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As far as Casey was concerned, nature had always been out to get him. Every time he left the city, every fucking feature of the environment ganged up on him. The sun gave him a headache, flowers made him sneeze, and trees obscured the path until he got hopelessly lost.
Today was a bad day to get lost. No clouds shielded against the searing sunlight. Heat massed all around, crushing and roasting him. He still couldn’t find his way back to the fucking cabin that was supposed to be their field office.
“Casey?” Anderson’s voice in his ear again, over the radio. “Are you moving? I should have found you by now.”
“Hm.” Casey stopped moving. He didn’t remember when he’d started moving again. “I-I was trying to find my way out of these trees.”
“I know, but your sense of direction leaves a lot to be desired. Just let me find you.”
Casey wanted to protest that, but he couldn’t think straight. He was tired, too, and wanted to strip out of his shirt. It was too hot. Also, all this fucking nature was giving him a headache.
“Oh, shit.” Anderson jogged up to him and caught his hand. “Casey, come on. You look terrible. We’ve gotta get you back to the shade.”
“Trees have shade,” Casey said vaguely, glaring at them. “I-I really hate trees.”
“I know. We’ll find different shade that doesn’t come from trees. Come on, Casey.” Anderson dragged him along. He went, although he wasn’t happy about it. He wasn’t happy about anything.
He wasn’t quite sure why he was so pissed off. Except for the trees. Trees always pissed him off, with their leaves making noise and boughs blocking the path. They all looked like monsters, closing in, about to eat him.
Given that last year he’d been possessed by the evil spirit of a fucking lake, maybe that wasn’t that far fetched.
“Anderson?” Casey asked as she pulled him along by the hand. “You can see things. Motives. Evil.”
Anderson glanced back at him, the determined look on her face changing a little. To concern, maybe. “Yeah. Why, did you see something suspicious that needs profiling? Unless it’s something urgent, I really gotta get you cooled down first. You’re well on your way to heat stroke, or maybe already there.”
“Mhm.” Casey looked uncomfortably at the canopy above him. The branches rattled ominously. “I-I think the trees want to eat me.”
Anderson squeezed his hand. “Well, let’s go inside the field office. Then you’ll be away from the trees, and I can profile them later if you’re still worried.”
“I’m always worried about trees,” Casey muttered.
He went along with her, though. She was smart, a good partner. If she thought there was danger from the trees, she’d look into it right away. Apparently, going to the field office was more important right now.
Anderson made him sit on the edge of one of the beds and took off his shirt. He didn’t mind that. It was too hot today, and his shirt dripped with sweat. That was another problem with nature.
There was another problem, too, this one not related to nature. Casey eyed the coffeemaker longingly.
“Uh-uh. Not right now,” Anderson said, apparently recognizing the look. She draped a wet cloth around his neck. “You’re already dehydrated enough. Drink your water.”
Casey didn’t remember her giving him water. He had a cup in his hands, though. He drank it and made a face. “I’d rather have coffee.”
“Later, when you’re not in such bad shape.” Anderson pressed her hand to his brow. “Jesus, you’re flushed now. I’m gonna call a doctor to come check you out, but they might take a while to get out here.”
That was another strike against nature. No rapid medical attention when you needed it. And Casey suspected he might need it right now. He didn’t feel very well.
He drank his water while Anderson called in their situation. It was nice and cool, so there was that. So was the cloth around the back of his neck.
“You need to lie down now,” Anderson said gently when she got back. She pushed him back against the bed, then poured a water bottle from the fridge across more cloths. “Just rest, okay? You’ve gotten pretty badly overheated, but I’ll take care of you.”
“Quit fussing, Anderson,” Casey said out of habit.
“I’ll quit fussing when you quit having heat stroke.” She put more wet cloths all over his chest and arms, as well as one on his head. Then she took another cloth and sponged his face, which was pretty much the only exposed area of skin left. “This should help. The doctor can’t get here right away, of course, but I’m glad I found you as quick as I did.”
“I’m glad too. I hate being lost in the fucking woods.” Casey drank more water when Anderson shoved a straw in his mouth. She seemed pretty determined to take care of him. “Thanks. I could go for some coffee now.”
Anderson laughed and shook her head, then went back to sponging his face. “Not yet, Casey. Maybe later. When I profile those evil trees.”
Although Casey still felt like shit, he smiled a little at that. “Hm. You never know. Maybe they really are evil.”
Evil trees wouldn’t be the weirdest thing they’d run into over the past year. And after this, Casey was even more convinced that nature was out to get him. But Anderson was on his side, and in any contest of wills, Casey would always bet on Anderson.