“Brock?” A small hand waved past his face, and he flinched, abruptly coming back to the real world. He glanced at Margo who was looking to him with furrowed brows and apologised. She waved away his simple ‘sorry’ and beamed, “So, what do you think of the name?”

Briefly, he spared another look at the chasm and among the darkness, he also noticed a small earthen structure built onto the edge of one side. He met Margo’s eyes and shrugged, “Sounds… I dunno. Good?”

“Good?” She seemed somewhat unsatisfied with his answer, “I think it’s fitting.”

Fon chimed in, “Me too.”

“What’re we talking about?” Harry asked, having been surveying the landscape absentmindedly.

After a quick explanation and an enthused response from the boy, who clearly thought the name was awesome, Margo then moved on from the renaming of the desert town and to more logistical stuff. Mostly, she relayed to Brock about their exploits in using harvested parts from Iz’ Takon to create gear, as he had seen earlier.

Apparently, the queen’s meat was also of an extremely high quality, and therefore a well-loved meal. She had said they hadn’t got much of either, whether it be carapace or meat, as her body seemed to rot unbelievably quick, though they had managed to get enough for the purposes they had in mind.

“Graham, can you come here?” Her speech about the armaments they had begun producing ended and she beckoned a confused soldier to come to their little group. leaving his station upon the ramparts behind.

Margo gestured to the armour he was wearing while the man beneath it squirmed nervously in the presence of their well-known saviour. Idly, Brock gave it a knock, and was surprised with how sturdy it felt. In fact, he had a suspicion that it might even outperform the armour he had given to Harry.

He nodded, impressed, “It’s pretty sturdy. Better than the stuff I gave you guys before.”

“Indeed. The carapace is an extremely durable material.” She couldn’t keep herself from beaming, clearly proud of the product her town had managed to produce from the creator of their plight.

Brock scratched his chin as he regarded the armour. The man wearing it sweated uncomfortably underneath. While he was considering whether he should ask for a set for Harry and Fon, he also felt that he should wait. Donte was currently forging his own weapon, and if it was of a high enough quality, he was better off just commissioning some stuff for them instead.

That way, he wouldn’t need to take some of Margo’s supplies, and his friends would be better protected. He also felt that metal would be far easier to maintain and repair than insect carapace, but he wasn’t an expert so he couldn’t know that for certain.

Margo eventually let the guy get back to his post, and she seemed content with what she had relayed. The woman didn’t seem pressed to speak on anything else, and just as Brock opened his mouth to ask her about healers, another voice cut off his own, this time from far below.

“Heyyyyyyyy, Brock!” The man in question glanced behind him and flinched when a familiar woman shot up to their level on a pillar of earth. As she stepped out and onto the wall, the earthen construct broke down back into dirt and re-joined the soil below, “Long time no see, huh?”

Brock raised his brows at the woman’s dramatic entrance and chuckled, “Yeah, it has been. Nice to see you too, Erin.”

“Sure is.” She smiled his way, and beside him, he noticed Harry blush, “I’ve just come by to ask about the housing. How do ya want us to start reforming it all?”

Ignoring his younger friend for the moment, and stepping slightly in front of him to hide his obvious nervousness, Brock furrowed his brows, “What? I don’t know. Ask Margo.”

Somewhat confused, he gestured to the woman who stood off to the side.

Erin cocked a brow, “You… want Margo to tell me how you want your city to be built?”

To his left, he heard Fon snicker. She had known this was coming. Harry was too embroiled in the voice of the woman ahead of him to understand what she was actually saying. Brock tilted his head to the side and squinted his eyes, “Huh? Why the fuck is it my city?”

Margo leaned over and joined the conversation. She genuinely appeared more confused than he was, “Because… actually, I don’t know. You… don’t want to take over the city?”

“What? Of course I fucking don’t. What happened to democracy?” well that, and it was far too much work.

The two women opposite him glanced at each other, dumbstruck. Margo licked her lips, “I… never thought about that…”

Erin shrugged, “Honestly, I just wanna build shit.”

Sighing, Brock rubbed the bridge of his nose, “Whatever. I just don’t want to be the leader. Too much work and too much responsibility. I’ll help you guys out when you need it, but don’t expect me to do anything else.”

They could all hear the weary finality in his voice, and glancing over, Brock could tell that Fon was greatly amused by all of this. While they were a tad bit different, he felt she and Mio would get along quiet well. It was for that reason that he would do everything in his power to stop them from meeting each other properly.

It certainly helped that Mio had held a knife to her neck on their first meeting. Fon had told him.

“But then…” Margo rubbed the back of her neck, “Who’s going to lead the town?”

Brock raised a brow, “I thought you were the obvious choice. You were already doing it anyway.”

“Yep. That’s what I was thinking too.” Erin chimed in. Honestly, she seemed like she’d be happy no matter what happened.

Margo looked rather shocked by the development, and after a back and forth between why she should and shouldn’t be the leader, she eventually conceded. Although, she did have one requirement, and that was a return to democracy, like he had joked about earlier. She would hold a vote from the townsfolk against whoever else wished to be the leader.

And despite her hesitance, he could tell quite easily that she was enamoured with the idea of being the head of the town. She seemed to be extremely competent as well, which was also a large bonus.

