Chapter 23

Chapter 23

After some internal reflection, the group at Drew's home had quickly come to some conclusions. Only Amber and Mark still looked like their photo ID's, and thus, were the only ones who would be able to purchase the trucks they'd picked out. Mark would need to wear a beanie to cover the points on his ears, and Amber needed something similar due to her almost glowing hair. There was no way Miranda was going to pass for human, as she looked like she'd fit in at a comic convention.

So, Miranda decided to stay home to begin organizing things for herself and Mark. Drew ended up driving Mark and Amber to the different car lots and dropping them off to pick up the vehicles, while he and Spock went to get the used recreational vehicles. The side by sides and the ATV were so old, and worn, that they were basically dirt cheap, so he was able to pay cash for them. They weren't even at powersports lots, but rather by sale from individual owners, so that made purchasing them even easier.

The recreational vehicles did need some touch ups and minor work done, so he took them to a nearby dealership. Luckily, an employee there recognized Drew from his "shows", i.e. he thought he was the actual actor. This had the wonderful effect of being pushed to the front of the line for work to be completed by the mechanics at the store, all for the low, low cost of a couple of fake autographs and some selfies with the employees. Did he feel bad about taking advantage of them and lying? No, not at all. He needed to get this crap done today if possible, and they were running out of time.

The day flew by quickly, and everyone had made it back to the house by mid-afternoon. Now, they had several vehicles to get crap done with instead of just two, so the group split up. Mark went back out and brought Spock with him to grab some supplies, and Amber decided to do the same thing. Drew took one of the side by sides into the local town to look for some locals. He was planning to hire some folks to start coming over to the property in the morning to work on the fencing and walls.

He found several retired folks hanging out at the gas station and drinking coffee. A couple of them were interested in making some extra money, so he offered them jobs. He found a couple more people interested when he stopped by the local café, and the tiny general store that the town had. Unfortunately, there was a bit of horrible news that he found while in town. Robert, the man who had planned to open the community center was living out on the streets. Or rather, it was better to say that he was living on the flattened earth that had once been the building he'd purchased.

When Robert had put up his home for sale to cover the liens placed on his property, there had been an anonymous buyer that immediately made an offer through a realtor. Housing in the country typically sold much slower than in the city or suburbs, so Drew was surprised to hear that a buyer popped up out of nowhere so quickly. Long story short, Robert was now living on the same property that the town had screwed him over with.

Of course, the town was only too happy to refuse to turn on utilities at the location, as there wasn't a livable building. So, that left Robert living out of his truck that was parked in front of the property. It was better than sleeping on the actual streets, but not by much. Robert had become the very same type of person that he'd wished to help previously, but now there was no one to help him. Drew spent a bit of time talking with him, and catching up on the local drama.

Despite many people helping him look for his belongings, they were never found. Not even a single screwdriver or nail. Drew felt really bad for the man. He'd previously offered him the use of his property with a tent, but now Drew had several outbuildings on his property. He decided to offer Robert a roof over his head, free of charge. In return, Drew asked that he keep everything he saw while staying on the property between himself and God.

He also offered the man a job to help erect the fencing and walls. It really wouldn't cost Drew anything to help the man, and the guy had gotten the shit end of the stick from the town repeatedly. At least this way he'd make some money for a few days, feel productive, and have a roof over his head. With the workers that would be on his property soon, he'd need to be meticulous about keeping his friends and family out of sight anyways, so one more person wouldn't hurt that.

Additionally, Drew knew what was going to happen when The Descent fell upon the Earth. As a dude without a home, stuck in a truck, he'd have little hope of surviving the beasts and monsters. Drew refused to let one of the only good people on the planet get killed by mutated animals when he was in a position to help the guy out. Robert had accepted Drew's hospitality with open arms and thanked him profusely. Thus, Drew found himself driving back home with Robert following closely behind in his truck.

Once they'd gotten back home, Drew had shown Robert an outbuilding he could stay in, along with the manual water pump he could use, and then brought him a plate of food from the house. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing, and Drew felt good helping him out.

Drew and the rest of the group met up for dinner to talk about everything that had happened throughout the day. He filled them in on Robert staying in one of the outbuildings, and the workers he'd hired to start work on the fencing. In the morning, he'd need to be there to show the new labor force the work that needed to be done, along with where the supplies were located. They talked about the vehicles for a little while before turning things over to Amber and Mark.

