The sound of raised voices let Arthur know they wouldn’t be starting the meeting on time.

“And why should you get it?” A man in a straw hat and white shirt yelled at a woman standing in the doorway of one of the company houses.

The way she held a knife made Arthur wary. Nearby, he spotted Mike and other members of the external security team. They’d moved forward to surround the pair, each equipped with better weapons than a knife.

Mike made a show of tapping his lightning gun as he tried to shout to get the man’s attention.

Carina looked up from the paperwork she’d been reading with irritation on her face. “What do you think that’s about?”

“No idea,” Arthur admitted. “Theobold, park it. Augustus is here.”

“On it, boss,” Theobold said as he turned to see the larger rat mutant walking out of the store.

Augustus squeaked a greeting and motioned towards the screaming match with his bat. Behind him, he saw Chris, one of his cashiers. He looked as curious about what was going on as most of the onlookers did.

Once Augustus reached his side and Arthur had helped Carina down, they all moved over to the arguing pair. The man, whose name he didn’t know, was red in the face. Lidia, the woman he was arguing with, didn’t appear as worked up. However, her body language showed she wouldn’t take the abuse much longer.

“What’s going on here?” Arthur asked as he pushed his way through the gawking crowd.

Most only blocked his view until they realized who they stood in front of. Once they got the message, they got out of his way. Any that didn’t move received a shove from Augustus to help them along. No one tried to start anything after that.

The man turned to him, looking as though he was about to shout something. Augustus let out a low squeak and thumped his bat against his shoulder. Angry or not, the man took one look at the situation and took a deep breath.

“Smart,” Arthur thought as he watched the man try to regain a grip on his emotions. “Maybe this won’t get too far out of hand.”

He waited for the man to calm himself before he repeated his question.

“What is going on?” Without thinking, he also tacked on a secondary query. “And who are you?”

“Davey,” the man said in a gruff voice. “It’s a slight disagreement. Nothing the owner needs to get involved in, I’m sure.”

Arthur scoffed. “Then it won’t bother you to tell me, will it? Besides, I know Linda. I’m curious about why you’re bothering her in her home.”

Beside him, he heard Carina cough out a laugh. Davey’s face turned red again, but one look at Augustus got him to calm down once more.

“All I was saying is that the housing situation is unfair. My boys and I run the sewers, fight monsters, and sleep in a tent. She gets to have a full house because she got here first. That’s stupid.”

A few of the people standing behind him murmured in agreement at his words. Linda looked troubled, but Arthur flashed her a smile. He regretted it as she stepped back. His new teeth didn’t have the same effect anymore.

“So, you’re saying that your work makes you more deserving of this house than hers?” Arthur asked with a raised eyebrow.

This time, it was Davey’s turn to scoff. “Well, I mean yeah.”

“Do you know what she does?”

“Nothing; that’s the problem.” Davey almost spat the words.

From the corner of his eye, he notice the light that shone in Carina’s eyes. She stepped forward, her long black hair swaying as she asked a simple question. The air rippled with her words.

“Do you know what she does?”

Davey’s face went slack, and his words came out in a haltering fashion, as though he was trying to hold them in.

“She washes and takes care of clothes. Tends to the kids occasionally.”

“And?” Carina asked when he stopped speaking.

“She scavenges,” Davey said, reluctantly.

Arthur frowned. “And what makes you think that’s any less dangerous than what you do? You’ve heard the rumors the same as me.”

Guilty looks flashed across the faces of a few of the people who’d agreed with him earlier. He ignored them, focusing all his attention on Davey.

“However, I understand what you’re saying to a degree. It would be better if we could house everyone to the same standard. It’s one reason my cashiers have been requesting people bring back what building materials they can. But you know that’s not our real problem, don’t you?”

Arthur knew for a fact that he did. He’d told people that materials wouldn’t be hard to get. Expensive as well, but with two groves, that was less of a problem. No, the issue was skilled labor. It took specialist knowledge to repair a building. Knowledge they didn’t have access to.

