Saul found himself wringing out a rag, blood leaking onto the ground beside his feet. To his left was Tracker, now awake, bandaging Jorgens arm. Tracker had attempted to apply some of the herbs and home remedies, none providing relief. Privately he had also discussed the matter with Saul, explaining that he had seen similar afflictions. This didn’t concern him too much, with time it would heal, how long it would take he does not know. What he could do, however, is bandage his arm so that he stops playing with it. To Sauls’ right was Carrie, she was sat on a stool, staring into the outpost's outer wall. Saul couldn’t tell what she was looking at, or thinking, best that he could see were some lumbermen felling trees. 

Saul continued to scrub away at Carrie's face, scraping away at the blood and grime. He figured it was the least he could do to help (As well as not wanting her to walk around, looking like a madwoman). It also gave him some time to think before she’d run away or take a nap or whatever, he had matters to discuss but couldn’t find the proper direction. Technically her mission was a failure, though through no fault of her own (Or allies). He didn’t want to throw the five back out into the wilderness, no time to recuperate and a chance of encountering the same foes once more. He also felt that she, particularly, would be restless and wanting some sort of immediate task. He also had no idea of what their next mission could or should be, vague ideas of scouting missions fluttering about, though wanting to give them all some time to rest. As if reading his mind, Carrie spoke.

“So I guess I’m just a bit curious, but what's the next mission you’ve got for us?”

Saul paused for a second, returning to wiping and answering “I could not say for certain. Given your encounter I wanted to give you all some time to recuperate; at least until the kid's arm is healed up.”

“Right, I don’t wanna leave when he’s still sick. Was just wondering if you had anything in mind for later on.”

“I see… I don’t have any missions in mind for the immediate future. Truthfully, I’m still waiting on orders from my superiors as well as additional supplies.”

“Then what did you have in mind for our squad?”

Saul gave pause once more, choosing his words carefully, he was slow to speak, “Well… I am generally unfamiliar with everyone in your group. The only one I was able to verify as having previous experience in our, err… Business, is Tracker. I had heard good things from Jorgen though. I know your history and why you are here, I know you’ll be here until the end of the war- Whenever that is. Myer- Hmm… I don’t actually know why he is here or what he did to get here… Generally, you all came from different backgrounds with wildly different skills and experiences. I wanted to send you all out on some lightweight missions, see what Tracker thought, and reassign you accordingly.”

“I see… And what are you thinking right now?”

Saul let out a hearty, warm, laugh, “Hah! That is a good question. You five are the only people I know to have actually laid eyes on these ‘Vampires’ so far. Everyone here and everyone I talk to seems to only have faint sniffs of what's going on. Frankly, it is a tad bit disconcerting, though your story generally aligns with what I’m hearing about them…”

Carrie took a minute to breathe, solemnly letting out, “Huh… Would’a thought that more people would be ahead of us on this.”

“As far as I know, your group currently has the most experience with fighting these fiends.”

“You mentioned taking on more important missions, think this will help throw us into those?”

“Err… Truly, throw might be too proper a word to call it. It was a single, small, skirmish. I still don’t know how you all would perform in more… Intensive- operations…”

Carrie let loose a sigh, “Yeah… Back to big game huntin’ for us then…”

Saul, finished with cleaning, throwing the soiled rag to the ground. He pulled himself a seat closer to Carrie, giving his aching legs a break. For a long second he thought, asking, “What exactly do you want? What do you see as your purpose here?”

Carrie answered without pause or hesitation, “I wanna make a difference. I don’t want a bunch of freaks running around causing chaos.”

“I get that, but every person has their part to play. No matter how big or small the job, you are contributing to something.”

“Yeah… I get that, I just want to be able to do more than carrying water or cutting trees, I want to help more people…”

“I see… Well, I’m sure you can work your way up to something greater… You just have to start small, with what's right around you.”

With that an idea struck Carrie's mind. She turned to her right towards Jorgen, now picking at his bandages, Tracker attempting to stop him. She then turned to her left, finding Ruach sat cross legged on the ground. She lifted herself up to a stand, walking forwards, turning her gaze to the sky. She found the sun, letting it guide her eyes to the East, finding a single thin dirt road at the edge of the outpost. She extended a pointer finger towards, asking Saul a question.

“Say… Where would that road take us?”

Saul responded, “Hmm? It just goes a town over, Dirtridge. It’s about a day and a half away, maybe less, why?”

“You said something about a mage heading East, the one that found Ruach, think they could have gone there?”

“Well it is just about the only place that road leads to. In fact I believe that courier I was talking about earlier should have left with the first light of today.”

“Do you think that mage would have any healing magic?”

“I couldn’t say… Though… She did seem to have knowledge of Ruachs’ condition…”

Carrie pulled herself back to her seat, right next to Saul, “Well what I’m thinking is this… What if our squad went there as well, like real soon. See if the mage is there and whether she can help both Ruach and Jorgen. If she’s not there, no issue, maybe we can see if someone else can help them then come straight back. What’dya think?”

Saul sat for a second, thinking, before delivering, “Not too bad of an idea, actually. I see no harm in getting multiple things knocked out at once, plus I would like to reroute that courier and give extra instruction. Tell everyone to take some naps and prepare their gear, I want you all getting a bit more rest and I need time to draft a letter, I want to be ready by noon.”

Carrie lifted herself up “Understood, sir."