Iron Will

Six days have come and gone since the day the world went weird. Everyone has been working hard and because of everyone working so well together, the wall went up faster and easier than expected. We decided that if we could make a wall to keep people out, it would be easier to make it so the wall made a lot of noise if it came down. With that thought in mind the metal only reaches 4 feet up with stone on top. The stone is layered so if a metal user was to try to break in the stone would crumble. The stone maxes out at about 15 feet. Next were the houses. We built 6. Kara, Zack and their families are staying with me. As well as Alice, she and I have gotten even closer but haven't progressed much since I joked to Zack about her "attacking" me.

Jenny happened to hear that and has been sleeping with us every night. This hasn't stopped us from flirting, and occasionally wandering off. Nothing too heavy has happened, just a lot of heavy petting and a few make out sessions. It's like she knows though, because once we start getting a bit further than usual Jenny shows up almost out of nowhere. I've heard Alice call her a few times a "cute but impossible" girl. As for me I have mixed emotions too. I have not done anything like this with anyone other than Lexi. When I think about it, I know I'm not doing anything wrong, it just hurts a bit. With Jenny always interrupting and Alice getting frustrated I decided to take her and Lyla on a hunt. Meat is something we can't just replace unlike any crops we have in the farming plot. I figured it would help us if we could just talk but since we got into the stand, we have been pretty caught up with each other just not with talking.

As Alice reached to take off her sweater, we heard something moving through the bushes near us and she quite loudly said "For the love of god I am never going to get laid at this rate." She then looked at me and since we were both breathing heavy, she grabbed her bow and with an embarrassed look on her face she fixed her sweater and drew a standard tip arrow from the quiver that was hanging on a tree branch.

"Shout a bit louder, I don't think people heard you in the UK..." I said sardonically. My shirt had already come off, so I grabbed it and started putting it back on when what we heard in the bushes came out.

"That's definitely..." I trailed off.

Alice followed up with "It's that thing right." She was confused and so was I.

In front of and below us was a creature that stood around 8 or 9 feet tall. Its skin was a light green with traces of blue fading throughout. It had legs, arms, and torso of an overweight man but what was most disturbing was its pig like head.

"That's definitely an Orc." As I said that my crossbow was at the ready and I was making 5 metal spears float at my side. I launched my crossbow Bolt and all the spears at once. The Bolt buried itself into the right eye and 4 of the 5 spears pierced the chest. The 5th spear landed directly in the forehead.

"Holy shit." Alice managed to whisper out. "You didn't let that thing stand a chance." She looked at me a bit nervously but also with a bit of respect.

"I'm not gonna lie. I've read too many doujinshi to even let a humanoid monster be near me." My face turned red as my body trembled at the night, I found myself pulled into a few hours of sheer terror. The monsters in those books would just use girls and even though it disgusted me I read through the whole series before I vowed to never even look at another one. "Anyway." I cleared my throat. "Let's check it out."

We climbed down from the tree stand and made our way to the Orc. As we approached it wasn't moving but once I was close enough, I pulled the spears and Bolt out and put them at the ready. Then I decapitated the creature and dug a small hole. Alice poured some water out and flushed it all through the Orc and then into the hole. We had discussed this on our way out but were planning on a deer or maybe a coyote. After she was done, I covered the hole and she cleaned the water and put it back in the waterproof bag she had taken to filling and wearing.

"In almost everything I've read Orcs are an even better form of pork." I looked at Alice and she grinned. "But in 2 stories they were toxic. I really want to try it, but I don't want to risk it. Are you up to a cookout?" I grinned at Alice.

"Like you had to ask. If you're somewhere I'm there." She had been showing a genuine smile the last 2 days and it is probably one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. "I don't know much about monsters but if we should only use a bit, we should aim for, here right?" she pointed to the arms. The legs and chest were very fatty, but I didn't know if that was good or bad. Public services went out on day 5 so I couldn't make any kind of internet searches. I had saved a map of the 500 square miles around my property for emergencies, but I didn't have time to get everything.

