The next morning came swiftly and way too soon. Eean cracked an eye open when he felt somebody shaking him. It was Charley. He had a goofy smile plastered on his face.

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty," he joked, grinning even more when Eean looked at him. "It's a big day! Your first day on the job! Welcome to Survival Inc. where we have to work to live around here. Are you even used to hard work?" Charley moved when Eean sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"Of course I am." Eean yawned sleepily. "Just not waking up at dawn." He crawled out of bed, stumbling a little. His legs were sore from their encounter with the Cats. No wonder his legs were sore, all he did was run and act like a chicken with it's head cut off. He was never good at being calm in dangerous situations. It was one- of many- of his flaws. Being a fighter was never his thing. Talking himself out of situations was more of something he'd do.

Eean followed Charley out of the room. When he shut the door and stepped into the lounge area, the others were already there waiting on him.

Olivia nodded once at him. Greyce and Jodi didn't even glance at him; they were playing some sort of game with sticks and rocks. Lance was sitting on the floor facing the wall, drumming his fingers on his arm. Eean stood awkwardly. Olivia cleared her throat, making everyone look up. Lance even did too, but, bless him, he was staring absently at the ceiling.

"Good morning. I'm glad you finally decided to join us!" She said sarcastically.

Eean chuckled lightly and scratched the back of his head. "Well, uh, you see-"

Charley stepped in. "I let 'em sleep in, Livs. That would be the last time he got a full night's sleep in a while." He elbowed Eean.

Olivia's serious face got even grumpier. "Don't call me that. And get breakfast started, Charley, for letting sleep longer than the rest of us." She jerked her head once towards the kitchen.

Charley sighed. Bewildered, Eean looked at Olivia, curiosity in his eyes. "Um, why does Charley have to cook? Won't you, Greyce, or Jodi do it since you're girls?"

The room held its breath. Even Lance stopped moving and actually stared at Eean. Charley's mouth was in an 'o' shape, head whipping between Olivia and Eean. Jodi and Greyce dropped their sticks and eyed Eean with disgust.

Olivia was fuming. "Say that again, you b-"

Charley grabbed Eean's arm. "Woah, he didn't mean anything Liv- er, Olivia. I'm sure Eean would be delighted to help me with breakfast." His nails dug into Eean's arm. He yanked both of them into the kitchen, making Eean stumble.

"Hey, man, what the Hell?!" Charley hissed at him. "Olivia, Greyce, and Jodi are not your typical girls. They're tough, probably tougher than me and you. Olivia hates being told what to do. Especially when it's about the stereotypical women jobs. Don't even think about saying something like that again or she'll probably kick you out and you'll be on your own." He held onto both of Eean's arms and shook him slightly. Charley actually looked worried. He wasn't smiling.

Eean swallowed. "Oh, o-okay. Geez, I got it, man," Charley let him go and Eean brushed himself off. "No more speaking to the girls."

Charley chuckled. "Probably a wise choice, my dude." He turned to the counter and opened a cabinet above his head. "Aaaaand we need more blueberries. Typical." Without looking over his shoulder, he said, "Eean, go get more."

Eean leaned against the counter. "What?"

Charley closed it and scoffed. "Go outside and go pick more blueberries." He spoke like he was talking to a toddler, dragging each word out.

Eean sighed deeply. "Um, sure." When he saw Charley's smug look, Eean glanced at his new friend with dread. "Oh, no, not by myself."

Charley nodded. "Oh, yes, by yourself."

Eean chuckled nervously. "Yeah, I don't think that's a good idea. I don't know where the heck I'm going," he pulled on Charley's arm. "A-and I don't know how to defend myself properly. I'll get killed."

"Use your ability to insult all the girls."

"Haha, yeah, no," Eean chuckled dryly. His eyes held no mirth and he was not planning to fly solo on the blueberry mission. Charley either came, or Eean didn't go at all.

