"I'm sorry, Adam," the older man sniffled and prodded at the wound, making Adam whimper and slap his hand away.

  "Fuck, Dad. Don't touch it!" he hissed, eyes wandering to Tessia as she dripped some more water onto the wound. "Thank you. We'd be dead if it wasn't for you."

  It was me who saved you though.

  Tessia shook her head. "Nonsense. You had it on the ropes with that first arrow."

  "You think?" he chuckled and burst into a cough.

  "Goddammit, Adam!" the father exclaimed. "Save your strength."

  I slapped Adam on the shoulder with a snort and stood back up. "I've seen worse. He'll be fine."

  The two men glared.

  "Sorry," Tessia said with a groan. "Don't mind him. Can you walk?"

  Adam blinked the shock away and stammered, "I-I think so."

  I rolled my eyes. What a drama queen.

  "Good," Tessia said. "Is your camp nearby?"

  The two men eyed each other uncertainly.

  I groaned. "We're on the same side. We've got a settlement a few miles off."

  The father eyed me up and down, looking for a tell to see if I was lying or not. His eyes were a deep blue and framed by wrinkles. They were intelligent eyes, the kind you only ever saw in people who'd seen it all. He reminded me of the old guys back home. Maybe that was why I felt so inclined to have the two join us.

  I flashed a soft smile. "Look, we're out here trying to pad our numbers for the blood moon. Survivors only. Maybe you've felt something tugging you in that direction?" I said and pointed a thumb toward the Verdant Glade. "We've established a settlement there."

  His eyes widened momentarily, showing that he knew what I was talking about. "How many are you?"

  "More than your group."

  He raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

  "You would have made an effort to hunt the other deer if you had a large group. Just one isn't enough to last a large group very long. The fact that you went for the biggest one makes me think that your camp isn't far from here. So how many are you? Five? Six?"

  All of them simply stared at me as the father's mouth opened and closed in shock, trying to come up with something to say.

  Bullseye.I grinned. "Look, we're not gonna force you to join us or anything. But there's strength in numbers, and you'd be stupid not to share the benefits of a settlement with us."

  The father cleared his throat. "Could you give us some time? We'd have to talk with the others first."

  I shrugged. "Sure. In the meantime, at least let us help you drag the deer back to camp."

  He inspected my expression thoroughly before accepting with a nod. It was better this way, since I wasn't going to take no for an answer anyway. Still grinning, I turned and walked over to the deer. Blood still oozed out from the cut on its neck, but it should have been close to empty at that point. In any case, it would be after the short trip to their camp.

  After yanking out the arrow in its chest, I picked it up by the hind legs and heaved it over my shoulder. It was large and heavy, and its horns scraped on the ground, but with my strength it wasn't anything terribly taxing.

  Joining the others by the cluster of trees as they helped support Adam, I waved. "Lead the way."

  Iron circled us up high. He knew the drill now even without me giving him orders.

  Walking in the rear, I listened in to the small talk between Adam, his father, and Tessia. Adam tried to flirt, which made the hair on my neck stand on end. He couldn't have picked a worse time, honestly. The world had just ended and we were about to face an unknown challenge. Why couldn't he just keep it in his pants until morning and save us all the distraction?

  Worse yet was that Tessia seemed to enjoy the attention. I hadn't pegged her as the type who would, and in all honesty I thought of myself as a pretty good judge of character. She fiddled with her braid as they spoke.

  Ew.

  A few minutes of walking later, their camp came into view. The father left Adam to lean on Tessia and walked ahead to greet their group. With the father and son, there were six of them. A respectable number, and a welcome addition if they were to join the Verdant Glade. Of course, things weren't perfect though.

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  For the first time since the collapse, I saw kids—well, a kid. A boy. He sat on his own in the mouth of a tent and drew figures in the ground with a stick. Apart from him, there were three women: two teenagers and one middle-aged one. Seeing as they all looked the same, I figured they were a family.

  The mother waved and pointed animatedly as she noticed me standing behind the wounded Adam. Her daughters skirted her sides, nervously throwing glances our way as the two adults talked. I smiled and waved, which made the two's eyes widen as they fought to hide behind their mother's frame.

  Tessia giggled, and my smile fell. I probably didn't look like the most trustworthy person wearing a wolf and all, but hiding from me was a bit much.

  We didn't intrude and kept our distance as the father explained the situation. After a few more minutes, he returned with his wife.

  She shook Tessia's hand with a smile and introduced herself as Elinor but kept me at a careful distance. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience these two caused," she said with a sigh. "I told them not to hunt anything too dangerous, but of course, they did the opposite."

  "It's fine," Tessia said with a blinding smile, completely subverting the first impression I had of her. "We're just happy to have found other survivors."

  Elinor's expression softened. "I don't know what I would have done if Martin and Adam had gotten hurt."

