Kiel and Althea were curiously asking the group about what happened. They sat around the wooden tables and chairs outside the buildings.

  “How many were there?” Kiel asked.

  “Around fifty or more,” Charlie answered.

  “That’s what I’ve been thinking. I thought you said there were more than hundreds of them,” Adam said from the other side of the table.

  There were various foods on the table such as roasted chicken, fish, and soup, but only Kleoff and Kate seemed to be eating.

  “I said there was. I never said I knew how many there are now,” Charlie pointed out.

  “Also, I don’t know what happened to the rest,” he added as he removed his hat and placed it on top of the table.

  Adam remembered that on the map, the horde was meant to head straight into another red zone, one just by the prison. He made a mental note to sometimes check whatever it was in that place.

  …

  After finishing their respective meals, the brothers told the rest of the group that they would be heading towards the barn to feed and tend to their horses.

  Adam nodded at them. Meanwhile, Kiel convinced Kate to come with him and Althea to the plantation. She agreed, and Adam, having nothing to do for the moment, decided to join them.

  All four of them proceeded to walk towards the plantation. The sun was past its peak, yet Adam still felt it bite his skin. Leaves rustled as the warm breeze passed through.

  After arriving at a wide opening just before the plantation, Adam noticed some circular chopped wood hanging by the trees, each with a bright red paint mark at its center.

  “We thought you might want to practice using the bow, so here—we made these,” the boy declared proudly.

  “You two made these?” Kate asked, crossing her arms.

  “We had some help, but it was all Althea’s idea. Wait—” said Kiel as he went to fetch the bow and arrows lying by the tree.

  “I wanted to make up to you. I know I might have forced myself into joining you and Adam when you leave the island. I just wanted to be useful,” explained Althea.

  Adam looked at Kate, confused, but Kate only replied with a shrug.

  Finally, Kiel returned with the bow and arrows, handing them both to Kate.

  Kate thanked the boy and loaded the bow with one of the arrows.

  Kiel stepped back to give Kate some space as she drew the string.

  She took one deep breath before letting the arrow fly. It whistled as it pierced the air before hitting its target.

  It punctured the wood a few inches away from the red paint with a sharp crack.

  Swiftly, Kate loaded the bow with another arrow. This time, when it hit its target, it was a few inches farther than the first arrow.

  “The first one was luck,” Adam said with a smirk.

  “I’d like to see you try,” Kate said as she went towards the targets, pulling the arrows out.

  “No,” Adam replied plainly.

  When Kate returned to her spot, Althea was staring at her enthusiastically. Kate offered the bow, recognizing that she wanted to try it as well. Kate asked Kiel to teach Althea how to shoot arrows. The boy nodded, and Kate moved to the side with Adam to let Althea try.

  “What’s up with learning the bow anyway?” Adam asked.

  “It’s more practical than the gun. Nolan had a point—guns produce too much sound.”

  “That’s the first time I heard you agree with him. You might have a problem, though.”

  “And that is?”

  “How would you paint your name with the bow?”

  Kate punched Adam on the shoulder while he laughed to himself.

  Althea was decent with the bow. She wasn’t as bad as Adam, but also wasn’t as good as Kate nor Kiel. The fact that it was her first time trying it and she was already hitting some of the targets might mean she had good potential at it—better than himself, at least, Adam thought.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Kate and Adam were still watching as Althea slowly got the hang of the bow.

  “Did you really see ‘Linda’?” asked Adam, emphasizing the name.

  “Yes,” replied Kate.

  “Who was Linda?” asked Althea.

  “It was a monster. I met her. I don’t know why she had a name,” Kiel answered as he picked up some of the arrows from the ground.

  Adam explained that they met the creature before they met Kiel. It was in an old antique shop with the name Linda’s Antique Shop. He explained that he joked and called the monster Linda, but Kate kept the name and had been using it every time they saw it.

  “Thinking about it, we rarely see the same monster twice, don’t we? What are the chances we’ve seen one thrice?” Adam asked Kate.

  “Not really. You just forget their faces. I don’t. But that one is strange. It’s as if it follows us.”

  “Maybe it hates you. I mean, it already stabbed you once,” suggested Adam.

  “Very funny.”

  “Wait, Kate was stabbed?” Althea looked at Kiel, but the boy merely shrugged. He didn’t know about it either.

  “Wait, did I forget to tell them about it?” Adam said, scratching his head.

  “You made it sound like it wasn’t a big deal,” the boy said.

  “Because it wasn’t.”

  Kate sighed.

  “Was there ever a case where a monster was smart enough to recognize faces?” asked Kiel as Althea released another arrow towards the target.

  “As far as I can remember, that had never happened, and I have a great memory,” answered Kate.

