Frank woke up for the last watch. He was worried both about the appearance of more system enemies, and the possibility of other people coming unannounced. Neither came to fruition, however, as the van was enough of a barrier to prevent things from wandering in randomly. He waited out the last few hours of the night, and right at the crack of dawn, woke everyone else up. He gathered them in the parlour after they had all grabbed something to eat, and everyone sat there, having breakfast as Frank laid out what was going to happen.

“Me and Felix and Maria are going to look for a trailer, and then load it with supplies. Bill and Rina, you’ll head downtown and recruit people,” Frank opened, summarizing the goals for the day.

“For Felix and Maria, it’s not going to be complicated, but for Rina and Bill, I want to make sure you are on the same page as me. You are going to be recruiting people to come here, but don’t tell anyone yet. Tell them they can come meet everyone else if they want. If you can get people we need, they can talk with me and I can set expectations.”

“What can we offer them then?” Rina asked. “We’ll need something to make even that seem attractive.”

“A fortified place to live, food, and the opportunity to grow stronger,” Frank replied. “Honestly, I’m not sure people will want to come, but it’d be worse to lie and then have them leave after they’ve used some of our resources. For the skills we need now for fortifying the place, we can also offer to pay them in equipment or supplies. There’s still the spare sword. Additionally, we need a lot of specific supplies. If someone can provide directions to getting a hold of mechanical watches, typewriters, and other stuff, that’d be excellent, so don’t forget to ask about that.”

“So you just want us to go and walk up to people?” Bill asked.

“We could set up a table somewhere with lots of foot traffic,” Rina suggested. “I made a bunch of copies of the flier while I was on watch with Felix, we could just stack them on the table and wait. I can tape some paper together into a sign to hang off the front.”

Frank looked at her. “I’ll leave it to you. Meet us early evening at the golf course, that way we can check identities for everyone.”

That decided, Frank got ready to go, and bid the others do as well. It wasn’t too long before everyone was ready, standing beside their bicycles. A short walk to the front gate and Frank was pulling the van out of the way before seeing off Bill and Rina. Then it was off to find a trailer. Frank had left his bike trailer behind because he would have to pull the trailer back himself anyways. No point in bringing something that would have to be placed in the trailer to take it back. Only his backpack and bike went with him, mace and shield strapped to his back.

“I think our best bet is to find a moving store,” Frank told his two remaining companions. “I’d guess if we look for an industrial area there’s a good chance. Barring that, if we see one just sitting somewhere, we can snag it.”

“Then we just head for a highway and search?” Maria asked.

“Seems like it.”

They set off, searching the area. It took over an hour and a half to find what they were looking for, and another fifteen to figure out how to get there from the highway, but eventually Frank stood at the gate of a U-Haul lot. Fortunately, it was open, allowing Frank to just go over and pick out the trailer he wanted. He grabbed one of the smallish, open-backed ones, judging that anything larger would be too much to bring back when fully laden.

After examining it, Frank laid his bike on it, then hefted the front end up by the coupler, and started moving it. He realized that he should have brought a rope or harness of some sort, but it was too late for that.

“Let's get this to the lot we went to last time with the supermarket and the hardware store,” Frank told his two companions.

“You are just going to pull it all the way?” Maria asked.

“Yup. Keep your eyes on things around you. We didn’t see anything running around today, but that doesn’t mean too much,” Frank replied.

“Isn’t it weird that all those things disappeared though? They were all over the place,” Felix asked.

Frank shrugged and started pulling the trailer by the coupler, which he’d tucked under his shoulder. “It is, but what can you do besides be cautious. I’m already doing that.”

There wasn’t much in the way of chatter as they went. Felix wasn’t talkative, and mostly chatted with Rina when he did talk. Bill and Rina were the more social types in the group anyway, but they were off hopefully recruiting some people. The obvious tension between Frank and Maria precluded them from having a real discussion right now as well. It took another half hour to drag the trailer over, and an hour to load it all up with supplies. Frank wasn’t 100% sure what would be needed, but he figured cement and wood were good bets. The rest of the space was filled with department store goods. More food, more clothes, more fuel.

It was in the department store that they met other people scavenging up supplies for the first time. The three middle-aged men and two teenagers that made up the other group didn’t seem particularly inclined to talk, especially after seeing the weapons Frank’s group was carrying. Instead, the eldest person in their group exchanged a nod with Frank, and they kept to themselves.

As Frank got everyone ready to head out, Maria turned to ask Felix a question.

“What is it with the nodding?”

Felix pulled his best Frank impression and shrugged. “Don’t know. It’s just how it is.”

