The sun was well set by the time they reached the edge of safe zone. David had shaken his funk off and reached out for the Radio as they approached.

  “All vehicles, this is David. We need to stop outside the safe zone and get people across in a way that earns quest rewards.”

  Before he could continue Mark’s deep voice came back. “David, we can’t wait. We got a little water into each of them thanks to a trick Ivy thought of, but I won’t let you organize an optimal strategy while people packed into trucks sit in the August heat.”

  Charlie came back. “What even is the best strategy? Escalating quest with escalating rewards, are ten people getting the first reward worth more than one getting the second? We don’t even know what the third reward is… No way to min max that bro…”

  Camila’s voice came across the channel “Dio Mios, everyone just drive in. We worry about the people first and rewards second. Men!”

  It sounded like the ride with her friends had helped but her tone betrayed more anger than usual. Her next words confirmed it.

  “I will personally hit upside the head anyone who slows down getting these people help to ‘carry them over the threshold’ like so many slabs of meat.”

  Nobody thought she was joking. So, without further discussion they drove straight into the safe zone. Which had grown by a significant amount, engulfing another group of houses in this direction. It left David wondering if the growth of the zone was linear or exponential.

  Then, as he approached the threshold, relief and a soft easing of tension hit him like a hug from his Mum, washing considerations about the expansion of the area behind.

  The gentle alluring background of the safe zone flowed into him. Absently he noticed that the spirits within him seemed to grow restive for a moment, then became quieter.

  Once he was across the threshold he soaked it in. Under the dim light of the barrier he could see well enough that he killed his headlights and made for the park with the rest of the convoy. Noticing in passing that a couple of people had been seated on chairs inside the barrier on either side of the road. Keeping watch, he supposed.

  They had clearly recognized the raid party and waved them on, indicating they should keep driving towards the park.

  More than a block later they approached the park and saw a changed sight.

  Dozens of people were moving with purpose. More were coming toward them, emerging from houses and rising from seating every minute. Oddly it was easier to see into the park now with the barrier expanded beyond it.

  The gates were open, the bollard that had stopped vehicles from entering was down and cars had been moved to make more space.

  He could see people pointing and waving as they drove to the entrance passing people directing them.

  By the time they were dismounting two thing had happened.

  First, everyone from the raid had soaked in the soothing aura of the safe zone. The fear, horror and pain were noticeably muted and David felt his own tension draining away.

  Second, enough people had gathered that there was a spontaneous cheer as the first truck was opened and the packed mass of survivors was revealed. There was another cheer when people registered that they were packed in with and around supplies.

  As people rushed forward to get survivors down using improvised stretchers to move them to the large area of park next to the Obelisk. David took in the changes that had occurred while they were away.

  The area the survivors were being carried to seemed to be designated for them with blankets, cushions and even mattresses and cots laid out. A large hand drawn sign read ‘Medical’.

  There were tables set up nearby with bottled drinks and thermoses. The label ‘Water station’ on a sign in bold letters.

  People sat at folding tables set up under a portable canopy with what looked like notepads and pens.

  Hand draw signs marked ‘Registration’, ‘Suggestions’ and ‘Missing Persons’ were set up by each of the tables.

  A whole area was filled with chairs and tables, mostly folding but with a healthy scattering of patio furniture and even some regular indoor pieces.

  Another sign, hand drawn read “Communal rest and ready area.”

  Next to that were several grills and a sign reading “Communal cooking area”

  As the chaotic unloading began an amplified voice broke over them all. It was Phil. Someone had given him a working bullhorn, and he was using it to be heard.

  “Let’s get organized. Everyone lend a hand! Casualties to the medical area first! Then Food and cooking supplies to cooking area. After that everything else behind the registration tent to be sorted.”

  After a pause with him checking that people were following his directions he continued.

  “Once you have unloaded, please take a moment to report to registration, also add names and last known locations of loved ones to the missing persons list, especially if they are in the city. Suggestions and requests for specific help can be made there as well. Please also consider how you can volunteer to help!”

  David was more than a little taken aback, so much had changed in a few hours. Still, all the help meant that the process of unloading was a great faster than he had expected with people milling and chatting as they worked.

  He saw Phil speaking with one of the other raiders, a burly guy running to fat a little. He tried to remember the name…

  Matt or Mike or something?

  He would have to work on that, names had never been his strong suit and he remembered the guy as being competent but not really standing out. He had a group of friends who he focused on helping with their guns, so a solid guy.

  The two soon split in the whirl of activity, as everyone worked and gossiped while the unloading progressed quickly with so many pairs of hands.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  There were now hundreds of people involved, far more than just the raid group as more people emerged from houses and the park to help.

  Phil continued to call out encouragement and instructions using the bullhorn from time to time.

  “Take those new grills to the cooking area.”

  “We need people who can operate a grill to help cook this meat!”

  “Anyone who can spare serving dishes or large prep bowls please go back to your houses and bring them to the communal area, you’ll get them back we just need more of everything to prep the food!”

  “Please DON’T throw away bottles or cups – put your name on them with the markers at the water station and refill them! Cups don’t grow on trees!”

  Katie of course dived right into the food prep, Mark towed in her wake to help until he broke away and headed to the medics.

  The whole space thrummed with energy and before long Phil was announcing.

  “We will be having a victory feast in honor of the first foray…”

  He was interrupted by a shout from someone “You mean the first Raid!”

  “…ahem I mean the first Raid. Please wait until the cooks have prepared enough food to serve. I believe we have an honest to God dinner bell so listen for that ringing. Until then stay away from the grills unless you want to help!”

  The whole scene filled David with an emotion he wasn’t expecting. Hope.

  People were milling around, mingling, sorting through supplies and talking. He saw small groups of raiders speaking to people and lots of people he didn’t know. Oddly that was reassuring as it meant scale and hope for this enclave.

