Solaire was a really strange individual. The feeling of safety George had felt when he first saw her coming had now vanished for good, turning into uncertainty and utter confusion. She was far from the stable hero he desperately needed now that his world was turned inside out by the appearance of monsters.

“We were following this strange Twitter account of that artist who talked about her friends leaving for the underworld – this Signe - and how she felt that she needed to stay behind and when she tweeted those instructions, it seemed normal for us to trust her,” said Solaire, leaning on her van, her fingers gently rubbing her shotgun like it was some kind of pet.

Ugh, that was super strange to look at. George looked away, not wanting to gaze upon that weird interaction. Even her explanation was weird. Why did she have to say that? She could have just said that they followed Signe’s advice, end of the line.

He was having mixed feelings about her but pushed all of that aside to listen correctly to whatever she was talking about.

“We are a small group of four, but I’m sure that some people also stayed behind. If we can reach them, we could settle all together.”

“That’s actually a good idea. We should divide into groups to try and find them,” approved George. “If we manage to find everybody, we could privatize a district or something and we would have a small community. With the lack of lights, being together is our best option.”

“Then that’s decided,’ declared Ridox. “Let’s find everybody.”

George stayed silent for a moment, thinking about how everything could be arranged and organized.

“Two of us should look for a place to settle in. Preferably homes with basements, if possible. Ashley, you know this city like the back of your hand, can you do that?”

His friend gave him a small smile, nodding firmly. Ridox quickly joined him and they left, carjacking the closest car to circulate through the city easily.

“Now that this is in good hands, let’s divide and go,” continued George, feeling confident enough to take the lead.

Maybe it was because he didn’t trust Solaire’s ability to make decisions that made him that bold and organized. He wasn’t sure but he preferred to be in the lead if she was around. They soon went their own way, forming three duos, and left, the van roaring in the distance.

Showoff.

----------------------------------------

The ‘seeking the survivors’ game they started didn’t last for more than four hours. They were fewer people than what George had expected, mostly young adults and former students like them who had followed Signe’s advice or their friends/roommates' advice.

When they all gathered, they were no more than thirty, he and his friends included, some of them with familiar names or faces. George, who had assumed the role of a potential leader, stood in front of them with a small smile. People probably knew him because of his streaming and such so it was better if he did the talking.

“Hum… Welcome! I know that it might be a bit weird and awkward for you to be there, it’s awkward for me but right now, sticking together seems to be the best idea we can have. Of course, it doesn’t mean that this is some kind of military camp or something similar. It’s just us living near each other in case we need anything, even just some company. I think that we should think of this place as a community.”

He smiled, trying to sound as confident as possible. It was something to talk in front of a camera but it was definitely something else to stand directly in front of people. He was surprised that he did not faint yet, honestly.

“I have, of course, some ideas to propose to make our lives easier, as I talked with some of you, but for now, I think we should all choose a place and move our things in it. If you want to live on your own, it’s fine, don’t worry we won’t force you to share a place with someone you don’t know.”

He made a little hand gesture, inciting them to spread and explore the district that Ashley and Ridox had found for them. It was a bit outside of the town but it was thankfully big enough to fit everyone. If people really wanted to live on their own, they could.

He sighed, joining his friends.

“What do we do? How do we settle down?”

“I think we should spread a bit, not live all in the same place,” said Chris, glancing at Ezra. “Ezra’s not comfortable enough to live with five other people.”

“It’s okay, who wants to be with who?”

It was quickly settled. Ezra and Ridox, Chris and Ashley, and, of course, Eliott and George. Ashley had already chosen the place he wanted to live in when he had discovered the neighborhood and the others did not settle really far. The street was quite long but they had chosen the last houses of the road, closing the district with that.

Stolen novel; please report.

Solaire and Lewis had settled a bit further down, their flashy van literally shining under the lamppost it was parked under. You could not miss them even if you wanted to.

It took one big trip to bring back all of their belongings that they divided equally between the six of them. Food was stocked into the pantry and mattresses moved into the basement with heaters and blankets. All they had to do now was to make this basement look like a home. And they spent quite some time in it, moving up furniture that they did not like, fixing sheets on the walls, and moving other furniture like the couch downstairs.

In the end, it looked cozy enough for them to simply plop down into the couch and sigh.

“You have a way with words…” sighed Eliott with a faint smile. “It always amazes me.”

George smiled softly, looking at his best friend. Eliott was usually greedy with compliments so it warmed his heart greatly to hear that. He needed that.

