Chapter Four

One year later . . .

It has been a year since the war had started. Thankfully, our little group stayed intact with no one leaving. But sadly—no one was also being added to our little number of survivors. The Reins that have died during the year were more than I could count. They were erasing us from existence. We had tried our best to look for others.

But we hadn't had any luck. All we could do was pray that they were hiding and not in captivity.

The humans were afraid of the powers we, Reins, held. They were so afraid we'll use it to dominate the world. But they don't see that they were becoming the very existence they fear. We could easily fight back. But we believe that our powers were not given to us to add oil to the flame. We were gifted to make the world a better place. But humans don't understand that.

So, we were forced into hiding.

Thankfully, a year ago, we made the right choice of going into the road that led to the forest. We found an abandoned camp with five cabins, four small and one large. The forest was taking it back to where it came from. Plants were twisting on the roofs, the walls, and literally everywhere. Some part of it was broken or too weak to be stepped on.

We rebuilt the cabins and it had already been a year since then. It was easy rebuilding it for we all had our shares of help in doing so. With different abilities, everyone had contributed to making the place we all could call home.

Rose and Lily, who could control the plants, were to in charge of the vegetation and fruits. Coleen and Natasha were in charge of cooking with Coleen's fire ability. The triplets, Jack, Jake, and James, had the ability to control water, flying, and super strength respectively, were to patrol the surroundings to see and warn us if anyone was near our camp.

Carly kept her job. We had one cabin devoted to her room and clinic. It turned out; she had no need for equipment since she can heal people, though as long as it was not a matter of life and death wounds. While Carlos and Annie were to feed the few livestock we had.

While Drew, Steven, and I were in charge to get supplies from the town. Sometimes we go together, sometimes we go alone. And every time we went into town, we would not only focus on the supply but would also try to find other Reins.

We have created a little community where Reins like us would feel safe. And everyone helps in making it. Every one of us had a certain task to keep ourselves busy and to train our bodies. Everyone was happy to forget about the war.

If only it was that easy.

Since we only had three cabins available, we were forced to share it. Coleen sleeps with Carly at the clinic. And since there were three double-deck beds on each cabin, we didn't cramp into a small bed. We made our own mattresses with cotton from cotton trees.

Lily, Rose, Annie, Natasha, and I shared one cabin while the boys stayed in the second one. The third one was empty. But we were all praying to fill it up someday.

"Katra!" Natasha's voice had awoken me from my nap.

I sat up from the tree branch I was sleeping at and looked down at Natasha's haggard look. She was wearing a light pink sundress that reached mid-thigh and her feet were covered in white, flat doll shoes. She had her hair tied in a messy braid and her eyes were smoldering mad. I sighed at the sight. James had probably made fun of her again. Honestly, if you asked me, I'd say there was something going on between the two of them. But they refused to admit and would go berserk when asked. It was pretty fishy if you looked at it.

"What is it this time, Tash?" I asked, using the nickname I've given her. Natasha had become a little sister to me. Though all of us here treated everyone like family, Natasha and I were unbelievably closer.

"It's James!" she answered grumpily, stomping her foot.

"Who else could it be?" I mumbled to myself.

Then I jumped down from the tree, landing squarely on my feet. A year of fieldwork really does wonders on one body. I dusted my faded ripped-blue jeans and fixed my acid-washed shirt. I was wearing ankle-high black boots. My reddish hair was tied in a high ponytail.

"What did he do now?" I asked as I started to walk towards the main cabin and Tash walked beside me.

Annie and Carlos were playing by the small pond on our right, looking carefree and happy. I could see Dr. Carly from her cabin window busy studying some new method of healing she recently discovered. Rose and Lily were picking fruits and vegetables to be cooked at dinner. The triplets must still be doing their rounds because they were nowhere in sight.

Coleen was standing at the main cabin's porch, waving at us. I waved back at her and looked at Tash who hadn't answered my question. Instead, she was looking up at the orange sky and the stars that were slowly making its appearance.

Suddenly, the triplets emerged from the woods on our right. Natasha jumped in shock and I laughed softly at her. Jake and Jack were bickering about something that sounded like what a deer's dump looked like. But before I could listen more, James passed by us with a lingering stare at Natasha, who was furiously blushing as she lifted a finger to her lips.

Then it hit me.

"Oh, I see," I said with a smirk. Natasha came back to reality and faced me wide-eyed.

"What?" she asked defensively.

I shook my head at her, pretending to be disappointed. But I couldn't erase the Cheshire cat smile on my face as I continued to walk towards the main cabin. Natasha ran after me and tried to make me talk but I just smiled at her.

By dinner time, we were all together at the long table in the main cabin. Steven and Drew had just come back from their trip to the city with a box of our favorite junk foods, two sacks of livestock feeds, and a box of medical equipment and medicine for Carly.

But besides the good note of their trip, they also found out that the number of killed Reins had risen since the last time we heard. So, dinner wasn't one of the liveliest we had.

~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~ ~oOo~

It has been a month since I made a trip to the town so; I told Steven and Drew that I'll take the truck for some alone time. Thankfully, Drew, our residence mechanic, fixed the old truck, so it doesn't make such a loud noise at every move. And he created a start button so we won't have to rewire it every time. Even with the century that had passed the humans barely made a breakthrough in the technology department except for a few flying cars and things that made life easier without having robots control our everyday lives.

"Is this all?" I asked Dr. Carly as she handed me a list of everything she needed for the clinic. Thankfully, all she needed was cold, cough, and fever medicines. Meaning, none of us were sick.

"Yes, thank you, Katra." She said with a smile. "I know I'm not doing that much for–"

I cut her off, "No, don't say that, Carly. You do so much as a doctor and you and Coleen are the only parental figures we have. So, don't think like you're not helping."

She smiled at me and gave me a hug before she walked me to the door of the clinic and waved at me as I made my way towards the truck that was hidden under the shades of the trees. I sat on the driver seat and started the car. On the side mirror, I could see Annie and Carlos feeding the chickens, and the two pigs we had. Coleen and Natasha were helping Lily and Rose by the farm. The triplets vanished inside the woods, laughing as they did. Steven and Drew were busy fixing some broken chairs from the main cabin.

I smiled to myself. At least here, in our own little world, there were no wars.