Spearbound 2 - CH. 1

AN: Found out that a story called Depthstrider plagiarized parts of Spearbound and went to Amazon a month before me. Spent most of the month worrying about the future of the story before Amazon took Depthstrider down. Meant I only just started writing b2, but I should be fairly quick with it since I want to get it to Amazon in a month.

Kade used to be a delivery driver. He liked his job—mostly—and had aspirations of getting into management. Of course, that would have been when his back gave out or something equally debilitating, but eventual management material. For sure. Maybe.

Still, that wouldn’t have involved the absolute horror show he somehow found himself involved in.

He blinked, noticing that a man was arguing fiercely about something. Maybe it was important.

“—absolutely unacceptable! My men can’t—” a woman cleared her throat, and the man corrected himself smoothly, “—and women can’t take on such a workload without proper compensation!”

Kade looked around discreetly to see if he could get a hint of what was being argued. A group of thirty people stood behind the man as he argued for them. He had no idea what this was about.

Well, I’ll just listen quietly. Nobody will know—

“Mr. Beckett!” The man appealed to him. “Surely you see the travesty of the original offer!”

Kade cursed him out in his mind as he scrambled to find the correct reply. In the grand scheme of things, his inattention was nothing to fret over, but it showed a clear disregard of the concerns of the people he now led.

He didn’t want to think about the times he scoffed at the politicians before the world changed, and it would be the height of hypocrisy if he acted the same.

Eliza: That’s Bob, and he leads a group of people who found a way to use magic to build structures that can resist the damage that is now expected. You could say he’s a union leader. We need him if we want to reclaim land from the wild.

Kade gave Eliza an impressed glance. She was dealing with another issue, holding a meeting of her own tens of feet away, but she still kept track of him. The crowded ballroom, repurposed as a meeting hall, made it especially impressive.

“What do you think would be fair, Bob? Keep in mind that we are stretched for resources at the moment, and while I agree your group is important to us, it is a civic duty for everyone to pitch in. The more land we reclaim, the more people we can accept into our safe zone.”

Bob’s blustering died down at Kade’s words. It was hard to argue back to a man who could detonate a ‘nuke’ whenever he desired.

Kade wasn’t thinking about the existential crisis Bob could be experiencing. He was mentally patting his back at using proper words instead of telling Bob to suck it up and play ball.

Not that he wouldn’t be understanding if the world were, well, not fucked. But people who asked for more where more wasn’t available were close to getting his fist to their face instead of polite words.

Finn must have seen that Kade’s patience was teetering on the edge and stepped in. “Look, Bob, if we could pay you, we would. However, if you accept our offer, we will protect your people in rift zones. All of you will get stronger in safety. Surely, you see the benefit in that?”

Kade had to hide a grimace. The idea of being safe while getting stronger was near anathema to him. Sure, a person would gain power, but without the experience to use it in a life and death situation, it would be a waste. Death was unlikely to find them before they could get anything useful out of the person.

However, he wasn’t stupid enough to ignore that Bob’s group had to be given certain allowances to preserve their skills. Combat ability was important, but people with ancillary skills were necessary to keep a semblance of a civilization.

“You already made that point.” Bob looked obstinate, despite the nervous glances he gave Kade. “It’s not enough.”

Finn was ready to jump back in with far-too-polite reasoning, likely to keep Bob and his merry group happy, but Kade had already dismissed Bob’s presence and observed the people surrounding him.

There was a couple that stood out from the group.

A woman who had ash-salted, rough-cropped hair, work-split fingers, and a jacket worn past its prime. And a man who carried himself like a professor, with a. close-trimmed beard, a palm-sized notebook on his belt, and an ink-darkened thumb.

Most importantly, they both looked fed up the more Bob opened his mouth.

“—really is the best.” Finn looked at Bob expectantly.

Kade wondered if Bob would have been so adamant if Finn were stronger, but that was likely his frustration making him lash out at the wrong person. Kade was right beside Finn, specifically as a show of support and strength in these negotiations, and Bob clearly wasn’t deterred.

A part of Kade admired Bob for trying to get the best deal for his workers, but he had a feeling it was a show more for his prestige that anything else.

Bob looked to continue making his case, but Kade had enough.

“It looks like Bob isn’t in the mood to be reasonable.” Kade pointed at the two people who stood out from the group. “You two, how do you feel about taking his job?”