“Speaking of that, we should probably go and see if everyone is settled.”

They both got up and out, closing the door behind them with a feeling of accomplishment. Some of the newcomers were waiting in the middle of the street, awkwardly standing up, fidgeting with their clothes or hair, chewing on their bottom lips. George smiled again, gesturing them to come inside his house.

With no more couch to sit on, they all sat on the ground, the house still warm enough to not make it uncomfortable. Eliott distributed some water glasses and small snacks as George learned everyone’s name. It was hard to remember every one of them but he managed to catch some and some others he already knew.

Like Eliott’s crush since freshman year, Sally, a former medical senior with big round glasses on a cute round face. Difficult to forget someone you’re constantly reminded of. She was definitely one of the most talkative ones, already familiar with the two boys.

“I’m so glad to see that you’re okay!” she said for the twelfth time already. “When Ashley mentioned that you fought against a monster, I was worried that you’d be hurt!”

“We’re fine, Sal’,” smiled George before looking at the two brothers that were sitting not far from him.

Graham and Mark were quite silent, both of them looking quite tired and stressed out. It was understandable, the last few days had been rough for everyone, even more for the most sensible ones.

“Are you okay?” asked George, softly smiling to them.

“We are now. I think that it’ll be better now,” answered Graham, his deep voice resonating pleasantly in the room. “Together, it should be safer, right?”

“Yeah definitely. We’ll take care of each other.”

“Do you have any ideas on how we should be organized?”

“Actually, yes, but I’ll explain that when everyone will be here. If you want to get back and rest, you can, it’ll probably take an hour for the rest of the group to join us.”

“It seems that we will not be waiting too long,” commented Flora who was standing next to the window, looking outside. “They are coming.”

George smiled, proud of himself to have remembered her name. The redheaded young woman had a quite refreshing personality, lively, and smug. She sat down, her back leaning against the window.

As she had announced, the rest of the group entered the living room, chatting quietly as they all took a sit in front of George, as if he was the leader of this. It was a pleasant feeling but it was stressful at the same time. He liked to talk yes but was not familiar with taking the lead. Eliott seemed to feel that, gently patting his back.

“I hope that you are all settled correctly, this place will be our home from now on and I don’t want any of you to be uncomfortable or lonely. Of course, if you want to move in with someone later, you can. As I said before, this is not a camp or something like that. Just us living in the same neighborhood,” started George, picking carefully his words to sound as confident and reassuring as possible. “But you know, as well as me, that this situation is far from just a normal one. We’ve all seen the tweets, we all know what to do and what to avoid. But apart from that, I think we should decide on some rules to apply? If you want, of course.”

There was a general agreement, a lot of them nodding. It felt good, thought George with a slight smile. If they were in harmony, nothing bad could happen to them, right?

“I have thought about some but if you have ideas, don’t hesitate,” he continued, more confident than ever. “I was thinking first of all about organizing once or twice a week a lunch together like we would do a barbecue party. Like that we could verify that everyone is doing fine, forge some bonds, and discuss collectively the problems we might have, to find a solution. For the food resources, as we are plenty, I think we should all have our own and not a collective one. Or maybe we could establish small groups who could share their food, like two or three houses?”

As the group stayed silent, George found himself at a loss of words, looking down at his hands. He didn’t know if this was a good idea or not if people were going to hate him… What if he said something dumb again?

Chris patted his shoulder, taking the lead.

“Even if we will all have our food, we should build a big food stock. Dedicate a house that is empty to stock food in it. We will have to ration food to survive and I’m sure we all understand that. So even though we will all have food in our homes, someone will have to keep an eye on it and distribute it evenly maybe once a week or something. That’s how we’re going to survive. Who could manage the food stock?”

Some hands rose up and George looked at them, raising an eyebrow. Sally had her hand up, it was quite obvious that she loved to help, and two boys, Sam and Daniel maybe, who looked like they were the coolest dudes in the town. Daniel had rectangular glasses and a soft smile and Sam had dark brown hair and a green face mask that strangely looked like a monster in a video game that George knew.

“We can do it,” simply declared Sam. “With the three of us, we can do it easily and make it run smooth.”

“Oh definitely!” cheered Daniel with a soft smile. “You can count on us. We’re just a big family now, aren’t we?”

Sally smiled, clearly liking the two boys that had decided to work with her. Chris simply nodded but let George talk.

“That’s perfect. All we will have to do for now is to collect food, every kind of food, and set up the food stock. We are together now, everything will be fine.”

Sure? Why would everything go to hell, right?