Alyssa leaned against the railing standing on the second floor of the new settlement administration building and sighed thoughtfully while considering the people that now called the settlement home. The new building appeared to be made out of concrete and brick, though she wasn’t sure. She had seen the new buildings ‘grow’ from the ground. The one she stood in was shaped like a fat limbed, yet stubby ‘U’, with four small spartan apartments forming the wings of the building and several offices in the center. Two apartments and officers per floor. The offices were attached to the apartments and there was a small reception area on the first floor.

She was the current Captain of the Guard so she had the office/apartment that had been labeled as such. Johnny was the current Administrator and had his own office/apartment on the first floor. There was also an office for the Settlement Account and Tax Collector which was currently not filled and an unused office/apartment for visiting emissaries. Providing a safe warm bed to people that visit for ‘diplomatic’ reasons seems fair, I suppose, She thought to herself.

The apartment itself wasn’t too bad, it came furnished and was basically split into a bedroom/living room combo, washroom, and kitchenette, which opened up into her office. The cupboards held all the required eating and cooking utensils though the pantry was not stocked. If I want something to eat I guess I have to go find it. And probably kill it. Her office contained a desk with a terminal that connected to all currently available communications networks, and as such she was able to connect to the internet. Though she had no desire considering even more dangerous things were appearing and decimating populations and militaries across the world.

Which brought her to the task left to her by Karl. She needed to find someone to be a REAL Guard Captain and also get a fighting force together. He made it clear that if you weren’t useful in the survival of the settlement, you had no place in it. Which meant currently she was the only ‘authority’ in the settlement of about 30 people. Most of whom were here when all hell broke loose and didn’t lift a finger to help. She didn’t have a very high opinion of her people as they were the ones in her relatively short life that had abandoned her. She was pretty certain Karl would kick them out if they weren’t prepared to work. Hell, he might even shoot ‘em in the back of the head. The problem she realized is that all but a handful of people had little motivation before the system. How are they gonna’ handle the reality that they have to do shit for themselves now? And now they had a wall to hold back the monsters, right?

She considered the wall that had grown from the ground just as the admin building and the bunk house had. Unlike the bunkhouse and admin building which threw off a very 60’s vibe, the wall was all medieval. Made of 10 foot tall, even pine logs and capped with shaved points it surrounded half a kilometer square of the territory claimed by Karl. A gate was present in the center of both the East and West walls. A walkway stretched the entire length of the wall on the inside at a little over seven feet from the ground, this gave those on the wall the ability to duck behind cover if needed. Each corner had an elevated shooting platform for archers and riflemen that sat at about 15 feet tall. Currently Carly, Karls friends daughter???, sat cross legged on the south western tower practicing her ice magic and watching the road for signs of her father. On the Northeast was the hunter guy with the rifle that she had never asked his name. He had taken the liberty to haul up some sandbags and set up some shooting rests facing out of the settlement. He currently relaxed in a lawn chair watching the burning and bloody highway for any more monster incursions.

The only other defender they currently had was the older native woman who had used her bow to kill some monsters after Karl and Johnny had dragged her off to that cursed dungeon. She didn’t know that woman’s name either, and she didn’t know where she’d gone to. So she decided it was time to gather up the population and find out who could be useful in the defense of the settlement. She sure as shit had no intention of letting anyone else in without having a defense force of more than three to call on. Can’t even call on them, I don’t know their damn names. So she ordered Garfield to call the meeting that Johnny and her had discussed then made her way down to the communal bonfire that didn’t seem to ever go out. At least they work to keep something going.

While she waited she smiled inwardly at the gains in Skill levels she had recently acquired after a dozen more goblin riders appeared from the North soon after Karl and Junipher left for the prison. Carly, Johnny and the quiet archer lady helped wipe out the patrol of Coyote Riders and they even managed to tame two more of the giant coyotes who were now frolicking in the newly constructed stable with Lulu and Brother. Her weapon proficiency, One-Handed Weapons, Bladed, had gone up in level and rank from that encounter, and now afforded her +2 Strength and +1 Agility every 25th level over the first level. Her Dodge and Dual Wield skills were both only 3 points from ranking up to the Advanced tier as well. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t anticipating the new skill she’d get at Level 15 either, which was only a couple thousand experience away.

People started gathering around the fire, some from inside the bunkhouse and others from the other side of the admin building where the settlement kiosk sat. Anxiety welled up in her chest at the thought of addressing these people, still undecided on what to say to achieve the goals she had set for her. She looked out on the faces of men and women in their late 20’s and early 30’s and began to doubt herself. Karl fucked up, why would these people listen to gutter trash like me!? I’m too young. I can’t do this… I… She pawed her pocket for an inhaler she no longer needed as panic set in. Tears began to wet her eyes in shame at her self perceived weakness and before they could fall down her cheeks Johnny was there with a firm hand on her shoulder and a toothy grin.

“How are you, Little Warrior?” He asked with genuine interest.

Her eyes betrayed her feelings and he spoke before she could answer, “You… are one our strongest warriors. You have endured much to reach this point, Little Warrior. You may be young, but the spirits tell me you are wise. Show them your strength and wisdom.”

Then Johnny turned to the assembled crowd and began the meeting. “Ahem… Ahem…”

The murmuring mass of people quieted for him to speak and Alyssa scanned the audience before them. The Navajo people all politely waited for the man to speak, they had separated themselves from another group of people which contained a couple young white men who apparently shared the apartment that formerly sat below Karl’s. They were grumbling about something then smarted when they realized that all were waiting for them to shut up so Johnny could speak. To the side she noticed that Samantha, Danielle and the young boy they had saved made their own group.

