G

"It's almost three months since this place has become what it is. We have over three people who are actively working. Forty-one of that in guards. I think it is time we pushed out those forces that aren't friendly to us. We need the materials from the houses." Arthur said as he looked around at the faces of the council.

I tapped the wooden table as I surfed my phone for new content.

"I don't think it's time for us to wage war. While the food industry is good. It doesn't mean our foundation is also good enough for the influx of people that will be coming in once we start wiping out their protection." A soft voice said with authority.

I threw a glance at the drag queen who could one hundred percent pass for a woman. Dominic is in charge of housing and he very quickly made himself known for moving spread out people into a tighter cluster to manage.

Layla nodded, "even though we have the goods and groceries store made. The volume being bought is still a little low on the goods side versus food. People are still worried that we can't hold up. I think from this point, we should wait until they feel more secure."

Arthur grunted and turned to a lady with silver hair but milky white skin. I remember her saying she was eighty but her skin was smoother than a twenty year old girl. Her chocolate eyes were a perfect calm pool of wisdom.

"I'm in charge of the food as my lord commanded. We have surplus hands and we expanded the plots to the outer wall on the lake side. That being said, we are prepared for an influx of six hundred more people." Grandma Paige said.

I held up my hand, "we aren't going to expand right now. Currently, the walkers have engaged in war with the local military. The base isn't all that far from us. We should be seeing them sometime this week. What I am interested in is those helicopters." I turned to the mechanic representative

The green eyed kid looked at me and held up his tablet. I turned to the wall where the projector was projecting an image.

"We built a prototype as you can see there. However, we don't have a lot of raw resources. So the helicopters can only hold four people." The kid's soft voice was as loud as a sudden bang.

The short clip showed the speed and height this narrow body helicopter could achieve. It was nothing like an apache or cargo ship but it sounded like a quiet whine that was tolerable.

"As you can see, the body is slim which aids in aerodynamics. It's speed is about 160 knots with four people weighing one eighty. As I mentioned, it can hold four people. The driver, co-pilot and two in the back. If you approve of this, we can make at most six more for a total of seven." The kid said.

I looked at Arthur who was doing the math while counting his fingers. Fourteen people, not counting pilots. Twenty-eight counting pilots.

"You can build the rest." I said and stood up.

"Great, everything is done. Let's go be humans again.

I moved around the table and made a beeline towards the exit. My feet were inches from stepping down on my porch when I got a message followed by an emergency beep. I carefully pulled it out and saw a short clip of the front gate. Followed by four rows deep of people walking with bags and shit. Cars were literally inching forward during to the conges

"Did you get that message?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah, guess the military camp fell." I responded while turning around and boarding the cart.

"Fell isn't the term I would use. This feels like the walkers herded these guys our way." Arthur said as he searched online for any news. "Oh, the military pulled back to their base. Those left were national guardsmen and civilians without any use."

I chuckled, "I wondered if the governor made it."

"You have something against him?" Arthur questioned without raising his head.

"You might know but he was being sued for defamation and serial harassment. If he survived, he might end up in power again and that poor lady will end up regretting her actions." I said as I stopped to the right of the gate.

"Boss, we have a couple soldiers raising the wind." A pretty boy said.

I got off the cart and went to the source of the trouble.

"The country still belongs to the government and as Government officials. We demand to be.." I heard a thwack and then wheezing.

I spotted one of my guards gut checking the loud mouth. He didn't even look regretful.

"We have what is called Diplomatic immunity and this is a sovereign town that has absolved all connections to the former government. In short, keep talking and I'll beat you into the ground." The man said as he kneed the chubby politician.

Arthur's laughter rang in my ears. "I didn't see that coming. Yo.. is that Melissa Crawford? She was my favorite radio celebrity. I used to love listening to her when I got up in the morning."

I gave him a side glance as I walked under the gate. "How many people do you think are out there? Also, why didn't they go to jail first? Or that east side crew?"

Arthur shrugged as he stared at the sea of heads. "Maybe a hundred and fifty. As for why us? Ask Scarlett. She has been promoting us and has a nice little following."

"Seriously? Who watches her? She has no ass and no breasts." I wasn't convinced.

