Mitch spent the rest of the day sleeping, the month long mission had left him tired to the bone. When he woke up it was already the day after early in the morning, Leo and Fluff were lying next to him in the bed, the woman and the dog were sprawled wildly in positions that could not be comfortable to either of them or so thought Mitch as he got up.
He headed to the kitchen trying not to make any noise, breakfast had become a stale affair since the doom, eggs had become rare in this part of the world, the cold had killed most of the commercially bred chickens and monsters had lowered their numbers even more the same went for cows and as a consequence dairy products, he lamented the lack of his morning coffee and milk as he opened an energy bar hard as cement and tasting the same.
After his quick breakfast he headed down to the car parked out front, he braved the morning chilly and was greeted by a weak sun rising in the distance, its pale rays turning the night sky a lighter color. He opened the trunk of the car and looked at his loot, It wasn't much, he had cans and tins filled with non perishables as well as some small appliances for Leo to thinker with, as he rummaged through the scavenged materials he found what he was looking for a coupe of packaged salami that he had found in one of the local cold cuts shops that were common in the area along with a bottle of Wine that he intended to share with Leo later that day over a romantic dinner.
He headed back upstairs where Fluff was waiting fo him at the door, Mitch thought back to when he met the dog, Mitch had found him in wasteland near what was once the small town of Farra, the dog was bloodied and bruised but standing victorious over 3 Snapjaw wolves, the combat had left him too tired to fight off Mitch who ignored the dog’s growling and weak barks. Later he found why the Dog had fought so hard, in the house behind it the remains of a family torn apart by wolves, a woman and two small children, the Wolves must have outnumbered the dog and killed the family before he could protect them but Fluff made sure they paid the price, Mitch had gone back to the dog and gave him some food before burying the family. The dog had seemed to understand Mitch and let him work, after he had been done the man had continued to look around the town, soon the dog had begun to follow him at the end of the day it had jumped of its own will into Mitch’s car, taking up the entirety of the backseats. Fluff had become Mitch’s best friend from then on, for a while he followed him out when he went exploring but after he got injured the year before Mitch had begun to leave the dog home and Fluff did not seem to mind.
Mitch entered the apartment trying to keep the huge beast from snatching away one of the two salamis he held in his left hand, he begun a weird dance with the dog where every time it jumped and snapped its huge jaws at the salami Mitch moved away closer to the Kitchen and the safety of the locked cupboards, after a couple of minutes of this Mitch finally managed to put away the sausages and the wine just to find himself faced with a blurry eyed Leo "SHUT UPPPPP" she screamed at him "It's 5 in the morning why can't you ever just rest" she continued lowering her voice to a normal tone and rubbing her eyes " Take the dog for a walk if you want to pay with it" she continued shoving the dog leash at Mitch, who quickly took it and hooked it to Fluff's collar whom had been trying to unsuccessfully hide from Leo's wrath behind Mitch's legs "And go talk to Gio, the council will want to see you " the woman finished heading back to the bedroom.
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Mitch quickly found himself walking down the streets of Trieste towards the Port, Fluff happily sniffing around the snow covered city streets, it took them 30 minutes to get to Gio's place where the old man was already up and waiting and then a further hour to walk to the building where the council would meet, the walk was silent Gio was a man of few words and Mitch appreciated this in his boss.
After arriving at the council building they waited a further 30 minutes for all of the members to arrive and take a seat, the building was ordinary no different from any other apart from the Large Victorian era table that was in one of the rooms, this paired with the dark atmosphere created by the small windows and large room had made it an habitual spot for the council to meet, although Mitch did not understand why.
There were 5 seats at the council one for each of the 5 clans or groups or militias that were in power at the time even thought there had been no change in members as of the council's existence.
When all of the leaders or their representatives were seated Mitch begun his explanation "As you all know I was sent to make contact with other communities in the region area, in the Italian side I was able to meet with some small groups but most of the towns from here to Gorizia are either deserted or scarcely populated, Gorizia itself seemed pretty empty as well, not as we had hoped"
Mitch paused letting the words hang in the stuffy air of the room "And of the Abbot ? What did you discover " Asked one of the members, lady Miramare holder of Miramare castle, she was around 30 with short brown hair and green eyes, even tough she did not live in Trieste she had been allowed a seat in the council due to her groups considerable size and military strength in hope that she would not strangle the city of any land travel as Miramare Castle held firm on the main road in and out of the city.
"He seemed to be in charge of Gorizia as per the rumors, I could not confirm if it was true but by looking at the town I believe it to be highly possible, he has armed men patrolling the city and seems to employ even street kids in some ways but like I said the city is almost barren, there could not have been more than a couple hundred people in the castle” “And you didn't meet any other groups ? Only the Dukes?” Mitch was interrupted by the youngest on the council, Angelo, the kid now 20 years old had long haired dyed orange and multiple piercings on his ears along with a bunch of tattoos covering his arms “The Abbot” corrected him Pietro another youngster with a much more sober look, both of them were wearing the characteristic red ripped jackets of their group, together they ruled the western part of the city leading a group of kids and young adults Angelo had earned his seat on the council by killing one of the four Ice drakes that lived in Trieste in the past one his own a feat still unmatched by anyone Mitch knew.
"As I was saying he seems in control, it looks like he acquired some sort of aristocratic lifestyle in the process, he has bodyguards wielding halberds, maids and servants and speaks as if he is a noble from 400 years ago" Mitch's eyes drifted to one of the empty seats at the table, standing next to it a man in his fifties wearing a butler uniform was looking back at him but did not reply the empty seat belonging to the Baroness another’s kid 15 years old, she ruled the center of Trieste and had a long name to confirm her noble heritage which also made her act as a Victorian noble " So you don't like him then" concluded the last council member, a man with shaggy black hair covering his face Salvatore, the only thing visible through them were the gem like red eyes "I do not" confirmed Mitch.
The council discussed other issues for a couple of hours, during that time Mitch had waited in another room of the building with Fluff placidly layer at his feet, when he was summoned again Gio spoke to him " The council has decided to send a member to meet with the Abbot, we will depart tomorrow at 11, be ready".