Then they were off, travelling back at a walk. Frank had grabbed rope at the hardware store and made himself a makeshift harness which significantly lowered the difficulty of travelling. He guessed it’d take about an hour and a half to get back if they weren’t interrupted. In the end, the streets were still oddly empty, and after an hour and forty-five, only slightly behind Frank’s prediction, they were unloading things into the castle front door. When that was done, it was around eleven in the morning. That meant there was a lot of time left in the day before they had to head out to meet Rina and Bill.

Frank chose to go over his combat manual a bit more, before starting to clean up the fallen trees. Felix came and helped out for a while, and between them, they sectioned half the trees and stripped them of branches. Processing them further, for firewood, would happen tomorrow, most likely. All the smaller, loose stuff that wouldn’t be useful was piled into the trailer, and then Frank dragged it out and dumped it in an empty yard a short while away. He spent the rest of the afternoon doing odd jobs, checking the exterior wall for easy points of access, moving much of the food to the cellar, which he fitted with multiple solid locks, and then put an alarm tripwire across the steps, hidden so one would likely miss it. None of that would stop anyone. But hopefully, it’d make a racket.

Frank kept himself busy until it was time to meet up at the golf course. Felix had been following him, assisting with all the stuff he did, so they just had to grab Maria from inside, and then head out. She had been organizing and taking stock of what they’d picked up so far, which Frank hadn’t really been expecting, but was grateful to see. As they approached the golf course, they passed a few of the twisted creatures that littered the area, but there were still none of the husks.

When Frank arrived at the golf course, he found Rina and Bill waiting, along with two people. He glanced over them. One was an older man, grey-haired, skin slightly splotchy, with a bulbous, red nose, wearing jeans and a puffy flannel shirt. He had a gut, but Frank could tell he was strong just by looking at him. The other was a black woman, middle-aged, head completely shaved, wearing a tracksuit. She looked thin and fit.

Rina greeted Frank and company as they arrived by the clubhouse. “Hey Frank, there are two people who agreed to talk with you,” she told him. “We also have someone who said they can get us a typewriter, stuff for it, and a bunch of Rolex’s, we are going to meet with him the day after tomorrow.” Her tone indicated there was something else to talk about later.

Frank nodded. “What does he want in return?”

“He wants the extra sword we have,” Rina replied.

“If he can get everything we need for both, you can do that trade,” Frank told her. “We need the typewriter more than the extra sword.”

Frank then turned his attention to the two people waiting there. “I’m Frank,” he told them.

“Jerry,” the man said in response.

“Michelle,” the woman said.

“So, if Rina and Bill brought you here, then you are interested in joining up with us?” Frank asked.

“Yup,” Jerry said first. “Spent the first couple days after this drunk as hell, tell you the truth. Then I come out and everything’s a total mess. Rina and Bill are the first people I saw with anything resembling a plan so I figured might as well see if we can work something out. I’m a carpenter, by the way.”

Frank nodded. “Even if you don’t end up wanting to stay, we need some things done that we’d pay you for.” He turned to Michelle.

“I’m an APRN,” she said simply. “Did a couple of years of urgent care then went back for my doctorate.”

Frank did not recognize the acronym. “APRN?”

“Top-level for nurses,” she responded.

“Well,” Frank said, after a short pause. “What are you hoping to get out of joining up with us? Michelle first, then Jerry.”

“So weird to have a job interview in this situation,” Michelle said. “I am hoping for safety. After what happened, it is clear the government won’t be able to handle these things. So if there are no unreasonable expectations, and I can get along with all of you, it makes sense to go with people who are preparing for something. Bill told me that you’ve taken a big castle-like mansion for your base. That seems safer than downtown is right now.”

Frank nodded but gave her an honest response. “There’s no such thing as real safety. I can’t offer that. There will be plenty of danger. You’d have to face it willingly. I do believe that your odds of making it are better with us, long term. But would you be safe with us? Only in a relative sense.”

Michelle frowned at that but inclined her head in recognition. “We will see.”

Frank then looked at Jerry. “What about you?”

“I just want something useful to do, honestly. And beer. At least until it runs out. I saw the liquor stores got looted before the grocers, so I’m worried on that front,” Jerry said gruffly.

“There’s plenty for you to do, and we can definitely provide you with beer as part of your payment if you work for us. If you want to stay though, you’ll have to aid in more than just carpentry, eventually,” Frank explained. “Once the key carpentry stuff is done you’ll have to help with everything, including defending the place, and potentially going into a dungeon with us.”

Jerry looked quizzically? “Dungeon?”

“I’ll show you and Michelle what one is before we head to the home base if you decide to sign on,” he told him.

