Days passed, and things were finally starting to take shape. Shelter was coming along, and food, though scarce, was no longer an immediate threat. Kei’s leg was gone, but he’d recovered—somewhat.

  Dean managed to build a small shack for us and worked on many more. Using a great axe tied to a log, we’d fashioned a crude tiller. Wild, potato-like vegetables we found were now growing in the soil, though they wouldn’t be ready for some time. Still, it was a start, and better than nothing.

  As for Calvin—he was Calvin. He’d promised to start hunting days ago but hadn’t so much as lifted a finger. I’d have to deal with him soon.

  To keep busy, I moved around camp, limping slightly on my swollen leg. The swelling had gone down, but a thick black scar still cut across it, left to right, just above the knee. Strange, tough skin had started forming there—my first wound on this world. I wasn’t sure if it was healing or something else.

  Was this what leaders did? Shoulder everything, do whatever they could to protect one another?

  “Ezekiel!” Nara said waving. She approached with her usual sway. She had a direct and formal language that I could tell. “Can you help with something real quick? Kei’s having trouble getting up, and I’ve been working on a prosthetic wooden stub for him. Come take a look.”

  I nodded and followed her. Today was pleasant, the kind of day that made you believe everything might turn out fine. A soft breeze brushed my face, and overhead, clouds gathered, hinting at rain. It seemed uncommon for this place. The desert hadn’t rained in days, yet I welcomed it.

  We walked through the brush and brambles, the wild plant life ankle-high in most places. The greenery here was… different. I noticed ferns that seemed to curl around insects like hands. Their movements slowly wrapped around them before cutting off any exit. In the distance, someone had stumbled across a giant pit trap and nearly fell in. One man had stepped onto a massive leaf, only to be swallowed by it as it folded around him, refusing to let go. There had been nothing we could do to save him. The plant was so far in the ground and when we finally realized he had already drowned in its acid.

  “Ezekiel!” Kei’s voice woke me up. “You’re here to help with the prosthetic, right?”

  “Yeah,” I said, shaking off the memory of me rinsing off the packed on blood and dirt. “Nara said you needed a hand—well, a leg. Hopefully, you’ll be back on your foot-feet soon.”

  Kei forced a grin, though his eyes betrayed his face. “I hope so. I hate this, man. It’s only been a few days, but I already feel like… like I’m useless. And the worst part? I swear I can still feel it. My leg, I mean. Even though I know it’s gone. How am I supposed to survive like this, Zeke?”

  I crouched beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You’re not alone. We’ll figure this out. No one’s leaving you behind. So you got plenty of time to recover.”

  Nara chimed in, “Jakob should be here soon with the prosthetic. It’s a rough hand chiseled wooden log but it should work as a leg.”

  We waited, quiet filled then the rustling of the wind. After a time Jakob arrived, carrying a crude designed wooden leg.

  “Here it is,” he said, holding it up. “Not perfect, but it’s what we’ve got.”

  Kei’s face lit up like a kid in a Candy Store. “Please, let’s try it. I don’t care how rough it is.”

  “Hold on,” Nara said, examining the slab. “We still need to figure out how to attach it. No straps, no leather. It’s just… a block of wood right now.”

  Kei turned to me. “Zeke, you said you had some kind of skill, right? Like that healing spell you used before?”

  “I do but heal won’t work on it, but I might have another skill that’ll work. It’s called Mend. But I’ve never used it on something like this. I don’t even know if it’ll work on a person. I literally just got it today.”

  “I don’t care,” Kei said, with a weak weary look. “I’ll take the risk. I can’t stay like this. I don’t want to stay like this.”

  Jakob frowned, rubbing the back of his neck. “Nara’s the medical expert here. Maybe you should listen to her first.”

  “I appreciate the concern,” Kei said “but it’s my leg, my choice.”

  I sighed, taking the prosthetic from Jakob. “Alright. Let me see what I can do.”

  I examined the wooden leg, then grabbed my knife and carved Kei’s name in big blocky letters. It looked like the initials you would see on a classroom desk. Closing my eyes, I focused on the spell. “Mend.”

