Holly.
She came down the steps in a near sprint, but to Joe it was like watching in slow motion. Her long brown hair was pulled up into a bun that was beginning to unravel as she bounded down the stairs. She wore torn, dirty blue medieval tunic and trousers and her face was smudged with dirt and grime like most of the other survivors he had seen. He saw the tears shining in her blue eyes. Eyes that matched his own and then she was in his arms.
Time snapped back into motion as he held her in an inescapable hug and lifted her off the ground. The people around them stood with mouths agape and several began clapping and crying at the scene. Joe watched as Ronald nodded and smiled and took a step back to give Joe and his sister some space. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Joe released Holly and set her feet back on the ground. She held his face in her hands and searched his eyes for something, but he was unsure what. He barely had the voice to ask, “Matty?”
Holly broke into a beatific smile and turned slightly so Joe could see his nephew who was also just now barreling out of the building and bounding down the steps as fast as his eight-year-old legs would take him. Joe knelt as Matty slammed into him with all the force a runaway child could muster while he yelled, “UNCLE JOE!”
Their embrace caused others in the crowd to begin shedding tears of happiness and possibly some of jealousy at missing their own loved ones, but none of them begrudged the reunion. As Holly wrapped her arms around both Joe and Matty and the three alternately cried and smiled, Bixby let out a volley of barks catching their attention. Holly turned first, eyes wide with just a touch of fear, staring at the overly large black furred dog with his tongue lolling and his tail wagging hard enough to make his back legs dance sideways. With a tremulous voice she asked, “Is that Bixby?”
At the mention of the name, Matty squirmed around in Joe’s arms until he was looking at Bixby. The child’s reaction was the polar opposite of his mother’s. With zero fear, he flung himself out of Joe’s grasp with a yell, “BIXBY!” He wrapped his small arms around the large dog and was rewarded with a flurry of licks to the face and head. Matty’s giggles broke the spell and the wariness from everyone around seemed to dissipate as people let out a collective breath of relief and began going about their business.
“What happened to you both?” Holly asked, still holding tightly to Joe’s arm, and watching her son with the overly large dog that she barely now recognized.
Joe patted her hand and answered, “That is a very long story and one that I will tell you, but we have a few more important things to discuss.” Joe turned to look Holly in the eye. “I need to introduce you to some people.” Joe turned towards his friends and motioned them closer. “Holly, these are the people that helped me make it home. I literally could not have made it without them.” He pointed to Mirabella first as she was standing, visible now next to Bixby watching Matty’s antics. “This is Mirabella.” Mirabella shook Holly’s hand and then retreated back to Bixby. Joe then gestured to Kier, “And this is Kier of Clan Stoneshear, he and his siblings are dwarves.”
Holly gave joe a raised eyebrow, “Um, yeah, I can see that.” she said sarcastically. She turned to Kier, “Pleased to meet you.”
“And you as well lass. Your brother is quite something and we’re happy to have journeyed alongside him.” Kier smiled brightly.
Rory pushed himself forward at that point, “I’m Rory and your brother’s a right madman and make no mistake, he’d have charged here regardless of the danger just to get to you and your lad. Why, if it weren’t for me being levelheaded and insisting that we come along, I’m afraid of what might have happened to him. Oh, and I’d shake your hand lass, but me armor would do you harm.” He added a bit lamely as he stared at her outstretched hand. “Oh, and a huge thanks for being a quest object. Completing that was pure barry. The experience alone was a huge boost to me next level. Joe’s a lad to stick with.”
“Pay no mind to my brother, he’s an arse.” Iona pushed Rory aside and stood with her helmet off. “Iona Stoneshear. I must say, your brother was all consumed in finding you. It heartens me to see you and the wee one in good health.”
Holly took the offered hand and shook it, “I’m not sure what to say, except thank you.” Tears were beginning to leak from her eyes once more and she hastily wiped them away.
Iona nodded while Rory wandered over to a few survivors and began regaling them with tales of his prowess. Kier slapped Joe on the back, pointed to Ronald and said, “Methinks the Knight is still waiting to have a chat.”
“Thanks Kier.” Joe smiled down at his friend. He then wrapped an arm around Holly’s shoulders. Matty caught everyone’s attention with a squeal of delight. Joe turned his head to see what the fuss was about and saw Matty astride Bixby’s back, riding him like a horse.
Holly aghast at the scene, immediately chastised Matty, “Matthew Sherman, Bixby is not a toy or a plaything to be ridden like a horse!”
