Finally his ability to distract himself ran out. Where the hell are they? He got to his feet and paced for a minute. I need Paul, George and Jim. If one of the teams needed rescuing, then he was wasting time sitting in Endurance. If they didn't, their return could possibly be sped up.

Karl walked out to the gate in the rain. He found Paul up on the repaired wall, inspecting it. “Any word?”

Paul shook his head. “I sent Jim east a half hour ago, and George north a few minutes ago when he checked in.” Karl nodded. Trust people to do their jobs, Karl. You gave this one to Paul for a reason.

“Sorry. Just...” Don't say worried. “...itching to get back out there.”

Paul smiled. “We're a small outfit yet. I don't mind a little hovering from the boss.”

“Well, I just gave you a raise. I came into some gold through an auction and told Maria to authorize one gold worth on the defense, for starters.”

Paul stared at him. “Can we expand?”

Karl shook his head. “I'm rich, but I'm not that rich. I hate spending it the moment it comes in, but there's too much we need. I spent about two gold on armor for myself—”

“Oh thank God,” Paul blurted. Karl blinked, and his defense commander looked abashed. “Sorry, Sir Karl, but you're the biggest single point of failure for the whole Zone, and you kept going out with your butt waving in the breeze. You didn't even have your shield today! I only held back from nagging you about it because we were flat broke this morning.”

“Well...” Karl equipped himself with a thought, and let Paul see the chain mail and replacement shield and bastard sword for a bit before willing them back into inventory.

“Much better, Sir Karl. I'd have gone with plate if you can afford it, but this is a vast improvement over a Systemized trench coat, for God's sake. You lean too much on your healing.”

“Well, the coat got shredded today by a wolf, so it was time. I'll see how this goes.”

“A BBD?”

“Actually no, this one was bigger, gray and had stubby horns, and fortunately was alone. Definitely uncommon though. Oh, and speaking of being a single point of failure, did you and Jake figure out the succession issues?”

“Yes. The good news is, the Zone won't collapse as long as a single person survives. Ownership would pass from the owner to administrators to general residents to visitors, within each category by order of decreasing level and experience points.”

“That is good news.”

“Also, since there's only a hundred of us, having the chain of command you stated feels adequate for the moment. So I'm satisfied on that score.”

“Good. It was important to resolve and I thank you for bringing it to our attention.”

“You're welcome.” Paul chewed his lip a moment. “Sir, if you'd be willing to take command here for a little while, I'd like to go see Maria about spending that gold. I want to go shopping for some ranged defense around here. There's a handful of people who are borderline on getting into combat, and they find Zone defense more palatable than going out with foraging parties. If I can't have many guns, I'll take bows. Superhuman strength can do a lot.”

“Can bows even work in rain like this?” Karl suddenly thought of Michael and Christine out there in the rain.

“System bows can.”

“Then go. I'll stay on watch here.”

“Thank you, Sir.” Paul left immediately. Karl paced, brooding a bit.

The rain was getting heavier. Karl thought about getting umbrellas for people. We should have little enclosures up here. Maybe next expansion. He paced.

It was difficult peering out into the rain; the day had turned fairly dark with thick black clouds emptying themselves onto the countryside. Without asking System it was difficult even to tell roughly what time of day it was; Karl guessed that the announcements of spawns beginning were all happening at 1 pm or so Eastern time, and he was pretty sure the sun had not set yet, but other than that, he had no clue.

“Sir Karl? I think I see them!” Kurt, the nonclassed person on watch with him, pointed to the east. Sure enough, when he looked he could see a cluster of people coming down Post Road. They were moving slowly but steadily.

“Hello Endurance!” Jim shouted from outside the gate. “Eastern party returning shortly!”

