Everyone was sitting in the living room. Rebecca, Alice, Sarah, and Natalie were sitting on one sofa. Catalina, Sofia, and Juan were sitting on another sofa. John's mother was sitting in one of the chairs; Susan was sitting in another. John, Josh, Jake, Noah, Tyrone, Dillian, and Ryan were all standing. They all gathered to decide what to do and get a follow-up from Natalie.
"Well, the girl is going to be okay. As well as your leader. They should wake up by the end of the day. Your leader has shown signs of excessive fatigue, so this resting period should help him recover." Natalie explained. Everyone was silent for a moment to see if she had anything else she wanted to say. However, there was relief in their eyes. Getting the word from a doctor that both of them would be just fine relieved many of their worries. "So... what are we going to do?" Dillian asked.
Everyone glanced in his direction. "I mean, even if Don and April are out of commission right now, what should we do? Should we keep scouting? Or should we just stay put?" Dillian reiterated his question.
Everyone looked amongst themselves before Rebecca decided to speak up with a raise of her hand that drew everyone's attention. "I think we should keep scouting. Don formed a scouting party in times that he was not around. Even with how everything is going, I believe we should continue to do what we would have done even if nothing did happen." Rebecca's remark seemed to make sense. No one wanted just to sit around and do nothing, right?
"Then who will go out? Who will stay?" Ryan asked two questions.
"We will." Josh answered.
"When I say we, I am including Jake and John. We already have a planned route. The only reason we stopped was due to that girl. I still believe that we should do the scouting." Josh added. No one seemed to disagree with Josh's remark, but there were remarks about the girl. "Oh yeah... you talked about her yesterday. What was with her? You said she could throw around balls of fire like it was some kind of magic trick or something, right?" Susan inquired, and Josh nodded. "Yeah. She said it was her power. I am assuming she is referring to the Seed." Josh explained.
"The Seed?" Noah's eyes rose curiously.
He turned towards Tyrone. "Do you know anything? Actually, I think now would be a good time to explain the numbers on everyone's hand. I am sure they all had silent wonders as to what the numbers meant." Noah added.
Everyone had shown an expression of curiosity in some form or another. "It wasn't like I was hiding anything..." Tyrone murmured since he was now in the spotlight.
"The numbers on your hand indicate the days you have survived in this world. The place is the same for everyone. So if you want to know how long someone has survived in this world, just look at their hand." Tyrone showed off his number, which was one hundred and eighty-six.
"I have been here just over six months." Tyrone explained.
Everyone looked at the number on their hands. Juan, Catalina, and Sofia all had the same number; sixty-six. Alice and Sarah had the number forty-eight on their hands. Rebecca and Noah both had the number thirty on theirs. John, Josh, Jake, Susan, Dillian, and Ryan all had the number six on their hands. Even John's mother had the number six on her hand.
Natalie saw everyone had shown their numbers, so she decided to show her own with a soft sigh. It read two-hundred and forty-four. "Roughly eight months..." Noah commented after doing the calculations in his head, and Natalie nodded.
"Looks like you will get to go home soon." Susan muttered.
"Lucky you." Dillian added, and Ryan sighed heavily. Natalie shrugged and shook her head. "I hope so. I didn't struggle to survive for eight months just to die at the finish line." Natalie remarked.
The tension was once again silent and heavy.
"Say, do you think we can even go home?" Ryan flat-out asked.
"I hope..." Susan muttered.
"If you survive, you can. I have watched people leave at the one-year mark. Just the other day, I watched someone get to go home. The number on their hand turned into a crown once it reached the one-year mark, and a voice spoke from their hand, asking what they wished. Sort of like a genie. She said she wanted to go back to her home on earth. The crown gave off a bright light that consumed the woman, and once it vanished, so did the woman." Natalie explained.
Everyone's eyes seemed to hold some form of hope to them, except for Josh. He found it a bit fishy that it was that simple. "But, how do you know she went home? What if something else happened? I don't mean to bring down the hopeful atmosphere, but where is the guarantee that you get to go home?" Josh's question did bring down the atmosphere, but his question made sense. There was no guarantee that they would actually get to go home. The boy only told them they would get one wish, even the wish to go home.
"Well, despairing over that thought won't do you any good. I have thought about it, but I choose to believe that we get to go home. Just as that woman did." Natalie answered to break down the heavy tension.
"I suppose you are right." Josh was inclined to agree. After all, there was no proof that they didn't get to go home. So, for now, Josh decided to believe he could go home once he got his wish after surviving for one year, as did everyone else in the room.
"Well, back to that girl. Who do you think she was?" Jake inquired, bringing up the topic of the girl.
