If this was a Marine platoon, they would already know how to march in formation. The trip would be relatively quick. Hell, we would probably make it in a single day. But they weren’t. They were just a bunch of people that were scared and tired, ready to head to a better future. He spent an hour trying to get everybody to understand how they were going to move together as a unit. It would be a learning experience for everyone, but finally they got it together and were ready to move out.

  Blade and Batella would be scouts looking for traps and ambushes. Rodof and Medirre would be mounted, riding on either side of the formation. They were the rapid response force and respond to any issues that would arise. Sharon and Rockfist were in the back. Ajani and I would be in front leading the way. Kristie and Linsey were behind us and then everyone else behind them in a loose formation. Rhonda and an older woman were riding the last horse.

  There were two routes we could take. The northern route, 25 to 495, or the southern route, Southern State Parkway. The northern route was a bigger road and would be easier. The southern route seemed to be faster, but had more places for ambush. The decision was to take northern rout. Start on 25, then 495 all the way to north Brentwood. Leaving 495 to use local roads after we go to Brentwood. The northern route would make the trip easier for everyone, and give us plenty of clearance to see anything that would be dangerous.

  Rodof, Medirre, and I would be the main force for dealing with monsters or bad intentioned humans. Ajani and I would also negotiate with groups that wanted us to pay to move through their territory, or who wanted to join us. Finally, I created a Party of Blade, Batella, Anjani, Sharon, Rodof, Medirre, Kristie, Linsey and myself. We would use the Party communication function to coordinate and pass information. I had to expend 6 more skill points, but it was worth it.

  Everything started out well. The road way was smooth for the most part. The upheaval on Earth had left cracks and large potholes, but the road was still passable. We continued on for an hour until we hit our first obstacle. Blade sent a message about a barricade on the road. It had a few people standing behind it. She didn’t know if they were adversaries or what. We were marching right to it. I acknowledged her message and said to not to do anything but be ready when I got there.

  When I could see the barricade, I had the party stop. The barricade was made from old cars, appliances, and other heavy objects. It stretched from one side of the road to the other, effectively cutting off access. Ajani and I would go forward from here. Blade and Batella had taken up sniper position just in case this went sideways. Rodof and Medirre moved to the front of the formation, ready to ride in to help if needed. Ajani moved forward until we were seen by the people guarding the barricade.

  When we got about 25 feet from the barricade, we stopped and hailed them.

  “Hello there” Ajani yelled. Letting them know we were ready to talk. When all were looking at us, Ajani continued “May I ask why there is a barricade on the road?”

  “It’s to prevent monsters from charging.” One of the men said.

  That doesn’t make sense to me. Very few monsters actually charge at people. They tend to either stalk, jump onto, or ambush people. Besides, the barricade didn’t look that hard to climb. I could probably blow a hole in it with my Fireball spell.

  “We are on our way to Brentwood and need to get past. Do you have a gate?” Anjani asked.

  I heard Blade over the Party communication channel “There are 10 men sneaking up on the gate. They look like they are armed with weird looking clubs with holes in them.”

  “Ajani go back to the group and have then take cover.” I told him.

  He turned around and ran back to the group. Then the group split into two groups. One led by Rodof and the other by Medirre. Both groups found good hiding spots, right off the highway.

  Meanwhile, I used Party chat to let Batella and Blade know that the skinny clubs were actually gun. The guns would spit out small projectiles, much like arrow heads. They should be careful. I fully expected a fight. Then I made sure I had Arem’s Defense on. It was my first line of defense. Even though bullets couldn’t penetrate my armor, I still felt it when they hit me.

  One of the men yelled out “Hey, where did the other one go?”

  “He went to find protection from the guns your reinforcements are bringing.” I answered.

  The men looked surprised I knew about the reinforcements. I started walking slowly forward.

  “So, do you want to tell me what this is really about? I have over 60 people that need to get to Brentwood, and we are going to get there. That can either be peacefully or not. What do you want?”

  The men were starting to get nervous. They could sense I was dangerous, but then their reinforcements showed up.

