24 A Home to Stay

The asphalt on the road disappeared long ago and replaced by gravel and dirt. A white sign on the long stretch of grass read, 'Welcome to Oswald County' in black, bold letters. The scenery changed drastically with wooden houses dotting the landscape. Large hills surrounded the town and trapped it like a cage. They would change their style with every season; a bright, and beautiful green shirt to a fiery red dress. A large river split the hills as water flowed into town and towards the ocean beyond. Fallen leaves clung onto the water's glistening surface and traveled along with it. The Olmac river provided a large community of flora and fauna together, creating a lively ecosystem.

During their journey, the group had to sleep in makeshift shelters built from sticks and leaves. The hard ground and the skittering bugs kept Ian awake most of the time. He also remained alert throughout some nights to guard against monster attacks when they're sleeping. Ian threw his head into the water and took an enormous gulp of water. Two days passed since he last had water, and the river satisfied his immense thirst. Ian tossed his head out and let out a satisfied sigh before burping. Beside him was Bounye, calmly drinking the water with his tongue.

"You're going to get sick if you drink it like that, Ian," Mrs.Willard said.

"Nah, my ability allows my body to become immune to most diseases." Ian confidently said.

"What about parasites?"

"I, uh- I don't know. Probably?" Ian smiled awkwardly.

"Uh-huh."

Lily boiled pots of water beside Mrs.Willard. After five minutes, she poured the contents through a filter before dumping the water in plastic bottles. Marvin and Mac threw their shirts off before jumping into the water. Their heads popped up from the river with a splash, and they sprayed water from their mouths.

"This is the only water source which the government didn't poison yet!" Marvin laughed with glee.

"Yeah!" Mac fist-pumped the air.

Mac grabbed Marvin's shoulders with his small hands before Marvin dived underwater, swimming to the other side of the river. Conner and Autumn sat beside each other on the riverbank chatting and laughing. Ian thought they were quite similar to each other and smiled. On the patch of grass, Ray sat there crisscrossed while scratching his head; he was contemplating something.

"Something wrong?" Ian walked up to him and asked.

"I don't know if the residents allow any outsiders considering this is a tiny town," Ray replied.

"We can offer them food in exchange for a place to stay."

Ray nodded his head. "Just pray they aren't crazy."

The group left the river and walked towards town. Just by the town's entrance, a large tree laid across the road and blocked everyone from entering. Guards stood behind the roadblock with thin, makeshift armor. Some had handguns while others held rifles. Ray stopped everyone from moving forward, in fear that the guard might shoot them.

Men near the roadblock pointed their guns at the group and shouted. "Hands up and don't move!"

In response, Ian and everyone else quickly raised the hands up. Two guards slowly moved towards them before checking their bodies for any weapons. They took the bag from Autumn and inspected it. They pulled out water bottles, plastic plates, and a portable gas stove. An overweight man with a trimmed beard walked out from the shed built from rusted sheet metal. His face stained with dirt along with his clothes. He adjusted his dirty, blue hat before spitting on the ground. The man waved the guards off, and they returned to their posts.

"So what'd ya come here for?" The man spoke in a rasping voice.

"We're taking refuge here from the monster invasion," Ray spoke out.

"Refuge, eh?" The man scanned Ian then everyone else slowly. "Ya know, we ain't real fond of lettin' anybody in without a price to pay."

Ray threw an opaque bag filled with food on the ground before raising his hands back up. "That's not a problem, we figured we'd have to pay up something."

"Quick to a decision. I like that." The man smiled and opened the bag. "Not bad! Good amount of fresh fruits and vegetables. We'll be able to collect seeds from the fruits for crops."

The overweight man pulled a handheld radio from his pants and said, "We got new grasshoppers here."

"On my way." A male voice spoke through the radio.

"We'll have Daniel pick y'all up n' show you around town." The man turned towards the group. "I'm Ronald, by the way."

Ronald walked towards them and shook their hands with his sweaty palms. Ian rubbed his pants with an awkward smile, trying to wipe Ronald's sweat away. Minutes later, a jeep pulled up behind the blockade, and a man got out of the vehicle. Then a woman got out from the passenger side and both hopped over the tree.

The man had short, black hair and a messy beard. His eyes were pitch black with sunken cheeks. He wore a green bullet vest with a white t-shirt underneath and light jeans. The man had a rifle behind his back and a machete by his side. The woman beside him wore a red tank top and denim shorts. She wore a white cap with a blonde ponytail sticking out.

"So you're the new fellas?" The man looked them up and down. "I'm Daniel."

"Nice to meet all of you!" The woman excitedly said and waved her hand. "I'm Charlotte!"

Ian and everyone else nodded their heads and greeted them.

"Where'd y'all come from?" Daniel asked.

"We're all from Eristota," Ian said. "Except for Autumn, she's from New Mallis."

"Wow! That's quite a distance away!" Charlotte yelled in surprise. "Anyways, we'll show you around the community."

The guards handed Autumn back her stuff, and Everyone jumped over the roadblock. Daniel started the engine, and the Jeep drove off. Huge acres of land separated the wooden houses from each other with fences acting as borders. Cattle traveled the open field eating grass and sleeping. Farmers plowed their lands in preparations for seed planting. The smell of manure and freshly-turned soil wafted through the air; it was typical of that for a farm.

"We organized our farmers to continue providing food for our community," Charlotte said. "They're the fuel that keeps our engines running."

"Just so y'all know, everyone has to provide some sort of contribution." Charlotte turned towards the group. "Kinda like farm work, guard duty, water collecting, cleaning, and all that kind of easy stuff!"

The Mayor's office centered in the middle with surrounding buildings built from bricks. From restaurants, small grocery stores, clothing stores, and a police station; some were torn down for resources or transformed into something more useful. People walked through town carrying building materials; others were cleaning the rubble from torn-downed buildings. The children came back to town after collecting water from the Olmac River to be boiled. The town was lively and productive in the midst of a monster invasion.

"Have any monsters attacked this town recently?" Lily asked.

"Once. A monster came out from the forest and killed one of our own," Charlotte replied. "We saw it on the news when the invasion happened, and the community got together to protect our way of life."

After two hours, the Jeep arrived at a wooden house surrounded by acres of land. Beautiful oak trees sparsely spread across the ground, and the bushes surrounded the house. One of them had a tire swing hanging high from the branch in front of the house. The garage was separated from the house, unlike many homes. Piles of chopped logs rested by the side of the house for firewood. Everyone got out from their cars and walked towards the house.

"This looks amazing!" Mrs.Willard cried out.

"Right?" Charlotte agreed. "The previous owner left long ago to God knows where."

"We got important things to do," Daniel added. "We'll come back tomorrow to have you guys help around."

Daniel and Charlotte hopped on the Jeep and left everyone behind. The group waved them off before walking inside the house. Ian opened the door and dust flew everywhere, covering their faces. Everyone wildly coughed, and they waved the dust away. After it settled, the interior was visible to them. The furniture was old and covered in dust while trash laid across the floor. Everyone spotted a message on the floor; the owner used their finger to write a message on the dusty floor.

"Welcome to my dirty house!"

"This asshole!" Everyone said in unison.