~August 30th, 2025~

Okame and Maxie arrived at the windmills in the afternoon of August 30th, the two boys slumped against the windmills with sore legs and blistered feet.

"Wow...that took....way too long!" Okame shouted out, with a lazy smile as he was delighted to finally arrive. Maxie nodded in agreement, stroking some hair out of his eyes. He looked up at the windmill.

"Okay, now we've got to find a way to power it on." He pushed himself into his overworked legs, which wobbled a bit. Okame staggered up to his feet, critically observing the wind turbine. He leisurely walked around it a few times, then attempting to open a small door that seemed to be jammed shut.

The alphabeta and delta pried the door open using an old branch, both of their hands calloused and splintered from the hard work. "Finally." Maxie breathed out, exhausted as they both watched the door crack open. Okame opened the door fully, the hinges of the door giving an unsettling creak. There was a metal ladder, it was rusty and didn't seem the most stable.

Okame sighed, "well, up we go." He made his way up the old ladder, his hands getting dusty from all of the raw material deteriorating off the ladder. Maxie followed suit. The two climbed for quite a bit, even Okame just a queasy feeling in his nervous stomach for climbing so high up with extremely sore and tired legs. They made it to the top, it was dark and dusty.

Maxie reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone and putting on the flashlight. Okame gave a grateful thumbs up for the help as Okame ran a hand over a large dusty object. Maxie shone his light on a pillar-like object that was horizontal, he narrowed his eyes at it. Trying to figure out what it was.

"This is the shaft." Okame accurately explained, "I'm pretty sure that it's the number one thing responsible for the rotation of the wind turbine's blade. We are fortunate that the winds are decently high today...if not, we wouldn't be able to do a very efficient kickstart." The alphabeta mumbled, Maxie was too fascinated by all of the technology of the windmill to fully register what the other boy said.

Okame properly gave the shaft an electric kick-start as Maxie carefully examined the complex machinery. Outside of the wind turbine, the blades slowly rotated, soon assisted by the breeze that merely blew. Okame dusted off his sore knees, "that should do it." He stood up as he looked eagerly at Maxie, who grinned at him, despite the drowsiness that tugged at his eyes. The two carefully descended down the ladder slowly.

"I don't remember the ladder being this long..." Okame trailed off, some nervousness detected in his voice. He and Maxie continued to scale down the ladder.

"It'll be alright broski, I know you won't fall, just gotta keep yourself together." He reassured positively, Okame gave a shaky unease breath, he cracked a faint smile and continued. They merely made it down back onto the stable earth, exiting the structure as Okame took Maxie by the hand and led him out to the front of the wind turbine, bumbling with eager curiosity and excitement. Okame permitted a cheerful smile to the pleasant sight of seeing the blades of the windmill gradually turning.

Okame let go of Maxie's hand, instantly looking at his phone and his dusty face lighting up to see they now had reception. "Hey, Broski it worked!" He smiled triumphantly, showing the delta his phone, Maxie grinned, promptly pulling out his own phone and looking at his newly earned reception. There were a few concerned texts already in the group chat.

"You all okay?"-Compass
"Kinda. We are waiting out the storm; Melon had a panic attack. How are you holding up? .o."-MaL
"Hello?"-MaL
"You there?"-MaL

"We apologize for any distress that our absences have probably caused. We are alright and heading back home." -Okame
"Yeah. And we figured out that animals and water can also get infected with ITEV ff-"-Maxie

Maxie naturally gave a concerned frown, let's hope that Compass and the others are okay... He thought worriedly. Okame pulled up a direct route back to the abandoned town, discovering a much more brief way to get there than the way that had taken to get to the power plant. He instantly took a screenshot of the map, seeing as once they wandered too far away from the windmills, they'd lose their reception.

Maxie felt a tap on his shoulder, he turned around and so did Okame. Maxie found himself face to face with an unfamiliar being.

"Who are you?" They simply asked with a tilt of their head. They had shoulder-length brown hair, a white shirt striped with green. They had some brown hair, eyes, and shoes, their skin was light and they were accompanied by two others.

One of them was taller, she had brown hair and tan skin. The female newcomer also had brown eyes. However, they appeared darker, they were clothed with a white but partially dusty hoodie. On her legs, she wore some light blue shorts and had some black shoes. The stranger looked at Maxie and Okame, a bit suspicious but curious about them.

