Piero sat down. He listened carefully to what Michelle was saying, up to the point where she proposed physician-assisted suicide. He felt his heart skip a beat, and a piercing, continuous pain like a sharp blade slowly entering his chest till it stopped at the handle. His buzz vanished in a second, his head extremely lucid and completely blank at the same time.

What now? Do I really have a choice? She hasn’t offered any other option, so that must be it. I... am I ready?

Piero stood there for what felt like hours to him, and in just a minute his head was completely flooded. He wasn’t sure, but he didn’t feel like he had a choice. Chiara had to die. All kinds of thoughts began forming in his mind, memories, resentment, pity, regret, hate, and love. But one pounding question kept repeating itself, and it was what bothered and disturbed him the most:
Is it going to be an act driven by hate and resentment, or by love and regret?

He opened his eyes, and tried to stand up but his hands and legs wouldn’t stop trembling. He then made eye contact with Michelle, and saw kindness and concern, and was caught by an ever so slightly calming feeling, providing him with the push he needed to even open his mouth and speak.
She’s genuine.

Piero made up his mind. He clenched his hands into fists and his body visibly tensed up, trying to overcome the painful mixture of emotions.

”Fine. It doesn’t sound like a routine procedure, so you must have offered it for a reason. If you think it is the best and most humane option, I will trust you. But please, can I talk about it with her? I don’t want you to tell her, it has to be me. I can at least spare you this suffering.”
He said, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, trying to hide any emotion but visibly near to tearing up.

I just want to scream.

Verelik laughed at Lee's comment. "You hear that, Dillan? Respect your elders, that includes Lee right beside you!" He began to walk through the gates. As he paced through, he spoke again. "You'll get whatever I find in the forest, if I get anything at all. Don't worry, I will." He stepped outside the settlement and waved the guards off with his hand without looking back, before disappearing into the treeline.

The forest was Verelik's second home. Tracking, navigation, anything survival was his forte. He had been in these forests before, though he had not gotten used to them again, not after the move. As he stepped through the brush, carefully placing his feet in areas lacking branches, he pulled his neck mask over his mouth. This was a simple tactic for Verelik, because he knew animals could hear his breathing from a mile away, though most would assume it was some kind of stealth maneuver. In a way it was, but not in the way they would think.

Verelik had journeyed until the faint sound of the settlement's clock tower rang. Right on cue, he spotted the tracks of a Deer. The soft tracks that maneuvered around bushes indicated it wasn't in a hurry, so Verelik slowed to a stop, knowing it would hear him make the slightest of sounds. Following the tracks, he eventually spotted it, resting in an open grove between some trees. Looking at it closer, he discovered it was rather an Elk. This of course could be confused with a deer when it is simply walking, as they share very similar tracks. One could easily identify an Elk if it was running, however.

He inched closer to a lip of the hill he was on, so he overlooked the grove. So far he remained unseen, though he knew literally anything he did that involved sound or smell would attract it. He carefully slung his rifle off his shoulder, and held his thumb over the safety. He listened for a few seconds, and... Click! He timed the safety click with a nearby bird's chirp. He would normally never worry about the sound, but at this distance, you could never be too safe. At this point, his kill was guaranteed. Verelik aimed his sights down at the grove, got steady, and watched his Elk lie motionless on the grass. He let his cross-hairs float over the Elk's head a few times, before feeling confident. Once the Elk turned its head to the side from him, he pulled the trigger, and the Elk slumped to the ground. This way no shrapnel could enter the edible parts of the meat.

Verelik approached the silent body of the Elk. He immediately cleaned the entrance wounds and dropped his bag. No longer caring about sound, he ruffled through his bag and pulled out rope, which he used to tie the legs of the Elk with, along with a small tarp. This basically acted like a sled of sorts, so he could just drag it all the way home. Almost two hours after leaving town, Verelik reached the final hill, where he could see the walls of the settlement. He took a breath and sighed. Time to get back home.

