When I walked into the clearing, I gasped as I saw the military base. Ten-foot walls greeted my view, easily a hundred feet long. The sergeant beside me just grinned. "Impressive isn't it? You should have been here when we first made it. takes a lot of chunks to make a wall like that, but with the beast horde so close it'll be worth it."

I nodded as I stared at the wall. "It should help unless the beasts are airborne."

Reynolds grimaced. "Yeah. That's our biggest concern as well." He let out a sigh before patting me on the back. "Well, come on. We don't want to keep the major waiting." He took off towards the walls as I followed behind him. Up on the walls, I could see several large machine guns set-up on tripods, each of them being manned by a person in military fatigues. I felt reassured that such protective measures were being taken. Then again, how had they managed to get ahold of them? I hadn't seen such an option in the shop. Maybe I just missed it?

As we approached the walls, I started looking for a gate or door, something that we could enter the fortress through. There was nothing of the sort that I could see. While I was puzzled, I figured that Reynolds would have some sort of plan. He didn't seem like the kind of guy that would waste a lot of time.

When we reached the wall, Reynolds turned towards me with a grin on his face. "Just wait, you're going to love this." Reaching out his hand, he placed a hand on the walls. Removing his hand, there was a green, glowing handprint where he had touched it. There was a beep sound before the wall suddenly moved. A hole appeared in the shape of a doorway leading straight through the wall.

I nodded at the sight, quite impressive honestly. Still, it was nothing compared to watching your hand dissolve into metal. Reynolds turned towards me expectantly. Not wanting to disappoint, I clapped my hands and smiled. "Wow, truly remarkable. It's definitely a unique way to get inside the walls without compromising security."

Reynolds stopped smiling. "If you aren't that impressed, you don't have to act like you are," he grumbled. With a small huff he went inside the compound.

I sighed and followed him. "It was impressive, but, well, you know. I've seen crazier things since this whole thing started. A wall turning into a door isn't that shocking honestly."

 Reynolds nodded, though I could only see the back of his head. "Yeah, I know. Anyway, let's get you to the major as quickly as possible." I shrugged. Couldn't help it if he was offended.

Inside the compound, there were tents everywhere. In the middle was three buildings, but other than that, there wasn't any permanent structure. We headed straight for one of the buildings, navigating the paths between tents to reach our destination.

The building was large and square, a non-descript building if it had been in mainstreet before the apocalypse. Now, though, it stood out like a sore thumb. the words HQ had been emblazoned on the front of building in large, bold letters. Sergeant Reynolds lead me through the front where a clerk was sitting at the front desk. He looked up expectantly at us when we walked in. "How may I help you?" he asked us in a bored voice.

Sergeant Reynolds gestured towards me. "Found a new person that wandered in."

The clerk nodded before pointing towards a door to the side. "The major has decided to not meet new people anymore. That task has been designated to Captain Thompson, a new addition to our military personnel. He'll be right through that door, just tell him we have a new refugee."

Sergeant Reynolds gave his thanks before walking through the door. Once through, he saluted. "Sergeant Jeff Reynolds reporting for duty sir."

I was standing behind the sergeant and couldn't see into the room. Still, the deep, bass voice that replied "at ease sergeant" certainly gave me certain ideas as to what he would look like.

Reynolds relaxed slightly and put his arm at his side. "I have new refugee sir."

"Good. After you bring him in, you are dismissed sergeant." Reynolds turned towards me and gave me a wink before motioning for me to come towards him.

As I did, I saw Captain Thompson for the first time. Just like I had pictured, he was a giant of a man. His shoulders were wide and he looked like he could easily clear six feet if he was standing. The Captain gestured towards the chair in his office as Reynolds closed the door behind me. "Please sir, sit. Can I get you anything to drink? Tea or water is, unfortunately, the best we can do under the circumstances." 

I shook my head as I sat down. "No, thank you Captain. I would like to hear what I'm here for before resting. We don't have much time."

The Captain nodded in understanding. "Straight to business then. Currently we are calling this set-up Fort Hood, the fort that Major Kincade was serving at before this whole thing started. While you are inside the walls of Fort Hood, we ask that you follow these three rules. One, you do not fight inside the Fort. Two, ten percent of the nanites that you gain while you are staying here will be given by to the Fort. Three, that you become a citizen of the town Fort Hood."

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When he said the last line, a blue box appeared in front of me.

