Considering the events of the day, everyone involved was unnaturally silent. After Sarah the orc lady's initial attempt to get an answer as to our origin, and my subsequent silence, we'd been cordoned off just at the edge of the wall.

Even with access to the communication feature in our Implant, Daniela, Samuel and I remained silent. No one would hear the conversation happening through our thoughts, but I didn't want to risk reacting to something we discussed. The only thing forcing us to break our stoicism was trying to keep Blobby and Anthony from running off.

Three hours of standing still had even me antsy to move. My slime companion kept mitose-ing and merging to pass the time, while Anthony clambered up the wall with ease. Thankfully Daniela made sure that her fire ant friend didn't climb over the side and possibly get shot by the very people we'd tried to save.

When the sun was crashing down past the trees, the first group of the Wild Guard we'd met relieved the others watching us. Oliver and his team of gunslingers had been equally silent and even more restless than we were.

"Are you ready to talk?" Sarah asked, crossing her significant arms across her chest.

"You have our answer. We just want to be friends, but we are not obligated to tell you anything," I said, repeating myself for the eighth time.

"I suppose you just expect us to let you go on your merry way now don't you?"

"That would be lovely actually. Thanks!" I said, taking a step towards the woods.

Oliver, who was already walking towards the town's gate, snapped around to aim a rifle at me. His team trained another group of guns in my direction. While the others in Sarah's team stood at the ready behind her, the orc woman didn't flinch.

"You must think this is a joke."

"It actually wouldn't surprise me. There's not much Ronan takes seriously," Daniela said from over my shoulder. Her teeth clicked in her mouth when she shut it. I sighed at my friend's slip, turning to the orc woman again.

"Ronan, is it? Well, pleased to make the acquaintance of such a powerful Geo." She mocked me with a poor curtsy.

As much as I wasn't bothered by the display, I had to admit she had a way of getting around people's defenses. Makes sense she would be the leader of the Wild Guard.

"The pleasure is all mine. Now, if we are done with the formalities, can we go? Its already late and we would much rather not be out in the open during the night." I kept my voice even, and she finally dropped the intentional attempts to rile us up.

"I can't let you do that, Ronan. The Councils will want to speak with you. They may even have more questions than I do." Was that a pleading tone in her voice?

With my increases in Perception, I'd been able to better deduce reactions in battle. Social nuances, especially of what some might consider a different species of human, not so much.

"What do you guys think?" I communicated through the comm-plant. Dammit Danny had got that name for it in my head. I did my best to keep my face blank as I did the next best thing to telepathy with my friends.

"Unless we want to fight a dozen people, probably humans, we should follow along. Maybe figure out how to mold our story without giving everything away. Might as well try to learn something while we are here." Sam said. The blond had helped heal most of the injured and they'd been eager to welcome him. Daniela and I, well, our magical power made us a tad more worrisome for them.

"One night. Should we actually be detained, everyone involved is going to have a bad time. Yes?" I said, turning from her to Oliver.

The man couldn't be more than a few years older than me, but he glared at me like I had kicked his puppy. I had no idea what his problem was.

"I think we can manage that. Tim, get them a room near the market while I go talk to the Council heads," the orc woman said.

The pink colored man, evidently Tim, waved our group over. When Blobby and Anthony followed, he held up a hand to stop us. "You can't bring those in the town."

"Why not? They are a part of our group," Daniela said. Her words were punctuated by a little bit of steam released from her heat gills.

"Danny, it's okay. If they aren't used to creatures in the town then it will be for the best. Sam we still got those provisions?"

"Got them in the back over by the V wall," he said, pointing to one of the fortifications I'd created during our fight with the Dreg.

"I assume you lot can feed us for a day?"

"How insolent can you--" Oliver's tirade was cut off by a slicing motion from Sarah.

"We can do that. However, you will have to surrender your weapons while in town."