  “But you said it felt like it was following you,” Kiel paused.

  “And when me and Adam were still at my house, it just left after hearing the gunshots you made. Not only that, but it looked like it was searching for something.”

  “That’s unlikely,” Kate sighed.

  “When you said it was following you when we were looking for the nest, could it be the reason why one of the winged greys disappeared? Could it have been attacked by your ‘Linda’?” Adam used air quotes as he said the name.

  “Even you? It might just have been all a coincidence. That monster was stronger than a usual grey, but I don’t think it’s enough to take down one of the winged greys.”

  “Might be enough to take on an injured one,” Adam suggested.

  “That’s nonsense. Why would it do that anyway? To protect me? Wasn’t it the same creature who put a hole in my abdomen?”

  Adam couldn’t figure out a reply. Kate had a point, and even if his hypothesis turned out to be true, nothing would still make sense. Why would it help them? In fact, why would it even follow Kate? Even if they managed to figure these questions out, they still didn’t know why there weren’t any monsters near the nest. He considered the possibility that they were afraid of the horde, but even that was unlikely when the horde was at its recovery phase.

  Adam sighed. None of his questions seemed to have a clear and definite answer.

  “Stop thinking about those things. It probably wouldn’t matter,” Kate declared.

  They didn’t know it then, but unfortunately, it did matter.

  Althea and Kate went on to practice the bow alternately. Althea was a quick learner, and within only a few minutes, the gap between her and Kate was quickly narrowing down. They convinced Adam to try as well, but having prior experience with it, he declined.

  The archery practice went on for another couple of hours before the sun was about to set, and the two girls were both tired.

  They all headed towards the building to rest early. Adam assumed that the brothers were already back in their room. The trip would take them almost one and a half days to reach their destination. They would need a lot of rest.

  As they entered the building, they saw several lit lanterns hanging by the wall. Adam always thought it looked more like a dungeon than a music recording facility now that it didn’t have electricity to power the lights.

  The group split and went to their respective rooms after deciding they should send the brothers off before they left.

  When Adam arrived at his room, he was too tired to light his own lantern. He removed his jacket and lay on the bed.

  He closed his eyes, hoping a dreamless sleep would come.

  Thankfully, his sleep did not involve any green eyes and stabbing.

  After his peaceful sleep, he lit the lantern and changed his clothes. He picked another black shirt with an almost faded print, along with another black jacket. He took the knife from the old one and placed it on the new one.

  As it turned out, he wasn’t the first one to wake up. When he left the building, the early sun brightened his eyes. After a few seconds, his eyes started to adjust to the light. He saw that the picnic table was filled nicely with various foods. Charlie, Kleoff, Kate, and Kiel were already eating at the table when Adam got out.

  “Where is Althea?” he asked.

  Kate shrugged.

  “She said she’ll be back. She just went to take something.”

  After the group finished their meals, Althea arrived with two food containers wrapped in cloth. She handed them to the brothers, and both of them thanked her for it. They stored the food packs in their leather sling bags and went to fetch their horses.

  A few minutes passed, and the brothers returned with Lightning and Thunder, each holding their respective horse’s reins. The group walked them out to the causeway, the waves splashing through the path.

  At the shore, Althea hugged the two, and Kate simply thanked them one more time. Adam shook hands with Charlie. He felt his gloves and remembered the patch of grey skin in them.

  Charlie, noticing Adam’s worry, gave him a comforting smile and tapped his shoulder.

  After saying their goodbyes, the brothers mounted their horses and flicked their reins, galloping away. The sound of hooves slowly faded as they disappeared from sight.

  The group returned back to the island and spent the day doing their respective chores.

  Adam was often assigned to the plantation and Kate to the barn. Kiel, being new, didn’t have an assigned task, so he joined Kate. Same with Althea—despite residing on the island for her entire life, she wasn’t able to do much due to her condition. But one thing she could do well was cooking, so she decided she would focus more on that.

  …

  The day passed quickly. The captain was on the deck of his ship once again, admiring the starry night sky. Of course, the group prohibited him from staying there, but he was fine. He couldn’t let old age and a sprain stop him from doing things he liked. He leaned back in his chair as he sighed at the thought of getting older.

  Suddenly, he heard a high-pitched clang coming from behind him.

  He stood immediately, feeling the sprain in one of his legs once again. A massive winged figure was perched on the bridge’s roof.

  “Not again,” he mumbled to himself.

  But to his surprise, the winged grey did not attack, nor did it move. It simply stayed there, watching him.

  A cold breeze of wind sent shivers down the captain’s spine as another figure appeared behind the grey—but

  what was strange was that it wasn’t the silhouette of a monster.

  It was that of a man.