"Please, take all the time you need," Michelle replied, quickly getting up as she noticed Piero becoming unstable by the news. His mother's situation wasn't easy, and it wasn't meant to be. Although Michelle had seen the same reaction from her patients and their family members whenever she had to deliver the awful message, it certainly did not become easier with time. He was hurting, and she wished she could help. She was supposed to be the one saving lives, after all. "If you don't mind, I'm going to grab my things real quick," she said, moving with a purpose in order to give Piero and his mother some much-needed privacy.

Back in Chiara's room, Michelle started to gather her belongings. She smiled at the sickly woman who had the same expression on her face as before. Poor soul.

"Thank you for allowing me to see you, I'm just getting everything out of your way." Just about ready to go, Michelle stood by the door for a moment. "Your son will be here with you momentarily, Ms. Chiara."

Michelle stepped out to meet Piero once more, the tension in the room not getting any easier. "I'm sorry it had to come to this, Piero. You don't know how much I wish I could've help her get better." She stopped for a moment, looking past the man before meeting his eyes again. "I'll come back whenever you both are ready. Until then, just do your best to keep her comfortable."

Michelle headed for the front door, reaching within her bag to grab a small, crystal bottle. "Give her these, it'll help with the pain."

After she handed him the medication, Michelle stepped out, heading towards her own home.

---

The office seemed quieter than usual as Marcus sat back in the old leather upholstered desk chair, finishing off the last of his coffee. Of course ‘quiet’ wasn't necessarily a bad, but still not common at this time of the morning. In typical fashion, there would be several citizens of Fireflies standing outside the front double doors waiting for Mayor Bellamy to show up just so they could be the first to bring up whatever matters and issues were on their agenda at the time. Most were complaints that could be easily rectified same day, while others would take days or weeks. But as most things within the settlement, routines changed since the accident. Sure, the requests still come in, but they are generally all written and delivered via couriers, with the people who originally wrote the requests keeping clear of the Mayor's office. It was simply...unexplained behaviour.

Marcus leaned forward, the chair’s frame creaking as he did, and placed the empty cup down as he opened up the gray, unmarked folder which held mostly complaints, many of which pertained to the condition of the dam, the drainage systems, and general maintenance of the sewage. The heavy rains experienced from months ago took a toll on the network of aqueducts throughout both communities, causing waste to mix with otherwise clean water. Engineers and maintenance personnel continued to work on the issue, reconstructing damaged sections of the settlement, but resources were becoming more scarce and scavenging for the raw material was dangerous.

“And what is Marcus Bellamy, the fearless mayor of Fireflies, going to do about it today?” As if reading his thoughts, the loud, obnoxious voice of Gregory echoed from down the hall, even before he'd made it through the office door. “Still rummaging through that pile of shit?” The fat man continued in between bites of what looked to be some kind of cheese pastry. “You know a lot of these people dislike you because of your indecisiveness to take action against Waterleaf, but uh-” He finished the last bite of his food, chasing it down with a bottle of whiskey, and a low grumbling belch. “Don’t take my word for it, pal.”

Gregory Dickerson, one the few friends Marcus had grown up with and managed to somehow stay friends with, even though the man’s non-stop mouth would write checks his ass couldn’t cash. Greg was one of kids who played pranks on just about anyone he thought “worthy” of a laugh at his expense, which was just about everyone in the settlement. He rarely had a filter on anything he said, and didn’t care much about public opinion. Needless to say, not many people liked him, but Marcus had simply grown to tolerate the now robust mid-thirties, greasy-haired, freckled ginger who had proven his worth as a mechanic and general handyman more times than could be counted.

Unfortunately though, the fact the he was an asshole was just part of the full package.

“Good morning Greg.” Marcus said in a calm tone of voice without looking up from his work. “I see you haven’t stopped pointing out the obvious, and yet another step closer to complete ignorance.”

The other made a mocking gasp as though the insult truly wounded him. “And here I thought we were friends?” He shook his head, again, mockingly. “I shall need to file a complaint with the mayoral office right away!” His motioned his finger upward to drive the silly statement along.