Bixby wagged his tail and let out a few woofs. Joe looked at Matty then at Holly, smiling, “He says it’s okay. He’s missed Matty and he doesn’t mind.”
Holly and some of the other survivors gave Joe a questioning look. Joe chuckled, “Long story, but the gist of it is that I can understand Bixby and he can understand English, oh and I guess Common.” He paused, “Oh and Jotun too.”
Bixby barked and Joe looked surprised, “What? Since when?” Bixby barked again and when everyone looked at Joe expectantly, he said, “Apparently Bix can understand Dwarvish too.”
That statement got Rory’s attention, “You mean all the times I said…?”
Bixby gave a wolfish smile and winked at Rory.
“Well, I’ll be buggered.” He gave Bixby a shrewd look, “That stays between us boyo!”
Bixby woofed once and headed towards the stairs with Matty happily riding on his back and even getting a few high fives from some of the survivors.
Smiling at Ronald, Joe said, “Maybe we can go inside now and have a discussion?”
Ronald nodded and smiled back. His smile was genuine, and he shook his head in wonder. “Just when I think things look their bleakest, God gives us not one, but two reunions.” He beckoned the group to follow him into the building. “Mr. Sherman, I have to admit, I had my doubts about you at first, but Holly has been instrumental in keeping this group alive and together. She mentioned you a time or two, but I did not make the connection when I first saw you. Please be assured that you and your friends are warmly welcome here.”
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“Thank you. And please, call me Joe.” At Ronald’s nod, he leaned over to Kier and whispered, “Can you add my sister to the Party?”
Kier raised an eyebrow but nodded back. A moment later, Joe could feel Holly’s grip on his arm tighten for a moment. She looked at him as if to ask a question and he mouthed, “later.”
As they entered the building and walked down the wide main hall, Joe was surprised to see far more people than he expected. They lined the walkway in various states of exhaustion, while most of them looked more fearful than anything else. Some had a distant look in their eyes and were nearly catatonic, while others were moving among the people distributing water and what looked like meager rations.
Ronald caught Joe staring, “We have roughly six hundred and twenty adults and eighty-two children. Eighty-eight now.” He amended. He showed the party into an office that had once housed an array of cubicles but now had been transformed into a meeting room. Several folding tables had been placed in the center of the room and chairs of all sorts were placed around it. Joe’s party filed into the room along with Kyle and a few other survivors. As everyone took a seat, Holly had Matty leave the room to go play with the other children in an office down the hall. He was reluctant to leave Bixby, but a stern word from his mother and a promise from Joe to send Bixby to visit soon, got him moving.
Ronald ran his hand over his short, cropped hair and rubbed his eyes. He looked haunted. “We have a two hundred and seventy-eight with combat classes. That includes mages and rangers. We have fifty-two with support classes and the rest are either utility classes or, in a few cases, a class with almost no levels. Those are the folks that decided to languish without even trying.” He slumped in his chair. “Our rangers have not had any chance to hunt as we’ve been fighting since we got back. All we have is what we’ve managed to scrounge and what some brought with them from the tutorial.” He leaned forward, “And let me tell you, some of those people do not want to share.” He shook his head tiredly, “The end of the world and people still have to be jackasses.”
Kier set his mace on the table, “We can help some with the food and supplies. Before we left our Camp, we stocked up on trade goods, but from the sound of it, it seems like a donation would be best.”
Joe raised an eyebrow and nodded, “Thank you Kier. I can also add to the pantry. I have an abundance of meat stored. Enough to feed everyone for at least a few days.”
“That is mighty kind of you. Both of you. I’ll be sure to introduce you to our culinary classers. We have a few people that have classes such as Chef and Cook.” Ronald motioned to the others in the room, “You’ve met Kyle.” The large man nodded as Ronald pointed to a thin man with dishwater blonde hair in disarray and wearing torn up denim jeans with a leather armor breastplate. “This is Konrad Phillips. He’s a Ranger. He was instrumental in getting us here.” The man nodded as Ronald continued down the line, “Then we have Edward Pettigrew. He was a retired general contractor, but his class is Arcane Builder. His abilities have allowed us to create temporary shelters and defenses.”
Joe noticed that the man looked like he was in his late sixties but had a robust feeling about him. Edward also looked much like a kindly grandfather, slightly portly with bone white hair and beard. Santa Clause, came to Joe’s mind unbidden and he stifled a smile and nodded at the man.
