Blending

Three of them stepped out of the boat. Jolene, Kiel, and Alana are all beaming up at a small country area they are in now. They are feeling hopeful for what comes next for them. Alana looked at the locket to see where they are supposed to go next. "Looks like we still have a mile to go before we reach the mark," Alana concluded.

They all rode along to a small public open back truck for a ride around the area. A few more passengers rode along with them and filled the truck. Not long after, the truck set off away from the lake.

Two persons set foot on the lake just a few minutes after them, they watched as the three of them went away loaded in the truck.

As the truck roamed around the rural road, three of them are distracted from the view. Jolene held her hat to keep it in her head. The wind is pretty cool despite the sunny weather. She adored the wide fields alongside the road. Kiel was focused on the road, there's barely any other vehicle than them, he can spot small houses every now and then, distant to each other. It was a very quiet place to live in. There are also farm animals, cattle and herd freely walking on a wide grassland. Alana placed her hood up to her head for protection to sunlight, she understood now how the sunglasses help during the morning. She's liking the fact that she can now look up in the sky freely, no more hiding her eyes under the hood. She stared at the clear sky as she remembered how she used to only do that at night, or when she's alone back then. Now, there's no such restriction and she's blending perfectly.

After a few minutes, they finally dropped off to the vehicle. All of them were looking a bit unsure standing in front of a tall metal gate, Kiel peeked at the corner of the gate and saw that behind it is a big establishment with wide space for numerous delivery trucks from medium to large in sizes. Jolene peeked as well right after him.

"This place is huge, almost like..." Kiel couldn't exactly chase the words. "Like a factory. Also because of the noise." Jolene said, "Looks like they are doing some massive production there."

"We need to get inside, I'm sure that is where we can find whoever we are looking for." Alana looked at both of them with certainty. They are in the midst of thinking when they heard a vehicle approaching. They looked back on the road and saw a huge truck a few meters from their direction. "Let's move out of the way!" Jolene told the two as she heads to go at the corner. As expected, the truck turned in front of the factory. A laser light came out of the center of the gate and scanned a sticker on the windshield. No guards came, or any person for that matter. Jolene thought it would be their ticket to go inside. "Let's jump at the back of that truck." Alana and Kiel did not question her and simply followed her lead. They hung behind the truck as discreetly as possible so that the driver could not feel the vehicle shaking. They managed to enter the premises.

They jumped at the corner close enough to the building and hid. Three of them peeked on the corner altogether; Kiel at the top, Jolene, then Alana-- only their heads showing. They found a group of men walking out of the establishment, all of them with bulk bodies, although they all seem like they have the same age as the three.

"What do we do now?" Kiel whispered. Jolene shushed him and looked at the four boys, Alana was watching too. Soon after, a female adult, holding a tray of foods, approached the guys. "Out for a break?" the woman asked.

"Georgia! You are heaven-sent, along with the food you bring to us." One of the guys, the tallest one named Sky, spoke as they all get food one by one. Georgia was flattered, she couldn't help but smile, showing her crooked front teeth, "I'm just doing my job, anyway, I will need to set up a sign, looking for a helper, since those two men had their accident on the kitchen yesterday, no one is helping me cook and serve for the entire factory but Castro and his grandmother!" she complained, it was indeed a tough job having to prepare food for hundreds of workers. Castro is a young boy, new at the job, and he is with his grandmother who also works in whatever she can. Castro is more of an errand boy and his grandmother is very old that it can barely stand for a long time.

"How do you manage to remain this beautiful Georgia? Work doesn't seem to tire you." another one of the boys, the one who has the most buff body told her. His name is Arch. Georgia continued to take the compliments in all smiles. She is about six years older than the four of them. "Girls are really amazing, captivating even when they do hard work!" The bald guy named Tito touched her hand. "Georgia, do not listen to them, you know I'm the one who had the sincerest words for you." a darker man named Owen shoved off Tito's hand to her.