I was ready to protest, but Sam placed a placating hand on my shoulder. His face smiled and nodded our agreement while he spoke to me through the comm-plant. "We are weapons Ron. No sense alienating anyone more than they already are." His gaze landed poignantly on Oliver and his team.

"Fine. Sam go get food for Blobby and Anthony, please. Me and Daniela will cordially hand over our weapons," I said, pulling my Infused Pickaxe from my belt strap. Daniela's hands flashed and her Fang Daggers landed in the dirt point down.

"You better not lose those," she added. Her and Sarah then proceeded to have a passive aggressive arm crossing competition.

"Since we are waiting for my friend to feed our pets which will be staying outside in the wild," I said, gesturing at the mess left by our fight. " Care to elaborate on your dilemma with the Tendrils? How did that name come about, by the way? We tend to just call them corrupted."

Who would have thought lying through my teeth to people I'd never met would come so easy?

Sarah watched me for a few seconds before she picked up my pickaxe and stuffed the daggers in the back of her utility belt. I noted the half dozen knives strapped to her leg for the first time.

"Those things have been extracting food from us for years. Not right sure where the name came from but it stuck. As for this 'dilemma', I think potato one and potato two explained it as well as anyone. We just can't afford to pay the amount of food demanded to receive their protection anymore. Wildwood is bigger than it has ever been."

"So the Tendrils are what? The mafia?" I asked.

"Not sure what that is, but if you mean they keep most of the murderous wildlife from attacking us while we feed them, then yes."

Before I could ask a follow up question, Sam returned with our pack. Thankfully we'd stashed the majority of our supplies before joining the melee. Sam and I split the food between our two creature companions and asked them to remain close to the walls but on the outside.

The Wild Guard watched us intently but thankfully Sarah had urged Oliver to make his way back to the wall. Him and his group proceeded to glare at us from there.

After feeding our creatures, Tim walked through the gate with us on his heels. I caught Sarah speaking with the two dwarves, telling them to get Oliver to cool his jets. I was familiar with the phrase thanks to the plethora of media available to us in the Bunker, but I wondered how it'd survived on the surface.

Two buildings in decent condition flanked the gate and I spotted a few people with bows within. A woman with bright yellow skin nodded to Tim and we walked into Wildwood proper. A bent sign told me we'd just crossed onto Buena Vista Boulevard which stretched into the distance before bending slightly. Houses and several other dozen people milled about watching us.

Clearly they were there to observe us, but I watched them right back. Something within me surged, dumping unbridled amounts of adrenaline I hadn't felt before. It wasn't because we were in danger, even if we possibly were, but because we'd found them. Humans.

While only one in five looked purely human, these mostly being the older people I noticed on the streets, the others were a combination of fantasy races. Squat Dwarves, towering elves, a number of various colored individuals and the fair share of orcs. I even spotted a pair of satyr scramble away with baskets in hand. I almost made a comment about being transported into a video game to my friends, but they were gawking just as badly as me.

"Ronan, how many people is this?" Danny whispered from my right.

"That would be somewhere in the two hundred and fifty range. The census was last year and most Departments keep their own records on those they are assigned," Tim answered helpfully.

"How? How do you keep this many people fed!?" Sam said, alarmed. He was pale. I almost reached out to steady him but he plowed on. "The sheer logistics and managerial oversight would be astounding."

Tim laughed at his reaction. "You three sure are strange. I assume you know food grows faster after the Fall. Beyond the wizardry of the House of Commerce, I don't know the specifics. Well, we do have this to supplement our farms." The pink man took a turn south that went past a building covered in half milled logs. The sight beyond was more water than I'd ever seen. "There are two wetlands within the town we use to trap crayfish and some catfish. This is Lake Miona and Lake Sumter lies further to the east."

