He was unsure what to do but signaled Jamal to stay behind as he made his way toward the woman.

  He turned back to the group. “Everyone in the Protectorate is free to believe whatever they want. But I’m not sure you’d be comfortable living in a System-created space if you follow that church.”

  He chuckled, earning a few laughs from the group, who mostly looked on with disdain at the raving woman.

  As he gestured for the group to ask more questions, he saw the man who’d first joined when he was speaking with Rose—but wasn’t part of Whiterose or Cackett’s group—walk up to the woman, making calming gestures and trying to talk her down.

  “How dangerous is the day-to-day life in the Protectorate really?” asked a woman standing with a teenager and a younger child.

  “Hi, thanks for your question. And—do I remember right?—you’re Kevin, right?” Ben smiled at the boy, who gave a thumbs-up but didn’t speak, perhaps too shy.

  “How dangerous is it? The truth is, so far we’ve had one friend—Serge—die defending the settlement. It was preventable, but accidents and mistakes happen in high-stakes situations. I want to say it’s pretty safe—we have walls and we’re all training very hard to protect everyone. Also, we’re a community that cares for each other. My sister is a nurse and has healing spells; maybe more will join us. Maybe a fair way to say this is: it’s as safe as it can be in this new world, in an environment where we all want and need to grow. Does that make sense?”

  He saw Kevin whisper something to his mother, who nodded toward Ben.

  “How much does living with you cost?” That question came from a couple who looked too young to have children attending Brickham’s.

  Ben turned to Adam and winked. “That one is for you.”

  Adam cleared his throat, clearly using the moment to think. “Hi, I’m Adam, part of the Protectorate leadership team. To answer your question—at this point, it doesn’t cost anything. We’re still in the very early stages of setting everything up, and everybody contributes so that we can make decisions that help the community most.

  “Going forward, we will establish a more traditional economy where citizens will have to pay taxes, rent, etc. It’s too early to tell when we’ll switch over—it depends on how quickly we grow and what capabilities the System gives us.”

  The murmurs from the group seemed largely positive.

  Meanwhile, Ben saw that the Church follower had quietly left after a few minutes of conversation with the man who had approached her.

  He raised his hand, asking for quiet. “Everybody, I understand that this was a lot of information, and maybe that changed or delayed your decision. I suggest that everyone who still wants to join us now move over to that side of the parking lot, and I would kindly ask everyone else to move away from that area so that we can get a better understanding of what to expect.

  “In either case, we will try to be back here in two weeks. If for any reason that doesn’t work, we will try again two weeks after that.

  “If you do want to join us, please make sure that you have only very light luggage—you will need to carry it for two and a half days through the forest.” He gave a pointed look at a couple of trolleys that had probably been expensive and might be perfect for any airport on the planet, but not ideal on a rough forest floor.

  “Also, we had not expected a group this large, so we need some of you to take responsibility when it comes to defending against potential attacks on the trek. We,” he gestured to his friends, “will hopefully take care of the most dangerous threats, but backup is always useful. So if you have any kind of weapon, even a baseball bat, please have it ready.”

  Adam whispered to him again with a grin, “Now, the moment of truth...”

  Ben laughed. “Indeed. Let’s see how many I frightened off.”

  It quickly became clear that the answer was: not many.

  There were about fifteen people or so—among them quite a few from Cackett’s group—that decided not to join. But in the end, Adam counted eighty-one people standing on the side of the parking lot indicating they wanted to come along.

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  As they made their way over, they were intercepted by the man who had apparently helped with the Church follower.

  He seemed to be in his late thirties, quite fit, with an intense stare.

  “That was quite the speech. It seems like you succeeded,” he said with a nod toward the large group of people.

  “Thank you—I think. Not sure what you call success. We had not expected so many people that we didn’t know to want to join us, and just tried to give an honest perspective on what we are... Who are you, if I may ask?” Ben responded.

  “My name is Steve Taggart. Formerly, Detective Taggart. We spoke once, when you informed us about the deaths at a gas station outside the city.”

  “Oh, yes, I remember. What can we do for you?”

  “Well, after you dropped off the wallets at the station, I did investigate a bit—there wasn’t much else to do, as our leadership had basically told us to stay in the stations and give up on much of the city,” he said with clear distaste. “You mentioned that you were with a class from this school, so I managed to find Rose Winham and talked a bit with her.

