Ari sat up and groaned loudly. Her neck ached from sleeping on the floor and her stomach growled aggressively. She peeked outside and saw that most people were still asleep but some people were getting their morning started. She stepped outside and stretched her back, a various amount of cracks emitted from her body.
"Well that doesn't sound good." Hari laughed.
"O-oh, I'm used to it." Ari rubbed her neck.
"How was Zara?" He asked.
"She's still sleeping and so is Evie." Ari answered.
"I see..."
"If you want I can wake up Zara." Ari pointed.
"No no, it's alright let her sleep."
"I'm so fucking starving." Ari complained.
"I think we decided on the rationing so let's get some food."
Ari nodded and followed him.
"Hello there." A tall man that was wearing a comfy looking sweater acknowledged them.
"Oh hello." Ari said with a friendly smile.
He looked sweet and someone who'd take care of you.
"What's your name?" Hari asked.
"My name is Kai." He smiled. Honestly, he felt like a ray of sunshine to be around.
"I'm Japanese." He added.
"It's nice to meet you." Hari extended his hand out for a handshake.
Kai took his hand without hesitation and gladly shook it.
"So are you guys here for food?"
"Yep." Ari nodded.
"It looks like we can only afford one meal a day." Kai sighed.
"ONE MEAL?!" Ari gasped.
Hari sighed heavily and shook his head.
"I'm used to it." He shrugged.
Ari suddenly felt guilty that she was complaining about one meal a day when someone here has done that for their whole life.
"So Kai, which sector are you from?" Hari asked.
"I'm from the private sector." He said humbly.
"Forgive me if this is offensive but—."
"I don't look like I'm from the private sector?" He chuckled.
"I get that all the time. I don't prefer to talk about my status."
Hari was impressed by Kai's mature way of thinking. He knew it would be a good idea to hang around him.
"Good morning." Zara wobbled over to Ari and Hari.
"Good morning." Kai was the first to say it to her then Hari and Ari followed.
"That was the worst sleep I've ever had." Evie groaned and stuck her head back to stretch her neck.
"Ditto." Zara agreed.
"ONE MEAL A DAY?!" Evie shouted at the person who told her.
"We need to find another food source pronto." Kai said.
"I'll go have a look in the forest today." Hari mumbled.
"Mind if I join?" Kai asked.
"Of course not."
Ari noticed that Zara was looking around a little bit cautiously.
"Everything alright?"
"A-ah yes..." Zara avoided eye contact and answered.
The truth was that Zara was a bit scared of the men now, or at least the men that she didn't know. She wanted to know who was the one groping her last night.
She spotted Cass and casually walked over to him.
"Morning." She started.
"Mhmhm." He didn't bothering answering back.
"I'm gonna starve to death in this god damn place." He mumbled and shoveled the food he was given into his mouth.
"Hey, we're all dealing with it you know." Zara scoffed.
Cass looked at her with an annoyed glance and then back at his food.
She got the hint that she was being an annoyance so she left him alone and went back to her brother.
"And why are you talking to him?" Hari raised an eyebrow.
"He..." Zara couldn't tell her brother that he was the one that saved her last night.
"I was just letting him know about the one meal a day thing."
"Alright." Hari nodded, still slightly suspicious.
Zara thought about what Cass and her found yesterday and wondered if it would be a good idea to tell people, but she was afraid that they'd go into a state of panic.
"LISTEN UP!" Evie suddenly shouted, getting everyone's attention.
"I've been talking with some people and they next thing we should prioritize food and water! I suggest we split into groups and search around. Some people can stay at camp to organize stuff."
"And you made you leader? Cass scoffed.
"Well I don't see anyone willing to step up. We won't get anything done." She countered.
"This is a good idea!" Kai agreed loudly to get people thinking.
Everyone slowly nodded and agreed to the idea and easily separated themselves into groups.
"Alright I'll take charge of the water group." Evie said.
Someone else was put in charge of the food group.
"The goal is to survey the land and find anything that may be useful." Evie reminded.
Some people who weren't willing to do either stayed back and began to organize their supplies. Zara noticed Cass move from the food group to the water group where she was and casually walked with her.
"Why'd you switch?"
"This group seems more fun."