“As many of you know, Karl, the owner of this settlement left earlier today to deal with an issue at the prison he works at. In his absence he left Alyssa and myself in charge. I was the apartment manager before the spirits came, and I am now the Settlement Administrator. Alyssa is the head of security. Karl left us very specific tasks…”

Johnny was then interrupted by the tallest of the two white men that lived below Karl. The man looked to barely be over 20 and had long blonde hair and deep blue eyes that seemed to absorb the light of the fire rather than reflect it. He had a sharp chiseled jaw that ended in a dimple that was visible under two days worth of stubble and growth. He wore a trendy polo and white cargo shorts with brown deck shoes. Anger was stretched across his face as he walked up to Johnny with a finger pointed at him. “Hey, where’s my shit at!?”

Johnny looked at the man who stood barely a foot from him like a curious bug. “Your shit should be in the latrine, unless you do that somewhere else.” The smile that had been slowly forming on Johnny’s face grew wider as he finished. Almost everyone assembled laughed at the man.

The man’s face turned red “You know what I mean! I want my fucking shit back, man. You say you’re in charge, so you must know where it went.” He said accusingly.

“Have you not consulted your spirit?”

“Spirit? You mean that thing that says it’s my assistant?”

“Yes.”

“NO!”

Alyssa didn’t fight to stop her eyes from rolling when he said that. She watched the ignorant man getting more and more worked up when he didn’t get the answers that satisfied him. His friend, who was slightly shorter though equally proportioned with brown hair and eyes attempted to calm him, though interjected his own unreasonable demands of the old Mystic. She decided to analyze the men and was shocked to see they still hadn’t taken a class. Fucking useless! She decided.

They argued for several moments, and Alyssa was starting to get angry with the man’s disrespect when he moved to grab Johnny by the collar. Johnny’s barrier appeared before he could get hands on him. His friend and he landed roughly in the dirt on their backs. More chuckles bubbled forth from the younger men and women in the crowd.

They stood quickly, simmering anger was now boiling rage on their faces. The blonde man reached behind his back and produced a pistol similar to the one Karl used, though where Karls was a dark silver, this one was all black and looked to be a heavier caliber. I know Johnny’s barrier can stop a lot of things, but bullets from close range…? Alyssa stepped forward to say something and was cut off by the gun waving asshole in front of her.

“WHAT BITCH!?!? WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO FUCKING DO LITTLE GIRL!?!?” He roared at her.

Alyssa cocked her head and smiled, no one moved in the group assembled before her, and more than one of those had a look of irritation on their face at the disrespectful young men.

“I’m tired of your disrespect to Elder Johnny.” She stated flatly.

“Fuck you! We want our shit back and then we’ll leave!”

“We don’t ha-” Alyssa’s eye twitched as she was interrupted again.

“The fuck you don’t!” He shifted the aim of his weapon to her face.

Alyssa instantly faded into shadow, the gun waving asshole spun around looking for where she went and his friend placed several feet between them. Then the gunman turned the pistol on the crowd of people, who only stared back at his threat with even more irritation.

“The fuck you go, bitch!? Get out here or I’ll start.. hurRK!” Before he could finish his threat Alyssa appeared behind him with the flat of her sword in his crotch and the blade pressed against the inside of his thigh.

“You’re going to shut the fuck up, drop the gun and leave. I’ve already removed one man’s dick and shoved it down his throat this week, I will do it again.” She stated coldly in his ear, the words not a threat but a promise.

“FUCK YOU BITCH!!!” The young foolish man made the last of his many lifelong foolish mistakes in that moment and attempted to swing his pistol around to shoot Alyssa. She drew the blade deep through his thigh as he spun and felt it scrape against his femur. The man yelped in surprise and shot a round into the air. He tried to complete the twist of his body enough to level the pistol on Alyssa and was surprised as the muscles and tendons in his half severed thigh began to tear and refused to bear his weight any longer. He pinwheeled sideways, then managed to line up the pistol in Alyssa’s face as he collapsed in slow motion. Alyssa’s other sword arm swept up and removed his arm at the armpit. The offending arm tumbled into the bonfire before the man hit the ground.

Blood pumped from his wounds and he stared at Alyssa in defiance. His partner shit his pants as the reality of what had just happened caught up with him. Then he bent over and vomited on the ground. The blonde man’s defiant stare faded as his lifeblood soaked the ground around him and his face went slack and pale. Alyssa sheathed her swords and snatched the other man that now reeked of puke and shit, off the ground. She almost dropped him when she realized she now held a 180 pound man off the ground with one hand, but she was too pissed to worry about it at that moment.

“Leave or Die.” She snarled.

The man failed to comprehend the choice offered to him and Alyssa had since lost her patience. She shook the man hard then shoved him back. He tumbled 5 feet back before he landed roughly on his ass in the dirt. He looked at her with terror as she drew her swords and stalked towards him with venomous purpose. Piss joined the shit in his pants before Johnny intervened in the man’s demise and stood in front of Alyssa. She stumbled in recognition then re-sheathed her weapons and turned back to the campfire, grabbed the dead man’s leg and threw him into the fire with his already charred arm.

“You should leave.” Johnny said over his shoulder quietly. “Quickly”

Tears now rolled freely down the man’s face and he scrambled to his feet and sprinted for the open gate. Carly had been watching the exchange with interest and anticipated the man would need to make a quick exit. A small smirk was on her face as she watched the man run in terror. “He’s just as fucking dead as that fuck in the fire.”