The night was quiet when Michael awoke, his wounds had scabbed over enough to walk around, though they ached too much to continue sleeping. The fire made of scattered branches, started with the bear Grylls flint and steel knife, slowly died out throughout the night.
Michael winced as he pushed himself up, his muscles protesting, stiff and aching. The sky glowed with the soft pink of an approaching sunrise. He whipped his face looking around. He was surprised to see others still asleep, sure they were tired but that was a traumatic experience, especially for the kids.
Nearby sounds of a conversation interrupted the morning, across the campsite Michael saw the two brothers chatting—way too relaxed, considering the bloodshed they'd witnessed.
Strange. They should be shaken—haunted, even. But they're just… chatting?
Michael grimaced as he gestured for the boys to come over, his left ear throbbing with a dull ache. He rolled his shoulders, testing his body's limits as he stretched.
The boys approached him back straight with a quiet confidence radiating from them, not a drop of blood on them unlike the others blood-soaked clothes, Michael observed letting out a quiet groan before pushing himself up and stretching his sore limbs.
"Hey, Michael, nothing happened last night," the shorter one said as they reached his side, helping the rest of the way to his feet. "But we did hear some weird sounds coming from past the tree line…" not even a flicker of fear flashed as he said that.
Michael was in such pain it hurt to move, but despite that every time he even thinks of yesterday he shudders in fear.
And they heard sounds that certainly weren't normal, and they weren't even phased? Michael frowned, watching them carefully. No tension in their shoulders, no glances toward the trees—just quiet, practiced confidence. Too practiced
Michael frowns as he touches his chin thoughtfully, "Thanks for telling me and for helping me up" as he clenching his teeth as he rises to his feet
"No, worries," the taller boy replies.
"Go to bed, if you want to help, I'll wake you up in an hour while I figure out what we should do today… we need you to be as healthy as possible for what is to come." Michael orders the brothers as they hesitate for a second as they look towards each other first before nodding their heads and walking towards the center of the campsite.
"Also can you wake up, Joseph and Christopher? I want to talk to them." Michael calls after them in a hushed voice. "What are your names again?"
"Dean's the name, and this is my little brother, Sam," the shorter boy says, nudging Christopher awake while Sam prods Joseph and points toward Michael at the edge of the campsite
Dean stood apart—lean but built for a fight. The wind ruffled his dirty-blond hair, but his green eyes remained sharp, scanning the surroundings like a soldier checking for threats. A battered brown bomber jacket clung to his frame, its sleeves frayed at the edges. Damn, he's annoyingly handsome.
Sam towered over everyone at 6'5", broad-shouldered and imposing, though his expression carried an unexpected gentleness. His chestnut-brown hair was longer than his brother's, often falling into his eyes. Unlike Dean's rugged style, Sam preferred practicality—sturdy cargo pants and a simple dark hoodie, its sleeves pushed up to his elbows. He looked more like a hiker than a fighter, certainly someone that had spent more time in a book.
Even then, Michael expected them to look shaken by the battle, by the death they'd seen. Instead, their eyes flicked between the dying embers of the fire and something unseen—something hovering in the air before them. Not the wolves. Not the bodies. This. This terrified them.
***
Finding a spot away from the group, Michael watches the slightly reddish sunrise, noting its change compared to Earth's sun… making him truly realize, he wasn't just somewhere else-he was on another planet or dimension, wherever this System has brought him it was not Earth or Earth-27 as it called it. He was truly somewhere unknown, not one person in the world knew where he was, there was no tracking gps in the dead phones or ticking watches-no cameras or satellites that knew where he was.
They were well and truly alone… and no one was coming for them.
And this scared him, truly terrified him, he didn't want to do anything more than to find a corner and sulk or just lie in bed and ignore the reality around them, no doubt what many are doing now.
But unlike them, he had been the first one to get up and fight. Before everyone else, he had shown his resolve and he had been rewarded for it in a magical way that he feels as this System pulls his body together, giving him a new type of power, but shackling him to the eyes of respect and admiration he could see from those still pretending that they could just lie in bed and forget everything around them.
