As they were finishing up, Allistor noticed that Fuzzy wasn’t in sight. “Hey, Fuzzy? Time to go bud, where are you?”
A high-pitched growl answered from somewhere toward the back of the cavern, around the edge of the pool. He called again. “C’mon, Fuzzy! Time to go!” This time there was no answer.
Seeing that he was still unsteady on his feet, Helen offered, “I’ll go get him. Wait here.” She jogged off in the direction of the growl, Campbell falling in behind her, just in case. A few seconds after they faded into a dark corner, she called out. “Uhhh, I think you are gonna wanna see this!”
Andrea helped Allistor walk the distance to where Helen and Campbell stood looking down at the floor. Following their gaze, he found Fuzzy licking at what he initially thought was a stone. But even with his addled brain, the oblong shape and the fact that it was clustered with several nearly identical twins quickly registered in his mind.
“It’s a nest. Eggs. It’s a friggin dragon nest full of eggs.”
“Thank you, captain obvious.” Helen smirked at him as Fuzzy continued to lick one of the eggs like it was made by Cadbury.
Goodrich raised his shotgun. “I got this.”
He pumped a round into the chamber and was about to fire when Andrea said, “Wait!” As he lowered the weapon and looked at her questioningly, she asked, “Do you guys not pay attention at all?” Looking around at blank faces, she pointed at Fuzzy. “Who’s this?”
Allistor, as confused as the rest, answered. “That’s Fuzzy. I introduced you to him-”
She cut him off with the raised ‘talk-to-the-hand’ gesture. “Okay fine, not who…but what is Fuzzy?” She glared at him as if he were the slow kid in class and she was trying to drill simple addition into his brain.
“He’s my… oh, shit!” Allistor was suddenly excited. “He’s my bonded pet!”
As soon as he said those words, the gamers in the group went crazy. Airmen bent to hug the eggs carefully, whispering sweet nothings to them. Bjurstrom started giggling again. “We’re all gonna have dragon pets!”
Allistor cautioned them. “Not so fast, guys. We don’t know if taming dragons is possible. But damn, if it is, that would be awesome!” he couldn’t help himself. He looked around. There were at least twenty of the eggs that he could see.
Andrea, with visions of her very own dragonling, said, “I want a guard down here watching over these 24/7. Do we need to do something? Keep them warm or something?”
“Probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to get a couple space heaters down here. For now, maybe take some broken crate bits and start a fire somewhere near the middle?” Helen added. Her park ranger status gave her words some added weight. The airmen immediately left off their coddling of the eggs and began to gather wood. When it was piled in the rough center of the clusters, he used Flame Shot to light the fire.
“When we get upstairs, I’ll add a market kiosk. Then we can do some shopping. I’ll get rings for everyone, and see if I can find a scroll or book about the Taming skill.” Allistor promised. Fuzzy continued to lick at his favorite egg.
*****
With the threat of monsters eliminated, they were able to use the freight elevator to haul their loot crates back up to the main level. Helen had insisted they bring the egg that Fuzzy had adopted up with them, packed in a crate with spare clothes wrapped around it. She wanted to study it further. Allistor thought it might be a good idea to have Amanda examine it with her special skill as well.
There was indeed a party waiting for them in the mess hall. Thorne had outdone himself with steaks and potatoes, and German chocolate cake for dessert that even had the coconut mixed into the frosting. Fuzzy was given a plate along with everyone else, and the whole group laughed as he daintily licked all the frosting off the cake before biting into it.
True to his word, Allistor modified the Stronghold after the meal was complete. He added the walls outside, the proximity sensors, and the market kiosk. He didn’t need to add electricity or water options, because the complex was already built with geothermal power and had the underground springs feeding it water. He also added the greenhouse outside, believing that every stronghold should be able to raise its own food in the event of a siege.
As soon as the kiosk appeared, he used it to purchase thirty of the PPD rings for storage. He also purchased himself a second ring with a two hundred slot capacity.
