I had finally fully recovered from my injuries. So, it was time for me, Tara, and Genevieve to follow through with our plan to begin searching for Stephon and Brian.
We swam across the stream to the opposite side of Felicia and were walking down the shore. We entered into a valley and saw a couple of mutants that approached and began attacking a giant turtle and its children. We chased down the mutants and the giant turtle and slew them while saving the younger turtles.
"Those turtles and mutants sure seem to hate each other," I said.
"Based on what we've seen so far, the mutants seem to be the aggressors," Tara replied. "The giant turtles seem to be more of a defensive creature."
"Today is the first time I've ever seen one of these mutants," Genevieve said. "They're such nasty-looking creatures."
"By the way Genevieve, good job in saving that baby turtle from that last mutant," Tara said. "You stuck that spear right through its back pretty good."
Genevieve laughed. "Thanks, Tara."
"Yeah, these mutants are nothing more than savages," I said. "I don't know what's worst, the bandits or the mutants."
We continued exploring the area. We ran into a couple of more mutants which we easily took out. There were also a lot of turtle nests. The giant turtles were calm and didn't appear to be a threat, so we left it alone.
"Well, there are still no signs of Stephon or Brian," I said.
"It's like searching for two needles in a haystack," Tara replied. "However, we can't give up."
"All we can do is keep trying," Genevieve said.
As we continued exploring, we came across a lake. The scenery was quite beautiful.
"Look at how the sun shines on the water," Tara said. "It's so beautiful."
"It would sure be a great spot for some romantic moments," I replied as I winked at Tara.
Genevieve laughed. "How cute!"
Tara came up to me and gave me a kiss. "One day, we'll have to come back here."
We moved past the lake and were ambushed by a bunch of bandits, and a giant turtle came rushing at Tara and Genevieve.
"Look out!" I yelled. "We're being attacked by bandits."
As the bandits were approaching me, I turned my head to see where Tara and Genevieve were.
"We heard you, Richard," Genevieve shouted. "A giant turtle is charging at us."
"Genevieve, you go help Richard with the bandits," Tara said. "I'll take care of the turtle."
As Genevieve came rushing to help me with the bandits, Tara fired an arrow into the giant turtle. The beast then came running towards me, Genevieve, and the bandits. As the turtle approached, I gave it a heavy strike with my blade which put an end to its life.
"Alright, I finished off that turtle," I yelled, "Now let's take out these damn bandits."
As Tara was making her way towards me and Genevieve, me and Genevieve entered into a skirmish with the bandits. They weren't very good fighters. Genevieve took out the one with the axe with her spear. I was fighting the one with the sword. Tara came and shot an arrow into the bastard, and then I landed a critical strike on his back with my sword. The bandit fell to the ground dead.
"Fuck these bastards," I shouted. "They're just everywhere!"
"Ricky, I just noticed..." Tara said. "Where is your armor?"
"Shit!" I replied. "I completely forgot to put it on before we left Felicia."
Genevieve looked at me. "And you just finished recovering from your injuries."
"Ricky!" Tara shouted.
"Hey!" I said. "You ladies didn't even notice that I wasn't wearing any armor until now anyways!"
Genevieve laughed.
"Fair enough," Tara replied.
After defeating the bandits and the giant turtle, we continued exploring. We encountered a couple of more giant turtles. We slew them and moved on. The night was falling upon us. As we continued walking down the path, Tara fired an arrow at a sleeping giant turtle. We quickly put an end to the beast, and then out of nowhere, a mutant comes running at us. It began to glow. Genevieve then pierced her spear right through the body of the mutant. The monster dropped to the ground dead. At this point, it was really dark out. It was hard to see anything. We were attacked by a couple of more mutants, but they were no match for us.
"Well, I think that's enough searching and fighting for one day," I said. "What do you ladies think?"
"I agree," Tara replied. "We can continue searching for Stephon and Brian tomorrow."
Genevieve looked into the dark sky. "I'm good with whatever you guys want to do."
"Alright then," I said. "Let's set up a camp."
Sadly, we had no luck today in finding Stephon or Brian. The truth is that they could be on the other side of the world as far as we know. As Tara and Genevieve already said, we cannot give up and all we can do is keep trying.