  Even though he instinctively disliked Phil based on their first meeting it was clear that he had done a magnificent job. So many people meant a lot of organizing and getting some structure and order into the safe zone was a good thing.

  People moved like they had purpose and after a moment David realized that people were already unloading the truck he had driven. Turning to lend a hand he barely managed to rescue the backpack, tent and bedding he had snagged for himself.

  After that it was off to set it up in the designated camping area near the municipal bathrooms. He could see the logic there and approved. Others were setting up tents as well and by the time he had gone through the unfamiliar process of pitching a tent and got the bedding set up he was left with a bit of a problem. He had no idea how to indicate the tent was his. Then he saw someone with a Marker writing their name on a tent flap.

  They quickly explained that finding people would be difficult so the occupants of a tent should write their name on the outside, both to reserve the space and make it easier to locate them with news of loved ones or similar.

  He smiled, another good idea. He quickly borrowed the pen and labelled his tent. The whole area seemed full of energy and purpose. It was even nicer because for a moment he didn’t have to organize anyone or anything yet didn’t feel the whole group was falling behind as a result.

  With the others lost in the swirl of activities around dinner and the survivors he thought about what to do next. The raiders had dispersed, making his vague plans of having a debrief on the day moot. So he took a moment to take stock personally, just sitting in his new tent.

  Back in the safe zone he could look at his status in a leisurely manner and even focus on his build for a bit. Time to figure some things out. He settled on one of the chairs in the rest area, just glad to be off his feet after a long day.

  A thought brought his status up:

  He smiled, the decision to dump points into willpower after he unlocked convert had paid handsome dividends, the massive battle had provided a very nice boost to his capabilites...

  He thought about that and tried to work out why. Likely due to the numbers involved, but it could be the fact that he had spent more time organizing and using his spiritual hearing than actually killing zombies. Or it could be a product of the fact that many more zombies died a distance away from people…

  He made a mental note to check and see what he could figure out with Charlie.

  Double digits for the number of spirits now. More interestingly he saw the connection to his attributes. Raising his willpower had made the feeling of fullness from early in the day fade, even though he had claimed more Nath by the end.

  He enjoyed sitting on the sidelines for a little longer then got up and left his tent to see if he could find the others.

  There was a lot of bustle and efficiency, but also a lot of people doing what he was and killing time before dinner. He waved and tried to say hi to the raiders, some answered and were enthusiastic about wanting to talk. Others were busy with conversations with friends and after falling silent when he approached responded briefly if at all, clearly keen to get back to their conversations, though he felt they were watching him.

  David vaguely worried that somehow word had got out about his bloodline, then he dismissed that and let the soothing hum of the safe zone calm him. He was jumping at shadows. Still, as he wandered through the camp something nagged at him.

  He consciously relaxed and had lighthearted conversations with people as he wandered, not taking the periodic rejections personally.

  That was how Charlie and Billy found him. Somehow the two of them managed to look furtive despite doing literally nothing wrong.

  “Wanna take a walk while we wait for food? Billy could use a bit of quiet time.”

  Charlie sounded just a little too innocent and he spoke just a little too loud.

  Camilla who was over by the pile of supplies, sorting things and talking with Phil glanced in their direction. Her eyes moved on quickly upon seeing David.

  So not forgiven yet he thought glumly. Then he nodded to Charlie and the three men headed away from the rest area and the bustle of activity around the looted supplies next to it.

  After a minute of walking David asked.

  “Is Bessie OK away from you Billy?”

  The older man answered softly. “Yeah, she’s with the kids again. Happy playing and I trust her there.”

  “That was an amazing skill you used in the fight. I thought you were going to advance the safe zone rather than get a top tier skill?” David couldn’t help his curiosity.

  “Ahh, that. That’s not a top tier skill. I earned and levelled Beast Bond waking Bessie. I been levelling and practicing my skills since I woke up to make sure I do the best I can for Bessie. Got that spectral copy skill after a while and used it to amuse the kids… It works well on spirits apparently.”

  Charlie looked around and, seeing nobody else in earshot he spoke quietly. “David, we wanted to talk to you because we figured something out.”

  Billy snorted. “You mean you figured something out son. I just asked a dumb question.”

  Charlie shook his head. “No, it was the right question to ask.”

  “What are the two of you talking about?”

  “Oh, yeah. So, Dude. I know you must be bummed we didn’t sort out the saving our people quests to boost folks… Well, we still can!”

  “What do you mean? The people are all in the safe zone and nobody carried them in we can’t meet the conditions of the quest.”

  “Exactly!” Charlie looked smug. “The system still counted them as being moved in. In fact it’s counted everyone and only counted rescues as being ‘claimed’ where we carried people in individually.”

  “Great so the system knows how many people we could have counted and what?”

  “Yep, it means that the leadership of the zone can assign those completions to anyone on the systems list of local users.”

  “So what? We have another meeting, then decide who we can give out those rewards to? That’s going to be a shit show. Phil will want to control it, and everyone is going to fight over how to do it.”

  Charlie grinned then continued. “Nope. The LEADERSHIP decides. That’s everyone with the Leader title levelled up.”

  “I imagine that is nobody. Given that the eight of us are the only ones who have it and none of us put XP into it. Did we?”

  Charlie grinned. “First level is exactly 100 XP, like a lot of first buys. How do I know this you may ask? Well, you are looking at the top LEADER of the whole safe zone. It’s important to know things like that…”

  Charlie paused and buffed his fingernails on his shirt. He looked faintly ridiculous as he struck a pose with his head tilted back so he could look down his nose at David. He didn’t have long to wait for a response.

  “You didn’t! Those are group rewards. What have you done?”