Heading back to the guild building, the team pondered the implications of the worldwide message and quest. Without being sure how many people survived the initial System integration, but trying to compare the number of people they had encountered in Dallas as a standard to go on was starting to give Tom a headache.

"How many people in the Dallas area do you figure are alive out of the number that used to be here?" Tom asked.

"Figuring there were at least ten thousand people that live here, and then the commuters, I figure twenty thousand is a good estimate. Having seen another group out there, I'd guess there are maybe three to five thousand still alive, depending on how many were able to band together to fight. Why?" Derek asked.

"I was just thinking about how many people would be trying to make it to the Grand Canyon for the quest all at once. I'm not trying to be competitive for the prize, but I bet others will be and that means a fight. Not to mention the fight with whatever is corrupting the vending machines." Tom replied.

"That does complicate things," Derek said, putting his hand on his chin. "There's nothing really for it. We just have to go there and see what can be done. At this point in time, we could just not go and hope someone else does it, but there is always the chance that everyone else in the world does the same thing. It's a low chance, but still a chance. So we have to go."

"We should ask Shandra to join us for the trip with some of her people," Jay piped up.

"Ugh...not that bitch. I do not want to travel with her," Kiera said.

"I know, but she has built a group of people who are grinding, so we stand a better chance of success by teaming up with her people," Jay pointed out.

"Jay has a point," Tom said. "I'll reach out to her and see if we can't team up for the trip and the fight. Don't worry Kiera, we will take the GS2 and she will have to have her own vehicle so we technically travel separately."

"Really wish we could still fly there," Kevin said.

"Me too, but there is no way to know if we could even find a plane at this rate so we have to use what we know works," Derek pointed out.

"I know, I know. I was just sayin'," Kevin replied.

"It would also be a good idea for us to take at least one more person with us," Derek recommended.

"Why? Our party has been doing fine so far." Tom said.

"Sure, but we have a max party size of eight and seven seatbelts in the GS2. We should definitely take advantage of at least one extra person for some extra firepower. I was thinking of Cliff from the Beta team." Derek said.

"He's the wizard right?" Tom asked.

"Yes. His spell power could come in handy if things get hairy." Derek said.

"What about DeeDee? From the Alpha team." Kiera said. "Kinda tired of the sausage party I keep getting drug along on. And she is a Druid so extra heals along with spells."

"That's not a bad option," Derek agreed.

"There's also Melvin, from the Alpha team. A Paladin. So heals and a tank." Jay said.

"I can't stand that self-righteous prick," James said. "Always telling me I have a potty mouth. Well, fuck you very much, Melvin. Fuckity fucking fuck fuck!"

"I don't think Melvin will fit in with the team dynamic," Tom said trying not to laugh, looking into the rearview mirror at James.

"So then we need to decide on Cliff or DeeDee," Kiera said.

"I actually want to change my vote to DeeDee as well," Derek said. "She could take some of the pressure off of me so I can tank more. As far as I know, Cliff has no healing spells so he's pure DPS."

"Well, sounds like we need to let Chris know we need to borrow her for a bit. I'm sure there is someone that can fill in for her." Tom said.

A short time later, the GS2 pulled into the parking garage and parked next to the guild building. Entering the building TJ was in the lobby going over some security plans with another man that Tom didn't immediately recognize.

"Hey TJ, have you seen Chris around? We need to talk with him about that message everyone got." Tom said walking over to him and shaking his hand in greeting.

"I can find him. Do you want him to meet you somewhere?" TJ asked.

"Sure, send him to the cafeteria. Feeling a bit hungry so we are gonna hit up the food since we've been out most of the day." Tom replied.

"I'll send him over. You guys have a good trip...what the fuck is that?!" TJ said immediately becoming alert and drawing a pistol from a holster at his side and pointing at the wolf that walked into the building.

"That's just Squirrel," Tom said quickly, putting himself in front of the gun. "That's James' familiar. Gonna need you to spread the word about that too. Forgot to mention it with all the frenzy of this new quest."

