Emily and her survivors weren't the only people that came to the precinct seeking help. Both they and the others quickly discovered that reaching the precinct alive wasn’t the victory. Not even close. If anything, it was just the beginning of a lot more issues.

By the end of the first day, the precinct was completely packed. Over 100 police officers and 600 civilians flooded the entire building. Simple fortifications were erected around the perimeter. Fully armed officers stood guard at the fortifications at all times, logging in incoming survivors and beating back NPC attacks with the automatic rifles and shotguns they retrieved from the precinct armory. Their weapons were still quite effective against low-level NPCs.

Unfortunately, while 700 people didn't sound like a lot, it was way more than what the precinct was able to support. For one thing, there wasn’t nearly enough food to feed the survivors and the officers, all of whom were tired and hungry after a terrible day. There wasn’t sufficient space either, and things like sanitation became a mess. The idea of privacy and personal space became laughable.

Even with so many police officers around, the precinct became quite chaotic. Even the officers who were supposed to maintain the law had a thousand other things to worry about. They were still human, and they still had families, many of whom might be dead already. As such, it was inevitable that there were many conflicts within the precinct, from civilian against civilian to civilian against officer to officer against officer.

After a restless night where almost no one could fall asleep, Captain Jordan Larson of the 33rd Precinct called for a meeting to discuss what to do next. Emily, as an officer who led a dozen survivors back to the precinct alive, was among the list of the invited.

Initially, Emily believed the meeting was necessary. The survivors needed a single directive about what to do next. Hold this position and try to gather additional resources? Try to send a message to the outside world and schedule an evacuation attempt? Relocate to some other position that is more defensible? Either way, a decision had to be made soon.

Unfortunately, just ten minutes into the meeting, Emily quickly realized how naive she was. Indeed, a decision had to be made, but everyone had different ideas about what that decision should be.

“Our first priority is to secure additional food supply. Our current inventory won’t last us until the end of the day.” Captain Larson declared. He was a middle-aged man with spots of grey in his hair. He was experienced, but decades of experience as an agent of the law didn't prepare him for the apocalypse. Still, after a full night to process what happened, he managed to recover...at least on the surface. “There are six supply locations within ten minutes of walking distance from here. Grocery stores. Restaurants. Supermarkets. It is estimated that if we can get to three of them, the supply we gather should be able to last at least three more days.”

“Our first priority should be to seek outside help! Even if we cannot be evacuated, at least we should receive support and supply from the military! This is a warzone here!” A man slightly younger than the Captain countered. His first name was Seth. Emily didn't know his last name. The only thing she knew was that Seth had a position in the city government. He was a politician.

“Support? Supply?” The Captain scoffed. “Come on, Seth. You know as well as I do that we have no way of contacting the outside world. All our means of communication are down.”

“Then fix them!” Seth snapped.

There was a moment of silence around the table as Seth slowly realized how stupid his words were. Finally, he came up with another suggestion.

“What if...what if we send messengers outside?”

Many of the people seated around the table frowned. Seth was suggesting that they send people out of the walls of the precinct and essentially hope that they could survive long enough to reach someone important. Most likely, these messengers would be hunted down before they could get two blocks in.

Clearly, that type of suicide mission wouldn’t go well with many people.

“What? We have to try something!” Seth saw the look of disdain on everyone’s face and protested. “We can’t stay here forever! This is for the greater good! If we don’t do anything soon, all of us will die here! This is a necessary sacrifice! We will remember their heroism!”

The other attendees exchanged glances, but none of them said anything. One officer in uniform sitting further down the table scoffed, but he refrained from speaking as well. Emily recognized him as Lieutenant Hans.

“I am not sending my people outside to die.” Once again, it was the Captain who shut him down. “I am going to be honest. We don’t have too much manpower and ammunition left. We can’t afford to waste them on a suicide mission like this. The real question now...is the supplies. If we can’t get to those locations soon, there will be a lot of trouble.”