  “You need to give us your weapons and food, and anything else you got, or we will take it off you dead bodies. You screwed up because this is our territory.”

  I stopped about 15 feet from the barricade. There were now 13 men with guns against one of me. They must have been feeling very confident because of their numbers and guns. But they shouldn’t have been, because you know, magic.

  I heard one of them say to the others “Just shoot him.” And that’s when the gunfire began. I knew Arem’s Defense would stop all the bullets, so it didn’t bother me. I started casting Fireball against the barricade, blasting parts of it away. They kept firing their guns, and I kept blasting the barricade. Some of them got caught in the Fireballs, burning them but not killing them. After blasting out enough room for my group to walk through 4 abreast. I just stood there. The gang members finally noticed that their bullets were doing nothing, and I had already destroyed a quarter of their barricade. They stopped firing their guns.

  I took a slow step forward, and one of the gunmen took a shot at me. I cast Fireball again, expanding the hole I made earlier. Shouts of stop firing came from behind the barricade. I took another step forward, and yell out “Ready to talk?”

  “What do you want?”

  “I am Trevor. Who am I talking to?”

  “I am Mike. What do you want?”

  “Are you able to make an agreement with me, Mike?”

  “Yes, I can.”

  “What I want is for me and my group to get to Brentwood unmolested. I want clear passage through your territory and I am willing to pay for it. I have something you need desperately. How does that sound?”

  “What do you have to trade?”

  “I have an empty Safe Zone. It even has a System Store in it. It can be yours, if you bring us to our destination in Brentwood. The owner will sign it over to you as soon as we get to our destination.”

  I heard a lot of quiet, excited whispering behind the barricade.

  “How do I know you aren’t lying? You could be making it all up.”

  “As I see it, you have three choices. One, believe me and end up with a Safe Zone. Two, let us walk through your territory unmolested and get nothing, or three, we continued this fight and all of you die. As you have noticed, I have actual magic and because of that your bullets don’t touch me. I have been careful not to kill any of you so far, but that’s over. You have 1 minute to make a decision.”

  I heard their talking to each other. The terms Safe Zone and Fireball were prevalent.

  Mike came out from behind their barricade and said “We will escort you to Brentwood in exchange for the Safe Zone.”

  “Okay Mike, good decision. In order to keep us both safe, here is a System enforced contract. It says that you and your people will not harm any of my people. You will escort us to our destination in Brentwood. After we get there, the owner of the Safe Zone will sign it over to you, basically giving you the keys. Your people will still be under the restriction of not harming any of my people for 24 hours after that. If you or your people break the contract, the punishment is death. If I break the contract, the punishment is death for me. Do you agree?”

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  Mike thought for a second, then agreed. I felt the contract magic take hold. Mike did too and seemed surprised at the feeling.

  “That’s the feeling of the System contract taking hold. We are both bound by it now. As long as we both hold up our ends, nothing happens. It just a way to let you know you have signed the contract. I am going to tell my people that you will be escorting us, then we will be ready to go. You might want to make sure your people don’t do anything stupid.”

  I turned and walked back to Ajani and let him know everything that was going on. He got everyone else organized and we started back on our journey.

  Our new formation had Ajani, Mike and I out front. Followed by his crew, then Ajani’s people. Kristie and Linsey were in Ajani’s group. Rodof and Medirre still on the horses on either side. Sharon and Rockfist guarding the rear. Blade and Batella were still scouting. With our people ready, we set out again.

  We made it to lunch with no more surprises.

  I looked over my food reserves. With rationing, I barely had enough for three meals. Lunch, dinner, and breakfast. They would be rather skimpy, but enough calories for what we had to do. Kristie and Linsey got a food line set up and handed out the food. Everybody got something to eat and drink. Amazingly, nobody complained. Not even Mike’s crew. Most people just sat in the middle of the road, eating and resting. Rodof, Medirre and I did a quick survey of the sides to make sure they were clear. Blade and Batella came back to eat lunch, before leaving to scout ahead again.

  When I sat down with Kristie and Linsey, I noticed that Kristie already looked younger. She looked to be in her mid-forties. I asked her “How do you feel?”