The other comrade was much shorter than the others. He had a black hoodie and some ripped dark navy blue jeans. He had somewhat dark brown hair and some eyes that were a mix of blue and green.

"I'm Maxie from BA." The delta responded. The newcomer grinned, furrowing an eyebrow.

"BA, eh? Brutal Assassins?" They stated, Maxie nodded. "You may know me as Sage." They greeted. Maxie and Okame both gave smiles. Okame giving a friendly wave as Maxie looked at Sage. Sage was a warrior of BA, then ranked up to a lead warrior. They were visiting the beach in California for a vacation with their family, upon hearing that BA was near, they decided to drop by. Their father was found committing reckless driving and endangerment. The mother rushed to protect the father of Sage and the fight got physical. Both parents were sent to the community prison.

"It's nice to meet you. I mean...in real life." He chirped, Sage smiled. The female newcomer spoke up, walking towards the two with her hands shoved in the pockets of her hoodie.

"I'm Rose." She waved. Rose was a BA hunter, like her friend, Sage, she was ranked up. She became a lead hunter and was also visiting California with Sage's family. Rose helped Sage after their parents were sent to community prison. The two decided to make the long journey to Colorado to meet up with the other BA members.

"I think you can all guess that I'm Okame." The alphabeta gave a natural smile, Sage and Rose gave a happy nod. The shortest ran over to them, tripping a bit and face planting in the dirt that had been damp from the rainstorm days before. He stood up and brushed himself off, then striding over to his friends.

"Oi! Epic seein' you, lads, here!" He grinned, his voice hinted with the accent of a Brit.

Okame grinned, "I could recognize that little British voice from anywhere." He laughed. "Nice finally meeting you Toward Tommy Yommy Tummy Timmy Toe Bean Cat Feet Genesis...uh..." the alphabeta tried to list out the others nickname.

"Bloody hell mate, for the last time, it's just Tommy." Tommy laughed, amused. Tommy was a lead hunter of BA, a high rank like the majority of his friends. He came all the way from Britain and managed to somehow run into Rose and Sage on their way towards Colorado. It is unknown what he was doing before. The lead hunter would constantly make typos in his name, the pack teased him about it and made a long nickname including the typos and random words that some members thought of. The nickname added up to around a paragraph long.

The group laughed, a few of them flinching as they heard a deafening creak. A few glanced up at the sky, no gray dark clouds prepared for a rainstorm loomed above.

"We should...probably check out what that was." Maxie trailed off, Sage nodded in agreement. The two looked around the area, finding nothing that could have caused the weird noise. There was another loud creak, Rose covered her ears.

The shadow of the windmill shifted a bit however it wasn't just the shadow of the blades that moved. The entire structure moved. Almost in complete unison, everyone jerked their heads upwards to look at the windmill, which was slowly falling in their direction.

"Okay, let's get out of here!" Okame yelped. Rose grabbed Sage by the arm, Okame took Maxie's hand as Tommy latched onto Maxie's arm, the shorter boy struggling slightly to keep up. The wind turbine fell onto the ground was a loud boom, the group continued running off, dust, grit, and debris flying in them. It got in their eyes, mouth, and even clothes. Tommy tried to cough it all out.

Blood pounded in their ears as they all ran with all their might, some of them praying that they'd escape from being crushed to death by the vast structure. The impact of the windmill sending some of the members flying, Rose and Sage tripped from the unstable ground, Sage landed on their left arm awkwardly. They gave a shrill yelp from the sudden pain that shot up them. Rose helped her dear friend up, the two catching up to Maxie, Okame, and Tommy.

They all panted. "You guys all alright?" Maxie asked, Okame went to Sage, examining their arm. "Woah, Sage..you good?" Maxie asked the lead warrior, kneeling down to Sage, who was now clutching their arm as they sat down. Rose paced back and forth, worried about her friend. Tommy gave Sage a stick.

"Maybe this'll help or summit." He muttered, unsure of what to do or say, thinking of how Sage liked to eat sticks in the roleplay. Okame softly ran a hand down Sage's arm, careful to not trigger any pain. He felt out their arm.