  I assumed mend would work on it and smoothen out the carvings that I made, but it didn’t.

  “Huh,” I muttered. “Maybe it needs something else? Another component maybe.” I grabbed a small rooted vine from the ground and pressed it against the prosthetic, holding it steady. “Mend.”

  This time, a soft green glow enveloped the wood. The stick fused seamlessly to the prosthetic.

  “It worked,” I said looking confusedly, Kei was excited as he pushed himself up from the dirt patch

  “Please, Zeke. I’ll risk it. Just… do it. I want to move my leg.”

  “Alright,” I said. “I don't know what may happen but I'll see for you..”

  Kei rolled up what was left of his pant leg, exposing the stump. Nara positioned the prosthetic against it, her hands steady despite the unease in the air.

  I took a deep breath. I focused and cast the spell again. “Mend.”

  A green magics aura swirled around the prosthetic, binding it to Kei’s leg.

  “Heal,” I added, reinforcing the connection, wincing as I felt something harden on my leg.

  Kei gritted his teeth, letting out a sharp gasp as the magic surged through him. For a moment, no one spoke. Then, slowly, he flexed the leg.

  “I… I think it worked,” he whispered, tears streaming down his face. “I can feel it. It’s… it’s part of me. Thank you so much.”

  The wooden leg had fused with Kei’s skin, merging into a single, unnatural structure. Where the prosthetic met his stump, it looked like it had been glued on. It was seamless but also two very distinct entities pushing together.

  I reached out cautiously, my fingers hovering over the surface before lightly caressing it. The texture was strange. I ran my fingers down the seam and it didn't feel like either. It was part wood, part something else entirely, a leathery skin. “What does it feel like for you Kei?”

  “Ow,” he winced. “I felt that… but it’s like feeling through a hardened scab. It’s tough to explain. It doesn’t feel like my leg, but it’s definitely attached.”

  “Do you think you can walk on it?” I asked, glancing up at him.

  “No, no, no,” Nara interjected, wth a loud and agitated voice. “You’re not walking on it today. Not yet. Just moving it around will be progress enough. I’ll help you with that.”

  Kei nodded, gratitude flickering in his tired eyes. “Thank you. Both of you. I thought—I thought I’d be stranded like this. Left behind, but now I have the ability to walk again. I am glad that now I can move with the rest of you.”

  “Kei. We wouldn't ever do that. We don’t leave anyone behind, and we will not leave you. Now, let’s get you moving. Somewhere better for you to be sitting.”

  Together, we supported him as he tried to adjust to the new limb. Every small movement made him wince, but he didn’t complain. Each step was shaky, but he was determined to keep going. He was just glad to be upright and I could see that in his smile. No matter how awkward or painful it felt he kept trudging forward.

  His dark black hair trimmed at the sides and spiked in the front. His

  As we guided him back toward the shack, I noticed something strange. A small, bright green leaf had sprouted from the stick I’d fused to the prosthetic earlier. It swayed faintly in the breeze, vibrant and alive.

  I frowned, unsure what to make of it. “Huh… how strange,” I muttered under my breath.

  But there was no time to dwell on it. For now, Kei had hope again—and that was enough for me.

  Later that night, we sat around the fire, the flickering flames throwing jagged shadows against the twisted trees around us. The air was heavy with the scent of smoke and damp earth. The sound of decaying leaves crunched underneath my hand as I felt an earthworm wriggle in my palm. Laughter rose and fell like a dying wind as the group passed around a sweet, alien fruit we’d found earlier. It was sweet and gave of a small drunken feeling. And for a moment, it felt almost normal—like we could pretend the world wasn’t slowly torturing us.

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  I cleared my throat, breaking the fragile peace in the air. “Calvin, we need to talk.”

  He looked up from his spot by the fire, his face already set in irritation. The firelight made his features look sharper, crueler. “What now?”

