Beyond the fourth door one could hear the rustling of a bag, swiftly followed up with the strike of a match tip against its packaging. Dylan's nerves have already gotten to him. He sighed, the back of his throat growing more irritated the more smoke grazed it. If this was the kind of fuss he'd be encountering on a daily basis, then he'd be fixing to burn through them cigarettes for as long as he lasted. Just when he was staving off them too. Readjusting the cigarette in his mouth, he glared at the overbearing amount of sunlight rushing in through the window. Nails and a hammer cross his gaze. 

Just as that... thing... said, he’d take care to pin them in a way that’d ensure any glaring beams of light wouldn’t seep through. Strange that there weren’t any other holes indicating that other stay-goers did the same, but he wasn’t about to question that compared to what he saw in the rest of the town. They probably fix up the room with those planks they were harvesting over at that big ol' hall. For whatever sun was able to seep past the blankets after his first sweep, he’d pull out the pin he misplaced and stretch the sheet further over the window. He’d repeated the process for each and every blanket until he was left with a barren bed and what was technically less light than before. Unfortunately, it wasn’t anywhere near comparable to a night sky. 

He poured out everything he’s been keeping in his pouch and looked it over, refreshing the notes in his mind, making sure all he had left was with him. So far everything he’s had on his person was here.  The saddlebags carrying anything extra were whisked away with his horse, who had gone off a long time ago. Along with the rest of his crew, falling to the wayside one by one. With everything accounted for, he slumped on his bed. 

To think, this town might’ve actually been worse than what he was dealing with back at home. Still, he wasn’t fixing to go back out to the toil and hunger. To cows falling over dead out of nowhere, for no particular reason. Happened as spontaneously as the signs that plagued the towns he’d travel to, the same ones that he’d use as a cushion, the same ones he’d roll up for a blunt. Thought it was only happening to his cows until someone else’s slumped over the same way at an auction. Eventually, the land went coarse, and water wells were drying up. Crime hit an all-time high. The place he called home turned into a hell that made him glad he didn’t have kids. As of yet, if there was a chance for him to live comfortably, even if he had to live out the rest of his days at the town next door, it was shaping to already be an upgrade to how they were living out there. The straining tug at his chest started to subside as the burning end of the cigarette neared his lips. Satisfied, he tossed it to the ground and snuffed out the sparks with his boot.

- - - 

Despite the covers over the window, he’d get little sleep throughout the night. The gunshots kept him alert, thinking that some bandits were closing in before he realized it was just Thomas. He wouldn't be surprised if Thomas actually did end up being as trigger happy as those idiots. With the number of gunshots blasting, he’d assumed it was sometime in the morning already, however, it was hard to actually tell given the sun was in the same position as it was yesterday.

After a change of wardrobe, a morning check of his inventory, and opening his door with the intent to begin his search for the source of the curse, he’d pause. He could hear an oscillating creaking faintly moving in and out. Fredric's drawn-out flesh permeated his mind. The wooden planks chafing against each other, either leaving the flesh in between pinched or strained. Termites bleeding throughout. Dylan kept his head down and his hat tilted, its shadow obscuring his eyes as they desperately try to recover from the sudden surge of terror. The only other obvious sign of his state was a heavy staggering breath, interrupted by the occasional gravel cough. Another match was struck. Alongside his ritualistic chain-smoking, he scanned his surroundings, making sure that it was just a hallway and not hosting some other godforsaken monstrosity. It seemed nothing was lurking in the corners, yet. He suspected that none of the other five travelers left their rooms either, but he had no way of knowing for sure. His only hint was the stillness lingering in the air.