July 1, 2025; Clay stared into the fire lost in thought. He had built a fire fairly easy in the outside burn pit he'd helped Jake build and they had plenty of boiling water now. He was only there, alone with his thoughts for a short while before his calmness finally ended about the same time his adrenaline finally crashed. He was shaking. And not from the chilly temperature. It was almost like he'd lost himself for a moment with those cat beasts. He hadn't even thought about attacking them. It had been as if he had known he was going to win against both of those mutated beasts. He had felt like he had known exactly how to kill them as soon as he had decided to do so. He squinted at the flickering firelight, deep in thought.

  A blanket draped around him, causing him to snap out of his thoughts to see Tonya standing next to him. As he turned to look at her he found himself looking into her eyes, the reddish haze in them causing her eyes to glow as the flames danced. She smiled and hurriedly kissed him before she leaned into his shoulder. "I know I've said it before Clay. Thank you again, for everything." She slid her arm through his as her head lay on his shoulder and gently ran her fingers up and down the underside of his arm as he sat there and watched the flames dance. It was going to be a long night.

  And it was. Clay kept the fire going as he heard Joanna screaming in pain as her body mutated. Luke, Jill and Tonya carried water back and forth. Clay had laughed at Jake when he'd gone through the trouble of finding and installing an old-fashioned water pump. But now he could only thank him for his foresight and smile as they easily pumped out clean, clear water. It tasted so much better than the bottled water he had been drinking for years at this point. His niece Freya was asleep, finally.

  Her wounds had been mostly healed by Amy. The poor woman had passed out from exhaustion in a recliner by the stairs. Dawn had assisted with it all, using her skills and even old-fashioned medical techniques when Amy couldn't use her abilities anymore. The other two women, one a Beastmen with the features of a Bluebird named Anna and another, a human named Livia. Both were in bad shape and Dawn had told him that it would take months for her to heal and she might not be able to ever walk again.

  On the other hand, his niece and the blonde fox-like Beastmen named Martha and one of the Orc girls from the cellar were pregnant. She had told him this away from everyone else and he just nodded. Freya was alive, that was the important thing.

  And he was finally fucking home! He continued to ignore the blinking golden orb at the edge of his peripheral. He could deal with everything else, one thing at a time now. He just had to be smart about it. His brother had been a wise man, and Clay had decided he wouldn't let his legacy go to waste. He had built this so his family could survive.

  He looked over to the shed from the family cemetery where he'd been for a couple of hours, "Okay maybe not all of it big brother, but she is family." He said as he shoveled dirt out of a new grave not far from where his brother was buried.

  They hadn't liked each other. Had never gotten along. Clay could even say she had burnt her bridge with Jake. But she was family. And this was their land. For seven generations they had worked and hunted these valleys and hills. This was where they belonged. He had almost finished the grave when Jill brought him a cup of steaming coffee, greeting him with a shy smile. "I brought you some coffee if you can take a break?" She asked holding out the enticing cup.

  "Yeah, just a sec." He finished the shovel full and decided it was about six feet deep, maybe a little more. He tossed the shovel out and leaped up on the side, easily pulling himself out and standing, dusting his hands off. He accepted the cup with a "Thanks." She nodded and absently brushed some dry dirt off his forearm.

  "Tonya and I went ahead and got your sister as ready as we could Clay." She shook her head. "I'm so sorry." She looked at him as if expecting something. He took a sip of the coffee and then let out a sigh. Jill stepped over beside him instead of in front of him and wrapped her arm around his waist. He was distinctly aware of how good she smelled and how beautiful she looked as the brief glimmer of pinkish-orange sunlight touched her features before going grey again a heartbeat later.

  "Can I tell you something?" She nodded, not looking away from him. "I'm kinda worried about my brother haunting my ass for the rest of my life for burying her near him." Jill snorted as she tried to stifle a laugh before she could stop it from popping out at his comment.

  She coughed to try to recover a little bit, "Oh now, you don't mean that, Hun." She said squeezing him a little with the arm she had around his waist.

  He nodded vigorously. "Don't get me wrong, she was family. But I'm telling you, out of all of us siblings, those two never got along!" He took another sip and looked up at the sun trying to burn through the dust and failing. "I'm telling you, it's a legitimate worry. After all, if everything goes fairly well for me, I'll be buried close enough for him either of them to fuck with me. And I can assure you. I'd much rather have Cindy pissed off at me than Jake."

  She was quiet for a little bit as he sipped his coffee, looking around as the fog lifted a little higher. "This really is home then?" As he nodded and took another sip of coffee she squeezed him even tighter. "Good." That was all she said. They stood there watching the sunrise until he finished the coffee. Then she said, "Come on, Tonya was cooking breakfast when I left to bring you some coffee. I'll bet it's almost done."

  He nodded, "I'll be there in a minute. I have something I need to do." He said solemnly.

  "Okay, but don't be long. You have to be hungry." She replied as she released her arm around him, took the now empty coffee cup, and started back towards the cabin.