Emily knew all too well what a food shortage could do. Hunger was a terrifying weapon, and people who were starving would do anything. There were 700 people in the precinct and not nearly enough food to feed them. If they went without food for a few days, the precinct would be torn down from the inside. It wouldn’t even take the monsters outside to launch an assault.

The Captain scanned those seated around the table once more before turning to the Lieutenant who scoffed at Seth.

“Lieutenant Hans, I want you to form a task force from our remaining officers. Prioritize those with prior military service and combat experience. They will be our best chance of going outside and retrieving the supplies we need.”

The Lieutenant nodded slowly with a frown on his face. He knew his job would be tough. After all, even police officers wouldn’t be too happy to leave the safety of the precinct walls and venture into the streets infested by deadly beasts. They weren’t paid enough for this. In fact, they weren’t paid at all as of now. And this definitely wasn’t what they signed up for. Still, the Lieutenant knew speaking up now would achieve nothing, so he maintained his silence.

“As you all know, all of our vehicles are down. We have some mechanics looking at them, but there is no telling when, if at all, they can be back up and running again. We need to find a way to transport the supplies we gather from the locations. This task will be completed by the officers who are...gifted.” The Captain turned to one of the officers. “How many gifted officers do we have now?”

“Eight, sir.”

“Very well. From the reports I received, each gifted individual can carry a nearly limitless amount of material. That will be more than enough for this mission.”

Emily frowned. Gifted? The Captain must be referring to the players, who could put materials into their personal storage space. Fair enough. It wasn’t like anyone came up with a formal term for this. She remembered being asked if she was at level 1 when she first entered the precinct, so the officers here clearly knew about the players. She was probably one of the eight so-called gifted officers.

Still, she didn't like the name ‘gifted’. There was nothing gifted about the players. Anyone could kill a monster and become a player.

However, it did give her one question though. This prompted her to raise her hand.

“Yes?”

“Captain, if I may...” Emily paused as she felt all the eyes trained on her. “I know that there are plenty of players, I mean gifted individuals, among the civilians. I personally arrived with seven or eight of them. Shouldn’t they be involved in these missions as well?”

Emily could still remember what Shaw told her. In the future, firearms would become less and less effective, and the players were the last hope mankind had of surviving in this new, cruel world. Surely the players should have a larger role in this, right?

The Captain frowned. He clearly wasn’t pleased by Emily’s question, but he did his best to answer it.

“I am not going to put untrained civilians in harm’s way. Our professional officers will be able to handle this better than the civilians ever can.” The Captain paused. “Plus, even if I want to, I don’t have the authority to do so.”

For a moment, Emily almost wanted to burst out laughing. Oh, the irony! Not long ago, she was saying almost the exact same words to Shaw, and now, after witnessing atrocities beyond her wildest imagination, she was being told this! She understood exactly why the Captain was saying this, and she also understood exactly why this was a terrible idea.

“Captain, with all due respect, this is no time to worry about authority or casualties.” Emily pushed on despite the Captain’s tone clearly telling her this was a bad idea. “I have seen first-hand what players can do, and I have seen civilian players stand up effectively against the monsters outside. The chances of this mission succeeding will be a lot greater if we enlist the help of the civilian players...”

Before she could finish, the Captain cut her off. This tone, his tone clearly told Emily it was the end of the discussion.

“I will consider your proposal, officer, but as of now, we will keep all the civilians within the precinct, regardless of if they are gifted or not. That is an order.”

Emily nodded slowly, knowing pushing the issue any further wouldn’t achieve anything. As she sat back down, she couldn’t help but sigh. The Captain was hardly a fool, and the Emily a day ago would’ve respected his determination and sense of duty. But after all that she saw and heard, Emily knew the Captain was making mistakes. Costly mistakes. His determination and duty wouldn't save anyone, just like hers didn't.

Captain Larson was an old man. He spent decades in a world that had just disappeared, and it was obvious he wouldn’t be able to adapt to the new world that quickly. And with every moment wasted and every mistake made, everyone in the precinct would pay the price for it.

The question was...what would she do about this?