Charley couldn't help but smile. He had no sort of tension, that poor guy. "You'll be fine. Nothing in the forest can hurt you except the Cats. And they're usually asleep during the day anyway. I promise, bro, everything will be hunky-dory!" He practically shoved a basket into Eean's hands and gave him a push on the way out of the door. He patted his back reassuringly.

Eean swallowed. "First off, don't ever say 'hunky-dory' again, you dork. Second off, I–" The door shut in his face before he could protest anymore. He lowered his arms. "Shoot,"

The woods looked even more menacing in the daylight. Every shadow was highlighted and the eyes of every creature were visible. Scowling, Eean trudged into the woods , making a racket and snapping sticks underfoot. On every other step, he ran into a spiderweb or some other problem, making him squeal- or curse, depending on the situation. It happened way too many times than Eean would have cared to count. Eventually, he recognized the place where he met Lance yesterday, with the berry bush and the basket still a mess. He straightened them up before he began filling his own basket with blueberries.

How quickly life could change. In an instant, Eean's world was flipped upside down. He wasn't even alive anymore. Or maybe he was reincarnated with a group of people his age. Heck, maybe he didn't die at all. He could be dreaming about all of this. If it was a dream, it felt very real to Eean.

If it was a dream, he wanted to wake up. Badly.

The basket was nearly full with plump blueberries when there was a rustling in the bushes a few feet away from Eean. He hesitated, glancing in the direction of the sound. Then he kept picking. The rustling started back up and Eean began to get a little scared.

"Charley, if that's you, I swear..."

A black figure jumped out of the bushes and towards Eean. A Cat! he thought first. Shrieking, he scampered back, knocking the berry basket over. The animal's path was right at Eean. Shutting his eyes, he prepared for imminent death- a second time.

Nothing killed him. That's a plus.

Opening an eye slowly and cautiously, Eean breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever it was didn't want him dead. The sigh was also because the animal wasn't what he thought it was.

"Ooooh man," he said shakily. "At least it's not a Cat- oh, wait, no, it is one."

Eean cursed every God or deity he could think of because his luck ran out again. The creature was, without a doubt, a Cat. Just a very very tiny one. It looked exactly the same as its older generation, except smaller and its eyes were more orange than yellow. And it had a playful, not menacing, look in its eyes. Strangely, it reminded Eean of Charley.

The miniature Cat- kitten?- sat and stared expectantly at Eean. Cocking its head, it licked its small, needle-like teeth. Eean gulped, afraid to move or breathe. The two watched each other, one with wonder, one with caution. The kitten eventually stuck one paw out, then another, then another, then another. Eean's breath hitched in his throat. It was going to devour him, eat his eyes, drink his blood, grind his bones-

It touched him without fear, purring softly like a far away machine gun. The kitten rubbed its scaly yet smooth head against Eean's outstretched arm. Eean drew back quickly, not disturbing the young creature. Eventually, curiosity won and he stroked it again. A small smile was painted on his lips.

The sun was almost at the highest point in the sky when Eean realized he had a job to do. "Ah, kitten!" he cried, scrambling to his feet. "I've got to leave. I'm sorry." Regretfully, he picked up the blueberries and filled the basket with them, for the second time that day. Charley, but mostly Olivia, were going to kill him- again. "No-no, you've got to stay here," he whispered soothingly to the kitten when it tried to follow him back home. It meowed persistantly, insisting on coming too.

"Eean, don't you dare," he told himself. "Stop. This is a horrible idea, oh God, oh frick, they really will kill me." In his head, he was weighing between right and wrong, but his hands acted on their own. They picked up the small kitten and placed it under his left arm. Grabbing the basket with his right, he continued home.