“Why are you here, Greg?” Marcus sighed as he eventually looked up at the man standing a few feet from his desk, dressed in his usual stained denim overalls, white t-shirt, and toolbelt slung across his overly bulbous chest. “Don’t you have actual work to do today?”

“Look my man, I know you would rather I keep you company, but yes, of course I have work to do.” He grabbed the handkerchief from his back pocket and blew his nose, before replacing it into the pocket. “I’m important.” He allowed a smirk before his attention turned toward the side window, which looked out onto the main street. “Well, well, look who’s on her way to make a few house calls today.” The fat man walked up closer to the window for a better look at settlement’s doctor known as Michelle, who was making her way along the side road across the street. Greg made a few low whistling sounds just before the woman turned down another road.

“Damn she is a fine piece of-”

“Greg!” Marcus exclaimed, causing the other to almost jump out of his sweaty socks. “Enough already.”

“Alright, alright.” The man shook his head. “I was only trying to lighten the tension floating around in this room. I know you’ve been under tremendous pressure, buddy.”

“Yeah well.” Marcus let out a long breath of air. “It’s certainly been a challenge.”

“Well hey that’s great, but uh-” Gregory walked over and sat in one of the chairs facing the desk, and leaned forward. “So, what’s going on with Michelle these days? You guys talking to one another? I mean, shit, you two were inseparable when we were kids, and I was pretty sure you guys would’ve gotten married.”

Marcus stared out the window at nothing in particular for a moment. “Yeah well, our lives just got complicated and paths went in a different direction. And, aside from her professional life -as well as being inundated with work due to this illness going around- I don’t know much about her personal life these days.” He turned his attention back to the stacked files on his desk. “But, that was the past, and this is now, and I have a lot of work to do, so I’ll see you later Greg.”

“Um, yeah sure Marc, whatever you say.” The big man stood to his feet, and turned to head for the door. “Oh, and say hi to Mila for me. Hopefully she’s doing better.”

“Will do, bud.”

Emma let out a long sigh as she sat alone in the class, picking at her lunch and glancing around the class with a bored expression. She watched as everyone sat in their own groups of friends and enjoyed each others companies. A small huff escaped her as she was still a little upset about this morning and pushed her lunch away with a frown. As she thought about it she felt a slight feeling of embarrassment as she mistaken the salt for sugar. She groaned at her shame and shook her head. "Stupid salt, stupid pancakes," she grumbled as she glanced over to see Fay leaving the class with a bag, most likely for Lee. Emma drummed her fingers along her desk and frowned as a thought came to her mind.

"Screw it," she muttered before swiftly grabbing her things and casually making her way out of the class. A few of the other students noticed her and knew what she was up to. She was skipping again. Honestly she skips maybe two or three times a month, but today she needed to get out before she went insane. Going through the same routine she slipped out of the school and quickly made her way through the square. As she casually walked down the streets she saw a few of the adults notice her and gave a disapproval glance her way, but she just smiled and moved on. Taking a few turns here and there she finally arrived at her home and used the spare key. Right as she entered the house she dropped her things on the kitchen table and marched into the kitchen with a determined glare. She wrapped an apron around her waist and pulled out the cooking book. "Right, now, where to start," she whispered and smirked as she found her first dish. "Vegetable stew! Sounds easy enough!" she declared and wrapped a white bandana around her forehead. "Lets do this!"

---

Dillan frowned a bit as Lee tapped his cheek, but sighed and let a small smile come to his face. "Thanks," he chuckled and looked back over his post to see Verelik. He gave a nod to acknowledge him and sat back in his seat as they opened the gates for him. "Old coot," he smirked as he made his comment of respecting Elders. After a few seconds Dillan's stomach growled and her let out a huff. "Damn I'm starved. I didn't get to have breakfast this morning," he muttered before pausing. "Well I did, but Emma made it and replaced the sugar with salt. Nearly choked to death from salty pancakes," he shook his head with a sigh. "She upset with me now because I spat it back out," he chuckled.