Unlike them, he had to be stronger and he could NOT let it show, as only he and Christopher remained in control and if they started getting scared, so would the others and then everything would fall apart.
His responsibility now.
Michael wiped his face hiding all strands of stress he could from his face as Christopher and Joseph sat beside him.
"Michael, are you feeling better yet? Did putting those points in recovery work?" Christophers asks, concerned, his hand resting on his diary.
"Hey mate, how's your wounds?" Joseph asks, tapping his shoulder in concern.
Their eyes flickering with concern as they scanned his wounds, their brows furrowing at the sight of his scabbed-over ear.
Michael didn't know what they expected or what they wanted him to say? That his chest burned and aches as he hopes the wound won't get infected? Or that this System isn't performing fast enough to be of any real use in the next fight. But most of all, he was just thankful that these two cared.
"I'm fine, I'm alright, I just needed some rest. I feel like… I don't really know? My body definitely feels better and some stuff has scabbed over. It kind of feels like a dull ache, pulling the sheets of my skin together. But whatever it is I am healing at a much faster speed" Michael could almost feel his body stitching itself together and a snail base, but hell he could feel it."
"Like look at my ear, it definitely looks better." Michael says, brushing off their concern and showing his scabbed over half a ear.
"I understand you guys are worried. I do, and thank you guys for worrying. But we need to figure out what we are doing, the next wave is just around the corner" ignoring their worried looks, he had other things to think about, like the next wave… He needed other things to think about.
"We need a plan, ok? Because truthfully we survived the last wave by luck, if i hadn't killed that wolf when I did then it would have at least killed another 5 people-if anyone did survive at all" Michael reminds, picking up a stick and pointing to the wolf corpses, especially the alpha.
"I don't know what food the group has had on them when we all got teleported here, but I doubt we will be able to survive on it. So we should ask around and see if anyone's here has any hunting or just knows how to scavenge from a wolf's corpse. I think we should be able to create some weapons with their bones and fangs''. Michael says as he turns to Christopher.
"Me and Joseph could do that, however I think we could also use the blood as a water sustenance as well. I don't think we can leave the campsite just yet." Christopher said.
"I think that it could be a bit poisonous, I mean not just the blood but the meat too. I think we should get you Michael to try the blood in case it is poisonous, because well to be perfectly honest you look too injured to be any help in the next fight "Joseph replied, unsure of whether to push his mate off the deep end.
"So if there's a chance it is poisonous there's a good chance your recovery should outlast it and so, just to be on the safe side you should try it first." Christopher adds cautiously. Neither really wanted this to happen to their injured friend.
Michael didn't know what to say about this idea, now he slightly regrets putting so much into recovery even though he knows he needs it. But he really didn't know what to feel, like should he be happy that they were taking advantage of him in a way that benefits the group or feel disgusted at being used as a guinea pig.
"Ok, I'll-uh do it, but let's just say you two owe me one, ok?" Michael replies, staring hard at the duo.
"We owe you a lot more than one…" Joseph replies on the side, while Christopher nodded. Clearly neither had forgotten Michael's fight, both feeling guilty about their failures.
"We need to make a plan too, I'll talk it over with the rest of the guys and see if they can figure out anything" says Christopher changing the topic. As he watches how the sunrise forces the rest of the group out of their pretend sleep.
"Michael, I'll give you my points. See if you can buy that Store on your Lord Status, we might need it. Let's first see what this can do before we make plans." Joseph says walking over and transfers the group's TP. As the others had trusted Joseph with their points.
Thinking of it as training, Michael tries to mentally pull up his Lord Status.
Lord Status
Store: 10 TP (Bought) - Full access or limited access?
Weapons Tools Mischievous
Guide: 50 TP
Upgrade: 100 TP
Residents: 10
Authorization Controls: Michael Ashford [Lord]
Possible Controls: Pylon Mayor, assistant, vassal - each have varied control given by the Lord.
