Lookout duty was shit, but on some level, Sam knew she only had herself to blame. If she had only been a bit more careful, a bit less greedy, she wouldn’t have been caught. She knew, knew it was too suspicious to sneak out every night. But the thrill was too much. She thought herself invincible, her stealth skills unparalleled. All that was useless in the face of Terry’s tracking skill. They had been waiting for her as she crept over the wall.

And now she was stuck in the lookout tower, sweating under the hot sun. To be fair, it wasn’t really that hot, but why did the captain refuse to even consider building a roof? What if it rained? She would not be stuck up here in the rain. She probably couldn’t even see anything anyway. What was the point of a lookout that couldn’t look out?

She sighed, activating Telescopic Vision and scanning the surrounding reflexively. It wasn’t like there was anything out there. The captain had long ago killed all the monsters, and there wasn’t anyone else to…

Sam rubbed her eyes. She must have been seeing things. She thought she saw a person walking towards the town. Except they were coming the wrong way, coming from the mountains instead of from the direction of the main settlement. She looked again. Straining her skill to get a better look.

Yep, it was definitely a person. And they were definitely coming from the wrong direction, following the river downstream. They were pretty far out. They probably couldn’t even see the outpost yet. Sam could only barely see them. It looked like whoever it was had just came out of the trees, only recently entering open ground, allowing her to spot them.

She squinted, trying to make out any details. But the distance was too far despite her skill, the person quite a few kilometers out. If she had to guess, she would say it was a man, mostly because she didn’t think they had a shirt on and she couldn’t see any long hair. Although it did look like they were wearing a skirt, so maybe they were a woman? She didn’t really care though. She was just the lookout, everything else was above her paygrade.

“Hey, Alex!”

She looked down at the training yard below the watch tower, watching people train with makeshift weapons. Alex appeared to be sparring with someone and didn’t hear her shout.

“Alex!”

Still no response. Damnit, she hated being loud. They needed to install some sort of bell up here. Wasn’t that what lookouts did? Ring a bell or something to get people’s attention?

“Alex!”

Finally, someone heard her and signaled Alex to get his attention. He stopped his spar, wiping the sweat from his brow.

“What? Is the captain back already?”

“No, there’s a person.”

“What? I can’t hear you!”

“A person!”

“What?”

Sighing, Sam motioned for Alex to come up. She wouldn’t yell down at him. He should probably see this anyway, although it might be a little while before he could make out anything without enhanced vision. She waited for him to make the climb up the lookout tower, tapping her fingers on the railing while watching the person come closer.

Alex finally poked his head through the hole in the floor before climbing onto the small platform that made up the top of the tower.

“Okay, so what’s going on? Is the captain back already? They weren’t supposed to get back until near dark.”

“No, she’s not back. There’s a person.”

“A person? You mean like someone is coming to the outpost from the main settlement?”

“No. Or I don’t think so. They’re coming from the other direction.”

Sam pointed to where she could see the person walking towards them along the river. Alex followed her finger, shading his eyes from the sun to try and get a better look.

“I don’t see anything. Should I?”

Sam shook her head. “Probably not. They’re pretty far out, just ahead of the first tributary. I can only barely see them.”

“Got it. So there’s just one person? And you’re sure it’s a person and not some new type of monster?”

“I think it’s a person,” Sam said. She couldn’t really be sure, but that was what it looked like to her. “So, what next? Do we go about to meet them?”

Alex, frowned, mulling it over. “I don’t think so. Stay here and keep an eye on whoever it is and signal if anything changes. I’m going to go down and talk to David. He’ll want to know about this. He should probably be the one making the decision anyway. Stay here until I come back.”

Alex disappeared back down the hole, climbing back down the ladder. Sam just sighed, settling in for another long boring wait. The first time she came to the top of the lookout tower she was enchanted by the view. The river was beautiful as it meandered its way through the fields, and, thanks to her skill, she could easily make out the forest and the various birds flitting through it. It felt like a nature documentary. That got old fast, and the combination of the sun and boredom made her come to hate her new post. She wanted to be back out with Captain Kelly, scouting for the leveling team. And actually leveling too. Not only was she stuck on guard duty, be she couldn’t even sneak out anymore to kill monsters secretly at night.

Sam sighed once more, scanning the surroundings before going back to watching the lone traveler make their way towards the outpost. At least the presence of something out of the ordinary made her duty a bit more palatable. She had been stuck here for four days already and had six more still to come. She wasn’t sure she could make it.

A little while later she heard people on the ladder and peaked down to see Alex climbing back up with David right behind him. The training area had also quieted down, people gearing up in case they needed to prepare a sortie. Sam wasn’t so sure why everyone had their panties in a twist. If one person posed a threat to their settlement they were probably in trouble regardless. Unless of course that one person was someone like the captain, but that was unlikely. She was clearly an anomaly, no one else even approaching her firepower.