Karl sighed with relief. “Let's get those stones moved back!” he called down, but there was no one standing around in the rain on the inside of the gate, reasonably enough. Karl considered going back to the center, then considered sending Kurt, then thought of a better option and started banging on his shield with his sword. That brought Paul and a couple of other people at a run. Karl came down to help, while another fighter took his place. He was in the strange situation of having one of the highest strength stats, since so many of their high powered people were out of the Zone at the moment.

The stone blocks were moved back enough to open one of the gate doors partway. Jim came inside, grinning. “The news is all good,” he announced, “but I'll let them tell it. We may have to put some more people up in the community center...what the hell?” Jim trailed off, staring up at the apartment complex.

“Oh yes, that must have happened right after you left.” Karl winked.

It was another couple of minutes before the group arrived; Karl stepped just outside the gates and greeted them with a smile. Terry bounded up first.

“Hello, Sir Karl! Foraging Party Number Three reporting in!” She snapped him a salute and winked. “I like the new duds.”

“Welcome back, Hero Terry,” he replied dryly. Then he looked a question at Michael, who nodded with a small smile. If Michael thinks things are okay, there shouldn't be bad surprises here. “Mr. and Mrs. Williams, Mr. and Mrs. Waller, welcome back...Volunteers, go on in.” He turned to see the line forming of new people. “And who do we have here?”

The first person took a step forward. She was a tall woman with dyed blond hair wearing leather armor and a sour expression. “Katherine McPhee. You 'Sir Karl'?” He could hear the quotation marks.

“I have that honor. The 'Sir' part was Terry's idea.”

“He's a paladin and a Hero, the System even says so!” Terry butt in.

“Yes, I heard you the first time.” Katherine's eyes barely flicked over to Terry. “Impressive wall. So what's the deal here?”

“The deal is saving human lives. No requirements. Just pitch in where you want to, there's plenty to be done.” Karl paused and the woman scowled. “If you're looking for a catch, I suppose it's that we have so many mouths to feed we're a bit short on food, and in order to expand we desperately need metal and we don't yet have a plan to get it. But we have four acres where no spawns happen, running water and electricity, and a wall that has already held off one attack from a rare spawn. Housing is tight...” Karl stopped and eyed her. “You don't look satisfied.”

“What do you do about disagreements? Crime?”

Karl took a moment to think about it. “Well, it's only been four days, we haven't really had any problems yet. We have a commander for the defense...it's been mostly share and share alike though there are exceptions...”

“I suppose you're one of the exceptions?”

Karl sighed. “Well given that I'm funding almost everything and I own the Safe Zone, yes. But the exceptions are anyone who wants to make a big deal out of it. You're welcome to keep your own things, your own food and all. We're not making any demands.”

“And what are you going to do when someone else starts making demands?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“How do I know there aren't rapists wandering around in there? Killers? How do I know anything will happen to them when there are?”

Karl took a deep breath. This woman was definitely rubbing him the wrong way. “Let me ask you something point blank: do you intend any harm to anyone in this Safe Zone?”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The woman looked like she was grinding her teeth. “If you're harboring criminals in there, so help me—”

Karl snapped and pointed a finger at her. “That's quite enough! I do not harbor people who intend violence, and that includes you. So far you are the biggest threat to this place I've seen. Now I will ask you again, and you will answer me honestly: do you intend to harm people here?”

“Innocent people? No,” Katherine replied honestly.

Karl stared at her with narrowed eyes. “I can see this is going to take quite a while. Were you by any chance a lawyer, Ms. McPhee?” Honestly he got more of a tough cop vibe from the woman, but she was being very difficult.

Kat's jaw worked. “This place isn't safe. We're leaving,” she snapped to the people behind her.

“Karl,” Michael prodded in a warning tone.

“Kat, take a breath,” the man behind her said, holding up a hand to signal the others not to leave yet.

“Duncan, I swore to protect these people and that is what I will do,” Kat said honestly and fiercely. “I—”

Damn it.

“Stop!” Karl called out in a weary voice. Kat whirled to him in fury, but held her tongue when she saw his face. “That is what I needed to hear. You meant that.” Karl took a breath.

