I woke four hours later completely refreshed, though I felt heavier, denser. Kaia raised his head and licked my face sloppily and I rolled away from him with a smile. I looked around and saw that it was still dark out. Someone was keeping the fire bonfire burning and groups of people huddled together in the cool desert night air. The faint glow of the mana motes could be seen still deconstructing all the structures in the area. My apartment building had been broken down while I slept and left the area where it stood clear of everything but the broken and tossed cars, mine included.

I looked for Junipher and found her speaking with a recently arrived group of demon peoples. I approached and could see in the dim firelight cast from the bonfire that these were even more battered and broken than the ones we had dealt with before. As I reached her I realized she was singing a song laced with heavy amounts of healing and invigoration. The ragged band of demon people quickly regained their strength, thanked her and headed in the direction of the dungeon I had given them control of.

“Oh my.” She exclaimed when she turned to greet me. “You have grown.”

“So it worked. I feel a bit odd, it’s too dark for me to judge the scale of things.”

“Well, sudden changes made by the system sometimes take a bit getting use to.” She smiled sweetly at me and took my arm and led me back to the campfire. Her arm looked positively tiny compared to my much more heavily muscled one. I really need to get in front of a mirror! I mentioned as much to her and she nodded.

“When do we go to this… work… of yours? Do you plan to take Johnny and Alyssa too?”

“I don’t, Alyssa is the strongest fighter in the settlement next to Johnny and maybe Carly. Need them to stay. Plus I’m probably going to have to do some things to bring that situation under control. I know they know I’m not playing around, but…”

“You would rather they not see you at your worst?” She gave me a knowing nod. She always seemed to have a smile on her face but I saw the look of a fierce warrior on her face the first time I saw her in the dungeon. Seems so long ago, it was only yesterday. I needed that nap.

“I want to wait for them to wake” I looked to the east at the horizon where the Flying J smoldered and embers glowed off it in the distance. The sun was just starting to peak across the horizon. That or the entire world was on fire, which it might be. Meh. “Sun’s almost up. They should wake soon, I’ll give ‘em their marching orders.”

“Alyssa will insist she should come too, she’s jealous of me. And hurt that you haven’t rebuffed my attention the way you have hers.” She looked at me with a hint of smugness. “She is attractive and young, you should take her.” I cocked an eyebrow at her and she giggled “My people are not possessive or jealous, Karl. I do not mind sharing you.”

“Also, she is a very strong woman, she just doesn’t realize it. Whatever it is you did to gain her affections, it was absolute, she won’t say it but she seeks your approval.”

“I killed the asshole that was abusing her. Shot a bullet right through the back of his head and watched his shitty gold teeth fly out the front. Johnny may have put a good word in for me too.” I chuckled at the last.

Realization dawned on her face and she patted my shoulder, “ Ah, I think I understand better. She’s indebted and doesn’t know how to repay that debt. That still doesn’t explain why you haven’t taken her. Or me.” She cocked an eyebrow at me teasingly as she stroked my shoulder seductively.

“That one is easy, she’s young, too young. Just barely I think, but on our planet taking a girl before she is considered ‘legal’ is a crime. One that can get you killed quick if you’re found out by the wrong people.”

“Mmmm.” She looked over at the girl who apparently woke while I was explaining myself to Junipher. She was looking at me directly. Junipher stood and left me to my own execution. This is a conversation I really don’t want to have, but I probably should.

“Come over here so we don’t wake anyone else til they are ready.” She stood up and I noticed she had a shirt similar to mine that hugged all her curves and apparently salvaged another pair of my brown work pants. She sat next to me close enough to talk but not close enough to be in my space and hugged her knees to her chest and looked at me for a long moment.

“You got big. Like, real big.” She looked me up and down where I sat.

“Yeah, maybe Shubin gave me a complex.” I smiled at her and she giggled quietly. “Advanced Genetic Correction, doesn’t cost much. Decided I should go wild, you only live once.”

“I suppose, you’re not going to take me with you?” She looked accusingly at me. I shook my head and let her continue. She thought a moment before speaking again. “What is going on with you two?”

None your business kid. That’s what I wanted to say, but I decided to just be honest. “Not sure. It’s a little weird, but kinda hot too. I mean, other than the plant thing something about her speaks to me.” I said while watching Junipher speak to Johnny who had also just woken up. Then I turned back to Alyssa who wore a hurt frown on her face.

She narrowed her eyes at me and whispered “Pervert!” and forced a small smile to her lips.