”Thank you, Michelle. I guess I’ll see you soon. Be safe”

That is all Piero could say. He escorted her to the door, and then closed it as soon as she was out, resting his sweaty head against the door, lightly banging it against it. All around was quiet, and nothing could distract him from what he had to do, sadly.

That’s how it goes then. I need to get this done fast, while I still can’t think properly. Here goes nothing.

Piero slowly paced himself towards his mother’s room, without esitation and without thoughts, completely blanked out, playing with the medicine bottle that Michelle gave him. As he got to Chiara’s door, he opened it, expecting his mother to sleep as usual, but not this time: the room, slightly brightened by what was left of the sun in that awful day from the only window, was pretty barebones, only a drawer with all of Chiara’s clothes, a dirty and faded red rug, and the bed in the far right side of the room, opposite to the window. Sitting on of the bed, Chiara was waiting for him to come in.

“I heard what the doctor told you, and I know what you’re going to say.” She said with a low voice, taking pauses to breathe and cough.

Piero was definitely surprised and taken aback, but he instantly began talking:
”Then you know I won’t try to sugarcoat it. Listen mom, I’m not liking this one bit, I hate this, but your only option to spare yourself a miserable rest of your life is to drink this bottle and then wait for the doctor to give you the death you painfully avoid.”

“Son, I won’t make this hard for you, I agree with my death. But I’m using all my strenghts here to tell you this last thing.”
Chiara was making more and more efforts to continue talking, and she was visibly tired already, breathing through every word, which just made the whole thing even more unnerving.
“When I’m gone, look at yourself in the mirror, and look at what you are becoming. If you see nothing wrong, then you might as well come with me, because you’ll keep suffering.”
A long pause followed this last sentence, lingering heavily in the room as it became a phantom ready to haunt Piero for a long time.
“But if you don’t see yourself, do something with the guilt you’ll feel about me, because I’m not gonna give you closure. Maybe you’ll come to thank me for it.”

This is insane, this can’t be happening. She shouldn’t talk, I shouldn’t feel, and I shouldn’t be here.
Two minutes passed, Chiara trying to catch her breath and Piero in the opposite side of the room staring at his mother with dead eyes, unable to do anything or say anything. Chiara broke this tense silence with her feeble voice:
“At least remember that you’re my son, and that I loved and love you dearly, and I hope you can say that too, even though you grew to hate me in these last times. I’m ready to go, but it’s not me you should be worried about. Now please, I can’t keep this going anymore, I need to lie down and rest. Go, and live something or someone.”

Piero didn’t react immediately, but he slowly came near his mother, gave her the medicine bottle, and reached for a kiss on the forehead, moving almost mechanically, as possessed by some kind of force. He turned around, walked out unable to think or say anything, and closed the door behind him, without looking back once.
Shit.

He began to lose his sight as his eyes grew more and more full of tears, until he just couldn’t hold them back anymore and began to cry a disgusting and painful cry. He couldn’t take it anymore, and he began walking, out of the apartment first, then out of the neighbourhood, heading to the only place where he could try to drown all of this.

Butchering is hard work, definitely best left to the professionals, Astor thought to himself, wiping the sweat from his brow as he finished cleaning his blades. Though no butcher would touch one of these things with their blades, if they could help it.

It had been tough, but the man had managed to get some usable cuts of meat from the wolves, though it was far less smooth than an elk or a boar might've been. Hell, even pigeons and hares were easier to prepare. The canines were extremely lean, and the only significant cuts came from the shoulders and ribs. Each wolf gave maybe enough to fill four or five bellies (for the amount of work Astor was willing to put into getting to the meat). The rest would make for valuable compost - eventually going to fertilize some farmer's field.

He'd tasked his mother with setting up his marinade about an hour beforehand, when she'd come out to check on him. A mixture of salt, pepper, herbs, and two different whiskies. It needed to be quite potent to (hopefully) deal with the grease and the smell of the meat.

