Isaac yawned, blinking bleary eyes as the rest of his body slowly woke from a much-needed slumber. To his left, the first rays of sunlight spilled into the large guest room he had crashed in. The shattered windows barely registered as a problem. If anything, the steady stream of fresh air was a welcome change.

That was… nice, he admitted, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. It helped, enough to let him sit up in the wonderfully soft, warm bed.

And wasn't that something? After over a week of sleeping on whatever he could find, he had forgotten just how nice it felt to have a normal bed to use. Sure, his regeneration took care of any consequences from resting on hard ground, but his body and mind definitely enjoyed this small change of pace.

He hadn't felt so relaxed in a while! And that was just after about five hours of sleep.

Maybe keeping a bed in my Brand isn't such a bad idea after all, Isaac thought with a chuckle. Nah, I will live.

Without much hurry, he rose to his feet, doing a few quick stretches. He grinned, hearing some of his joints pop from the effort. Then, he stepped toward the shattered window, taking a look outside as his mind returned to the last night—or rather just his conversation with Jason.

At first, they only talked about the journey from Galt to Los Angeles. At some point, Isaac even lost track of just how many questions the older man had asked him about all the monsters, territories, and other things he and his team had encountered on the way.

Calling Jason curious was an understatement.

From there, the conversation shifted more to Sacramento's Contamination Zone itself. Starting from how it all began to how it ended with the fight against the Minotaur. To say the older man was aghast after hearing some of the details of the battle was putting it mildly. It took him a good couple of minutes to speak again.

Thankfully, once Jason recovered, it was Isaac's turn to ask questions.

He kept it simple at first. The general situation in LA, leadership, potential issues, and things like that. He already knew bits and pieces from his run-in with Matthew's group, but firsthand information was always better. Even if he didn't plan to stay in LA long, it didn't hurt to be prepared.

And so, Jason jumped right into a tale of his own. In the beginning, he pretty much confirmed everything Isaac had heard from Matthew, but then he elaborated on some facts.

For example, LA had no real leader anymore after the Contamination Zone transformed into a Safe Zone. Sure, there were still a few larger groups, like the one holed up at Long Beach Airport, but other than that, people mostly stuck to smaller squads and only worked together when necessary. Did that cause some issues?

Definitely, but Jason had no real details about any of that. With two young girls under his care, it wasn't a surprise that he had never really gone out into the city or beyond it. The only source of information were the few neighbors in the area.

Still, Isaac appreciated the insight. At least this way, he could build a clearer picture of how other places on Earth were dealing with the Breakout. Learning that everybody in LA had to kill only five Wretched each to awaken their Origin definitely put some things into perspective.

Other than that, they also talked about getting some supplies for Isaac's female teammates and the people they had saved. According to Jason, it shouldn't be an issue with how many houses stood abandoned in the area. Food was another matter, though.

Once that particular conversation wrapped up and there were no signs of James or the girls returning, they had called it a night. Jason showed him to a guest room, wished him good night, and left him alone.

Interesting guy. Isaac snorted, summoning some fresh clothes from the Storage Brand Rakin had given him. Once dressed, he stepped into the hallway. Instantly, his nose registered some wonderful, mouthwatering scent coming from downstairs.

Jason is awake, then. Good.

Not wasting any more time, Isaac followed the smell, soon finding himself back in the living room connected to the kitchen. To his surprise, Jason wasn't the only one waiting for him there.

No, for some reason, everybody was already awake and seated around the long table next to the kitchen. A quick glance at the steaming plates explained the source of the inviting smell.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, sleeping beauty," James greeted with a grin. He turned to the two young blonde girls sitting next to him. "Sarah, Lisa, that's the friend I told you about. Go on, introduce yourself."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"Hi!" the girl with shoulder-length hair chirped, waving her hand. "I'm Sarah!"

Isaac quickly realized he must have been blind or really distracted when he was looking through James' family photos. Somehow, he had missed the fact that the girls were twins. If not for the slightly different hair length, those two would be indistinguishable.

So much for enhanced vision, Isaac grumbled in his mind, just when the second girl spoke up.

"Hello," she mumbled, ducking her head as all eyes turned to her. She refused to look away from her plate.

James sighed loudly. "Really, Lis?" He shook his head, looking back at Isaac. "Excuse her, she is shy around strangers."

"I'm not," the girl protested with a murmur.