He ignored the sharp intake of air from Finn as he observed the group’s reaction.

Overall, Kade wasn’t unhappy with what he saw. There was nothing as dramatic as relief infecting the entire group, but there was a heavy indifference at the prospect of Bob losing his leadership role.

In some ways, that might be even better. The absence of strong emotions dulled any action, a lesson he learned from the many meetings he had to attend where they planned out the steady expansion of the safe zone.

Kade shook off the unpleasant recollection of the past meetings to refocus on the current one… he really despised these meetings.

Of the two he pointed at in the group, the woman couldn’t have been any less interested in the job, and her reply proved it. “Don’t look at me. I might not agree with how Bob went about things, but that doesn’t mean I want to step into his place. Who wants to deal with desk work when we can learn magic?”

Kade’s eyes lit up with glee. The woman was a kindred spirit, and he couldn’t agree more. Still, he needed his first foray into being a tyrant to be successful, and turned to the professor-like man.

“Mr. Beckett,” the man said with a slight tilt of his head. “I would prefer not to take on this chore since I feel the same as Sam here, but I am at your disposal.”

Kade took a moment before saying, “A British accent? You know… this is exactly what I imagined a British person would look like. Are you trying to sell the stereotype on purpose?”

“I’m afraid I have always chosen this attire, and my mannerisms had been ingrained long before I ever watched American movies.”

“I see. I need you to take the job for now, at least until this place stabilizes. Bob here wasn’t wrong when he said you are all very important to our plans.” Kade smiled when the group perked up at his praise.

A little treat after showing who owned the big stick was a proven strategy. He was getting good at this speaking thing.

“As you say, Mr. Beckett,” the man accepted. “I hope it won’t be for long.”

“I didn’t get your name,” Kade said, remembering it was impolite to keep calling him ‘British man’ in his thoughts.

“Richard.”

Kade laughed before he shook his head. “Richard, I hope you’re as reliable as the stereotypes say. Finn will reach out, and I hope the change satisfies everyone.”

Bob grumbled, which was ignored, and the rest of the group nodded, happy the meeting was nearing its end, or happy Richard was now their spokesman.

“Good, you’re all dismissed!” Kade stood with Finn as they filed out of the ballroom.

“… Mr. Beckett, interfering in the power structures of small groups is a slippery slope. It may seem harmless now, but it breeds corruption in ways that are unpredictable.”

“Well, it’s not like I want to have my say in everything, do I? This is too important to have someone who’s looking to cause delays in the attempt to squeeze more from us.”

Finn didn’t look happy, but he accepted it with a curt nod. The steel in the man’s veins in the many meetings they attended with the safe zone’s strongest people surprised Cal, but at the same time, there was a sense of responsibility he detected in Finn that he had somehow missed before.

Kade’s idea of helping was to force himself—and others—into situations that grow their personal strength. Finn’s was to provide a base of support and create a safe harbor.

After the destruction of so many safe zones in the outbreak, Kade understood both were important.

“Look, I did say I’ll leave all of this to you and Eliza. I was only supposed to be the muscle, so to speak, so if you want me to, I’ll call them back and take back my words.”

Finn’s eyes grew wide before shaking his head emphatically. “That would be a disaster to your authority. We can’t allow—” he cut himself off at Kade’s grin. “Ah, that was you making your point.”

“It’s already done, and I don’t intend to stick around and do that again anytime soon.”

Finn blinked in surprise before scanning their surroundings with concern. “You’re leaving? I thought you would stay longer until a formal hierarchy is decided.”

“That was the plan, but Finn, I’m going to go crazy if I have to attend another meeting. It’s getting ridiculous.”

“… It’s the most efficient way to get things done.”

“Well, if you really need my input, you could always message me. And Eliza is enjoying herself, so you won’t be without support since she’s staying. Besides, I won't leave right now, but soon. Maybe a few days at the least.”

Finn still didn’t look happy, understandably, but Cal mollified him. The man had learned how to get along with Eliza, and that was a great thing.

Kade trusted Finn to be a superb administrator, but he still wanted Eliza to keep the man’s ambitions in check, no matter how slim a chance there was for some sort of mutiny.

“I suppose we can deal with your absence,” Finn said grudgingly.

“That’s the spirit.” Kade patted his shoulder before catching Eliza’s questioning gaze. “Now, I need to break the news to the others.”