28

They stared at me a bit before waving me through. I moved back to the driver door of the mini van. Shooing Johnny to the passenger seat before hopping into the driver seat. 

"You should have put it in park," I gave Johnny a look, "If it wasn't weighed down so heavily it would have rolled forward."

"I'm sorry," Johnny looked a little upset that he'd made a mistake.

He had been really nervous, and it was pretty clear that driving had worn him out. 

"Don't worry about it," I patted his shoulder, "Nothing bad happened. Just remember for next time, because something bad could have happened. I'm not upset with you, and I'm not going to punish you. You did great for a first time driver. All I wanted was for you not to crash this time around. I fully expected you to make mistakes, and I let you drive anyway because it was the best thing I could do in the situation."

I pulled the mini van through the gate, and watched as the wall raised back up behind us. I pulled the mini van over to the paved area where other vehicles were parked. The shop had been modified into a barracks of sorts. The whole place still had power. It wasn't all that surprising since almost everywhere still had power. 

I scanned through the encampment, and saw I wasn't the only one that had kept a few of my critters. There was a sheep pen with a small herd of sheep locked in their, and a feedlot where cows were kept. It looked like they were extending the fence so that they could have pasture, and get the animals away from people. There were also a few oversized dogs. I was probably bringing in the first rabbits. 

Another building had been converted into an emergency medical station. It looked like there were about two hundred people holed up in downtown Darington. There were people on the walls looking out. Another building had been converted into something of a armory, and training hall. A couple of the small restaurants had been cleared out, and were being used as soup kitchens. 

It was nice to see that people were holding together, and that could lead to a sense of community if this place wasn't being run by a lunatic. I couldn't expect them to allow me to be lazy either. I needed to be good enough to get on the walls at the very least or this dragon egg I was holding onto would never hatch. I hadn't even managed to burn through ten percent of what I needed yet. That made sense considering how much I'd avoided danger once I got the boys, but life wouldn't continue to be so generous if I didn't get my hands on some kills, and hit the gym like a mad woman. 

I sighed heavily as I looked around the temporary state of the settlement. 

"Disappointed?" the older man asked. 

"More like relieved," I lied smoothly, "A lot of the corn I brought with me is whole corn. I'd like to know who has some sort of gardening or plant growth ability. I know that not all of it will sprout, but what does sprout will be a valuable food source that doesn't make us go outside, and risk our lives. If they can accelerate plant growth we could have a few crops grown before the rainy season sets in."

"Thinking a bit far ahead aren't you?" he looked at me with a bit of confusion.

I looked up at his face. My expression souring slightly. 

"Anything involving a regular supply of food should be taken as a plan of action," I could feel my expression souring slightly, "If weren't not careful then we'll end up dealing with a bunch of starving people. Our priority should be to prevent that as much as possible. Starving people do crazy things to survive. If this little settlement falls apart then your strength of numbers will turn into a problem." I paused as my expression softened from outright scorn to disappointment, "Don't you think?"

I was used to people not taking me seriously because of how young I looked. Despite the fact that I was twenty-eight most people assumed I was more like twenty-two. Young, naive, and easily manipulated. My lost weight probably didn't help. My genetics gave me highly elastic skin, and a glow of health. 

That kind of thing made me appear youthful. Despite my age. It irritated me when I wanted to be taken seriously. I went back to Johnny, and Sam. 

"Where do you want me to unload my stuff?" I knew the older man was in charge. 

I just really didn't like him. Something about him, and that kid creeped me out. They were related. That much I was sure of. That kid had to have gotten his dangerous fearful attitude from somewhere. 

Kids learned from their parents after all so he either got it from his dad or some other close relative. I frowned to myself as I waited for an answer. I didn't like him, but he was in charge here. I couldn't push back against him without causing problems. I would have to learn to avoid him in the future, but for now I didn't know anyone. 

He was my only connection to the command structure around here. I was certain the command structure would change as time went through so it wouldn't stay that way forever. I ended up setting the rabbits up in a covered outdoor parking area. Johnny, and Sam helped me do it. The boys seemed to have gotten really attached to me. 

I still hadn't asked them about what happened to their family. I wouldn't want to talk about it either if I was in their position. They could tell me when they felt like it. I wasn't going to push. If they wanted me to mother them then I could humor them.