They fell silent. The wind blew. Birds cawed.
“Why are you telling me this?” Zorn asked.
“Because I don’t want you to let this get you down. Bad things have happened, and bad things are going to continue to happen, with or without us. That woman? She might actually need our help. Or she’s a trap. Either way, it’s depressing, but there’s nothing we can do here but walk away and live another day.”
Then he scooted out from under the guard rail and headed back to camp. Zorn shot a look back at the woman, then scrambled out himself.
“Wait!” he called, running to catch up.
“Forget it, Zorn.”
“How can you just leave her there? The Topher I knew at Raleigh’s Prep wouldn’t have done it. Topher the Transcendental Tracker would have cut down legions of monsters to save a woman in distress, and
