“This is it.” Andrew said in an excited voice. “I have found some.”

Denis came hurrying over and looked down at the ground next to Andrew. But his excited face melted away in seconds.

“They are poisonous mushrooms, you idiot. When will you learn to differentiate them?" Denis said while rubbing his eyes in an exhausted manner.

Andrew felt a little embarrassed about his repeated mistakes. He tried to gloss over it with a question. “So anyway, do we have enough for dinner?”

Denis smiled wryly, knowing exactly how Andrew tried to change the topic. “We should have enough, yeah. I even found some of the tasty herbs you like so much.”

Andrew’s face lit up with excitement. The mushrooms were good on their own, but these herbs made them absurdly tasty. By far the best taste he experienced while staying in the caves.

He felt pretty satisfied about their haul. He purposely ignored the fact that he hadn’t contributed anything. He patted Denis on the shoulder and started to walk back to the caves.

Denis shook his head in amusement and followed him back.

Back at the caves, they gave their haul to the cooking team. They were also pretty excited about the food they would eat this evening.

After a lot of jokes and handshakes, Andrew and Denis managed to get away and into the leader's cave. Andrew hated the name, but people started calling it this.

They made their way deeper into the cave until the group they were meeting this evening came into view.

While coming closer, Andrew couldn't help but glance at Melissa. She was a very beautiful woman with her blond hair and curvaceous body. It was a miracle for him that she still looked like this, even though they were all a little too thin. There just wasn't enough food.

Melissa noticed his gaze and looked back at him with furrowed brows. Andrew quickly pulled his gaze away. It was annoying, that this was already the second embarrassing situation today. He had a run today.

Andrew sat down on the ground in front of them, looked each of them in the eyes, and nodded. He kept his eye contact with the still frowning Melissa as short as possible.

He finally turned to Alex and started speaking.

“You wanted to have this meeting. What do you have to tell us?” He asked the gruff man.

Alex swallowed and looked a bit nervous. He always felt uncomfortable when talking to more than two people. “It's getting colder,” he said while looking down at his hands. “The leaves are starting to get a little bit brown. The animals seem to be hoarding food. Some of the birds travel downward along the river, which is most likely south.”

Most of them noticed the leaves getting a little brown at the edges of the forest. And it was also pretty clear that the nights were getting colder. But they didn’t think much about it.

Alex continued speaking: “I wasn’t quite sure what was happening, so I talked to Tobias about it.” With this sentence, he stopped speaking and looked at Tobias expectantly.

Tobias nodded and looked at Andrew with wide and sparkling eyes. Andrew didn’t like Tobias very much. While he was a genius and found more and more ways for them to have a better life, he was also kind of creepy. Everything was fascinating for him, even if someone had a horrible wound or got poisoned. He lacked something… human.

“The changes in the flora and fauna show a big environmental change,” he explained in his erratic voice. “The only thing that changes is the weather. It gets colder at night. So I talked with a few people in the caves, and one was able to remember something very interesting. Winter.”

When he said the last word, the whole group grimaced for a moment. They all started to remember what winter meant.

Andrew gritted his teeth in frustration. They had just started to get the hang of their situation. They had enough food, clothing, and even a roof over their heads. People started to accept their situation. And some sort of normality was starting to take root, which gave the people a sense of security. And now they had to deal with this.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Melissa,” Andrew said, not wanting to continue talking to Tobias. “What is the emotional state of the people in the caves?”

Melissa learned a new skill after the river crossing. She was somehow able to heal emotional wounds and help people get over trauma. She herself didn’t know how it worked, but it made her one of the most valuable members of the cave.

Melissa combed her hair nervously while biting her lip. “It’s ok, I guess. I mean, it is much better than when I first got my new skill.”

She took a long pause while thinking about their predicament. “They can take it. But you need to tell them, Andrew. You will be able to think about it in a rational and positive way.”

Andrew nodded, already knowing that this would be his job. He turned his head to tell Dennis to gather the people, but he suddenly wasn’t able to speak anymore.