From there, the conversation progressed for quite a while, as Frank answered Michelle’s various questions. She was a detail person, it seemed. Eventually, they came to agreeable terms. Michelle would stay for two weeks as a trial, and then they would both make a decision on whether to keep her around. She agreed to learn to use a weapon and help out in general, in addition to handling any first aid or other medical treatment. The first thing she was going to do was take an inventory of what they had for medical supplies and make a wishlist.

Jerry agreed provisionally, as well. He’d work on the carpentry, get a few projects done, and if they weren’t getting along, take payment and leave. What that payment would be was a little harder to hash out. Frank agreed to send him away with a bunch of beer and supplies, the specifics of which he’d hash out with Bill. Given that both people were on board, at least for now, it was time to ensure they were people, show them what a dungeon was, and then return back and get them settled. There was space, for sure. Even if he reserved the parlour for meetings, there were enough rooms to sleep ten people individually.

“Well, let me show you what a dungeon is, then we will travel to the castle,” Frank told the two newcomers after concluding with Michelle. He lead them over to the center of the golf course. The prompt that appeared surprised them both.

“Accept it to go inside,” Frank told them. “Maria and Felix, can you two enter first to demonstrate?”

Once he saw them both disappear, then reappear, Jerry took a deep breath and entered. He returned as well, and Michelle was left. “My brother, he likes science fiction. He talked about all sorts of hypotheticals. One was the ‘teleporter problem,’” she said, hesitating.

“Hey, I brought that up too the first time. But like, the system is basically omnipotent, as far as I can tell, so there’s no reason physics would apply here,” Bill said.

She hesitated a while longer, while Frank and Rina went in and out as well to further demonstrate. Finally, she plucked up the courage and flickered out of existence for a few seconds. That done, Bill hopped in and out to confirm his identity, and then Frank took charge. Michelle and Jerry were both a little shellshocked after experiencing instant teleportation but followed Frank and the rest back to the castle. They arrived mid-evening, and Rina showed them to where they’d be sleeping, while Felix heated up some food. After some brief discussions, it started getting dark, and so Frank assigned a watch and everyone went to sleep. Rina said there was more to talk about, but that it wasn’t so pressing it couldn’t be done tomorrow.

It was at two in the morning that Frank woke up to the sound of noise outside. He quietly got up and went to take a look, only to find Maria was right outside his door, about to fetch him. He went to the side of the house and took a look out the window, towards the source of the noise. It was a human figure, faintly discernable in the darkness, crouched against the wall. Frank immediately pulled out his mace and headed downstairs, grabbing and lighting a kerosene lamp so he could properly see. He exited out the back door, breaking into a run as he opened it, knowing the noise he made would likely alert the figure.

Frank rushed around the corner as the figure was starting to walk away, and immediately was upon it. He casually knocked them to the ground, using his immense speed to just bowl them over. A breathless gasp was heard. Frank’s lamp illuminated him as he lay gasping on the ground, struggling to breathe. He’d had the wind knocked out of him. Frank saw that it was Daniel. He frowned at that. If it was some random person skulking, he could just threaten them and send them on their way, but he couldn’t imagine Daniel had returned with good deeds on his mind.

Frank turned to look over at where Daniel had been standing. There was a little pile of branches and a jerrycan, which gave away his intentions completely. When Frank saw that, three thoughts came through his head. Could he let Daniel live? Should he tell the others? How would the new people react if they knew about an intended arson? It took him longer than he felt it should have to come to a decision. He grabbed Daniel and hefted him inside, calling out to Maria to rouse the others as he did. Whatever happened to Daniel, everyone would have to be in the loop. If the newbies left, so be it.

Frank spoke to Daniel as he tossed him onto the floor of the parlour. “If you say anything without me telling you to speak, you’ll regret it.” Frank wasn’t sure what he’d have him say if anything, but stopping him from speaking up out of turn seemed like a good plan. It took several minutes for everyone to arrive downstairs. Upon seeing Daniel’s face, there was an immediate look of alarm from Rina, and recognition from Bill, Felix, and Maria. Michelle and Jerry were sleepy and confused.

“What’s going on?” Michelle asked. “Who’s that?”

Frank replied simply. “A wannabe arsonist.”

Her eyes widened. “Why would anyone do that? Right now? In this situation?”

“Because these fucking assholes deserve it!” Daniel yelled. Frank slapped him, careful not to just outright kill him with his strength. That got shocked looks, but it would be what it would be.

“I’ll show you all what I found outside, then we can figure out what to do with him,” Frank said.

After showing the group the wood doused in gasoline piled against the wall, everyone got deathly serious. Jerry and Felix both gave Daniel the side-eye.

“What the fuck do we do?” Bill asked first.

