The room was quiet for a moment after jide answered the question.
Outside, people moved back and forth carrying planks, metal sheets, and pieces of scavenged equipment.
Lina stood near the long table in the center of the room, arms folded across her chest. Her eyes rested on Jide.
"You earlier said the scouts saw something," she said calmly. "What exactly did they see?"
Jide rubbed the back of his neck before answering. Dust clung to his clothes from spending the morning outside with the construction teams.
"It's strange," he admitted. "At first we thought it was just another group of survivors moving through the old districts."
Uzo leaned back against the wall and snorted.
"If it was survivors, you would not look like someone just told you the world is ending again."
Jide ignored the comment and continued.
"When the scouts got closer, they realized something was wrong. The people were not talking. They were not carrying supplies. They were just walking."
Lina frowned slightly.
"Walking where?"
"North," Jide said. "Toward the old battlefield near the river."
The word battlefield made the room go a little colder.
Everyone in the compound knew that place. Months ago, during the early chaos after the Rifts appeared, hundreds of people had died there fighting monsters.
Zara stepped forward slowly, her wings folding slightly behind her back.
"And you're sure they were humans?"
Jide nodded.
"They looked like humans," he said carefully. "But they didn't move like living people."
Uzo raised an eyebrow.
"That sounds like a very bad explanation."
Jide exhaled slowly.
"They were stiff," he said. "Their arms moved late. Like something inside them was pulling the strings."
No one laughed this time.
A few seconds passed before Lina spoke again.
"Did they attack the scouts?"
"No."
"Did they react when they saw them?"
Jide shook his head.
"They didn't even look at them."
The silence returned.
Outside the unfinished hall, someone hammered metal against the wall frame. The sharp clang echoed through the compound.
Uzo pushed himself away from the wall and stretched his shoulders.
"So let me get this straight," he said. "A group of dead-looking people are walking around near a battlefield full of old corpses."
Jide nodded once.
"Pretty much."
Uzo sighed.
"Yeah. I hate that."
Lina's eyes drifted toward the open doorway that looked out across the compound.
Workers were busy reinforcing the outer walls. Wooden watch towers were slowly rising along the perimeter. A large open space near the center had been cleared for what would eventually become the training yard.
Everything felt busy.
Alive.
But something about the scout report sat heavy in her chest.
"We should assume they're not normal," Zara said quietly.
"That was already the plan," Uzo replied.
Jide walked over to the table and placed a rough map down on the surface. It was a simple drawing of the surrounding districts.
"The scouts marked where they saw them," he explained, pointing to several circles drawn across the paper.
"They're spreading out?"
"No," Jide said. "That's the strange part."
He tapped the map again.
"They're all moving toward the same place."
Everyone leaned a little closer.
"Here," Jide said.
The location was close to the old battlefield.
Uzo scratched his chin.
"So they're gathering?"
"That's what it looks like."
Zara's gaze hardened.
"That means something is calling them."
Another hammer strike echoed outside.
~Clang~.
~Clang~.
The construction work never really stopped anymore. The compound had grown too large for its old defenses, and everyone knew they needed something stronger if they wanted to survive the future.
Lina straightened slightly.
"Speaking of the compound," she said, glancing around the unfinished hall. "How much progress have we made today?"
Uzo grinned.
"Finally. A normal topic."
Jide shrugged.
"The outer wall should be finished by tonight. The watch towers will take another two days. And the main hall…" he looked up at the wooden beams above them.
"Still a lot of work."
Zara crossed her arms.
"When this place is finished, it won't just be a shelter anymore."
Uzo nodded.
"Yeah."
He looked around the structure proudly.
"A real base."
Someone outside shouted instructions to a group carrying metal sheets toward the western wall.
Lina watched them for a moment.
"More like a guild," she said quietly.
The word hung in the air.
Uzo grinned wider.
"I like the sound of that."
Jide chuckled.
"A guild, huh?"
Zara tilted her head slightly.
"It fits."
The compound had already started working like one anyway.
Scouts brought information.
Hunters gathered food and monster cores.
Fighters protected the walls.
People repaired equipment and treated the injured.
Everyone had a role.
Everyone contributed.
Uzo clapped his hands once.
"Alright then," he said. "If we are calling this place a guild, we should make it look like one."
Jide pointed toward the far side of the compound through the doorway.
"We're planning to expand the training area there. More space for sparring."
Zara added calmly, "And the medical wing will move to the east building. It's more quieter there."
Lina nodded.
"That's where Kael's mother is staying with Varya."
Jide smiled faintly.
"They have already started preparing the rooms."
Outside, another loud sound echoed through the compound.
But this time it wasn't a hammer.
It sounded like wood snapping.
Jide frowned.
"That didn't sound like construction."
Uzo was already walking toward the door.
"We better check it out."
The group stepped outside together.
The afternoon sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows across the compound. Workers were gathered near the new foundation area for the guild hall extension.
A small crowd had formed.
Uzo pushed his way through first.
"What's going on?"
One of the builders pointed nervously at the ground.
"We were digging the support trench when we hit something."
Jide knelt beside the trench and brushed away loose dirt.
The shape slowly became clear.
A human skull.
Several more bones were buried beside it.
"Old remains," Zara said quietly.
"That area used to be part of the evacuation route months ago," Jide explained. "Some people didn't make it."
Uzo scratched his head.
"Unlucky place to build, huh?"
One of the workers stepped closer with a shovel.
"Should we move the bones somewhere else?"
Before anyone answered
~Click.~
The sound was small.
But everyone heard it.
Uzo frowned.
"Did someone step on something?"
No one moved.
Jide leaned closer to the trench.
The skull shifted slightly.
~Click…~
The jaws moved.
One of the workers stumbled backward.
"Did you see that?"
The bones in the dirt twitched again.
Very slowly.
Very quietly.
~Click… crack…~
Lina's eyes widened slightly.
Something inside the ground was moving.
The skull rolled to the side as if something underneath it was pushing upward.
More dirt began to slide into the trench.
Zara stepped forward immediately, wings spreading slightly.
"Everyone back away."
Another sound came from the soil.
~Crack.~
A thin bone pushed through the dirt.
Then another.
And another.
Uzo stared down into the trench with a grim expression.
"Well," he muttered.
"That's definitely not normal."
The bones began pulling themselves together beneath the soil.
Like invisible hands were assembling a body piece by piece.
Lina's voice dropped to a whisper.
"The scouts were right."
The ground shifted again.
And somewhere far away beyond the compound walls…
Something unseen continued calling.
Quietly.
Patiently.
For the dead.
(Author here : Just added more details on the scout report)