"Why did you let them take it?" Paige asked.

"Because they wanted to," Jaylin paused. "I asked if they wanted the fish or food. They decided they wanted the fish."

The ride back was uneventful. At first, they were silent. The thought of those people going back to feed their families with the poisonous food made them feel a lump in their chests.

Gradually, however, they came to understand that everyone made their own choice. In a place like this, some people are dying of hunger.

If they hadn’t been warned, they would have chosen the fish too.

Back at their base, Jon and the others were setting up a section to try planting again. This time, they would try hydroponics. This was their last chance. If they couldn’t grow anything, they would have to consider another path of survival.

Tinkering away, they heard a buzzing sound behind them like angry bees. Jon stiffened and turned around, expecting to see a swarm; instead, he saw a drone.

He used his elbow to nudge Kirk, and Kirk, in turn, nudged Lyon. The three stood there, wondering what to do.

It was obvious someone was watching them.

A sense of joy bubbled up in Lyon, and he couldn’t help asking, "Do you think it’s the military? Are we finally being rescued?"

Kirk tried to suppress his smile. "Maybe, but why isn’t it doing anything? It’s just flying there."

I don’t know." Lyon picked up his courage and stepped forward. "Is this the military? Are you planning to send people for rescue?"

He gripped the side of his shirt, hoping the drone would do something. Give a sign that it was indeed from the military. Instead, it watched like it was collecting data.

Without so much as an acknowledgement, the drone flew away. Lyon’s heart thudded in his chest, and he fell to his knees.

The lack of response told him that it was definitely not a military drone. Even if they didn’t have built-in microphones or anything of the sort. When he asked a question, they could have flown the drone to say yes or no.

Jon, the only one who hadn’t spoken this entire time, turned pale. He wasn’t sure what the drone was doing here, but his intuition told him it was nothing good.

He didn’t comfort Kirk or Lyon but went inside. He knew he had temporary access to Floor Five when he was working. Normally, he would never think of going to their private area, but this time, he thought it was necessary.

Knocking on the door, it opened quickly. He looked down to see a little boy with silver hair and violet eyes. The boy looked up at him in curiosity. From the look on his face, he was probably wondering how this uncle got to his house.

"Dad, stranger danger," he said. Then he proceeded to walk away, leaving the door wide open.

Kain walked to the door, annoyed. Few people had access to the fifth floor. Usually, only Jake and Veronica would come up, and only when called.

Seeing Jon at the door, his mood didn’t brighten. Kain frowned, held up a finger, and called out to Ashton.

"That’s not how stranger danger works. You should slam the door and run."

"But he can’t beat me, why should I run?" came the retort.

"Just because someone looks weak, doesn’t mean they are. Look at you."

Jon didn’t hear what Ashton said.

Now the attention was back on Jon. Kain leaned against the door. Jon once again saw the difference between Kain and his family versus when he spoke to others.

The pressure was overwhelming.

Jon stuttered before beginning to speak, "Someone’s watching us. A drone just flew over."

Kain’s brows furrowed, "A drone?"

He knew they had neighbours close by. He could hear them from time to time, but he never really paid attention.

Why would any of them want to send a drone to spy on them?

Kain didn’t think it was a friendly gesture. If they wanted to be friendly, they could come over in person or send a note with the drone. Judging from Jon’s face, there was no letter.

"What exactly happened?"

Jon recounted the short encounter.

Kain inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. "Don’t worry about it. Tell Kirk and Lyon not to worry about it either."

Jon opened his mouth to say something.

Kain cut him off. "...thanks." Then closed the door.

Jon stood there, unsure of what to do now. He had a feeling Kain took what he said seriously, but he couldn’t understand his reaction.

Deciding not to think about it, he made his way back to the roof.

Inside the room, Kain stood at the door with his head down. He was thinking about what Jon had said.

It makes no sense to send a drone. There must be a reason. Based on what Jin said, all they did was look. Were they looking at the vegetable plots or something else?

And if they weren’t looking at the plots, what are they plotting?

"What’s wrong?"

At some time in his reverie, Amelia had walked up to him and hugged his waist. He told her what Jon had said.

He never considered it an offhand concern. Nothing in the apocalypse is an offhand concern. Some people enjoy the freedom, thriving in the disharmony. Others pretend it doesn’t bother them and want to be the people’s saviour.

"They want something," she said after hearing the story.

"They do. The problem is we don’t know what they want."

"Whatever it is, we will deal with it when the time comes. We don’t know their aim, but it doesn’t mean we’re easy to deal with."

There was one thought circling Kain’s mind. It was that they were being marked. Someone was cataloguing them. Whether it’s based on how well they were adapting to the environment shift or something else, he didn’t know.

He did know one thing for sure: if the other party was trying to provoke him, he didn’t take kindly to it.

Whatever the reason, he would wait to see what other actions they might take.