  “I feel really good. I thought I was going to be a burden on the trip, but I haven’t been tired at all. It’s amazing” she replied.

  “You’re beginning to look younger too” I said. Linsey agreed. I thought to myself “Rebital is keeping his word. Linsey and Kristie are definitely changing.”

  I let everyone rest for half an hour before we formed back up and headed out.

  Over the next four hours, we made good progress, between 3 and 4 miles every hour. We rested for 5 minutes every hour and didn’t run into any monsters. I believe the size of the group kept most from attacking. Blade and Batella hadn’t discovered any issues ahead of us either. When we stopped for our five-minute break at the fourth hour, Sharon told me she thought something was following us. She wasn’t sure because she only caught glimpses of something. Better safe than sorry, so I asked Medirre to hand back and let me know if Sharon was right.

  Turns out, we were being followed. It was a pack of Acid Skunks. These skunks sprayed acid rather stench. They were the size of large domestic cats with short stubby legs and were black with the traditional white stripes on their back. You could tell they were meat eaters from their jagged teeth. Low level monsters hoping to catch us off guard was my opinion.

  I went to the back of the group, then waited for them to come within range. They were travelling close together in a pack. When they saw me standing there alone, they started to spread out. I sent a Mana Dart at the lead skunk, killing it. They weren’t very tough, even for low level monsters. The other immediately spread out even further and started racing towards me. I sent another Mana Dart to the lead skunk, but the quick little skunk dodged it, and I couldn’t redirect it before it hit the ground. The skunk turned around and spirted its acid towards me. It was too far away to hit me, but turns out it was a distraction. Other skunks used it to get closer to me. Close enough to be in range for their acid to reach me.

  Luckily, I noticed them at the last moment and dove out of the way. I was still hit on my hand by the splatter. Arem’s Defense didn’t recognize it as a ranged attack and let the acid through. OMG, it burned. It burned through my glove and into my hand. I yanked off the glove and cast Heaven’s Heal, while trying to run away from the skunks, but they were quick little scampers and could turn around in a flash. It was obvious their spray wasn’t just for defense.

  Healed up, I started casting Mana Darts left and right. The skunks must have a magic sensing talent or something because they kept dodging the darts. I only managed to kill two during our running battle. They kept trying to get close and spray me, but I also kept dodging their attempts.

  During the running battle, I noticed that the skunks would switch out after spraying their acid. Looks like they needed time to recharge their spray. So, I made a plan. I would let a group get close enough to spray, dodge and attack the group. The skunks had their own plan, which was to surround me and kill me with their acid attacks. I voted for my plan.

  After retreating for a few more minutes, I spotted my opportunity. Four skunks were separated from the main group. I edged in their direction and they charged at me. When they turned around to spray me, I jumped straight up and over the spray, landing just in front of them. I swept out my sword and cut two of them down immediately. One of the survivors decided to eat lunch early and closed its jaws over my ankle. My armor held up, preventing it from hurting me. I swung my sword across it and cut it in two. The last one was running away. I cast a Mana Dart at it and killed it. Apparently, the skunks needed to ‘see’ the magic to avoid it. Good to know.

  The last 5 skunks took this opportunity to run away. They saw that I killed the other four and collectively decided attacking us was a losing proposition. I watched them start to scamper away and then threw a Fireball at them. It hit but only killed one. They must have had some kind of fire resistance, because the other four kept running. Soon they were out of sight.

  Even though we had two hours of light left, I had Blade and Batella start to look for a place to hold up for the night. It had to be large enough to accommodate everyone and still be defensible. What they found was a pair of semitruck containers parked next to each other on the service road next to 495.

  The containers were very defensible. Only one way in for each, with doors that could be closed in an emergency. Being next to each other, we wouldn’t even have to spread out. This wouldn’t be the best accommodations, but it would work. We would leave the doors open and have guards ready to close them if necessary. The insides were clean, but we did have to remove a lot of the cargo. Unfortunately, the cargo wasn’t foodstuff. It was electronics, like stereos and TVs. Ajani’s people cleared the containers and stacked everything neatly at the side. While they were doing that, I prepared dinner.

