The reason the Phantoms were most likely after Don was because of his Mutated Seed. This made the most sense considering he was an abnormality. His Seed had mutated not once but multiple times. The boy never told him this because the boy never knew it himself. Don's consciousness or soul didn't just transfer to a new body each time he went through a rewind. His entire body went with him.
The only difference was that his memories were wiped each time. The Seed prevented aging, so he never aged. Any scars that Don got would also stay, but Don just figured most of them came from his past. He never kept track of all of them, just the ones he found important. So, in truth, his body had been trained for nine years in this hellish place. This may have been one of the many reasons he could go toe to toe with that Berserker.
Still, it seemed like his Mutated Seed never fully activated, not until he regained all those memories. There was much about the Mutated Seed that the boy nor himself even knew. The Mutated Seed had isolated April's mind and heart, preventing any damage to those two vital organs when she and Don drowned. The Mutated Seed had done this for Don as well, and when it found the host body and the body of April was suitable, it would restore both.
The Mutated Seed had a will of its own it seemed just like the boy had said, but if that was the case, then who or what was this will? Nevertheless, it seemed to want to keep Don alive and the person closest to him, which was April.
Tim, Katelyn, and Lilly had decided to stand at the entry of the prison. They weren't told to be in a group or even given a Squad Name. Nor were they given any direct orders. So they decided to just wait. Besides, they didn't know if they could even do anything. The things that everyone was pulling off seemed impossible. Even though they had their Seed Powers, their Seed Powers were trash compared to the others, or so they felt. Tim's Seed Power was called Sharpen. It was a Yellow Seed Power. It would sharpen any bladed or sharp tool he was using. Meanwhile, Katelyn's Seed Power was called Charm. It was a Pink Seed Power. It allowed her to charm anyone to help her for a short time. It only worked on humans, and she had to have direct eye contact with them. Glasses, Masks, or anything else that blocked the eyes wouldn't allow her to use her Seed Power. Lastly, Lily's Seed Power. Her Seed Power was the Book of Knowledge. It was an Orange Seed Power that allowed her to summon anything from any book she had in her hand. For example, if she had a book that had a dragon in it, she could summon said dragon and control it; however, she had no books. Her books were destroyed by the Berserker and army of undead that Tim had fended them off against just before Don saved them. So presently, they couldn't do much. If anything, Tim could do something, but he wanted to keep the girls safe. Any stray undead or bugs he dealt with, with a swing of his sword.
However, their attention was drawn to Don when they saw the ghastly creatures rise from the ground. "G-G-Ghost!" Katelyn exclaimed with fear and quickly hid behind Tim; meanwhile, Lily looked at them with amusement and interest. Tim was more so focused on Don and April. "Just what the hell happened to you?" Tim muttered since she saw Don taking out those ghastly creatures with ease.
Ever since Tim met Don, there was something about him. It wasn't a bad vibe, but more so, he could feel this pressure. It was like Don was carrying a heavyweight on his shoulders, and yet he still protected April. He cherished her. He didn't fall under pressure and continued onward. Tim wanted to become a man just like Don. Someone who could protect those they care about and stand tall in the face of immense pressure. To Tim, Don was someone he looked up to.
Whenever he got a chance, he talked with Don while April talked with Katelyn and Lilly. He tried to get close and get the respect of the man. He worked out as best he could and even put aside some time to find a martial arts place. Tim was someone who loved to do LARP: Live Action Role Play. His character choice was someone who stood on the front lines and fought with all of his strength. To protect his friends and comrades and be a merry man. This was why he knew how to use a greatsword. He had found a teacher to train him with the weapon, but of course, during LARP sessions, he used a foam sword. Still, his skills brought awe to the others.
Even though Tim was a chubby man, his arms and legs were mainly muscular. In fact, he had brought his weight down a lot since he met Don. While he still weighed a bit over one-eighty, he used to weigh nearly three-hundred pounds. Most of it was fat back then, but now he was just a chubby boy with beefy arm and leg strength.
He never truly thought of working out until he met Don. Seeing Don was awe-inspiring. The man was strong, well-built, and handsome. He knew Don knew how to fight too, so it was an added bonus. Tim had actually felt like he was getting closer to the man he looked up to, but seeing what was going on now made him feel otherwise. Don was even further away than before, so much so that Tim felt like he would never catch up with him.
Of course, Tim didn't know about Don's childhood. He didn't know what Don was. Neither did Katelyn or Lily. As for Katelyn, well, she didn't care much for Don. She could see outright that April was in love with Don. Sure, she saw Don as an attractive person. He was hot and sexy in her eyes, but he was also taken by her good friend, April. So she steered clear of him.