"I do not know. She said something about another man, so I assume Don was fighting someone else, but from the looks of it, something serious went down." Josh answered.
Rebecca decided to tune in, "Don said that they were ambushed. Some dude wanted to fight them. He had snipers in waiting just in case, but they were not supposed to fire. I guess they fired upon April and Don since April was injured." Rebecca explained or at least told everyone what Don told her.
"Ooookay... so what happened afterward?" Josh asked since Rebecca seemed to stop speaking. Rebecca shook her head. "Don didn't tell me. I guess he dealt with them and made it back." Rebecca replied.
Everyone was silent for a moment, "Dealt with the guy... As well as snipers? What happened..." Josh muttered in thought. "Josh..." John spoke to get Josh's attention. Once he did, he continued, "Don had that look."
"What look?" Josh asked while shifting towards his cousin. Everyone seemed to take notice of the whispering between the two of them. "You know, the same one he had when he confronted April's stalker for the first time." John remarked, which caused Josh's eyes to widen. "Do you think..." Josh paused for a moment.
"What are you two whispering about?" Rebecca inquired, which drew Josh's attention toward her. He saw everyone was looking at him and John. Jake already knew what Josh and John talked about since he was beside them, but he did not speak on the matter. His expression did turn sour, though. Josh sighed softly, "I don't think it's for me to speak on, but..." Josh mulled over in thought on if he should speak on the matter.
"Is it about April?" Rebecca asked, and Josh looked up from the ground back towards her. She seemed to nail it perfectly. "Yeah. Remember April's stalker? Don confronted him once. It was after store hours. He had been waiting outside like some kind of creep. April was permitted to wait in the lobby for Don to get off. So when we exited the store, we saw him just sitting on the curb, waiting for April to come out. The moment he did, he approached April with a smile and tried to touch her. Don stepped in between them..."
"Excuse me, but I am trying to talk with April here." A well-dressed man in a business suit stated.
His voice was filled with sinister and vile intent. His beady black eyes looked past Don to look at April. April suddenly hid behind Don out of fear. Don could feel April trembling against him as she held onto him tightly. "April doesn't want to talk to you. So why don't you buzz off." Don remarked while glaring at the man.
The man sighed softly and pushed up his glasses, "As if. She is just exhausted. April, let me take you home." The man reached past Don, but Don smacked his hand away and pushed the man away from April. The man grunted and growled while glaring at Don. "Who the hell do you think you are? If you touch me again, I'll sue! Do you even know who I am!?" The man exclaimed.
The glare Don was giving the man slowly shifted to something empty.
John and Josh could see it perfectly; it wasn't a normal glare that anyone would have. They had never seen this look from Don. Sure he gave some pretty nasty glares to unsavory customers and people who tried to hit on April, but nothing like this.
"I don't. Nor do I care, but if you try to touch April again, we will have a problem." Don remarked. A sheer chill in his voice unlike any other.
The man smirked at Don as he tried to reach past him. Don took hold of the man's wrist and gave it a good twist while stepping forward. He brought the man's entire arm behind his back and used his other hand to apply pressure near his collarbone to force the man to kneel out of sheer pain. "I warned you." Don muttered.
The man clenched his teeth, "Unhand me at once! You'll be hearing from my lawyer. I'll have you put in jail!" The man shouted. Josh knew what the man was after, so he stopped Don before Don went any further. Josh could see that Don was about to do something. He didn't know what exactly, but it was just a feeling. "That's enough, man. The guy learned his lesson, and even if he does sue, the cameras will testify that he tried to assault April. Besides, Boss and the rest of us got your back. Just let this loser go." Josh said as calmly as possible.
Don released the man's arm and stepped back. April had moved behind Don to take cover, still shivering with fear and fright.
"Camera? Ha, we'll see about that." The man remarked before making his way to his expensive and luxurious vehicle a short walk away from him. Finally, the man got in the vehicle and drove off.
Don, John, and Josh decided to wait until the man left. Boss had finally come out of the store and asked what was going on since it seemed everyone was on edge. Josh decided to explain the situation, and Boss agreed to help them out. There were many court cases, and many allegations were thrown at Don. With the help of several people, including Rebecca and April, they could fend against the cases filed against him. No action was taken; however, the man who filed these claims got off scot-free. In fact, the man in question wasn't even there. Instead, it was someone different. The claims came from various men and women Don didn't know. After the first two claims, everyone knew who was behind this.
"Soo... you see. There is something different about Don, but Don is still human. The fact that cares that much for April proves it, and I choose to believe Don is humane." Josh finished up with the story.
Everyone was silent for a moment. "So this stalker, was it the same one that you all encountered before?" Susan asked since they talked about the stalker beforehand. "Yeah. We met him when we first arrived here." John answered.
