“I don’t know why he helps those settlers. Every chance we get to let them either die off or abandon their settlement, he saves them. He gives them our food, our supplies,” Douglas said.

We were alone at a trailhead leading into the western wood. I was apprehensive about entering. If I understood the geography correctly, this was the Stragglers' Forest, or at least it soon would be. All I knew was that I didn't want to be inside of it when it became cursed.

“Maybe he's just being kind,” I said. I didn't really need to say much to make Douglas go off on long tangents about how much he hated the settlers to the east. It was a subject that he could speak on for hours. Every moment we were On-Screen, he would strike up some new angle on why the settlers were dangerous or otherwise unacceptable.

“They can barely tan a hide,” he said. “It's a wonder they didn't freeze last winter. They cut down so many trees for firewood that their forest is ravaged so now they have to come over to ours.”

While we waited, Dina broke away from whatever she was doing and came to join us. “Theodore said that you might show me the forest to the west,” she said. She held up a basket that she'd been carrying. “I may not know how to build a fortress but I can pick berries and mushrooms.”

Off-Screen, Douglas would just stand around and throw sticks and rocks at trees in the distance.

An older woman dressed in many layers of fabric and a hand-knitted shawl set out on a path toward us. She moved slowly. Much so that I wasn't even sure that she was walking toward us. I thought maybe she was just out for a random NPC stroll so that she could be in the background of a shot somewhere.

On-Screen.

“Douglas, Riley, care to aid an old woman as she searches for barnok berries?” She asked as she drew near. “This late in the day I'm afraid to wander off. They say that there are terrible creatures about.”

“They won't hurt you,” Douglas said. “I think they're only here after the settlers across the valley.”

The old woman smiled. “I've never known a beast to have such discerning taste.”

Douglas didn’t respond.

“We'll go with you,” I said. “But grandfather has us waiting on some of the settlers. He wants us to help them gather some food.”

“Terribly generous of him,” the woman said. On the red wallpaper, her name was Esther. She was an ordinary NPC as far as I could tell.

“Foolish you mean,” Douglas said. “They will raid it as they have the forests to the east and we will all starve.”

Esther smiled. “I was worried that my father's pessimism had been bred out of our family. Then I realized that it is alive and well in you, grandnephew. In fact, I recognize quite a few qualities of his in you. He used to think that we would starve every winter and be overrun by pillagers every summer.”

Douglas threw a large rock at a tree in the distance. “What else but pillagers would you call the settlers to the east?”

“Fools,” Esther said. “Harmless fools.”

Douglas smiled. He liked hearing the settlers referred to as fools. “Fools indeed. Last year, they cleared a parcel of land that had a dozen berry bushes,” Douglas said, looking over to Dina to gauge her reaction. “Cleared through them with axes and fire. Didn’t even know what they had done.”

“Our family was no better when we first came,” Esther said. “My father had been a rich man when he purchased this land outright. A merchant. Spent his fortune making up for one mistake or another out here his whole life. Of course, Theodore thinks he buried his treasure on the land somewhere and never told anyone…”

She started to laugh.

“Our family never hunted an entire herd of deer only to let the meat spoil, did they?" Douglas said. "The Lord’s Glory settlement did. Thought they would leave it to dry, turn it to jerky. They left it to rot. Grandfather gave them much of our dried venison so they wouldn’t starve that winter.”

“My brother is a generous man,” Esther said. “I haven’t any idea where he learned that from.”

Douglas’ face remained in the same sour position that it had been in. “Then when their goats and sheep died off for no reason, Grandfather gave them some of ours for milking and shearing and they ended up eating those too.”

He really wanted Dina to dislike the settlers too.

Esther laid a hand on Douglas’ shoulder. “You are giving them no grace at all. They have had many ill-fated summers. They do what they must to survive.”

“They could leave,” Douglas said. “They could leave this place and return to whatever place they are from.”

Esther shook her head. “They came here seeking peace. They came here seeking God. We have no right to deny them that. They have not infringed our claim.”

“Close enough. Timothy says they practice a strange religion. That they worship a strange god,” Douglas said.

“Hush now,” Esther said. She turned to the east. “You are working yourself into a dark place. We should not speak of this when they arrive.”

Douglas glared at Esther behind her back.

Worshiping a strange god? Did that mean that the Lord’s Glory settlement was a cult? I would need to figure out which Lord they served. Perhaps he was taking "the long sleep" in a cavern below us.

“We need to stay away from great grandfathers well,” Douglas said. “We don't want them to learn where it is.”

“True,” Esther said, she leaned toward Dina. “They might try to drink from it. The water is foul, though you cannot tell that from the smell.”

“I see,” Dina said. "I'll be careful."

“It was his favorite spot,” Douglas said.

“Oh yes,” Esther said. “He used to go there to pray. My father would pray for hours. And we needed it. We had our fair share of setbacks.”

Douglas looked to the ground contemplatively. “He used to take me out there. Before he passed. He wouldn't let any of the others go with him when he prayed. But he would let me.”

I think Douglas was quite fond of that memory.

“That's very nice,” Dina said.

“The settlers would probably try to pray to their god there,” Douglas said. “We can't have that.”

In the end, we didn't have to wait that much longer for the settlers to send over the five they selected. Those that came carried huge baskets. I didn't think they would have time to fill them before the sunset.

Anna, Kimberly, Camden, the NPC Brent, and another NPC were those selected. The final NPC had no name at all on the red wallpaper but was merely called Gatherer. She didn't talk much.

We were On-Screen so I couldn't talk with my friends about anything they had experienced yet.