“Everyone, for as long as any of you are residents of Endurance, I swear to protect you as well. I will protect you from crime, so long as you do not violate my protection of others.

“I know my history. I know how anarchy breeds violence and injustice. And I swear to you now that I will not have it in this place! If a code of laws and a police force and courts and all of that are what you need to feel safe, then you shall have them.” There was a pause as everyone looked at both him and Katherine. She looked undecided.

“He's a good man,” Barbara told Kat softly. Karl waited for Kat's reply.

“How are you going to whip up laws and police and courts for us just like that?” She demanded.

“That's easy.” Karl felt a wicked grin on his face. “I'm going to make you do it.”

“What?”

“You break it, you bought it. You're our new sheriff.”

Karl got definite satisfaction from the surprise on her face. Just about everyone else was staring at him in surprise too. Karl raised his voice. “Welcome to Endurance, everyone! You have any problems with crime, go see Sheriff McPhee here. It's now her problem. Congratulations, Sheriff.” The man behind her, Duncan, looked about ready to bust out laughing.

“But—”

“Talk to Paul Goodman our defense commander here if you need muscle for deputies. Assume the local laws match the State of New Hampshire until you hear otherwise. There's a guardian gargoyle up above us on the wall and you'll want to check the settings. I'll expect you at the town council meeting tonight after supper. Have fun and good luck!” He turned and walked in the gate, grinning, ready to register the new people as residents as they came in.

“Kat, I think your three in Personality just bit you in the butt,” he heard Duncan say.

“See?” Karl shouted back to Kat. “And I bet you thought we didn't have anything in common.” At that point Duncan lost it and started laughing.

“I don't—you can't—stop laughing, Duncan, this is serious!”

“Be careful what you wiiiish for,” Terry sang with a smirk as she glided past.

Duncan walked up to Karl. Karl tried to wipe the smile off his face. “Name?”

“Duncan Monroe. Third level fighter.”

“System, register Duncan Monroe here as a resident of Endurance Safe Zone.” It worked; apparently as the owner Karl didn't have to use a pad to register people.

Karl repeated the process. All twelve of the other new people besides Kat had two or three levels; Kat was level four. They had a mage, two healers, two scout types, half a dozen fighters and one person who had a non-combat class called a Bowyer.

“And here I thought we'd alleviated some of the housing pressure building the fourth story,” Karl griped mildly as they trudged through the rain to the center. Michael grunted.

“What was the rare spawn that attacked?”

“I wasn't back yet; Paul said it looked like a dinosaur. It put some serious cracks in the wall but we were able to spend stone to repair it with System magic.”

“Did they kill it?”

Karl shook his head grimly. “We lost two people on the wall, and the gargoyle, and then Letisha came out and got the thing to stop attacking and wander off.”

Michael's face darkened some at the mention of the Siren. “Where did she send it?”

“South, away from all our foraging parties, and down the street we've already mostly cleared of residents. Best choice available, I think, since they didn't have the muscle to beat it.”

“She's powerful,” he noted sourly.

“Yes. We would have lost Endurance without her. You don't have to say thank you, Michael, but you might want to cut her some slack. I also think using her power may be costing her something, physically, that she's not telling us about.” Michael looked wary but thoughtful. Karl would take that as a win.

When they stepped into the community center there was a lot of chatter as the couple of dozen people there greeted the newcomers. Karl went in to the kitchen to see what food the volunteers were unloading. Not much, it turned out. A lot of packages of nuts, containers of honey, a fair bit of pasta.

“That's it?” Karl checked, wincing.

“Sorry, Sir Karl. The health food store was a mess. We got some vitamins too just in case they are still good for anything. And it was a long nasty fight inside there too. On the bright side, that's where we met Kat's group.”

“You did your best. Our group got meat from kills, but that's about it for food.”

“What did the other group bring back?”

