Asher woke up to sunlight streaming through the window. He rolled over to check the time on his alarm clock, and saw that Cain was missing. His eyes widened, and he fought weariness off as he stood up, worried for where his friend might be.
Slowly, he dragged himself downstairs, but when he approached the railing over the living room he could see that Cain was down there, snoring loudly. He must have gotten hungry last night, Asher thought.
The smell of eggs drifted from the kitchen. He slid down the stair rail and padded past the couch Cain had passed out on to get some breakfast. He sat down on a corner couch and turned on the TV.
Nothing about aliens. Good, the teen with glasses thought, and then he realized he'd grown just as perpetually terrified as PJ.
The sound of an especially loud trucking commercial startled his fellow teen into waking up. "Good morning," Asher said.
Cain blinked and then sat up. "What time is it?"
Asher pointed towards the TV which had turned back to being the news. It read as nine AM.
"Wow, I slept a lot," commented Cain.
"Yes, about fifteen hours," Asher said.
"No, not fifteen hours straight. I woke up at one AM and went on a run," Cain told him.
Asher laughed, and Cain huffed; "Seriously, I did. That's why there's mud on the carpet."
"Mud on the carpet?" Asher squealed. "Mum's going to kill us!"
"No, I think I'm safe," Cain chuckled.
"Lucky you," Asher muttered. "Why did you go on a run that early? Are you feeling okay?"
Cain shrugged. "I was hungry in the middle of the night so I went to get some doritos. But when I got them, I realized that I was kinda fully awake but I needed to clear my head so I ran."
"How much? Did you have a flashlight on you?" Asher asked.
"Maybe a couple of miles, and no, I did not have a flashlight. Everything felt brighter last night, like I was a vampire," Cain remarked.
"Light sensitivity. Likely caused by switching between night vision and normal vision," Asher muttered.
"Wow, that makes me sound like a superhero."
"Did you warm up before running?" Asher asked.
"No," Cain replied.
"Humans don't wake up in the middle of the night and run three miles typically. I think its the DNA affecting your brain," Asher whispered, aware of his mother in the other room.
"It's doing nothing negative, so that's a positive," said Cain.
Asher frowned. "Just because nothing is bad now doesn't mean it won't go wrong later. We're still in the first week - the most important time of any research trial. Also, we need to take some stats now."
They did so and when they got back, Miriam and Adah were awake. PJ was probably sleeping in, needing her "beauty sleep" and all.
"Good morning," Miriam said.
"You look a lot better, Cain," Adah commented.
"I feel a lot better," Cain remarked.
They all ate breakfast tand by the time PJ lumbered down the stairs they were almost finished. Miriam stuck around to talk to PJ while everyone else watched TV. The Hunger Games was playing at full volume, and the reaping was going to happen any minute now.
Just as the games began, they all headed out into the forest. Clouds hung like a dome overhead, fading at the edges of the horizon. Heat and humidity hung over them like a swarm of locusts.
They all sat down around the firepit. "We should do a burning tonight," Miriam chirped.
"I think it's going to rain tonight. Maybe tomorrow," PJ yawned. She was lying - the forecast had said it was going to clear up, and everyone knew that PJ stayed up more than she could handle at sleepovers.
"So what are we going to be doing?" Adah asked.
"About the Genesis 2? Nothing, until we confirm that nothing bad's going to happen to Cain. Seeing as bear DNA is closer to human DNA then, say, eagle DNA, I think he actually made a pretty good choice. If he chose eagle DNA, I bet it would've taken longer for him to recover," Asher told them.
"I think we should go fishing at the pond. We haven't done so since the ship crashed," Cain remarked.
"That's a great idea, especially since its about to rain!" Adah exclaimed.
"Thank goodness I brought my book," Asher muttered.
They all began to leave the area. As they raced through the forest on their vehicles, Cain could see every spider web and stone even as they blurred past him. Cain was right. This really enhanced my vision. This'll help me shoot better, he thought.
The engine shuddered before turning off as They stopped at the dirt shore of the pond. It was school-bus sized in diameter though it was more egg-shaped then a perfect circle. At the far end from them, a stream trickled in, leading from the lake.
Asher sat down at the left side where a Shortleaf pine tree had snapped and created a perfect bench. He scooted up to the very top, which was a good six-foot drop to the ground. PJ went there too, sitting down in the middle. She then started to scroll through her phone. Miriam joined them, though she sat practically on the ground.
Meanwhile, Adah and Cain took out their fishing gear and began to attach bait to their rods. A noise from the other side of the pond disturbed them - the sound of engines. They froze, looking like deer in the headlights.
A twig snapped as the engines died down, and the people on the tree looked up from what they were doing. Asher stood up to peer over the tall grass, and his eyes widened.
The noise of rustling got closer and closer, and then fell silent. And after a couple of seconds, walking out of the brush were the Lake Kids.