Part 4 (Preview)

The next day started peacefully. Shortly after sunrise, we were woken up by someone knocking at the shed's door.

When we went outside, Richard and Clara stood there waiting for us. They then told us about the plan for the day.

Apparently, they had a kitchen garden behind the house that still needed to be prepared for the coming spring. We then quickly grabbed tools and seeds and set to work.

While we were working, the overall mood somehow felt tense and uneasy. It felt like Skriliks and I were out of place. Especially Skriliks seemed to not fit in as Richard, and Clara just glanced at him with skepticism several times while he was busy planting seeds.

I wanted to break the silence in the hope of building trust within the group, but I did not know what to say.

Later, Richard tripped over a gardening hoe that I had forgotten to put away before getting a new bag of seeds. He was about to land head first on the pointy end of the tool but was then caught by Skriliks. Laying in Skriliks arms for a second made Richard look perplexed. He didn't say a word. He just stood up, took the hoe, and threw it to the side before getting back to work.

The next thing I saw was Clara walking towards Richard with a stomping step. "Richard! Don't you have any manners?!" she complained.

Richard rolled his eyes before turning around and reluctantly thanking Skriliks. "Can you express that a bit more friendly and honest?!" Clara bitched, kicking Richard's leg. He angrily looked at Clara, to which Clara answered with a death stare. Admitting defeat, Richard sighed deeply, turned around, and tried his best to express an honest "Thank You."

We then went back to work, still not talking much but more until we took a break around midday to drink and eat. After being called in, we sat down at the table to eat.

Apparently, Adrian and the kids cooked potato soup while we were working outside. He and Kyle handed everyone a bowl and a spoon.

Kyle appeared nervous when he gave me a bowl but still tried to be friendly.

In the meantime, I had a pair of eyes fixed on me. The blonde girl of around six years sitting across the table seemed rather fascinated by my appearance, looking at me with big eyes.

When Adrian gave Skriliks a bowl of soup, Skriliks looked at it, not knowing what to do. "Oh right, you eat a different kind of food," Adrian says before going into the shed to get a tube of ether.

The little girl's eyes were now fixed on Skriliks.

"Grace, it's rude to stare at people," Clara told the little girl. "Yes, Mom, but they just look so strange," the girl answered, annoyed by her mom. "That doesn't matter. It's still rude. And now eat your soup before it's cold," Clara replied before she continued feeding the 1-year-old baby.

When Adrian returned with the ether and handed it to Skriliks, Skriliks thanked him, silently nodding.

"Good now that everyone is here: How far did you get with planting?" Adrian asked kindly.

"We are pretty much done now. Just some small tasks left," Richard answered.

"Sounds good. How did our guests do?" Adrian then asked.

Richard glimpsed at Skriliks before saying, "They did well, even though being a bit inexperienced."

"I agree," Clara threw in.

"Great. If it's not that much work left, I think I will do the rest. I guess Kyle will help me keep an eye on Betty and Grace," Adrian proposed. Kyle gave a thumbs up to this. Then Adrian continued. "What I would like you to do in the meantime is to check on our guests' shooting skills and maybe teach them a bit."

"Understood," Richard replied.

After Lunch, Adrian handed out weapons to everyone. After giving Richard and Clara their rifles, he searched for one that would suit me. Suddenly Adrian smiled, grabbing a long-range hunting rifle. He handed it over, saying, "This once belonged to my son Andrew. He gave it to Violet before luring away the Fallen patrol back then. He must have known he wouldn't make it." Clara mournfully looked to the ground.

Adrian continued, "You can have it if Clara isn't against it. I think it would suit you well. What do you think, Clara?"

"Yeah, I think so too. I think Andrew would want this too," Clara replied, smiling melancholically.

"Thanks," I said with a slight nod.

"And now for you! Your special pistol," Adrian called out, giving Skriliks the Fallen pistol we had found the day before.

We then headed outside, following Richard and Clara into the woods.

We stopped at an improvised shooting range with targets carved into trees and a big stone, where we could put down our weapons and ammo.

First, Richard and Skriliks went to the stone while Clara and I waited behind them.