The team, already used to making quick decisions in life or death situations leaped into action. Claire opened the gate more and they made sure everyone got inside. They were unsure how this new world would be changing now that more people were here, and didn't want to risk it.
Luckily Claire had massively improved the base since Skye left and it wasn't as tight as he remembered it, though with close to 500 people, it was quickly filling up. She created it with the mindset of having large open spaces for the group to expand and build, but if she knew so many guests would be arriving, she would have tripled the size.
She knew a few things about people living in close proximity to each other, in the fleet there wasn't a lot of personal space, which means she knew how dangerous it could be.
As the last of them entered she closed the gate behind them and Skye took over again. It seemed he wasn't shy when it came to public speaking.
"I know this is all confusing, but please give me your attention."
The murmurs died down and they all looked at him. He stood on top of a stump that was used as a place to sit so he could be seen above the crowd.
"I'll just get right to it. You're no longer on earth and the earth you knew of may not be there when we get back."
This news caused a stir in the crowd but he pushed on.
"You're now somewhere far more dangerous, a place we 5 have been for a while. I'm unsure if you all have abilities like we do, but we have been able to fight thanks to them. Can anyone tell me if they see a floating ball above their head or something? Does anyone here feel like they want to have a seizure?"
The crowd went silent, someone in the back coughed. A young woman in the front raised her hand shyly.
"Yes you, do you have a ball?"
She lowered her hand and looked around with a timid expression.
"Um, no, but, ah…"
She looked around again.
"Is there anyone else who.. Who can be in charge? You seem…"
She let the words hang in the air as a few people started to shake their heads in agreement. Skye swallowed the lump in his throat to stop the sting of the words. He summoned Thorn into reality, causing the crowd to gasp.
"I know I look really handsome and funny, but sadly I'm not joking."
He slammed the butt of Thorn into the log between his feet.
"Now we're all going to have to work together to make sure we survive and the 5 of us"
He said as he waved his hand at his group.
"Are the only people who have experience in doing so. For now I need you all to listen to us and we'll get through the night. After that we can figure out who should be in charge."
He started to give commands now, no longer focusing on introductions.
"If you have any skills that can help us survive that you want to tell us about, go over there. If you can build or work hard, go over there, and if you can fight I need you up front and centre right now. We don't have much time."
He jumped off the log and expected the crowd to start to move, but they just looked around at each other unsure of what to do. Kai took the opportunity to establish his dominance. He jumped up on the log and took the whip out of his belt, snapping it into the air a few times.
"What about not having much time do you not understand? Move it people!"
They all started to wiggle their way past each other to where they needed to be. The space was tight and it was hard to move in an organised manner.
Group 6 faced each other in a tight huddle. Elli now taking charge.
"Good job Skye and Kai, I knew you two would be a great team. We need to act fast. Claire, I need you to take half the workers and start digging out latrines away from the river. You and I both know what will happen if we don't."
Claire gave a knowing nod and went right to work. It would be hard to do without any shovels but it had to be done. She had been using her sword to dig the holes since it was wide and flat and even that was backbreaking work.
"Kai, take the other half and start getting as much material as you can to make shelters and beds, we'll need a lot of firewood tonight to keep everyone warm."
With a sigh he agreed, Kai was hopeful his jobs would start and end with cracking a whip. He pushed his way to where people were gathering who were good at working, following Claire, yelling at people to follow him.
"Skye, take the people who are willing to fight and go collect sticks that can be used as staffs and sharp rocks. When they bring them back to you, make them into spears like yours. We'll organise better tomorrow but for now this is all we have. Claire said she brought back some weapons and armour, find that and use it however you see fit. Nora, I need you to scout the area and see if there were any other stragglers or people lost. Do not go too far."
Both of them nodded and broke from the huddle, leaving Elli all by herself. She took a moment to breathe and then slapped both of her cheeks. Saying to herself quietly "Never again."