Congratulations, you have been invited to become a citizen of 'Fort Hood' town by Xander Thompson. Would you like to become a citizen of 'Fort Hood' town? Yes/No. Be warned. Upon becoming a citizen of Fort Hood, you're respawn point will be set here. A tax may be applied by the rulers of Fort Hood, taking a percentage of any earned nanites. Rules and regulations may be applied by the ruler of Fort Hood. Disobedience of any rules or regulations may cause fines or revocation of your citizenship. Would you like to see a list of the current taxes, rules, and regulations of Fort Hood? Yes/No

I blinked. Wow, that was a lot. Alrighty then, lets sort through this. I could join the town as a citizen, but there would be all the downsides of settling in one place. Taxes and laws. On the brightside, it was being protected by the military so I would have a safety net, of sorts, by trained personnel. Maybe I could get some actual training myself while I was at it. I decided to check out the list of rules. Before I did so, I asked the Captain to give me a minute. He nodded in understanding as I started poking at the air in front of me.

There was a 10% tax on any earned nanites on all citizens of Fort Hood. There were a few laws in place, such as no stealing, murder, rape, kidnapping, or enslavement. All basic human rights essentially. I didn't see anything that screamed at me to not join. It was all the elements of normal human society. I noticed that the fines for most of them were very hefty, murder actually being 20 Crystals. Upon a crime being committed, you were automatically fined. If someone killed another person right now, they'd most likely end up dying completely right now.

I went back to the original blue screen and accepted the citizenship. Another blue screen appeared in its place.

Congratulations, you are now a citizen of 'Fort Hood' Town. As a citizen, you are now under a 10% tax. You must obey all rules and regulations of Fort Hood or be penalized. You may now obtain Job Licenses. Please visit the Town Hall in order to be licensed for a job.

Job License? What was that? I accessed my status page only to see that it had changed.

Name: Tony Eisen  Species: Nanite-Human Gender: Male Citizen of: Fort Hood Job: Adventurer Legal Status: Lawful Current Tax: 10% Level: 27    (265 Status Points) Age: 27 Agility: 60 Charging: 45 (EP Regen Rate: 90EP/Second) Dexterity: 4 Intelligence: 60 (Percieved time: 1.6x normal speed) Shield: 50 (Shield Points: 500. Costs 50EP/Second) Storage: 5 (Energy Points: 50) Strength: 15

There was a whole new row that had been updated. It certainly told its own story about what choices I had made since this whole thing started. A hand entered my vision. Looking up, I could see the giant of a man named Captain Thompson attached to that hand. "Thank you for joining us, Mr. Elsen. It's a pleasure to have you with us."

As I shook his hand I couldn't help but ask. "The pleasure is mine. Still, how did you know my name? I don't recall telling you."

Captain Thompson chuckled as he let go. "As one of the town's officials, I have the right to access our citizenry database. Seeing as your name was the latest addition, I couldn't help but to assume. Before you ask, I've already double-checked the list and there is no one with your last name here. If there is anyone you would like for me to search, I'd be more than happy to help."

I nodded before a name popped up in my head. "Could you look up Gregory? He should be on the young side, 14 or 15. I don't remember his last name."

The Captain spaced out as he started typing in mid-air. It was really creepy. I hope that isn't what I look like, but I wasn't holding out any hope. He focused back on my face and shook his head. "Sorry. We have one Gregory on the base and he's a private in the military."

I sighed. "Oh well."

He gave me a consolatory pat on the back. "Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be fine. How about I take your mind off things? Do you remember the job thing that was mentioned?"

I looked at my screen and nodded. "Yeah, right now I have the adventurer job. What is that?"

"Well," he said. "A job is a position that the system offers you. You know how in a real job you get certain benefits and discounts, depending on what it is? Like if you work at a dealership you might get free oil changes? It's like that."

"In what way?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

He scratched his neck as he thought about it. "Well, take me for instance. I registered myself as a soldier with the system. Thanks to that, I now have access to unique weaponry like those machine-gun turrets on the wall and I get a discount on all weapons and shields in the shop. Not only that, but I get extra nanites from the things I kill. How's that for benefits?"

I was bug-eyed at that. "What? Seriously?"

He nodded. "Yeah, seriously. The only thing is that you have to pass the job test in order to be certified. If you aren't certified, then you can't get the job. Also, you can only try the job test once for free. If you fail the job test, it costs 10 chunks to try again. Each time you fail, the cost to retake multiplies by ten. So your 3rd try costs 100 chunks, your 4th a crystal, and so on and so on."

I let out a hiss of breath. "Man, that is so harsh."

He nodded. "I suppose it's all balanced. Anyway, if you go see the clerk at the front desk, he'll direct you to the city hall so you can try out for a job. I've got to get back to paperwork. It's the apocalypse yet beaurocracy still lives."

I gave him a gracious handshake and left. Now, it was time to get myself certified.