The whole camp gathered around the wagons for the next discussion, Andrew standing up on the back of one so he could get a clear view of the whole crowd. He would be playing the part of moderator once again, presenting each of the different options they had discussed the night before impartially and without bias. He would be abstaining from voting as well, to try and keep things as fair as possible. There were several people in the camp who were more than willing to just go along with whatever he suggested, and he wanted them to put serious thought to the question. That kind of respect and admiration still made him a bit uncomfortable, but that was unrelated, mostly.

"Alright everyone. This is how it's going to work. We have four options. I'm going to state them one at a time, if anyone has a question, ask it right after I state the idea. Once I've stated all four and explained them to a degree that everyone understands, we'll vote on each. Whichever gets the most votes is what we'll do going forward. I've already gone over what happened when we visited them yesterday, if anyone has questions about that, well, you should've asked them an hour ago with everyone else." That got a few chuckles. That part of the voting deliberations had already taken up a good portion of the morning so far. "Each time we vote, we'll eliminate the option with the least amount of votes, then do it again. Is that clear to everyone?"

He got a chorus of assent in response.

"Alright then, first option: We turn around and go the other way. Find a safe area to camp out somewhere at least a few days from here, and start settling down there. Second option: We join the other survivors, move into the existing buildings they have and do our best to fully integrate with them. Third option: We join the other survivors in their clearing, but stick together as a separate entity and maintain our own hierarchy. That means we'll also have to agree on a formal hierarchy of some kind. Fourth: we establish ourselves a short distance away, and create our own infrastructure, but work together closely with the other survivors. We should probably figure out a formal hierarchy in that case as well, but we can probably get away without one for longer." He paused. "Does anyone have any questions about each of the four options?"

No one spoke.

"Great. How many do we have for option one, leaving entirely?" Two hands went up. Po among them. He had spent the morning speaking with Isaac and was becoming increasingly anxious about the religious elements. Isaac's hand did not go up.

"Option two, joining entirely?" Three hands went up. Tyler's hand was among them.

"Option three, joining and keeping ourselves organizationally separate?" Eight hands went up, Shelby and Nate's hands among them.

"Option four, staying nearby and working closely with the other survivors?" All fourteen remaining hands went up. A clear majority.

"Okay. We're striking option one. Who do we have for option two?" No hands went up this time.

"Option three?" Ten hands.

"Option four?" Seventeen hands went up.

"Alright. Option four it is. I want to stress that anyone who wants to join up with the other group of survivors is entirely free to do so. We're not here to hold anyone hostage, your decisions are your own and I don't want to hear otherwise from anyone else okay?"

Another chorus of assent went up and Andrew breathed a sigh of relief. It didn't feel right for him to be standing up here, leading this discussion. He was far from the oldest, the smartest, the strongest. He wasn't anything really, just the one person among them lucky enough to not get caught as soon as he was transported in. That was all.

"Okay!" Kalan's voice rang out from the crowd. "I think we should establish a formal hierarchy before we settle down near the other survivors, hands up if you agree!" Every hand went up. Andrew sighed and their was no relief in it this time. He had a feeling he knew what was coming.

Kalan climbed up on the wagon next to Andrew. "To start with, I'd like to nominate Andrew Neilson to be the formal leader of our new town. Are there any other nominations for the leadership position?"

Silence.

Ah, fuck. I knew it. Damnit Kalan.

"Okay" Andrew sighed, "All in favor? Hands up." Everyone's hand went up.

"Great, thank you guys. I appreciate it, I really do." The crowd cheered, completely ignoring the absolute defeat in his tone. "Alright fine then, but I'll be picking out team leaders now, so I don't want to hear any complaints out of you. Though, I guess if theres a bunch we'll have a vote on it. Whatever. Shelby, Isaac, you'll be co-leading the patrol teams. Shelby is daylight and Isaac is evening, we all good with that?" Another cheer.

"Kalan will be my quartermaster and second in command." A chorus of assent and quiet chuckle from Kalan. "Okay good to hear." Andrew turned to kalan. "Your first job is to break the rest of these guys up into different teams for securing food, clearing land, and constructing buildings. We won't need another dedicated inscription or smelting team for a little while, but Tyler and Rowan can excuse themselves to work on inscriptions if they like." They had shown the most talent and passion for it, Tyler was heavy on the passion side and would likely insist, while Rowan had a clear talent for it, but was far quieter about it. Either way it would be incredibly helpful to have more skilled inscribers on their side.

Andrew raised his voice again. "Alright, I'm going to be headed back to relay our decision to the other survivors and figure out a good place for us to settle down in. My second in command here," Andrew placed a hand on Kalan's shoulder, "Is going to get you guys split up into teams for the resettling effort. After that Isaac will lead you guys over to the new survivor's camp, and I'll join back up with y'all there. You all, whatever. Shelby and Nate, you two are coming with me to meet up with the other survivors. We all clear on that?" Again he got a chorus of assent, and again Andrew let out a small sigh. He was going to have to start getting used to this. Eventually.

It was a quick hour's jog back to the other group of survivors, and this time he was able to enter the camp without challenge, though the rooftop guards still kept a close eye on him as he entered. There were four today, and he only recognized one from the previous batch, due to the faded blue backward cap and cheap sporty sunglasses he was wearing. Andrew raised a hand in greeting, receiving a polite nod in response, then set off to search for George. It wasn't hard to find him, standing in his clean white shirt with his hand's clasped behind his back and looking over several small planter boxes that seemed to be filled with different consistencies of what looked like particularly chunky concrete. How had they made that? Another man, shirtless and caked in grey powder to his elbows was using a thick staff to mix a wooden bucket filled with more material, occasionally pausing to pull the stick up, observe, and then splash a little more water in.

"Hey, George, can I speak with you for a moment?" He turned and that same kindly smile spread across his face.

"Of course, how did your discussion go?"

"I'm happy to say that we voted on it, and have decided it would be in our best interests to work together, but, some of my people still have their reservations, so we'll be setting up a little ways off for right now. If that's alright with you." Andrew said. He had nothing but positive interactions with the man so far, and he was really hoping he would continue to be so accommodating. Even better if he knew of a good place for them to get set up nearby.

"Oh. We'll I'm sorry to hear that, but it's perfectly understandable. Of course you're welcome to set up shop nearby. In fact, " He paused, pointing into the forest to their northeast, "There's another clearing by the river, just up that way. I think it would make a fine place to set up a new camp. Not too far, and there's plenty of clean water. Best bet otherwise would be the ravine that leads down that cliff to the beach. It's further to the southeast, a few hours walk and a good distance from the river, but it's the only clear line to the beach we've found nearby. I would avoid setting up too close to the mountains, the animals tend to get a lot bigger and meaner the closer you get I hear."

"uh, yeah thank you that’s great to know." Andrew said, turning to his companions on either side. "River?"

"yeah."

"River sounds good."

"Alright cool. Let's go check it out then."