After arriving right at the front of the massive Gate Adam stared at Kate and Althea.

  “So do we just knock?”

  However before neither one of them were able to reply a small opening revealed itself. Black eyes stared at them at the other side of the wall, it widened probably not used to any visitors at this time of the night, or not being used to any visitors at all.

  It stared at them for another couple of seconds as if to confirm their existence before closing the small opening by sliding some sort of wooden mechanism.

  They all stared at the gate, confused and waiting for someone to fetch for them. Adam feared that the brothers might not be here right now and that no one would let them in.

  “I think you should knock again,” Kate suggested.

  Adam was about to do as she suggested when the gate shook. Dust that had settled on the ground stirred as the gate opened itself inwards.

  Behind the gate Kleoff was standing with a surprised face, beside him was a man slightly older than him with black eyes.

  “What were you doing here?” Kleoff asked, immediately sensing that something was wrong.

  “That would be a long story,” Adam answered.

  Kleoff then urged them to enter the confines of the village, tall watch towers and wooden houses were scattered all around it.

  Adam assumed that most residents were probably asleep and those that are awake were eying them from afar.

  They were probably anxious with the presence of people they had never met. They have stayed here for over nine years.

  Kleoff led them into the center of the village where one of the cottages lay. This particular one looks old but also the only one that wasn't plain.

  It looked like a ranger's house to Adam, the rest of the house despite being new didn't have the same level of craftsmanship as this one.

  Kleoff climbed the house deck and pushed its door, urging the group to do the same.

  The man was still beside him staring at them as if to assess if they were a threat.

  Inside the cottage there were some paintings, darts and even a deer head hung on the wall.

  There was also a table in front, someone was sleeping in the chair with his hat covering his face.

  Kleoff flicked the hat off the man’s face, revealing Charlie who was snoring asleep.

  He slowly wiped his eyes and stretched his arms with a yawn.

  When he finally looked at Kleoff’s direction he widened his eyes when he saw who it was that's with him.

  “Adam? Wait, what are you guys doing here?”

  “We need help,” Adam answered.

  The statement seemed to have woken Charlie, he directed them to a room in a cottage where there are several wooden chairs and a slightly long table rest.

  He urged them to make themselves comfortable as he picked one of the chairs to sit at.

  Adam didn't know how to start, the fires crackling from the lanterns around the room was the only thing that was the opposing silence.

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  It was Kleoff who asked first.

  “The travel was dangerous, I assume it was urgent and you even have Althea with you, I hope Kiel stayed in the island”

  Neither Kate, Adam nor Althea was able to answer.

  When no one did, Charlie turned serious.

  “Wait-”

  Before he could finish Adam had already replied with a nod.

  “What happened?”

  “Nolan” Adam simply said, the name felt like thorns in his mouth.

  He then explained everything that happened, leaving almost no detail.

  From the way that Nolan had controlled the greys, to how they attacked the island and how he killed Kiel and the captain. He talked about the residents who were left there and they weren't even sure if we're still alive, to even Linda who saved them and called Kate by her name. Charlie, Kleoff and the man beside him all listen intently. The man’s face who had been once filled with anxiousness and doubt started to be filled with understanding.

  After Adam finally finished his story the room was once again filled with silence.

  No one was sure of who they would respond.

  “We'll help,” Charlie declared.

  Kleoff seemed to stare at his brother for a moment before agreeing with him. Adam noticed there was some doubt in him, maybe fear. It was not the usual things they had been facing.

  “But for now you all should rest, we can talk more about it tomorrow. “

  Charlie suggested.

  “Yes, there is still some time before the sun rises. Liam should lead you to one of the empty cottages,” Kleoff said, looking at the man named Liam.

  The man nodded and led them outside the cottage to one of the wooden cabins.

  He pulled a key out of his pocket and used it to unlock the cabin’s door.

  “I'm sorry for your loss” the man spoke in a way that might have meant he lost someone as well.

  He was roughly Kate’s height, black hair and slightly brown skinned.

  Adam nodded and entered along with Althea and Kate.

  The cabin thankfully had three rooms, they all picked a respective room and settled in for the night.

  Sleep arrived quickly for Adam, being tired from their long journey he was able to rest without any dream interrupting him.

