Chapter Thirty-Six - Catmodore Lucy

“A Vanguard’s equipment purchasing choices need to take into account the possibility of returns on investment.

Equipment destined for civilian use that costs hundreds of points to purchase but which only generates a few points--or perhaps none--in return, means a net loss for that vanguard.

Nonetheless, some chose to outfit others, even if it means a smaller return, because it ensures the safety of those people, regardless of potential losses.”

--Vanguard AI Syacus, 2026

***

I returned to the mall to find it a hive of busy activity. Lucy’s kittens were out by the entrance, or a few of them were, at least. They stood out with their cat-eared uniforms. They were keeping an eye on things where the militia seemed to be missing.

I slid past them and into the main corridor of the mall to find it a somewhat changed place. People were lining up to one side where a booth had been set up that was handing people pills in those little paper cups with the nineties-print designs on the sides.

Anti-zombie pills? That would make sense. The place handing them out was being guarded by a couple of Lucy’s kittens in full kit. I wondered why they were going so slow until I noticed that the person handing out the meds was handing them out from a single little crate, and it looked like it was all they had.

Shit, was this whole thing a way to keep the folk in line calm? Give people the impression that there were enough meds to go around? That... would actually track. Lucy and I had done similar before. Handing out all of the food we had, then pretending we had more for the next day and the one after while silently hoping that we’d get more before the kids found out.

Things weren’t looking so good then, on that front.

Otherwise though, the mall seemed like an industrious place. People were sweeping the floors, setting up tents indoors and I idly noted that nearly everyone was up to something. Busywork, maybe, but it would keep them out of trouble and feeling like they were contributing at least a little.

I found the one leading this orchestra on the second floor, in a more open store where people could see her giving out orders and instructing people and receiving reports.

Lucy had found a rather nice coat somewhere, with pips around the sleeves and big squared-off shoulders. She was wearing it like a cape, almost, arms out of the sleeves. And atop her head she had a cap similar to the ones the militia officers wore, but with a pair of fuzzy cat ears sticking out of the sides.

Did it look silly? Yes. Did it look kind of hot as well? Also yes.

“Hey,” I said as I uninvisibled myself while leaning on one of the nearby tables.

A few people jumped, and I was happy to see hands fly towards guns to keep Lucy safe, but her squealed “Cat!” put everyone at ease.

Then I had to grab onto the table as Lucy hugged me, her weight and mine making the table groan. “Whoa, hey,” I said as I patted her back. “Nice to see you too.”

“I hate the position you put me in,” she said with a smile that suggested otherwise. “We have seventeen injured so far. And those uniforms of yours don’t clean up nice. It’s not ideal to hand off new soldiers' uniforms still covered in blood, you know. Myalis, if you’re listening, take note of that one.”

Noted.

“But things are holding together?” I asked.

“So far,” she said. “We have something of a training system going on in the parking garage. It’s... about the best we can do when the entire training regime lasts just under an hour, but it should prevent people from shooting their own toes off.”

“The guns are smart, they should probably stop that from happening anyway.”

She snorted. “A smart weapon’s intelligence pitted against the average person’s stupidity? I’ll be betting on the stupid, thank-you-very-much.”

I grinned. “That’s fair, actually.”

“I’m fair in everything but skin,” she replied. “Now, I need your help.”

“Alright, you seem to be keeping this city together better than I have.”

She snorted and waved my comment off. “None of that. You’re making people do stuff, which I think is half the solution sometimes. People know you’re acting and they’ve seen you all over the place. It gives them hope, I think.”

“Yeah, hope’s nice and all, but it doesn’t kill aliens well.”

She shrugged. “It’ll keep people fighting, and fighting people do kill aliens pretty well sometimes. Don’t knock it. Now, we can pep talk later. I need more of those standard suits, I need something biohazard-proof for dealing with corpses and zombies, and I need meds. Not just anti-zombie meds--though we need those--we need normal stuff too.”

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I nodded along slowly. “Alright, I... give me a sec. Myalis, what’s my point total looking like?”

Current Points: 62,346

Huh. Lower than I’d want, but higher than I expected. I had killed a few aliens here and there, and I supposed that even with a few degrees of separation I was earning a point or two from every kill the kittens did.

“Alright,” I said. “Can we get more of those suits? The same as before... with the, uh, easier cleaning methods? Same package, basically. Lucy, any trouble with any other part of the kit?”

“Maybe make the chest armour a tiny bit bigger? It’s one-size-fits-all, and it’s easy to adjust, but at the same time we’ve got a lot of volunteers who’ve never seen a treadmill before, if you know what I mean.”

I nodded. That made sense.

I can accommodate that, yes. Nearly the same price as last time. Ninety-five points per set.

I chewed on my lower lip as I did some mental math. “Let’s get a hundred of those,” I said.

“We need more than that,” Lucy replied.

I crossed my arms. “Sure, but I can only afford so many. And I want to get you guys more crew-served weapons, the medicine, the hazmat suits...”

“Alright, fine,” Lucy said. “Come on, I made sure to leave some tables cleared up in the hallway for just this kind of thing. We’ll give the suits to our best. And... maybe we’ll hit up an armoury for some extras.”

“An armoury?” I asked.

She smiled. “There’s a couple across the city. They’re filled up with old samurai-tech weapons. Meant for exactly this kind of scenario. But they’re locked up tight, to make sure not just anyone gets to the guns. Which is shit because right now we need them.”

“That does seem annoying,” I said. I shook my head. “Anyway, other stuff first. Any ideas of those hazmat suits, Myalis?”

Fully sealed environmental suits, with some degree of customization when it comes to size. A simple rebreather mechanism and an air filtration unit, as well as... if I understood it correctly, flame-throwers? I’m afraid you don’t have a catalogue for those.

I frowned. I didn’t. I could get one for probably pretty cheap, but Myalis hadn’t mentioned that. Which meant she probably wanted me thinking about it the way I was just now... “How long has Gomorrah been out there without a break?” I asked.

Four and a half hours, according to Atyacus.

“Uh-huh,” I said. That was probably longer than a soldier was supposed to spend in an active fight. Samurai she might be, she’d still get tired. I opened a chat window and sent her a message. “Gom, we need you at the mall. Equipping civilians with flame-throwers and could use your help. Come over and eat too. Working break.”

There, that would prevent her from... heh, burning out.

“Alright. Let’s get the suits, and let Gom figure out the flamethrower part of it.”

These suits alone will cost seventy-two points each.

“I think fifty should do?” I asked with a look to Lucy.

She was quick to nod. “More than enough, really. We don’t have that many people with training in handling dangerous biohazard stuff, and some of the people we do have had their own equipment already. I just wanted a team or two I could send out from here to take care of things.”

“Right, perfect. Now, the medication. We’re going to want something like a full-body healing med, a first aid kit for simpler stuff, and like, an industrial crate of anti-zombie medications.”

Myalis summoned up the two sets of equipment for me. On one side the suits in their familiar plastic cases, and on the other the hazmat suits. Lucy opened one of those cases up and pulled out the top of a folded, rubbery-looking outfit done up in beige and blacks with some highlighter-pink bits. It had a big glass half-dome at the front to see through... with two cat-ear protrusions on top that looked like they held forward-facing flashlights.

The medication shouldn’t be too expensive. Packs of ten pills for Model Seven prophylactic treatment are only one point each, and I can get standardized first-aid kits for ten points apiece. The more advanced medical kits will cost a little more.

“Well, let’s do it then,” I said.

A few minutes later, Lucy was cracking the whip and people were stocking up on supplies to carry all across the city.

Current Points: 46,546

***