  “After I quit my job last week—what good is a detective that sits around and does nothing...” At that point, he was interrupted by a loud snort from Jamal, who stood with his back to them.

  Taggart continued, “Anyway, I was curious about you, and based on this event, I was wondering whether you need an ex-detective in your Protectorate?”

  Ben looked at the man and shrugged. “Steve, I haven’t checked for any of those people what they have done until now, or what perks they have. If you can identify with our values and want to contribute to our settlement, you are welcome, just like everybody else. Just a heads-up—many of my closest friends—my family, if you will—are Second-Chancers. If you are fine with that and give them no trouble, we would be happy to have you.”

  Taggart looked at Jamal and Michael and just nodded. “No issue at all.”

  Before continuing on, Ben opened a notification that was blinking in his vision.

  Congratulations for inspiring dozens of potential citizens to follow, you are awarded one perk.

  [Mind]

  [Public Speaking] – Improves your ability to convey your intent. Common

  Ben chuckled as he read the message. That would’ve been helpful before the speech. While he didn’t know what kind of impact the perk would have in the first place, he was aware that in his new role as leader of a growing settlement, he would have plenty of opportunities to use it.

  Coming to the group of people planning to join them, he raised his hand again, asking for quiet.

  “Everybody, we are excited to have you, but the truth is that we did not expect so many people to join us today. It is not a problem, but we have some obligations we need to fulfill before we journey back to the Protectorate. But that is also an opportunity, as I still see quite a few of you with gear that is not well suited to what we have to do.

  Remember, the trip alone will take at least two and a half days, given how many people we have here, including young ones.

  Also, please make sure that you have as much food and water as possible with you. We might be able to hunt a bit on the way, but not necessarily enough to feed eighty or more people. We can refill water bottles midway through, but that requires you to have some in the first place.”

  Adam cleared his throat, indicating he had something to add. “One thing to maybe lighten your load: money as we have known it is of no real value to us. The system has provided us with a new currency. We’re not going to tell you what to do, but think twice before carrying kilos of cash or gold up the mountain, only to find limited use for it.”

  That caused quite the commotion, with people whispering amongst themselves or frowning.

  “I can only reinforce what Adam said. I would strongly recommend that you don’t carry more than one backpack with you and use that primarily for food, a sleeping bag, and maybe a change of clothing. If you have additional capacity, please help those with small children.

  “Given all of that, I would suggest that we meet back here in..." He quickly thought about what they had to do. "Three hours. We will then walk until sunset, camp, and then walk for at least two more days. If we are too slow, we will have to spend a third night in the forest, which would be unfortunate. Any final questions?”

  There was some murmuring as people thought about their next steps, but no further questions. So Ben sought out Jane.

  “Was all of this in line with your expectations?”

  “Mostly. We are committed to this path as a family. I grew my business from nothing based on some bold decisions and sticking with them. I have seen enough tough times to know when it’s going to get worse, and this city hasn’t seen the bottom yet. Far from it.

  I don’t know why the police decided to just give up. Just because their guns don’t work anymore?!? The crazy person from the Church of Energy... you wouldn’t believe how many nut jobs are out there following them, looking for meaning in the change. When you came around last time, you saw the Warriors. They are trying to fill the vacuum that the changes have created. No, I am eager to start fresh in my old age and see to the family having a home in this new world.”

  Ben was flustered by the conviction Jane showed. “Well, thank you. We can definitely use your experience and energy in the Protectorate. We need people who are eager to build something new.”

  Adam nudged him. “Getting everything done in time is going to be tough. How about we change the order a bit—quickly go to the university first, then to the hospital? Afterwards, we come back here, and maybe one or two of us can hit Luz’s sister while the others lead this mob out of the city.”

  Ben nodded. “Sounds good. Let’s go!”

  The university wasn’t far from Brickham’s; it took just 30 minutes to walk there.

  An old man in a campus security uniform sat at the entrance to the campus-like space that covered multiple city blocks.

  Ben greeted the man with a smile. “Hello there, how are you?”

  “Good, good. Just doing my job. Even though I seem to be the last one to do so…” The guard didn’t seem dampened in spirit by the situation.

  “Is all calm? We’re just stopping by to deliver a couple of letters from a friend.”