"I think you broke it." He explained with a frown, looking into Sage's eyes. The lead warrior gave a shaky breath.

"I-I'll be fine." They breathed out, standing up on their shaky legs, still holding onto their arm as if it would fall off at any moment. Rose pat her friend on the back softly, murmuring some encouraging phrases in their ear. Sage grinned. "Alright, stop looking at me like I'm dying y'all." They teased. Tommy gave a snort, looking back at Okame and Maxie.

"Do you have a base or summit around here?" He asked, Okame nodded.

"Sure do." He pulled out his phone, pulling up the screenshot of the route they'd have to take to get back to the Abandoned Town. "Think you all could walk a few more miles, by the time we get to the base it should be sunset. And we have a few medical kits for you Sage, sound good?" He turned back to look at his fellow high ranks.

"Sure does," Maxie replied with a grin, the other smiled and muttered their responses, ready to trek further.

"Let's go."

———————

Compass continued to look outwards, tapping on her knee in both impatience and evident anxiety. Where are those guys? She thought uneasily in her anxious mind, overly worried about her friends. It was almost sunset, outside of the base, was some movement. Crystal was the first to note it, they perked up and Sabre and Compass tried to figure out what captured the lead warrior's attention.

Okame and Maxie, along with 3 others appeared at the entrance. All of them were dusty and Maxie and Okame had different clothes on since the last time Compass had seen them. The shortest of the group, which was no longer Okame, looked at Sabre.

"Who the hell are you?" Sabre asked in a fake dramatic tone. The short newcomer glanced back at Sabre with an amusement shock.

"Who the hell are you?" He shot back with a grin. Compass looked at the group of people and her dusty packmates.

"Woah Okame, what the hell happened to you?" The delta asked, concerned as she beckoned all of the newcomers and packmates into the base.

The tallest newcomer looked around, slightly puzzled. "Huh-, what?" They asked, confused. Okame looked back at a Compass, who eyed the injured person.

"That's Sage," Okame explained, helping Sage, who had a broken arm, sit down. "That's Rose." He pointed to the tallest newcomer. "And that's Tommy...as you could probably guess." The alphabeta gave a smile, gesturing to the smallest of the group.

Compass nodded, handing Okame an old rag, "Thanks Compass." He gave a smile as he wiped off his face and passed it off to Maxie, the delta also wiping off his face. "That is Sabre and that's Feather." She introduced the others, Sabre gave a grin.

"Sabre at your service." They gave a small bow teasingly. Tommy perked up, his head cocked to the side slightly.

"Wait, hold the phone, like...Sabre, Compass, and Feather from BA..?" He asked, Feather smiled and gave a nod.

"Yup!" The lead healer confirmed with a chirp. Sabre clapped their hands.

"Ding ding ding!" They chirped as if Tommy had guessed a question correctly on a game show. Tommy gave a smirk of triumph. Okame turned to look back at Compass as Sage went over to Sabre and Feather, the three exiting the base.

"We are going to get some things to help out Sage's arm," Sabre called out.

"Alright! Stay safe!" Okame smiled at the trio. Directing his attention back to Compass. "Did you get any of our texts?" Okame asked. Compass pulled up her phone, reading the past text messages from MaL, Okame, and Maxie about the storm, ITEV, animals, and water. She frowned a bit at the guilt that tugged at her for not realizing the new messages until now.

"Does ITEV affect rainwater?" She asked as Okame passed her two water bottles that he and Maxie had found yesterday in the abandoned convenience store. Rose looked up at the others.

"I don't believe so, seeing as evaporation and bacteria don't associate." She muttered, going back to browsing some things on her phone. Okame nodded in slight agreement. Crystal scooted over to the alphabeta, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Is there anything I could do? I've got all day." Crystal stated, Okame shook his head.

"No, it's alright." He smiled, "besides, it's going to be sunset soon. Wouldn't want you hanging out too late at night alone." Okame explained. Crystal nodded, then slumping down on a pillow with a huff, bored. A headache started in their head due to hitting their head during the rainstorm earlier before. Crystal gave a loud groan.