Once he'd cut the smallish slabs of meat into smaller medallions, he placed them into the marinade, told his mother (who was currently working the bar) not to touch it until he reported back, and headed out again - this time bound for the home of the settlement's resident doctor, Michelle.

After a brief walk, during which time he would nod familiarly to his passing neighbors, Astor found himself at Michelle's door. Quickly brushing his hair back over his head, Astor knocked on the door and waited, stepping back down off the step and patiently looking around.

Lee put his feet up as he watched Verelik walk further and further from the safe walls of Fireflies. As the morning progressed, Lee and Dillan talked about various things, laughed over Emma's antics, discussed Fay's bike riding skills, walked their rounds and eventually came back to their posts again. Lee leaned his elbows on the wall and scanned the outside fields. He saw some dust clouds far away, indicating Roaches were out there. Too far though, so Lee figured they were good for now. He kept scanning as Dillan spoke about being hungry. He chuckled warmly as his partner told him about his breakfast, or lack thereof. ”Well, an effort was made." a cheeky grin spread across his face as he stretched out his long limbs. ”If you want, I can ask Fay to teach her some cooking. You know Fay cooks really well." Lee offered.

---

Fay waved at the people on the streets. People getting lunch, having a walk or just taking a relaxing moment in the sun. The sun was right over the settlement by now, and it had started to turn quite warm. Thankfully, Fay decided to wear a dress this morning. She had to hold the hem of it as she biked through the streets of the settlement, towards the wall her brother was posted on today. She thought about the delicious tea she made, still warm in the canister, and his favorite sandwich. She also took the time to make Dillan's favorite, Lee had once told her what it was.

She smiled as she turned into Main Street, but it faltered shortly when she spotted Astor knocking on a door in the street. She vaguely remembered that to be Michelle’s house. Something inside her, for only a second, wanted that to be her door. If Fay was really honest to herself, she’d know that she really misses Astor. She had worked at the Pub for years, Astor was almost always there too. But now that she quit, or well, only works there on busy holidays, she doesn’t see him anymore. But, of course she’s not honest to herself, and so she tugs the feeling away and biked confidently through the street. When she almost passed him, she took the hand that was holding her skirt from her leg and waved at him. Her dress flew up a little, so she quickly put her hand back. ““Hey Astor!” The young teacher smiled at the man before biking further along the street. When she turned the corner, she relaxed again. Smooth, Fay, smooth.

As she arrived at the outer wall gates, she rang her bell, signaling her brother.

---

Lee heard a familiar bell and looked down to wall to see his lovely sister standing there. He heard her call up up, holding two packages in her hand. He smiled as he saw she made for Dillan too. ”We’re coming down!”

Back at home, Michelle checked up on both of her parents. She had some time before her next visit, and she tried helping them in whichever way she could, as was the usual routine. Her job was plenty demanding on its own, and both Roberto and Elena knew that, but they took the help whenever Michelle offered because she was too hard-headed to be turned down.

"So you guys haven't been feeling a little funny, right?" Michelle called out from beside the dinner table, her hands occupied with the miscellaneous kitchen items she was working on putting away. "Someone else has the virus, and I'm afraid it's spreading faster than I'd like." Of course, she omitted further details due to doctor-patient confidentiality, but it's not like her parents were going to be kept in the dark for very long. Once word got out to the general public, it spread like wildfire, no matter how bad one tried to contain it.

"We're doing fine, honey, I promise," her mother called out from the backroom, answering for both herself and her spouse who was out back doing some yard work.

"Okay, just checking..." Michelle was just about done when she heard a knock on the door. After cleaning off her hands with one of the kitchen towels, she made her way to the front door, wondering who was paying them an early visit.

"Astor, hey!"

Michelle gave him a quick smile, leaning in for a hug. "How are you doing today?"

”Hi Fay!” Astor had time to call out before the woman disappeared around the corner. He smirked at the brief flash of leg, but decided not to tease her about it later. Maybe.

