At 50 yards out, I slowed to a jog. I didn't want to provoke a defensive response from the clearly nervous family. The mother of the family spotted me first as I approached. She eyed me warily, reaching out to grab her husband just above his elbow.

I gave them my best smile and a friendly wave. “Hello there, you from Earth?” I asked.

"Yes, we arrived unexpectedly," said the man, who appeared to be the father. “You?”

I slowed and stopped at 10 yards away. “Yeah, you know. Just the average weekday for me. I was just keeping to myself, watching the news. Then before I know it, the earth is shaking, windows breaking, sirens wailing, then POOF! I end up here.”

Curious about the source of my poor humor? It’s my father. The more anxious I get, the more cringeworthy my humor. It is a sad truth of being a male in the Himmel family. Completely at odds with the feminine half of the family, mother and sister are both witty and charming.

The victim of my poor humor gave me a friendly chuckle. You know, the courtesy chuckle. It’s given when you don’t really think someone is funny, but you try not to hurt their feelings and laugh for their benefit. It’s a common technique used to make things less uncomfortable, very useful for small talk.

I pressed forward. “My name is Cass. I’m from on the outskirts of Denver, western side. I lived in a town house over on Sharp Estates. You from a similar area?”

They visibly relaxed. The mother gave me a warm smile and responded. “It is nice to meet you, Cass. I’m Danielle. This is my husband Taylor, and my kids, Haley and Jim. Haley is 14 and Jim 12.” She looked at her kids with pride before returning to the conversation. “We aren’t far from Sharp Estates, just a few blocks. It is in a pleasant neighborhood. We were packing up to leave on a trip when we were, umm, forcefully relocated. We’ve been sitting here for the past couple of hours trying to figure out this system and deciding what we will do next.”

Scratching at the stubble on my chin, I nodded. This wasn’t good news. I was out for a few hours. Luckily, everyone must have been too worried about themselves to notice me passed out nearby.

“Have you seen any others?”

The father responded. “Few from our area. Though we heard some people talking. They all seem to be from Colorado, but you lived the closest to us. There was a crowd in the valley upon our arrival. As far as I can tell, they worked in various jobs such as office, construction, and fast-food service. Since many of them knew each other already, they grouped together to convene meetings and discuss plans. Most of them went toward the mountains. A couple of the group leaders invited us to go along, but we stayed apart, most the folk we saw were working age. Our goal is to find the safest options for the kids." Taylor said with a frown. “We were hoping to find some other families, but so far we haven’t seen any others.”

“That’s strange.” I said aloud. Secretly, I considered it a blessing that there weren’t more young ones present.

We lacked knowledge about his world and its inhabitants. People have good intentions, but dangerous circumstances result in poor decisions made in stress and fear. I understood why the Johnsons stayed away from these groups. In these groups, they were the outsiders. A dangerous situation when two of their party were minors unable to defend themselves.

That was when it happened. Slap! A wail and then a scream pierced the silence of the meadow. It wasn’t far off, just on the other end of the hill.

Quickly, I turned to check for danger, then gestured for Danielle and Taylor to get away from this place. They needed to hide their children. Taylor manifested a bow as they carved a path away from the hill and toward the treeline near the foot of the mountain. At least Taylor had some sort of weapon. At that moment, I wished I had a weapon. In the absence of one, I would need to be quiet and smart. I looked around. The meadow was open with some hills. Our position wasn’t discreet. Fortunately, the hill had some areas with cover. Despite the potential danger, I investigated. I crouched and did my best to creep silently up the hill toward the cover.

Hopefully, this was all just a misunderstanding. As humans in another world, cooperation was paramount. However, there might be threats outside of humans in this place. The blades of grass blew in the wind and reflected the light of the red sun. More yelling, more screaming, then a scuffle broke out and after some meaty hits, there was deep laughter, then it went silent. I tiptoed the rest of the way.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

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> Skill Obtained: Stealth

>

> Based on your mindset, focus and temperament, you have learned to conceal your movements. This will allow you to move without alerting others of your presence. Skill is less effective against those with high perception stats.

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Well, that couldn’t of come at a better time.

I was a fairly large guy at over 6' while exercising at the gym had kept me slim. I still had a decent amount of muscle. Someone like me would need to work harder to move quietly.

