Randall watched the activity around Colony House with an expression that blended boredom and contempt.
People smiled, chatted, and went about their routines as though they were living in any ordinary town.
No one seemed to remember that, once the sun disappeared behind the trees, that very same lawn turned into a slaughterhouse.
It bothered him more than it should have.
"Hey. How's it going?" The voice came from behind him, slow and almost amused.
Randall turned his head a little too quickly, his entire body reacting on instinct before he even recognized who had spoken.
Standing before him was a man wearing the kind of smile that looked like it had been practiced in front of a mirror.
"Dilan." He held out his hand. "Welcome to paradise."
Randall glanced briefly at the gesture but ignored it.
"Do you always introduce yourself like that, or do you just enjoy sneaking up on people?"
"My bad, wasn't my intention." Dilan stepped back and raised both hands in surrender.
Letting out a snort, Randall turned his attention back to the people coming and going.
"Why do these people act like this place is normal?" He jerked his head toward the lawn, where some residents were chatting while others tended the garden. "You've got monsters roaming around every night, and they're out there laughing, making small talk, and planting tomatoes?"
"People get used to it eventually." Dilan shrugged, sounding almost resigned. "Since no one can leave town, the only option is to keep your mind busy. Speaking of which... did Donna tell you about our newest water problem?"
"She did." Randall twisted his mouth in annoyance. "Like being trapped in this goddamn nightmare wasn't enough, now I've got to worry about dying of thirst too."
"Yeah. But if you want clean water, there's a way. Daniel sells it." Dilan paused briefly, waiting for the other's curiosity to surface before continuing. "And from what I've heard, he's started selling chocolate bars and alcohol too."
"Who? The guy from the motorhome?"
"That's the one."
Randall frowned. "There's money in this dump?"
"He doesn't deal in money." Dilan shook his head. "He trades for animals. You go into the forest, hunt something, bring it back to him... but there's one rule. The animal has to arrive alive. If it dies on the way, he won't accept it."
Suspicion appeared on Randall's face. It looked like the kind of expression he'd been born with.
"That's fucking weird."
"You have no idea." Dilan lowered his voice and took a step closer, as though sharing a secret no one else was supposed to hear. "Just this week, he traded away more than fifteen hundred liters of water. Fifteen hundred liters, man."
"Where the hell is he getting all that from?"
"Good question." Dilan cast a quick glance around before continuing. "Everyone found it suspicious. That motorhome couldn't possibly hold that much water, even if you ripped out every piece of furniture and turned the whole thing into a giant water tank. And honestly... that's not even the weirdest thing involving that guy."
Randall remained silent, but he didn't walk away either. For someone like him, that alone was a dangerous sign of interest.
Sensing the opening, Dilan pressed on.
"The night Colony House was attacked, a shotgun just appeared in his hands. Out of absolutely nowhere."
Randall slowly turned to look at him, as though questioning the man's sanity.
"You been drinking poisoned rainwater?"
"It wasn't just me who saw it." Dilan replied immediately, clearly offended. "And there's more. Overnight, he changed physically. He got taller, packed on muscle... ask anyone around here if you think I'm making it up."
He waited a few seconds before adding,
"Dale also told me that a few days ago, Daniel set up a tent around a huge bull in the forest. When he took the tarp down... the animal was gone. Completely. No blood, no carcass, no tracks."
Randall stayed quiet, digesting every piece of information with an expression caught somewhere between skepticism and distrust.
"Me and a few others have a theory," Dilan said it almost casually, but every word seemed carefully chosen. "We think he's connected to those creatures somehow. Or, at the very least, he knows a lot more about this place than he's willing to admit."
"So why the hell are you telling me all this?"
"You don't have to believe any of it." Dilan offered a faint smile. "I just heard about the little clash you two had. Figured you deserved to know who you're dealing with."
Without waiting for an answer, he turned around and walked away at an unhurried pace.
Randall remained where he was, watching Dilan until he disappeared.
The seed of doubt had already been planted.
He spat on the ground and turned his attention back to Colony House.
This time, however, he wasn't watching the people anymore.
He was searching the crowd for a certain blond man.
…
While the seed of discord was beginning to take root, Daniel had returned to the motorhome with Julie, leaving the rest of the group to prepare Brian's funeral.
Sitting on the spacious couch, he spun a lighter between his fingers. The metallic click of the lid opening and closing in a steady rhythm seemed to set the pace of his own thoughts.
Julie rested with her head in his lap, absentmindedly playing with the hem of the black leather jacket he was wearing.
"That place where we found them..." Curiosity colored her voice, along with a hint of unease. "Do you think it was the cave? The one where the monsters sleep during the day?"
Daniel let out a sigh, snapped the lighter shut one last time, and slipped it into his pocket.
"I don't know. That's exactly what's bothering me." His hand returned to idly stroking her hair. "Originally, nothing even like that medieval ritual happened."
[Spoiler alert: your meta-knowledge has officially gone on clearance.] The System's acidic voice echoed through Daniel's mind. [If the story keeps changing like this, you'll end up just as lost as the heartbroken deputy sheriff. Try not to die in a particularly ridiculous way.]
"Give it a rest," Daniel muttered.
"What?" Julie looked up at him.
"Nothing. Just my virtual tenant being as annoying as ever. He loves pointing out the obvious."
She smiled faintly and decided to steer the conversation toward something lighter than grotesque rituals and broken timelines.
"Fatima told me something earlier. Ellis proposed to her."
Daniel's hand paused in her hair for a moment as he searched his memory.
"Yeah... that makes sense. That really did happen in the original timeline."
