𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚕 - 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚍

03

𝚠𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜, 𝚠𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚞𝚗

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"R - RAY?! YOU T - TRIED TO GET YOURSELF KILLED?!"  Rosemary exclaimed as she gripped his shoulders, shaking him. "W - What if Emma hadn't stopped back then? A - and you get killed?" She panicked, shaking him harder.

"Ro, calm down. If you keep this up, you might actually kill him." Nat teased as Rosemary immediately lets go of Ray, "sorry!" She said. But as soon as she let's go of Ray, his head thumped at the floor.

"Oh my-- Ray! I'm so sorry! You're dead and it's all my fault!" Rosemary started spewing out apologies as she held his face. "R - Ray?!"

"R - Ro, you're too close." Ray stuttered. Rosemary finally realised the close proximity of their faces as she backs away from him.

"Sorry. . ." she apologized again. Ray stood up and patted her head, just like how he did back then. "It's alright, Ro." He says.

Rosemary talked to them all night, she had never felt so happy in her life as she did now. She couldn't believe how desperate she wanted to save them so she walked right into death's door just for them. They all told stories, about their escape, their plans, Rosemary told them how she escaped and the kids called her cool for using a gun.

Rosemary taught them the stuff she knew about survival as Sonju and Mujika did as well.

"We'll have to cross a river, and for that, there's no choice but to go outside. Mary will go with me first and scout the area." Sonju says. Rosemary had her hood on and her mask at her face, the only thing you can see at her face is her lips.

"Take care, you two."  Mujika tells them. "As always, Mujika." Rosemary says as the grip on her bow tightened. They were just about to leave but then Emma stopped them.

"Are you two going up?" Emma asked as Sonju answered with an aye. "Then please, take me with you two. K wasnt to get a look in the situation too. I swear I won't do anything risky, or bother you two in any way. . . . please." Emma says determined.

Rosemary and Sonju shared a look before Ro gives a small smile to her. "Of course y - you can come, Em!" Rosemary says to her. Rosemary nudges Sonju as he breathes a sigh, "I understand. . . however, do not, even for a moment, get away from me, " He paused then pointed to his mount, "and this."

And so, they went outside. Emma and Sonju went to ride the mount while Rosemary stuck to the trees. She watched them as they engage in a conversation.

She jumped down the tree, only to hear what Emma had said, "I want to learn how to catch, kill, and eat animals. I want to learn how to hunt, please."

Rosemary nodded to Emma as she looked at the sky. "Emma, " Rosemary says as she points up to a bird, "that will be your first kill," Rosemary says as she pats her on her back encouraging.

She shoots it as the bird falls on the ground. The three approaches it as Emma crouches down and touches the body. "It's so warm. . . it's still alive." Emma says.

"Good shot, Em!" Rosemary complimented then gave Emma a familiar flower, "Next comes the Gupuna."  When she handed her the Vida, Emma looked horrified as if it brought her memories she didn't want to remember.

"Hold it with care, " Sonju says, "this is a vampire weed called Vida. It's widespread everywhere. Pierce the chest of your prey with it." He continued to explain while Emma hesitated. But she finally eased up and stabbed the Vida on its chest.

When the three returned Ray went towards the two and smacked them in the head. "Trying to do it alone again?!" He shouts. Emma shakes her head and skips to Gilda. "T - That hurt, Ray." Rosemary says as she touches her head.

Ray grabs her wrist and pulls her into a hug, patting her head. "I'm sorry." He apologizes. Rosemary looked up at him in confusion. "It's fine, it didn't h - hurt that much." She answered.

"That's. . . not the only thing I wanted to apologize for." He broke the hug but his hands still held on her shoulders with a firm grip. "I want to apologize for almost killing you the other day."

At first, Rosemary didn't quite understand his statement, but when she did, she was quickly turned into a stuttering mess. "A - Ah, No. That's wasn't your fault, it was partially mine as well. Ever since I got s - shipped, I couldn't trust anyone easily because It c - could be the death of me. So when I h - heard voices I didn't recognise, I did what I could a - and threatened you guys."

Ray's guilty eyes softened but his lips still formed into a frown. He opened his mouth to reply but Rosemary spoke first, "honestly, I was going to use a g - gun but I chickened out in case the intruders were h - humans. But you did the right thing on assuming I wasn't m - me." She says.

"I'm still sorry." He said. Rosemary gives him a smile as they walk towards their family, towards tomorrow and the future.

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𝑎/𝑛: 𝑚𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 180
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