He began to pass out the rings, starting with Andrea. As she accepted it, she swore an oath of loyalty to Allistor. The green and blue lights swirled around her, and she became Oathbound. One by one, each of the others did the same. Except for Durham, who flat out refused.
“Don’t you guys get it? The world ended! There’s no more government. Nobody is in charge. We don’t have to follow anybody’s rules anymore. The oath I swore when I enlisted is null and void, and I’m sure as hell not going to swear one to this asshole.”
The others began to converge on him, some trying to reason with him, others intending violence. Allistor held up his hands to forestall them all and called for quiet.
“Durham… I said before you don’t have to swear an oath to me. But if you choose not to, you can’t stay here. So, despite the general consensus that you’re a whiny, obnoxious, self-centered shit, I’ll give you one last opportunity to take the same oath as the others and remain here with us. We’ll find a way to live and work together.”
“Screw you, college boy!” Durham’s face was turning red again.
“Fine. You are hereby banished from any and all lands held by myself and my allies from this day forward. Leave, and don’t come back.” A red light swirled around him, and his eyes unfocused for a minute.
“No! This is my home! You have no right to force me out!”
Bjurstrom stepped forward, hand on his sidearm. “Allistor came here and put his life on the line more than once to clear those lower levels and make this place safe for us. He has a rightful claim to this place. All you’ve ever done here is whine about missing the sun and eat more than your share of the food. Walk out of here now, Durham. While you can still walk.”
Allistor put a hand on Bjurstrom’s shoulder. “It’s no small thing to kill another human. Especially now when there are so few of us. Helen and I had to kill three yesterday. We didn’t want to, but they attacked us.”
Turning to Durham, he said. “Like it or not, this new System has given me the right to claim this place, and I have done so. This is no longer your home, by your own choosing. Now, I’m done talking to you. Leave on your own, or I will have you escorted out and dropped in the woods ten miles from town where you can’t bother anyone.”
Durham’s face was now a splotchy scarlet shade. He clearly wasn’t used to being told ‘no’. Looking around the room, he saw only hostile faces looking back.
“Screw each and every one of you!” he shouted. He shouldered his way past Bjurstrom, headed for the door. Just as he was passing Allistor and Andrea began detailing an escort for him, Durham spun and drove a steak knife into Allistor’s back. Leaving the knife, he turned to dash for the door.
Fuzzy beat him to it, the small bear rearing up on his hind legs in the doorway and giving his best roar, teeth bared and claws extended. Durham plowed right into him, unable to break his momentum. The two tumbled to the floor as Fuzzy latched hold of the man’s throat with his jaws and dug into his back with both sets of foreclaws.
Durham screamed, but it was cut off when Fuzzy jerked his head and ripped out a significant portion of the man’s throat.
Allistor, now on his knees and trying to remove the knife from his back, cast a Mind Spike on Durham, partly to protect his cub, and partly because he wanted the man to die in as much pain as possible.
Bjurstrom dropped to a knee next to Allistor as several of the others jumped on Durham, pulling him off the bear cub. Blood sprayed from his savaged throat, and it was only seconds before the light left his eyes.
Allistor gritted his teeth and nodded to Bjurstrom, who
yanked the blade from his back. Allistor grunted in pain, going down on all fours for a moment and breathing raggedly. The knife had penetrated one of his lungs. He cast a heal on himself, and the pain lessened as his breathing became a bit easier. A moment later he cast another heal. Several hands reached out to help him up to his feet.
“Damn. That hurt.” He grinned and rubbed his back near where the wound was healing over. A few people chuckled nervously. Andrea began to apologize, but he stopped her. “This was not anybody’s fault but his. And he paid the price.” He looked around at everyone gathered there. “Let this be a lesson to all of you. Breaking your oath, or breaking the laws by murdering, stealing, and so forth will have harsh consequences.” He let that sink in, watching people nod to him, then smiled at them.