“That’s why everyone is here. I’m going to lay out my thoughts, and then we figure out what the next step is.”

Maria glared at Daniel. “There’s no cops to turn him over to. If we let him go, he could just try again.”

“Could we give him to the provisos?” Rina asked. “They seem to be pretty organized.”

“Organized enough to run a penitentiary? I doubt it,” Maria dismissed the idea.

Daniel had been glaring at Frank, but when Maria started talking, he turned his anger towards her, positively glowering. Maria stared him down in return.

What ensued was a brief recounting of what had happened between Daniel and everyone here, explaining why he had come here.

“Anything to add?” Frank asked Daniel, allowing him to speak.

“You fucks pointed a spear at Tara!” he raged.

The fact that he didn’t contradict the explanation of what had happened seemed to cause Jerry to think of something. “I’m gonna take a walk. This ain’t something I’m a part of yet. Bit too heavy, honestly.”

He wandered off after Rina told him to be careful.

When asked if there was anyone else, Daniel said that he had acted alone, calling the two who’d been thrown out with him cowards for not being willing to respond. He didn’t strike Frank as the kind of person capable of lying well so that he was probably a lone wolf was a relief.

“What the fuck are we going to do with him though?” Bill reiterated his question.

Michelle spoke up. “I am from Port Au Prince. There was a man selling fruits when I was young, and he was taking apart some coconuts at his stall when a thief came by. I was buying fish for my mother in the same square. He tried to steal from the man at the fruit stall because he thought he was distracted. Someone else called out and alerted the fruit seller, and he stood up in a rage and lifted his machete, which he kept very sharp to take apart the coconuts, and he cut the thief’s head off in one swing. No one felt sorry for him, because he was trying to steal. What this guy did was way worse than stealing fruit,” she narrated, coldly.

“Jesus fuck! You are cold,” Bill recoiled at the suggestion.

“And what do you suggest be done? Let him go, so he can try again?” She asked.

“I’m not okay with just executing someone,” Bill replied, but he didn’t have an alternative suggestion.

“What the fuck do you have against me?” Daniel asked Michelle, abruptly. “I don’t even fucking know you and you want me dead.”

“You tried to burn down the house I was sleeping in. We had no enmity before, but we do now,” she responded simply.

There was an uncomfortable silence. No one was sure what to do. After some sparse discussion, it was obvious that Maria was on board with killing him. Bill and Rina were strongly opposed, while Felix was following Rina’s lead, which was a trend Frank had previously noticed. Ultimately, though, the decision was his.

He had to decide between group unity and getting rid of potential risk. He had a hunch that Jerry was gone if they did that. That wasn’t the end of the world. Rina and Bill potentially becoming disaffected was a big problem in comparison. If they just gave up or left, he’d be losing out on some key people. He’d have to make new relationships. It’d suck to lose Rina right when she was proving useful and finding a niche. It’d be even worse to lose Bill given he had such high potential in combat.

On the other hand, the interpersonal stakes were a lot lower if he found some other way of dealing with him. There was just the risk of a hostile person either trying to hurt them in the future, or even just spreading lies about them. Ultimately, Frank’s own aversion to killing another person made the decision. For all the horror of what he’d experienced, he’d missed most of the human on human infighting. Many of his companions had spoken about it, but Frank had been fortunate. In the decade he’d lived after the system came, he’d only had to fight his fellow man once. He still felt uneasy thinking about it. It was a lot easier to cooperate with your fellow man when nonhuman sentient actors were attempting to exterminate you.

“We’ll tie him up as a prisoner for now. We can talk to the provisos and see what they might be able to do, and if we can’t dump him there, we figure it out from there,” Frank told the group.

Maria immediately went to fetch a length of rope, and Daniel was soon bound on the floor. The relief on Bill and Maria’s face justified his decision, while Michelle and Maria just nodded in response to Frank’s judgement. No one was able to go back to sleep, however, and so with Daniel left in the parlour and threatened with violence, by Maria, should he make a racket, everyone gathered upstairs in the study. Jerry returned, a mostly burnt up cigarette in his fingers. Everyone stood around awkwardly for a bit, but eventually, Maria broke the silence.

She spoke to Michelle. “You are from Haiti? You don’t sound like it.”

“That’s because people treat you differently when you sound like you are from Haiti,” Michelle replied. “I learned that quickly. My first nursing job, a lot of folks heard the way I spoke and stopped taking me seriously. Took me several years to learn to speak like this.”

The room went silent, and eventually, everyone started to disperse to their quarters. Frank returned to his, and spent the rest of the night considering how to handle things. He realized that whatever Rina had wanted to talk about hadn't happened, so that would be his priority come the morning.