The Future

Soren stood on the front porch and watched as the bus came down the drive. Avery stood near him, notebook laid out on a small table, pen out and making notes as he leaned over. The sun was just beginning to set and would take another half an hour before it became too dark to see anything.

Soren sent out a mental message to Ethan that the team had returned. It was Ethan's job to take inventory of everything brought in. Once inventory was taken, it would be given to Avery who was putting together a printed inventory of everything they had. They had also started keeping track of everything that was used. The hope was to never run out of anything.

When the bus came to a stop the door opened and the team stepped out, followed closely by a new group of humans.

"Hmm, looks like Mason's group found some people. Make a note of this; we will give them a day to settle in then I'll take them aside and give them the speech. We should begin streamlining it, maybe put together an orientation type setup. Including Jordan in that would be good.

"In the next couple days I want to have another big meeting. We need to start planning for the winter. The house isn't big enough to hold what we have now, it will not be able to hold more. We need more housing."

Avery wrote everything down as Soren spoke. When there was a pause Avery looked up.

"If the city is cleared, could it be used?"

Soren took a drag on his cigarette then crushed the remainder in the ashtray on the table. There were already two cigarette butts in the tray, one from Soren and one from Avery.

"It's possible and I won't rule it out, but there are other issues. Unless the government somehow steps in and fixes everything, or we find tradespeople, there will be no electricity, no plumbing. It'll mean that important aspects of a house are useless.

"Right now we have solar panels to supply electricity. The moment one goes out we have no one to repair it, so we will eventually lose power. It will hopefully last us through the winter. We have too many children for us to find ourselves without heat when it gets cold."

Avery made a few more notes then picked up everything and followed Soren when he started to make his way to Mason. Ethan had just come out of the house and walked alongside Avery. When Mason saw them approach he excused himself and met them the last couple feet.

"How did it go?"

"It went well. We got everything on the list, including a large amount of food. We grabbed a lot of cold foods like you suggested since the electricity was still functioning in the area we were in. Our first stop was a supermarket where we picked up eight more people."

Mason turned to look at the group. They were keeping close and watching everyone warily. There were a handful of people outside, mostly relaxing on the ground or walking in small groups. Soren was ready to see everyone be given jobs. Having so many people in such a close proximity without a job to keep them busy was just asking for trouble.

"They're a close group and will be harder to settle in, but I think once they do they'll be a great asset."

"What of the four?"

Mason nodded, "We went our separate ways when we stopped for gas. They were more than ready to go."

"It's for the best. It would be good if we never saw them again, but there is a chance that they could bring us people looking for the vaccine."

"You sure they'd do that, boss? After everything that happened?"

Soren turned to Ethan with a smile, "They may not like us, but the first time someone is bitten they'll realize that the vaccine is real. Odds are good they won't stay quiet about that. Even after everything that happened between us they know that I keep my word. When they find themselves part of a group, and they will, mark my word, Vaughan will let them know about the vaccine."

The group continued to the bus. Mason moved to the side, behind Soren, to walk by Ethan and look over the inventory sheet they were to make when unloading the bus. Avery moved to walk just behind Soren.

"How are we to handle distributing the vaccines?"

Avery was curious since they had not brought them out since the first group arrived. He was also curious how they would handle outsiders asking for them.

"For our people we will give them out during the big meeting. It'll take a while, but Madelyn should have herself under better control then. Even if she can't last long, you and Jordan will be there to take over.

"As far as outsiders are concerned, they will have to pay for each one. Considering the state of things it will most likely be paid for with bartering, whether items or services."

Avery nodded and made a quick note so that he would not forget. When they came up to the group of people standing next to the bus Mason stepped forward and introduced everyone to Soren. While Mason was introducing them Avery was taking notes. He would do his best to remember each one, though later everyone would be added to something similar to a census so that they could keep track of everyone.

"Welcome. You've missed dinner, but if you're hungry you're more than welcome to get something from the kitchen. Our space is limited at the moment until we start building, but what we have does have air and solar panels powering it for when we lose electricity."

Soren ran them through the welcome speech that he had been working on. It covered the basics of everything, including the rules. The older gentleman, Louie, did most of the talking and Soren marked him as the leader and the one to convince that staying was safer than being in the city.

Ethan handed the inventory sheet to Mason and led the group inside the house. He was made an informal tour guide. Soren took a quick look inside the bus and gave his approval.

"All of you did well for your first mission."

"Vaughan's group was a big help with most things. That's not to say that my men did a terrible job. It was just easy to tell who had training and who did not."

Mason glanced off to the side while he rubbed the back of his neck. "It would be good if I wait a few more days before going back out. I almost lost my shit out there. Gabriel was able to bring me back, but I doubt he would have been able to if there had been blood involved."

"Of course. I want you to succeed so take as much time as you think is necessary. Issac has finished putting his team together and should be ready to head out in a day or two. Culton is small enough that we should have it cleared by the end of summer, even with just the two of you working."

Soren had already told both Mason and Issac to keep an eye out for anyone they thought would make a good evolved. He planned on putting together at least two more teams. Once Culton was cleared he wanted the teams to head out to nearby cities and eventually make it to the larger cities like Kansas City.

All cellphones were now useless, at least in the area. They had been working on a way to get news from the rest of the world. One of the items that Mason's team had gotten was a radio, as well as a tv. No one was certain if any channels could be gotten on the tv, but it was worth a try. As a last resort, and most likely a future endeavor, there was a small radio station in Culton that they could gain access to for broader communications.

Soren and Avery remained outside long after the bus had been emptied and everyone had gone inside. Soren had leaned against Fry's car and stared up at the stars. Avery stood next to him, not fully relaxed, and stared off at the darkness around them. None of the lights inside the house were on, even the porch light had been turned off.

"It's interesting how the stars just disappear with all the lights that a city puts off. I always missed that about this place, even though it was infrequent that I was allowed outside."

Avery did not say anything and Soren did not expect him to. Soren looked away from the starry sky to look over all of the vehicles parked in the front yard and stopped when he came to the house.

"It won't be easy in the beginning. There are too many unknowns right now to even consider such a thing. But, once we get a foothold and really start to push forward, it'll all start to come together.

"The world that we will rebuild will be one that evolved and humans will exist working side by side and it'll be stronger for it. There will be no place in this new world for those who cannot accept the changes."

Soren smiled and his eyes bled to red.