New day

"Hah!" Marcus punched through another log using his flame fist ability. He was both testing out the ability as well as preparing firewood for the evening. He found that he could only use it a limited number of times before needing to rest. Also, over time, the attack would grow weaker until he regained it through rest.

It was something to only be used in times when a weapon was not available since it burned away his energy at such a rapid rate. Just resting wouldn't cut it as he would need to eat as well.

"That was a good one! It left nothing but splinters this time!" Jess congratulated.

"I think we at least know how it works. If only we could figure out how you unlocked it," spoke Rowan wistfully. "Many of us have been in life or death situations before so the trigger must be well hidden."

The investigation didn't go much further after that. Marcus was able to show them how to use the skill tree though. Most people didn't have a lot of skill points to use but even tactical skills were valuable. Rowan and Jess were the only two to spend there's on an enhancer skill.

Rowan's gave him the ability to fire a small ice crystal from his hand and Jess could literally double jump in the air. She gained boundless enjoyment from leaping over everyone's heads. Everyone was in awe.

Marcus was the only one with two enhancer skills: flame fist and animal sense. Remembering how he came across animal sense, he recalled unlocking all the common skills surrounding it. Marcus searched for flame fist.

However, it was not so simple, the skill was completely isolated from all the others. No links to punching or fire. The enhancer skills Rowan and Jess had learnt seemed to follow this pattern. Jessica's was linked to other skills but she hadn't had to unlock all of them to get to it due to her purchasing it with SP.

Rowan's was isolated like Marcus but he also bought his with SP so he didn't have to go through some sudden epiphany or experience a specific situation. It was easy to envy Jess when she didn't need to use as much effort to climb up trees or steep slopes with her new ability.

The day went by smoothly with everyone coming together to catch the last fish before they were mostly gone for the duration of winter. The salmon having finished spawning, were deceased and their babies would return to the ocean after maturing. Marcus wanted to follow them. There was plentiful food near the coast. It was the only location he believed better for resurrecting humanity other than the valley.

As the week went by, the length of each day shortened a little bit more. There was a very abrupt change on the last day where at first, everyone thought the sun had forgot to rise and the evening came too soon.

Marcus had been holding it off so they wouldn't rot too soon but they finally picked the last of the peas and tomatoes before the plants could shrivel and die in the cold. Marcus made a box to store them from clay and Rowan filled it with a bunch of his ice crystals to keep them fresh. They made sure to store plenty of seeds from both plants somewhere dry too.

To increase their food supply for winter, Marcus made some oven sun-dried tomatoes which he pickled in clay jars with plant oils acquired from straining sunflower seeds and some of the wild edibles introduced to him by the system at the start of his journey here. He did the same with the olives that grew near the grapes which Gavin helped to turn any more left over into wine and jam.

Honey was stored in jars once they managed to calm the bees down with a smokey fire. It wasn't that effective though so Marcus had to rest for a day or two after being stung so much. Gavin, on the other hand, discovered a hive of meliponines much to Marcus' frustration but also relief for the future. Even the females only had tiny stingers not really capable of causing harm. 'How could I have missed them!?' He cursed inside his mind.

Lana nursed him back to health with herbal treatments found in one of the books in the bunker's library. Marcus was just glad he wasn't allergic otherwise they wouldn't be conversing so carefree right now.

"Thanks Lana. Your help really is appreci- ow! Ah- " She dabbed the stings gently.

"Oh! Sorry, they must really hurt," she apologized and dabbed softer.

"Don't worry. It's my fault you have to do this anyway..." I responded whilst sucking in through my teeth to deal with the pain better. Lana wrapped up my afflictions to leave the plant salve to do its work.

When she was done, she smiled warmly and told Marcus that he could be out of bed tomorrow if he took his rest seriously. He did... after getting a stern look from Lana. It said it all, if she caught him up, he'd be in trouble. Not that Marcus would mind that... Lying down was painful though with all the sore marks speckled across his body.

Tarik took over for the day and directed people toward cleaning out the barn. Their attitudes might change in the future but for now, people were enjoying working with the animals.

When winter did finally come, they made sure to carry on seeing to the animals who were cosier than ever before. Although there wasn't much food outside, there was still plenty of sorrel and garlic mustard but this didn't last long. First their flowers fell dormant and the plants did too leaving not much left to eat. Even after finding a fair number, they were not as large or luscious. Still, Marcus' over preparation made sure it was impossible for them to go hungry.

The jam was naturally sweet, the flat breads and chewy rolls they couldn't get to rise weren't bad either. The rayburn was used for nearly all the cooking and the adobe ovens were only filled up to fire clay now.

Gathering firewood seemed to be the chore in highest demand. Thankfully, supply was endless for now. Everyone made sure not to exhaust any sources of it so as to create a sustainable way of living and would even walk further to do so.

The inevitable attraction of everyone living so closely was starting to come about. Now that they were spending even more time with each other indoors around the fires, snuggling closely together to keep warm, couples were forming.

Taemin actually found where the chimneys led to. They peeked out of the ground in a small copse. Rabbits, goats and all sorts of other warm blooded creatures had begun crowding around them to keep warm and thanks to the surrounding trees, the smoke didn't smother any of them when there was a change in the wind and carried on billowing straight up.

Tonight, everyone decided to move two sofa's next to a third and huddle around the biggest fire due to it being an especially chilly night. "Hey, has anyone checked the date recently on your system?" Asked Michael.

Marcus opened his up and was surprised to see it was the 22nd of December. That meant Christmas would arrive in just a few days. "Oh, wow! It'll be new year soon!" Sam also pointed out.

There was much chatter about gifts and how they'd decorate the bunker. "I want a smart watch!" James declared suddenly.

"What's a smart watch?" Asked Sam. James gave a puzzled look.

"I- I don't know... Why did I say that exactly?"

"I don't know! You were the one who said it." The group chuckled but there was also an ominous feeling linked to the helplessness of not being able to remember anything. It was disconcerting at times. Even if they all agreed that there was no point in missing something you couldn't recall. And yet, they still remembered the idea of Christmas at least.