Ari was stuck in the food group with nobody she knew until Jay came along.
"Hey."
"Oh hey." Ari felt somewhat nervous around him.
"Looks like we'll be hunting and stuff."
"We are?" Ari's eyes widened in fear.
"I can't kill animals!"
"Thats alright just keep a look out for edible plants then."
"I have no idea which plants are edible." She admitted.
Jay looked at her and blinked plainly.
"I was kidding."
"Oh...I couldn't tell." Ari was embarrassed.
"Excuse me, but how are we supposed to hunt without any weapons?" Someone asked.
"I don't know but I got a pocket knife." Jay mentioned.
"Maybe we can make traps?"
"I'm good at that." Jay spoke again.
"What how?" Ari whispered.
"I'm good at making stuff, studied engineering. I may not look smart but I can surprise you." He winked and went off to look for supplies.
~~~~~~~~
"Do you even know where you're going?" Cass shouted at Evie.
"Trust the process dude."
"Trust the process? Why would I do that on a deadly planet?" He scoffed.
"Look. You're welcome to leave." Evie poked his chest.
"Why you—."
"Alright, let's all calm down now." Kai intervened.
"I'm sure we're all just cranky from not having enough food or water." He added.
Cass took a deep breath and stepped back.
"Fine."
Zara looked at him with annoyance.
"What are you looking at?" He glared.
"Stop picking a fight wherever you go." She squinted.
"And who are you to tell me that?"
"I do know that it ruins everyone's mood."
Cass crossed his arms, unable to find a comeback.
As they were walking Kai paused and looked at the dirt.
"What's wrong?" Hari asked.
"This dirt...is damp. That means water is near."
"Really?!" Hari was surprised he was able to catch that.
"Let's keep going straight."
"See? I do know where we're going." Evie stuck her tongue out at Cass, making him even more pissed.
It wasn't long before they encountered a massive lake.
"WATER!" Evie screamed loudly.
Kai smiled warmly his eyes turning into an eye smile.
"You're magical." Hari held his shoulder and laughed.
"It's no big deal." Kai laughed with him.
Suddenly Evie began to strip and jumped into the water. Once she resurfaced she laughed and poured more water on her head.
"Come on in!" She waved. Slowly but surely some other followed.
Zara saw her brother join in on the fun which was a surprise to her.
Hari took his shirt off, revealing a lean and toned body that nobody seemed to expect.
"Dude you're ripped." Someone complimented.
"It's all the work I do I guess." He laughed, embarrassed.
His eyes turned to Kai and saw that he was just standing there.
"Come on!" He urged.
"Ah no, I'm good." Kai shook his head.
"Oh come on." Hari sighed and grabbed his wrist, dragging him to the water.
Kai laughed and gave in, splashing along with everyone else.
"You not coming?" Cass looked at Zara while taking his own shirt off.
"No I'm good." Zara looked at the ground so that she was looking at Cass.
"Do I have to drag you?"
"No really, I'm good." Zara frantically shook her head.
Cass sighed and made the move, lifting her up. She squealed and quickly wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Cass stop, please."
"Don't be such a cry baby." He rolled his eyes and began to walk to the water.
"No no no." Zara held onto him tighter, unaware she was actually touching his bare skin.
Just as she was about to put her in the water he felt her cling to him to the point where it felt like she would choke him.
"I can't swim." She whimpered and did everything she could to not touch the water.
"I- Oh." Cass didn't realize and immediately took her back, putting her down on dry land.
Zara sat down and took some deep breaths.
"Why didn't you tell me before?"
"It's embarrassing." She frowned.
"No it's not."
"It is! My sector doesn't have access to a pool or anything so I never learned."
"Then how does your brother know?"
"He's had to go to the private sector to fix the pool many times, so I guess he just learned then." Zara shrugged.
"That's weird." Cass said.
"Anyway, go ahead and enjoy the water." Zara tried to shoo him away.
"You can at least put your feet in, come on." He urged.
"Alright." Zara said while taking her shoes off.
She stepped in the cool water with Cass right next to her.
"The reason I wanted to talk to you this morning is because of this." She pulled out the arrow head.
Cass gasped and covered it with his hands.