  “You said you’d help,” I said trying to stay calm. “When was that supposed to happen? Food’s running low, and we’ve got thirty mouths to feed. Everyone else is pulling their weight. But you? All you’ve done is sit around, run your mouth, and make a joke of the rest of us.”

  Calvin leaned back, twisting his neck with an audible crack, his lips curling into a smile. “First off, kid, I could kill anyone here with my bare hands. Don’t think I couldn’t.” He spat into the dirt, glaring. “Second, I do what I want. When I feel like it. And there’s not a damn thing you—or anyone else—can do about that.”

  He stood, stretched over me. His shadow was long and jagged across the dirt. It stretched into a z formation and loomed over the forest floor. “Who put you in charge, huh? What makes you think you get to tell me what to do? Who the fuck do you think you are?”

  “I’m the one keeping this group alive,” I said, though my voice felt small to me. My heart pounded, but I didn’t let it show.

  “Alive?” He laughed, stepping closer. “You think this is living? Look around you. This is dying slow. And you? You’re just some kid playing leader. You think you can make me do anything?”

  I didn’t move. “Are you done?”

  “No,” he snarled. “Stand up.”

  “What for?”

  “Stand the fuck up,” he snapped, his fists clenching.

  “No.”

  The tension in the air snapped like a cut wire. Before I could react, Calvin’s boot lashed out, slamming into the legs of my stump. I hit the ground hard, the firelight spinning above me as the breath rushed out of my lungs. Pain burned through my leg—the bad one—and I gritted my teeth, gasping for air.

  I pushed myself up, running at him in a blind charge. My shoulder slammed into his gut, but it was like hitting a brick wall. Calvin didn’t budge. His fist came down like a hammer, crashing into my back and sending me to my knees.

  “That all you got?” he laughed.

  I gritted my teeth. “Crimson Orb!” The words ripped from my throat as I raised a hand. A ball of searing red light shot from my palm, hitting him square in the face. He roared, clutching at his eyes, and I surged forward, shoving him into the fire.

  The flames roared up around him, the smell of burning flesh and hair filling the air as he screamed. I rolled away, clutching my side, my skin burning from the heat.

  “What the fuck, Ezekiel?” Jerissa’s voice cut through the chaos, sharp with anger and disbelief.

  I struggled to my feet, barely able to stand. “I’m tired of his shit,” I spat, my voice shaking. “He started it. Acting like he’s better than everyone else. I’m out here breaking myself for this group, and he just sits there—doing nothing. But I’m the bad guy? Fuck that.”

  Out of nowhere, a fist slammed into my face, sending me sprawling. Calvin was on me before I could recover, his fists raining down, each blow like a sledgehammer. I tried to block, but my strength was already gone.

  “Calvin, stop!” Jerissa screamed, but he didn’t listen. It wasn’t until Jakob and Donnie hauled him off me that the beating stopped.

  “Let go of me!” he roared, thrashing like a wild animal. “That weak bitch burned my face!” The left side of his face was raw and blackened, the skin peeling, one eye swollen shut. His hair was burned away in patches, leaving him looking like a burned marshmallow on the left side of his face

  He dug into the dirt pulling himself up and gathering his things. “I’m done with this bullshit. Me and my people are leaving. Don’t come looking for us.”

  With that, he stormed into the woods, his small group trailing after him into the dark. The trees swallowed them whole, their footsteps fading into silence.

  I groaned, forcing myself upright as Jerissa ran to my side. Nara crouched beside me, her fingers probing my wounds.

  “What’s his problem?” Donnie muttered, breaking the silence. “That guy’s a jerk. He needs to stay gone.”

  “He needs his ass beat,” Jakob added, his voice cold.

  “Guys, can’t you see Ezekiel’s hurt?” Jerissa snapped. “Help me get him up.”

  I laughed bitterly, the sound catching in my throat. “Can’t walk on my leg already. Now this? Maybe he should’ve finished the job.”

  “Don’t say that,” she looked at me in contempt with a sad expression on her face.

