Outside, we find the annoyed girl leaning against the bus. She is clearly keeping watch, looking towards the place where the wolf came from.

It's a good idea.

She is around my height, slim, and has an athletic figure. The most striking thing about her is her deep green eyes, which are even more noticeable against her tanned skin and brown hair.

"I want to join you," she says without holding back. Her voice shakes almost unnoticeably as she says so, yet she seems determined, "I also want to level up. I need to level up."

Oh? Did they have a group talk inside the bus while I was thinking outside? They seem fairly used to the idea of leveling up.

"I need to become stronger as soon as possible. Wolves usually don't move alone, and... we don't know what else is here. I swear I won´t slow you down."

Everyone should be level 0, with only me and Hadwin being higher level so she also might be worried about lagging behind us. Or does she just want to protect the little girl next to her?

Did Hadwin share the results with others? Did he put all three points into strength and test it out while they were watching? How much of a difference would three points make?

"I don't think we have to worry about that," says Hadwin, to my surprise. He continues, "The wolf from before did look starved and wounded, and he didn't even try to call for other wolves before attacking us." He looks at us. "So it's either the last surviving wolf from the pack or they chased him away from it."

I like the sound of that. I really do but, "I think we should expect the worst option," I say as their eyes turn toward me. I shrug my shoulders and don't say more.

"I partly agree with you," Hadwin says carefully, caressing his short beard as he speaks. "But we shouldn't let it scare us too much. Doing nothing because we are too worried could cost us."

I'm slightly disappointed. He seems too confident.

Whatever. If it seems like he's too careless, I can leave them.

"Hadwin," as he reaches his hand, the brown-haired girl grabs it. "I have to warn you. It will be really dangerous out there."

She just nods and shakes his hand, "Sophie."

"Damon."

"Nathaniel," I add, and for a second, our eyes meet.

"I know," she says very quietly.

Hadwin and Damon probably didn't hear it, but I could because she is standing a little bit closer to me. I try to think about it, but I can't remember her at all.

Maybe I met her at the gym? She seems fairly athletic and there aren´t that many places where she could meet me.

I look at the girl next to her who stayed quiet up until now. She looks similar to Sophie. She isn't as tanned but her hair is the same and her eyes have a slightly lighter shade of green. She is around 10 years old, but it's hard for me to tell.

She is also shyly half-hiding behind Sophie, but she is peeking with big and wide-open eyes.

That can be a problem.

“I hope you don't plan to take a kid with you.” As expected, Damon sounds as annoying as he looks.

It's not like I don't agree with him. Quite the opposite. There is no way we are going to take a little kid with us.

Damon just sounds… super punchable.

“I am not…” It's clear that Sophie wants to go with us, but at the same time, where should she leave the little kid? With whom?

The girl slightly pulls the shirt of a distressed Sophie, and she turns to her with a smile on her face. To me, it looks fake but I guess it´s good enough to trick a little girl.

“Don't worry, Izzie.” She gently caresses her head, and there is a lot of gentleness and love in her action.

However hard this might be, I am glad I ended up here alone.

“How about you leave her with Jacob? He seems like a good guy,” Hadwin finally says. “She will be safer with others.” He pauses. “You can stay too… with your…”

“Sister…” Sophie says slowly.

“Sister.” Hadwin kneels in front of the girl, and a big soft smile appears on his face. “God knows I would do the same.”

The little girl proceeds to avoid his gaze and looks back up at Sophie.

I think it's already taking too long. She is most likely scared of being left behind, and probably not trusting us that much too. Who knows what would happen if we come back much stronger?

For now, it looks like nothing much has changed, but the moment some of us obtain strength way beyond others, things will become… difficult.

“You should come,” I say as she turns towards me with a surprised look on her face. Her sister starts peeking again. “We most likely won't go too far at first. Not far enough to not hear if something happens.”

It´s obvious that she already decided to go with us, so why is she struggling that much? Just trust your own decisions and then take responsibility if something happens.

“One or two hours should be enough to scan our closest surroundings. After that, we will come back with some wood which we can use for weapons and fire,” I suggest. "If something happens they can use the bus horn and we can rush back as quickly as possible."

After a little while, she finally accepts the plan and disappears inside the bus with her sister. I can see her talking to the bus guy, Jacob, apparently. Her sister starts crying.

"For fuck's sake," Damon complains.

When Sophie comes back, we finally start walking toward the forest. Not coincidentally, we walk on the opposite side of where the wolf came from. Everyone stops talking as we come closer to the trees, and the atmosphere instantly changes. It's as if the closer we get to the trees, the more nervous everyone becomes.

Interestingly enough, the trees seem normal. I don't know what I expected. Shining leaves? Faces on trunks? Whispers in the wind?

Tree branches wave slightly in the wind, as the suns shine through the crowns of the trees.

It looks like a normal forest.