Besides, Katelyn had a boyfriend at the time. One of the popular guys in school, but the guy always seemed to be doing other things. It was actually due to Tim that she found out her boyfriend was cheating on her. Katelyn, of course, didn't believe him and ended up asking her boyfriend. Her boyfriend and Tim got into a fight, and what Tim said that day was why Katelyn looked at him differently.
Tim had said that "no matter what, you should cherish someone if you truly love them. Through thick and thin, you should always be by their side. You should never succumb to your lustful desires, and if you do, it only shows that you never loved your significant other in the first place."
It was cringe and cheesy, and yet it caused Katelyn's heart to skip a beat just once. Her boyfriend decided to beat Tim, but no matter how much punishment Tim was put through, he stood tall. When he was put down, he got back up. Sure he fought back, but at the time, he wasn't that strong. He was still in the process of training and working out. Each time he went down, he got back up; Katelyn wondered why? Why did he continue to stand? Eventually, the boyfriend decided it was pointless. He had this odd feeling; it was almost like he was afraid of Tim.
No matter what he said or did, Tim always got back up. Everyone started to look at the boyfriend like some kind of bad guy. A creep who tortured someone for fun, and some people even pitied Tim, but Tim didn't care. Tim was too busy asking himself, "What would Don do? Would he stay down?" And the answer he came to was "No!" Which was why Tim continued to stand strong.
At the end of it, Katelyn's boyfriend broke up with her, and she comforted Tim. She helped him to the nurse's office, and there she asked him why. Why he did all of it for her and why he wouldn't just stay down.
"Because you are my friend." Tim had said with a warm smile at the time. Katelyn didn't realize it at the time, but that was when she started falling for Tim, and over time she realized her feelings for him, but she never said a word of it. She didn't want to scare Tim off. Tim was the only boy who looked at her as a friend rather than someone they just wanted to sleep with.
As for Lilly, well, it was the odd one out. Lilly was both Tim and April's friend before becoming friends with Katelyn. It was actually Tim who introduced her to April and April who introduced her to Katelyn. Lilly found Tim to be like one of those hero types in the books she loved to read. He would always strive to do his absolute best and protect his friends. She found it cute and funny since there weren't many people like that nowadays. Most people found that cringe, especially at their age.
This was why they got along so well; however, Lilly wasn't attracted to Tim like that. She just saw him as a close friend, and Tim saw her as a close friend. Their relationship was purely platonic. They liked the same things, and Tim would often ask if Lilly wanted to come to the LARP sessions, and she did. She found it cool to see some things being acted out in live-action that she only read in books. Still, she never actively participated, even when others asked if she wanted to. She loved just watching, and people were okay with it.
Shortly after, she met April, and then she saw Don because of April. Just, at first sight, her heart skipped a beat when she saw Don. Something about him drew her in, and when she looked into it, it was because he was a certain type of person. An Anti-Hero. Someone who took matters into their own hands. Someone who would do whatever they needed to achieve their goals but never actively killed innocents. Someone who protected those close to him, even if it meant to become an enemy of a strong foe or looking like a villain.
The more she looked into it and thought about it, the more she fell in love with Don, but eventually, she saw something. April, who was her friend, was in love with Don. She felt heartbroken since she couldn't even stand at the starting line. Eventually, she asked April if they were going out, and April said no. She was sad about it but wouldn't rush Don. Lilly had a flame lit up inside her, and she decided to do some research on the heroines related to the anti-heros. She thought maybe she would catch Don's attention, but they had vanished before she got far enough. April stopped coming to school, and they went to see if they were home.
When they did, someone said that they hadn't even been around for an entire month. They started looking into it, seeing if anyone else knew, but nothing. Tim said the girls could sleep at his house. Tim actually lived alone. His parents were always busy working, so they were never home. They usually slept in hotels or motels near their workplace, so the house was always to himself. Katelyn had to ask her parents if it was okay, but Lilly, well, she just seemed to stay. She said her parents probably wouldn't care.
Tim wasn't much of a cook but did his best to make a meal for him and the girls. It turned out quite good, and they ate. He said they could use the master bedroom's bathroom to shower and sleep while he kept his own room and the guest bathroom to shower. They didn't have clothes, but he gave them some of his clothes. Katelyn was blushing since she realized that she did this with her ex-boyfriend when she stayed at his place. Wearing his clothes, as for Lilly, she was thankful and nothing more.
