Chapter 3
When we reached a small house isolated in the countryside, my savior cut the contact and turned to me. The intensity of his gaze took my breath away.
"I'm sorry I was so rough earlier," he apologized.
"That's okay," I replied.
"I haven't asked you yet, but what's your name?"
"Chloe Hart and you?"
"Will Murrey, nice to meet you," he said, smiling at me.
"Nice to meet you," I said, shaking his hand.
"In any case, welcome among us!"
"How many of you are there?" I asked, curious.
"We are a group of 5, now 6 with you. I'll introduce them to you soon, they're waiting for us inside. But first, there are some rules I have to tell you about and that you must follow, do you understand?"
"Yes, I'm not stupid you know. I understood that you have to make compromises to survive."
"I... I didn't mean it like that," he stammered, uncomfortable.
"I know you didn't. So, what are these rules?"
"First of all, no cell phones. You can have one of our iPods disconnected from the satellite. You can thank Max for that, a real computer genius. Secondly, you will not be allowed to leave this house unless it is an extreme emergency. Of course, you'll have to help with the cooking, the cleaning... in short, the housework. And also, we have roles assigned for... "
"Roles?" I asked, intrigued.
"Yes, Max keeps an eye on the surroundings and the news with his computer. Laura makes us climb occasionally and shoot with knives or a bow, otherwise she helps Liam teach us fighting techniques. Rachel is a great cook and teaches us how to blend in."
"What about you? What are you teaching us?"
"I'm going hunting and supervising the running training."
"What's that?"
"And yes, you'll have to run every day from now on and take classes from Liam, Max, Laura and Rachel."
"Is this a joke?"
"Unfortunately not," he said seriously. "Well, let's go inside. We can't stay here all day."
So he took me inside, which smelled like a fireplace. I examined every corner of the house. Although it was made entirely of wood, it had floors and rooms big enough for a group of five people to live in. And even without any apparent decoration, it had a lot of charm.
"Come on, they must be in the living room," Will said.
I followed him, still carefully observing my new surroundings. He took me to a room where four people were talking to each other, sitting on armchairs and sofas around a large table.
"Hi guys, this is Chloe, she's going to be staying with us for a while," Will introduced me to the rest of the group. "And," he added, "don't mind her eyes, I'll explain later."
"Hello Chloe," said a girl with Venetian blonde hair. "I'm Rachel, aka the best cook and also the only one in this house. And this tall asparagus is my best friend Laura. We've known each other since we were kids and we came here together even though..."
"She would never have made it to this place without me," interrupted the famous Laura.
"That's not true, don't listen to her," she said.
"Yes, I am. You need to know something, Chloe. This place will change you. Miss Rachel here didn't have a single muscle when she arrived, and now, let's just say she has a little more than she used to. And it's not for lack of working her out."
"Oh, stop it, girls," said a tall, dark-skinned man. "Let's let the new girl get her bearings. I'm Max, the computer pro," he said, holding out his hand. "Will must have told you?"
"Yes," I said shyly, squeezing his palm.
"And since I'm the last to introduce myself and the most respectable, I only have two more things to say," said a muscular guy with dark brown hair and electric blue eyes. "My name is Liam and welcome to our home."
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