He’d sent word to The Watchdog Knights, but they were still repairing themselves. Thus, they couldn’t spare anyone with the skills who could help. Not that he thought Hulvin, their Crafter-Captain, would. Not if the way he acted about Theobold was any sign.

When Davey didn’t answer, Carina repeated the question.

“But you know that’s not our real problem, don’t you?”

Davey gritted his teeth. “Yes.”

Carina smirked as she asked her next question.

“But you don’t care, do you?”

“I’m sick of sleeping in a tent!” Davey snapped. “Your advertisement promised shelter. Where is it?”

“We’re working on it,” Arthur said, doing his best to sound calm and reasonable. “As you know, it’ll take time. Now, I think that’s about all we have to discuss, yes?”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Augustus let out a growl when Davey didn’t respond, and the security team shifted about nervously. Mike walked over and stood next to Arthur, his gaze locked on the man in the straw hat. Davey frowned and shook his head.

“Fine. But hurry it up. I don’t want to risk my life for nothing.”

Before anyone could say anything else, he stomped away. A group of armed men walked after him.

Mike shook his head as he watched them go. “They’re going to be a problem.”

“I know,” Arthur said. “I’m surprised it hasn’t happened sooner. We’ll need to talk about increasing your team’s numbers in today’s meeting, I think. Speaking of, are Nyssa and Lisa back?”

“They got in not long before you, boss.”

“Great. Let’s not keep them waiting any longer. We have things to discuss.”

***

The back office of Apocalypse Assortments felt cramped with so many people squeezed inside.

Carina, Nyssa, and Dr. Lisa took the couch while Augustus and Mike leaned against the wall. Nyssa held a sleeping Splotch in her lap, her hands hovering protectively over the tiny earth elemental. He could understand the hesitation.

Any time she thought the rat girl wasn’t paying attention, Lisa shot the small elemental a curious look. Arthur knew from her messages that she wanted one to examine. He hadn’t given it to her. The last thing he wanted was for her to mess around with magic again.

They still weren’t positive they’d gotten rid of all the demons she’d made for the cultists. People were still on edge at the idea that they might turn up again. Not that he blamed them. With their penchant for turning invisible, they could be almost anywhere.

Though none of the mutants had gone feral recently, one of the few signs the demons were close. He wished he knew what made those who underwent mutations act like that. However, neither Dr. Muriler nor Lisa could tell him.

“Shall we get this meeting started, then?” Arthur asked, and everyone nodded.

Nyssa spoke first, her hands reaching down to scratch Splotch along the neck. The draconic construct squeaked in joy as he curled up.

“I need more people for my department. Now that we have two stores to do, it’s twice as many stencils. Also, I need a bigger budget for fuel. We’re sending people further out.”

“Should we do more?” Mike said as he looked towards Arthur. “Considering what happened outside?”

“Oh?” Nyssa asked.

“Yeah,” Mike nodded before he quickly explained their confrontation with Davey.

Everyone was quiet for a minute before Nyssa shrugged. “I can change it, so we aren’t promising shelter? We don’t when discussing the Diaboli Theatrum store, anyway. I’d need time to get the stencils changed around.”

“Do that, and then we can sort out the budget. Mike?”

“I’m good. I easily have enough people to keep watch on the street here, but I’ll take a few more if we can find them. It can’t hurt to have security on hand. No complaints from my department otherwise.”

Arthur smiled. “Great. Carina? We talked about the discrepancy in your sales. Anything you want to bring up, considering what you’ve heard?”

“No. Not yet.” Carina shook her head as she tapped the papers. “Though I would like to commission Nyssa’s team to do some work around the store.”

“What did you have in mind?”

Arthur couldn’t help but smile as he saw the way Nyssa perked up. Even with the advertising, she was always willing to try her hand on another project. Before they could get into details, he raised a hand.

“You two can work that out after. Lisa. I think it’s your turn. What have you and Dr. Muriler been cooking up for us?”

Lisa yawned before she lowered the bag in her lap onto the ground. With a twist, she let it spread open. Inside were grass, flowers of various colors, and fresh fruits. All things he knew she’d been growing out at The Greenhouse.

“You know we’ve been trying to make projects that can survive in almost any environment?” Lisa started as she gestured to the bag. “We succeeded.”