Sabre, Feather, and Sage entered again. Sabre's shirt was a bit torn. Sage was made a sling for their arm made out of a decently large stick and from the soft fabric of Sabre's clothes. The lead warrior looked around for some food, Sabre handing them a juice box. Sage smiled their thanks and took it gratefully, then going off to explore the base.

"I'm gonna find a cuppa tea or summit," Tommy muttered as he exited the base, Maxie gave him a thumbs up in approval. Compass turned to Okame.

"Some of our lamps will be burned out soon, I'm going to go search around and look for some lights, I should be back before dark." Compass stood up, stuffing her phone in one of her pockets. Okame nodded.

"Alrighty." He chirped in a singsong tone, Sabre perked up, slowly standing up.

"Mind if I join you?" They asked with a grin. Compass shrugged.

"Why not?" She responded, trekking out of the base, Sabre close on their heels.

———————

Sabre and Compass walked through the cool, crisp air of Colorado. Heading towards a few abandoned stores, entering one that was lighted by only the faint shine of the setting sun. Sabre looked at Compass.

"I get the left side of the store and you get the right?" They asked the delta, Compass gave a grin, nodding.

"Good idea." She searched around the right segment of the structure. There's gotta be something here... she trailed off in her mind. She scoured each shelf around her, a bit disappointed as she came out with nothing. She looked at Sabre to see if they had found anything that may turn out as useful.

"Ah-ha!" They grinned, holding up something. Compass rushed over to the lead healer, only to find a dead rat on Sabre's knife. Sabre grinned, "A rat. Reckon we could eat it? The heat from cooking it would burn away any bacteria it may have." They inferred. Compass smiled with a small chuckle, waving her hand in dismissal.

"Alright c'mon, let's get to the next store. We still got a few more minutes of sunlight." She led the lead healer out of the structure, the two entering another store. Compass pointed to the left side of the store, Sabre trotting over to it and searching it all around as Compass resigned to searching around in the right portion of the building. "Hell yes! Food!" Compass cheered as she found a muffin, holding it as if it were the most prized possession in the world.

"Aye! We gon' be feasting tonight!" Sabre's voice came from behind Compass. The delta turned around to thank the other, believing that Sabre was congratulating Compass for the muffin, only to find that Sabre had found another dead rat. The 2nd rat impaled on the knife just like the rat that was found in the previous store. Compass gave a laugh, continuing to search the building. They found nothing else of use.

"Alright, we should be able to raid one more building I suppose?" Sabre asked, looking at the sun, which was almost gone, then looking at the rising moon. Compass nodded with a smile, holding her muffin carefully as they entered the next store, them automatically going to their left and right side search scenario.

"Yep! Hopefully, we can find some more food perhaps." She grinned, happy to be having a successful raid with a more positive environment. She searched around, peering through the darkness as the sun completely set, leaving both to see through the dark. The shadow of the night caused an object to get Compass' attention. An odd green glow attracted her, she picked up the object causing the luminescent glow. It was a light that was shaped like a cactus, the find was odd and random but Compass was excited about it.

"Sabre! I found a light!" The delta chirped, holding it up. Sabre smiled.

"Nice going! That's pretty lit!" They teased, "Uh..pun not intended." They added on with a smirk. They looked around, looking at an old rotten sausage. The lead healer wrinkled their nose, "ew." They commented, kicking the sausage away. The sausage bumped into a rat, in which Sabre averted their attention to it. A large grin broke out on their face.

"Yes! Three rats let's go, baby!" Sabre added the 3rd rat on their knife in celebration. Compass couldn't help but snicker at Sabre.

"Well, I say it's about time we head home." She commented, she and Sabre left the store. The two carrying their new possessions. Sabre pointed their rat shish kabob knife towards a random direction.

"Onwards! To the base!" They said boldly, playfully dramatic. Compass gave a chuckle, turning the direction of their knife towards the true direction of the base.

"Onwards." Compass agreed with a smirk, the two walking back. Sabre couldn't help but look at a pine tree.

"What if we took something like...a plant for the others? It's a pine tree after all. Could be useful." Sabre pointed out, looking at one of the pine trees nearby.