Soon Alex and David reached the top of the ladder and joined her on the platform.

“So, what’s this I hear about a person?” David asked in his gruff voice. Sam would have found him intimidating if it wasn’t for how he always doted on his daughter. He was a real bear of a man, with a thick bushy beard. He claimed back on Earth he was a normal salaryman, but she just couldn’t see it. He probably wasn’t the only one not telling things about his past though. There were plenty of people who were tight lipped about their life back home.

“Over there,” Sam said, gesturing towards the river as it meandered off towards the mountains in the distance. “There’s a person walking towards us. I can’t make out too much at this distance though.”

David stroked his beard in his trademarked thinking posture.

“I see. And this person is just walking toward the outpost? Do you think they can see us?”

“Doubtful. If neither of you guys can see them then they probably can’t see us.”

“Very well. Alex, I want you to go down and organize a defense party for the gate. Maybe five or six people. And see if you can go find Duane. He should still be here. It’s a shame Mia left with Captain Kelly today. After that come back up here. I’ll stay here to keep an eye on the situation. Sam, I want to know immediately if anything changes. We need to be prepared for the worst.”

Sam gave a sloppy salute as Alex nodded and set off back down the ladder.

Sam felt herself unconsciously sitting up straighter as she stared outwards. Just because she knew David wasn’t actually as intimidating as he appeared didn’t help all that much when it was just the two of them up here. She wanted to sigh but managed to hold it in as she settled in for a long wait. It would likely be a bit longer before the mystery person got close enough to make out any real details.

It actually wasn’t as long as she thought before something changed.

“Um, David it looks like the person is changing course,” She said, squinting to get a better look. Squinting didn’t actually help her skill work better, but somehow it just felt right.

“Really? What are they doing?”

“I’m not sure. They were following the river before, but now they’re moving away from it. Hang on, I think I got it. It looks like there is a small hill nearby. I think they’re moving towards it to get a better look around.”

Sam watched as the person made a slight detour, heading for a small hill near the river. She lost sight of them for a moment before they appeared again on the top of the hill. She watched as they raised a hand to their face, likely shading their eyes to look around.

“Yeah, they were heading towards the hill. It looks like they wanted a better view point.”

“Makes sense. Scouting is always important. Anything else?”

“No, they are just stopped there. Hang on, I think they might have spotted the outpost.”

The person had paused on top of the hill, facing the outpost, before starting to run in their direction.

David joined Sam at the edge of the platform, looking out.

“Hmm, I still can’t see them, but it would make sense they could spot us first. Our settlement is a lot easier to spot than a single person. How fast are they going?”

“Really fast, I think. It’s hard to judge without anything to relate it to, but they are definitely going too fast for a normal person. I think you might be able to see them soon at this rate.”

Sam and David stood there, looking out over the plains. Soon Alex popped back up.

“Everyone’s assembled at the gate. Anything change while I was gone?”

“The person appears to have seen us,” David said. “Sam says they’re coming this way at a sprint.”

The three of them waited in silence before Alex spoke up.

“I think I see something. They’re on our side of the river, right?”

Sam nodded.

“Can you make out any more details?” David asked.

“Maybe. Since they’re closer now I can see a bit more. I think it’s a man, since it doesn’t look like they’re wearing a shirt. They have short hair too, but it looks like they are wearing some kind of skirt. Wait a second, yeah, it should be a guy. I think I see some facial hair.”

“Very good then. Tell us if you spot anything else. I think I can see them now too, and if they continue that speed it won’t be long before they arrive.”

The three of them watched the mystery person come closer and closer. As he neared, Sam described his appearance in more detail.

“I think he’s pretty young, likely early twenties. His beard is pretty scraggly. He has light brown hair that looks like it could use a cut and he isn’t wearing much. He has boots on and some sort of skirt that it looks like he made himself, likely made from what used to be his clothes combined with a grass of some sort. I thought it was a walking stick before, but now it looks like the stick he’s carrying is more of a spear. It’s pretty rough though. I wouldn’t trust it in a fight.”

“Thank you,” David said, patting her shoulder. “You did a good job spotting him as soon as you did. Come Alex, let’s go down to the gate for his arrival. Sam you’re still on guard duty. Don’t let this person’s arrival distract you from your job as lookout.”

Sam watched, depressed, as the two men descended the ladder. Something interesting finally happened and she was stuck on guard duty. It looked like Angela was one of the people tapped to man the gate, so Sam decided that after she got off duty she would go bother her friend for all the details. At least if a fight broke out she would have front row seats from her perch in the tower.