Ronald continued with the last unknown person seated at the table. This man was of Asian descent and looked to be in his mid or late twenties. He was dressed in a black jumpsuit with a bandolier across his chest that held small pouches. He surveyed Joe’s crew with a shrewd eye. “Alan Nguyen. Our highest-level combat mage.” Ronald then gestured to Holly, “And obviously you know Holly. The final member of our core group, Serenity is a healer, and she is currently overseeing the triage center and helping to sort out the survivors.”
Joe felt that the people at the table were all focused and had a good handle on the new world dynamics and because he was incredibly curious, he Inspected his sister.
Holly Sherman
Level: (B) 22
Race: Human
Class: Elemental Defender
H: 730
S: 730
M: 1220
Oh, I definitely need to ask her about that Class. Joe thought as he brought his attention back to Ronald and the others.
“These people are the ones that stepped up when it counted and we have come to an agreement that we will be the ones to lead the survivors. We need a leadership structure in place so we are trying to form a democratic council of sorts. However,” He paused and looked at Joe and his companions, “In order to actually build a place that a council can succeed in keeping these people safe, we need to pool our resources so that we can establish a Sanctuary Zone. That would give us some walls and a bit more security.” Ronald sighed heavily, “The hurdle there is that no one wants to part with what little money they have. And I doubt we’d be able to scrape enough together anyway.”
Interrupting, Joe broke into a huge smile, “Well, funny you should mention that.” Joe gestured to Rory who pulled a brass looking orb about the size of a softball from his inventory and handed it to Joe. Joe gave Mirabella a soft look and addressed Ronald, “This is the Camp core from Mirabella’s original settlement camp. They were overrun by gnolls and a troll.” His tone softened and Mirabella shifted uncomfortably in a seat that made her seem like a child. “Bella was the only survivor, so we took the core to keep a dungeon from spawning.”
Ronald’s eyes widened and the rest of his group shifted in their seats. Kyle and Edward both looked astonished while Konrad and Alan looked much more reserved as if they did not believe their good fortune. Joe couldn’t really blame them for their skepticism, the world was a dangerous new frontier, and nothing came without a price. “Mr. Sherman, you are just full of surprises.”
Rory chuckled, “You donnae know the half of it.”
Alan spoke with a slight tinge of sarcasm to his words, “What’s this going to cost us?”
Joe shook his head, “Look, I get that you’re cautious, but not everyone is an asshole or is out for themselves.” Joe shifted in his seat and leaned forward. “My whole goal was to get here and find my sister and any other survivors and help in any way that I can. I was fortunate enough to find friends along the way.” He motioned towards Holly, “You obviously trust my sister, so I’ll ask that you extend at least a little of that trust to me. I want everyone here to not only survive but thrive.” He leaned back in the chair and let out a breath, “And besides, this is not all I can bring to the table.” He indicated the dwarves. “Once we have a Travel Stone, we’ll have allies and trade partners.”
Edward leaned forward and clasped his hands together then cleared his throat, “Ahem. You’re offer is extremely generous, but we’ll need to assign an Overseer and the person who activates the Sanctuary Core will have quite a bit of power and leverage here.” He looked between his fellow council members, “Are you offering to just hand the core over to one of us? Because, while I and everyone here respect Holly, I for one, am not comfortable allowing someone we do not really know…” He held up his hand to forestall several people beginning to speak, “I’m not done.” The voices respectfully quieted. Joe made a mental note of the respect Edward had among his peers. Staring directly at Joe this time, he said, “Seeing the state of your…” He struggled with the words for a moment, “Being. What with the Titles and lack of a Class and whatnot, I am hesitant to place my trust in someone that has so much mystery surrounding them. No offense.” He glanced at Holly as he said the last.
Holly started to speak to defend Joe, but he waved her off and nodded, “Yeah, I get it. And no offense taken. No one has come through this thing unscathed. I’m happy to hand this off to whomever wants to take responsibility.”
“You may want to reconsider your offer, Joe.” Iona placed her hand on his arm. She looked at the others. “Holly aside, I know you lot have no reason to trust us, but I donnae think you all know the full extent of what Joe is offering.”
Joe gave Iona a quizzical look and Kier added, “Joe could hand over the Core and be done, but then, all you’d get is a Camp.” He caught Joe’s eye, “But Joe has the means to do somewhat better.”
“I do?” Joe looked at Kier confused. Bixby barked and let out a few woofs, then understanding blossomed on Joe’s face and he said, “Actually, they’re right. I have a way to turn the Camp into a City.”