"No idea. Why don't we cut out a few different places and try it? While it's cooking, I wanted to check some stuff as well."

"Alright, since we drained the blood already, we'll get a better idea of the taste as well."

Lyla had gotten excited at first but had already laid back down under the tree stand, so when I called her over, she stood and shook herself off before heading over. As she padded up to me, I squatted down and asked her "Do you think you can take me where this thing came from?"

As I pointed at the Orc she walked over and sniffed it and then gave a chuff. This was something she did when she had a scent. "We aren't going right away." I grabbed her collar. "We have other stuff to do first. With that she yawned and laid back down under the tree stand. I wondered if she did that when Lexi used to bring her out for deer season. I could never sit still long outside and when I came it usually turned out like with Alice this time. I blushed thinking about it and turned.

"She and Lexi used to come here huh?" She asked.

She had figured me out pretty good over the last few days and wouldn't hold back. We were both dealing with things but neither of us would let the other retreat when faced with a moment to deal.

"Yeah, but just like with you I've never been good at sitting still and waiting." I took her hand and smiled as we tried to decide what to cook.

After some deliberation we just randomly cut off some parts that weren't organs and skewered them. I made a small pit to cook over and pulled some lawn chairs over. "Could you watch these? I want to check the body." We were going to mince and bury the body and if nothing happened let everyone else know later.

I made a grid about 3ft by 3ft. It wasn't big, but I narrowed the edges down and then with a lot of weight turned the Orc into little 3-inch pieces. Afterwards I slowly sifted through the remains. After not coming up with anything I scooped up a hole and dumped the remains in.

I was sure it was gonna be there so when I went to sit down Alice saw I was depressed and asked "What's wrong? You're not gonna bury the head."

"Of course!!!" I shot up and shouted. I walked over to the head and when I cracked it open, sitting inside like it was waiting for me was a small clear gem. "There you are beautiful." I was really excited by this.

"Oy, I'm over here. Don't you dare tell me your moving on already." Alice said teasingly. I could tell she was curious, so I brought it over after mincing and burying the head.

"In books they have a lot of names, but my favorite was always monster shards." I held the small gem between my forefinger and thumb and showed it to her. The blood and brain matter didn't stick to it and I could feel power inside. It looked like a small clear cube, but it was about half the size of a die.

"And?" Alice looked at me a bit overwhelmed. "Total Normie over here." She pointed to herself with her thumb on her free hand.

I nodded and laughed. "I can tell I can absorb it but I'm gonna wait. Depending on the type these can make us so much stronger. I'm talking a boy in blue tights would have a hard time dealing with us. Mind you this is just a guess, and some need a bunch and others need specific kinds..."

"Ahem! Earth to Reika, the most beautiful nerd in existence."

I was lost in thought when Alice started shaking her hand in my face. At some point I had stopped telling her my ideas and started just mulling them over in my head. I took her hand and looked her in the eye. "This just changed the whole game." I said happily.

"What do you mean? You don't know what it will do yet." Alice pulled the skewers from the fire and sat on my lap. "Here." She pulled a gob of leg meat and put it in my mouth. "let's eat first and then you can go into over analyze mode."

"Oh! Mmmm!" As soon as the meat hit my tongue, I couldn't help but be mad. The meat was definitely the best I've ever had but I couldn't eat a lot in case it was toxic. "It's delicious try some." I said as I pulled some for her from a skewer.

"Oh my god! Why did you bury it? I could eat so much more than this." I couldn't help but agree with her but since we were playing with fire here, we had to deal.

"If it's toxic, this much shouldn't kill us. And if it's not, Lyla's gonna show us where to get more once we finish."

With that we devoured it all in a few minutes and cleaned up the area. Once we cleaned up, I told Lyla to track the Orcs scent and we started off.

