“Are you practicing?” I asked, worried now.

“You mean my spells? Yes, I am,” said my mom. “All of us Dukes and Duchesses are. And our families are also. It’s a new, far blacker world we live in.”

“What level are you?” I asked.

“Monsoon!” my mom answered playfully. “A lady never tells!”

“Sorry,” I said. “I’m a little freaked out by this whole change.”

“You should be, kiddo. You should be. You should also be getting stronger as fast as you can. I’ve heard the Harold Hamm has had two attempts on his life already.”

“You mentioned Sifu’s Army,” I said. “What does that collection of kids have to do with anything?”

“It turns out that when you call something an army and They are looking for some kind of power metrics to use to pass on the Mandate, the oddest things can happen.”

“You mean that,” I began.

“Yes,” my mom said. “They took it as an actual army. The SA is probably the reason that we are not a part of the Duchy of Hamm. We are now the Duchy of Northern Tulsa and the Sifu’s Army. Of course, Sifu’s Army role extends to the Duchy of Southern Tulsa and the Duchy of Central Tulsa as well.”

“They’re just kids,” I said.

“Not anymore,” my mom said. “They’ve been growing and testing themselves. They are a big part of the reason that we haven’t lost more people. Call it social evolution, but kids aren’t really kids anymore. Those that are left are survivors, just like the rest of us.”

“What do you mean by that?” asked Consuelo.

“I mean that the apocalypse has been particularly hard on children, the old, and the infirm. Almost every family that I’ve come into contact with has lost at least one member from those categories. Also those who were unable to adapt, to see the magnitude of the changes we were facing, were also swept away. Survival means reacting to what is, not to what was or what you want it to be. Everyone who is still alive at this point is a survivor. You all are survivors. Remember that. I say that both to celebrate your, our, survival and to pass on a warning.”

“But what about the police? The National Guard?” I asked.

“How many times do I have to say it?” my mom said, “There was no Mandate and without the Mandate, there is no unity. The police didn’t report for duty, the national guard didn’t either. They just didn’t feel the need when their family was in danger. Big Mike, if the President were to recall you to the Marines, would you go?”

Big Mike stood there for a while with the strange puzzled look on his face, breathing heavily. “You know,” he said, “I don’t believe that I would. No, I’m sure of it. I still recognize that the Marines were a big part of my life, but it’s like, I don’t know, it’s like too much time has passed or it happened to somebody else, but whatever the case is, I wouldn’t. I’d still fight for my brother Marines, men that I personally knew and fought beside, but the Corps, it’s dead to me now, it doesn’t feel real. Just some tattoos and memories. It’s weird, fucking weird. General Amos, if he’s still alive, is probably bashing his head against the wall.”

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“We’re trying to gather up the former police, the National Guard, the members of the US military forces, and enroll them into our new governments,” she said. “But until we do, they are just individuals or groups of people with specialized training or knowledge. Speaking of which, Jake, you still have a job. When you get here, report to me, we’ll put you to work.”

“Thank you,” he said. “I will.”

“What can we do?” eGirl asked again. “I know that we’re trapped right now at a store waiting to get strong enough to travel, but is there something else we can do?”

“Two things I suppose,” my mom said. “The first is to join me and help me create a government. I can tell that only two of you have committed to the Duchy. Doing so is important because our grasp on our Mandates is not solid right now. Along with all of the other things that the Mandate provides, it slows the process of change down, solidifies our gains of territory, possibly even reduces the number of monsters being spawned within our Duchy. In short, a stable government possessing the Mandate is a good thing.”

“Does the unstable mandate thing mean that if enough people want the United States back, the Mandate would shift?” asked Big Mike.

“No,” said my mom. “A failed government can not be revived.”

“But,” began Big Mike.

“No,” my mother stopped him and said again, “if They judge a government has lost its mandate, there is no going back. A like or similar government could be created, but it would not be the same government. It would be the government that was created at that time. Don’t be confused if you hear someone saying they represent the US, or Oklahoma, or maybe Tulsa County. They don’t. They are attempting to create a new government and trying to capitalize on old memories to do so.”

“And the second thing?” eGirl asked.

“Get strong. Get powerful. Protect the weak and raise them up,” my mother said. “More than anything else, that is what you can do. Help them to survive. We are now no longer the sole sapient race on this planet. We need everyone if anyone is going to survive. That’s all that I have time for right now. I’m going to close down this conference and say a few words to my son. Goodbye. I wish you all the best, survive, be strong, and hopefully, join with me in creating a strong, safe place where we can all survive and grow,” and then she did something and I could see that everyone was off the conference.

“Honey,” she said. “I really do need to go. I have a dinner meeting to go to tonight, but before I do I want to say two things, I love you!”

“I love you too, mom!” I broke in.

“I know you do,” she said. “The other thing I have to say is to be careful. You mentioned that eGirl and Miranda and Jake came to Maxes looking for you. Well, they are probably not the only ones looking for you. They seem like good folks, but others might not be. Be careful who you trust. Harrold Hamm was not the only person that has had attempts made on his life.”

“You too?” I asked.

“Yes, twice also. Both times from what we could tell it was by people overwhelmed by the apocalypse, one a Tulsa father whose family was killed by monsters, Giant Moles we think, and the other a home-schooled bible-belter young man who blamed me for the whole God thing.”

“What happened?” I asked.

“Derek happened,” she said, meaning Derek Stone the head of her security detail took care of the assassins. “But I think things are going to get worse before they get better, so be careful baby! Those two attempts were just damaged people striking out at a world they no longer understood or could live in. The true opportunists haven’t even shown their faces yet. I love you!”

“I will and I love you too mother. Be safe! And for god’s sake have another kid! I don’t want to be Duke!”

She just laughed and then her presence vanished from my head. I looked up and everyone was quietly talking around the fire in the center of the compound. The night sky was blazing with stars, the scent of the fire burning rose up and covered the scent of the woods. I had my orders, be safe and get stronger. I’m not sure how compatible those two orders were, but I’d do my best to follow through. In addition, I’d try to do the third objective she’d given us all, raise up the weak and make them stronger.