"They're over there, Tom," Derek said facepamling as he pointed further down the canyon to where the vehicles had been left.
"Oh, right. Sorry." Tom said feeling extremely embarrassed.
"We just came up at a closer point than we went down. Nothing to worry about. Who is going to steal them anyway? There isn't anyone here." Derek asked.
"I don't know. But we did fight off all those raiders. If anyone is going to loot, now is the time to do it. I mean we technically stole those vehicles to begin with." Tom replied defensively.
"True, but it's unlikely to happen without more people around. And people coming here are likely looking for the quest, which likely was removed from their interface when we completed it." Derek explained, beginning to walk toward where the GS2, motorcycle, and Hummer were parked.
Moving behind him, the team followed him.
"Sorry, it's just hard not to think that in this world now," Tom said.
"Understandable, but there were no signs. Glass on the ground from broken windows, no tire markings to show they left or were even here to begin with, nothing to indicate they were stolen. Look harder before you panic and, by extension, panic others." Derek scolded Tom.
"You're right, of course," Tom sighed heavily.
"You only said what some of us were thinking," James added. "I just wasn't quick enough on the swear."
"I'm just glad they are there still. My nerves are frayed enough as it is. With everything that has been happening, I'm just ready to get some rest." Tom said, hunching slightly as he walked. "Jay, you wanna drive the first leg of the journey?"
"I thought you'd never ask!" Jay blurted excitedly.
Tom took the keys from his inventory and tossed them to Jay. He caught them deftly from the air and smiled excitedly at the prospect of running over more goblins. He cackled maniacally as he thought about it and Kedron joined him for some classic villain hand rubbing as they discussed finding them on their trip home.
Derek just rolled his eyes at the pair, and the teams made their way over to the vehicles before climbing in to make their way to the entrance. James opened the trunk for DeeDee and Squirrel to climb in, and Jerky appeared on Tom's shoulder after he climbed into the passenger seat.
"Just gonna take my spot?" Derek asked Tom after he had closed the door.
"Yup. Guild leader perks. You'll be alright." Tom said not even looking at him as he slumped down in the seat about ready to take a nap.
Derek rolled his eyes again and climbed into one of the captain's chairs in the middle row.
"And you're gonna take my seat?" James said indignantly.
"Yup. I can hit things through the window that get close. Plus, guild general perks. You can crawl up to the sunroof if needed." Derek replied, also without looking at James.
"This is some bullshit," James grumbled as he crawled into the back row.
After everyone got settled, they took off toward the entrance. They were the first to arrive, being they had parked closer to the entrance. About an hour later, all the others had arrived as well, Bob riding with Zach in an Escalade.
"That is a sweet ride," James whistled through the sunroof, admiring the Cadillac.
"I'll trade you for the modified ride you all have. That thing looks mean!" Zach called back from the driver's side window.
"Just run over some gobos, get the vehicular manslaughter skill, then use the upgrade points. You can make yours look mean too." Tom called over.
"What?! That's it?! You've been running those fuckers over?!" Zach cried in disbelief.
"Yeah, little bastards got in the way, so we just kept going. Easier than going around them." Tom called back.
"Aren't you worried about damaging your ride?" Zach asked.
"Nope. Plenty of vehicles out there if need be. Besides, we have a mechanic and the upgrade points can be used to fix the vehicle if you're really in a bind." Tom said in a nonchalant tone.
"We seriously need to talk about what all you know," Zach said staring wide-eyed at Tom in amazement.
"We'll have time. Now, follow us and we'll head for Dallas. Driver, eastbound please." Tom said, taking on the accent of a rich person.
"Right away, sir!" Jay replied in his best terrible British accent, then giggled evilly as he put the GS2 into drive.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Driving out of the Grand Canyon National Park, the teams began their long journey toward Dallas. Traveling down the highway was easier with the roads cleared on one side.
"Feels weird to be driving on this side of the road," Jay said offhandedly to Tom. "Not complaining at all though, it sure as hell beats having to get out and move vehicles."
"Mhm," Was all Tom said in reply as he continued to stare out the passenger window.
"Something bothering you, brother?" Jay asked him, turning his head back and forth between looking at the road and Tom.
"I have no idea what I'm doing," Tom said sullenly. "I'm expected to have answers for what we should be doing to fix this issue, and I'm feeling completely overwhelmed as to how to handle all these new situations. First, Seth dies, and I can't do anything about it. Then I get told there might be a full-on war happening when we return, and it's with some power-hungry guild leader looking to steal our people away from us. We have so many people in the guild now that are all looking to me for answers, and I can't promise a single one of them that they will be safe from anything without flat-out lying to their faces."