  Adam moaned. "I'm already-"

  The mother turned to him almost mechanically. "Shut up, you muscleheaded idiot," she barked, wiping the smile from her face for that instant before turning back to Tessia as if nothing had happened. "You have my gratitude. I don't even dare to think what would have happened if the hooded men found them instead."

  "Hooded men?" I asked. "You've seen redeemers?"

  She nodded carefully. "Leslie spoke with one of them. He gave her the creeps, she said."

  "Where?"

  She turned and pointed to a gathering of bushes no further than fifty paces from the camp. "Over there. No more than an hour or so ago, right after these two idiots left to hunt."

  Not good. They know where the camp is.

  I whistled for Iron and faced the couple. "You need to leave. Now."

  Elinor scowled, "No. Why?"

  Iron tore through the treetops like a blur and landed on my shoulder. "Search for redeemers."

  No more than two seconds after he landed, he was moving again; this time, he stayed below the treetops, zooming between the trees closest to the camp.

  Tessia shook her head and laid a hand on Elinor's shoulder. "The redeemers aren't friendly."

  "As far as we know, neither are you two," Elinor said blankly.

  "You don't have the luxury of doubting us anymore," I groaned. "What do you know about the redeemers?"

  "Nothing, apart from the name," Martin muttered. Elinor jabbed him in the side to shut him up.

  Scanning the treeline surrounding the camp, I asked, "Do you know what happened to the people who were still inside during the collapse?"

  Martin and Elinor shook their heads.

  "They died, and then they were given a second chance. By the system's design, they are our opponents. I don't really get it either, but by killing us, they get a chance to restore their lives or something."

  To redeem themselves. It clicked.

  Martin gaped, and so did Elinor before she realized she was gaping, and closed her mouth with a snort. "That doesn't make any sense," she scoffed.

  "Nor does any of this," I said and gestured at the forest. "But it's the hand we've been dealt, so you better fucking play it, or they will take advantage. They're likely just away getting reinforcements before they come back to take you."

  "Why would they?" she protested.

  I clenched my hand into a fist. "Because the system rewards them! Don't you get it? It's them or us! Do you want your kids to be killed? Do you want them to be taken as slaves? Because those are the only two results of staying here. That's a promise."

  Her cheeks flushed red as her scowl deepened. Martin glanced at the kids near the tent, worry on his face.

  Tessia took a step forward, making Adam, who rested on her shoulder, wince. "Elinor, Jax is telling the truth. Even if you don't join us, just move your camp. Please."

  Her glare finally wavered, and she sighed. "Fine. We'll come see your 'settlement,' but we're not promising we'll stay."

  "Good," Tessia said with a sigh of relief. "How long until you can move?"

  "A few minutes at most," Martin said and walked to his kids. "Girls! Pack up, we're moving."

  I turned to Tessia; a bead of sweat slid down her temple. At least she felt the tension.

  Easing the deer to the ground, I unsheathed my knife. "Protect them. I'll take a look around."

  Tessia nodded, her hand crawling to the hilt of her dagger.

  "What about the deer?" Elinor demanded.

  You're a real piece of work, you know that?

  I looked her over. She had thick brown hair and a sturdy build, wrinkles on her forehead, and a pair of sharp chestnut eyes. Adam hadn't gotten his athletic genes from his father; that much was certain.

  "You carry it," I said and walked into the woods.

  "Unbelievable!" I heard her protest, quickly followed by Tessia attempting to calm the woman.

  I clicked my tongue and pushed inside the surrounding greenery. They'd chosen a good place to camp, well hidden from any potential passersby by a wall of thick bushes. The Redeemers must have stumbled upon them by sheer coincidence.

  Only Martin and Adam had unlocked classes thus far, and Adam, the family's highest leveled member, was hurt. The Redeemers couldn't ask for a better chance to strike than this.

  I skirted the right side of the camp, staying close enough that I could see it, but far enough that they would struggle to see me. In just a minute, I had rounded it without any sight of Redeemers. Shooting a quick glance back to the camp, I confirmed that Tessia had everything under control.

  To her side, a very angry Elinor lifted the deer onto her shoulder. Her lips moved, and I could only assume that she was cursing me out, making me chuckle a little. She was a feisty one—reminded me of my mom a little—always finding some way to make herself heard. I felt like I deserved some sort of appreciation. I was bringing them to civilization! Well, a budding one at least. But I knew her type well enough to know I wasn't about to get any.

  I whistled and pointed to the group as the kids joined their mothers' sides, tents and supplies cradled in their arms. Iron swept through the forest and hovered above them. He'd let me know if anyone got close. As for me, I'd protect their rear as we made our way back to Verdant Glade.

  Partly because I wanted to be certain no one got hurt, partly because I needed some peace and quiet to think.

  This many people leaving in such a rush were bound to leave tracks. There was no way around that, which sadly meant that the Redeemers could easily trace the tracks to Verdant Glade, pitting us against not just one potential group of Redeemers, but two.

  I wasn't going to let that happen.

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