The half milled logs I'd seen were used as part of a dock that extended into the lake. Some hundred feet out, men in rafts were hoisting nets onto their crafts. On closer inspection, I realized they were reptilian in nature. Scales of all colors of the rainbow shone in the afternoon light. We stood for a few minutes gaping as the fishermen worked. My Perception did mark several pinpricks in the distant sky, but I brushed that off as something new rose out of the water.

If I'd thought Tim and the other colorful people had strange ears, then what rose out of the water put that concept to shame. Flaps as big as their head flicked like hair before settling flat against their skin. A delicate set of feminine features told me the new arrival had to be a woman. She exchanged some words with the lizardmen on the raft before diving back underwater. My Perception noted the slight flick of gills on her neck. The next moment, the raft was moving as if on its own. The lizardmen balanced their catch and themselves with practiced ease and were soon offloading on the dock. The merwoman hoisted herself onto shore and I saw the numerous other fins along her body, all flapping flat as if they'd never been there.

"The Reppys are masters of managing the lakes. Without them, we would have starved a long time ago," Tim said, waving at the lizardmen. They waved back, but stuttered in their motion when they spotted our group with him. They didn't dilly dally, hurrying about their tasks and making it a point not to look in our direction.

"Don't give good impressions, eh?" Daniela said, matching Tim's stride to make conversation.

"Not many people have the Gift, regardless of how much they train. The three of you have already shown more Gifts than anyone in this whole town. Well... all except one, but you need not be concerned about that. The Council heads will want to know how you managed that."

"We killed many ants," Sam said, flatly.

Tim stumbled mid step, but managed to catch himself. "I see."

The rest of the walk was silent. That was fine by me, as I gazed upon a living and breathing human community. Everyone gave us odd looks, probably because we weren't in our forties and still mostly human. When we finally made it around the bend of Buena Vista Blvd, my eyes were glued to the main feature of the town.

The three story tall Metier Crystal sat at the heart of it all. I could have been hallucinating from exhaustion, but I swore the air took on a shimmer the closer we got to the otherworldly object. Where there should have been an impact crater to level the entire state was only a slight furrow in the ground. Beyond the crystal, I saw what must have been Lake Sumter. The closer we got to the crystal, the more I realized it was in the lake, with a series of bridges and floating docks lining the edges of the crystal. Several people were idly running their hands on it, or just watching its inner iridescent glow like the most magnificent of light features even during the day.

Neither of my friends said anything as we gawked at the crystal. Tim apparently had failed to notice our speechlessness until we turned down another street. When he did, he chuckled awkwardly.

"Sorry, don't tend to give too many tours. Only ever had like three visitors and the last told us never to go south. I'm sure you all know about the Metier Crystals. The catalysts for the end of the world, all that good stuff. Well, that there is why Wildwood still stands."

"How do you mean?" I asked, turning from the crystal to the pink man.

"I'll let the Councilor of New Earth explain that one," he chuckled again before leading us through what I could only call 'downtown' Wildwood.

A few large concrete buildings that had seen better days were scattered about. Between those buildings were dozens of little wood pavilions with people working on them on a number of things. I even spotted a forge in one of those spaces. The sheer amount of trades showcased all midst each other distracted me away from the explanations Tim was giving as to the concrete buildings.

Acrid sour smells wafted from the furthest pavilion. Within were a team of elves with masks over their faces working sets of leather and setting them out to dry. As we passed the forge, the din of steel and the iron taste of metal hung in the air. Two dwarves were hammering away at what looked like scrap metal, forcing it to behave as best they could. The final group of pavilions had a series of orcs cranking a spool as a whole team of elven women managed a loom with expert fingers.

The whole endeavor had me speechless. Not only were a group of people almost as large as the entirety of our Bunker, but they were doing things that I could only dream of doing in the Bunker. The sudden itch to Infuse was hard to ignore, but our tour had come to an end.

"And this," Tim gestured with a flourish, " is the Council Office. Not much, I'll admit, but the people inside have done wonders for us. They should be expecting you."