  Hours passed around the fire, the silence stretching too long to feel comfortable. I opened my mouth to break it, but then I heard something. It was a scream.

  It echoed through the forest, a sharp and shrill echo. It sounded like that of an ape, a monkey like scream from out of a zoo. And then another, one of a man. He sounded like he was being torn apart from his yelling alone.

  “What the hell was that?” I asked, already pushing myself to my feet. I nearly tripped over the uneven ground in my haste, but the others had heard it too and were already moving with me.

  “It’s that thing,” Jakob said grimly, his voice low. “The one I saw in the forest. I know those howls.”

  “What thing?” I asked, adrenaline surging as we started dashing toward the sound.

  “I don’t know,” Jakob admitted with a tight voice. “It was big, almost human, but… not. Blue fur, sharp teeth, and it moves like nothing I’ve seen before. It swung after us on tree limbs with long lanky arms.”

  “Locals, maybe?” I said partly joking, partly curious.

  Before he could answer, Jakob suddenly lurched forward with a grunt, hitting the ground hard.

  “What happened?” I asked, pulling him up.

  “Fuck, I hit something—tripped over some kind of rope.” He rubbed his shin, grimacing.

  “A rope? Out here?”

  “Not a rope,” he muttered, crouching and running his hand along the obstacle. “It’s… sticky. Almost like silk.” He tugged at it, but it didn’t budge.

  “Silk?” I asked, feeling a cold current run down my shirt.

  “Spiders,” Jakob said flatly, his voice shaking slightly. “I hate spiders, Zeke. Don’t tell me this is—”

  Another scream cut through the air, even closer this time.

  “No time to worry about that,” I said, breaking into a run. Jakob followed, cursing under his breath. “Get your weapon ready.”

  We tore through the trees, ducking branches and hopping over roots. The forest opened into a small clearing, littered with bodies. Men lay sprawled across the ground, some bleeding out, others motionless.

  One man reached toward me weakly, blood bubbling at his lips. I didn’t hesitate.

  “Heal!” I called, pushing magic into his broken body, pulling him up. I could feel a burning on my face and my chest, but I couldn't focus on it at the moment.

  The light of my spell flared, but it didn’t reach the others. A man ahead was still locked in a brutal struggle with a hulking creature. My breath caught as I finally saw it.

  It was an ape—but not human. Its body was covered in thick blue fur that shimmered under the faint moonlight, and its limbs were excessively long. It had 3 sets of arms, two on its shoulders and two below its main arms. I had claws like that of a lion. It swung through thick strands of webbing like vines, moving faster than any human ever could. One of them tackled a man full forced and began beating him with multiple sets of arms. The rocky terrain offering no shelter.

  “Zeke, look!” Jakob said, pointing to one of the creatures perched high in the web. It was looming over a trapped man, its sharp claws sinking into his shoulder. The man screamed, flailing helplessly.

  “Do something!” Jakob shouted.

  Before I could act, the creature yanked the man’s head back and sank its teeth into his neck. Blood sprayed, painting the web as the man’s body went limp. The ape shook him like a rag doll before tossing him aside. It began to screech.

  “Oh, fuck,” Jakob whispered.

  The creature turned, locking its glowing yellow eyes on us. It tilted its head, sniffing the air before letting out a shriek that made the hair on my arms stand up.

  More creatures appeared, climbing down the webbing or swinging through the trees. They were everywhere.

  “We’re screwed,” Jakob muttered, backing up.

  “Not yet,” I said, gripping my dagger. “Stay close. Calvin’s out there, and we need to help the others.”

  Another scream pierced the clearing, and I spotted him. Calvin was on his knees, his face scrunched in pain. One of the apes had him pinned, its claws digging into his shoulders. Blood dripped from his hand—or what was left of it.

  “Calvin!” I yelled, breaking into a sprint.

  The creature turned toward me, growling low in its throat. Before it could react, I hurled a Crimson Orb straight into its chest. The magic sizzle on impact, making it move backward and off Calvin, this was obviously a feint.