TJ eyed the wolf suspiciously but put his gun away when the wolf sat and cocked its head curiously at him.

"Alright, but I really need to know these things before you get here. You could radio it in you know." TJ said.

"Radio died. You got a way to charge them yet?" Tom asked.

"We have a battery that we can charge with a solar panel. Give me your radio." TJ said holding out his hand.

Tom placed the radio in his hand and TJ gave him another one.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"There, now let me go get Chris and pass the message around about...Squirrel?" TJ questioned.

"Don't ask. Not a good joke." Derek said.

"It's fucking hilarious," James said.

TJ stood there with one eyebrow cocked.

"Ugh...he calls him squirrel because he likes nuts," Derek said exasperatedly.

"And not the kind that grows on trees!" James said excitedly, pointing at the giant bloodstain on his pants.

"Oh dear god! Is James OK? That looks like a lot of blood!" TJ asked becoming panicked.

"He's fine. We found out that potions can, regrow body parts. At least some of them anyway. Can you pass that along to Rebecca? I really need something to eat." Tom said.

"Yeah...sure. I'll pass those messages along." TJ backed away before he could hear anything else.

Turning to head to the cafeteria, the team walked along the hallways greeting people as they passed. Everyone seemed to be doing something to help out as they passed and Tom felt a sense of community with everyone that he encountered. He was grateful that pretty much everyone was willing to work to better their situation.

Standing in line at the Cafeteria, each of the team ordered something lunchroom style and went to sit at the tables.

"It's nice to be back in the building," Kiera said. "You guys start to stink after a while in that car and all the fighting."

"Psshhh, you're no basket of roses yourself miss thing," Jay retorted. "Do you even still have deodorant? We could go try to find you some. Make it a grand quest."

"I absolutely have deodorant, and compared to you pigs I smell like the perfume counters at the mall." Kiera countered.

"You mean really strong, and everyone tried to rush past without making eye contact?" Kevin commented, getting a round of laughs from the others.

"Hey Tom, you wanted to see me?" Chris said walking up to the table at that moment.

"Yeah, hi Chris, how's it going?" Tom asked politely.

"Oh, not too bad. Staying busy like always." Chris replied with a smile.

"Glad to hear it. Look we need to ask to borrow someone for that quest that I'm sure you saw the System message for." Tom explained.

"Yeah, I saw it. You guys are going out there?" Chris asked.

"We think it's the best option. We are sure plenty of other people will too, but there is the tinest of chances that no one takes it seriously and they don't go. We have to make sure the quest gets completed so we have access to the right gear again." Tom said.

"Yeah, that makes sense. You think the other teams are up to protecting everyone?" Chris asked.

"They have to be. There's always the chance one day we never come back." Derek added.

Chris looked uneasy at this statement.

"Look, Chris, we have faith in your training and believe you all can keep everyone safe here while we are gone. We just need to borrow DeeDee to try to make the most of our party slots and increase survivability chances." Tom said, trying to reassure the man.

"OK. DeeDee will be a bit of a blow to the team, but we have a Cleric we can replace her with. I'd rather you guys be sure you come back. Do you want to take another person? Make the full eight party members?" Chris asked.

"We thought about that, and we don't have the room in the GS2, so we think seven is the max we can do right now with James getting a pet," Tom replied.

"James got a pet?" Chris said.

Squirrel got up and walked over to Chris and nudged him in the crotch. Chris pulled back, concern was written on his face.

"This is Squirrel. He uh...likes nuts." Tom said.

"I can see that," Chris said. "He's tame?"

"Seems to obey James' every command," Tom said.

"Alright. Well, I'll go get DeeDee for you. I'll send her here to meet up with you for now." Chris said backing away, hands covering his privates.

"See ya later Chris. And thanks for everything you're doing!" Tom called after him.

Continuing with their meal, the team spoke about what they thought they might encounter on the trip until a woman approached their table. She was a shorter individual with dark brown hair, freckles across her face and glasses. She smiled at them as she approached. She carried a whip on her hip and work leather armor.

