All the discussion, all the looking for clues, it all got exhausting. Not to mention the whole badly-injured-energy-drained-half-dead thing, that was also the tiniest bit tiring. Maybe Nate would have been feeling all gung-ho to track down some murderous bastard under ordinary circumstances, but as it was, he couldn't keep his mind on all the speculation and skulduggery. All he wanted now was to get out, get away, and not have to deal with any of that shit anymore. And maybe spend an entire day out of the hospital, that would be great, too.
He headed to the forest, taking one of the lesser-used paths deeper into the woods. Mightyena kept pace with him, here and there putting on a burst of speed when he encouraged her to run. She was obviously tired, though, even more so than him. He didn't want to go any farther than this; she deserved a break.
Nate looked around for someplace to sit. Convenient tree stump or something. One of those good woodsy things. None presented itself, so eventually he had to settle for a halfway flat rock, one that was mossy and, as it turned out, a little muddy, too. No sooner had he sat down than mosquitos descended.
Mightyena sat down next to him, leaning in for some scratches while Nate waved bugs off with his other hand. It had only been a couple minutes of peace, minus the whine of bloodsucking insects, when Mightyena's ears went up. She pulled away from Nate, staring off down the path, and let out a deep, rumbling growl.
"What?" Nate asked, heart starting to thud in his chest. Stupid coming out here alone, stupid. If whatever fucking thing was attacking people in broad daylight now... "What do you see?"