Within one step Alice was wrapped around my arm and nibbling on my ear. I turned to her and gave her a kiss and said, "NO. There are monsters out now." I held my first finger up at that. Next, I held up a second and said, "Also this was supposed to be a trip, so we could reward everyone for how quickly we got the compound completed."

Alice bit her lip and then looked at me with the sweetest most innocent pout I've ever seen and said "I don't count with everyone? I'm not worried about any other reward." We were still walking but it was getting harder to pull away.

"I said no." I replied firmly. She looked upset, so I took her chin and looked her in the eye. "But if that's what you want for a reward then you'll just have to convince Jenny that you won't attack me." I smiled at that.

"Ugh that angel is definitely not gonna listen to me."

She puffed her cheeks out and I said, "Then what about before breakfast?" Jenny always fed the animals and helped with breakfast first thing. That's usually when Alice and I would talk and got to know each other. It's probably when I started to like her for more than her appearance too.

"But that's a different kind of special time. This is this and that is that. We shouldn't mix the two." She had been saying all this quietly. Loud enough for me to hear but not necessarily to me. I kept walking and felt her hand in mine.

"I've grown to really care for you Alice. I know it's only been a week but you're the first person I've ever wanted to spend time with aside from Lexi and my family. If an opportunity arises, I am definitely going to take advantage of you so hard you won't be able to see straight for a month." I meant everything I just said. The real reason I brought her out here was for just that, but that damned Orc. "I'm not going to say I love you but you're definitely my most important person now." I wrapped her in a tight hug and whispered, "Trust me when I say I meant figuratively and literally about seeing straight." I teased her ear with my lips as I pulled out of the embrace.

She stared at me. I could see her face had gone red and I knew mine was heating up, but I wanted her response. I had basically just confessed and asked her out. If this wasn't the world it was, I'd probably be a bit more nervous. She started to open her mouth and then paused.

After what felt like an eternity, she finally said "Did you mean all of that?" I nodded. "I've thought you were gorgeous from the instant I saw you and even with everything going on was hoping for a chance to be with you. These past few days have been great and even with everything going on I haven't had any regrets. You have made me really happy, I'd love to spend as much time as possible with you from here on out as well." As she finished saying that she leaned against me. I was a few inches taller than her, so she was pretty regularly putting her head between my boob's.

I pushed her back again and said "Later, for now we need to keep going." At some point we had stopped, and Lyla was getting impatient. She was chuffing and kept pacing because she has always liked to search for things but with me being a shut-in, she hadn't gotten many chances.

After 30 minutes or so we arrived. Lyla sat down next to what looked like a cave that was so generic it actually caused me to laugh. Standing out of the ground was 1 rock that shot straight up to the right, and another that was longer shot up to the left making an almost doorframe. The back was another rock when I walked around it.

"What's so funny?" Alice asked as we were looking at the cave.

"In almost every RPG the main character has to go to a cave or underground dungeon. When you get there it usually looks like this." I paused to get my point across. "In. Every. Single. One." I kept pointing at the cave as I paused for each word.

"Hmm. I guess that would be funny." She said as she looked at me still chuckling a bit.

"Sorry, it's just I've seen this a few hundred times and it always got me excited. But now that I'm looking at one in person, I realize how lack luster it is." I forced myself to get over this and decided to press on. "Let's peak inside. Get your weapons ready and we'll just check it out for a few minutes."

"Alright, should we report back first?"

"I'd say yes or no but just answering that question is a flag. Just keep alert and shoot anything that moves. We've triggered too many death flags to go home now. Let's cut a few down and then we'll head back."

"You haven't led me down the wrong path yet, let's fuck shit up." She raised her bow in the air.

I knelt down to Lyla. "Good job girl. If you keep us safe and help us get home, you'll get so many treats." She started shaking her golden tail so hard her body was rocking side to side. I couldn't help but laugh. "Good girl you know what's up." I said as the 3 of us headed into the cave.

