Something cool... something strange

I shrugged, trying to play it off.

"Your Asian missy has been acting weird lately... It's probably nothing, though. Just some kind of side effect from the stress or something," I lied, quickly coming up with the story on the spot.

"Why you little—!" Akemi growled, hurling the nearest thing she could find at me.

She missed.

I was too fast for her.

Frederick stepped forward, placing himself between Akemi and me.

"Akemi, calm down," he scolded her, reaching out to grab her wrist.

"Get your filthy paws off me!" she yelled, pushing away from him and taking a few steps towards me.

"I wouldn't do anything if I were you," I warned Akemi.

Then I nodded in the direction of Lianne while I whispered to Akemi, "You wouldn't want to cause a scene in front of a child now, would you?"

Lianne seemed confused by my statement.

Akemi took a glance at Lianne, then me, then back at Lianne, and finally let out a heavy sigh, dropping her arms to her sides.

She then walked over to me and glared down at me.

"You're lucky I can't do anything right now, because if I could, I'd punch you so hard you'd taste blood."

"It's fine, it's fine..." I replied with a grin, trying to calm her.

Her glare softened a bit, but her eyes still bore into mine.

"Getting some food would be nice," Fredrick interrupted, standing next to Lianne and watching us curiously.

"Yes, yes, of course," Akemi agreed, turning back to him.

With a quick gesture, she beckoned us to follow her.

We all followed after her, leaving the kitchen and heading down the hallway towards the dining hall.

When we arrived, I was surprised to see the dining hall full of people. Most were gathered together near the tables, talking amongst themselves. Some were playing cards or dice, drinking beer or wine.

A couple sat on one of the couches, eating pizza. Others stood around, chatting and laughing.

The place smelled great, and there were so many things to eat and drink that I almost felt overwhelmed.

And yet, no matter how hungry I was, I couldn't bring myself to touch any of the food or drinks. Not with Akemi glaring at me like that.

The teenage boy gave Akemi a quick bow and bailed the moment she turned her attention away from him.

"Are these the newest batch of survivors?" A man sitting alone asked Akemi as soon as we reached the dining hall.

He was wearing a pair of thick glasses and had his hands wrapped around a glass of red wine.

Everyone's attention snapped toward him as they stopped whatever they were doing.

The conversation in the room instantly died off.

"Our little angel, Lianne, my childhood friend, Fredrick, and..." Her voice trailed off as her glare descended on me. "...then there's Allen," she finished reluctantly.

I rolled my eyes at the name-dropping.

"If you'll excuse me, I would need to get dressed and prepare dinner." With those final words, she disappeared through a door behind the counter.

"Lianne, Fredrick, and Allen, eh? You've got yourself quite the crew here," the man said, smiling widely.

"Thank you," Fredrick responded with a smile.

"Big white beard!" Lianne called out to the man, walking over to where he sat.

"Lia—"

I felt Fredrick's hand hold me back, stopping me from going after her.

"If you stop her from being with people other than us, what good will that do for the future? If anything, this is how she learns to interact with others more freely. This isn't the time to keep her isolated from everyone else." He told me firmly before giving Lianne a gentle push towards the man.

Ding!

[Serotonin level: 7.5/12.5%]

I wanted to argue with him but knew better than to try when I saw the notification.

'So it's really a 2.5% increase and less than an hour now.'

So instead, I simply watched Lianne approach the man.

"Hello! I like your beard! It looks like a fluffy snow bear!" She greeted him happily.

The man smiled warmly. "Well, hello there. My name is Thomas, and you are?"

"Everyone calls me Lianne, but you can call me Lia!" She introduced herself proudly, sticking her chest out.

I could have sworn I saw her chin narrow and her nose longer, with a few sparkles for added effect to her self-pride aesthetics.

Thomas laughed heartily. "Oh wow, I haven't heard anyone say their name so proudly since... well, since the last time I met someone new!"

