It was about midday with a chilly breeze that gave everyone the stern reminder that summer was fading and winter was on its way. Juliet sat in a grassy patch on a small hillside that was along the edge of her camp walls. It was her usual space to think and clear her mind about whatever weighed on it. Being the elected leader, there was usually quite a bit weighing on it too. For now, it was the changing of seasons that had her slightly on edge. Despite the progress they had made as a group to reclaim society, winters were still incredibly difficult. 

Their homes were patched together from wood and ruins. They were stable but not insulated. A cold draft would be difficult on Laura, the young child who had somehow managed to survive this far. Plus there was always the worry about any sickness spreading around. But she'd figure out a way to deal with it. She always had. 

With that thought, she relaxed and laid back in the grass, flinching at the sun's harsh light. She lifted her left hand to shield her eyes, unintentionally forcing herself to look up at the two tattoos that lined her arm. Her darks eyes traced over the pink butterfly that was meant for her mother. What had once brought sadness to her eyes now brought a sense of relief. Her mother could have never survived in this world, sick or not. The way she had left it wasn't ideal either but at least she didn't have to witness everything turn to ash. 

Her gaze danced over to the other tattoo on her wrist. This one did bring a hint of sadness to her gaze and a small feeling of loneliness that had yet to be filled. It was a dandelion with just one seed floating away. Simple in design, it was just lineart with a couple fine details added in to make it look a little more sophisticated. It did it's job in always reminding her of her best friend, John. Having been separated from him during the attack that started it all, Juliet never figured out what had become of him. She had tried searching for him when she and her family had first left the basement but her efforts had been fruitless.  She had held onto the hope of finding him for many years but the longer time went on the harder it became to hold onto that hope. At one recent point, she found that she was even beginning to accept that he was likely dead, often closing her eyes to think to him and her family that had passed. 

"So are you going to lay out here all day or actually help us get some work done?"

Distracted by her thoughts of the past, Jules hadn't even noticed Adrian approach. She blinked and turned her head to look over at her second in command who was standing with his arms crossed over his chest with his usual unamused look. Pulled back into the present, a grin spread over her features. "Excuse you last I checked I was leader. I'll work when I feel like." she joked, waving her hand dismissively at him. 

Adrian rolled his eyes, but she caught a glimmer of a smirk taking over his lips. "Well are you going to feel like it soon, o'great and mighty leader?"

Juliet pursed her lips with mock thoughtfulness. "Hmmm... Maybe." she gave a laugh and moved to jump up to her feet. "I guess I'm feeling up to it now."

"Thank god." Adrian said with an exaggerated sigh. 

Jules rolled her eyes and moved to follow him through the small cluster of homes as he lead the way towards the front gate. "Soooo what requires my immediate attention?" she asked glancing up at him. 

"Just the regular. I figure we check on the garden outside, make sure it's ready for fall, and do a quick scout of the perimeter outside." Adrian explained. 

"Perimeter checking? We haven't done that for months. Why do you want to do that now?" Juliet asked. When Adrian hesitated to answer, she narrowed her eyes at him. "Did someone see something of concern out there?"

"Skye may—[i]may[/i]—have spotted someone from a distance when she was out hunting early this morning." Adrian admitted. Juliet blinked in surprise. It wasn't often that they ran into people. In fact, as the years went on, it back a less common occurrence to meet other survivors. To hear that there was potentially someone near their area was more than exciting to her. 

"What!!! You should have said something earlier! Let's go!" Jules grinned, increasing her pace as she hurried to the front gate. "If they're a traveler I'll bet they'll be excited to find us here! It'll be nice to have someone new join us!"

"Jules we don't even know if this person is friendly." Adrian frowned as he trailed after the energetic woman. "We need to observe them first before we go throwing out invitations to join us. They could try to kill us you know. Plus we don't know if they're alone."

"Oh it'll be fine. Skye only reported one person right? So it's probably just one! And if they are hostile, there's two of us and one of them." Juliet pointed out with confidence. "Now hurry up slowpoke and start telling me where exactly Skye spotted them."