"Hi, guys! I'm DeeDee! Chris said you wanted to see me?" DeeDee said with a bright smile.

"Hey, DeeDee. Yeah, we want to have you come with us out to the Grand Canyon where we are going to be seeing what we can do to help complete that quest that was offered in the message everyone got." Tom explained.

"Oh," DeeDee said, her smile faltering a bit.

"Something wrong?" Derek asked.

"Well, I just wasn't sure about leaving my husband. Can he come too?" DeeDee said.

"We don't have enough room in the GS2 for two more people. So unless you have some other form of transport I'm not sure we can take both of you." Tom said. "Who is your husband?"

"His name is Graham. He's on the same team I am. He's a warrior though." DeeDee replied.

"Hmm. Let me look at something really fast." Tom said, pulling up his menus.

Flipping through, Tom found the menu he was looking for, the upgrade screen for the GS2. Scrolling through the hundreds of options, he found what he was looking for. Extend cargo space. Seeing he had exactly one upgrade point, he looked up at DeeDee.

"I have a way you can both go, but someone will have to ride in the trunk with Squirrel," Tom said to her.

"A squirrel shouldn't take up much space. I can ride with it." DeeDee said.

"No, not a squirrel, with Squirrel," Tom said pointing at the wolf laying at James' feet.

DeeDee gasped audibly as she saw Squirrel. "OH MY GOSH, HE'S SO CUTE!!!" She squealed as she ran over to give him a hug. "I love dogs!"

Squirrel, for his part, looked up at her and licked her face, seeming to truly enjoy the attention.

"Well, I guess that means we can take you both. I bet Graham will be a good addition to the team." Tom said and selected the Extend Cargo Space option in the upgrades.

Tom radioed over to Chris and let him know they needed Graham too, and Chris said that was fine. They had several backup warriors as that was the most common class selected. DeeDee continued to sit on the floor with Squirrel and rubbed his belly as he turned over for more attention, closing his eyes contentedly.

"Should have known a Druid would like animals," Derek said.

"What do you mean?" Kevin asked.

"Druids are nature lovers. If someone chose that, they likely read the description about forming bonds with animals. I wonder what animal she can turn into?" Derek asked no one in particular.

"A bear," DeeDee answered.

"Really?! That could be really helpful." Derek replied.

"It is. That's why I chose it. Goblins basically pee themselves when they see me transform. It's hilarious." DeeDee said, never taking her eyes off Squirrel.

"Well, I can't wait to see that in combat," Derek said, really excited about it.

A man walked into the cafeteria a short while later. The man was very light-skinned with red hair and glasses. He wore heavy armor though and carried a twin-headed battle axe with a huge blade in one hand and a metal coffin shield in the other.

"Wow, he looks like a badass doesn't he?" James said.

"That is definitely someone I would want on our team. But just because he has good equipment, doesn't mean he can fight." Derek said.

"Oh, Graham used to be a professional medieval fighter. We used to tour around the world where he would compete in tournaments with others wearing medieval armor and fighting with weapons like these. He's quite good." DeeDee said boasting about her husband and beaming at him.

The entire party stared at the man in a new light.

"Seriously? Where were you hiding him? We could have used him on our team from the start!" Kevin said.

"Oh, you guys were fine. Besides, We liked training the others as they came in and teaching them to fight with this kind of equipment." DeeDee said.

"You mean you fight too?" Derek asked.

"Well, I learned from Graham while we were dating. Then when we got married we trained together while we were on the road." DeeDee explained. "It definitely deepened our bond."

"Are you overselling me again DeeDee?" Graham asked as he smiled through his goatee at her.

"No, my love. I'm just telling people a little bit about us so we can get to know each other since we will be working together." DeeDee said, smiling back up at him.

"Dude, if you are even half as good as I think you are, then you are going to be training us on the road. Especially Kevin and myself." Derek said. "We need to learn a little more about fighting."

"You got it! I'll teach you what I know. Happy to help make the team better." Graham agreed happily.

"Alright then, let's go grab some supplies and we will head out first thing in the morning for Arizona," Tom said.