He wasn’t kept waiting at the door for long. Michelle quickly appeared, and he smiled and returned her embrace.

”Bonjour, Michelle. I’m feeling adventurous today, actually. I took a pair of wolves this morning, and I was hoping to get your professional opinion on something.”

Astor was fairly soft-spoken outside of the pub, but he still wore his usual friendly smile as he spoke.

”Are there any diseases that I should worry about if I were to eat wolf meat? I’m marinating it in some strong alcohol, and it’ll be thoroughly cooked. I’ve read about different cultures that used to eat it, but it seems like the smell turned most other people off of the idea.”

Dillan hid his excitement as Fay arrived with their lunch, but his stomach roared with thrill as the thought of actual food gave him more pep in his step. Though as he let Lee be the first to head down he glanced over the edge of their post to see the distant clouds of dust linger in the sky. Roaches. His mind drifted away from the pleasant thought of food as he clenched his fist and gave a hard glare in the direction. If it wasn't for Emma he would have probably left the settlement to hunt the bastards. As he came back to his senses he shook his head and sighed before climbing down to meet with Lee and his sister. A familiar and pleasant smell hit his nostrils as he approached Fay and let a small smile come to his face. "Hey Fay, always good to see ya," he greet and gratefully took his lunch. 'Chicken and rice,' he thought to himself as the familiar smells filled his senses. It reminded him when his mother would make the meal for the whole group.

"Thanks Fay. You don't have to go through the trouble of making me anything, but I really do appreciate it," he thanked her with a genuine smile. "Hey I was meaning to ask you, but do you think you could help Emma out with her cooking? I've been meaning to, but I've been getting a few more hours on watch due to, well, ya know," he said gesturing around to a few more guards stationed along the wall. "She really wants to learn and I was thinking the best cook in the settlement could help her," he said, making sure to throw in the compliment to get on her good side.

Alyssa scratched her eyebrow as students from all around flocked towards each other to converse. Of course, being a new student once again, she no longer had friends. Some people made kind smiles, but her old friends never approached her, and even though she was afraid to admit it, she was too shy to approach them. Some friends... She noticed not too long after Fay left that Emma had stood up and left the classroom, too. At least, she think she heard her name was Emma, she was a new face to her. The action instigated a similar action of her own, and she too stood up and left the room.

One thing her father couldn't do that she was particularly fond and skilled at was climbing. Using the forest trees or the urban buildings as her personal playground, she could travel from place to place in style. Least, that's what she thinks. Rather, travelling by rooftop is probably more likely to get you in trouble and cause even more time. Regardless, she hopped onto some loose bricks and began the climb onto the school building. She attracted some attention, but she refused to notice. Once she reached the top, she began a steady jog on the roofs of the square. It wasn't long before she circled the square, since beyond the square the gaps between buildings were much too big. She decided to rest leaning against the clock tower.

In the class they had learned about the old mayors. Some girls began swooning over the current mayor Marcus, to which Alyssa scoffed at. I mean, sure he's handsome and tall and stuff, but they're all immature. She shook her head in disappointment. She couldn't help agree with the statements about Marcus, however. After all, she could still imagine, right? She smirked to nobody in particular, and laid back to look at the sky, hands behind her head, awaiting for the bell to ring once more.

---

Michelle.

It was a name that hadn’t crossed the mayor’s mind in many years, not since well after leaving school and apprenticing with his father for many years. He and Michelle had grown up together, and were as close as any could be at the time, almost inseparable one could have said considering they were seen laughing and playing just about every waking day of their youth. The family contention however began to put strains on their relationship, as both sides seemed to show some kind of animosity toward the other’s child, as though neither were good enough to be together, even as friends. As time passed, and adolescence kicked things into high gear for them both, they still promised to never grow apart, and slowly their relationship began to turn that much more intimate. But, it seemed the more they chose to be together forever, the more reality came in as a wild fire to consume and destroy.