  Jakob was right behind me, slamming his axe into the creature’s side as it lunged back toward me. Another ape swung down, claws outstretched, but I sidestepped, slashing at its arm.

  “They’re too fast!” Jakob shouted, barely dodging another attack.

  I glanced at Calvin. He was alive—but just barely. Blood poured from the stump where his finger used to be, and his eyes were wide with panic.

  “Jakob, cover me!” I yelled, dropping to my knees beside Calvin.

  Jakob nodded, slashing at the nearest creature as I grabbed Calvin’s arm. For all the trouble he’d caused, for all the stupidity that got him into this, I couldn’t just leave him to die.

  Jakob swung his axe frantically, keeping the creatures at bay for now. Forcing them to back up. One lunged at him, claws outstretched, but he twisted the axe just in time, the blade of his axe slicing through its arm and chest.

  Another ape dropped down from the web above, aiming right for me. Reacting fast, I cast Mend, fusing the silk thread it swung from back to the tree. The creature slammed into the trunk with a sickening thud, giving me just enough time to drag Calvin further toward the forest’s edge.

  “Fucking let me go, kid!” Calvin groaned, thrashing weakly. “Agh!” His elbow caught me in the ribs, making me stumble.

  “What the hell? I just saved your fucking life!?!” I screamed in his face.

  “I didn’t ask for your help!” Calvin cried out, his face twisted with pain and anger. “You’re the reason I lost my goddamn hand and this burn on my face!”

  Before I could respond, he shoved me aside, pulled out his pistol, and fired two shots. Both bullets found their marks, dropping two of the beasts. He aimed at a third and squeezed the trigger.

  Click.

  “Fuck, I’m out!” Calvin growled, his voice tinged with panic. “Need to reload. Only got so much spare ammo.”

  The last ape on the ground stepped closer, then another step, and another, until it reached him. Its claws grabbed his arm, pulling him forward with a snarl.

  CRACK.

  A heavy wooden bat came down on the creature’s skull, sending it sprawling to the dirt. Calvin fell back, clutching his bleeding arm.

  The man holding the bat stood over the creature, panting. I recognized him—one of the men from camp, someone I’d healed earlier.

  “Thanks,” he said, nodding as he adjusted his grip on the bloodied bat. “These damn things almost killed me. Whatever you did to my chest wound… it’s already feeling better. Name’s Winston, by the way.”

  “Yeah, thanks for the assist,” I replied, still catching my breath.

  Winston’s gaze shifted to Calvin, who was glaring at me while cradling his mangled hand. “We should move. If more of those things show up, we won’t make it back.”

  Together, we made our way to camp. Calvin limped along behind us, grumbling curses under his breath. By the time we reached the safety of the firelight, only three of the nine men he’d led out were still alive.

  Three out of nine.

  The survivors collapsed around the fire, silent and battered. Calvin slumped against a log, still muttering under his breath. Jakob leaned against a tree, exhausted but steady, while Winston sat down and quietly cleaned the blood off his bat.

  As the weight of it all settled over the group, I finally broke the silence. “Calvin,” I said, my voice cold, “you can’t keep pulling this crap. Four people are dead because of your attitude.”

  He grunted, barely glancing up. “…bitch.”

  “Calvin.” My tone sharpened. “You’ve got to get it together. If this keeps happening, no one’s going to let you stay with us.”

  He looked like he was ready to snap back with something cruel, his lips twitching. But instead, to my surprise, he smiled.

  “You know what, Zeke?” he said, rising slowly and clapping a hand on my shoulder. “You’re absolutely right. And for that…” His smile widened unnaturally. “I’m sorry.”

  The words sent a chill down my spine. What’s he up to? I thought, watching him carefully. Calvin didn’t apologize—not without a reason.

  The others muttered in agreement, their eyes lingering on him, but no one pushed it further. Exhaustion drowned out any lingering hostility.

  After everyone finished venting their frustration, the camp finally quieted. Calvin lay near the edge of the group, his face turned toward the fire, the faintest hint of that unsettling grin still visible in the flickering light.