2 – Agreement

“And you don’t want to have to contribute anything?” Andy was surprised by Lucy’s tone—well, not exactly surprised, but he thought it would be Bella or Jace who’d react that way to Lydia’s initial offer. To be fair, it wasn’t much of an offer. Basically, she wanted both parties to shake hands and move on with things. Andy knew she was probably just hopeful that they’d be easygoing enough to want to be done with the situation, but he didn’t say anything yet; he wanted to see how she’d respond to Lucy.

“Why should we contribute? It wasn’t us who went to war. It was Brooks and his cronies who bullied the settlement into action. They’re all dead or gone!” Lydia sounded frustrated, but Andy’s eyes were on Lucy, watching the way she nodded slightly, turning a loose strand of her soft brown hair around her finger. She was nervous having everyone’s eyes on her. She licked her lips, took a breath, and started to reply, but Jace spoke over her.

“Not all,” he said, pointing toward a huge shelving rack, or more precisely, through a gap in it where Andy could see more people milling around, watching and listening. There were men back there, and suddenly he realized it probably wasn’t an accident that the people close by were all women and children. Lydia was playing games with the optics.

“Fine,” Lydia said, frowning and folding her muscular arms over her chest. “Some of the people who went along to attack your settlement survived, but they weren’t the instigators! We wouldn’t let them back in! Ask any of us! Hell, you can search the place!”

“She’s not lying,” Oscar said, shrugging.

“So you’re all innocent?” Lucy pressed. “What about you, Lydia? How many of our people did your weapons kill?”

“Hey!” Lydia bristled, unfolding her arms and leaning forward, glaring at Lucy. Oscar put a hand on her shoulder, and she shook him off. “I made those weapons so the people I was surviving with could defend themselves!” She glared around, challenging anyone to contradict her. When Lucy didn’t press the issue, she deflated a little and added, “I admit that I should have been paying more attention. I should have taken a more active leadership role. Instead, I kept my head down and worked on my smithing. I was…enthralled by the System and the way my class was evolving.”

“She’s trying to do something now, though,” a woman said, stepping forward from the crowd gathered near the merchandise shelves. “She stepped up when everything went to hell.”

Several people at the table turned to look at her, but no one complained that she’d interjected. Andy cleared his throat and tried to move things back on track. “I get that. I get that you all lost things too, but that doesn’t mean we weren’t wronged. We were attacked more than once. We lost a lot of lives. We have to do something to ensure that doesn’t happen again. That you all won’t be a threat to us.”

When Lydia opened her mouth to protest, Andy held up his hand and forged ahead. “Let me finish, please. I want to believe you and trust your people here, Lydia. I’d like to know that we have some friendly neighbors. The thing is, trust needs to be earned. The fact is, your people attacked us, and we won.”

“So? What do you want? We have to be your slaves now?” someone shouted from over near the shelves.

Andy frowned, and, rather than complain that everyone was there listening, he decided to try to turn it to his advantage. He stood up, pushing his chair back, and raising his voice. “Listen, we’re not like that. Yeah, we feel like we are entitled to some compensation, but Lydia made a really damn good point. The assholes who are responsible for the bad shit that’s been going down here are gone. Right?”

Several people murmured agreement, and when Andy looked at Lydia, she nodded. “Yes.”

“So, yeah. We don’t want to punish you folks, but we can damn sure help each other out. The way I see it, you all have plenty of supplies—from food to building materials. I mean, Brooks was an evil asshole, but he did a good job gathering shit from the area, didn’t he?” Andy was still raising his voice, still addressing the crowd, so when he asked the question, he didn’t need Lydia to confirm—several people nodded or spoke up, agreeing with him.

“So, we have some good fighters. We have a safe place away from the city. I think we ought to team up. I’m not saying you have to join us, but I think the idea of you all being a vassal settlement is a good one. According to that System message, we’ll be able to communicate with each other through the System nodes. We can share knowledge. We can train

each other.” He nodded to a woman with her arm in a sling. “Our healers can help you out.”

“Healers?” a woman asked, her voice tentative.

Lydia frowned, shaking her head as she said, “Ours died last night.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Bea cleared her throat and leaned forward. “I can see to your people. I just need some clean water.”

Lydia looked at her, her eyebrows lifting as her expression opened up. “Really?”

Bea nodded. “That’s right, hon, but you need to listen to Andy. He’s a good man, and he won’t treat you all wrong. He’s not like what you had before.” As she spoke, Bea shifted her gaze to Andy, smiling, and he nodded.

