The peaceful vibe of the community room is gone.

Villagers are yelling and screaming.

Scared. Some injured.

Tears and high emotions.

The Mayor keeps trying to calm everyone.

But nothing is working.

He speaks in numerous tongues and dialects, trying to break through the tension.

But nothing works.

He goes back to English.

"People. My people. Calm! Calm!"

A chorus of villagers, across all gender and age, scream their opinions and fears.

"There is no calm! We are being invaded by hell!"

"I say we attack," a hot head starts. "We attack with everything we have!"

"We have nothing to attack with! The port is still on fire!"

"Please," The Mayor says with tears in his eyes, "we need calm and order. We cannot talk over one another."

A large woman stands in the back and points at the Mayor.

"How can we have calm and order when we cannot feed our families?! We cannot even go into the waters that are creeping up closer to us."

"Please," The Mayor starts.

"I'm not done talking! We don't even know what fish we can eat. This fish good, this fish toxic and bad. Our crops are wilting. We try to breed a few precious cows and then win a contest for them!"

Most parties clap and cheer for the woman.

Orion sneaks in the back of the room. He moans from the bruises and cuts and sprains to his body from the battle of the day.

He whistles to himself as he leans against a tree breaking through the wall, surprised at the tension in the room.

Another villager stands in the front.

"There is not many of the fallen left! We can defeat them!"

A woman across the way stands. "If we didn't have Orion and Cole, we would all be food for the fallen. Us women would be used for breeding, and children for horrors we can't comprehend!"

Some people yell by the appalling declaration. One woman passes out by hearing it.

The Mayor lifts his hands, trying to calm everyone down.

Another villager stands on his chair. "We need to heed the word of The Scientist. We must hide in our huts. Dig underground. The radioactive skies will kill us all."

The chair underneath the village breaks and the fool falls. Orion laughs.

One of the oldest villagers starts to speak. "We need to leave this horrible island. Take our chance on the open sea. Find our ancestors. Other forms of life. Away from the fallen."

"The fallen are everywhere!" Someone snaps in a loud voice, making the old villager take a step back in fear.

"They were banished to these islands!" Another villager screams. "We are their property. The sooner we unify, the better."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Damn you! You traitor!"

"Open water! We must all go to the ocean!"

"You wouldn't survive the open sea," a voice across the room carries over all. "None of you would."

The room goes quiet and all turn to whom spoke.

Cole stands, leaning against a wall in the shadows, much like Orion.

He has not forgotten. He is stronger and more alert.

Cole takes a step into the light.

"All of you are wrong. And all of you are right," Cole starts.

"What do you mean, Cole?" The Mayor asks.

"We are apart of the island chain that the fallen claim as their own. Their breeding ground. Their hell away from the civilized world. Where they hid before they revealed themselves. Before we destroyed the environment and the world. We are nowhere near anywhere else habitable. The rest of the world is not what you think."

Silence.

"How do you know, Cole?" Someone asks, who had recently been taking care of him.

"I just know."

Nobody disagrees or argues with him.

"Thank you for saving us today," another villager says after a bit.

Cole leans back in the shadows and points at Orion across the room.

Others look where he points and acknowledge the warrior sitting in the back.

The Mayor clears his throat.

"We are so indebted to you, Orion. First thing, under my order, is to build another strike force under Orion. For protection. Like the old days."

Nobody disagrees.

Orion gently nods.

"Orion," The Mayor starts, "what do we do? Any wisdom you share will be heard and followed. I promise."

Again, the angry villagers don't erupt.

They slowly turn in their chairs.

Orion cracks his neck and looks up slowly.

"We stay and we fight. And survive. Try to remember who the enemy is. Not each other. Yes, the fallen will attack. They will scare us. Some of us will get hurt. And some of us will die. But they won't win."

The room calms down a little bit.

Orion walks out.

He slowly walks through the village.

Some of the most wounded and hurt and scared are being tended to. All nod a 'thank you' to Orion as he makes his way through.

The lights and huts don't look so beautiful this night.

Orion finally comes up to the smallest yet cutest dwelling we've seen yet. The beautiful cow is tied up next to it, happy.

It moos as Orion comes up and gently pets it.

Isla walks out from behind, carrying a small basket of crops that could not be for more than one meal. Mainly dirt.

Orion looks at her.

"How are your crops?"

Isla shows up what little she got.

"Horrible. Horrible soil, horrible crops. Thank you for the cow. Trix talks to it."

Orion smiles.

"Is she okay?"

Isla puts her basket down. "She finally went down. Scared out of her mind. Wet her bed. Or sweat through. I couldn't tell with her screams."

Orion just keeps patting the cow.

"Orion, thank you." Isla tries to get him to look at her. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you."

"I've cried wolf before," his voice says with a low rumble. "What did she see?"

"I don't know," Isla responds. "I ran as fast as I could. She hears everyone talking about it. She saw the hurt. And is wondering where some of the dead are."

"They are waiting for us," Orion answers.

Orion turns to leave.

"What is a wolf?" Isla asks, innocently. "What is cry wolf?"

"Oh. I'll explain it to you one day."

Orion turns and walks away.

Isla opens her mouth to say something, and reaches out her hand.

But she just lets him go.

Orion rubs his face with his hands.

Cole waits for him across the way.

"Come on, Cole. Let's keep walking," Orion says.

The two take off into the darkness.