"Shouldn't we tell them about this? We are clearly not the only ones here." Zara explained.
"Not yet. It'll scare everyone and it's screw up everything." Cass shook his head.
"But I really think it's important to let them know."
"What's important?" Evie popped up behind them.
"Oh nothing!" Cass laughed.
"It's just important that we...make sure the water is clean." He lied.
"Ya you're right." Evie nodded and walked off to enjoy herself.
"Look. Don't show it to anyone. Not yet."
"But."
"No!" He quietly yelled.
"Fine." Zara sighed and tucked it away.
Kai was throwing water onto Hari and they were both enjoying themselves.
"Anyone wanna chicken fight?!" A guy yelled. Everyone cheered after him. Suddenly Hari felt himself being lifted by someone so he was sitting on their shoulders. Kai was also being raised and they were in a face off.
"First one to get knocked off loses!" Evie announced.
Hari had a rep for being competitive even when it was completely unnecessary.
"You ready?" He shouted to Kai.
"Heh, of course." Kai smirked, he was also not willing to lose.
They slowly approached each other and Hari went on the offense, grabbing Kai's shoulder to throw him off balance but Kai ducked and grabbed Hari's waist to physically throw him off. Unfortunately, his plan backfired and they both tipped over and splashed into the water. When they re-emerged, both were laughing and shaking their wet hair out of their face.
"Nice!" Hari held his hand up for a high five and Kai responded.
"That looks so fun! Wanna do it?" Cass asked Zara.
"Mmm...but I have to deeper in the water." She hesitated.
"Don't worry, you can still stand. See? Everyone is still standing."
Zara slowly nodded her head and walked deeper in. The water was now up to her belly.
"Zara? No you shouldn't do this, you can't swim!" Hari stood in front of her.
This angered her and only made her want to do it more.
"Hari, move I can have fun too." Zara glared and pushed past him. His was astonished with the way she spoke to him but he couldn't say anything in front of so many people.
Zara was facing off with Cass and she already knew she'd lose just because of how small she was compared to him. He gave a devilish grin as he instructed the person carrying him to move forward. The person under her didn't know what to do so he just stood there and before she knew it Cass gave her a simple push and she fell into the water. He took a moment to celebrate the small victory.
"Ah shit." Cass jumped down to help her. Zara coughed from the water going up her nose and sat there, the water up to her shoulders.
"You good?"
"I'm fine." She sniffled.
"Zara!" Hari quickly came over, casually pushing Cass away and making her stand up.
"I'm fine!" Zara pushed him away.
"Why are you acting like this?" He whispered.
Zara avoided eye contact but couldn't find the words to go against her brother.
"Sorry..." she muttered.
"Go sit on the bank and dry off." He ordered.
Zara nodded and trudged back to the shore and plopped down.
"Your brother is kind of an ass." Cass sighed.
Zara glared at him for speaking ill about him.
"Sorry sorry, I mean he's a bit suffocating." Cass changed his word choice.
"He just wants to protect me."
"Alright, so how are we gonna know where this location is go get water?" Kai ruffled the droplets out of his hair and sat on the bank.
"Mmm I already remember the way." Hari shrugged.
"Whoa, you got good memory?"
"Above average."
"Alright folks, lets head back now." Evie threw her shirt back on and began to lead them again.
"Uhh...I don't remember the way back." She admitted just a few minutes into the walk.
"That's alright, I do." Hari stepped forward and led the group.
"Guys we will come back here later today with a container to gather water. Make sure you have Hari with you. He seems to know the way well." Evie told everyone.
"Why is it so cold?" Zara shivered, her teeth literally chattering.
"Cold?" Cass blinked. He was still walking without his shirt.
"How are you half naked and fine." She hugged herself.
"You're such a weakling." Cass scoffed and threw his shirt on her head.
"What's this?" Zara grabbed it and looked at him.
"Just use this to dry your hair. That's probably why you're cold."
Zara flipped her long hair over and began to dry expertly.
"You can keep it for now."
"Why? I'm almost done."
"Don't give it back to me without washing it." He added.
"How am I supposed to wash it?"
"Figure it out." He shrugged.
"God, you're so high maintenance." Zara mumbled. 158Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4vC44mY7BK
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Kai
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