Jaco walked around the camp as he did his part in spreading the word on the decision made. At his side was Alex, who had opted to join him in heading to one particular area. To get word around as quickly as possible, those who had been in the meeting would hit different sections of the encampment. To that end, the two of them quickly walked into one large building positioned close to the camp’s center.

  The pair entered the building, and were immediately assaulted by a cacophony of high-pitched noise. Children ran around, yelling and screaming as they played and chased one another. The kids were roughly separated into groups based on age. With the oldest being around eight or nine, while the youngest were barely outside of being toddlers. Though as they moved and played, there was of course quite a bit of overlap anyway between the different ages.

  Between all the children were just a few adults trying their best to at least keep things as controlled chaos. Though these men and women weren’t fighters, their job was still one of great importance for the camp. They were people who had volunteered to act as the primary caretakers of the encampment’s orphans. Kids whose parents were either lost during the early days of the Apocalypse, or, unfortunately, had more recently died during the attack by the undead horde.

  While the camp as a whole had apparently done a decent job of raising them as a village, so to speak, more dedicated guardians were considered necessary. So even in these dire times, children could still just laugh and cry about random things, and could temporarily forget about everything else.

  Though when times did get even rougher, they remained the most vulnerable part of the population. Mostly due to their young age, yes, but also the fact that the System hadn’t deemed them eligible for receiving a Class. It seemed that it had decided to only do for at least those in their early teens, which meant those younger didn’t have access to Abilities. And in this new world of theirs, having no Abilities might as well mean the same as being unarmed. This was why out of everyone, they had the most need for being protected by others.

  The kids only gave the two arriving men a brief glance before resuming their own activities. Their caretakers, on the other hand, waved over at them. However, the friendly greeting soon sputtered out as they saw the serious expressions on their faces. Jaco and Alex approached the adults, and with a small gesture, indicated for them to step outside for a moment.

  “Kids, Mr. Jaco and Alex need to talk with us about something. So we’ll be right outside, but just be good in the meantime, okay?” a woman said, to which some of the children just gave a quick acknowledgement. The four total other adults then joined them in standing directly outside the building’s entrance. With that, Jaco went ahead and cut straight to business.

  “Alright. For safety reasons, the decision has been made recently to move the camp. Everyone’s going to need to pack up their things and take however much you can carry. Since you guys are the ones taking care of the kids, they’ll obviously need help with their own stuff,” the Druid explained.

  Alex nodded. “But I think it should be okay for you to ask for help if you need it. Like between you and all those kids, feel free to ask for assistance. Not everyone has possessions they’ll need to carry, so I think Noah would be happy to have them help, or to just add the children’s stuff to a list of general supplies that’ll be taken. I think you’ll need to take it up with him though, to be sure.”

  “Oh… that’s a lot to take in at once.” One of the men pursed his lips. “Do you have any idea how long we have? To get everything ready before the moving has to happen, I mean.”

  “Exactly? Not really,” Jaco answered while shaking his head. “Only that it’ll be as soon as possible. The message should be getting spread to everyone else as well, as we speak. So I would get started as quickly as possible, and do so under the assumption that you’ll need to be ready at any minute from now.”

  The caretakers shared a worried glance between themselves, but then just tentatively nodded. With the matter settled, Jaco and Alex walked away as they went back inside to the kids. As the two of them moved, the teen Warrior turned back for a moment to give them one last look.

  “Think they’ll be alright? I’m not sure how well that went, from how they reacted. Probably can’t be easy. If anything were to happen, I think they already know that they’d be the last line of defense for those kids,” Alex said.

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  The Druid shrugged. “It should be fine. I imagine that when Noah figures out how exactly the moving will happen, they’ll be in the safest position possible. Plus with how young a lot of those children are, they might even be fully aware of what’s happening when the relocation is ongoing. So as long as everything goes smoothly, it’ll be alright.”

  As the pair continued to chat and walk, a figure walked up to them. Burt approached Jaco and Alex with a light wave.