  He looked back at his brother's grave. He had never understood why Jake had left everything to him. After he passed away from the head-on collision with a drunk driver the family's cohesiveness, which had been shaky at best since Dad's death five years before had just disintegrated. He was partly to blame for that he knew.

  At the time he had just gotten over the divorce his succubus of an ex-wife had put him through. It had been a rough two years in court and he'd been put through the wringer for it, but he'd gotten it finally taken care of only to be contacted three months later by Jake's attorney. He hadn't had the mental capacity to deal with his family after the funeral. He had tried to stay in touch through phone calls and such but everyone was busy.

  "Well, I fucking made it Jake. I'm home." He took another deep breath and let it out slowly. He looked at Jill's form walking back to the cabin across the clover field. "Now what?" He shook his head as he continued, "I have a feeling that getting here was the easy part." He looked back to his brother's headstone and then turned back to the cabin. First of all, he had to bury their sister.

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  From there, he'd worry about it one day at a time.

  He found himself thinking about the future, and as he watched Jill step onto the porch he realized he had a fucking plan. A simple, easy plan.

  First things first, he'd have to see why the hell the cabin didn't have power. Clay knew it had a separate Train backup system that ran off propane. He just wondered if the fucking idiots that were here thought the big ass gas tank at the edge of the wood line at the top of the hill before you dropped off into the valley wasn't attached to anything.

  He had noticed earlier the rug under the dining room table was still there, which meant there was a good possibility the assholes his sister had brought with her, hadn't found the cabin cellar. If he remembered correctly, Jake had said he'd put a few things in here. Enough for anybody to think that was all there was on this land.

  Enough for maybe a few months. But he hadn't seen any indication they had found it or even knew that the cellar was down there. Those supplies would help, but he'd have to check on the actual shelter soon.

  Second, everyone needed shelter. There were around twenty people now, and while the cabin could hold them, it wasn't going to be comfortable. The shelter would help alleviate some of that. But without visiting the shelter he didn't know how many people it could hold.

  On top of that, he'd obtained a Settlement Core. He hadn't even looked at it since getting it though. He hadn't been home. He'd have to inspect it later when he had some time.

  But those weren't the only issues. He looked at the top of the ridge, where the trees were thick. Across the valley he could see fog still boiling off Ashley Creek and collecting around the valley's high ridges, forming eerie, ghostly fingers that seemed to reach into the surrounding forest. At the other end of the valley, he could see the drive they had come down to get here. And the seven deer that reappeared after the cat had left.

  As he approached the cabin he could see Sigrid was elbow-deep in the dead giant mutated cat. She'd already skinned it and was cutting the massive creature into manageable pieces to carry away. She'd recruited one of the Orc girls, Lea he thought was the girl's name, to scrape the large pieces of meat and fleshy bits off the stretched-out hide.

  He watched as Sigrid cracked a hip joint apart and with a little effort, started dragging it towards the burn pit. Dawn had asked if it was alright to burn the bodies and Clay had agreed. He knew leaving them laying around would only invite bad shit anyway. So they'd built a large fire pre-dawn, making sure it was well away from everything.

  He could still smell the stench as pieces of the cat kept getting added as Sigrid worked on it. Meanwhile, Luke and one of the other Orc girls named Sonya kept throwing wood and brush on it to keep it going. The flames were high and hot.

  After last night, he didn't think any really big beasts like the cats would venture into his valley. He was fairly certain that the cat's cry last night had warned everything away as it flew the valley. Not many things could probably threaten it, and if it fled, nothing smaller was likely to try unless it was starving or desperate.

  And no zombies had shown up. They hadn't been as numerous out in the rural areas it seemed, but they had seen them wandering around aimlessly as they'd gone past, usually stuck in their own houses or vehicles. His brother had some tools handy it looked like, but they'd have to go scavenge for more tools and supplies soon, not to mention foodstuff.

  He waved at Luke who waved back, a damp cloth tied around his and Sonya's faces kept the smoke out as they worked. The man grabbed some more blocks of wood, throwing them on the fire before he went to take the newest piece of the cat from Sigrid. Clay could tell everyone was tired. They had traveled hard, and been through a lot.

  As he got to the cooking pit, as it was designated by the women, he could smell the large pot of oatmeal Tonya was stirring as it bubbled. When she saw him walking up she quickly spooned him a bowl full of it out and placed three pieces of fried Spam on top of it, and placed it next to her at the makeshift table they had set up. Others were already eating on the porch and around the fire.

  Most of the women who had escaped captivity had a lost look on their faces. He could understand that. Nothing was guaranteed in the current world. It had turned into a brutal, unforgiving place and they had all lived through horrible things and now they were here. For whatever reason they were free, and none of them had any idea what to do. Anyone could look at them and see they were lost. They needed direction.

  "Ding! System Quest Activated. Establish a flourishing settlement containing 25 Followers and reach a Loyalty Rating of 60%. If completed, the host will receive 10 Lucky Draws and a random one-time use Skill Book." Kris said.

