For a moment, I was rather flabbergasted at hearing my old name. Sure, it was still mine and I still responded to it, but I hadn’t been called Samantha for quite some time. Mrs Wu was the only one who knew to use it but she rarely did, mainly using Jade, though she occasionally slipped up. Getting addressed as such, in a place like this, was quite a surprise, though when I looked into the room, I realised it shouldn’t be.

“Jenn,” I nodded, studying my old acquaintance. She didn’t look good, there were deep bags under her eyes, exhaustion etching deep lines into her face. There was a faint scent of despair in the air, tickling my nose and making me itch a little. “How are you?”

My question confused her, she just blinked at me, while gaping like a landed fish. Maybe it was the causal manner in which I asked, maybe it was the absurdity of the situation, but I realised that, if these people were truly as pathetic as they looked like, my question might have been odd.

“We’re fucked,” one of the others exclaimed, ignoring that there were multiple small children, and a few older kids, present.

“How did you get here?” another asked, making me wonder if these people were all idiots. Maybe they had been tainted with some fungal infection, something similar to the Withered, that made them stupid. It might explain why they had been hanging out in the dark, waiting for the Undead outside to get them.

“I walked through the door, after destroying the trash outside,” I replied, before shaking my head and focusing on the young girl who had originally opened the door. At least she had the excuse of being a literal child, making me give her the benefit of the doubt when it came to stupidity. Children were supposed to be stupid after all. Stupid and cruel.

“Little one, why did you think I’m a fairy?” I asked the child, studying her face. She didn’t look like much, rather thin, though not in the petite way I had been thin but in the way a starved child was thin, with large, blue eyes and thin blonde hair that was cut short haphazardly.

“Cause you are pretty and you glitter,” the girl responded, a wide smile on her face. Somehow, that only made me chuckle a little more, there was an innocence about her that I couldn’t seem to hate.

“Samantha, what are you… How are you here?” Chris asked, making me realise that one of the thin and dirty guys that stank up the space was my old friend, having apparently gathered some of the wits he once had.

“I have been roaming the area when my dear Silva here,” I gently petted the massive canine head next to me, “caught your scent and indicated that there was something to investigate here. She was quite insistent, so we showed up, saw the Undead and dealt with them. Trash that they were,” I explained, knowing that it likely wasn’t the answer they were looking for. They seemed to think that they just had to wait long enough for help to arrive, maybe thinking the government or something would rescue them. Learning that we weren’t really here for them, nor actually interested, wasn’t what they had hoped for.

“Anyway, why are you smelling like you haven't washed in months, don’t you know that basic sanitation is important to ward off disease?” I asked, shaking my head as I simply walked into their space, confident that nobody here was a threat to me, not as long as I remained somewhat vigilant. Amusingly, the looks I was getting in response to my question were a strange mix of confusion and anger, making me wonder if they had formed some sort of cult to bad hygiene.

“With what water?” one of the women growled out, while others voiced similar questions.

Rubbing my temple, I realised that these people hadn’t figured out basic water magic, maybe hadn’t even realised that magic was a thing.

“I guess I’ll have to give you people a small how-to survive in this horrible new world of ours,” I looked over to Jenn and Chris, noticing the baby boy she was holding. A toddler, nothing but a burden in this situation, and yet, they had managed to keep their child safe. If nothing else, that was something I felt should be respected, even if I knew I would never manage to do so myself. I could barely accept Lia as my daughter and she was at least useful enough to take care of herself.

“I believe my companions and I will remain here for the rest of the night, likely for the day as well, and answer your questions. At least some of them, I’m certain there will be questions that I won’t deign to answer, simply because it’s none of your business,” I told the people here, noticing that even more of them looked out of their depth, while a few looked angry but restrained themselves. Maybe out of fear, their instincts telling them that any aggression against me would be a foolish idea. They might even feel the difference crossing the first Divide made, I suppressed the aura of power to the best of my ability but given my comparatively low Charisma, that wasn’t a perfect solution. Maybe there was a way to magically conceal only that part of myself, without completely hiding my person. Something to look into at a later date, for now, I had people to talk to. Primarily Chris and Jenn.

But before that, I stepped back out, calling for Lia. It took only a few moments before she came running, moving as quickly as she could. The people inside looked at her approach with a bit of subdued fear, making me wonder if they could feel that she was a predator that preyed on people like them, but I wasn’t sure.

Either way, I introduced her, before moving back into the community centre, intend on speaking to my old friends. Amusingly, the little fairy girl was sticking right next to me, making me wonder if she knew something the rest of the people here did not.

Looking around, I realised that the place was completely gloomy. They had turned the community centre into a shelter, using whatever materials they could find, though it was obvious that they hadn’t been out much. Likely just as much as absolutely necessary, hiding the rest of the time. I wondered how they imagined things to go long-term, as this was certainly not a sustainable situation.

Raising my hand once more, I send a few orbs of fire into the corners of the room, carefully controlling the flames to bring light to the area without setting things on fire. Doing so made me realise that it was a useful exercise to train my concentration, to see how much attention I needed to pay to a spell before it dissipated. For a spell like this, which wasn’t dynamic in any way, I barely needed any, allowing me to pay full attention to Chris and Jenn.

Not that I really needed to pay attention to them, but after getting them to talk, as awkward as that was, I realised that they had been living day to day, not even trying to plan ahead. Their existence had been not more organised or planned than that of the child who had, for some strange reason, curled up on the couch next to me and was sleeping with her head in my lap. Like some strange sort of kitten that wanted to be petted.

Why had the two adults done little more than the child? They had simply stuck to this area, only about two streets over from their house as I now realised, and tried to sit things out. Day after day, just existing, surviving, without even trying to accomplish anything.

A feeling of deep disappointment in regard to my old friend welled up within me. Where was the ambition that had led the two of us to make something great, where was the drive he had back when we were kids?

I could understand why Jenn hadn’t acted in a decisive manner, she had a toddler to take care of, but Chris? He had done the bare minimum, all of the people in here had. They had snuck around, set traps to escape pursuit and looted what they could. They hadn’t even been active enough to get the attention of the groups from Apple Gate Farm, my guess was that those groups had been looking for signs of battle, something this group rarely left behind. Instead, they had been hiding, to the point that the groups had missed them. Amusingly, that likely made the situation in this community centre into the mess it now was.

Maybe I should try helping them if only a little. Get them cleaned up, maybe get them into contact with the guys at Apple Gate Farm. It might help them, to the point that they could help themselves.