next to you and I'll spare the others." I wonder what he'll do. You yell about "justice" and "pride" but how many times did you go against me, your own superior? Yeah, you're such a good cop...So good you had to die. Man is this fun. I need some music for this.'
"Claire, I don't think the smell is the worst part," Veronica muttered softly while looking over at the bodies sadly. To think that someone would turn their backs on each other like this in a zombie outbreak.
"Who is this guy?! This can't be a cop," Claire scoffed angrily while setting the paper back down on the table. "Not a real one." With a flame ignited inside her, she turned and easily hopped over the bodies and up to the statue. It was a tall marble statue of a woman holding a jug and in the middle of her belt was a bronze disk. At its base was a stone box with three dials, each with carved symbols on it.
Looking it over, she realized that this was what they needed. She asked for the little notebook from Veronica and flipped to the clues. Seeing the similar image of the woman with a jug, she knew she was right. A look at the box, she realized that the dials moved, so with a bit of effort she turned them to the same code written down. With the sound of stone grinding, the disk from the statue's belt was released allowing for Claire to grab it. With it in her hand, she held it up for Veronica to see.
"I got it! It's statues that we have to look for! They have the medallions," she explained while returning to the other side.
"Well, that makes things easier for us," Veronica replied while taking the little book and putting it back into her pouch. "Statues are obvious and we just need two more to go. One from a lion statue and one from a unicorn statue."
"Now we just have to find them," Claire paused and looked over to the body mound, " and fast. Marvin said in that note he left that there are people you can't trust out here."
"And now I can see why," Veronica added as she understood where Claire was going with this. "It's possible whoever did this, could still be alive. We need to be careful."
"For their sake, let's hope they're not." Claire led them both to the blocked off door and leaned down at one side of the fallen shelf. "Here! Give me a hand." Veronica stood to her other side and used her shoulder to help push the heavy shelf back into place. The path forward was free. Before Claire could open it, Veronica stopped her.
"Wait!" She paused as they both listened for any sounds. With no noticeable hissing, she took it as a good sign. "Ok. We're clear, I think."
"Right! I forgot about that. Thanks!"
With that said, she reached over and slowly pushed open the door. The girls drew out their guns when the sound of groaning and chewing reached them. Walking in, the two of them were met with warm light and found themselves on the second floor of a library. It was a beautiful room lined with emerald green wallpaper and wooden trimmings, but if you looked down at the first floor, you were met with the ugly reality.
Looking over the railing, they watched as a zombie feasted on the back of a dead man and another zombie wandering around aimlessly. Dead police officers were splayed across the floor along with books that were scattered all over the place. They noticed that there was a walkway on their floor that was broken to their left and nothing to their right.
Quietly, they walked across to the other side, in hopes of not catching any attention of the dead beneath them. Heading down the stairs to the first floor, they noticed two doors in the room that led to two different sides of the department. One had the teal spade while the other was just a regular door. Luckily for them, the spade door was unlockable with the newly attained key, but they decided to go with the other door first since it would most likely lead to the S.T.A.R.S. office.
They slipped easily through unnoticed to find themselves in front of a copper statue. It was the unicorn and it was sitting on the balcony of the small room they were in. In the shield that the unicorn was posed upon, was a small medallion with a unicorn carving on it. At its base was a stone box with similar dials to the woman statue upstairs.
"Oh hell yes! Another statue! All we need is one more," Veronica said while quickly jogging over to solve the code.
"Yeah, but where is it?"
"It's gotta be around here somewhere. We've only been exploring this side of the station," she replied while pocketing the medallion.
"True, but we also don't have the code to it, right?" Veronica looked down at her book and sighed. Claire was right. The code that was written down was caked in blood and was unreadable.
"Yeah. We might have to play the guessing game when we find it."
"Great." Veronica glanced around to see if there was anything of use and noticed something to her immediate left. While she looked at that, Claire walked over to the one other door in the room and found it to be locked on the other side.
"Damn it!" She huffed in annoyance and kicked the door. "Now how are we going to get there!?"
"I think we can find out!" Claire turned to find Veronica holding up large sheets of paper in her hands. "It's the rest of the map to the station!"
"Really?!" she smiled excitedly while walking over to peek over Veronica's shoulder.
"Yeah! So it looks like we're in the second-floor lounge and while this door would go straight to the S.T.A.R.S. office, it sounds like it's locked." Claire nodded with a sigh.
"Yup, from the other side." Veronica hummed in thought as she looked over any paths.
"Ok, so it looks like there really isn't any other way through." She paused as she looked at the blocked off hallway on the other side. "But, there might be something that could help us in the locker room. We didn't bother to search it when we were over there."
"But what could we find that would help?"
"I don't know. Maybe there's a tool left behind in one of the lockers that could get this door open. These doors are heavy duty. It would be really hard to break the door down by ourselves without catching some unwanted attention. If there are lickers on the other side, we could get into some serious shit."
"That's true. We've looked everywhere else in this wing for helpful tools and there really wasn't much left."
"Right, and if worse comes to worse, we might have to take down that blockade. But it would take forever to do."
"I guess we have no other options, huh?"
"I guess not. Maybe we'll be lucky and find a secret door over there or something," Veronica joked dryly. Claire raised an eyebrow with a small smirk.
"A secret door?"
"Who knows? We're trying to find medallions to open a secret passage beneath a giant statue. At this point, I wouldn't even be surprised." Claire chuckled and gave a nod.
"I guess it's possible! It's not like we have anything to lose just for checking."
"Well then, let's head back," Veronica said while handing the rest of the map to Claire to put in her pouch. "But if this doesn't work, we might have to reassess our plan here." Claire didn't like that thought, but she knew the other was right.
"Then let's hurry and find out."