Help and Guidance

The next day, I talked with my brother Niko for a little bit. Niko led me over to Skylar, and we all had a conversation together for the first time in about a week.

"So, Skylar's been working on this mural she wants to put in the gym, that's what's covered by this cloth over here. Do you want to take a look, Leon?" Niko asked me. I wanted to, but I also wanted to wait until it finished. I was conflicted. I didn't want her to think I didn't see, because Skylar often overthinks about things like this.

"Should I wait until it's done? What do you think, Skylar?" I asked her, looking up at the large sheet over the wall.

"Waiting until it's done might be pretty cool. Niko already knows, so I can hear from you and get honest feedback on the finished product. Does that work?" She asked. I was really surprised by her answer. It sounded confident, a completely different version of Skylar that I never knew before. I could only be so surprised as a kid, not knowing why she wasn't confident, but I showed it on my face when we talked.

"What, did I surprise you? Niko's been giving me a ton of good advice recently," She admitted, pointing at Niko. He smiled, adjusting the makeshift tool belt on his hip and tapping the head of the hammer.

"It's only advice, not exercising what I've taught you. You're doing it all on your own. Sooner or later, you'll be able to help us, too, and become my apprentice!" Niko told her, giving her a slight slap on her back. She nodded and threw both of her hands in the air to celebrate her upcoming improvement.

"So, Leon, how are things going with Korin?" Niko asked. It seemed word got around to him over the past two days, and I was left thinking of our very last encounter, where he suspiciously thanked me for clearing his name from everybody.

"I think pretty good. He seemed worthy of attention and care, just like the rest of us," I shortly replied. I still was conflicted, thinking it was nothing worth bringing up.

"As most people are. I sense a good guy hidden behind all that performance stuff he does. What about you, Skylar? Do you like him at all?" Niko asked her.

"Not really. I just think he's weird. I'm sure he's nice," She replied with her newfound confident tone. It was interesting to have two Nikos walking around with the way she spoke. Honestly, it was very refreshing. She hid so much of her personality that I was never really sure of what she was thinking most of the time.

"Hey, Dad probably needs help doing his rounds, maybe we can go with him?" Niko said to us. He spotted Dad walking in the hallway toward the back of the school to check on everything's performance and if it was moving along well.

The Greenhouse, more crop plants being built outside, and a small guard tower being built behind everything were all in construction, constantly being impeded by all of the snowfall. It was going to take a while, but we were in it for the long haul, so it was to be expected.

"Sure! Let's go!" I shouted out. I started to run toward him, with Niko and Skylar following behind me. I snuck up on him as he was walking and he slightly pushed forward when I wrapped my arms around his back. Skylar grabbed his left arm and turned back to Niko.

"Niko! Grab the right one! We can take him down!" She yelled out. She was caught by surprise when Dad lifted her about six inches into the air just by raising his arm. The amount of strength he needed for that was crazy...

"Eh? Wait!" She shouted. She started kicking her feet, causing both Niko and me to smile.

"You can't sneak up on me yet! You have to be a lot more sneaky than that!" Dad shouted out. He ruffled both Skylar's and my hair, looking toward the end of the hallway. He had a funny smirk on.

"So, you guys just sneaking up on me for practice? Or did somebody tell you to try?" Dad asked us, looking all around to find the true culprit.

"I figured you were doing your rounds, so I thought we could join you," Niko suggested. Dad nodded in agreement and pushed us all in front of him, with Niko walking beside him. I might've been crazy, but Niko was starting to get a little bit taller, almost reaching Dad in height.

"Of course, you guys can, come on, let's go," He said, We walked down the hall, and I had a trip down memory lane as I remembered all of the familiar rooms on the left and right-hand sides of us.

Some of these classrooms were places I had where I could learn Health, Home Skills, Arts, Music, History, Science, and Math. All of the basic subjects for kids. I was actually in the final grade before I moved out of the school, so I knew almost everything there was to know about it.

"We've started to utilize these rooms to our advantage. Each one has its own purpose. In here, we keep it humid to keep all of the pets alive, but we're running out of food for them, so if somebody wanted to hunt for worms, we could have one of you do that. Also, we have all of the instruments in there set up and disinfected if you want to practice," Dad said, moving down to the next set.

"Some plants in there, some guides for sickness in there, I'm impressed you knew so much about placement and each room, Leon. You're a very smart kid," Dad complimented me. He looked down at me with a smile when he did so, and I couldn't help but smile back. I felt like I was doing a good job now with his praise.

"Thank you! I'm glad I can help! It's all I want to do. Did you see Korin today? Is he doing okay?" I asked him. Dad nodded, explaining the conversation they had.

"Korin explained everything to me as well when I asked. What happened was terrible, but we'll be safe here, and away from danger. I wouldn't concern yourself with what he told you about," Dad said. He must've known it made me nervous, hearing about Vincent. After all was said and done, Dad reassuring me like that gave me enough peace of mind.

"Here we are! What do you guys think about that tower? Did Papa do a good job?" Dad asked, looking back at us to see our honest opinions.

"Looks good to me. It's standing, and that's a pretty important part of a tower, don't you think?" Skylar asked Dad. He chuckled while nodding, pointing at the bolts next.

"They're in a good place, right Niko?" He asked Niko next. Niko peered at it closely, and then followed his head movement, admitting that they looked tight and ready to have pressure put on them.

"We could have another ladder from the tower to the roof of the school too, in case we need a second way to get up," I suggested. Dad nodded, pointing at the ladder already at the top portion of the tower.

"Already got you covered, Slick," Dad said. Slick was a nickname he gave to me when I was quick with something, or jumping the gun when it was already said and done.

After we spotted the tower, we took a look at the fence in the distance. Papa, Bob, and Gammie were all hard at work at the fence blocking the creek off, which we took to get here. We were blocking it for that same reason after all this time, because we figured whoever used it, in the beginning, was already where they needed to be, and in the future, it would be used for bad things.

It was a simple fence, built with planks from the trees all around, built about six feet tall so nobody could get in. Of course, Bob could only get those planks because he was the tallest. Papa and Gammie were about four and six inches shorter than him.

"Fence looks good too. Is that all of your checks?" Niko asked Dad. He nodded, leading us toward the Home Skills room. There, Cody's Mom was teaching Connie and two first graders how to use the bandages.

"Sit in on this, it's important stuff for you three as well, no matter your age," Dad said. He pushed us all in, letting Niko walk in on his own, and then leaving us to learn more stuff.