"And she asked me to be her maid of honor." Julie's smile widened, genuinely happy for her friend. "How did it happen in the show? I mean... the details."
"Well..." Daniel leaned back against the couch, automatically adopting the tone of someone about to give a lecture. "After Ellis realized Fatima was becoming more and more paranoid and depressed, he decided they couldn't keep waiting for some miraculous rescue before they started living. So they got married right there at Colony House in an improvised ceremony."
Julie sighed, settling more comfortably against him.
"It's kind of sad and beautiful at the same time. Accepting that this place is their life now... and moving forward."
"I prefer to call it tragic resignation, but you're free to use whatever romantic vocabulary you like."
The motorhome's exterior camera picked up a small procession of residents walking toward Colony House.
Daniel glanced at the monitor feed and raised an eyebrow.
"Looks like the radio experiment's about to begin."
As soon as Julie got up, he climbed into the driver's seat, started the engine, and followed the flow of residents toward the large communal house.
By the time he parked, a small crowd had already gathered around the porch. Everyone watched as Jim and Jade made the final adjustments to the equipment.
Boyd arrived shortly afterward, accompanied by Father Khatri, Sara, Nathan, and Tian-Chen.
The radio had been set up on a wooden table. Beside it, a copper coil connected to dozens of wires running in every direction.
Standing before it, Jim explained how everything worked to Ethan, who watched in fascination.
"Every time I touch the screwdriver to a different wire on the coil..." He pointed at the copper with the tip of the tool. "...we test a new frequency. It's like tuning a station in your car radio, only by hand."
Image
"Everything's ready up here!" Jade shouted from the roof beside the improvised antenna, his usual impatience impossible to hide.
Jim took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.
"We're ready to begin, everyone."
From the doorway of Colony House, Donna raised her voice toward those still inside.
"Turn on the lamps! Now!"
The response was immediate.
Almost simultaneously, every lamp flared to life.
The air around the table seemed to tighten with invisible tension.
The conversations died completely as dozens of eyes followed every movement of Jim's hands.
With extreme care, he touched the screwdriver to the coil and slowly slid it across the copper wires.
The harsh, unmistakable hiss of static filled the lawn.
"We've got power!" Jim practically shouted, unable to contain his excitement. "We're getting a signal!"
Without a second thought, he dropped the screwdriver onto the table and pulled Tabitha into a tight embrace.
One of their greatest fears had vanished: the power had been distributed perfectly, preventing an overload from turning the radio into a pile of smoking scrap.
The celebration was immediate.
Even those who had no idea what the difference was between a ground wire and an antenna were swept up by the possibility that the device might finally represent a way out.
From the roof, Jade was quick to put an end to the moment.
"Could you two stop hugging and send a damn message already?"
Jim let go of his wife, picked up the plastic microphone with visibly trembling hands, and took a deep breath.
Gradually, silence settled over the lawn once again.
While the crowd's attention remained fixed on the radio, Daniel discreetly lifted his gaze beyond the forest. A thick, unnatural black cloud was advancing at an impossible speed, swallowing the sky as though some invisible force had decided to bring the storm early.
This was going far too smoothly.
"Mayday, mayday." Jim's first attempt came out weak. He cleared his throat and tried again, this time with more conviction. "Mayday, mayday, Does anyone read me? We need urgent help."
The only reply was the constant hiss of static.
Jim repeated the message.
Then again.
With every new attempt, hope faded a little more while desperation slowly began to crack his voice.
Suddenly, the static stopped.
"United States Army Communications. Unidentified station, identify yourself." A man's voice came through the speaker.
A collective gasp swept across the lawn.
For a brief moment, no one moved.
The impossible had just happened.
Jim nearly dropped the microphone.
"Thank God!" The words tumbled out, thick with emotion. "My name is Jim Matthews! We're trapped in a town in the middle of a forest! There are dozens of civilians here! There are monsters... creatures that come out at night and try to kill us! You have to send a rescue team!"
A heavy silence settled on the other end.
When the soldier spoke again, his professional demeanor had been replaced by obvious impatience.
"Sir, if this transmission isn't legitimate, interfering with military frequencies is a federal offense. You could be arrested."
The color drained from Jim's face.
He gripped the microphone so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
"This isn't a prank! My name is Jim Matthews! Look me up in your system! My wife, my two children, and I disappeared! We just want to go home!"
Realizing the engineer was on the verge of breaking down, Boyd firmly took the microphone from him.
"This is Boyd Stevens. Retired United States Army veteran. My service number is zero, four, seven, two..."
Without hesitation, he recited the entire sequence from memory.
"Verify my credentials. This isn't a joke, soldier."
The reply came only a few seconds later, but to everyone gathered around the radio, it felt like an eternity.
"Understood, Stevens. I'll verify your credentials in the database, as well as Mr. Matthews' missing persons report. Remain on this frequency and stand by."
The explosion of joy was instantaneous.
People embraced, laughed nervously, and cried openly, unable to hold back their tears.
Some covered their faces with their hands, unable to believe that after so long, they had finally reached someone on the other side.
Tian-Chen squeezed Sara's hand tightly, her eyes glistening with tears, while Donna remained perfectly still, as if she were afraid to believe too soon.
Daniel was the only exception.
While everyone else kept their eyes fixed on the radio, his remained locked on the horizon.
The dark mass of clouds was drawing closer with every passing second.
Beside him, Julie felt her heart begin to race as well.
Even though she knew how this plan ended, and despite everything Daniel had told her about the original timeline, a small part of her stubbornly refused to let go of hope.
Maybe...
Just maybe...
This time would be different.
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