Inside the fort, tents are propped up from one side to the other. In the center, a watchtower made from ladders has been made. The grassy is heavily packed down, indicated frequent travel inside the fort. Unlike at the shoreline, there are no fires burning inside the fort.

“Logan’s tent is over here,” Rachael says, and leads her son and husband to a dirty tent beside many newer looking ones.

Unlike the other survivors on the island, Logan had his own tent to bring with him. The others, who did not own one, had to loot them from a sports store off the island. When they reach the tent, Rachael is the first one to pull back the flap.

“Logan, our son has arrived,” She says, walking inside. Ryan and Douglas follow soon after her and stand at the entrance.

Inside the tent, a bearded man, Logan, is sitting on a small folding chair and looking at sheets of paper spread out on a folding table in front of him. A battery powered lantern illuminates the tent, but is dim enough to not shine outside.

“Ah, I’m glad you survived,” Logan says and looks up from his papers. “Excuse my abrasiveness, but do you have a powerful class?”

“I’ve got Explorer,” Ryan replies, slightly upset that Logan is trying to fit him into one of his plans.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about the water,” Logan says and pushes a sheet of paper across the table towards Ryan. It’s a depth chart for the Detroit River. “We’re safe from the undead, but something will be coming from the water soon.”

“How do you know?” Ryan asks.

“My class. It gives me a sixth sense for when something bad will happen, and how to prepare for it,” Logan replies.

“That’s pretty cool,” Ryan says. He knows his own class is cooler, but the utility of Logan’s class cannot be denied.

“Yeah, and right now it’s saying something is going to attack from the water,” Logan says and takes a few steps towards the tent’s exit. “Can you help us defend?”

“Sure, I’ll defend near my parents,” Ryan says, and everyone leaves the tent.

“Good to hear,” Logan says and shakes Ryan’s hand. “Douglas, Rachael, you can take Ryan to your tent for a few minutes before you go back to your station.”

On the walk to his parents’ tent, Ryan thinks about what Logan said. If something attacked the island, he’d want to protect his parents to the best of his ability. That might mean showing them the power of his class and the extent of his new abilities. Also, Ryan knew he’d have to stop the hoodlums from searching for his parents, now that he’s found them.

“Do you have guns?” Ryan asks his parents when they reach the tent.

“Yeah, do you need one?” Douglas asks.

“No, um… let’s go inside the tent first,” Ryan says and follows his parents inside a small tent.

Inside, two sleeping bags are rolled out next to each other and Douglas’ gun bags are pushed to the side, locked with both a combination lock and a padlock. At the far end of the tent, there is an electric lantern. Douglas and Rachael sit on the sleeping bags, and Ryan sits on the floor of the tent.

Though Ryan does not want to tell his parents that he has an incredibly useful class, he cannot disregard what Logan said. First came the zombies, which were avoidable if a superior position could be found. Then came the brutes and nightly waves, which were much harder to defend against if in a group. After those came the giants, which could stomp down even The Sanctuary.

Throughout middle school and high school, Logan always had things figured out. He started on the track team in middle school and got a girlfriend soon after. In high school, he broke up with his girlfriend and got another, but stayed with the track team. In addition, he also took up extra architecture classes. After breaking up with his second girlfriend, Logan constantly pulled tail even from other schools.

After high school, Logan went to college out of state on a track scholarship. Eight years later, he came back to Detroit and designed several of the most prominent buildings in the city.

Ryan knew Logan had a god-given talent for always getting his way. If Logan said everybody needed to defend the shoreline, there would definitely be something to defend against. Whatever the situation, Ryan knew he needed to help his parents protect themselves.

“So, I’ve got this class that’s a little different from what I said earlier…”