“I probably won’t feed you to my bear… but the punishment will be severe.” This time people actually laughed. Just a few at first, then more as Fuzzy walked over and sat at Allistor’s feet, licking blood off his cute little face. Though Fuzzy had leveled up several times and gotten larger, he didn’t appear to have aged any. He was like one of those giant teddy bears you get from winning carnival games. Just as fuzzy and cute as the day Allistor discovered him.
Allistor’s next order of business was to check in with the Warren and his people there. With Durham deceased, one of the others volunteered to take over communications. It seemed there was a lot of cross-training among the airmen in the complex. Airman Redd was a gentle-seeming woman with a winning smile. She fiddled with the gear for about two minutes, then handed Allistor a headset for privacy.
The first voice he heard was Sam’s. “Allistor? You there, boy?”
“I’m here, Sam. Good to hear from you. How are things at the Warren? Has Nancy created any mutant bunnies?”
“Ha! She heard that. And she’s giving you the finger,” Sam replied. “Things are going smooth enough here. We’ve been going out and foraging every day. Brought back a few interesting things to sell. Made a trip to your gun shop outpost and loaded up some more weapons. We can talk about that when you get back.”
They spoke for a few more minutes, Allistor feeling reassured by how calm things seemed to be at the Warren. He updated them on the two new Strongholds, and the people he’d recruited. His plans for a Citadel had everyone excited. “We’re really doing this.” Meg’s voice was quiet. “We’re really going to survive this thing.” She sniffed, and Allistor knew there were tears in her eyes.
“I’ll be back soon, Meg. I’m going to get things settled here and then stop back home before continuing on to Casper. So I’ll see you tomorrow or the next day.”
They exchanged a few pleasantries and signed off. Airman Redd accompanied him back to the mess hall, where everyone was still gathered.
“Have you guys got some vehicles? Enough to move everybody here? Except for a few who will stay to guard this place? I want to introduce you to the others at the mall.”
Andrea quickly organized three people to stay, temporarily, to guard the Stronghold and watch over the dragonlings. She sent two airmen to grab vehicles and tasked Redd to make sure they had working handheld radios that would reach the mall, and an extra base setup to be installed there permanently. That way the Warren, Mall, and Silo could stay in constant contact.
Of the forty Air Force personnel who inhabited the complex on Apocalypse day, twenty six airmen had survived to meet Allistor, and three of those were now dead. With three more staying behind, an even score accompanied him back to the Mall. He drove his ranger truck with Helen and Fuzzy riding along. Behind him were two dark blue vans with the Air Force logo on the side. He led them out of the Silo’s gates, which he set to close remotely, and across Cheyenne to the Mall. He honked his horn as soon as the gates closed behind him, and Dean’s survivors emerged to greet them.
He left the introductions to Andrea, who knew everyone in both groups. They all retired inside to the food court, where there was seating for everyone to chat, and plenty of sunlight for the airmen who’d been underground for weeks. They talked about the Apocalypse and their different experiences since. A few of the airmen told the story of clearing the lower levels, and their battle with the drake. The discovery of the dragonling eggs caused quite a stir.
After an hour or so, Allistor pulled Dean, Andrea, and Helen aside, leading them into one of the unused storefronts and shutting the door behind them. Fuzzy sat outside, guarding the door. Which meant he plopped down on his belly and idly chewed gently on the Fibble doll.
“I wanted to speak to you about leadership.” Allistor got straight to business. He was anxious to get back to the Warren, but he wanted to make sure things were stable here before he left. “As far as I’m concerned, you three are among my most trusted. Any one of you would make good leaders for our people. So my first question for each of you is: Are you willing to take on that responsibility?”
Dean was first to ask. “What kind of responsibility are we talking about, here?”