His screen flashed gold, and a list of options appeared. Weapons, Tools… Mischievous?
Michael blinked. This was… insane. His hands trembled slightly as he scrolled through the menus, the implications hitting him all at once.
The first page held weapons, such as knives, swords, bows and slingshots. The second held axes and some tools you would find in a shed. The third held something called formations and talismans… whatever that was.
Michael's eyes scrolled through, his mind wandering as the implications of such items were perfect for them right now. But why would they allow something like this, is it another test? Is someone checking his performance to find some special quality from him? Were there others with this too? And why did it only show items for fighting and had nothing for food and water, did whoever made this-this System want them to survive without them? But why?
"Well? How is it?" Joseph and Christopher ask at the same time, their gazes locked onto Michael as he looks away from the screen.
Michael remains silent for a few seconds contemplating the new store, fiddling with the settings to allow all citizens of his group to have a viewer access, noticing only the people with special positions such as the Pylon Mayor could buy store items other than him. "Chris you should be able to buy some stuff with your Pylon Mayor position but don't do that yet, we should wait for the others before deciding and Joseph you should have access now too."
Christopher and Joseph nodded, as they began to look through the store themselves.
"Hey Chris, what does the Pylon Mayor position even do?" Joseph questions.
"Well I have a separate status called Pylon Mayor Status, basically it seems I have the exact same abilities as our Lord." Christopher grins, "But it seems he can overrule any decision I make, and I am just his proxy for most matters."
"But I have another separate duty, and that is to protect the Pylon, which is apparently that clear crystal that Michael picked up at the start of the wave, and it seems there are certain repercussions to me if it gets destroyed" says Christopher in annoyance.
Michael exclaims apologizes "I didn't think me giving you that position would do anything, i was just trying to help us-"
"No, you did the right thing. You were just trying to help and that's what you did." Christopher comforts. "Plus it also says the more this Pylon grows, the better and more rewarding it is for me. And since this is anew world, where we can get stronger from fighting, I reckon i'll need all the advantages i can get"
Michael stared at Christopher, wishing he had waited a bit longer before touching that crystal. Christopher was a leader, through and through.
"But ummm do you guys know what the Pylon might be? I'm not even sure I know what a Pylon means." Christopher says, rubbing the back of his head, his sagely wisdom gone.
"Oh, oh I know, it's that crystal that you grabbed before the Wave started, you know in the campfire?" Joseph says loudly.
"Shush, if that crystal or 'Pylon' is that important to my advancement or something? Can we just keep it between each other?" Christopher asks, looking at the two.
Michael agreed, sticking out his hand and shaking Christopher's hand, while Joseph promised the same.
"Wait! It's not in the campfire anymore, where has it gone?" Joseph said quietly, his hand ruffling through the burnt wood within the firepit.
Michael sits up, forcing a groan down as the trio looks around, only to find it snuggled in the arms of the child that Julie had protected, it lay about the size of Michael's hand in the kid's arms, as it had been snuggled to sleep.
Christopher reached out to pull the crystal off the kid, feeling the impressive weight and firmness of a small child hidden within the small crystal as he passed it off to Michael who felt a low hum coming from its core, as well as some warmth.
The child might have found it or Sophie must've given it to the child before bed for warmth. The kid had cut across the top left of his eye along his eyebrow, which would likely create a scar there in the future.
Tough break for a kid not even ten years old.
"I think it should be ok here for a bit, I'll take it back when the child wakes up…" Christopher said.
The other two laughed as Christopher shushed them and pulled them away from the kids.
Christopher rubbed his temple, ignoring the teasing of the two next to him.
"What have you done to Chris?" calls Sophie, walking over.
"Heyyyy, morning how are you doing, no wait stupid question sorry" Michael watched in fascination, while trading glances with Christopher at Joseph's 'attempts'.