I was ecstatic the instant we stepped in. The floor and walls glowed just like in the books and I could feel an energy throughout the cave. Before I knew it, I heard myself say "It's a real-life dungeon." I was feeling up the walls and looking at every little detail. Before too long I heard squeaking from in front of me. I readied 2 spears since I went a bit overkill with the Orc. As I did that a mouse like creature came around the corner and I stuck it to a wall by impaling it. It squeaked one last time and then died.

"Ruthless." I head Alice mutter. "Even though it's so cute." She knelt in front of it and pulled out her phone and took a quick picture.

"Would you rather I let it make some scars on me?" I asked boldly.

"From what I've seen you have too many scars." She stopped herself there. "Sorry, that sounded better in my head." She hung her head.

"It's fine." I waved my hand in front of me and continued. "We are going to talk about them sometime but not right now." I knelt down and split the head of my victim open looking for my monster shard, but I couldn't find it. "Bull shit!" I spit the words to my side.

"What's up Rei?"

She dropped a nickname in a time like this? I couldn't help but smirk. "No shard. I'm gonna check the rest. After some digging, I found a clear shard that was identical to the Orcs from earlier. I felt better and said "Found it! Now what do we do with the body?" I stood and decided we would clean any gore but leave the corpses along the walls "Most dungeons clean themselves in books." Was the excuse I gave even if it was true.

"Alright let's make some progress." Alice shouted as she nocked an arrow and we headed forward.

It didn't take long for another mouse to find us. This one looked the same but instead of brown it was a bright green. It was the same size and had the same mask coloring as a raccoon on its face. The differences were minimal at best. Alice finished this one with one arrow and I found the shard in the heart like the last creature. We swept it to the corner and Alice cleaned the arrow.

"How do you want to continue?" I asked her.

"Well if the few games I played on my phone were a hint to anything- "She stopped talking as she shot another mouse, blue this time, between the eyes. "We need to kill a bunch for data, right?" she started back up like it was nothing and I fetched her arrow and another shard.

As I moved the body I decided. "OK we'll continue on until the monsters get stronger or one of us gets tired." I looked in my bag and made a small metal box to keep the shards safe.

"Sounds good to me." Alice beamed a smile. "I need you to fix these for me first." She held out 3 arrows. I started to fuse the cracks and right as I finished, I heard more squeaking. "I got this, you fix those."

"Alright. Don't you dare step away from me though." She had 20 standard and 20 serrated tips usually so 3 wasn't a big loss. She stood straight and prepared to fight. "It's always 1 at a time..." She mumbled as she killed another mouse. This one was pink with a purple "mask."

"I'm glad it's just 1." I said honestly. "I know we are much stronger than them, but a hoard may still overwhelm us." I made a spear and started carrying it. I decided I would carry one to fight to save my mental stamina.

"I guess that's true but given how small these things are you would think they would work together." We kept exploring while collecting the monster shards for about 45 minutes.

"I think we should head back now." I said to Alice as I carved another monster shard. I was getting a bit tired and didn't want to risk my stamina getting much lower given we will get assaulted on the way back.

"Sounds good. Not that I even know what they do but we got a good haul already." She took my hand to help me up when I saw something weird with the floor.

"What's that?" I said quietly.

"What's what?" Alice replied back.

"The floor there is different." We had reached a dead end and in the corner the floor bulged up about 10 inches. I kept my distance to be safe and started digging. Almost immediately I saw a small piece of bluish metal sticking out. "Maybe it's like a treasure chest?" I muttered to myself.

Alice walked over and scooped up the chunk. "This stuff looks weird. It's definitely metal but it feels strange and it's really light but hard." She tossed it to me and I stopped it in the air.

"OH!" I shouted. "I can definitely use this." I could feel more energy in this than I'd felt in other metal. I tried to manipulate it but couldn't do more than any other type I'd used in the past. "Let's get home first, then we can play." I smiled and turned as Alice ran up alongside.me.