“We do not have long,” Brent said. “We will not take much. We would gather from the forests to the east but the beasts came from there last night.”

Douglas didn't answer. He simply started walking down the trail into the woods.

“We're happy to help,” I said. Then I turned to follow him.

Off-Screen.

We followed Douglas. The group moved at a slow pace to accommodate Esther. Douglas would occasionally get far out in front of us and then have to circle back impatiently. He didn't have any dialogue when this happened. Unlike the last miniature story, the NPCs behaved like proper NPCs here.

As soon as I could, I fell back to Anna, Kimberly, and Camden.

“Are you guys in a cult?” I asked.

“Yep,” Camden said with a faint grin.

“They won't even let me speak to any of the men there,” Kimberly said. “I'm not using Pregnancy Reveal in this one to save my life. They would probably lock me in the barn with the dairy cows.”

“Last night the settlement got absolutely torn to pieces,” Anna said. “They worship some hooded figure. I don't know much about it. Even with my A Kind Face trope, they won't talk to me. Camden has to talk.”

“Wish I'd put a few more points in Moxie,” Camden said. “They're really freaked out. They think that these monsters are an attack from the devil.”

“What are they?” I asked. "Based on the descriptions I had gotten they could be anything.”

Camden shook his head. “No one has seen one. People can hear them. Men just go missing.”

“Carousel must be waiting to reveal what they are until First Blood,” I said. “I've just been following that kid around. He really hates you guys.”

“They call you Outsiders,” Kimberly said. “They think you are sinners because you play music and don’t pray. But they think you are kind.”

They had better.

“Kimberly and Anna are sisters contemplating leaving the settlement,” I said. I decided to take the opportunity to clue them in on their roles in the story.

“That makes sense. My character has a coin purse that she keeps hidden,” Anna said. “Camden’s fake dad is a jerk.”

Camden’s character was the son of the settlement’s leader. He nodded in agreement with Anna’s statement.

I wasn't quite sure how our characters' arcs would intersect again. Maybe my character would have to help Anna and Kimberly escape? Hopefully, I had something to do other than babysit Douglas.

We spent an hour or two gathering berries, mushrooms, and nuts from trees. Douglas was very careful not to let anyone out of his sight. Sometimes we were on-screen. Sometimes we were off-screen. I got the feeling that this was just going to be a montage. There was no dialogue.

The NPCs weren't really gathering much into their baskets. They were miming it. No one would be able to tell.

The sun did eventually begin to set. I waved goodbye to my friends as they set off across the valley back to their settlement.

“There will be no bonfire tonight,” Theodore said. “All must be ready to take up arms in case the devils that plague our neighbors decide to turn to us next.”

The entire Akers clan had gathered behind the newly constructed wall encircling several buildings at the center of the property. Their weapons were simple: axes, blades similar to machetes, pitchforks, etc. The exact type of weapons you might expect to find in a place like this.

“We will divide up watch to ensure that we all get rest. We have a long night ahead of us. Bring the children and elderly into my home and lay them to sleep. The rest of us will take turns patrolling as our watch comes up.”

I was given a metal pitchfork and first watch.

“Keep an eye on Douglas,” Theodore reiterated when he saw me. Crystal clear. Why did this kid need so much supervision? Was he killing the neighborhood cats or something?

Small stands had been built along the inside of the wall so that the men posted on them could survey the area. Unfortunately, many of the buildings on the property weren't within the walls. It was simply impractical to hope to build a wall big enough in such a short time.

Walter, Dina’s NPC husband, patrolled the area with a musket, ever-vigilant.

“This is a waste,” Douglas said. “They aren't going to attack us.”

“You don't think so?” I asked. He had stated this multiple times. I was starting to get curious about why he was so certain.

“Our family has been here for generations,” he answered. “If they were going to attack us they already would have.”

Still, I thought there was something he wasn't telling me.

Night had fallen. Hours had passed with no sign of any monsters.

Then there was a cry. An inhuman cry echoed across the valley and sent a chill down my spine.

It was followed by another and another. Each of them was coming from the east.

A howl in pain rang out with them.

In the darkness, I couldn't see far. My eyes scanned the walls waiting for one of those cries to be closer.

Douglas listened too. We were Off-Screen, but still, he almost had an amused look on his face.

The carnage across the valley must have carried on for thirty minutes. The camera returned sporadically to get reactions from the folk to the sounds. Then, all was silent for a while.

“I think the settlement must be gone now,” Douglas whispered.

I could only hope that my friends were okay.

The Akers on watch stood silently. Each face was more terrified than the last. The quiet grew more and more stressful. Even the livestock, which had been corralled within the fortress, did not dare break the silence. My ears strained to give me information about the outside world.

For the longest time we waited, the NPCs around me visibly shaking.

I didn't know if it was my imagination, but I swore I could hear creatures walking outside of the fence. I tried peeking out gaps between the logs but I wasn't able to see anything.

For ten minutes, I waited.

Then I heard something outside. It was like the sound of teeth chattering.

Crash.

Glass broke in the distance. Someone forgot to cover a window.

“No,” Douglas said, “It couldn't be…”

“They’re here!” one of the men said from atop a stand looking over the fence.

Quickly all of the NPCs that were supposed to be asleep were called from inside by those who were awake and came from the buildings within the impromptu fortress, readying themselves as they walked.

“It can’t be,” Douglas said.

But it was.

Loud crashes started echoing around the fortress. Doors and windows were being broken from the houses that hadn’t been walled in.

Something started to bang against the gate.