75 Settling Down and Internal Struggles
On the journey home everyone was exhausted, almost everyone there hasn't had an experience with the military before, especially one with the military trying to shoot them out of the sky. Some people were frightened, others were sad that the military wouldn't accept them.
But after seeing all that they felt as though they made the right decision in choosing to join this group. Otherwise, it's likely that they would be captured or killed, either way, it wouldn't have looked good for them.
Lachlan and Simon were still resting, the beasts were also fairly tired but not enough to stop flying, they couldn't just stop right now, not after they succeeded in gaining new members.
Everyone else stared around themselves and to the ground, they found it both beautiful and scary, some people were terrified of heights and held onto someone else's back or the beasts for dear life. They closed their eyes and just hoped nothing would happen.
As they finally reached the island after a long 4-hour flight, everyone's arse was hurting, and their legs felt numb. When they reached the ground and hopped off they could barely feel their legs. Some people jumped off immediately and hugged the ground.
Lachlan and Simon were finally awake, but barely. Their bodies felt sore right down to the bone, they walked down the wing ramp and sat down on the beach. They landed there since they still weren't sure about everyone, although they knew they should be able to trust them all due to their situation being the same.
Some people burst through the trees, speeding straight towards them. A small figure jumped up and slammed right into Lachlan causing him to fall back towards the ground. On top of his stomach was Sarah, who had a smile going across her face.
"Lachlan you're back!" She shouted while tightening the hug she was giving. Lachlan didn't feel anything and slightly lifted her up, giving her a peck on the forehead.
Lachlan smiled and pet Sarah on the head, causing her to smile more. He then picked himself off the ground, with Sarah still hanging from his stomach, it was as though she stuck like glue. Lachlan knew it was due to one of her strengths.
Dylan saw Lachlan was exhausted and came over to help out.
"Welcome back Lachlan," Dylan said as he wrapped his arm around Lachlan shoulders to support him.
Maddie was already by Simon's side, helping him walk back onto Storm, "Let's go back to the hut Storm," Storm knew who Maddie was and listened, and shot back into the air flying over the trees heading towards the centre. She activated her own high ranked gravity stone along the way, making sure they don't get crushed.
The rest of the group slowly emerged from the trees with a bit of shock written across their face, none of them expected the first operation to be so successful. There were at least 30 adults with their children in their arms or by their legs.
Lachlan and Dylan walked past into trees, he was leading him towards the cave where he could relax and drink the water, as they walked past Chloe told him, "You did a great job, let the rest of us take care of it now."
Dylan walked Lachlan through the trees and towards the cave. Once they were in he led Lachlan towards the river, he then lifted Lachlan up and laid him down on the soft grass. Sarah never let go and was still hugging Lachlan's stomach, never letting go. Lachlan and Sarah both fell asleep.
Chloe and Flynn were still on the beach in front of the crowd, their daughter by their side, as a way to give the parents some form of comfort trusting them.
"Alright! There is a cave further in the island that's going to be a safe haven, it won't be that forever since we're planning to turn it into farmland, but while it's still like how it is everyone will be resting there!" Flynn shouted towards the crowd.
"When do you think there will be changes?" An older woman amongst the crowd asked.
"When we build the area for everyone to stay, until then, you will all be in these caves. I will also suggest you stick with someone in the group for a little while, the gravity on this island is unique and most of you will not be able to handle it," Flynn explained. The crowd of parents quickly tilted their heads in confusion.
"What do you mean by that?" This time it was a young man that asked the question from the back.
"I mean what I said, the island on this island is extremely unique. Where you are standing right now, the gravity is double that of Earth's, every one hundred metres it will increase again. We have our ways of dealing with it, but once you gain our trust we'll explain and give you the method to handle it by yourself as well," Flynn explained calmly.
Some of the parents didn't look too pleased with the explanation, "So you're saying you don't trust us, we risked our lives to get here, you should at least tell us how to live on the island."
"The method used is one that could become a dangerous weapon when in the wrong hands. We don't want these methods to be used against us or other people, and don't worry, you'll be able to gain our trust quickly, but just a warning. You'll be able to lose that trust just as quickly," Flynn warned them all intimidatingly.
"Now, let's go to the cave," Flynn changed his attitude swiftly and said with a joyful tone, "Don't fall too far behind and don't let your kids run around until we get to the cave, they might get crushed by the gravity."
The group quickly followed behind Flynn like ducklings follow their mother. The kept their kids by their side constantly, never letting them leave their sight.
As they walked towards the cave the crowd of people couldn't help but be in awe due to the size of the trees. Looking up and walking almost caused them to fall over, the swaying branches distorted their balance for a quick second.
Once they reached the cave the parents turned into hawks, analysing every minuscule detail as they walked. The stream of water was what intrigued them the most, it looked so clear and clean. Not long after they reached the end of the cave and was completely flabbergasted at what they saw, similar to Lachlan, Joe, and Simon's reaction when they discovered the main cave.
"What the hell is this?" One of the parents asked. They looked up and noticed the stones giving off sunlight in the ceiling. They could see the lush and vast greenery, and at the centre was the giant ice cube, where the water stream starts.
"This is where you'll be staying for now. I will say, we are planning on letting a few people live here to tend to the crops once we begin to grow them," Flynn explained as he giggled internally at their shocked expressions.
"What about this water?" A rather bulky man asked. He noticed the water stream coming from the giant ice cube in the distance, the fire inside the cube was what intrigued him the most as the ice should have been completely melted by now.
"Why don't you take a sip, don't drink too much and don't let the children drink it for now," Flynn warned them. The water's effect intensifies the closer they are to the source, he isn't sure whether or not the children could handle those effects.
