Kimberly froze after hearing those words.
Animal Husbandry? She had heard rumors about livestock arriving, but she never thought she’d be part of it.
"You each possess the Uncommon Talent Animal Whisperer..." Wadsworth continued. "It is only Uncommon Talent, yes, but invaluable now. You will be trained, equipped, and given priority rations. Your work will ensure the survival of this shelter or even the other shelters."
The room fell silent. Kimberly glanced at the others. So looked nervous, others excited... but she felt both.
Her life after coming here had been routine. She would just work in the kitchen shifts, small talk with friends, and scrape by in her tiny apartnt. But now, standing in the admin office with seven strangers, she realized everything was about to change.
Kimberly froze after hearing those words.
Animal Husbandry? She had heard rumors about livestock arriving, but she never thought she’d be part of it.
"You each possess the Uncommon Talent Animal Whisperer..." Wadsworth continued. His voice was calm, precise, but carried weight. "It is only an Uncommon Talent, yes, but invaluable now. You will be trained, equipped, and given priority rations. Your work will ensure the survival of this shelter—or even the other shelters."
The room fell silent. Kimberly glanced at the others.
She realized that so looked nervous, others excited... but she felt both.
Her life after coming here had been routine. Kitchen shifts, small talk with friends, scraping by in her tiny apartnt. But now, standing in the admin office with seven strangers, she realized everything was about to change.
She might even earn enough to actually move out to a larger space! Perhaps, soone in the inner part or safer part of the shelter
***
Soon, the group was ushered into a side chamber where Wadsworth laid out the plans.
A large parchnt map was spread across the table, showing the Eclipse Domain’s agricultural sector.
"This will be your new assignnt."
Mr. Wadsworth said while pointing at one of the map’s sectors.
"A section of land has already been cleared near the southern wall. Pens and enclosures are being built as we speak. Special fencing, feeding troughs, and water lines are being installed. Engineer Eliot is overseeing construction."
Kimberly was quite curious as she also looked at the location. It was a bit too far...
Thankfully, she recently opened her Master Grade Transport Gift Pack, where she got a foldable ebike.
’I have no issues traveling from my place... This isn’t bad.’ She mused.
Then, she saw the outlines of rabbit hutches, goat pens, and aviaries for pheasants. Even a small underground section was marked for mice breeding.
One of the survivors, a tall man with calloused hands, spoke up.
"So... we’ll be the ones raising them? Not just feeding, but breeding?"
"Correct," Wadsworth replied. "You will be responsible for their health, growth, and reproduction. You will report directly to , and I will report to Commander Shane. This is not a temporary assignnt. It is a division. The Animal Husbandry Unit."
This was definitely not a simple mission. Kimberly felt her chest tighten. A new division just for them... This was not just kitchen duty or any labor work... It was sothing official and vital.
At this point, she also knew that the ones who would be assigned as leaders would fill an important role. Perhaps, even eting Shane himself could happen.
Well, just seeing Shane’s statue already gave her strength and power...
Perhaps eting the person himself would give her more than that.
Just the thought of it made her smile.
***
Later that afternoon, the eight were escorted to the agricultural sector.
As expected, due to the ongoing construction, the air slled of fresh timber and damp soil. Workers hamred posts into the ground, while carts carried bundles of hay and sacks of feed...
And then Kimberly saw them.
The cages from the caravan had been transported here, lined up neatly under a temporary canopy. Rabbits twitched their noses, mice scurried in straw, pheasants flapped their wings, and goats chewed lazily on hay.
Everyone was excited as soon as they saw the situation...
There weren’t just a few animals! There were a lot of them, and it was surely worth a celebration!
Kimberly and the others were stunned as they saw these cute and harmless creatures... After seeing so many disgusting creatures or Zombies, seeing such cute animals literally healed them for so reason.
Wadsworth then gestured toward the cages.
"These are your charges. They are expensive, rare, and irreplaceable. Treat them as treasures. If even one dies due to negligence, it will be a loss not just to this shelter, but to humanity’s future... You might even get punished if that happens. Of course, if you don’t want to accept the task now, we can understand and put you back in your current work."
The group exchanged uneasy glances.
But in the end, none of them thought of going back as normal laborers or workers.
With their Talent, they knew that they could do this...
Kimberly then stepped closer to a rabbit cage. The small creature pressed against the wire sh and jumped repeated...
"What a cutie..." She couldn’t help but smile seeing this small creature. She then thought of an idea, so she slowly knelt and whispered softly to the rabbit...
Everyone watched as they knew what she was trying to do.
Soon, the rabbit cald with its nose twitching more slowly. Just like that, its body started relaxing.
One of the eight, a woman with short hair, smiled faintly after seeing this. "Looks like your talent works the sa way mine does."
Needless to say, the others also tried using their Talents since they weren’t really able to use them without animals in sight... This would be their first ti using their Talent!
In just a few monts, another survivor chuckled. "Guess we’ll all be talking to animals from now on."
The tension eased finally as they confird that their skills were indeed capable of handling these animals. Now, no one was worried!
Each of them had felt their talent was wasted in kitchens, farms, or nial labor. Now, seeing the animals respond, they realized this was exactly where they belonged.
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