Moving Day, Again!

For Grant, the next few hours were a blur.

Since a large portion of the equipment that the doctors wanted to take along was far too large and far too heavy to be moved without the proper equipment, Grant had to become 'the proper equipment'.

Since they planned on moving the equipment first, it meant that Grant had to run from group to group and move whatever it is that they wanted to take along out into the courtyard so it could be tossed through the portal as soon as it was opened.

Once he was done assisting with that effort, he was forced to go with Tom to handle the task of informing the populace.

Similar to how it was with the Tempe camp, there was some push back by small pockets of the people that were too afraid to move away from their relative safety.

After some thorough explanations and a large amount of patience, Grant answer everyone's questions as best he could before he eventually snapped and told them, "You have no choice so get on board or remain here alone. Sound good? Good!"

The threat of remaining behind and dying a painful death seemed to motivate the naysayers. Everyone eventually returned to their respective homes to begin packing.

As the time for the first portal opening approached, the stack of boxes and equipment that needed to move continued to grow and grow as people frantically collected all of the things they could think of.

Since the dungeon settlement lacked basic necessities, and the hospital camp seemed to have them in abundance, at least as far as medicine and mechanical equipment went, Grant allowed the people to bring as much as they wanted.

If for whatever reason, stuff was left behind, they could always return at a later date to salvage what was left, but at the rate they were going, their wouldn't be anything left in the camp to come back for.

As Grant waited for the first opening of the portal, Tom approached him tentatively.

"Uh, hey Grant? Are you free?"

After how Grant reacted yesterday, Tom was afraid that he may still be in a foul mood so had delayed approaching him as long as possible but unfortunately, they were out of time.

"Oh hey Tom. What can I do for you? Do we need to move some more equipment or something?"

Tom took a deep breathe and relaxed when it appeared that Grant was in a much better mood than yesterday, so he continued with less reserve.

"The women that you had us arrest, they are still locked up. Would you like to meet with them?"

It took Grant a few seconds to realize who Tom was talking about but eventually he remembered. Although upset in the moment, Grant had been distracted by a whole slew of other things and had forgotten about the poisoning already.

Since it was such a pathetic attempt and no one really got hurt, he had lost interest in dealing with it.

"Yeah... no. Lets deal with them when we get to the dungeon.

Speaking of those women, did you ever find Betty?"

Tom could only hang his head in shame and sadness, "No we haven't found her. I am hoping that she somehow got word of our move and will show up her so as to not be left behind, but I do not hold out much hope."

Although Grant didn't care that much anymore about what Betty had done, the fact that she tried to kill him still remained to be true, so he wasn't very sympathetic to the situation.

Still, he gave Tom a pat on the back as a way to encourage him to pick himself up and continue moving forward.

Tom didn't react much and just stood there with Grant for awhile, neither of them speaking.

The next to join their little group was not just Ethan, but Aubrey as well.

Grant noticed that the two of them were holding hands which he couldn't help but scoff at, [Damn kids and their youthful romance's. I will have mine when I return home! If Ally lets me...]

When Grant looked up at Ethan to great him, he realized that Ethan had noticed his reaction and had a smug look on his face.

Ethan was the first to speak, "Fancy seeing you here! How you doing today Grant?"

Grant simply rolled his eyes and ignored the obvious provocation. He wasn't going to give Ethan the satisfaction of showing off.

However, when Aubrey said hello, Grant didn't want to be rude so he returned her greeting with one of his own and made small talk with the new couple for a few minutes.

Eventually Tom joined in on the conversation and the four of them went back and forth for a few more minutes before Couzar came strutting out into the square.

"Bahaha are you ready to go Grant? I don't want to waste any more time. Lets get this started."

"Whenever you're ready.

How long will you be able to maintain the portal?"

Couzar place his hand on his chin as if he was thinking extremely hard, but Grant knew it was simply for show. Every skill he had ever had broke down exactly how the skill worked and for how long.

But rather than provoke their ubar driver for the day, he let the oversized skeleton have his moment.