James arched an eyebrow at her, a smile playing on his lips. "What was that? Couldn't quite hear you down there."

The young girl didn't deign to answer him. She just harrumphed and returned to her food. Next to her, Sarah was giggling.

"That's our Lisa for you," Jason said as he stepped out of the kitchen carrying a plate piled high with rice and—was that chicken? For breakfast? Strange choice, but Isaac wasn't complaining.

"Come on, Isaac. Sit down while it's still hot," the man added, placing the plate before an empty seat. "It's nothing much, but beats eating canned fish, eh?"

"Amen to that, Uncle," James said, groaning. "I'm not touching any sardines for the next year."

Isaac chuckled as he took the offered seat and dug into his portion. As Jason said, it was much better than the stuff he had eaten on the road. Not on the level of the scrambled Wyvern egg, but still better.

Better not get used to it, he thought. If everything went according to plan, he would be out of LA in a few hours. Elaine and Marie were waiting after all.

Still, as the breakfast progressed, he couldn't deny that it felt good sitting around a table like this. It reminded him of different times, back when the Old Man was still alive. Even if he hadn't been happy with his life back then, the company had been priceless.

At one point, Sarah, who was practically jumping in her seat—no question who she took after—even asked him a question.

"Mr. Isaac! Can you really turn into a big raven?"

Caught mid-bite, Isaac set his fork down and offered the girl a smile. "Yeah. Alpha Bloodraven, to be precise."

"Awesome! You can fly!" she beamed. "That's way cooler than big brother's smelly bull."

Isaac snorted as, on the other side of the table, James gasped, clutching his chest. "Betrayed by my own sister. The pain!"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Should have gotten a better Legacy then."

"Oi! At least I have one, you annoying brat."

The girl simply stuck out her tongue at him.

James narrowed his eyes. "Why you little s—"

"Enough children," Jason cut in, sounding more resigned than angry. He shot Isaac an apologetic glance. "I would love to say they aren't always like this, but…"

Isaac chuckled as the man trailed off. "It's fine. I have been traveling with James for over a week. Know exactly what you mean."

James yelped. "Hello?! I'm right here. And why am I the problem? What about Sarah?"

Jason gave his nephew a flat look. "James, you're twenty-six. She is thirteen."

Just like that, Isaac's teammate deflated like a balloon. "Aight, fair enough," he muttered. And credit where credit was due, he managed to ignore the quiet snickering of both girls beside him.

Before long, the mealtime came to an end. While Isaac would have liked to stay and rest for a bit longer, the timer signaling the start of Virus Wars was running out. He had to get back to work. As such, before James could disappear again with his sisters, he caught his arm.

"We need to talk," Isaac said quietly.

James' smile vanished when he heard the tone of his voice. "Right…" the man muttered. "Follow me."

They stepped out of the house and into the backyard that had seen better days. Fallen branches, a split tree, patches of upturned earth. Fitting scenery for what came next.

"You want to leave," James stated the obvious. "When?"

"As soon as I can," Isaac replied. "Need to gather supplies first, but after that? I can't stay. You know that."

James ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah… figured as much. Listen, man, I would go with you, really I would, but—"

Isaac raised his hand, stopping the man before he could say more. "Don't. You don't owe me an explanation. I understand anyway. Family takes priority. No one will fault you for that."

James let out a breath, chuckling. "That's a relief. Still feels like shit, though. Without you three… I would have never made it here this fast, or ever really. To just leave now…" He shook his head. "Ah, well. Us splitting doesn't mean our team is done, right?"

Isaac smiled. "Not at all. With the Virus Wars coming, things might get messy, but it doesn't mean we can't team up again in the future."

"Good." James grinned, the melancholy gone from his voice. "Let's get you those supplies then. I'm sure the girls and Uncle will help."

And just like that, the two of them returned inside.

Even with the journey reaching its end and the Virus Wars fast approaching, Isaac wasn't worried in the slightest. Things would change now; their team might no longer work like it used to, but did that really matter?

No.

Because the truth was, despite starting this apocalypse alone, Isaac now had people he could call friends. People he could trust and talk to without any barriers. That wasn't something the old him could have ever accomplished.

And now?

Now, he just had to fight harder than ever and continue growing stronger to make sure that all this effort wasn't for nothing. The wars to come would be brutal and bloody, but in the end, losing them was out of the question.

Isaac would do what he had to.

Even if it meant turning rivers red.

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