I noticed how much of a difference there was when I found Lianne at my doorstep. Back then, she'd been terrified and shaking uncontrollably, not knowing who I was or why I was there. Now she seemed completely confident in herself.

But why do I feel a tug at my chest?

"Do you want to play a game with me?" Lianne asked Thomas, looking up at him.

"What kind of game?" Thomas asked her eagerly.

It didn't take a minute before the others gathered around them, joining in the conversation easily enough.

"Are you okay, bud? Do you want to go somewhere else? There's lots of fun stuff to do here, you know!" Fredrick suggested, patting me on the shoulder.

"Nah, I'm fine. I just don't really know anyone here yet," I told him honestly.

"That makes sense," he nodded. Then he looked at the group surrounding Lianne. "Even if she is oblivious to the danger outside, it doesn't mean she won't be able to make friends once we find someplace safe to stay for a while."

Safe?

Could I really trust anyone here?

No matter how nice they all appeared, I wasn't sure about the truth of their intentions. They might have come here to live, but that could also mean they planned to kill all of us.

"Here isn't safe; nowhere is," I reminded him quietly.

Fredrick sighed and shook his head. "You're right. But even so, I think it's still worth trying to get her to make connections with others. After all, no one wants to be left alone."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," I grumbled, letting out a deep sigh.

"Speaking of connections, I thought you two were getting along pretty well lately." Fredrick glanced at me, prompting me to look away awkwardly.

I didn't realize how long I'd been staring at them until Fredrick started talking again.

"For a guy who hates kids, you seem awfully fond of her," he commented.

"She's the only family I have left." I told him honestly, turning away.

He patted me on the arm. "Speaking about family..."

I felt an awful amount of grip strength behind his hand as he squeezed my shoulder blade. "I'm still mad at your sorry ass, though. What happened to 'best friends confiding in each other'?! Why did you lie about 'her'?!"

My eyes widened slightly at the sudden shift in topic.

"I don't know what you're talking about! Who's this her you speak of?" I lied, forcing myself to laugh nervously.

Fredrick glared at me for a moment before relaxing his grip and releasing me.

He walked over to Lianne, gently patting her shoulder to get her attention. "Hey little one, do you wanna see something cool?"

Lianne tilted her head curiously. "What's cool?"

Fredrick grinned mischievously, pulling her to the side for a bit of privacy from the rest that were watching them with curiosity, as I was.

"Come on, stretch out your arm; I'll show you!"

Lianne complied immediately.

'What the heck is he doing?' I wondered to myself, watching closely.

He wrapped a bracelet around her wrist. "Little one, this is Uncle Ally's bracelet. You need to wear it at all times. No matter what happens, you should never let it go. Okay?"

Lianne looked confused by the strange silver object wrapped around her wrist.

"It'll help you remember that your uncle loves you very much," Fredrick explained patiently.

Lianne looked over in my direction, tilting her head with a questioning look on her face.

"Uncle... Ally, why is Rick giving me this instead of you?" She asked, her voice filled with uncertainty.

I reluctantly walked over to Lianne and slipped off the bracelet to examine it more carefully.

The bracelet had several small gems embedded into its surface, including a red gemstone, which was clearly visible through the silver band.

It seemed like there were various different kinds of gems inside, but I couldn't tell which ones. The way they glowed softly made me wonder if they might actually be some kind of magic stone.

With my system that could pop up at anytime and the existence of aliens, I could just about believe anything could happen here.

But on closer inspection, I realized something was strange about the gemstones.

'Haha. No, he wouldn't resort to this measure just because he thinks it looks cool,' I thought sarcastically.

I looked to my side and at Fredrick, my eyes conveying my suspicions. He gave me a nod back, confirming my theory.

"Is something wrong with your face, bud? It looks like you've seen a ghost or something." Fredrick teased me with a grin.

–––––––––––

Author's note

¶ Any idea on what Allen had noticed about the bracelet?