"Yeah, but Don took care of him." Rebecca remarked.
"I hope so." Tyrone muttered, which drew their attention.
"What do you mean?" Rebecca's tone of voice was stern. She didn't like Tyrone's attitude; after all, Tyrone was there when it happened. So why would he have any doubts?
"Remember when I said that man's power is Speech. Whatever he says happens. I just have this feeling that maybe what we witnessed was just an illusion or something, and that man is still alive out there. I mean, I hope that man is dead. He isn't... human." Tyrone gulped heavily.
Rebecca narrowed her eyes. "And you waited this long to tell us this?" Rebecca remarked in a scolding tone of voice.
"I-I wasn't trying to hide it! Even I was sure that Don killed him, but as I started to listen to Josh's story... I just started to doubt that he was actually dead. Someone who could be that manipulative in the real world died that easily in this world? Especially since that man's power was speech... When I started thinking about it that way, I just began doubting..." Tyrone tried to explain himself.
Rebecca sighed heavily. "Fuck..." She muttered as she began to massage the bridge of her nose. Everyone that didn't know about the stalker was confused.
"So umm.. this guy is bad?" Juan asked.
"Yeah. His profile is simple. He has short slick-back black hair and beady black eyes. He wears frameless glasses and is always wearing a business suit. His voice alone should feel icky. Just listening to him makes your gut wrench. Plus, he is April's stalker, so he has an infatuation with her. I hope he is dead, but if he isn't... It would be best for all of us to know what he looks and sounds like and how he acts. The way he carries himself will be like that of someone who looks down on others and believes that he is above others." Josh answered Juan's question.
"I see..." Catalina murmured.
Alice and Sarah trembled lightly at the thought of encountering such a man.
"For now, let's be prepared. Tyrone, is there anything else you can tell us about him?" Josh asked, and once again, the spotlight was on Tyrone.
Tyrone shook his head. "Other than the fact that his is evil incarnate. There is nothing else—just becareful of his words. I don't know how his power activates or when it does. What I do know is that he may speak in riddles or question. That is usually when stuff happens." Tyrone answered, and everyone nodded.
"Well... I'll keep a lookout for this man. I would rather not deal with a scumbag." Natalie commented, which drew everyone's attention. Rebecca nudged her side with a smile and thanked her. "For what?" Natalie asked. "For caring." Rebecca answered, and Natalie blushed in slight embarrassment. "Oh. Yeah... Umm... No problem." She muttered.
"Alright. Is there anything else we should bring to attention?" Rebecca asked.
It seemed that she was the one who called the meeting. Moreover, everyone seemed to view her as a vice leader or a second in command. Maybe it was the feeling they got from her or how she presented herself. Rebecca was a strong and independent person, after all. Even Noah knew that. Even if no one blatantly stated it, they all knew that if Don were out of commission, then the runner-up would be Rebecca.
"Nope. We are going to return to scouting." Josh answered.
"I am going to return to my work." Noah said.
"I'll help." Tyrone remarked as he spoke to Noah, and Noah nodded.
"We'll tend to the garden and clean up the house." Alice and Sarah stated, and John's mother seemed to pitch in on that.
"If you don't mind, we'll be with Sofia." Juan commented, and Catalina agreed.
Sofia didn't really understand what was going on right now, but knowing that her mother and father would be by her side made her smile. "Can we play a game? That nice man brought games..." Sofia pointed to Jake with a bright smile. No one seemed to disagree with her playing a game. "Of course, hunnie." Catalina replied. Juan nodded to Jake with a thank you, and Jake nodded back to show that it was no problem.
"What about you three?" Rebecca asked, referring to Susan, Dillian, and Ryan.
"Uh..." Dillian wasn't sure what Rebecca meant.
"Don't know." Ryan replied with a shrug as if he didn't care.
"Then how about you three stay with Natalie and help her watch over Don and April. I am going to do some patrols around the house." Rebecca remarked. They had a look of surprise before looking at Natalie. "Fine with me." Natalie commented.
"I guess..." Susan grumbled. In truth, it seemed like those three didn't want to do a thing. They just wanted to sit around and wait out the entire year. Who could blame them, though? They were stuck in a world where the day's aspiration was simply to survive.
"Good. Now dismissed!" Rebecca dismissed the meeting before everyone went off to do what they were assigned to or would initially do. Rebecca still had the shotgun in hand and decided to patrol the outside of the house by going through the secret door in the garage. Once she was free from everyone, a heavy breath escaped her lips. "Let's just hope nothing bad happens..." Rebecca muttered while surveying the area around her.