“Well, I’m about to turn this place into a Citadel. Which means it’ll hopefully have a decent population of survivors, eventually. We can set up a democratic system of government, with some kind of town council or something for each Stronghold or Citadel. They can handle things like planning decisions, whether or not to charge yourselves taxes and how to spend them, assignment of available shops, that kind of thing. But there needs to be one person who has the final word. The person who says whether new survivors found out there are a good fit, and if they get to stay or have to go. Who is the ultimate authority in disputes? And who makes sure everyone is doing their part to grow and strengthen the community.”
“So, like a Mayor,” Helen suggested.
“Or a Commander,” Andrea added with a grin.
“Right. We’ll figure out the title if the System doesn’t already have one. And down the road, maybe it can be an elected position. For now, the choice will be mine.”
“I’m in.” Andrea didn’t hesitate. “And I suggest the title be Lord Commander. Or Chancellor. Or… Boss!”
Dean chuckled. “I’m up for the challenge. Though I’m no commander. I was a grunt, and that’s all I’ll ever be.”
Helen shook her head. “I’m good with taking a leadership position. I’ll help in whatever way I’m asked. But for now, I think I’m best suited to go with you on your little road trips. You need someone to watch your back other than Fuzzy. Maybe when we’re done expanding I’ll sit my ass down and become a mayor or whatever.”
Allistor nodded. “Great! And thank you for being willing to step up. Now, we have two facilities here. And two pretty distinct groups. One being military, trained to accept orders from a superior officer. Which just happens to be Andrea. So what do you guys think of Andrea becoming officially Lady Commander of the Silo? A sort of captain of the city guard with a separate fortress that happens to be filled with nuclear missiles? It would be a subordinate position to you, Dean, as Chancellor of the Mall Citadel? And both of you would remain subordinate to me, of course.”
The two looked at each other, neither wanting to speak first. Finally, Andrea grinned at Dean. “I was already willing to follow Dean. He’s been taking good care of us since we gathered together. I have faith in him. Sounds good to me.”
Dean nodded, returning her smile. “I’d depend heavily on you to help me make decisions. And I wouldn’t want our people to think of themselves as separate groups. Your people should mix and mingle here at the Mall. And maybe some of my group can go there to train, or help with repairs, do some farming inside the walls, that kind of thing?”
Andrea held out her hand. “Agreed, sir Chancellor!” Dean took the hand and they shook.
“Right! Perfect. Now, I’ve authorized all three of you for access to almost every door in both places. As well as the two outposts between here and the Warren. I’ve also authorized you to add others to the list at your discretion. You can control who has access to what areas. The only exceptions are my quarters here in the Mall, and
at the gun shop Outpost. And once Andrea explains to me where the big explodey stuff is inside the Silo, that area will be restricted to just the four of us, maybe a few others.”
They all made agreeable sounds.
“For now, I think everyone is trustworthy enough to be able to open the outer gates. It might be necessary for their survival if something is chasing them out there. That may not be the case with later recruits. Use your best judgment. And have a plan in place in case there’s some kind of mutiny or Trojan horse situation.”
“Got it.” Andrea gave him a thumbs-up.”
“You’ll each be in charge of a discretionary fund of klax or system points. We get a specific amount just for creating the bases. I intend to keep selling things through the market to make our communities rich. I’ll ask that your foraging teams keep an eye out for rare or valuable items we can sell. This early, Earth items are going to sell for a lot of klax. I’ve already sold some cool vehicles for hundreds of thousands of klax. Those can be converted into system points that you can use to add onto your structures, or purchase spells and training scrolls for your people. I’ll do some of that while I’m here, but I expect you’ll continue on while I’m gone.”
He looked each one of them in the eye for a moment, his countenance deadly serious. “Getting stronger is the number one priority. And that means everything. Our individual levels and attributes, our crafting and fighting skills, our weapons and armor, and our defenses. We need everyone mentally and physically tough. If one of our people encounters an ass like Twitch or Durham out there, I don’t want it to be a fair fight. Our people should be able to crush them. Everybody clear on this?”
Shadow Sun Survival Page 39