  He woke up to the early morning sunlight that was passing through the cabin’s glass windows. He got out of bed and stretched his arms. He checked his injured hand and realized that it was fully healed.

  He got out of his room to check where Althea and Kate had been.

  Unfortunately, he wasn't able to find them anywhere within the cabin.

  He headed out to search for them, in doing so he saw several residents chatting outside each of their cabins. Adam realized that the village was actually bigger than what it first seemed.

  He tried to traverse the paved path in search for the house where they had found the brothers.

  During his search he noticed that the most of the residents were still eyeing his glances and the only ones that weren't were the young ones playing around just close enough to the cabin’s location so that their parents could watch over them.

  Their ages widely vary from ones that were older than Kiel and ones that were younger.

  He also noticed that unlike Adam they didn't seem to be as mature.

  It might have been the protection they had received that they were able to keep that side of them.

  Finally after some time of walking he arrived at the familiar wooden cabins and knocked on its door.

  “Enter” Charlie's voice answered from inside.

  When Adam did he saw Charlie, Kleoff, Kate and Althea all sitting around the table while holding a mug filled with what Adam assumed was coffee.

  Charlie handed him a mug, Adam reached for it and took a sip, confirming that it was indeed coffee.

  He then took a seat at the chair beside Kate, with Althea at their front and both the brothers sitting behind the table.

  “This place is amazing” Kate declared.

  “It is, though it's a little hard to keep it that way,” Kleoff replied.

  “What do you mean?” asked Althea as she took a sip of her coffee.

  “Well for starters, it wasn't the same as your island which was surrounded by water to keep the greys away, second it was far from any city so getting resources was a pain” Charlie was the one who answered as he placed his hat on top of the table.

  “And those walls? There's a reason for that- as I said, unlike the island with water surrounding it this village is prone to attacks, not only that, if a kid or anyone walked far from the walls confines they could potentially leave the gap and- you know change” Charlie followed.

  “Wait, now that I think of it, how did they even survive that night? I doubt these walls were already here then” Adam asked curiously.

  “Yes, you're right they were so vulnerable then, this place was a touring spot and as you said there weren't any walls not even houses, the only one that was there then was this cabin that was meant for a ranger” Kleoff explained.

  “At first they didn't notice anything strange, they just stared at the shooting stars and took pictures of it but when some people started to leave that's when it happened-” Kleoff took a sip before he continued.

  “A family of four first left, walking away this hill and when they did the other ones who were still inside this gap heard screaming- the ranger, being tasked for the safety of the tourist, immediately checked for the source.”

  “Surely after going down hill he found it, the family had turned to something even his nightmare does not have- he fired shoots of rifle immobilizing two of them but the others were left to chase after him, he tried to run away but as he stepped outside the gap he felt pain inside him, I can't really tell that he was in pain but his screams highly suggest it” Charlie explained.

  “One of the tourist who brought a binoculars and saw everything that had happened and explained it to the other tourist, luckily they weren't noticed by the monsters yet- however that didn't give the tourist any comfort, a couple decided to leave the hill on the other side, the rest of course stop them saying it might be too dangerous but the couple weren't listening, the man with the binoculars watched them as they left the hill, he saw it happened, the same thing that happened to the ranger” Charlie sighed.

  “After that every single tourist became fearful of leaving this hill, they all hid themselves in this small cabin and spend the night, with only one person checking outside for any presence of monsters, that kept them safe but not from hunger, their supply dwindled quickly within almost a day or two, but thankfully the monsters appeared to have disappeared, they had turned docile and slept well within the woods, allowing the tourist to hunt for their own food, all while still not going far from the hill, afraid that the change that happened to the ranger and the couple also happened to them”

  Charlie finally finished explaining, setting his mug at the table.

  “When did you come to the picture?” Althea asked.

  “Sometime after we left the island we found them, they already have survived for a couple of years without us but the still needed someone to go outside to fetch them other resources that they normally they wouldn't be able to get within here”

  The group continued to talk for another few minutes before Charlie suggested Kleoff introduce them to the locals and explained that they would be leaving for sometime.

  Kleoff nodded and escorted the group outside, leaving Charlie alone in the office.

  He thought about Nolan, about how he killed Kiel and the captain.

  He then removed his glove, revealing the grey patch of skin that only continues to grow each day.

  He took one last sip of his coffee and hoped that he wouldn't be like Nolan.