Both were happy as one, but their families had other uses for them as mid-adolescence gave way to professions opening up, and long roads of study which kept them simply too busy to ever truly be together again. As children, they mused over the idea of running away to part of the world, to a place no one would ever find them, just to start over. But the end result was that time and distance began the slow descent of once happy memories, until thoughts of a better life together were nothing but a wisp of smoke to be carried away by the western winds.

-----------------------------

“Mister Bellamy?”

The voice seemed so distant, as though it were miles away even, until his name was repeated again and pulled the man from his reverie, causing him to glance over at the doorway, and the little boy standing within its old wooden frame. The kid couldn’t have been any more than eleven or twelve years old, a pup really, dressed in an earth-toned shirt and pants, ragged boots, and a round face covered in soot and dirt. There he was holding one of the largest hunting rifles seen in a long time. Probably modified from various assorted pieces and complete with a long, thin leaf-shaped bayonet blade firmly secured to the front. Marcus narrowed his eyes as he stared at the boy for a moment, unsure of what he was seeing, and the kid spoke again.

“There’s been accident, sir.” The kid’s voice was dry, emotionless even, as he then pulled up the light brown shirt he was wearing to reveal a single bullet wound along the side of his torso, healed over and left only with a scar. A scar that seemed even more familiar than the man had expected.

“What happened, kid?” Marcus responded, his voice sounding echoed and hollow, as though trying to speak in a vacuum. He tried to rise up from the leather chair, but was unable; an unknown force holding him down with no give.

The boy lowered his shirt, concealing his scarred torso. “I killed him, sir.” The boy’s eyes welled up with tears as he continued. “In the woods, he came to get me, and-” He paused for a moment to wipe his watery eyes. “The roaches got to him, shot him in the head. If I hadn’t been out on my own, none of this would have happened!” The boy broke down, unable to string the remaining words together, but instead, pulled a tarnished bowie knife from his belt sheath, and held it to his throat.

“Wait!” Marcus tried to push up from the chair, but every effort only caused the invisible chains that shackled him to tighten further. “What are you d-...”

It was too late as the kid’s arm swiftly slid across his own throat, the blade slicing through cleanly, followed by the cascade of blood as the life quickly left the kid, his body crumpling to the dusty floor.

“Oh god NO!”

Marcus cried out, his own voice echoing into the darkness as his body jerked forward from it’s reclined position in the leather chair, and the eyes of the mayor opened up to an empty office. The man had fallen asleep -deeply- apparently and sweat rolled down his brow as he looked around the room, specifically at the doorway which lead out into the hall. No boy. No blood. Instinctively, however, the mayor stood to his feet, pulling his otherwise neatly tucked dress shirt out, and lifted it up to peer at the left side of his torso. There it was. The scar which would ever remind him of that failed night he’d lost his one and only uncle.

“Shit.” The man breathed as he fixed his shirt, retucking it and adjusting the belt. “Where the hell did that come from?...”

"Hmm, good question." Michelle leaned up against the doorframe, her hands crossed in front of her as she gave some thought to Astor's question. "If I remember correctly, trichinellosis is one of those nasty diseases that we can catch from wildlife, including wolves. It's actually quite fatal to humans, causing symptoms such as fever, stomach pains, swelling on the area around the eyes...I mean, you can only imagine it's pretty ugly stuff. The parasite is wedged deep in the muscle tissue, but if the meat itself is cooked thoroughly like you said, then you shouldn't have an issue. As far as any additional infectious diseases..." Michelle narrowed her eyes, momentarily looking past Astor to attempt to recall any similar cases, "I can't say with certainty whether my father has treated any patients for it, but I think you'll be alright."

Michelle then propped herself up, wiping her hands near the hem of her skirt. "Any special occasion for the meal you're preparing?" she teased with a smirk.

”None in particular.” Astor said, his cheer having grown somewhat with the advice. He had nodded his understanding at Michelle’s descriptions, thinking back to the butchering and realizing that he certainly hadn’t seen any sign of parasites throughout the process, but he would still need to keep an eye on the cooking process.