“Yeah, kinda, I can’t deny it. Don’t take this the wrong way. I find you beautiful in a completely different way. And also a bit terrifying. By a bit, I mean A LOT. Are you even 18?”

She cocked her head at me and a real smile started to form. “Real pervert.” She shifted her foot in the dirt for a second then added, “But not a bad one. Most men would have already tried to fuck me. You haven't. I don't know how I feel about that. I... I just don't want to die.”

I chose not to respond and let her settle her thoughts. Don't know what to say to that.

We sat together by the fire for a couple minutes while the sun slowly made itself known and she gathered her thoughts. When she finally spoke she had found some resolve “Alright, so what do you need me to do while you’re gone?”

“Keep the settlement safe. In fact…” I brought up the settlement interface, there were several military and administrative positions that needed to be filled that gave different bonuses and such, I found the one I was looking for and selected it and assigned Alyssa to it.

Her eyes glazed over as she read the notification and murmured “Captain of the Guard?”

“Yeap, I need you here defending the settlement. You have first hand experience with the kind of people we don’t want here.” She looked at me knowingly and I continued “Follow your instincts on who to let in and not, find the fighters and make them as strong as you are. And find your replacement, when I finish with the prison you WILL be in my party.”

She took it all in and brightened visibly when she heard the last. “Ok, I think I can do that.”

“Don’t worry, I’m going to make Johnny the settlement manager while I am away, I think with just those two positions filled you guys should be able to hold the fort til we return.”

She rose from where she sat next to me and moved to leave, then quickly turned and whispered in my ear "Two weeks" and ran away before I could react. Need to find her someone her own age… I thought to myself as I headed over to greet Johnny.

“You got big.” He deadpanned.

“So I have heard” I chuckled back. “Check with your spirit, it can show you what to do if you want to.”

He laughed and said “Nah, I’m good. Junipher says you are leaving for the prison, that there is trouble there.”

“I am, but before I go, I need you to be my settlement manager. It’s pretty much what you did for the apartment but on a larger scale. And over the last couple of days I’ve come to trust you to have my back.” I made the arrangements on the settlement screen and watched as he read his notification. “Do you accept?”

“Yeah, that seems to be where the spirits want me. I too don’t think I want to fight anymore than I have to. This will be good.”

“Good, thank you. Alyssa is the current Captain of the Guard, I’ll tell you the same thing I told her. Once the walls go up I suspect the vultures will come out to circle. You both know the type I am referring to. Only accept people who are prepared to fight for what they have. When I return I will weed out the ‘hangers on’.”

He shook my hand and said “That is wise, and the spirits agree with your assessment. We will take care of the place.” And he walked off to find Alyssa with Brother Coyote close on his heels.

The sun was now an orange ball sitting fully on the horizon and the view to the west was clearing up. The smoke hung heavier in that direction than it had the previous day. More shit burning. More people dying. I walked over to where Junipher waited basking in the rising sun and people gasped as I passed them. I really need to find that mirror.

I stepped over to the kiosk and retrieved the equipment I had ordered earlier in the night. I strapped the holster for my new plasma pistol to my left thigh then lovingly appraised the new toy. I can not fucking wait to use this! I slid it into the holster with a satisfying click, then I equipped the fancy tactical vest and slotted my magazines accordingly. Final item on the list was to retrieve the shotgun and AR I had left behind and stash them in my spatial inventory.

My equipment was updated, my mags were full, or filling themselves, which is FUCKING COOL!, I went over my status and saw nothing out of the ordinary. The settlement was just creeping past the halfway mark and I could see where the new administration center foundation was slowly forming. Guards roved a tight perimeter and the thing that stood out the most was the fact that every building for a square kilometer had been torn down. Though to be fair monsters and assholes had been doing a pretty good job of tearing things down before I claimed it all as mine.

I walked over to where Junipher was surrounded by three girls, hugging their goodbyes. One was clearly Alyssa who was pulling her hood up and trotting off with Lulu as I approached and it appeared Samantha and Danielle wished to see the gentle tree lady off. Danielle was still a bit skittish but Samantha seemed to have found some confidence. I examined her and saw she had taken a class. Samantha Devers, Lvl 2 Psionic Vanguard.

“Interesting class name, you can do some mind stuff I take it?” I asked her directly. She didn’t flinch, the skittishness of the previous day was gone.

“Yeah, something like that, mostly it doesn’t require the use of both hands.” She raised her stump sourly but continued. “I can shield people’s minds and bodies with my mind. And I can shape my mental energy into kinetic bolts. It gives some passive boosts to mental damage resistance and such.”