"Morning Joseph?" She said in a small voice, a small blush creeping up her neck. "And you two Chris, Michael. What are you guys talking about"
"Hehe, nice save. Ah nothing, don't worry about it. We are just talking about what we should do next" Michael says, shifting their attention. Much to the blushing pairs happiness.
"Thanks… "Sophie says, her voice trailing off, as she finds a seat next to Joseph.
"First we should figure out a few things." Michael say's, extending his finger, before pointing at each other. "One, we have to learn about each other, not just to improve teamwork but to see if you have any skills we could use right now." the group nods in understanding.
"Second, we must figure out if the knife should stay with Chris or we should give it to someone else, if that's alright with you? Is there anything else I should add?" Michael questions Christopher.
"Joseph should be given something to fight from a distance, we all saw how he saved Michael from that wolf." Christopher points out "and we should check if others have the same accuracy-"
"Wait, wait, I missed the shot against the Alpha, I don't think I would be a good choice." Joseph's cuts in, his hands raised.
"No listen here." Sophie says, holding her hands on her hips. "Dummy, you did an amazing job and what should we expect? We made that plan on the spot, we didn't really expect you to hit them at all, did we?" Sophie pointedly said, as he fidgeted under her gaze.
"But- uh… no I understand" Joseph's arguments withered under her gaze, turning to the others before groaning seeing their mischievous grins on their faces. He definitely was going to hear about this later.
Clearing his throat, Christopher changes the subject "Another thing we need to do is prepare a safe space for the children, and since they trust you Sophie the most. We will leave that task to you."
Sophie looked surprised by everyone's agreement as her eyes misted up, and she promised to not let them down.
Michael uses his finger to beckon everyone closer as he speaks in a hushed whisper, "But what should we do with her, Karen… She doesn't seem like she will want to help, or even if she did I don't think we would want her two." receiving nods of agreement "I personally don't know what to do with her. "Michael felt sadly bad about speaking behind her back, but when he is reminded of her nonchalant attitude to the people that died, he dismisses it.
The group remained silent, their thoughts sterling as they thought about it.
Surprisingly it was Sophie that replied first, "I-uh do think we should decide what to do with her… but i don't think we should do it now…" her voice laced with concern, hoping the others would forgive Karen transgressions.
Lifting his eyebrow Michael throws a curious glance Sophie way "May I ask why that is? We can't just look past what she said to everyone, that doesn't just affect our feelings, which could make us even more depressed-" he says wincing at that word, as he notices the down casted expressions of the others "but it also affects our teamwork keeping someone like that here isn't a good idea."
Sighing, Michael looks Sophie in the eye "Just because we trust you does not mean me and Christopher will put our group at risk for you, because you wanted to defend a coward." he says staring down Sophie as she squirms in her seat.
"Michael!" Joseph angrily growls, taking a step in front of Sophie, before his arm is caught by her pulling him back. "Huh-I was just trying to-" Joseph explains.
"Thank you Joseph, but I can take it from here" she says, pulling him behind her. "Sorry Michael i should've stated actual reasons, instead of just asking hopefully asking." Sophie nervously leveled her gaze to Michael's "I believe if we do something to Karen now it will only infuriate the group further, since she has only expressed her opinion" Sophie says grimacing at the thought "and has yet to do anything to actually harm the group and i trust her…" she finishes leveraging the trust they had showed us before.
Michael stared at Sophie so hard that she thought a hole might go through her soul, before he replied "Ok, we won't do anything to her yet-but she will stay away from the action and stay with the kids" his voice final as the group nodded in agreement, with Sophie just glad he listened.
"But Sophie, we are trusting you here. So if something goes wrong because of her or this decision, it will not just be on you, but you will have earn our trust back." Christopher said from the side, receiving a respectful nod from Michael as even Joseph begrudgingly nodded too his head faced away from Sophie.
Clenching her fist Sophie promises to keep Karen in check, as the group discusses other things.
