They all left the workshop together, with Greg in the middle and a woman on each side. The morning was so beautiful that it almost seemed fake.
The air was too still, the sky was too clear, and the sun was too bright. Greg saw it but didn't think much of it.
He was probably just being paranoid and seeing threats where there weren't any.
Ferndale had changed a lot since he first got there. The small farming village with about thirty buildings that had been having a difficult time was now a busy small town.
The wealth was clear to see, like those new stores, bigger houses, and paved roads that weren't there a year ago.
The Guardian Reborn stood guard in the village square, its huge shape making people feel safe. Kids played around its feet, not scared at all of the twenty-five-foot-tall structure that had once been the last line of defense against extinction.
Marina saw a little girl climb onto the Guardian's foot and said, "They've taken it like a mascot."