As we were leaving the cave, I noticed the monsters we had killed closer to the entrance were gone. I'd say they took about 10 minutes to disappear. We were killing them consistently on the way back when something strange happened.

Alice shot the gray mouse with an arrow and in a puff of dark blue smoke the mouse was gone. "Wait what?" Alice looked around carefully, but the mouse was nowhere to be found.

I approached where the corpse should have been and found the arrow she shot and a small rock. I lifted the rock and arrow and walked back to Alice. "Is there anything around us Lyla?" I decided to ask. I looked, and she was relatively calm. She had been tensing up whenever we got close to monsters, so I looked over the rock with Alice. "Is it maybe a rare drop?" I asked her

"You got me." She looked at the rock in my hand and the bloodied arrow in the other. She took the arrow back making sure to grip my hand slightly before she took the arrow.

This girl is flirting in the middle of a dungeon. I thought to myself. "Let's just get back. We'll play with it later." Is all I said. Then it hit me. "You know it's probably like the metal earlier. An earth user will probably know more.

"That makes sense." She nodded. "Not sure how many times I'm gonna say it in my life but your brain is definitely unique." She looked at me and added, "In a good way."

"Thanks, let's go." With that we headed out of the dungeon.

When we made it back into the woods the first thing Alice did was put her bow over her shoulder and then latch onto me. If I said it was a problem I would be lying since I had grown rather fond of it, we walked back to the tree stand and gathered up our supplies when Alice came over and whispered to me "We have a watcher, what should we do."

"I'm pretty sure they are harmless but to be safe fire a warning shot from the bow." I whispered back. We had been followed from about the halfway mark between the cave and the tree stand.

Without a word and in one swift motion Alice drew bow and arrow and fired so it hit a tree.

"Sorry! Sorry!" We heard an elderly man's voice. "I was checking to see if you were dangerous." An older man with streaks of gray poked his head out. He pulled the arrow out if the tree and approached.

"Careful old man." I didn't get a good feel from him and would end him in an instant if he tried anything. I felt Alice leaning against me looking over my shoulder. Keeping her mouth hidden she whispered in my ear. "Yeah, I know." We were on the same page, so I said, "Leave it on the ground and walk away."

"This is no place for 2 women to be alone." He had an evaluating eye and it felt disgusting.

"Well since this is my property, I'm not all that worried." I owned back here and a bit more. The dungeon was probably on my property too.

"Oh, is that so. I apologize for trespassing. I was just trying to get away from trouble and wound up here." He kept trying to get closer and I kept stopping him.

"Don't you mean we?" I was done playing his game. There were 3 men including this man and I would destroy them if they tried anything.

"Oh, your sharp. No wonder you're at a tree stand. How'd the hunt go anyways?" he stepped forward as he said that, and I'd had enough.

"Turn around and walk away right now. I don't want to kill someone, but I will." I raised my crossbow and pointed it at him while I ran some metal from my bag into the ground.

"Same goes for me." Alice said calmly as she aimed directly at a man up in a tree.

"Bitch, just shut up!" a man yelled and rushed in. Before anyone could do anything, he crumbled to ash without a sound. Behind him was Kara and Zack.

"You were late for dinner, so we came searching. I remembered you saying you came out here few times." Kara was breathing heavy from killing someone.

The man under Alice's gaze put his hands up while the elderly man decided to charge. The instant he stepped within range I raised the metal and impaled him. His body slumped, and I pulled the metal back to myself.

"I can make wind, so they forced me." The man said. He had plenty of fresh cuts and bruises on his body, so I was inclined to believe him.

"Fine, but everyone will be told how we met. If I hear anything negative about you." I paused for emphasis and stared him up and down. I then looked to the old man's corpse and finished. "Well you get the idea."

"Huh?"

"Wait."

"You can't be serious."

