21 - Life Before

"Wait... do we have something to bring the berries back with?" I asked as we stepped into the forest line.

"Yeah. I have this." Katie answered, holding up an empty woven satchel.

We went deeper into the forest, out of sight of Juliana.

"Hey, Marcus," Katie said.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think we're alone?"

"I don't think there's anyone else here right now."

"No, that's not what I mean," she said, blushing, "do you think we're the only ones alive? Did anyone else survive this long?"

Oh. "I'm sure there are others out there. Thee and a half billion people or so made it here with us. Out of that many, I'm sure loads of them were more used to life like this than we were."

She seemed relieved. But maybe a bit... disappointed? I was probably reading too much into it.

We came across a group of dense bushes bearing the grape-sized berries we had eaten previously. Katie started plucking berries and putting them in the satchel she had brought. I started plucking, working side-by-side with her.

"Can you tell me another story?" she asked after a moment.

"Sure." I replied, "What do you want to hear about this time?"

"If you would," she started, then hesitated.

"You can ask."

"What was life like for you before."

"Before?"

"Yeah, before the world ended. What were you doing? Work? College? I'd like to hear something a little more grounded this time."

"I guess I can do that. I was actually a college dropout. I don't know if you remember, but entrepreneurship and start-up companies had been getting popular in the media, and my best friend thought we could make it work. He had a vision and everything. Honestly, I don't know what I did to make him pick me to partner with. I think he said it was my common sense. If only he had listened to that common sense later."

"That's annoying, isn't it?" Katie said.

"You can't imagine. He listened initially. What to focus on, who to ask for investments. But then, as we started picking up success, he talked to an investor behind my back. But she didn't invest with money.

"Business began to boom. We made it off the ground, but he started closing himself off to me. It started with ignoring me at parties. Then came the defensive excuses. Finally, I couldn't take it. I abandoned ship. I didn't have time to find a part-time job before Justys, the demigod of order, visited me. And the fantasy really started."

She was speechless. We had migrated to picking up the edible leaves as I told the story.

"Sorry, I guess my life has never been super normal."

"No, it's okay," she replied quickly, "Thank you. Juliana is probably wondering where we're at."

I nodded, then took the satchel from Katie. "Let's head back."

She gave me a face, but didn't resist. She led the way back. When we returned to camp, Juliana had a roaring bonfire illuminating the clearing. Night had begun to fall upon us, so deep shadows stretched from the trees.

"Finally. The giant chickens have been reheated!" Juliana called out to us.

As we joined her near the fire, she took Katie aside. She whispered something, only for Katie to blush and shake her head.

Not my place to intervene, not if they were going to try to leave me out of it. I instead focused on wrapping the meat in the edible leaves. After their brief, unintelligible exchange, they joined me.

Having the meal on repeat, it wasn't as good as the first time, though the mix of tart leaf and beef was leagues better than the bland snake, or even nothing at all.

As we wrapped up, I heard a rustling in the forest. I got to my feet quietly, raising the Ancient to a defensive position.

"What is it?" Juliana asked.

The rustling got closer. A twig snapped, I took a few steps forward, making some distance between myself and the others, so they wouldn't be caught in the melee, if I had to fight.

Whatever it was kept coming closer, until just beyond the clearing. I tensed, preparing to lunge into a fight.

Two figures emerged from the forest line. An old man and a black-haired woman.

"Silence! Thomas!" Katie shouted, jumping to her feet.

"Yup. We're back." Thomas replied with a wave.

"But... the rain." Juliana said.

"Silence found us leaves that worked as umbrellas. She was determined to get back as soon as possible, and she nearly killed us both doing it."

I looked over their equipment. They had a snakeskin satchel, bulging with claw parts. Silence carried the torso plates from the scorpi-snake strapped to her back with vine ropes. "Is that it? What happened to the rest of the snakeskin?" I asked.

"It had shrunk and withered. This was all that was usable," Thomas answered, holding up the satchel. "I see you've been busy too."

I followed his gaze to the tents. "They didn't hold up in the rain, but we have something."

"I'll look them over after we eat. Once Silence realized we were so close, she didn't stop even for a snack."

Now reunited, the five of us sat around Juliana's fire. Thomas continued telling us about the journey, with its monsters and new plants, as he and Silence made themselves leaf-wraps.

I was relieved, though a little disappointed, that they had gotten back so soon. On one hand, we were safer in one group, and we'd be able to build residences much faster with the others here. On the other, Silence would most likely be the one in charge of defending camp from monsters. Sure, I wasn't the best at it, but I'd always liked the idea of proving my ability to fight.

I liked being able to protect them all. But maybe it was okay to not be the first line of defense.

Thomas and Silence inspected the tents after eating their fill, and we all went to bed in the Temple of Swords again.

In preparation for the new day ahead of us.