  Dinner was quite sparse, but enough to keep everybody alive. Breakfast would be our last meal here, so I had to keep food in reserve for that.

  I climbed atop one trailer, and Blade and Batella did the same on the other. Medirre and Rodof were tending to the horses. Sharon and Rockfist were on first watch. Kristie, Linsey and the doctor were using Minor Heal to heal blisters and other aches, so people would be ready for tomorrow. Ajani was making sure everyone was okay and saying encouraging words.

  Kristie joined me on top of the container after finishing healing everyone up. She looked even younger maybe early 30s or late 20s. She sat down and leaned into me. It was just the two of us sitting down and me holding onto her like we had done a thousand times before. We didn’t have to speak; everything was said just by being together. I had missed this so much. Even when I had moved on, I still missed this. We watch the sun go down. The sunset was quite beautiful, proving there was still beauty to be found.

  I didn’t really sleep that night. I was sure something would happen, so was too alert to sleep. But nothing did. It was a peaceful night. I woke Kristie just before dawn, and we climbed down off the container. Rodof and Medirre were already preparing the horses. Blade and Batella came down to meet with us. Pretty soon, everybody was awake and pouring out of the containers. I gathered everyone up into a group.

  “Good morning, everyone. This is the final push. With luck, we will be at the Gateway by lunch. We covered a lot of ground yesterday but still have 10 miles to go. It should take about 3 to 4 hours. Then when we get there, I will open a Gateway to Tellus Nova. It is located in a warehouse out the outskirts of a city called Forest Glen. Forest Glen is my hometown now. It’s equivalent to a medieval city, but without the disease or garbage in the streets. It is a very nice place to live. Just don’t expect 21st century tech. I will arrange accommodations for everyone to start. They won’t be the best but will be livable. My staff will help you adjust and find work according to your abilities.

  “Just remember to keep your eyes open on this last little bit. Keep in formation as much as possible. House Tierra will get you safely to the Gateway. Ajani, anything you want to say before we start?”

  “This is it people. We are almost there. Another four hours and we can get to real safety. Everybody was healed last night that needed it, but if you need it while we are walking, let the Doc, Kristie, or Linsey know. Now, let’s get moving.”

  A cheer went up with the crowd. Ajani didn’t say much, but it was very effective. The group moved with purpose the entire way to Brentwood.

  *-------------*

  Blade and Batella had scouted the entire path to the Gateway. They killed the lower levelled monster that got in their way, clearing the path. They were waiting for us when we got there.

  Once again, we all together. I examined the Gateway. Nothing was wrong with it. It was in the same condition we left it. I brought out the tome and reviewed the information. Not strictly necessary with my intelligence stat, but comforting. Next, I brought out one of the Sun Gems to power it. Rodof and Medirre had everyone clear a space and be quiet when I started the spell. Complete silence accompanied me as I chanted the spell. I pushed my mana into the spell, concentrating on the Divine magic in me. The Sun Gem sent its mana along with mine into the Gateway. When I finished the spell, the image formed in the Gateway of the inside of an empty warehouse, my warehouse in Forest Glen. Rodof and Medirre went first leading their horses. Blade and Batella right behind them. A minute later, they gave 'he 'all clear' sign. People were lined up to go. They moved in an orderly manner. I guess they learned that on our walk.

  It was down to Ajani, Mike’s crew and me.

  “Thank you for holding up your contract. I transfer ownership of the Safe Zone to you, Mike” Ajani said as he made some button pushing motions. Apparently looking at the Safe Zone menu in his HUD.

  “A piece of advice,” I said, “You can either help people or hurt people. Helping people is hard. It doesn’t seem like it is worth it a lot of times, but I will tell you. If you want to live in a world and not worry about always being the strongest person there, it is the only way. If you live a life of harming people, eventually, you will be on the receiving end. Karma is real. That’s just how life works under the System. And remember, there is always someone stronger.”

  With that Ajani and I walked through the Gateway.