I heard the others say. I did think it was a bad idea, but he would make a good example whether he was good or not. If he behaved, he would show that we were a forgiving group and if he tried anything we would be seen as relentless towards rule breakers.

"If he does something shitty, he dies. The 4 of us are all Judge, jury, and Executioners. If we decide he did something wrong." I paused again then decided to go back. "Even if he's innocent but we decide otherwise he dies. He does however we see fit."

"If you say so Rei." Alice was the first to chime in.

"Alright but we can't be bringing in every person we come across. And when did you start calling her Rei?" Zack followed up.

"A little bit ago honestly but it just felt right y'know?" Alice replied nonchalantly.

"If you think this is the right call." Kara hesitated. Probably thinking about Jenny and the other kids. She walked up to the man and got right up in his face. "We have young children at the base. If one of them says anything about you doing anything weird." She stopped, and a fire ball appeared floating just over her shoulder. "Do I make myself clear."

"Y-y-yes ma'am." He stuttered out. Although she was a beautiful woman, she was also terrifying when she needed to be.

With that we headed back. The prisoner whose name was Mark took the lead. He told us that the US government was conscripting people with certain abilities and the other 2 men were running. They were fire and metal users. Kara and me. Not to mention Gene, Lois, and Will. We'd sat down and decided we were sticking together as a whole, so this wasn't a decision, but it could spell trouble. When we got back, I made a cell near the crops and had Mark get in. I grabbed some food and then went in the house.

"Monsters are a thing now and I have a dungeon on my property." I cut right to the chase and the group was still not used to it. "Also, the government is trying to force people to help them. It should be easy enough to turn them down since we don't need anything they are offering. Also, Alice and I tried some monster meat. It was delicious, but we want to make sure it's not toxic before anyone else eats it. Any questions?" This part everyone was used too. They raised their hands and I called on them. "Gene?"

"I'm not worried about the government, what with my age, but monsters? Dungeons? How are we supposed to handle that?"

"The monsters are probably strong but since this isn't a video game removing or destroying vital organs will kill them. At least that's been the case for the 2 kinds Alice and I found. I went a bit overboard with the Orc."

"A bit?" Alice interrupted me and started laughing. "She shot it with a crossbow and 5 spears as soon as she saw it. Then cut its head off before we even got close." She was holding her stomach from laughing so hard and I could feel heat from embarrassment enter my face.

"A-Anyways." I cut back in. "It was an easy kill. The other was a mouse like creature in the actual dungeon. In games they're called Puchi Suri, but that doesn't matter. They are about the size of a house cat and look like a mouse with a raccoon mask."

"Here." Alice said as she pulled up the picture on her phone. Everyone looked at it and then passed it around the room. "They can be a bunch of different colors, but they all share the same pattern. We saw 1 that was pure white, but it acted the same as the others. They squeak like crazy and charge. Nothing special just hit them in the head and they die."

"Also, if you kill a monster." I reached into my bag and pulled out a monster shard. "These are located either in the brain or heart. I'm not sure why, but I plan on experimenting and passing information forward." More hands went up. "Kara?"

"You didn't bring up Mark. Why?" She looked concerned.

"In all honesty, he's not that big of a threat. He is weaker than Jenny or Darren and neither of them are our big hitters. Also, the bruises on his body and cuts make me think he was just someone they used." I looked at everyone and told them the story.

"I don't trust him but that doesn't justify execution." Agatha said. She had shown the least mercy out of her group. "Where is he now? I would like a few words." She stood as she asked.

"Out by the field. He is in a cell I made." She nodded and left the room. "Anyone else?" I scanned the room and a small hand shot up. "Yes Jenny?" I asked her.

"Umm... If there are monsters what does that mean? Can they just be or is there a way to make them happen?" She looked frustrated as she tried to ask her question in a proper format.