The building in question was yet another block of concrete with, amazingly, two large window panes that had somehow survived the apocalypse in pristine condition. Tim took two steps back as he held the door open for us. A little bell chimed as we stepped into the building. A back door as well as the front windows provided a reasonable amount of light for the three men sitting within. It might have also been better lit than expected as a result of the man who rose immediately to greet us.

"Wonderful! Our visitors have arrived!" A man clearly in his fifties jumped to his feet. His hair was flickered with fire, instead of grey as one would expect. Not a strong flame, but just enough for one to notice the light and smoke rising off it. He gave each of us a firm handshake while looking us in the eye. It felt a bit deliberate, but his smile was genuine enough. "I am Councilman Dylan Sage. My daughter must think great things of you if she let you into town. She does have a penchant for violence."

Sarah's father, eh? I can see the resemblance. The two had almost no features they shared other than the fire hair, but I was sure that had more to do with the orcish traits of his daughter.

"She has more than enough reason to be cautious. We'd have been long dead if we acted meekly like you want," the second man in the room said.

"Ah, yes of course. No need to bring these children into our bickering discussion, Kirby," Dylan said.

The man named Kirby huffed while bypassing the fiery headed councilman. In the light of his companion's hair, I spotted several patches of pink and blue scales hidden just under the collar of his shirt. "Kirby Salem, Councilman of New Earth."

Compared to Dylan's, the handshake he offered us would be called limp fish. I didn't have much experience shaking hands. From a plethora of media, it was said that handshakes can tell you a lot about a person. These two landed straight in the enigma category for me.

"Irwin, wake up. We have guests," Dylan said over his shoulder.

"Huh? What?" the third man said as he snapped awake. "Oh, sorry. Was grabbing a little snoozy poo. Welcome to Wildwood. I'm Irwin Bellwick." Unlike his two companions, he just waved meekly at us. At the ends of his hands I noted wickedly sharp barbs of some kind. They didn't look harmless. No sooner had I seen them, that they were tucked behind his back.

"It's good to finally--" Dylan was cut off as a pulse rippled through the room. Nothing but the people in the room staggered as what I'd come to recognize as a Metier Crystal's pulse flowed over us.

"What in tarnation," Kirby huffed.

I didn't wait for their response, instead rushing outside at the heels of my friends. They'd already been making their way out of the building. With a gasp, I saw what was coming a mile away. The largest swarm of birds I'd ever seen blotted out a quadrant of the sky.

"Incoming! Take defensive positions. Aerial threat!" Dylan shouted as soon as he saw the threat.

"Wild Guard, to arms," Kirby called a moment later.

Patterned bell rings echoed across the town and people streamed in semi orderly lines as the afternoon sun faded away. Within moments, Oliver and his group were perched on the top of one of the buildings. A swirl of air was picking up around that building and many people rushed for cover. Tim, who'd been close by, stood on top of the wooden pavilions with his machete brandished.

"Sorry, kids. We'll have a talk later, yes?" Irwin said before leaping straight up the side of the nearest building. His hands left furrows on the blocks as he scampered up to the roof.

"We aren't going to sit this out are we?" Daniela asked, a spell chain already forming around her hand.

"Me and Sam will take defense, you take as many down as you can," I said simply. The woman bounded away with a vicious grin on her face, dodging the rows of people thanks to her incredible Mobility Attribute.

Within moments, the creatures were in range for me to identify them with my Implant. As I roved over the sheer number of them, I grit my teeth.

This could be even more dangerous than the Tendrils’ attack! As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I couldn't help but wonder if our routing of the Tendrils earlier in the day and this surge of crows were connected. I didn't have much time to contemplate as the first of the creatures fell from the sky thanks to a well placed shot by Oliver. It thudded to the ground, releasing a cloud of miasma and feathers.

Its murder did not go unnoticed as the whole murder caw'ed their indication and plunged towards the ground with wild abandon.