"Last thing we need to do is have someone learn as much as they can about their Status and everything else." Josephs reminds the group, with his ears still slightly red." Since Michael is still injured I think he should do that."
"Alright, let's start with introductions." Michael stretched his arms, groaning slightly at the stiffness in his muscles. "I've been training in martial arts for years—mostly jiu-jitsu. Helps when you've got two little troublemakers at home—twin daughters." As he rolls and loosens his body out, stretching and checking how his body feels.
He smiled faintly before his voice softened. "Their mom passed away recently." A moment of silence settled over the group, the weight of loss hanging in the air.
Christopher gave him a firm pat on the shoulder, his lips pressing into a thin line as if holding back words. Instead, he jumped in. "I'm 25, worked as a bouncer and bodyguard for a while. I'm a gym rat, rugby player, and I'm into bushwalking and survival stuff. Guess that'll come in handy now."
Joseph cracked his knuckles. "And here I thought I was the outdoorsy one. Just finished my business degree, and I was planning to party for a few months." He smirked before shrugging. "But I'm big into archery. Spent a lot of time out on my family's farm in the Outback practicing."
Alex walked up just as Joseph finished, flopping down beside him. Christopher leaned over, whispering a quick recap. Alex nodded and fidgeted nervously waiting for his turn to speak.
Sophie smiled. "Okay, my turn! I'm 22, a yoga instructor, and I do emergency aid work. I live with my parents—overprotective, by the way, which I remind them of every chance I get."
"Yeah, yeah, we get it, your parents are dramatic," Alex cut in, rolling his eyes.
Sophie glared at him playfully before motioning for him to go next.
"Not much to say," Alex shrugged. "Took a gap year after high school. Oh, but I can knit, so if your pants rip, I got you."
The group stared at him.
"…What? You think we're gonna walk around in torn clothes forever?" Alex smirked. "Bet you'll be glad when I fix your stuff."
Michael smirks at Alex's confidence and adds, "Chris should keep the knife. He's the most experienced with it, and he can make tools too"
The group exchanges glances before nodding in agreement, ready to move on
"Next I want you guys to figure out a plan, while Joseph and I find a bow and some arrows." Michael explains dismissing the rest of the group as he secludes himself with Joseph.
"We will reconvene in an hour, when I wake the brothers to discuss the rest of the plan, ok?" Michael affirms, receiving nods from the rest of the group.
Secluding themselves a small distance away, just enough distance to hear their conversation without interrupting their own.
Michael and Joseph moved away from the group, their footsteps crunching softly against the forest floor. The morning light cast long shadows as they scoured the area, searching for anything—weapons, tools, or supplies—that might increase their chances of survival.
"Hey Michael, sorry for earlier. Normally I'm more level headed about that type of stuff. But I'm so overwhelmed right now, we all are and… Sophie she just makes it feel just a little easier you know?" Joseph apologizes. "And the worst thing is that I kinda agree with you about her, Karen-I think she pushed Josh. Maybe she didn't mean to kill him, but I don't trust her either."
Michael understood why Joseph would react like that, everyone would. Nothing about this was ok, they were stuck in another world for GOD's sake, it's understandable that not everyone could remain level headed. Hell he only could because he didn't want everyone to panic and freak out. But even then he only managed to do it because Chris was there too.
"Mate, flirt with her in your own time, right now we need to survive and for that we need to train and get you some equipment. We just dealt with that problem before, no point dwelling on it now" Michael reminds, his voice becoming louder.
"The others haven't figured it out just yet, they're still holding on hope that this is some bad dream or someone is going to save them. No one is." Michael says, revealing his gnarly wound.
"If you truly want to apologize to me. Just survive no matter the cost. And to do that now we need to find you a weapon and get ready for tomorrow. Cause make no mistake, we will all die together tomorrow otherwise." Michael says, as the pair silently return to work.
Slowly Michael turns to himself, why had he said this? Could this System be changing him? Or was it just him changing because of the situation. Well whatever it was he certainly hoped that he never changed, for his daughters.