I'm dead. He thought miserably. But if he was entirely miserable he would have put the kitten down, so somewhere in him he must have been excited or happy to rebel. Deader than dead. Smoked. Guaranteed no redos this time. Olivia is gonna make sure I stay dead! When he emerged into the field with the small house in the middle, his heart fluttered like a trapped bird was inside his ribcage and trying to burst free. He inhaled through his nose and exhaled slowly, like an experienced smoker. The kitten squirmed. The blueberries felt like rocks. His feet were suddenly heavier. But a goofy Charley grin made its way to his face, so he began moving again, instantly pushing the worries away. The deed was done. No going back now.

Greyce and Jodie were outside working on getting a fire going. Lance was standing at a makeshift table cutting meat from some animal with a knife. It seemed a little risky letting a blind person use a sharp utensil to Eean, but, hey, you only live once. Wait, actually...

Greyce and Jodi looked up at the same time. "Finally, you're back," Jodi growled, but Greyce smiled at him. They both fell silent and stopped what they were doing when they noticed the wiggly kitten under his arm. Lance dropped the knife on the wooden table with a clang, glancing somewhat in Eean's direction.

"What?" Eean said sourly. "It's only blueberries."

Lance ran inside. How did he know Eean held an enemy's spawn?

It was an uncomfortable silence that followed, the kitten meowing pitifully and trying to escape Eean's arm.

Olivia burst through the door, its hinging creaking. Lance was behind her, with Charley bringing up the rear. Charley looked a little impressed and intrigued, but tried to hide it, to no avail.

"What in the Hell do you have?" Olivia snarled, each word dripping with malice. Her eyes were weapons that should not be held by anyone who didn't want to lose a finger. "Eean?" She warned, shooting him a face that he tried his best to erase from his memory. "What. Do. You. Have?" She asked again, more demandingly. Lance shook behind her. Was he afraid of her tone? Eean sure was.

"I-it's a Cat– a baby one." He replied, carefully constructing each word as to not say anything she could use against him. "A nice one, too, so we don't have to get rid of her."

"Her?" Olivia answered through gritted teeth.
"It's a her?" Her hands were working into clenched fists.

Eean smiled a little. "Yeah," he clarified. "Her name is Uzi, like the submachine gun, because she purrs like a machine... okay, you're not interested." He stroked Uzi's scaly and smooth head while she purred. Olivia turned, a muscle working in her jaw.

"Get rid of it, or it's becoming an appetizer." Olivia threatened while shaking slightly.

"Oh, that's not nice," Eean laughed dryly. "You haven't met her."

Olivia scoffed. "I've met her parents and I don't think they liked me very much,"

Lance, Greyce, Charley, and Jodi all looked a little scared. Except Jodi seemed to be enjoying Eean getting screamed at, Lance looked like Lance because he never showed his feelings, Greyce was trying to hide from the argument, and Charley was shielding his laugh and smile.

"Uzi is different, I swear," Eean promised, holding Uzi out to Olivia, who looked apprehensive. "She didn't try to hurt me like the others." Olivia still wanted to strangle it, but slightly less than she did when she first saw Uzi. Eean was making progress.

"Please," he whispered. "Let me keep her,"

Olivia was quiet for a couple heartbeats. She let out a ragged breath Eean didn't know she was holding. "One slip up, and she's out," she said evenly and slowly, watching, waiting.

Greyce, Charley, and Eean were the only ones smiling. Eean grinned, holding Uzi up to the sky. "Hear that, Uzi?" he laughed. "You can stay! You've got to be good though." He touched her nose, earning a small mew in protest.

Charley suddenly appeared at Eean's arms, begging him to let him hold Uzi. "She does sound like a machine gun!" Charley was smiling brilliantly, believing it was true but not really believing it truly. "You magnificent creature!" Eean wasn't sure if Charley was talking about Uzi or Eean, but it didn't matter either way.

Jodi was standing next to Olivia, scowling.

"At least he got the blueberries," Olivia sighed, grabbing the basket and heading inside the house.

AN: Yo, guys, how's the story so far? Y'all liking it?