”Wolves have been getting bold lately, so there’s a bounty on them now. I just hate waste, and figured it’d be better to try a new meat rather than just letting it all rot. Besides, It would be a shame to get someone excited over a hot meal, only for the taste to be terrible or for them to get sick from it.”

Shrugging as he considered it, Astor smiled again. ”Tell you what - if you want to swing by the pub tonight, I’ll save you a serving, and a few complimentary drinks if it ends up being disgusting anyway. But if it works out, we can call it a celebration for finding a new source of food.”

Kain sat perched on a large pile of boulders scanning the forrest around the harvesting fields with his binoculars for any signs of the roaches. He stretched his sore neck from his wrestling match with his older brother Jet the night before at one of the bars. They had put on quite a show for the people who were enjoying their drinks and even heard people putting bets on the winner even though it was quite obvious Jet would come out victorious. While Kain stood at an average height of 5'11" his brother towered over him at 6'2" and combine that with the extra 4 years of training experience Kain could never hope to come out on top. Kain was contempt with the outcome however he had managed to hold out for almost the entire match and that was enough to satisfy him.

In the distance Kain cold make out clouds of dust and smoke which signaled either roaches or a band of nomads were on the move, way to far to be of any threat to the colony. From bellow him he heard a gardener shout, "Alright Kain all our carts and baskets are full were ready to head back!". Kain stood up, gave a nod of acknowledgement and started climbing down the rocks. The gardeners had been out harvesting since before the sun came up and he knew they were more than ready to return to the settlement to get some much needed rest.

Once he caught up the gardeners had already formed a small caravan with their carts and Kain too up the front while his brother Jet took the rear and the two other guards they were with on either side. It was about a quarter mile walk back to the settlement and with the slow pace because of all the food he knew it would take about 30-40 minutes to get there. At least the view home is nice he thought to himself as the the group slowly started making their way.

The time seamed to pass by fast though and soon they were at the front gates. Kain noticed familiar faces in the watch tower; Dillon and Lee. He waved up to them, "Were back with a full load" he called before entering the gates. The gardeners went left towards the market area and restaurants while Kain and the guards went right towards their homes to wash-up and get some food before going back to security.

Fay handed the bread with chicken and lettuce over to Lee, and the package of chicken and rice to Dillan. She smiled kindly at Lee's partner. "Nice to see you too, Dillan. And it's no issue, you know that. I just made a little extra at dinner last night." Fay winked and then looked up at Lee who was already unpacking his food. She chuckled softly as he was not shy to stuff his handsome face with a piece of bread. Lee groaned in satisfaction after he swallowed his first bite, savoring the taste. He placed his hand on top of Fay's head and ruffled her head a little. "Love you, sis. Thanks."

---

There was some commotion at the front gates, and Lee placed his food on a table next to them before he murmured "One sec," and walked towards the gates. With a wide smile Lee greeted Kian. He gave his fellow soldier a pat on the back. "Good to have you back mate!" He proceeded to welcome in several gardeners and workers. Lee was a trusted face for most of them.

---

Fay nodded at her brother as he turned towards the gates. She put her hand back in her bag and grabbed a hold of the warm canister of tea. She had picked and dried the herbs for the tea herself. A lot of trial and error went into this particular blend, but it has been a favorite of Lee and Dillan for some time. A nice blend of mint, rooibos and some other herbs. As she pulled the canister from her bag she listened to Dillan's request, and it brought a smile to her face. I’d love to help her. She’s a very smart girl, and I’m sure she’ll learn fast.” The young teacher pushed her glasses back up her nose as she handed the warm canister over to Dillan. Perhaps me and Emma can cook for you and Lee, that would be nice.” Fay put her bag back in the basket of her bike. She’d have to get back soon. Her afternoon would exist of grading the profession test, and afterwards she was expected to bring a list of the results to the mayor himself.