Life After Death

Chapter 31

Third Person POV:

The next few days went by, and they could not have been more unexciting if they had tried. They found it was bliss.

All the days consisted of, was meeting the 'locals' as they called them, properly this time, and integrating themselves into the community more. They learnt about the different families, made more friends, and ended up with different roles.

Jade for one had taken to acting as a nurse in the med hut, dealing with the sort of injuries that tended to happen when people have to teach themselves how to do everything DIY. Javon, Whitney, and Axel had become one of the frequent groups going on loot runs and hauls, from anywhere they could find and scavenge enough to get anything remotely useful. Jace had taken to mechanics, fixing up and maintaining the collected and ordered vehicles. And Nathaniel and Vivian had taken to unloading and organising whatever supplies were found by the looters.

Jade also, had found herself becoming particularly friendly with another boy, who started volunteering as a medic around the same time. Austin. A fairly tall boy, with scruffy - yet strangely attractive - blonde hair. Though neither one of them had asked the others age, it was clear he was a similar age range. Perhaps 19 at the oldest. Jace had been the first to notice their closeness of course, Jace being Jace, though whenever he was spotted by any of them, he would shrug it off, claiming he was 'just looking in that direction'.

"Here, you guys can share these between each other," Jackson, another new friend of theirs said, handing a box of heart-shaped lollipops they had found to Vivian.

Jackson, unlike Austin, was definitely older than them. Somewhat in his 20's judging by looks, but in doing their jobs together, he, Nathaniel and Vivian had become good friends also. Rather than looking scruffy, he always seemed to look more, presentable. His inky black hair always brushed or combed to make sure it never got in the way of his eyes, and his clothes hardly ever seemed dirty, somehow.

"Wow, they aren't even melted," She said, unwrapping one, and trying it.

"The Reapers tend to make a lot of their own food we've found; someone probably found a sugar thermometer and had the bright idea of making their own sweets."

"I'm gonna go give some to Jade, she'll love these, give one to Leesa whenever she gets here," Vivian said, handing Nathaniel one for himself and one for Leesa, "Jackson?"

"No, thanks, you lot have 'em."

It was a warm day, the sun burning down on them with no clouds to shield them. Everyone was working up a sweat, even if the job wasn't a particularly physical one. And somehow, despite not being cold at all, the distinct cherry flavour was refreshing.

The med hut was noticeably small, all things considering. A manifestation of having little reason to use it perhaps. Whether the reason or not, it was true there weren't many injuries at all - at least not serious ones. In fact, since their arrival, no one had died, and there had been less than a handful of serious injuries. Those consisting of freak Lurker accidents that no one could have prevented mainly. Naturally, it wasn't Jade and Austin, or any of the other volunteers that dealt with those. There were two doctors, doctors that had been trained even before the world collapsed - Harriet and Elise, who were actually sisters. Both with long blonde hair, and both taller than most of the other residents of Serenity. Sometimes they looked so alike that people avoided saying their names just in case they were wrong, even with Harriet being five years older.

However, when it came to more of the little accidents, they were never short. Be it kids falling over, or people hammering their fingers when trying to repair or build something, they could generally expect an array of customers each day. Harriet and Elise stuck around of course, to make sure they didn't accidently kill anyone, or chop anything they didn't need to off, but it was mainly a quick and simple way of training them to be good in emergencies. A basic understanding of how to quickly fix a cut up could be invaluable when beyond the walls of Serenity.