"Dead ass. She has two hundred and forty thousand fans right now. She even did a short segment on how to survive in the wild." Arthur said with a straight face.

I scratched my head, "okay. So let's look for the awakeners first."

The moment I was about to put my foot down Arthur grabbed my arm.

"Hey, man. I just wanted to be clear on something. You don't still have any lingering feelings for Riley, right?" Arthur's face was completely serious which baffled me.

Yeah, I still had feelings for her but it cooled off to friends level. With a perfect example like Izzy, it was hard to even fathom what exes were like.

"Bro, it's fine if you guys are fucking. She cast me aside and I grew up. The better question is, what does Amanda think?" I changed the topic around as I remember this morning's conversation.

"It's fine. Well, not that great. She is always finding some faults and looking to argue." Arthur said.

I patted his back, "I don't have those problems."

Arthur shot me a sideways glance, "because you are causing the problems for other people. Most of the women are either chilling at your house gossiping or bringing along Izzy and the comparison comes out but nobody but Tyler can stand up to your level of bootlicking."

I shrugged, "it's just my culture, mate."

Arthur crossed his arms, "what culture? You guys call women more bitches and hoes than anybody I know."

I shook my head, "see that is the problem. You are listening to rap music which went from venting emotions while telling how it was to music made to be sold to ignorant folks. That has nothing to do with my culture."

Arthur snorted, "okay, enlighten me."

"Bro, I don't have all day to teach you why we call good women queens. Or how to love a woman. You should have figured out what your woman likes a long time ago." I passed off the baton and moved to the front of the gate..

Rolling up my sleeves, revealed a rosary wrapped around my right arm. Wind wrapped around the crowd and moved them to form a horseshoe. The ground raised up under me to form a small platform.

"Shut up!" I barked as the crowd panicked. When they calmed down enough I began the shitstorm. "This is how things will go down today. We will call for a special group of people with special talents. If you have them, you may step forward when called. If you don't, then stay quiet. If you lie in the process, you won't be allowed to try again. If you cause a disruption to our line. We will punt you into the horizon. I'm not bullshitting. Shut up and follow our directions or leave. Your only options."

I waited to ensure people understood as there was a fair bit of mumbling while I was speaking.

"I'm glad you understand. Now the first group is any awakeners. This is the term we used to define those with abilities that are entirely supernatural in nature. If you have such an ability, you may step forward with your family." To my surprise, quite a few began moving forward.

In total, about forty-three were in various stages of awakening. Either had physical enhancement or some kind of supernatural ability.

I divided these guys up into those with ability and those who were suspected family members. Both groups started panicking and shouting like I was about to murder them or something.

"Didn't I say, shut the fuck up? What the hell are you yelling for?" I snapped.

They didn't calm completely down but they did shut the hell up.

"Fuck sakes mate. One by one, I want you to call out your immediate family member or lover. One at a bloody time, yeah?" I said firmly.

The first guy called out his wife and son. I waved for them to go over and a guard directed them through the gate. It went like this fairly quickly once they saw the first guy. Which left friends who yelled for so-so to bring them along. Sadly, these guys realized that following the rules was more important than testing the bottom line.

Love intelligent people who understand the visual representation of power.

"Shut up and fall back in." I dismissed the leftovers. "Next up is simple. Crafters. Raise your hand and bring only your immediate family. Remember, you have one chance and only one chance to fuck up."

The first guy who moved forward looked like a plumber with his beer belly. His wife looked like someone you would pass up on the road and think she was having a bad day. A guard walked up and asked a few questions. The man passed and he was led through the gate. Several others walked out with two to three people attached. We didn't have anyone trying to sneak in as extended family.

The guards followed protocol that I hadn't set up pretty well. When the last crafter was ushered in, the horseshoe looked a little thin. Only a little.

"Okay, I want you to understand this before you take a step first. Men and women who are willing to go through training to become soldiers. Step forward but don't bring immediate family. We will first evaluate your level of fitness and determination then invite your family in if you pass." I explained slowly this time.

Arthur walked forward and stood like that General that was waiting to yell at a fool.