"I'm pretty sure they are formed in the dungeons and then just look for things to eat. That means they aren't going to show up in the compound but outside of it you could run into some." I think I understood what she was really asking so I answered to the best of my ability. She looked a bit relieved with my answer. One hand went up next. "What's up Leah?"

"I remember seeing in a game the reason people hunted monsters in the dungeons was to stop them from leaving it. Is that how this works here?"

"I can't say yes or no. When we killed the Orc, Lyla led us directly to the cave that holds the dungeon. When we entered, we explored for about 45 minutes and headed back. The only monsters we found were the Puchi Suri's. Oh yeah." I reached into my bag and pulled out the stone from earlier. "When we killed them, we usually harvested their monster shards but one puffed away in a cloud of smoke when it died, and this was there. We had found a strange metal in a dead end of the dungeon and I was curious if this rock was similar. Catch." I tossed the rock to her and when it got close, she stopped it in midair and then grabbed it.

"This is new. I can feel this, and it feels good". Zack came over and looked at it.

"I wonder what it does." He stated flatly as he looked it over.

"When I played with this one." I pulled out the metal chunk. "It didn't sap my mental stamina as much as normal metal. It's almost like it's easier to manipulate."

Zack lifted it and formed some shapes with it. Possibly what he did before he went to sleep every day since Alice and I shared our results with everyone and it quickly became the norm to see some piece of something shifting when someone was getting ready for bed.

"It's probably less than half the energy." He said quickly. "It could help a lot if we got a large amount."

"He won't be a problem." Agatha came back into the room and said. "Let him out. He's agreed to be attached to me with metal at all times for 6 months."

"That's... An idea I guess." Alice was the first to say anything.

As I saw her looking at me, I said. "Never gonna happen Hun. Never ever." I patted her shoulder and walked out to check with Mark. I stopped turned back in and said, "Meeting adjourned." Then chuckled and walked out.

I pulled apart Marks cell and approached him. "Agatha says your willing to be physically attached to her for 6 months to prove you aren't a risk." I said plainly.

"When she gave me the idea, I thought she was crazy. We are going to be seeing a lot of each other and she is beautiful. If she is willing who am I to complain. With that I made some slightly bulky cuffs and put them around their ankles. Next, I combined them together with a few links. They couldn't be more than 5 feet apart, but it should be enough.

"There, done. Try it out." I said.

"It's fine." Agatha said. She then grabbed Mark and they started practicing moving.

"Well that solves that." Alice said as she took my hand. I need to go inside first so I'll catch you at dinner. She gave me a peck on the cheek and ran inside.

"What was that about?" Kara asked.

"I told her I like her earlier and she said the same." I blushed a bit, but I've never liked hiding information.

"Oh my." Kara said as she pretended to fan herself "Is it warm in here or is it just me?" She was teasing me pretty bad, but I'd really missed this.

"You and Zack never doubted me, right?" I asked as I leaned my head onto her shoulder. "You knew I loved you guys this whole time, right?" I hadn't spoken to them since the funerals. I had locked myself in the house and only left for work and when a class I wanted to take required I leave the house.

"There was never a doubt in our minds Reirei." She called me my least favorite nickname. The one my Dad called me when I was a baby and Zack and Kara both used affectionately.

"I still hate being called that though." I smiled as I made a fist and playfully tapped her stomach.

Maya and Tina came by and headed to the garden. They were the dinner crew almost every day. I waved at them and they both gave small smiles and then started to gather some vegetables and fruits. I had some fruits in the fridge when things went weird and we tried planting them. We got apples, oranges, grapes and strawberries. It was strange seeing plants from different climates and seasons all growing together.

"Hey Kara?" I asked

"What's up?" she asked back.

"I really want to reward everyone for everything they've done but I don't know how. What would be a good way to raise everyone's spirits?" I had been trying to come up with something but other than the dear meat I wasn't sure.