"What are they saying?" Kiel wondered as they watched how the men surround the woman who gave them food for snacks. "I can't hear at this distance." Jolene scratched her head, "Alana, you got something?" Jolene looked down at her and was a bit surprised that she's smiling. "This is interesting" Alana started, "They are thrilled and excited to see her. Not exactly cause they like her." Alana wondered and looked around, she hadn't seen the entirety of the place, she could be wrong, but based on her judgment by seeing the guy's emotions,

"They are enthusiastic about women, there's probably not many women in this place." Jolene gasped then curved a smile, "This can be a huge advantage for us!" "Definitely." they stopped peeking and hid completely at the corner, "I learned some things about seduction before, time to finally use them." Alana re-tied her braids as she was speaking. "What? You had to learn that?" Kiel raised an eyebrow.

"It was a useful tool for both men and women, no violence, just pure psychology."

"Wait, but I... I forgot I don't know anything about those..." Jolene trailed off. Alana swept Jolene's short hair at the back of her ears, "One, you are a clever girl, two, you are very beautiful. All you have to do is show up and they'll go crazy."

"Right, and our goal is what again?" Kiel asked. "To know more about them, to find the person, and maybe, a place to stay too," Alana explained as they all stood up. "By the way, you stay here Kiel. Jolene and I will handle this." Alana headed out from the corner, followed by Jolene.

"Wait!" Kiel grabbed Jolene's wrist before she can completely follow. "What is it, Kiel?" she wondered. Kiel gulped and blinked several times, he didn't know what to say but he wanted to stop her. After a while, he thought he shouldn't, "I will be watching from here. If you ever felt uncomfortable with those guys, look in this direction and I will pick you up." he told her. Jolene confusedly looked at him so he added, "Both you and Alana, now go." he simply sat down at the corner again. Jolene bit her lip to conceal her smile then walked away to join Alana.

"Shut your mouth Owen, we all know I had eyes for Georgia long before any of you punks were!" Sky scoffed and glared at his friends. "What? You even told me how floored you are when you visited the city last month and there are girls everywhere!" Tito scolded the two. "Enough! Let's just ask Georgia who she wants, so this would be settled." Arch proudly suggested. Everyone went quiet and looked at Georgia who cannot remove the smile on her face. The smile faded a bit, knowing that they are expecting answers from her, "Well I... the four of you are all nice and strong and charming, but ok, I would have to choose--"

"Hello." The five of them stopped their commotion and looked at where the voice came from. The four men were visibly startled at what was standing in front of them. A young lady, hair is long and braided on one side. She has a low sultry voice and naturally red lips. The four of them almost dropped their mouths on the floor as she majestically removes the hood on her head and looked at them. She was wearing sunglasses big enough to cover almost half of her small face, which made her more attractive. "I'm sorry for barging in out of nowhere... are you free to talk with me?" Alana asked.

She did not hear any response, only five blank stares looking as she speaks.

"Was that a song of angels I just heard?" Owen blurted out. They haven't even fully recovered from looking at the woman, another one came. Some of them gasped while others stepped back as they watch another girl come near them, in all smiles. Her eyes are also smiling, her hair was swaying as if in slow-motion in their eyes. She walks beside the other girl. "Hello." she waved a little and was obviously shy at them. Her voice was sweet and warm. "I think we might need your help, and maybe you all can help us too?" she has a natural curve on her lips that always makes her seem smiling. Then again, there was no answer from the boys. Even Georgia was amused by how pretty they are.

"I have been a good boy and now I'm being rewarded," Arch uttered. Georgia finally snapped back and elbowed the boys back into their minds, but the confident boys earlier now seemed to be shy so she did the talking, "Yes, what can we help you with misses?" she nicely asked.

"We happened to get lost in this area and we ran out of money too, so maybe you can help us with anything even just for a little." Alana pouted and the males started pouting too. "Yes, we can help you back too, with anything!" Jolene added.

"Help? Hey, Georgia didn't you say you need some helper while the boys are gone?" Sky exclaimed as if he had thought of a genius idea. The rest of the boys started agreeing. Georgia nodded to stop the quick turmoil, "Yes, yes, I do need a kitchen helper, can you do that? You don't seem like you're used to hard work." she is unconvinced. It was at that time when Alana eyed Kiel as a cue to something. Jolene shook her head to disagree, "No ma'am, we are good at serving, plus, we can start now." once again, the males in the background agreed with Jolene and reasoned to Georgia. But she held her chin and looked away to decide, still unconvinced.