Andrew started to panic when his body stood up on its own and started to walk out of the cave. Judging from the different footsteps he heard, the others were also moving against their will.

Andrew tried his hardest to somehow gain control over his body back, but it was to no avail. It was like someone else had stolen his body, and he was only a passenger now.

While Andrew was still trying his best to somehow get out of this situation, they came out of the cave. What Andrew saw made him forget his efforts for a moment.

Everyone gathered in the rocky clearing that surrounded their caves. They stood in parallel rows and were motionless. Andrew and the other leaders were the last ones to arrive, as no one else joined them anymore.

“Is everyone here?” said a voice from the front of the group, sounding a little bit bored.

“Perfect.” The person spoke again, this time with forced cheerfulness. “Thank you for gathering here on such quick notice. My name is Detlef, and I will conduct today's inspection. Does anyone have any questions?”

Of course, no one answered him, as no one was able to even open their lips.

“Perfect.” The person said again. This time, the voice came from the left of Andrew, seemingly making his way along the rows of people. “Alright, what do we have here?" He started mumbling to himself. From what Andrew heard, the person started to walk between the rows of people.

“Group of sixty-nine people. Very good survival rate. A few promising individuals. Adaption to magic power in its early states. Only a few people have close to no chance to complete the adaptation. And…”

He entered Andrew's field of view. It was a tall and very thin man. He wore white clothes made with incredible sophistication. Right now, they could only dream of making clothes like this. Something was very odd about the man. Andrew wasn't sure what it was, until he compared the man to the ragged group of people. He was completely clean. His dark hair flowed over his shoulders, even shining in the light of the descending sun. And not even a speck of dirt stained his clothing. The man looked completely alien in their midst.

When he walked by Karen, he abruptly stood still and looked at her in surprise. “A pregnant woman. How extraordinary. Kai will be very pleased indeed.”

The man scribbled something on a plate he held in his hands. While doing so, he analyzed Karen from head to toe, even lifting her hair and clothes up to get a better look at her body.

“This is unprecedented.” He exclaimed, almost seeming breathless. He was smiling and shaking his head in disbelief. After he finished checking on Karen, he returned to the front and was out of Andrew's view again.

“I want to thank you very much for participating in this inspection. I also want to congratulate you all for your high survival rate and, most of all, for having the first pregnant woman since the integration! This is an amazing achievement. I want to thank you in the name of the Creator and everyone who follows him.”

He made a slight pause, before speaking again. “Alright then. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors. Hail the Creator, and until next time.”

With these words, Andrew gained control over his body again. Then he stumbled to the ground like everyone else. A few screams erupted from the crowd, but Andrew had another priority. Karen. Right at the moment when he fell down, he saw a flash of light where he had last seen her. That couldn’t be good.

He somehow got back on his feet and stumbled toward where Karen had stood before. But he couldn’t find her. She was gone.

A breathless Alex came stumbling over. His stoic face was distorted in agony and fear. He wanted to say something, but no words came out of his mouth.

Andrew looked at him and shook his head. He wanted to somehow console Alex, but he stepped away. Alex nodded and bit his lip so hard that it started to bleed. He turned around and started walking in the direction of Melissa. She was already helping the most anxious people.

Andrew also started to use his skill to calm down the people around him, and he managed to ease the unrest a little. He often glanced over to Alex, who helped Melissa carry the unconscious ones back to the caves. Andrew was amazed by how mentally strong the man was. But then again, maybe he did something so he wouldn’t lose his mind.

Andrew couldn’t do anything for him at the moment, as he was desperately needed here. Denis would be able to get Alex to talk. He somehow got even the most closed up people to open up to him.

“What happened just now?” asked Denis in a tense voice. Andrew turned around and saw him standing behind him, barely able to stay on his feet.

Andrew took him by the shoulders and forced him to sit down. He mulled over the question but only found one solution.

“I guess we now know who put us here.” He said silently, while looking around to see if anyone had overheard them. “And it seems that we are their guinea pigs.”