"Huh, there can't be anything that unique about this water," The bulky man said as he reached down and scooped a handful of water. He brought it towards his mouth and drank it all down, Flynn facepalmed as the man didn't heed his warning.
"There's isn't anything uniq-," The bulky man quickly curled into a ball, his teeth were chattering to the point where Flynn was surprised it hadn't broken yet. A woman quickly rushed over with a child in her arms, "What's wrong with him?"
"Just wait," Flynn calmly said. The woman turned back towards her husband and noticed he wasn't curled into a ball anymore. All of his limbs were extended on the ground, his face that of bliss.
"This water has the effect of healing and rejuvenating the human body. But, obviously, it has its limits and what you'll experience to get those effects are rather painful. Your body will feel as though it's freezing over, your muscles will stop responding to you and right after that a warm comforting feeling will overwhelm your body," Flynn loved drinking the water. Although the freezing feeling was painful and annoying, after drinking the water so many times he's gotten immune to it and it's well worth the reward.
"Anyway, enough of that, I suggest everyone relax for now. Dinner will be cooked in a few hours where we will meet back by this river to eat," Chloe informed the crowd. Chloe and Flynn then walked off towards Tamika and Dakota to talk.
The parents quickly spread around and let their children play around. Since they were a group beforehand everyone already knew each other, and their children got along quite well. The parents just chatted with each other to pass the time.
Lachlan and Simon slept the rest of the day, everyone respected that and left them alone to recover. Chloe and Georgia already went out to go hunting, they were planning on catching a big fish or bird for everyone to eat.
They wanted to try more, all sorts of varieties. What they came home with this time was a large bird, although Lachlan and Simon could have tamed it, this bird was rather weak for its size, so they didn't think they would want it. As for the meat, they weren't sure how tasty it was, but they knew exactly how they were going to cook it. Roasted.
It was 6:00 pm when Lachlan finally woke up, still sore but at least not too exhausted. He felt rather hungry as he could hear his stomach growl at him, but first, he needs to do something else. He got up and reached out to scoop up a handful of water, this came almost directly from the source.
Lachlan drank the contents down rather quickly and immediately felt the freezing effect but rather enjoyed it. He felt as though it numbed his pain, but making everything rather relaxed, a little too relaxed.
He got up and sprinted towards the side of the cave and pulled down his pants. After a little while, he had finished and returned to where he was, Sarah was there still napping peacefully on the ground.
Lachlan walked up to her and poked her cheek. She quickly woke up from that with a smile, she quickly hopped up and wrapped her arms around Lachlan's neck, "Good morning Lachlan."
Lachlan laughed as he knew it was the afternoon but decided to go along with it, "Good morning Sarah."
He quickly smelt something from the distance, something that caused his stomach to gurgle loudly and cause Sarah to laugh loudly. They both got up and le their noses lead them towards the source, he discovered the parents circling a large fire, there was a massive bird being held above it by a large piece of wood, and the one cooking it was Sandy, Joe's dog.
Once it was cooked everyone quickly dug in. The meat was absolutely delicious, the parents were surprised at how good it tasted since they've never tasted beasts before. Meat pretty much became a rare item, due to how difficult it is to acquire it now.
It wasn't like a farm, as all those animals have long since evolved into beasts that had to ability to crush those farms. Which they did, farms had become a rather dangerous spot right after the evolution.
After finishing his meal Lachlan left with Sarah in his arms. Dylan decided to stay with the parents in case any of them wanted to leave the cave to take care of any business.
As Lachlan and Sarah got back into the hut Sarah suddenly suggested, "Why don't we sleep on top of the tree."
Lachlan thought about it for a bit and decided it was a pretty good idea. The tree branches at the top were thick, similar to their roots they could easily hold them and all the beasts if it wanted. Lachlan swiftly took out his stone and made use it was on. Since the tree was so tall the area at the top was still affected by the gravity.
He picked up and planed her on his shoulders, walking outside he bent his knees and jumped upwards. Since the gravity wasn't affecting him he shot upwards, he quickly reached the top and activated gravity again, only normal Earth gravity.
He landed on the branch and looked up. Although there were a few tree branches and leaves in the way, there were plenty of large gaps where they could see the starry night sky. Sarah huddled up next to Lachlan and fell asleep staring at the sky.
Lachlan leaned back and held onto Sarah tightly, he thought about a lot of things staring at the sky. Especially everything that's happened. With his parents and brothers dying, leaving him all alone to take care of Sarah.
With this whole organisation thing that's started, everything just letting loose as tears began to well up and slide down Lachlan's cheeks. He tried his best to hold back his emotions, give Sarah a brother that she thought was tough and strong.
But it was difficult, the number of burdens that were on his shoulders, it was tiring to continue to appear mentally stronger than he really was. He was still young, yet he was just pushed into this chaotic world, losing the ones that would have helped him along the way quickly.
As for taking care of Sarah. It was as though he was walking through a misty forest, where he could barely see his hands in front of him. He didn't know how to take care of a child, the only thing he knew was that he had to be there for her.
But even then, there were times when he couldn't be there. Like when they were attacked back at Mount Barker, he was still on the island, leaving Sarah to hide in that basement in fear.
Looking down towards Sarah in his arms, 'Although I don't know exactly what to do, I at least hope mum and dad could be proud' He made a vow, that while everything was going on he wouldn't let there be a time where he left Sarah alone to deal with everything by herself.
Although, it is much easier now that all the other parents were here. Not to mention all the other children in a similar situation, 'Hopefully, she can become friends with all of them.'
Lachlan fell asleep soon after.