The village meeting was never a quiet affair. Every time the settlers gathered in the old barn at the edge of the settlement, voices clashed like swords, tempers flared, and blood was sometimes spilled before the night was over. Jake and Miya had learned to expect the chaos, but tonight was different. Tonight, the air crackled with a new kind of tension - the kind that came from outsiders.
Jake and Miya arrived early, taking their usual spots near the back of the barn. The wooden benches were rough under their hands, and the smell of hay and sweat filled the space. The flickering lanterns cast long shadows on the faces of the villagers, making them look older, harder, and more dangerous.
One by one, the settlers filed in. There was Boyd, the scarred man who always watched from the shadows. There was Lila, the brothel owner, her sharp eyes scanning the crowd. There were others, too - people Jake and Miya had come to know by face, if not by name. The settlers were a rough bunch, quick to anger and slow to trust. But tonight, they all had one thing in common: the suspicion of outsiders.
When the room was full, Boyd stood up at the front and banged a gavel made of old bone on a wooden crate. The chatter died down, but the tension didn't.
"We got business," Boyd growled. "Three outsiders now. Three. That's more than we've had in a long time."
A murmur ran through the crowd. Someone spat on the floor. Another muttered a curse under his breath.
Jake took a deep breath and stood up. "We need to talk about the new one," he said. "The one who calls himself Jeremiah."
The settlers turned to look at him, their eyes narrow with suspicion. Jake felt the weight of their gaze, but he didn't back down. He was a settler now, just like them. He belonged here.
"He claims to be an undercover agent," Jake continued. "Says he's police. He's looking for someone, probably Dirty Joy."
The name sent a ripple through the crowd. Dirty Joy was a ghost in the canyon, a name whispered in fear and anger. No one had seen him in months, but his shadow still hung over the settlement.
"He's trouble," Miya added, standing beside Jake. "We need to keep an eye on him. Watch what he does."
The settlers nodded, their faces grim. They knew the danger of outsiders. Outsiders brought trouble. Outsiders brought the law. Outsiders brought memories of a world outside the canyon—a world none of them could quite remember.
Boyd banged the gavel again. "We'll hide him in the woods," he said. "Keep him out of sight. Let's see what he's up to."
The settlers murmured their agreement. It was settled. Jeremiah would be watched, and if he caused trouble, he'd be dealt with.
The meeting turned to other matters—disputes over land, arguments over supplies, old grudges that never seemed to die. Voices rose, fists clenched, and for a moment, it looked like the meeting would descend into violence, as it so often did. But tonight, the threat of outsiders kept them in check. Tonight, they were united.
Jake and Miya sat back down, watching the chaos unfold. They were part of it now, part of the settlement. They had friends here, enemies, too. They had a home, of sorts. And as the meeting wore on, Jake found himself forgetting the world outside the canyon, forgetting the names he used to know, forgetting that he had ever been anything but a settler.
Miya leaned close, her voice low. "Do you think Jeremiah is really a police officer?"
Jake shook his head. "Does it matter? He's an outsider. That's all we need to know."
Miya nodded. She understood. In the canyon, the only thing that mattered was survival. The only people you could trust were the ones who lived here, who bled here, who fought here.
When the meeting finally ended, the settlers filed out into the night, their voices still raised in argument, their tempers still hot. Jake and Miya walked back to their hut by the lake, the cold air sharp on their skin.
Inside, they sat by the fire, listening to the sounds of the settlement around them. The world outside the canyon felt like a dream, a memory that slipped further away with each passing day.
"We'll keep an eye on Jeremiah," Miya said. "See what he's up to."
Jake nodded. "And if he's trouble, we'll deal with him. Just like the others."
They were settlers now, through and through. And in the canyon, that meant everything.