One week after the Torak meeting at Vincent's house

Travis, Paul, Clyde, Sophie, and Javier gathered around the bench outside, they had become the de facto 'council.' The name was mostly a joke that Gary beat into the ground, but more often than not, this was the group Travis turned to when assigning jobs with responsibilities or seeking advice.

Things were starting to become organized at the base camp. After fighting with the wolves against the orcs, Torak had allowed Travis and his team to go around the neighborhood and evacuate the remaining residents. Some of them were invited back to camp, but others were not.

Travis wanted to help everyone he could, but the building was only so big, and they had no way to take care of children. A couple of people argued that being cramped at camp was far safer for people than being out on the road. That was true, but Travis had to be calculating in his decisions. They weren't set up yet to be a village where the common people were protected from outside threats. He wanted to get there, but it would take time. Having people that offered nothing would only slow the process down, which, in the long run, would cost more lives.

For each group that did not get an invite Travis had given them what supplies he could and also sent an escort out with them. Thomas, Sophie's Ex-boyfriend should be back at camp soon actually, after escorting the most recent group.

There were people who did not look at Travis the same way after he had refused to take on a couple of families, including kids and the elderly—people who were essentially helpless. He tried to explain to Gary and others that helping these 10-15 people would hurt their chances of saving hundreds later on, even thousands.

It was what it was, and he moved on soon after, knowing others did not. Now at camp, they had a lean collection of strong or smart people. If someone wasn't either of those, they were hardworking and loyal, like Javier's brother, Raul.

Currently, they were discussing who would start training for the 'elite' strike force. Everyone except Sophie was given a weapon and some basic training to defend themselves and the camp if the need arose. Besides that, they had a core of about 10 people whose sole job was that of a warrior. What Travis wanted was a three or four-person team that could go out and map the area, gather resources, or, if need be, strike at the enemy.

At present, there was no organized enemy. After Torak's unbelievable show of power, the local orc groups seemed to be either destroyed or withdrawn. They had run into some scattered monsters, but nothing that could threaten them in the long term.

Torak and his forces had taken over the neighborhood where Gary and Vincent used to live. With that the entire eastern side of the base was covered. Now, there were abandoned factories in between them, but so far, all that was needed was some patrols.

On the three other sides around the base were woods, some thicker than others, but they still provided protection from prying eyes. With the manipulate wood spell that Clyde had learned, they were able to build watchtowers all along the boundary with said woods. They didn't quite have the number of people needed to man all of the towers, but they were getting there.

Paul, the primary trainer, was getting animated. He argued that they didn't need an elite unit. "This is the problem with people from intel and other 'special' branches," Paul emphasized 'special' as if it were a curse, "you people think things can't be done by regular soldiers."

"Well, not that nothing can be done, just nothing worth doing." Travis did not believe that for a second, but Paul disagreed with everything Travis wanted. It was getting tiring, so he was taking childish shots at him.

"Who do you think wins the wars!" Paul almost yelled, getting amped up, and it was even worse because Travis was smirking.

"Hey, hey, hey, amigo, calm down, man. I swear, Paul, you are becoming easier to piss off every day, ese." Javier was the third original player character in the faction. He had a mission to find Travis. Javier didn't talk about what he did before things changed. All they knew about him was that he was deadly with a knife. He had no qualms about killing if it was to protect a teammate, and he thought Paul was a hothead. He had been at camp for five days now.

Paul started to defend himself when Javier cut him off. "You know he doesn't think grunts are worthless, man. He's just messing with you. Let him. Now come on, we need to figure this shit out, man."

Sophie took the opportunity. "Javy is right. You two are supposed to be our military experts, but you can't agree on if shit stinks or not, let alone important faction decisions." Everyone looked at her; she had changed a lot in the week or so Travis knew her. Sophie had become a vital part of the team, handling all medical issues, both magical and mundane. She also had a knack for organizing things, so her department at least, ran like clockwork.

"It's pretty clear that we do not have enough people to do everything. There will always have to be a few trained men left at camp in case it is attacked. That we can agree on, right?"

Everyone nodded their heads. "Good, we will also eventually need to go out looking for more recruits and get supplies. That is also undisputed. Since we cannot send all of our trained soldiers out on these missions, I see two options. One, we send a portion of our defense force, leaving the rest behind. Two, we train up a smaller force that will specialize in going out into the world. Under the second option, we can have certain people that excel at recruitment or others that can scout.

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Take you, for example, Paul. If we were going to scout an enemy stronghold, we would just send you and maybe one or two others trained in a similar way. If we wanted to recruit, we could send Travis and my father with a couple of bodyguard types."

Now she was looking at Paul. "So where is the problem? It's not like the team we train up won't be able to defend the base or do other tasks."

Paul had already deflated; he knew that Travis got on his nerves and he would argue unnecessarily. He also knew that Sophie wasn't going after him personally; she just wanted things to run smoothly. "Okay, Soph, I'm in. Still, the devil will be in the details. What if he decides..."