Compass walked over to Sabre, nodding. "Great idea!" She chirped. "I know pine needles are great for getting a lot of sparks going maybe we could make a smoke signal? with it, there's gotta be more people out here or maybe we could use the sap-like surgical glue? That could be useful for really bad gashes." The delta inferred

"Yeah," Sabre agreed happily. "The inner bark, the seeds found in the pine cones, and the needles are edible. If you haven't eaten tree bark before you should start out slowly- otherwise you can get sick." Sabre handed a piece of the inner bark to Compass and another piece for themselves, also collecting some seeds and needles. "Oh, and don't eat the outer bark." The lead healer advised.

Compass eyed some muddy grass and the bark that she had received from Sabre. It reminded her of some memories of one of her friends, she would spend time nomming some of the bark with her buddies. The memories caused her to give a smile, looking back at her friend. "It's getting cold, let's head back to the base."

The two continued to head back to their new home. A weird substance causing Compass to slip a bit, Sabre helped the delta regain their balance.

"You alright?" They asked the delta, checking upon them. Compass looked down at what she had slipped on, still clutching onto her muffin and cactus light.

"Yeah I'm alright, I just slipped a bit." Compass peered at the floor.

Compass had slipped on some muddy footprints.

———————

Sage went off to explore the base, also looking for ways to open the juice box that they had received from Sabre before they left. They searched around, spotting an old nail on the floor and using it to pry open and make a hole. They wiped away and cleaned the newly-made opening in their juice box and drank the beverage as they continued to wander around the base.

There was a small shaft, Sage got on their knees and crawled through the small hole, it widening into a slightly smaller secret space that could hold around two people. This is a nice little spot. The lead warrior thought as they settled down in the little area, pulling out their phone and sending a text to someone random. They ended up opening their DM with Okame.

"Is formal a formal word?"-Sage
"Pardon?"-Okame
"Lol hi-"-Sage
"Where are you? Can't find you anywhere pfft."-Okame
"Found a secret little room, back of the base, little hole in the right, crawl through it-"-Sage
"Hah! Alrighty! See you soon."- Okame

Soon enough, Sage was accompanied by the alphabeta, he crawled into space. The lead warrior giving him room. Okame looked around with a smile.

"Nice find." He chirped, "yeah...this is pretty nice." He said with a yawn. "Anyways, how's your arm?" Okame asked, looking at Sage's injury and sling.

"All good," Sage responded, leaning back. Okame fell asleep, exhausted from the journey to the power plant and back. Sage let the thoughts of their head take over. How odd, but epic at the same time. From a vacation in California to getting here and meeting some of my closest friends and breaking my arm It all felt like two seconds, but it was enjoyable for the most. They thought. They gave a sigh, shifting their position but making sure to not wake up their alphabeta.

As much as I love the BA pack, surviving here without my parents is kinda sad. I just hope that they're okay...

———————

Tommy walked around the abandoned town, making sure to not wander off too far from the base, due to being new to the area and not knowing his way around too well. He entered what seemed to be an abandoned cafe.

"Alright, there's gotta be a cuppa tea around here or summit." The lead hunter muttered, looking around. He spotted an old teabag on the counter that seemed like it had been there for too long.

"Old tea is better than no tea." The British boy shrugged, taking the tea bag and putting it in his pocket, he headed back to the base, pulling out his phone and shooting a quick message on his way.

"Oi, can I have some of the water?"-Tommy
"Yep. Why not?"-Sage
"Cheers."-Tommy
"What's it for?"-Sage
"Tea."-Tommy
"Mac and tea? :)"-Sage
"No."-Tommy

Mac and tea was also another joke that BA had made for Tommy. It came from Compass, who decided to make a joke by mixing Mac and cheese up with Mac and Tea, the thought of putting tea in noodles disgusted Tommy, he had called the act a sin, however, this didn't stop the others from teasing him about it.

He arrived back at the base, getting one water bottle and placing his teabag in it. How the hell am I going to heat this up? He thought, then shrugging. Cold tea is an absolute sin to British people but..oh well. He drank the tea, for him, it was heaven. He chugged it down swiftly, then looking at the teabag that he had used. It was labeled 'Mac and Tea'. The boy spat out the tea and muttered a few curses under his breath.

———————

MaL decided to lead the group, following the muddy boot trails. They followed it for quite some time, both curiosity and anxiety tugging at them at the same time. Melon was the first to notice the figure in the distance that seemed to be the cause of the muddy footprints. They were quite a distance away.