"If you may, I'm with them, and I will be of good help too." Georgia looked back and saw a guy, not as bulky as the laborers in the factory, but tall and has broad shoulders. He has a friendly yet engaging stare. Her lips parted, "O-ok, I could use a guy for some carrying anyway." she reasoned as she tries to gain her composure. She looked at the three of them, "You are all hired, you can stay at the quarters for free. Food is also free so you do not need to worry about it. This is just until the injured employees are not able to work."

The three of them, Alana, Jolene, and Kiel agreed and they were told to go to the kitchen after Georgia gave directions. She will follow shortly but they need to finish the earlier argument, "Now, about the issue earlier, I would choose--"

"Georgia, I-i think I need to go back to work."

"Yeah, me too."

"I'm going to head out to the bathroom."

"I'm just gonna listen to the birds right there."

In a split second, all of them were out of Georgia's sight.

=

Three of them started preparing food, they easily caught up on how to do the work under the supervision of Georgia. They met a younger boy named Castro, and his grandmother sitting down beside the kitchen table. Soon, a bunch of men entered the cafeteria to have their sumptuous lunch. Jolene gawked staring at all the buff men entering. They all look so strong and able to carry weight. They approached the food area to where she was standing to get food. Most men were also surprised to see her. Several have asked if she is a new helper, and what was her name. The same scenario happened to Alana who was on the other side of the food area. As soon as the workers sat at every table, different kinds of conversation filled the entire room. She would get stares every once in a while and she can tell that both Alana and she are one famous topic for today.

"How was it? Not so bad right?" Kiel appeared behind Jolene, feeling accomplished. Jolene nodded at him. "Hey did you have your lunch? Come sit with us!" Jolene and Kiel looked on the left side and saw the four familiar faces from earlier. They are inviting them to join their table. Alana heard it and walked close to the two, she glanced at Georgia who was still attending to other workers who are coming for the second fill. She overhears it too and nodded, "Yeah you can go ahead and eat with them now." Alana smiled at her before the three of them walked out of the counter, holding their food, and joined them, the guys were all friendly and smiling at them. "We haven't clearly introduced ourselves earlier, I'm Owen." One of them introduced, the rest followed on introducing their names. "I'm Kiel, and these are my friends, Jolene and Alana," Kiel replied to the four, the girls waved a little. "So um, what do you do here in this factory?" Jolene asked.

"This is a furniture factory, we make all kinds of furniture by hand." Tito proudly told her. Sky nodded, "The furniture we make is shipped straight to Oran because it has excellent quality."

"Oran?" Alana wondered.

"The capital city. The place where we can find advanced tools and technologies like the scanner at the gate, or phones, guns..." Arch explained, but Alana grew more curious, "What are those things?"

"You seem so clueless about Oran, it's the most famous city in the country. Where have you been all this time? The mountains?" Owen joked. The boys laughed but the three of them looked at each other knowingly. Jolene tried to laugh, Kiel and Alana did the same. They all know that they had to befriend the people around here since the person they are looking for could be anyone, blending in the crowd.

"Who do we have here?" Everyone looked in the direction of the voice. They all looked up to the man standing close to them. He was standing in between Jolene and Alana's seats. The guy was referring to the girls as he looked at each of them. Just by his stature, they can tell that he is the alpha male in the group. "Gray! Late again for lunch. Girls, do you mind if you move a bit and give him some space in the table?" Tito asked. The girls obliged. Kiel was sitting beside Jolene, Alana moved closer to Jolene and Gray sat on her other side. He smiled at everyone on the table before he started digging into his food. Alana expected him to speak, to be as friendly as the others, but it did not happen. Gray silently eat with them, the boys eventually did the same. Kiel glanced at Gray, then to Jolene and Alana, who were doing the same. They all had one thing in mind.

They might have found the person they're looking for.