She cut him off with a raised finger. "That's why I think you should tailor the program for the infiltration squad, and Travis will be in charge of more general excursions."

Travis wanted Paul to lead his scouts but not to devise a training program. Still, he had won a small battle today, so he would let it go. When Sophie finished, he picked it up. "That is well said. So far, there are only five people that are not trained to defend the base. That's you (he pointed to Sophie), Raul, Vincent, Maria, and Mr. Gogans. You are starting to train Maria in mundane medical procedures, and she also cooks. Mr. Gogans is a different matter, and for now, we won't be pushy. Vincent is still recovering but should be ready to go very soon." Everyone knew that Vincent was having more trouble mentally then physically.

"That leaves 10 people. Paul, pick two who you think will be best suited to your type of training, and I will pick another three. That leaves five people who will just focus on basic weapons and defense. Clyde, you will train them up on potion and scroll use in an emergency. Do any of them have a decent intel stat?"

Clyde had been quiet this entire time. He immersed himself in the magical arts ever since things quieted down. When he wasn't raising wood structures with his new power, he was in the HQ learning or training his new protege. Once he reached a certain level, there would be more to do. It had been decided that alchemy would fall under his 'department,' as would the enhancement of weapons, which as of now was only known to be possible.

"You mean besides Omar, then no. We did get that haul of attribute boost potions, so it shouldn't be a problem."

"You are positive that Omar shouldn't take an active role in base defense anymore?" Travis asked him.

Omar was a young Iraqi whose parents worked with US forces during the invasion. They had been relocated to the US over 10 years ago. His parents tragically died in a monster attack, and Clyde had found Omar wandering around the woods that surrounded the base. This would seem like a very convenient person to be just wandering around the base of two former US soldiers, but the game works in mysterious ways.

He was a very smart kid, well not quite a kid at 19 but certainly not a seasoned adult, sheltered as his parents had high hopes for him. He became attached to Clyde as they worked together more and more. It's only been a week, but things seemed to happen faster now than they did before. Everyone commented on how nothing really marinates, or to continue the food analogy, there is nothing in the slow cooker. Life is like a fast-food restaurant, everything happening super fast.

Clyde wanted Omar to focus on the ins and outs of magic, not on how to wield a spear to kill an attacking orc or spider. No, this young man's talents needed to be put to better use. "Not at all, we really need to harness this kid's ability, Travis. We all know that a high intel stat does not equate to being smart or dumb; that said, he is the only one besides myself with one in the teens. It was more fortunate for us to have him than for him to find us."

No one was sure they agreed with that, but at the same time, no one pushed back. Clyde was selfless and a vital member of the leadership. If he wanted an apprentice, he could have one. "Fine then," Travis said, "I want you to put together a list of who you want and why, Paul. Send it to me in your journal. Then, Sophie, I need an inventory of the skill books we have left. When is the earliest you can have people ready to go out on a mission, Paul?"

"Let me have the people I want and a couple of books; we'll be ready to go out tomorrow morning. There is only so much we can do here; I need to train them in the field. Low level at first, of course." Travis nodded. "Okay, anything else?"

That was it; the council broke up and went in their own direction. Travis went inside to confer with Lucy about the missions they had. Clyde went to get Omar and discuss his new role within the base camp. Sophie went to find her dad, and Paul looked for the candidates he wanted with him.

Javier was left sitting on the bench. He was only level 5 but felt close to ranking up. He couldn't explain why, but everyone agreed that there was a feeling you had when a new level was close. Javy had the highest charisma in the faction and was looking forward to choosing a class.

He was a surgeon with a knife but the faction had good hand to hand combatants, they needed a ranged fighter. Luckily for Javier and the team he had come across one of those high end modern bows before finding the base.

He didn't know how to use it until Travis gave him one of the precious bow skill books. There were five ranged books teaching someone basic skills in crossbows, various bows and even ranged artillery.

The book focusing just on bows was the one he asked for. Giving the reader what it called tier 3 skill with that particular type of weapon was what made him such an important member of the faction now.

His run ins with Paul might keep him off of the strike team though, and that was unfortunate. Paul seemed to argue with Travis for no other reason than because he wanted to be contrarian. Something about Travis' buttoned up and cool as a cucumber persona bugged him.

Naturally Javier would interject to try and stop the pointless arguing. It rarely worked, but right was right.

He saw Vincent walking by, still limping after his dramatic injuries a week earlier.

“Vinny, how are you feeling amigo?”

“A little better, thanks for asking. How did the meeting go?”

“About the same as it usually does.”

That is when they heard the warning bell, it sounded like it was coming from the northern watchtower. Vincent seemed to run back inside, his leg fine, while Javier went to retrieve his bow, arrows and the magical vest he had received upon completing his 'Finding Travis' mission.

He made his way towards the sound of the bell readying himself for a fight. "This is where the fun begins", Javy said as he jogged forward.