“You planning on sticking around or are you gonna try to find your way back to the Valley?”

“I think I will stick around here for a while, work with some of the others and gain some levels and skills. I know there is nothing between here and Payson to the south but desert and forest. I’m not sure I’m ready to find out what’s out there just yet.”

I looked at the other girl briefly, noting that she was sticking close to Samantha. “Good luck, stay as long as you need.” I nodded then turned to Junipher, “Shall we?”

Kaia lowered himself and Junipher swung up in front of me and grasped the small pommel with both hands and looked at me expectantly. Apparently she intends to ride at the front. I suppose I am too big now to look over my shoulder. I shrugged and climbed up behind her, and Kaia rose and headed out to the road. Junipher handed the reins to me as I reached around her, then wiggled her heart shaped ass snugly against my crotch and looked over her shoulder and batted her large black eyes at me with a teasing smile. Of course!

I smiled back at her and guided Kaia onto the road at a slow trot. Taking in the devastation in front of us I decided we should follow the road for as long as we could as an impromptu scouting opportunity. The city fire station marked the edge of my territory to the west. It didn’t look too worse for the wear but it was clear that someone had come through and looted it.

The garage doors were open and the bays were empty. Clothing and equipment was strewn about the drive in the assumed direction the looters had dragged their ill gotten gains. Down the street in the other direction several figures moved in the shadows cast by the rising sun. The houses were in various states of disrepair, burning and collapsed. Wrecked cars littered the road and I was able to make out parts of bodies and dried blood painting the landscape.

As we approached the next bridge we noticed that water splashed across the top but the bridge appeared to still stand. Kaia splashed quickly across the bridge and we were quiet while we pressed further into the burning city. As we traveled my notifications started pinging periodically notifying me that various monster encampments had sprung up. Gnolls had taken over the High School, several groups of goblins occupied the fields on the other side of the highway, flame salamanders occupied the middle school, and all manner of beast and creature had taken over the major landmark locations of the city.

“I think we’ve been the only ones to form a settlement.” Junipher leaned her back into my chest and replied “It may be so, Karl.”

“Veep, are you able to tell me if any other settlements have been established?”

“I have a detection range of 5 miles from our current position, thereis no other settlement within that area.”

“Winslow is fucked. It’s all of 3 miles from my end of town to the other end. Can you sense any other living Humans?”

“I sense a little over 2000 humans remaining.” She responded quickly.

We reached the main intersection of 3rd Street and North Williamson. Surprisingly every building at this intersection stood. An impromptu barricade barred vehicle travel in the direction of the Circle K, a man slept in the bed of the truck with a rifle barely held in his hands. I looked around and spotted several more sentries at various locations around the Circle K. A dark haired man who was watching the road in the direction that I was traveling happened to look over his shoulder and cursed when he saw me.

His eyes shot wide and he spun in the bed of his truck and raised his rifle to his shoulder, “W- Where the hell did you come from!?!?”

I raised my right hand in the air to calm him. “Back that way, headed to the prison to solve a problem there.” I jerked my thumb behind me and rested my hand on the grip of my plasma pistol, out of the man’s line of sight.

The closer man startled awake and raised his weapon now too. “W- W- What the fuck man!?”

“Calm down Charlie, and wake the fuck up. Dude’s been sitting there for a minute already.”

“Name’s Karl, I’ll be headed on now. Maybe I’ll swing back when I’m done at the prison.”

“Brad.” He lowered his weapon and nodded “Good luck.”

We turned towards the railway underpass that sometimes flooded and blocked the quickest way south out of town.Curious they didn’t say anything about the giant Coyote or the pretty plant girl in my arms. Coming around the row of two story buildings as we neared the underpass I found that it had collapsed. If I were driving my car this would have been a problem as I would have had to drive to the overpass that was at the other end of town. Since Kaia didn’t need roads we circled around one of the long abandoned city buildings and crawled up to the tracks.

Looking down the tracks we saw the burning carcasses of cargo cars spread across the rail yard. What seemed like a river of fire and destruction spread south into the local community colloquially known as Cooper Town. Even an entire day after the mile long train rocketed at full speed into the rail head the area burned. The temperature seemed to rise as we stared at the dancing fires.

Optional Quest available: Investigate the destruction of the Winslow Rail Yard. Rank II, lvl 15-20. Rewards: 5000 XP, 2500 UMC.

Junipher looked up at me expectantly, “Should we detour or stay to our task?”

“There you go reading my mind again, let’s stick to our task, I told the Lieutenant I would be there as soon as I could, this can wait.”