Her words were a lie, and she knew this. By the time they returned, the body would be buried under a pile of snow. She changed her mind as she made another realization. It would probably be carried off by something and munched on as dinner.
She could feel the other creatures in the forest, watching but afraid to attack them. They were probably afraid of the beetles. Or they were also wondering how the group was able to move about freely in such weather.
As they got closer to the colony, the snow muffled their steps yet to Sunshine it felt like the whole world could hear their breaths. Her mask fogged slightly, and she tugged back it back into place, eyes flicking towards Elio as he froze, hand raised.
"One meter," he whispered once again. "They have moved twenty inches since this morning and there are more in number." His eyes narrowed. "It gets worse, the watchers are already hiding in the trees and waiting. I guess we are the late arrivals to this slaughter fest."
