The light of the campfire provided illumination, which occurred at the same time as the color of the sky began to change to an orangey-red.
Brian reloaded his pistols despite the fact that the time-consuming and difficult process of reloading firearms with one shot was, the vast majority of the time, not worth it.
However, because of the situation, he had little choice but to reload the pistols that he was using in order to prevent himself from running out of ammunition.
The quantities of food, despite being on the modest side, were sufficient to keep the stomach satisfied, so there was no need to worry about that aspect of the experience. Brian did not particularly enjoy the flavor in any way.
The most unsettling aspect for him was the smell that Brian had begun to emit. It was becoming increasingly unpleasant.
The combination of the smell of his blood and the smell of his sweat was not a pleasant one at all. The odor of blood was present, but it was not nearly as strong as it had been earlier.
And that's not even mentioning the sticky sensation that pervaded his entire body.
Brian, who appeared to be in a trance, was unaware that Neferet had stood up and was staring at him.
The young lady stood up and did some stretching. She frowned as she took in the scent of her, and she looked down at the ground in front of her with an even more uncomfortable expression than Brian did. A few bars of supplies and Brian's canteen were waiting for her when she arrived.
Kneeling down, the girl cleared her throat and said, "Good morning."
Without looking at Brian, Neferet began to take the bars. Unwrapping them, she said, "When did we fall asleep?"
Brian proceeded to disassemble the handguns while simultaneously loading each one with a silver cylinder that ended in a small lead ball. All the while, he did this, he filled the handguns with the cylinders. He did so without turning his head in any direction.
Brian's voice was calm and had a tone of exhaustion to it as he continued to speak after he had responded to her question without looking at her.
"Good morning," Brian's voice was accompanied by the sound of metal clicks. "We didn't fall asleep. You fell unconscious when the fight ended, and I charged away from the corpse of the beast, then I passed out too. I would have liked to do all this last night."
Neferet gave a definitive snort while she chewed, and then she looked up to see Brian stand up. He had holstered his pistols on his waistband, but he had slung his hammer to his side rather than the back of his waistband.
While looking at the girl, Brian said, "It no longer makes sense to carry it hidden. Almost everyone has seen it."
Nodding, Neferet hurried up the supplies and water to tell him, "Do we have a plan to meet up with the others, or are we on our own?"
Neferet's voice shook slightly as she considered the possibility that if they advanced without the other group, it would be because something had transpired with the other party.
Her mind quickly flashed to Rebeca's relaxed, smiling face. Brian turned to look at her and said, "The other group said we'd meet at the end of the road. We just have to go up the hill and find him."
Neferet gave Brian the canteen after rising to her feet and giving him a nod of approval. She turned her head to look behind her.
Slowly Brian walked towards her and, leaving her canteen, said, "Use that water. We have some left over. Carry another two in the bag. Use that one to clean yourself if you like. I'll go ahead and wait over there."
Brian pointed to the small slope that formed a natural staircase with the rocks with the strange runes, "There are some rocks over there that you can use to cover you."
Brian gave the girl a friendly smile, gestured in the direction of the back, and then continued to slowly walk down the path while keeping his back to the girl the entire time.
While Neferet was looking at Brian's back, she recalled how, only a few moments earlier, she had seen him with his shirt off to an almost entirely uncovered extent.
As she hurried to conceal herself behind the rocks while also carrying the canteen with her, she had difficulty catching her breath.
On the surface of the white uniform shirt were stains of blood, grime, and burns. These stains covered the entire shirt. She was helpless due to the smell, and as she slowly removed it, she looked over the edge of the wall to see where Brian was. She was looking for him.