In the end, after relaying that the town, in fact, didn’t have any healers, Margo bid them goodbye and left, appearing to want to get onto her electoral campaign immediately. Erin left a short while after she stayed to chat a little longer. She did, however, make a remark about how Brock was looking rather pale, and he realised that he was. Harry and Fon thought so too, though they had apparently chosen not to say anything before.

It was strange. I used to be pretty tanned back in Alice Springs…

Once more a trio, the group moved down from the wall after Brock spared the stretching chasm a final glance, and instead strolled through the budding city proper. While they did kick up quite a commotion as the warriors and citizens living in the city noticed their presence, more specifically that of Brock’s, it wasn’t as large as they expected.

A slew of thank yous were thrown their way, and many people clamoured to shake his hand, but otherwise, people seemed to realise that they didn’t want to be bothered too much. Whether word had spread from the initial group or Margo had told them not to in passing was unknown.

Either way, thank fuck.

Being amidst the buildings like this and analysing their surroundings, Brock was able to realise a few things the town was lacking. Wood was one of the major things, though fabric and whatnot were also extremely scarce. Glass was also on the list, but with the sandy-ish landscape, he assumed they’d be able to fix that shortage relatively easily.

The houses themselves were also relatively rough and haphazardly built, although they were certainly sturdy, and Erin had shown that she was keen to rebuild them better, so he didn’t worry about it too much.

Absentmindedly, Brock made a note to get Margo in touch with Hiroto. Trade would certainly help her heaps, granted she won the upcoming, self-created election.

Overall, the people here seemed genuinely happy, free from danger and now living pretty easy lives. It was a vast contrast to the fear he had seen rife throughout when he had arrived. There was a sizeable amount of people that didn’t seem to be fulfilled, not really having the skills to help with the various tasks in demand, though he knew that’d sort itself out eventually.

As Brock turned to ask Fon about what she thought of the town, he stumbled back when all he saw was Mio, her face close to his own. Brock caught himself mid stumble, “Don’t do that fucking shit, mate!”

She didn’t offer an apology, and behind her, he could see Harry and Fon share a laugh, although it was reserved. It was clear to him that they were unaware of how they truly felt about the woman. She was a literal shadow assassin that had threatened to kill one of them, after all.

Grumbling, he faced the new arrival as a small smirk rose upon her face and she began to speak, “I’m leaving. I’ll be back to tell you if the young matriarch wakes up or if your commission with Donte is done.”

The man furrowed his brows, “How do you know about my thing with Donte?”

Mio simply didn’t reply, instead grinning and raising her brows as she was consumed by her own shadow. He gave her the middle finger as she disappeared and sighed. I need to find a way to stop her sneaking up on me like that. Like heat seeking missiles.

Afterwards, there was only one more place that Brock wished to visit, and he was anticipating it highly.

**

“Fuck this is good.” Brock said between mouthfuls of succulent Iz’ Takon steak. He had forgone the option to use primitive cutlery like others were using, and instead held the juicy piece of meat in his hands, taking large bites out of it like an animal.

The oils flowed down his arm and dripped onto the table, but he didn’t care. The food was just too damn good. His other two companions seemed to be enjoying it as much as he was, tearing into the food with closed eyes and satisfied smiles. It was almost incomparable to the meat of the queen’s underlings.

Genuinely, he thought this steak of insect meat was better than anything he had eaten on pre-System Earth. Hell, each bite even injected a miniscule surge of restorative energies into his mouth, though as they were absorbed into his ruined pathways, they dissolved through his pores and remained ineffective.

The meat itself was a shade or two darker than the ivory white of the normal Swarm Spawn, closer to a pearly grey. While it tasted like a chunk of divinity, it didn’t look like it. It kind of looked like boot leather, if he had to make a comparison.

Fortunately, the sheer quality of the meat seemed to nullify their excessive nutritional needs, and Brock felt he was full after eating only three quarters of the meal, contrary to where he needed three whole meals just to fill himself. Still, despite how full he felt, his finished off the rest, if just for the incredible flavours.

As they left the cafeteria a short time afterwards and made their way back to the wall as the sun set, Brock regretted the choice immensely. Even the System was unable to prevent the grim aftereffects of overeating, it seemed.

The rampart was relatively quiet and unused, with many of the patrolling soldiers having left to have their dinners or see their families if they were still alive in this cruel world. Still, a few remained, and after an enthusiastic greeting to their saviours, they diligently got back to their jobs.

Brock looked out at the expanse illuminated by dim shades of orange and pink, and as all three of them sat and dangled their legs off the edge, they gazed to the stunning tapestry painted across the horizon. While their world may be harsh and savage at times, it still held just as much beauty as before, if not more.

Idly, as Brock glanced back over the landscape, he saw tufts of grasses and flora he hadn’t noticed before peeking up through the cracks in the earth. Slowly, it seemed the place was healing. Fon had already let him know on the way here that the Augment infused into the ground had rapidly begun to fade as its user was no longer alive.

Brock was the one to thank for that. A slayer of E Grades.

“That chasm is massive…” Harry said absentmindedly, his eyes evidently tracing over its respectable size.

Brock nodded, “Yeah. My bad.”

“Oh, Brock, that reminds me,” Fon piped up, refusing to take her eyes from the stunning sunset and instead enjoying the little time she had left in the day to witness it, “I have something I think you’ll want to see. I’ll show you in the morning.”

As he too turned his eyes and bathed in the worldly beauty of nature, he wondered what she had in store for him when the sun rose once again.

Hopefully, it was more steak.