“Do we need so much?” Cassie asked as they hurried back to the bunker with their prize.
“The Handbook has a spell to cure meat for storage, so if it’s not terrible tasting, I want to make as much as we can and fill the bunker’s shelves with meat. This is enough to last a whole busload of people all winter, so even if we get reinforcements, we shouldn’t starve.”
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“Good point. All of those bodies will rot soon, and it will bring disease and scavengers. We might need to do something about them.” She agreed.
“They seemed to be piling the dead before they were attacked. We could start with that and then burn the pile. I just need to find a better spell to move them because this way would take weeks.”
“We will think of something.” Cassie agreed and adjusted the animal’s hindquarters so they could make it through the bunker door.
“Oh wow. They brought all the meat.” Beth cheered, pulling out a collection of knives from her pack.
“I knew you’d appreciate this. If you can skin and butcher this, someone will learn the spell to cure it, and I will scour the camp for surviving supplies. There might still be something left that wasn’t packed up or destroyed by monsters.” Wolfe replied.
“We will go out with you. The camp might be hard to search, and it should be all trampled now anyhow, not fresh snow that would lead anything to us.” Ella informed him.
“First, we need to change cloaks. These were great for the forest, but here around the camp, it’s all mud and snow.” Reiko reminded them.
She had a point. They stood out like a sore thumb in the travel outfits that they had made for the autumn weather in the forests around the Academy. They had hundreds of kilometres North toward the mountain range in the center of the continent, and the weather was very different here.
Wolfe had seen urban camouflage as the defence force called their pattern in all black and gray. If he switched the main colour from black to white, it would blend right in.
[Lightning Armor] could do nearly white, with a hint of blue, and with the same nearly white boots and black armour underneath using [Unholy Armor], it would blend right in with the trampled snow, he thought.
Wolfe swapped his armour, remembering to add pockets all over the liner of the cloak, as Mary had requested the last time they did this, and cargo pants with a long-sleeved shirt and gloves. That left no skin exposed except the face, which would help keep them warm outside if the weather got worse.
The mountains of the Frozen Wastes, as this region of the continent was called, were known to have a different climate than the rest of the world due to lingering damage from the war, and the name certainly didn’t inspire confidence that there would be good weather coming anytime soon.
With that thought in mind, he added a loose mask to the cloak, dangling in front of his face, leaving only the eyes visible behind a thin mist. Now even the face was protected from the cold.
“How about it?” Wolfe asked the group, showing off the winter ghillie suit.
“Not bad at all. It matches the snow, and if you get it dirty, it will match the muddy areas as well. We will eventually need to make a whole set of amulets for everywhere we go, I think. Like with patterns over the white for hiding in the grass or trees.” Cassie suggested.
“Good idea. If I put a layer of Earth Armor on top and make it look like long grass, it will be like this.” Mary decided, adding an outer layer to the cloak that mimicked the long grass that grew all through the open areas, making it look like Wolfe was a snowy hill with grass growing out of it.
Since it was a separate part, it could be dismissed like a helmet if the grass was attracting attention for some reason, so there was no reason not to include it, and it could even help while moving through the trees.
The blood-infused metallic paint marker was brought out, and amulets were made for everyone. The momentary gap between outfits while they changed attire reminded them that they had only brought a little warmth to the room with the stove, leaving the bunker uncomfortably cool without the help of heavy blankets or armour spells.
Those were added to the mental list of things to search for as Wolfe led the group back outside to clear the camp.
“I totally feel like a commando from the movies,” Mary whispered as they crept through the ruins of the camp.
“You look the part. This is a great disguise. But they didn’t really clear the camp, did they? I see crushed tents and forgotten gear. There’s even a broken wand left here.” Wolfe whispered.
“They must have left in a hurry, but that’s good for us. The bunker is big, and we can stack it full for insulation.” Reiko agreed.
Ella was digging through every flattened tent they passed, and had collected a dozen wool blankets and sleeping bags so far, a large pile of warmth to line the bunker, so she turned back to drop off her gains.
Wolfe saw what looked like a circle of rocks, so he moved left, hoping it was the kitchen, only to find it was the remains of their guard tower. He had reached the north edge of the camp.
Turning back, a crushed vehicle, pushed almost completely into the mud, caught his eye. Looking down through a foot-shaped hole in the roof revealed that it was full of canvas bags. The sort of tight woven cloth bag that was used for charity supplies from the Coven for the lower levels.
“Reiko, Mary, come quick. I think I’ve found food.” He called softly, so his voice didn’t carry.
The bus was demolished, but it had been parked in a trench between what Wolfe discovered were two storage containers that seemed intact but had their doors blocked with dirt and snow.
With a bit of help from Witch Magic, the back door of the bus was dug out, and Mary snuck inside.
“Rice, Rice, Rice. Oh, over here are the dried beans.” She announced.
“Good enough. Let’s grab what we can carry and block the door again. Reiko, can you use Earth Magic to fix the roof? just pull the panels back into place, and I’ll move this board over top to keep evening dry inside.” Wolfe instructed.
“Got it. We know where it is now, and having it in two spots is better than one.” Reiko agreed and began fixing the roof while Wolfe went inside to help Mary with the heavy bags of food.
As with the antler beast, they brought back way more than they needed, lining a wall with sacks of food, while Ella finished lining the walls and roof with blankets to keep the heat inside the bunker and not melt the snow off their shelter. One green hill in a snowy field would be a pretty obvious sign that the bunker was inhabited.
Before the beginning of their second night in the front lines, they were actually cozy, tucked into their upgraded shelter, with years worth of very basic food and a ward hiding their presence.