  “Noah’s sent for you, Jaco, has something he needs you for,” the older man said. Alex scratched his neck as he looked between them.

  “Huh. Anything else for me to do, then?” the teen asked.

  Burt shook his head. “Nothing specific that I’m aware of, at least. But… hmm. I actually think Sam’s just started coordinating the effort on getting the essential camp supplies packed up. So if you want something to work on, she might still be looking for an extra pair of hands. I think she’s over at the northern end.”

  “Okay, I guess I’ll head over to Noah now. I’ll see you guys later then,” Jaco said with a nod, before walking back toward the center of the camp.

  There was already an extra amount of energy in the air as a large number of people moved around at the same time. It seemed that word about the relocation had already spread around, so now it was just a matter of everyone getting prepared. But the Druid just swiftly cut through the hustle and bustle of the crowds and quickly reached his destination.

  Jaco entered, and found Noah alone in the building. He hadn’t even noticed Jaco’s arrival, and was staring down at the table. On its surface was a map of the local region.

  The city was the most obvious part of it. Then there was a highway leading out of it, which eventually led to an X to mark where the camp was positioned just a bit off the road. There were also some arrows and other indicators for various spots across the map, but Jaco had only given the whole thing a glancing once over before looking back at the camp’s leader.

  “So, Burt said you needed me?” the Druid asked.

  Noah looked up from the amp. “Correct, I and a few others have spent the time since our meeting on drawing up plans for scouting where the camp will be relocated. Our old knowledge isn’t quite as reliable due to things changing from the Apocalypse, but we’ve learned about mostly everything in our general area over the course of the last two months. However, since the point of moving is to delay being found by the Chosen, we can’t just stick to the area we’ve already explored.”

  “Because if you did, then it’d just delay them by a day or two at most, right? Kinda no point if that’s all that it does.”

  “Exactly that, yeah,” Noah confirmed. “To make this worth it, we’ll need to move as far as we can. But while it’d be easy to just pack our bags and go as opposite from the city as we can, it’s too risky to do so blind like that. Not when we still barely know how the Apocalypse has impacted the world beyond our tiny slice of it. For every threat in the city, there could be just as many unknown ones out in the deeper countryside, for all we know. And then there’s the fact that we would want somewhere with cover if possible. A flat, open field would just be asking for our new camp to be discovered all the sooner if the Chosen decide to pursue us further out. However…” his expression turned more serious.

  “I called you here because your Abilities would be well suited for it. Especially your Ability that lets you turn into a bird and fly to scout an entire area from above. But I also know that you’ve basically gotten no chance to rest since returning from the city. So when I say this is just a request, I really do mean it. You have every right to turn it down and focus on yourself for a little while. Others can be sent to scout things out, and it shouldn’t be too dangerous. The main risk is that of the unknown, rather than any actual threats that we’re aware of.”

  Jaco nodded in understanding, but then gave the other man a small smile. “Thank you for the concern, but I’m fine. Unlike Sam and Evelyn, I didn’t really get hurt before. Besides, I’m sure that I could fly at a much higher speed than anyone else can move. So the faster I can scout ahead to a good spot, the faster we can move, and then that’s all the faster that I can then take a break. Because I’d much rather wait until then, when it’ll be easier to rest knowing that camp’s safety is more secure.”

  “I understand. I’ll trust that you understand your own limits better than anyone else. While you’re gone, we’ll get as prepared as possible. So that hopefully by the time you return, we will already be fully done and ready to move,” Noah said as he then leaned back into his seat.

  “Of course. The sooner we can get this done, the better. So with that being, I’ll go ahead and leave now, then.” The Druid then promptly turned around and stepped back outside.

  “Good luck, Jaco,” Noah added from behind as he left.

  The moment he was out, he activated Lesser Shapeshift and assumed his bird form. The transformed Jaco then took to the skies, and flew away from the encampment. Facing opposite from the ruined city, the hawk set out in his search for a suitable new area for the camp to call home.