  "Damn, already..." He said under his breath. Seeing everyone looking at him he cleared his throat. "We're going to need to build more houses if you're all planning on staying with us. And a defensive wall, eventually." He took the bowl as Tonya handed it to him and took a bite of the hot Spam. It looked like everyone near him was listening.

  "It seems to be a little warmer here in the valley than elsewhere, probably due to the springs. I'm not a farmer, I was just raised around families of them so I know some, but not as much as I should about crops and livestock. But if you're all planning on staying, then we're going to need sustainable resources. The sooner the better." He took a bite of oatmeal. Some of them knew this was his home already, but he'd just told everyone this was where he was staying.

  "We'll need to focus on food first." Came Erin's silly voice. She was one of the four escaped slaves they had taken across Pigeon Creek with them and with her flaming red hair she vaguely resembled a fox. A red one. And she was a druid. "At these temperatures, I think we could grow radishes, lettuce... broccoli, turnips, beets... spinach, carrots, cabbage... Well, a lot really as long as the ground was fertile and from what I can tell it's pretty good." She shrugged as she took a bite of oatmeal herself and talked around the mouthful. "It might not be too late to get a harvest out before winter if I can use my skills..." This was the first time Clay had spoken to her.

  "Erin is it?" She nodded, having just taken another bite. "You know farming?" She nodded again.

  She finally managed to swallow the mouthful of food, "Erin Turner, from Kansas. I was enrolled in an agricultural program and, well, everything went to help we were thrown out of the shelter." She shook her head. "None of us have gotten the chance to thank you, Mr Clay. We don't have anywhere else to go, " She gestured at her three companions before continuing, "If you can get the seeds or livestock we'll all pitch in to help with them, Sir. That is... if it's okay for us to stay?"

  He smiled in understanding. She was trying to make sure he knew her group would be useful. And not lazy layabouts draining resources. Instead, they were willing to work hard for it. Clay could respect that. Everyone realized the value of a safe community now that everything had gone to shit. "I'll keep that in mind. We'll be having to range out to forage for supplies, so if we spot any, it'll be a priority. I think I know where to find some chickens. And if we can get a few cows from the fields we passed earlier that'll be a pretty good start I think."

  She nodded as another woman spoke up, "I'm an engineer, uh, if this is where everyone is staying, uh... I'd like to stay too. If we can get something to generate electricity..." It was the blue bird-like Beastmen Anna speaking. She had been handcuffed to one of the beds upstairs. "I'm pretty good at getting things to work, Sir." She shrugged her slight, thin shoulders.

  "Power, hmm, about that..." He rubbed the back of his neck while he thought for a moment. "I think I might need your help on that sooner than you think." He flashed them a toothy smile as he took another bite of Spam. "Alright, today we'll consolidate what we have, and what we need immediately. First, Freya and I need to bury her mother. Start preparing for tonight, that big cat might come back. Half of us should be resting now so fresh eyes are on watch tonight." He took another bite.

  "Umm, Mr Clay, do you know why that big cat ran away like that?" Asked Erin. "It acted like it was afraid of you." She glanced down nervous suddenly, "I'm not going to lie, I think we all felt it." Everyone was nodding some softer than others. "I've been around a lot of dangerous animals Mr Clay. And I've never been that afraid of anyone... Ever. Your eyes were literally fucking glowing!"

  "I think it has something to do with his... evolution." Came Dawn's voice from the doorway.

  "Clay, can I speak with you for a moment?" Dawn asked from the doorway of the cabin. Clay quickly spooned the rest of his breakfast down and hurried inside. She was standing at the guest room door, one hand on her waist, the other on the doorknob. She nodded for him to follow her inside so he did, quietly. Lying on the bed was Joanna. She seemed to be sleeping peacefully finally.

  The poor woman had screamed her lungs out last night as her bones and muscle tissue grew and reformed. She had to be nearly seven feet tall now with raven black hair and he turned to look at Dawn. "She's been asleep for about two hours now," Dawn told him, he almost couldn't believe this was the same, Joanna. As if he could read his mind she added, "She said something... Odd during her fever dreams. Something about a God and forced evolution."

  She pointed at Joanna, "Her wounds glowed the same gold color your's did." Then she gently lifted one of the woman's eyelids and said, "Look."

  He leaned over and looked, surprised to see she had the same golden-colored eyes flecked with red that he had. "Damn." He grunted. Dawn gently pulled the blanket down enough to roll her enough for him to see what looked like an odd scar on her shoulder. It almost looked like a brand, or like something had bored into her about the size of a quarter. "What the hell is that?"

  "You have an odd scar on your shoulder that looks a lot like that, Clay," Dawn said laying Joanna back and pulling the covers back up.

  He unbuttoned his flannel shirt and pulled it off, his white tank top underneath, "Where?" He asked looking over his shoulder. He'd fucking damn well remember something like that!

  ~Thank you all for reading! I hope to continue producing content you can enjoy.~

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