Oliver raised his hand to knock on the door, only to have it open right in front of him.
“Mrs. Mary called ahead to let me know you were here.” Tyrone explained to his surprised friend. “Good to see you again, man. And you too, Poli. Come on, Ed and Gary are waiting for you down in dead stock. I'll give you the nickel tour on the way.”
Oliver chuckled at his friends enthusiasm; it seemed that running the business fit Tyrone really well. “I would figure that, as a man in your position, you probably have more important things to do than play tour guide.”
“I do.” Tyrone glanced over his shoulder to answer, a small smirk on his face. “But Poli is here, so the VIP treatment is a must.”
“Thanks, T. I could use some help keeping him focused, anyway. You know how he is.” Polina added in with a teasing grin.
Oliver shook his head in feigned sadness. “Oh, the abuse I take. Just gang up on me, why don't you?”
“Well, whether you're the money bag or the punching bag... Here it is.” Tyrone said with a laugh, gesturing to the open warehouse in front of them. “It's a simple, but effective setup. Receiving is on the back side; All of our deliveries are brought in there and arranged on the shelves. First by type: foodstuffs on the front end, then household sundries- everything from toothbrushes and toothpaste to blankets. Clothes, first aid supplies... And, at the back end, we have the temporary housing- which is really just tents of various sizes.”
“Most of the food is non-perishable stuff, though we have it set up to get a quick delivery of some fresh fruits and vegetables when a call comes in. Mrs. Mary made a point that having some fruit, even if its just apples and oranges, helps give people a bit more of a sense of stability after things go crazy. Not to mention it being good for any kids, helping them get enough vitamins and such.”
“Of course, there are also multivitamins in with the first aid stuff- good suggestion by the way, Oli. Apparently, it's more common for people to get sick right after a major disaster. The lack of necessary food and clean water, plus the stress of the situation and the crowded living conditions people get stuck in... Honestly, the more I learn about this stuff, the more I'm glad that we are doing this.”
“Funny enough, FEMA doesn't actually hand out multivitamins.” Tyrone nodded in understanding of their surprised looks. “Yeah, I didn't know that either. But my new connection over there actually pointed out some things that I hadn't initially planned for... like baby formula and diapers.”
“Thankfully, Mrs. Mary was already on top of that.”
Leading them past the rows of shelves, Tyrone waved at the few people still working- counting inventory in preparation for their next order, he explained in passing.
“We've already done a couple of runs. Our first test run helped us pick out most of our flaws and mistakes, so the second went a lot smoother. We have pretty much streamlined the entire process, though...”
Pausing in front of the door to a side room, Tyrone turned to Oliver with a serious look on his face. “Honestly, Oli... Now that we've got things running, we could probably do more. Right now, we're barely chipping in on the disasters that pop up across the country. And even then, our contribution is less than one percent of help that is being sent.”
He sighed softly, shaking his head. “I know it isn't fair of me to ask this, especially since I know the real situation and what this is all about... But something about actually doing this, seeing the impact even our little contribution actually makes. FEMA spends billions every year, not to mention all the other charities and individuals...”
“And you want to ask me to increase funding, but you also don't want to feel like you being a drain on me.” Oliver said simply, patting Tyrone on the shoulder. “I'm not going to promise anything yet, T. I've already got a list of expenses that I don't want to put off, and we haven't even started on figuring out what sort of return I'll get here...”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“I should probably keep notes on how much I make today, and over the next few weeks... Try and calculate my average earnings...” Oliver muttered slowly, a thoughtful look on his face. “Once I have a solid baseline, I can work out my expenses... Make sure I have some saved up for emergencies...”
“Really makes me wish I took some business classes...”
Shaking his head slowly, Oliver shrugged. “I mean, once we have all math worked out, we can look in to increasing the budget. This is a little out of my area of expertise, though.”
A relieved smile flashed across Tyrone's face before, without warning, he picked Oliver up in a massive hug- eliciting a peel of laughter from Polina at the sight of Oliver dangling like a small child in the larger man's arms.
“Thanks bro! I was seriously worried about asking...” Setting his friend down carefully, Tyrone practically beamed with joy. “And as far as calculating everything... Did you forget that I actually did take business classes? I've already got spreadsheets set up with your expenditures; now we've just got to plug in the earnings, and allocate what percentage you want for your savings, and we can easily figure out your budget!”
Oliver glanced from Tyrone to Polina for a moment, a hint of amusement in his face. “You know, I'm starting to feel like the problem here. You, Poli, and Marty already have more stuff figured out than I had even thought about.”
“Ah, hell! Don't be like that, man! It's not like we have all the answers, just the ones that fit into our own areas of expertise. Marty does the gaming stuff, I've got the business... Umm... I'm not actually sure what Poli has added, other than keeping you in check-”
“Weapons and tactical planning.” Polina chimed in with a wolfish grin.
“-uh, right. That.” Tyrone chuckled a bit nervously, not sure he wanted any more of an explanation on that subject- he knew they would likely ended up doing some crazy stuff, out on Oliver's 'jobs', but the actual details... He was good without knowing everything.
“Yeah, that... pretty much covers everything. So, what is my area supposed to be exactly?” Oliver asked finally, a wry smile on his face.
“Oh, that's obvious!” Polina nearly giggled as she hugged his arm. “You're the pretty one!”
Oliver's groan was drowned out by their laughter- even if they were clearly joking, he definitely didn't want to be called 'the pretty one'...
“Ok, ok.” Tyrone said after a minute, trying to stifle his laughter. “Come on, you two. The tour isn't over yet. While there really isn't much of a point in showing you accounting and all that, which is actually back near my office, we still have the reason you're here: Dead Stock.”
Opening the door beside him, Tyrone led the way into the room where Ed and Gary waited for them. Throwing a wave their way, he didn't stop his explanation as he gestured to the neatly organized pallets and boxes. “This is where you come in, Oli. Technically, dead stock is supposed to be all the damaged stuff that can't be sent out...”
“But, for us, it's the stuff set aside for you to do your thing. I took that list of Commissions you sent me, and passed it off to these two idiots. Their job today was just pulling the stock, packing it up, and making sure it was labeled.”
“All you have to do is walk through the room and send them off- however that process actually works.”
“So, what do you think?”
Oliver took a second to look over the room. Neatly divided into rows were pallets and boxes, all with a different variety of things, each with a simple printed label of their contents and what Commission they were intended for.
Picking up the first label he came to, Oliver immediately searched through the Commissions window to find it.
Blighted Crops- Our harvest was been ruined by a foul pestilence, and the village faces starvation if more supplies are not brought in... But the passes are blocked thanks to this damnable snow! The caravans can't even get through to us! I warned them this could happen... But now isn't the time for bringing up old arguments. By my calculations, we need at least 400lbs of food to see everyone through this safely. I can offer 500 of these... credits... to the person who assists us in this time of need.
Comparing the Commission listing to the label in front of him, then examining the contents of the pallet, Oliver found that everything matched up perfectly. With a thought, he fired off the Commission, smiling in satisfaction as the it disappeared right before his eyes- accompanied by the gasps of surprise from his friends and Poli.
“We just made 500 credits, or five thousand dollar- however you want to think of it.” Oliver grinned at his friends before eyeing the rows of neatly organized Commissions in front of him, waiting to be sent off. “I think this will work out even better than I expected.”