My heart beat rapidly. Despite my size, I preferred to avoid conflict. In this type of situation, that may not be plausible. The sound of another pained yelp resulted in a pang of fear and renewed anxiety. Finally, I was at the hill's summit. The rock outcropping was the perfect size, and I hid behind it to eavesdrop. Peeking out from my position, I activated the optical zoom on my glasses to get a better look.

There was an enclosed wagon surrounded by several riders. They sat on large brown animals that looked similar donkeys, if donkeys were the size of Clydesdales.

On the ground was a man, bruised and bloody. He appeared to be unconscious and his face was red and swollen. Similar to what you might see on the losing end of a one-sided boxing match. However, as disturbing as his crumpled body was, the actual surprise was in the form of the brutish green humanoid next to him.

He was a large, muscular man with 2 inch tusks protruding from his lower jaw. His skin color was the same hue as the prolific pine trees that bordered the meadow. His muscled arms were more than intimidating. The man sneered at the crumpled human. He was so similar to the orcs you might see from video games.

I was angered by what I saw next, but was powerless to act. At least not until I got stronger. Inside the wagon, quivering in fear, sat two teenage women and a studious-looking man. Their hands were bound. The ropes constricted their necks as if they were some sort of livestock.

An orc woman in between the wagon and the violent male orc trotted towards the crumpled man while sitting on her steed.

“Pathetic!” the aggressive orc male called to the crumpled human. “Just a light slap and you're on the ground bleeding out. You are weak, even for elf scum.”

It wasn’t a fair fight to begin with. The orc was huge and muscular. How could a human fight against that? I chided myself for that type of thinking. We weren’t on civilized earth any longer. An entitled attitude toward fairness would do nothing to help our cause.

The only speck of luck was that the orc didn’t really seem to be concerned with the crumpled human. As I observed the orcs, I could tell he was trying to impress the female sitting on the beast. Her sleeveless tunic showed off toned arms that looked similar to what you might see on a muscular tennis player. Her expression wasn’t doting, rather, it was indifferent, maybe even a tinge annoyed.

“Seeardu! The elf is of no use to us dead.” She gave him a pained expression. “Think before you act! If it is so weak, then it should be easy to subdue. Also, we are here to investigate the solar disruption from earlier. Don’t let your bloodlust get in the way of your job.”

The male grunted in annoyance. He then picked up the unconscious human like a bag of cement, plopping him on his shoulder and ambled toward the wagon. He looked back at the orc woman. “All I’m saying is that these weakling elves disgust me. Why don’t we just kill them now and be done with it?”

I tried to swallow, but my throat was dry. Watching injustice with no ability to act was terrible. The guilt ate at me. For now, all I could do was gather information. More was at stake than these four unfortunate souls, and this was a marathon. To survive and return to Earth, we needed to adapt.

The violent orc dumped the unconscious man in the wagon near the other humans. Where he lay bleeding. One woman tried to go to his side, but the orc female slapped her. She yelped before pleading. “Please, let me see to his bleeding. You wouldn’t want blood on your wagon.” The orc woman near the wagon had a sadistic smile on her face. She was enjoying this, unlike the other indifferent orc woman. “He is fine, elfling. It will be good for him, toughen him up. Besides, you will experience worse when we get back to the tribe. She smiled wickedly.”

The Orc woman on her beast rode back. She wore more expensive looking clothing than the others. She must be the leader. I thought to myself.

"Come on Ciara, see how they whine," the sadistic orc woman called out. The indifferent orc leader didn’t bat an eye, “This has only delayed our arrival and I wish to speak to the council. We don’t know what caused the magical disturbance. Let’s get these back and have them questioned by the council.”

The other orc woman groaned, “Ciara, you’re never any fun anymore.” She was only ignored by her leader.

I stayed a while longer, watching my fellow humans in silence as the orcs towed them away in their wagon. I offered a silent prayer for them and vowed they wouldn’t be forgotten. They might not be able to be saved, but we could learn from them and be ready for the orcs the next time they came into contact.

The orcs rode off, wagons bumping over a well-beaten road, hardly noticeable if you weren’t looking for it. They continued along the mountains until eventually they turned into one canyon. Noting the location, I turned and left.