She approached the small group of people gathering that might have skills they could use. They turned and all looked at her as soon as she approached. Elli was used to this, she often found herself in the leadership position, and is considered to be very pretty, so getting looks was nothing new. She didn't skip a beat.
"I'm Elli, I'm one of the original people sent here by myself. I'll be issuing orders until we know more about our situation. Please go down the line and tell me about your skills that could be useful here."
A man in the back scoffed at her introduction. He was wide as he was large, with a belly that stuck past his toes. His arms were thick and maintained their size all the way down to his hands.
"You've got to be the same age as my child! What are you doing giving orders to anyone?"
Everyone in the small group turned around and looked at the man, and in the same moment, Elli, who was now standing behind him. Before they could register what happened she kicked the back of his tree trunk legs, causing him to unexpectedly fall to his knees. She summoned her bow around his neck and used the string to tighten around his windpipe and pushed her knee into his back for leverage.
Her voice was flat and unforgiving.
"I did not survive the last two weeks to be talked down to by someone who hasn't been here for 5 minutes. Your child is most likely dead. Everyone you loved, dead. If you need a moment to process that, take it. But you will not be the reason everyone else here dies tonight."
She pulled the bow tighter.
"Now, tell me how you can be useful or go join the workers."
His large hands tried to pull the bow string away from his neck, but he couldn't win the game of tug of war with Elli. She was small, but the slivers had made her incredibly strong.
He gave up and tapped her leg repeatedly. She dismissed the bow and he fell forward gasping for air. Coughing and trying to breathe again, he said as loudly as he could in a horse voice.
"I'm a cook, everyone calls me Cookie, I was in charge of making sure, Cough, everyone in the army ate back in my Dome. Cough Cough."
Elli bent forward and pulled him up by the shoulders and helped him get to his feet. He towered over her when standing up right. She dusted off his shirt and gave him a smile while patting his belly, then blinked back to the front of the group.
Her voice gave them a startle when she spoke again, now behind them. Her voice became pleasant and friendly again.
"Great to have you Cookie, your assistance will be needed. Find two people who have experience to help you before nightfall. We have a lot of people to feed. Who's next?"
—-
In this manner she was able to identify expert builders, craftsmen, civil servants, military trainers and leaders, and one high class politician who was swiftly sent to the working party.
Claire and her group were busy digging the Latine outside of the wall and connecting it through a hole inside the fort. Kai was returning with his group and building materials, already starting on creating areas for everyone to sleep and lean-to shelters.
Skye was just outside the fort with his group, setting up a system of crafting weapons. He was creating the rope and two others were making spears with material being brought back. The new military trainers were shifting through some of the gear Claire brought back and handing it out. There were only a few things worth using, but it was better than nothing.
They continued on until the sun started to set, then no one dared step foot outside of the fort. Everyone was briefed on what the night time would be like, but it was something you had to experience to believe.
Elli and the military leaders, named Kenji and Leon, along with the military trainers, Zsofia and Li, started to organise the people willing to fight. These people didn't have any abilities, just normal humans with pointy sticks and a few swords between them, yet they still volunteered. Out of the 500 or so people that came, just over 100 took the job. They were broken into three groups of 36 people each, each group divided into squads of 12.
"We'll rotate Rest, Quick reaction force, and Guard duty. This way everyone can get some rest and if things get too dangerous we can reinforce when needed."
Leon said to the group and the military leaders/trainers standing together. Kenji spoke up next.
"These walls are good, but they're not going to last all night. We either need to funnel the enemies into one spot or we'll be forced to fight whenever a breach appears. We'll be running all over and people will get hurt."
Claire hung her head a bit, she was proud of her walls, but she also knew they were right. She had to replace sections of the wall frequently. Kenji continued.
"If we lure them into an opening, concentrate our forces there, we'll be in control of the battlefield. Our strength will come from our ability to endure throughout the night and switch out when tired."
Elli shook her head in agreement, these were all ideas she already had, but she was pleased to hear them coming from someone else's mouth.