“What does that mean, exactly?” Nyssa asked with a frown.

Arthur answered the question even as he leaned over the table to get a better look. “It means they’ve found a way to grow flowers and grass around here and other parts of the city.”

“Why?” This time, it was Carina’s turn to frown. “What’s the point?”

Lisa rolled her eyes. “Why? Because it means we can grow food almost anywhere we need to. Imagine disused parts of the city being turned into orchards. Unlimited and easy access to wood or fresh fruit? Because grass looks nice? Take your pick.”

“Exactly. Any supplies we can make ourselves are better than the ones we need to order. Gardens of medical herbs, for instance? This will be a breakthrough to rejuvenate the city. No more need to duplicate food or clothes. We’ll be able to make our own.”

He couldn’t help but smile as he imagined it. The entire idea of being able to pretty up the city with this filled him with satisfaction. Plus, it would give people more to do, which he hoped would help. That and being able to trade off any of the surplus supplies for extra cash at The Multiverse Mall.

“Ok, so we can turn the city green and get supplies. Hooray.” Carina said before leaning forward. “Can we talk about the important issue now?”

The entire room went silent, and Arthur sighed. When he was sure everyone had turned their attention to him, he continued.

“It’s time we talk about all the monster attacks. You’ve all heard the reports, correct?”

“Nests around the city,” Carina said as she pulled out a report. “Most of our scavenging teams are finding them. There have always been some, but never this many.”

Nyssa nodded along. “I’ve chatted to The Explorer a few times, and he says the same thing. Even The Hero has been sticking around to fight those that reached the city’s outskirts. Something in The Pit is stirring them up.”

“It’s Rathnil,” Arthur said, voice filled with conviction. “Has to be. I don’t honestly believe he skipped town. No, he wanted something here. Or maybe he wants revenge. Either way, it’s becoming a problem. How often do scavenger teams come back injured now?”

“More often than not.” Carina shuffled through papers before passing one along to land on his desk. “Your new plants will need to work on medical supplies at this rate. No deaths; most simply run. But we can’t afford to keep leaving them there.”

Murmurs of agreement filled her words as she spoke, and Arthur nodded along.

He agreed; the issue was what they should do. The first thing that came to mind was making it a quest. However, he doubted that would work. Those willing to fight either joined the external security team or went into the sewers. At least in there, they had strategies and easy escape routes.

Wild monsters were a different problem.

Theorisa’s knights remained stationed at The Farms, holding back the mutant creatures that lurked in the trees. That left either The Assembly or The Watchdog Knights. The latter of which seemed happy to stay in their base.

“We might need to go to The Assembly for this,” Arthur said.

He could easily imagine the team of wannabe superheroes being on board for this. They visited rarely since he’d helped destroy their security robot. An infrequent drop-off of supplies from Captain Swordsman was the most recent. Not that the man stopped to chat.

Whatever they’d found on that computer had kept them occupied. Even Lady Pigeonette hadn’t stopped by with a cryptic warning.

At the mention of The Assembly, Lisa perked up. “May I come? You said I could look into their systems, but I’ve been so busy I haven’t had the chance.”

“Sure,” he said as he put Carina’s report back on the table. “You, Jemima, and Augustus can all come. We can go tomorrow. I doubt they’ll appreciate us dropping in tonight. Besides—”

Jemima shoved open the door, interrupted him. George followed her in, spear clutched tight. He looked nervous, and even Jemima’s more crocodile features twisted up in apprehension.

“It's good you're here,” she said as she gestured towards him. There was an urgency in her voice that made Arthur sit up.

“What’s wrong?”

“Slagsoul Chimeras in the sewers. They killed a whole team. We need you to come look.”

“And the entire team?” Mike asked quietly, but Jemima ignored him.

“Sure,” Arthur said as he got up. “Everyone, keep thinking of plans if The Assembly can’t help. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

No one questioned him as he left on Jemima’s heels. His mind swirled with worry as he tried to think about what was happening.

“Whatever it is,” he thought, pushing his way out onto the street. “This isn’t a sign of anything good.”