Eventually, he spoke, "Probably 15 minutes? At least if I want my mana to recover quickly enough to do this all over again in four hours."

Grant just nodded his head. Fifteen minutes was more than enough time to get a large portion of the equipment moved if they just passed it through to the other side as quickly as possible.

"Give me a minute before you start Couzar."

Although annoyed at the small delay, Couzar nonetheless relented.

Grant took a few steps forward and raised his voice as loud as it could go, "My fellow survivors of the apocalypse.

I know some of you are afraid of what awaits you when you reach your new home, but I promise you this; it will not only be a far safer place to live but it will also provide you with opportunities to contribute to the new society we are building!

It has been more than a month since The Path emerged. For a month, humanity has been on the back foot.

Fighting just to survive.

Well no more!

From our new home, we will take back our planet one small step at a time! We will no longer cower in whatever shelter we can find!

We will build our society and its people stronger and more powerful than ever before!

Are you with me?!"

A deafening cheer broke out in response.

Grant knew people were sick of living like rats and they wanted nothing more than to regain what they had lost.

He was giving them the opportunity for just that.

Now it was their turn to seize the moment.

Couzar took the cheering as his queue to open the portal, so he did just that.

As the portal grew in size, Grant was stunned by what he saw. Couzar's portal was at least twice the size of Skit's. It looked like it was large enough for a full 747 plane to fit from wing tip to wing tip.

Grant realized that he had underestimated the hammer wielding lunatic of a skeleton.

"You have 14 and a half minutes Grant. Get a move on."

"Ah, right! People! Grab as much equipment as you can and proceed through the portal. We have communicated with the people on the other side and they are awaiting your arrival! If you are unable to carry all of your stuff in one trip, it is fine!

Go to the other side, drop off your stuff in one location and then return back through the portal and retrieve the rest!

You have 13 minutes. If you do not make it through in this opening, do not fear! You will have more opportunities!"

Due to the sheer size of the portal, it appeared as if one or two openings were going to be all that it took to get everything and everyone through.

And since he wanted to get back as soon as possible, Grant sprinted over to the large equipment he was in charge of moving and picked one of them up before running towards the portal.

As he passed through, he suddenly felt like a kid entering the local candy shop with a hundred dollar bill in his hand.

He was giddy!

When Grant arrived on the other side of the portal, he was suddenly assaulted by the damp cool air of the dungeon.

Somehow, it felt refreshing.

Rather than waste time looking at everything though, Grant dropped the equipment in his hands off to the side and ran back through the portal.

He proceeded to move hundreds of pieces of equipment, some two to three at a time, during the first portal.

When the first portal closed, Grant realized that more than 2/3 of the people and equipment had already been moved.

He had based his estimations on the size of Skit's portal and not Couzar's which was a happy mistake on his part because it meant they could be done sooner.

Over the next four hours, Grant and the remaining people gathered up everything else that they could find that would be of use and prepared to make this the final opening of the portal.

Of course, Couzar was happy since it meant he didn't have to work as hard so he promised to make the portal even larger than he did the first time knowing that he didn't have to conserve mana.

When the second portal was opened, the remaining people quickly moved the last of the equipment before turning back towards the camp with one last fond look before going through one last time.

Grant, Couzar, Ethan, and Tom were the last ones remaining.

Ethan had made sure that Aubrey made it through on the first opening in case something went wrong.

As the four of them were standing there, an old woman approached.

Grant had noticed Betty's presence long ago but had completely ignored it since she posed no threat to him.

When Tom saw Betty, he had mixed emotions. Obviously happy to see his wife he wanted to run up and embrace her, but not knowing how Grant may feel, he restrained himself.

"Tom, I'll give you 2 minutes to decide what you want to do. If she comes with us, I will not kill her but she will never regain her freedom. You already know what awaits you in the new camp.

Its your choice.

Couzar, can you shrink down the portal and then pump enough mana into it for it to remain stable even without you here?"

"Bahaha child's play. Lets go lad, I need to talk to my brother."

And with that, Ethan, Grant, and Couzar disappeared into the now shrunken portal, leaving the old couple alone in the empty camp.