"Hello," MaL called out, the newcomer didn't seem to notice or hear the group. Melon picked up a nearby rock, throwing it at them, hoping to gain their attention. The small rock accidentally hit them.

"Ow! What the hell? Did you throw that at me?!" The figure turned around towards Melon with a glare, their voice a bit faint due to the space between them and the group.

"No-, I was trying to throw it away from you..but you know..." Melon shouted back, the figure looked confused, the gap in between them too hard to make out what they were saying. Melon held onto MaL's hand, nervous a bit. Geo stepped forward, giving a posture that showed that they were ready to fight if they needed to.

The figure grimaced at them. "Back off! I've got a knife." They drew a small knife, Geo frowned.

"Don't try it, buddy!" They called, once again, the other unable to fully decipher what they had just said. Melon narrowed her eyes, letting go of MaL's hand.

"Okay?! And..?!" Melon let go of MaL's hand and held up her own knife, also holding out her long whip. The newcomer took a few steps back, tense.

"I'll fight all of you if I have to!" Their voice echoed as they continued to hold their knife out threateningly. MaL send glances towards Melon and Geo, signaling for them to calm down. Melon retreated and put her weapons away.

"Woah! Calm down! We mean no harm...Jesus." Melon gave a dramatic sigh and a slight roll of her eyes. Geo cupped their hands to their mouth.

"We mean no harm! Fight us and there will be karma for your actions!" Geo shouted. The figure was only able to pick up words like as: harm, fight, karma, and actions. Melon softly nudged Geo.

"Geo, shut up, and just let MaL take the lead!" Melon frowned, getting tired and stressed from all of the yelling. Geo grimaced, looking at their shoes and shoving their hands into their pockets, walking behind the others.

"Jeez, okay Melon," Geo muttered softly. Melon tried to calm down, giving Geo a pat of the head, leaving them slightly grumpy.

"Thank you." Melon averted their attention to look back at the figure and MaL.

"We aren't here to fight! We were just following your trails and we ran into you!" MaL explained, the figure seemed to lose a bit of tension, putting away their knife as MaL gave a sigh of relief, the newcomer walking over to MaL. Geo, MaL, and Melon being able to get a better look at them.

They were decently tall and has tan skin, reddish-brown hair, and some faint teal eyes. They were clothed with some blue jeans, black shoes, and a gradient blue sweatshirt.

"I'm MaL." The lead healer introduced herself.

"Melon." Melon greeted with a slight smile, a bit wary of the newcomer due to their previous debut. Geo kicked a small rock, almost tripping because of it, they managed to not fall.

"I-I'm Geo." The warrior stammered. The newcomer grinned.

"I'm Rosia." They chirped, MaL and Melon shared a surprised look. Geo looked at Rosia, mouth agape in shock as if Rosia had just grown 2 more heads.

"Rosia from BA?" Geo asked. Rosia gave a happy nod and a chuckle.

"Now that we know that I'm not some sort of psycho, should go find the others? Well...I'm supposing that there are others." Rosia stated, Melon tried to give Rosia a piggyback ride, despite them being taller than Melon by a few inches. Rosia was a BA warrior, their parents dropped them and their brother off at a religious camp, strictly forbidding Rosia from meeting up with their fellow BA members. Rosia decided to take the advantage and run away from the religious camp and meet up with the others in Colorado, a few days later, it was found out that many of the camp administrators and kids contracted ITEV.

"Hell yeah let's go to the base!" The lead hunter chirped, MaL and Geo laughed at the outburst of energy from Melon. They all made their way towards the base, Rosia eating an orange that they had received from Melon. MaL checked her phone, viewing texts from Okame and Maxie, relieved that the two were alive and well. The lead healer was full of joy once they saw texts from Sage and Tommy, indicating that Tommy and Sage had arrived and reunited with the pack.

The base was lighter than usual, Compass was showing off a new light that they had found. Melon saw Compass.

"Compasssssss!" She squealed in excitement to see her friend and all of the new members.

The newcomers all introduced themselves and caught up with their fellow packmates, the conundrum waking up their sleepy alphabeta. Okame exited out of the secret space Sage had found, looking at everyone.

"Hey, I just figured something out."