"I mean why? You have given everyone here a home and have only asked for help they are willing to give. Every person here is glad to be here. Some may miss their loved ones but that doesn't mean they want to leave. It's not just about the safety you provide but also because you don't hide information and if you find something useful you tell everyone." She was looking at me with respect. "You may not want to hear it, but Lexi would be so, so, SO proud of your strength." She gave me a big hug and squeezed me tightly. "Mom too. Dad would just say something like about time you stepped up, but he would be so proud."

"Thanks Kara." I felt tears running down my face, but they weren't from sadness this time. I felt like everything she said was right. I chuckled when I thought of Dad. "Although Dad would be furious that those games and books, he always gave me a hard time for, helped create this."

"Oh yeah." She started laughing as Zack walked over. "Hey Zack, what do you think Dads reaction would be knowing that the games Reika played helped save us?" She asked calmly.

He immediately grinned ear to ear. "Oh, he would be hemming and hawing till next year if he knew. Even though he gave us freedom to do what we wanted I never understood his hatred of games." He added.

I replied. "He was a big show off. He probably didn't like not being able to just prove how good someone was at something. You would have to really meet certain criteria to see someone's skill at certain games."

They both nodded, then Kara said. "To be fair his show offy ways are why Mom fell in love with him. She told me once that he was bragging about something no normal person would and she found it to be adorable. After that she was in love."

"That's mom alright. Aww how cute." Zack said in a somewhat girly voice. "I love it and it's mine now." He finished. We were all laughing as we entered the garage.

Inside Alice and Jenny were smiling at each other and when they saw us Alice ran over. I put my hand out and she took it and we went inside. The kitchen was full again. Even though we had built the new houses everyone continued to eat here together. There was enough room for everyone to eat together but cooking was a problem. As we squeezed through Kara stayed behind to help while Zack went off to find Delilah.

"Ugh..." I said as I sat down. Out of nowhere Jenny appeared and sat in my lap as Alice leaned against me. "We just can't get a break." I knew I shouldn't say it but there was so much going on.

"We'll figure it out." Alice said and started playing with my hair. "It's not like we have a choice." She added and smiled.

"I'm so glad I get to see that pretty smile." I said as I looked at her. I did not mean to say that out loud but oh well. I followed up. "When you got here your grin was so fake it was irritating." I added on.

She coughed at what I said and then looked at me. "That. That was nice." She leaned over and gave me a peck on the cheek.

"No." Jenny reached up and pushed Alice right by the face. With her small hands blocking her mouth Alice pulled back and laughed.

After dinner I went upstairs to my room and changed. When I came out of the bathroom Alice was sitting on my bed and patted next to her. "I talked to Jenny and she gave me tonight if I promised not to attack." She looked at the floor and turned red. "So, I won't attack you..." She was mumbling.

I did not need any more help. I walked right up to her and gave her a forceful and meaningful kiss and immediately went for her shirt. Before long I found myself pulling her bra off and then was looking at her everything.

"It's definitely embarrassing when you stare." She whispered. I pulled my shirt off and before I knew it, we were naked in front of each other. "Even more beautiful than I thought."

All I could think of were my scars. They were from the accident and there were marks on my shoulders, my stomach my back and my legs. They stood out against my pale skin and I definitely was self-conscious about them. I moved forward and gave her another kiss and pushed her onto the bed.

After some time went by, we were laying face to face in my bed. I was playing with her shoulder length blonde hair and she was smiling. She looked at the scars on my shoulders and ran her fingers across them. It tickled but I knew what she was going to say so I laid there quietly waiting.

"Is this from the accident?" She finally asked. She didn't seem nervous and she kept going. "Could you tell me about it?" We had an unspoken agreement. When either of us pushed the other would answer. It was our way of helping each other.

I laid there with her hair in one hand and my other wrapped around the small of her back. I nodded and decided I would tell her as much as I could. "OK. But if I reach a point that I can't continue you have to let me stop for now. OK?" I looked her in the eye. She lowered her head and gave a gentle kiss to the scar on my left shoulder.

"OK."