About sixty people step forward. The guards had them spread out a bit and led them through a twenty minute grueling session that I didn't even feel comfortable passing. I mean, if you ever done a hundred burpees, then you can understand. Anything after burpees is a no-no.

Out of sixty, only forty-six made it all the way through. Majority was embarrassingly female, fit females. Majority of the guys were body lifters to soldiers.

"Honestly, that was pretty intense for my eyes. My God can only guess how you managed to keep going. I would have finished early. Like the first round but call over your family and go on in." I comfort them in passing.

"Last two groups. This is the easy shit that you can't say I can't do." I glance back to see the line is a little congested. "Okay, farmers. You don't need prior experience but just the mindset of getting up at dawn and being finished by noon. Last group is basic labor. When needed, you will assist with garbage collection, building construction, or just yard maintenance. If you feel you can do these jobs without trouble then move forward."

A lot of people step up and I glance back. "Okay, so while we wait. Pull out your phones and download an app called Summer God Valley. Register your name, and job that I just called out. This will allow you to be paid and also buy food and other goods. Like cigarettes or blunts to moonshine. The great stress relievers."

A lady in a blue skirt and jacket raised her hand. "May I ask a question?"

I tilted my head, "you just did but ask another."

"I was a former Chief secretary to a senator.."

I interrupted her, "I don't care. I guess I should explain something. We, awakeners, have immense powers at our fingertips which can and will corrupt us. For example." I pointed at Arthur. "His power is over the concept of a King. Whether it is a good king or bad king isn't all up to him. But on the bright side, he is more likely to listen to you bitch and whine about how life isn't like how it used to be."

I patted my chest, "on the other hand, my power is based on the concept of Summer. Summer has its ups and downs. Sometimes it's known as the season of love next to spring but it is also the passionate season. Which means that my emotions will be on a Rollercoaster. If you are lucky, I am just like Arthur here. If not, which you aren't right now, I might kill you for being extremely annoying. Bringing up the past when its time to move forward into the future is annoying to me. Guess how many words you can squeezed out before learning what it means to be punted?"

A few guards snickered. The woman, however, visibly paled.

"I just wanted to say that I have a lot of experience with promoting economic growth from scratch. In other words, I can help kick start the economy." She said bravely.

Arthur threw me a glance and I shrugged. We weren't the type of people who could honestly say we were well rounded. Between us two, we could fuck around and get shit right but we were active doers.

I waved my hand and stepped off the platform. "Have you actually done it before because if you are lying, I might feed you to my pet trout."

The woman was pushing down the nonexistent wrinkles on her skirt. "I am absolutely sure I can come up with a working model within a few days."

Arthur nodded, "Amanda has a little experience with the market. I think it sort of crosses, right? She can watch."

I scratched my head, "bro, did you ask your wife before making such a decision? You are already on thin ice."

Arthur waved his hand dismissively. "I'll talk to her tonight or better yet why don't you do it?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, "because I planned on being home and rubbing my girl feet."

Arthur just snorted and turned to check the line. "Okay, grabbed your two daughters and go through the line."

The woman nodded and waved at her daughters. I noticed how one of them was holding hands with a boy but a keen eye guard pushed him back into the line.

"Mom, what about Billy?" That girl said.

The woman glanced at me but shook her head as she moved into the line. "If he's smart, he'll become a farmer or labor. At that time, you can worry about him."

I turned away from them as the guards began ushering the farmers and laborers inside. Which left about seventy people who were in some way disabled or sitting in cars like big shots.

"Well, you guys felt for some reason you cannot perform any job mentioned. Which is unfortunate but it is what it is." I said as I smoothed the road. "The houses beside you are empty and you can move in there. Download the Summer God valley app and you can apply for some work or scavenging missions to earn money to buy food. Or you can go back out and find another group. There are about five groups nearby. One being the military, they take on charity work."

I turned and left. The guards slowly retreated after me and Arthur passed through the gate and the massive doors closed. I think the people were either in shock or just stupid.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow." I said my goodbyes as I hop on the cart. Arthur, sadly, was in charge over the security as a former marine and then contractor who had a good size company with real wet work as experience. Compared to my cod experience, he was a real killer.