It turned out that Nick wasn’t the only one who was worried. A lot of people were upset about what was going on. Dealing with the problem would be easier with other people lending their voices to Nick’s team, so they decided to wait until morning, then bring everyone together before confronting Jim and Ken head-on.

If the men refused to budge, Nick’s party would have to disable them long enough to reform the groups, distribute supplies, and get everyone in front of their assigned door.

Far fewer people were showing up today, and there was a general consensus that the rest would make it to the tower by tomorrow afternoon if they were still alive. There would probably be a few people left behind no matter what plan they followed, but there wasn’t anything that Nick could do about it.

They didn’t have the time or the resources to enable a widespread search of the bog. Doing so would wind up costing far more lives than the attempt would save. With any luck, some of the stragglers would survive the global events triggered by team Earth’s mass exodus into the tower and enter on their own, although Nick knew that the odds were long.

Before they crashed for the night, everyone took time to check their equipment and redistribute their provisions, since there was a good chance they’d be entering the tower sometime the next day. Nick wasn’t looking forward to fighting others of his own kind, but he knew that the odds of a direct confrontation were extremely high.

Each side viewed the matter too differently to find common ground in such a short span of hours, and after listening to the argument, he was certain that persuasion wasn’t going to cut it. Hopefully, Nick’s team could take Jim’s group by surprise. Separate them from their followers, and take them out of the picture without anyone getting seriously hurt in the process.

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Battling other people was the last thing that he wanted to do, but he didn’t see another option and they’d run out of time.

It was a good thing that Nick only needed four hours of shuteye, because he had a hard time falling asleep with everything that was going on. At least he had trusted friends to watch his back while he was unconscious, or he wouldn’t have slept a wink. Eventually, as the music of the marshlands sang him a lullaby, he fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

Nick awoke with the rising sun, only to discover that everyone was already up and strapping on their gear. They stoked the fire for a bit of grilling, enjoying a hot breakfast and the pleasure of each other’s company, steeling themselves for the unpleasant task ahead.

When everyone was done eating, they decided to spend a few hours taking care of loose ends and rallying support, then meet back up to confront Jim and his crew a little after noon.

Nick wanted to get his journal, investigate the tower, then take one last lap around the market, searching for more people to back his cause. He had become increasingly certain that there was something deeply flawed with the tower door distribution plan that Jim was pitching. Once he had paper to pair with his new pen, Nick would be able to prove it.

He stopped by the market to get his book back from Kerry, only to find a surprise awaiting him. A long line of people was queued in front of her stall, taking turns reading from what appeared to be a copy of Nick’s journal.

“Thanks again Nick,” she returned the original to him, along with a sheaf of handwritten notes written on scraps of paper. “This is already making a big difference by helping people decide how to spend their free points. The loose part is the new information I’ve learned since I started swapping for what you gave me.

“And here’s a little something extra to thank you for the increased business to my stall.” She handed him a wheel of what turned out to be waxed cheese. “Cheddar from back home,” she smiled at his surprise. “Someone carried it all the way here from their safe room without taking a bite. Lactose intolerant they said.” Nick thanked Kerry for the unexpected snack, then turned and left the market.

Now that he had his journal and a pen, it was time to take a lap around the tower. In part to see if he could deduce anything about its nature, but mostly so that he could count the doors.