"Good points. We'll funnel them in through to the front gate where the wall is the weakest anyway, leaving enough of a gap to limit their numbers, and creating a kill zone as soon as they enter. Those with the best gear will be placed closest to the gate to make sure they follow our intended path. Skye, Nora, Kai, Claire, I'm assuming you've also noticed the changes in yourself since our souls merged?"
Everyone nodded their head except for Kai, who looked around with a dumbfounded look on his face, then quickly started to nod as well. He was a terrible actor and clearly didn't take the time to explore his Mark.
"Well… just to be safe, everyone feels around your Mark to see what has changed one more time before we fight. The amount of Mark Minions I have doubled, and I want to make sure that's the case for everyone. The way they function also changed so search carefully."
Kai's eyes lit up, not even bothering to hide it anymore, and he jumped deep into his soul to see what had changed. His eyes glazing over for a moment, then returning with a scowl on his face. He instantly turned around and said.
"You guys do whatever, I'm going to go set up this stupid ring of stupid protection or whatever."
Kicking a rock as he stomped away, bouncing off the back of someone sitting on the ground, who turned round to see who did that, instantly returning to minding his own business when he saw that it was Kai.
Claire chimed in.
"We can talk more about it tomorrow when we all survive, there are a few questions I have that I would like some help answering. For now the plan is solid. Nora leads them in, once they're in we surround them and keep them in the ring of protection while we fight them. I close the gate so they can't escape, workers grab the bodies and drag them out and we do it all over again. Sounds about right?"
The two military trainers looked at each other and nodded.
"Sounds good, we'll make sure the warriors are ready and know the plan."
Elli crossed her arms and signed.
"Please do. This is our first night. We can't fail."
She looked towards the gate, which now looked weak and flimsy in comparison to her first impression of it. Just this morning it looked unmoveable. The walls were daunting, and now? With 500 souls relying on their strength, they just didn't seem like enough anymore.
—-
The sun finally set, and Nora started to leave out the front gate which would remain open until she returned. Her job was the most deadly of them all, but she was the fastest at night. The members of group 6 were all by the entrance, side by side, waiting to wish her luck.
Skye gave her a pat on the back and said
"Go get 'em killer."
Kai just nodded and wished her well. Claire embarrassed her in a hug which was obviously very unfamiliar for Nora and said;
"See you soon." Kissing her on the cheek goodbye.
Elli walked out of the gate with her.
"Don't go too far, we don't want to attract more than we can chew. Run around the clearance and when you feel like you have enough following you, come back in and rest. We just need to thin the herd around here before they build up and swarm us. Got it?"
Nora paused and looked into the woods, now dark and foreboding. Elli could feel Nora's heart pounding through her body, yet she sill looked calm when she turned to Elli and said;
"Just another run through the dark, I've done it plenty of times. I'll be back before you notice."
The shadows around her feet began to crawl up her body and engulfed her, hiding her from the lights of the fire shining front the fort. She could no longer just see in the dark, but become one with it, moving through it more naturally. Even Elli who was standing next to her struggled to see Nora.
For Elli, her Minions doubled and their abilities increased, and for Nora, her innate ability to see in the dark had evolved. She couldn't help but to feel hopeful, that eventually they'll all become strong enough to survive this place.
Nora gave a reassuring smile through the blur of the shadows and ran off, summoning her daggers into her hands and hitting them together as she did it, starting to make hollering sounds. As she started to turn left Elli could already see the forest start to move around her, stalking her from the dark. She turned back and walked into the fort, looking at the warriors to her left and right.
"Get ready. This will be the first night of your life here, and for those of us who aren't new, most likely the worst yet."
A blood chilling howl and screams echoed behind her, driving the point home. Skye looked around, seeing people he didn't know with spears in their hands, knees shaking.
I remember my first night, what a bunch of cowards.
He thought to himself, bringing his hand down to his legs to stop his own from doing the same.