by Jack Porter
It would take all of them, me included, time to get used to it.
Yet it wasn’t all doom and gloom. Sydney might have been disappointed, yet she still saw the humorous side of things.
“The huts looked like oversized, pale toadstools,” she said. “Or puffballs, at any rate. What does that make us, living in them? Gnomes? Elves?”
She’d had some difficulty making her way into the trees, and regularly accepted aid from me or Jayloo as we clambered over and around obstacles. But she’d made it, and I was pleased to see that she didn’t seem to be in much pain.
“Or maybe that’s what the previous occupants were,” Deeve suggested.
By then, having examined the huts closely, I was beginning to have my suspicions about that. But I didn’t say anything. Not yet.
Once we were all done moving in, and had stored all of the supplies in one of the huts, Deeve asked the most important question. “Well, we’re here. Home base, such as it is. What next?”
It seemed that they were looking at me for an answer. Even Uma.
I looked around at the girls in our little village, and couldn’t help but think this was a victory. We’d made it. Had survived a journey across the burning face of a hostile world, and found a place to call home.
Job done.
Sure, there was a lot of work yet to do. All we had found was shelter, a steady supply of water, and some semblance of safety in the form of a predator repelling plant.
It wasn’t much in the scheme of things. It wasn’t a ticket back to the more civilized parts of the galaxy. But it meant something.
It meant that the six of us could at least make a life for ourselves in this place.
If Uma had saved the bottle of vodka, now would have been the time to crack it open. It was a moment to celebrate. But it looked like we wouldn’t see any more alcohol in this land until we started brewing our own.
“I thought it might be nice to light a fire or something,” I said. “Hold a celebration. And maybe go hunting for some real food, rather than living off these rations all the time.”
I could see the looks of eager approval from all sides, but Kia had a different idea.
“You can do that,” she said. “But I’m going to try out one of those baths. It feels like it has been forever since I’ve felt clean.”
Deeve, Jayloo, and Sydney all murmured their agreement, and I wondered if it was perhaps a female thing. I liked to be clean just as much as anyone else, but wasn’t too concerned if I didn’t get the opportunity as often as I would have liked.
“It’s like luxury,” Uma agreed. “The water is not too cold, and there’s plenty of room for two, maybe more.” She said the last with a smile, which Deeve seemed to notice. She raised an eyebrow at Uma, before shooting a glance my way.
There wasn’t any jealousy in her look, just curiosity, but I chose not to notice it anyway. And much as I wouldn’t have minded staying, Jayloo was already casting a judgmental, worried look my way.
I didn’t need to be Kia to figure out she wouldn’t be comfortable bathing if I was there. So I decided to let the girls have their privacy.
There would be plenty of time to enjoy the view in the future. I mean, it had taken just a small handful of days and I could say quite conclusively that I had Deeve, Kia, and Uma on my side.
Surely it wouldn’t take too long to get Sydney and Jayloo to start looking at me with a friendlier eye as well?
And what had Kia said? After we all reach an understanding that it’s okay to share…
Maybe life on this world wouldn’t be so bad at all.
Afterword
And so ends Survivors.
This was a fun one to write, and I hope you enjoyed reading about Adam and his ladies. The world was especially fun to dream up. If you enjoyed reading and want to help me get the word out about the book, here are some things you can do:
1. Leave a review. (I can’t stress how important these are.) I don’t have an ARC team, and every review you see on Amazon or Goodreads is a reader taking the time to leave a note about the book.
2. Tell your friends. Share the book in your groups. ALL of them, as many as you can. It really helps.
3. Sign up for my newsletter, which is really just a note every time I publish a book, so you never miss a new release: http://jackporterwrites.com/champion
Beyond that, if you want to get in touch with me (or find a typo or some other monster), hit me up at [email protected].
Thanks in advance for your help, and I look forward to writing many more stories in the future.
-Jack
Books by Jack Porter
Guardian
Guardian 2
Champion: Training
Champion 2: Tournament
Champion 3
Monster Girl Hunter
Saving Monster Girls
Jungle King
Jungle King 2
Wraith King
Wraith King 2
Wraith King 3
Wraith King 4
Incubus Hitman: Rise of an Incubus Overlord 1
Incubus Mini-Boss: Rise of an Incubus Overlord 2
Incubus Kingpin: Rise of an Incubus Overlord 3
Incubus Overlord: Rise of an Incubus Overlord 4
Rogan’s Monsters 1: Wastelands
Rogan’s Monsters 2: Below
Rogan’s Monsters 3: Temple
The Bastard
The Bastard 2
The Bastard 3
For an updated list of titles, please visit
www.jackporterwrites.com.
