Every male teen and up were branded. The commune was within a gated community. They made modifications over the years. The walls were heightened, they built a watch tower like the one on the island. There was a guarded emergency ladder on a wall from what she could see possibly more. Ashley would have to explore the community. "I'm Claire, my husband is Leonardo. We welcome you into Venture, you may be apprehensive to settle down but Venture is different. We've built something spectacular here." There were animals such as pigs, chickens, some horses in a makeshift stable all within a fenced in house. She heard some people talking about a pond. Claire brought her to a house at the edge of the community. A few teenagers were chatting on the porch. "You'll be staying in one of our female young adult group homes. The other side of the community is where the young adult males are housed. There's an adult woman who lives here and she's responsible for keeping an eye on you. You're to act like a civilized young lady and have respect for yourself. Do you understand?" Ashley nodded and shuffled inside, Claire brought her to a closet in the hall and explained every house receives a hygiene box every month and they're expected to disperse amongst themselves. Claire opened a door in the hall. Inside the room was a bare bed and nightstand. Ashley went inside, locked the door and slept till the next day. 'Act cool, be a teenager, play the role.' Repeated over and over again in Ashley's head. Inorder to get in these people's heads and convince them they made the choice to go after the scholars Ashley had to be the girl who couldn't even shoot straight let alone manipulate a bunch of adults. People were watching her, Leonardo probably sent someone in her room last night which is why she didn't barricade the door. For now she was apart of the Ventures. A small groups would verify her story, find the men in the mall. Leonardo knew about the scholars somehow and Ashley was going to find out.
In the morning there was a knock on her door. She answered it and Mason was there, there was a strange woman standing behind him. "I wanted to show you around and have breakfast. Mrs. Jane is your house mom she… um… doesn't allow boys in the house." Ashley noticed her backpack was open. The backpack was slightly slumped in the corner when Ashley put the backpack straight up in the corner. The gun tucked into the back of her pants was there. Mason and her walked around the community and shared a pop tart. He told her about how and when they transformed certain buildings into a cafeteria, town hall, small shops, library. "Will you stay?" Mason asked, Ashley shrugged. "I don't know I wanna find Kelly, I wanna find the scholars and I'd die trying. Staying here I'd live a lot longer than I would outside of these walls but I feel guilty. I feel like not trying to help Kelly is betraying him, like I'm a coward." Mason shook his head, Ashley heard a bark and Charms ran towards them with a bow pinned on his head and a stick in his mouth. She pointed out some colorful markings on his coat. The kids clearly got a hold of him. "You don't have to worry about the Scholars. Leonardo and a group are going to hunt them down and get revenge. Leonardo knows about Kelly and I'm sure he'll keep a lookout for your friend." Ashley took Mason's hand, she threw the stick in Charms mouth and he chased it in the air. Leonardo was overlooking them from the second story of town hall.