"I was pretty productive today as well. Besides the traps and supplies I picked up, I signed us up for hog hunting on two different properties for the next couple of days." Mark said.

"No shit? I thought you'd want to stay away from hogs after this morning." Drew replied.

"Oh no, I hate those bastards. But this hunt is different. The property owners have set up hunting blinds, and automatic feeders. Everyone will be up in these tall tower things, way off the ground. So there's no danger there, and the feeders have been going non-stop to attract the stupid pigs, so they show up daily to eat the free food."

"So it'll be like shooting fish in a barrel? Yeah, I guess that could work to boost everyone a bunch of levels, and if we're off the ground, that would definitely be safer. Good idea man!"

"Thanks dude. I looked into those blinds and I think we should buy a couple for the property. It would make protecting the area much easier due to the height advantage. We can always build something better down the road, but as these are already made, we would just need to assemble them."

"Huh, so kinda like watchtowers almost?" Drew asked.

"Yeah, that's the idea. We don't have enough people to keep them all manned right now, but I figured you could maybe use your undead minions to staff them in the meantime."

"I could...but I don't know if the critters would be tall enough to actually have vision over the top of them. I'd need more humanoid undead to use them effectively, which would require...a visit to the cemetery unfortunately. It's not a bad idea, a little distasteful, but at least it's practical. I'd like to start working on more minions tonight anyways, but I'd like to begin with the bones I've already collected."

"That makes sense. I'll go get some blinds tomorrow morning after the hunt. It's early in the morning, so you should be able to join us before you need to be back here for the workers."

"Cool, sounds good. Any news on your front, Amber?" Drew asked.

"I went to pick up some extra recurve bows and crossbows, and some extra ammo for those, and the guns. The gun store restocked, so I bought everything they had that we needed. I feel like we have an armory now, but I figured spares would be good to have. If you raised undead humans, would they be able to use the bows sitting in those watchtowers?" She asked.

"I don't know. Spock, do have any input?"

"Indeed. Your minions should be able to use weapons, although they will require practice. They don't start off with any weapon proficiencies, so they'd need to train to become effective. They level up over time, and you share the experience they earn. Once they hit level five in their class, they might be offered a weapon proficiency from The System as one of the skill options. It will be up to you to choose those options for them as they aren't intelligent enough to make the choices on their own."

"Interesting. So, I should move graverobbing up on my priority list if it's going to take some practice. We're going to need a ton more arrows and bolts then, someone should go out and purchase a crap ton of them tomorrow while I'm with the workers. Anyways! Spock, I've noticed my level ups with my class and race seem to interact, and I still don't have any idea about professions. Would you mind giving us a rundown?" Drew asked.

"I do not mind. Classes and professions are similar, yet different at the same time. They both earn levels, and every two levels you earn in one, translates to a level gained in your race. There can be some crossover between the two however, as professions aren't limited to creating or selling things as you might expect. Blacksmithing, leatherworking, and alchemy are all well known as creation based professions, however professions can have other functions as well."

"Okay, what other kind of functions can they have?"

"Religious duties to a patron god are one such example, but they can be combat oriented as well. A warrior might choose to become a mercenary as their profession, just as an example."

"Interesting. So, how do we gain professions?"

"There are various ways to earn a profession, but the easiest is simply by repetition of tasks related to the profession. It may take some time, but eventually, you may be offered a profession based on the tasks you've completed."

"Okayyyyy, but what about something like alchemy? That's not a real science that currently exists on Earth, so how would someone go about the tasks related to it and gain the profession, without knowing anything about it?"

"As long as an individual knew of the profession itself, and the general idea behind it, they would likely be able to eventually gain access to it. In Earth's case, when The Descent happens, many people will likely be unaware of a profession like alchemy. At that point, it will come down to experimenting and luck. Eventually, the knowledge will become accessible, but that will take some time." Spock answered.

"Awesome, blind luck. Well, thankfully we have you here. The downside is, now we all have even more on our plates if we want to get a profession anytime soon. Still it's good knowledge to have, thank you for the information Spock."

"Anytime, Drew Wright."