“They aren't back yet. We sent George out to check on them a while ago.” I keep getting distracted. To some extent that's good if it keeps me from fretting, but if I'm actually going to do something productive about the problem I need to focus. Responsibility for the teams leaving the Zone still lies directly with me.

Karl walked back out in the cafeteria and clapped his hands loudly. “Everyone, I need to assemble a combat team. The mission is to head north, find the third foraging group and escort them home. Hopefully boring and easy, but if they found something hard to handle, I want them to have backup.”

“I'm in!” Terry called at once. “Mom? Dad?” Her parents looked at each other, sighed, and nodded. “That makes four with you, Sir Karl!”

“I'm in.” Michael had a Systemized bow. “Let me buy some arrows...huh.” Michael stared at the expanded shop for a few moments, then got in the express lane.

“I'm in.” Duncan Monroe stepped forward. Kat McPhee took a step toward him, but he turned to her and said, “at least one of us should help them out.” Kat looked around, taking everything in. “You need to learn the lay of the land around here,” he told her.

Karl looked at the group and juggled lists of people in his head. I'm taking most of the heavy hitters away from the Zone again, but I'm leaving Jo and Tabitha at least, and we just gained several level three fighters. Here's hoping we won't be gone long.

They took another five minutes for a rest stop. Most of them had just gotten in from the rain, but were still heading right back out into it. Karl was grateful to them. He made sure to cast Guardian Angel on Terry and Michael before they left. His mana would recover on the way.

They went out through the main gate and headed west to the intersection, then turned north onto Walnut Street. They had covered most of a mile when George appeared ahead of them and beckoned them closer, then started walking with them when they caught up.

“George. What did you find out?”

“They're pinned down. They're not going to die any time soon but they're not getting out of there without help either.”

“How far and what are we up against?”

“Another quarter of a mile. They look like, well, trolls. These ones have kind of yellow skin, are about ten feet tall, carry clubs and shields. There are three of them.”

“Did our people take any of the trolls down?”

“No.”

“Where are our people exactly?”

“Most of them are in the basement of a house that has been moderately wrecked by now. It'll be ahead on the left.”

“The rest?”

“Two are dead, and Christine is sneaking around in the woods keeping an eye on things. She found me when I came by. Her bow broke, and she's feeling pretty useless at the moment.”

Michael summoned a second bow out of his inventory and a quiver full of arrows and held them out. Terry grabbed them before George did and vanished them. “I'll find her.” She was off like a shot.

“Who?” Karl asked quietly.

“Ben, and one of the volunteers, I didn't catch her name before—the short one with green in her hair.”

Karl did his best to hide his relief that Chenelle and Doug weren't the casualties. It wasn't fair to Ben and...Karl thought back. He dimly remembered someone of that description but couldn't come up with the name either. That was a human being, not a faceless statistic. She deserved better. “I'm starting to think we shouldn't let people below third level go out except to be escorted to easy experience points like goblins or imps. Everyone we've lost except Clarissa has been second level or below.”

“We didn't have that luxury, in our group,” Duncan commented. “But if you can do that, you'll increase the survival rate. How many have you lost?”

“Six, now.” Karl let out a long sigh. “What did Christine say about the trolls?”

“That they are Rares, and they heal fast.”

Oh, shit.

Three rare spawn was very bad. Karl would have ordered a retreat at once if it weren't for the trapped people. Paul had guessed that it would take all their firepower to take down one. They had gained more people since then, but... Karl thought about the strength of their current group, compared to what the party before them had had. He tried to summarize by level.

They had 6,5,4,3,3,2. We add 7,7,6,5,4,3. Can we beat the trolls now? Should I go get even more firepower? Tabitha would be a help against monsters that heal quickly. Letisha, if she would come, could keep one busy. But how many times can I risk emptying out the defenses?

This is my call. This is the job. Dear God in Heaven, please let me lead them wisely.