"You do realize you're putting all that pressure on yourself. No one is doing it to you." Jay replied.
"But everyone looks to me as the leader," Tom said finally turning to look at Jay.
"Dude, you have the title, but we are all here offering to help you. You aren't bearing this alone, and you are absolutely not held responsible for what happens to anyone. You are just one guy who people picked to be the leader so that they didn't have to have the stupid title themselves. You just happened to be the first chump to say yes." Jay added, shrugging as he said the last bit.
"Then how about you be leader?" Tom blurted out.
"No thanks. I'm not looking to add to my list of stupid decisions. I make plenty of those without the added pressure." Jay chuckled, shifting to drive with only his right arm on the top of the steering wheel. "You're the scapegoat. I don't think it would go over well with everyone to have a sudden change of management either."
"But I don't fucking want it! It's too much pressure!" Tom exclaimed suddenly.
The car went silent at this outburst, everyone turning to look at the pair in the front seats.
"Ha! No one does. But someone has to. You have been doing an amazing job at being the guild leader. You aren't a tyrant who tells people what to do all the time. You have a group of people you consider your inner circle that you always turn to for advice, and most importantly, you tend to listen to them when they give it to you." Jay explained. "You are just beating yourself up for no reason. Not a single person would want to trade places with you, but not a single person would criticize you either. Well, not a single person that matters."
"I see what's happening here," DeeDee said from the trunk. "You're trying to do it all instead of delegating. Think of yourself as the manager of a team. Yes, you should make important decisions as a finality so that people don't question them, but you need to let others know what you are thinking in the process."
"What do you mean?" Tom asked, turning to look over his shoulder.
"You worked in software development right?" DeeDee asked.
"I did," Tom replied, confused about where she was going with this.
"Think of yourself as the IT director for the entire team working on the next big coding project. The entire thing is being developed by your team and you are in charge of what happens when. But that doesn't mean you sit at a computer and code the whole thing yourself. You step back and look at how the project is going as a whole, give your inner circle things to do to manage those nitty gritty details, and then meet with them for progress updates and discussions on what needs to happen. If you look at every line of code you'll go completely crazy and never get anything done. Plus no one else will know how it works, so if you get killed the whole team will fall apart. But if you stop and let people manage things, then you can know what is going on and if something happens, the team can keep going without you. That in turn takes a lot of the weight off your shoulders."
"What was it you did again before this all happened?" Derek asked DeeDee.
"I was a Scrum Master for a development team. So I'm used to seeing IT professional meltdowns as they tried to micromanage things." DeeDee replied, stroking Squirrel's fur.
"She's right you know. And I'm not just saying that because she's my wife." Graham added. "You gotta let this go and work with everyone. If you try to bear all the weight, you'll snap. And that leaves everyone in a bad place."
"I thought I was working with everyone?" Tom asked exasperated.
"You are, but you aren't. You are working with us in that you listen to advice, but you aren't in that you keep bottling up your emotions and thoughts. You gotta open up more." Jay said, stealing Tom's attention back to the road. "Don't you already feel a little better knowing we aren't mad and ready to help you with how you are feeling right now?"
"Actually, I am. It's a relief to know that everyone isn't mad at me for what has happened." Tom said sagging a little in his seat.
"Blaming you for what happens is like when people blame a higher power for when their loved ones get hit by drunk drivers. If they were responsible for every action that a human being with free will took, then that means they are some crazy heartless bastard who just likes to watch the world burn. You didn't make anyone do anything. They always had a choice to walk away, or not listen. Bad things happen. You don't make them happen unless you go on a killing spree." Jay explained.
Ahead on the road, a set of goblins had set up a makeshift barricade. They were surprised by the vehicle coming from behind them and quickly ran around to the other side of the stick wall to stare at them threateningly.
"Oh, hold that thought," Jay said as he sat up straighter and put both hands on the wheel, speeding up slightly.
The GS2 burst through the barricade, splattering goblins and splintering the wooden barricade. Some of the shrapnel from the splintering branches was shot into the bodies of the goblins that were not in the path of the vehicle. Screaming could be heard from outside of the vehicle as they were crushed to death or shot full of splintered wood.
"Sorry about that, where were we?" Jay asked, unable to stop smiling.
There was an additional crash behind them as Kedron and the others moved to the sides to catch any goblins that weren't mowed down by the initial attack.
"Those green idiots. You'd think they'd learn about the way vehicles can just destroy them and won't slow down. Or maybe there are still some people with sensibilities about them." Jay added.
A shadow began to cover the vehicle slowly as they drove forward. Everyone was so busy watching behind them at the devastation that they almost didn't see what was in front of them.
"JAY WATCH OUT!!!" Tom shouted as he braced his arms on the dashboard.