They went to bed, and when they woke up, they were in the world of Gaia. They were actually getting ready to head to school. Tim let the girls use the washer and dryer to wash their clothes the night before. So they had clean clothes to wear. Katelyn always had her purse with make-up, but Lilly never cared for things like that. Still, her natural beauty was eye-pleasing.
Regardless, when they left the house to head off to school, that was when they encountered a Feral undead. Tim dispatched it without panicking and then shut the door afterward and locked it. The only reason he was able to kill it was because he kept a pocket knife on him at all times. They decided to check the TV, but nothing then looked outside the windows and looked like some kind of apocalypse. They agreed that this wasn't some dream, and when they did, the boy appeared on the TV and informed them what was going on and that they had to survive for an entire year.
Lilly found it funny that this seemed like some kind of plot in a book, and Tim thought he was the main character but kept that to himself. As for Katelyn, she seemed like she just wanted to go home. Tim promised to keep them safe and that nothing bad would come to them. After a few weeks, they awakened to their Seed Powers. Tim awakened to his Seed Power to save Katelyn from a feral; meanwhile, Lilly randomly awoke to her Seed Power. When they encountered a horde of Yellow Jackets, she had a book in her hand. The book moved in front of her, and the pages flipped rapidly with a vivid orange glow. Then, a large creature that looked like a Dire-Wolf appeared and killed the Yellow Jackets. As for Katelyn, a few Contenders tried to kill Tim so they could take the girls, but she managed to Charm them and have them kill each other.
Regardless, they drifted from place to place, trying to search for food and water, all to survive. That was when they came across a building that didn't look touched. They were in the middle of trying to gather food and water when they had been surrounded by an army of undead. Tim cut them down, and Lilly helped by summoning wolves. Over time, the undead went down, but Tim had been injured trying to the girls safe. He refused to let them get injured. Eventually, the Berserker showed up and killed off all of Lilly's summons, which seemed to end up destroying the books. This did buy Tim some time to deal with the remaining Ferals, and that was when he had to deal with the Berserker. Tim was dealt a might blow to the stomach, which caused one of the girls to scream his name, seeing how he went flying towards the store entrance.
Tim managed to get back on his feet and told them to leave the building. He followed after them. He felt it was a bad idea to fight this thing in the store since the store could possibly collapse on them. Then, he had taken one more blow but managed to block it. After that, he heard Don's voice and felt his hand on his shoulder. After that, he watched Don fight the Berserker with ease. It looked like Don had gotten stronger, and even now, it showed that Don was leagues ahead of Tim.
Still, Tim refused to give up. He wanted to become like Don. A man who did his absolute best to keep everyone safe. Eventually, the ghastly beings were dealt with, but it felt like hours had passed. As for the prison, it was fully cleaned out. They had finished long before Don finished dealing with the ghastly beings and were bring all of the bodies of undead and bugs to the front that Jessica and Sussan could burn them.
That was where they all saw Don dealing with the Phantoms. They were only reminded that Don was someone not to be trifled with. They were all glad that Don was on their side because they feared what it would be like to fight against Don to his fullest. Eventually, everything settled down, and they burned the bodies of undead and bugs. They all decided they would check out the place and get it up and running in the morning since they were all drained. For now, Don suggested they make a camp sight in the courtyard just in case any more Phantoms came at them. Don wanted to take care of them, and they agreed it would be a good idea since Tyrone and Don decided to explain to them what the Phantoms were and how they worked.
After that, they had a quick meal, ate, and then went to sleep. Don was the only one still awake; even April, who was sitting in his lap with her head against his chest, was asleep. A blanket was covering her to keep her warm.
'Don' Melissa spoke.
'Yeah?' Don said internally.
'I...' Melissa paused for a second, then continued, 'I am glad we were able to meet again.' Melissa said softly. It seemed like she wanted to say something else but refrained from doing so.
Don's lips curved into a smile. 'As am I.' He replied. 'Good night, Don.' Melissa said, and Don nodded lightly, 'Good night, Mel.' Don stayed awake for a few more hours before deciding to get some rest. He put up a Spatial barrier around them along with a detection field just in case then dozed off. He had been sitting against a nearby wall in the courtyard and gave his sleeping back to Tim, who in turn gave it to Katelynn. April gave hers to Lilly, and Tim said he would just sleep on the ground with a few blankets and a pillow.
"Things are..." Don slowly murmured.
"Starting too..." Don continued as his eyes started to close.
"Look up." Don finished and fell asleep.
His words were true. Right now, there would only be a quarter of the people with him; however, he managed to keep everyone alive and make sure they had the skill and tools to defend themselves. The only thing he was regretting along these lines was being unable to save Maria, John's mother.