“I just want things to be good for as many people as possible,” he said, still addressing the crowd. He stepped away from the table and walked around it, taking a few steps toward the crowd so he didn’t have to project his voice so far. “Listen, like I said, we have a safe place. Some of you found that out the hard way last night. We didn’t have half the fighters that Brooks brought against us, but we won, and we won pretty damn handily, too. If we can come up with a good arrangement here, if we can start to build some trust, we can talk about some of you coming to live there. Hell, maybe all of you, depending on how things work out.”

“Andy,” Lydia interjected, pushing her chair back and turning to face him more directly, “some of us like the idea of being in charge of ourselves—of building our own place.”

“Yeah”—Andy nodded, frowning in thought—"I get that. We can try to build in a regular patrol schedule. We could, like, meet halfway between the communities. I mean, the way I see things working is you share some of your supplies—your building materials—with us, and we provide some fresh food and a safe place to seek refuge if things get bad.”

“I was gonna say, man,” Jace said, stepping forward and speaking a little louder, “I don’t think we have enough fighters to come defend this place if it gets hit hard. Better if you all have a way to bolt and come to us.”

Lydia nodded at Jace, eyeing him up and down speculatively. “We can hash that out, but I think we can safely say that none of us wants it to come to that.”

Andy smiled at the change in tone. “So you’re good with that? A vassal settlement agreement?”

“So long as you don’t tell us we have to give you everything we have, I don’t think any of us would object to sharing some lumber and tools.” Lydia nodded to Bea. “I think we all have things we could teach each other, too.”

Andy pictured James’s half-formed forge and chuckled, nodding. “We have a few craftsfolk who could stand to get a few pointers, too.”

“So,” Lydia asked, standing and walking over to stand in front of Andy, “how does this work? We shake hands and all’s good?” She held out a hand, tan and dirty and strong. Andy took it, nodding as they both squeezed.

“It’s a start, but the System said we had to sign an agreement. Let’s write some things out and see what happens.” He didn’t speak loudly, but enough people heard him and saw the two of them shaking hands that the mood rapidly shifted. People smiled, and he heard relieved laughs and exclamations. He glanced at Lucy and saw she was smiling and nodding as Bea spoke softly into her ear. Even Jace and Bella looked approving.

Andy was especially surprised by Bella’s lack of objections. When he watched her face for a moment, though, he could guess what was up. She didn’t see her tormentors in that big warehouse store. She saw more people like her—people who’d lost everything and been forced by circumstances to join a community that they hadn’t necessarily liked or even approved of.

He turned back to Lydia and gave her hand a final squeeze as she said, “Okay, Andy. Shall we sit again? Let’s write down some ideas.”

###

Andy fidgeted with the pen in his fingers as he read over the agreement one more time. It was a simple document, and they’d kept it that way purposefully, even though there were no fewer than two lawyers among the survivors on hand.

Peace Agreement Between: Sleepy Saguaro Trailer Park (Mesa) & Grace Refuge (Warehouse)

1. No Hostilities

Both groups agree not to attack, raid, or otherwise harm each other. Disputes will be settled through meetings, not fighting.

2. Mutual Aid

* The Warehouse agrees to share building materials, tools, and knowledge of crafting. The first delivery of which will be made upon signing of this agreement.

* The Mesa agrees to share food, healing aid, and fighting support when possible.

3. Refuge & Safety

If the Warehouse Settlement comes under attack and cannot hold, its people may flee to the Mesa for shelter.

4. System Links

Both groups agree to activate the “vassal settlement” connection through their respective System nodes so messages and warnings can be shared.

5. Patrols / Contact

Both settlements will share the duties of patrolling the route between their locations, ensuring safe passage for supplies and representatives.

6. Independent but Allied

Each community remains in charge of its own people, but both agree to treat the other as allies.

“We really ought to change the name of our settlement,” Lucy said softly, reading over his shoulder. “It’s a mouthful.”

Andy didn’t disagree; he didn’t think a “trailer park” really suited as a description for their settlement, and there wasn’t even one saguaro on the mesa. “Yeah,” he muttered as he put his pen to the paper and signed his name under Lydia’s.

***Congratulations, Andy! The Peace Agreement between Sleepy Saguaro Trailer Park and Grace Refuge has been ratified. Cooperation has been recognized. Trust has been forged.

* Each settlement receives 1 Boon Point.

* Sleepy Saguaro Trailer Park has advanced to Level 3!

* Your settlement has gained 53 Vassal Citizens.

Your actions have strengthened more than walls and borders. You have bound lives together. Your Leadership skill has increased by 1.

New options are now available at your System Node—pathways to expand your defenses, bolster unity, and prepare your people for the trials ahead.***

He didn’t have to wonder if he was the only one who saw the agreement—cheers broke out in the big-box store. Smiling, he signed the identical copy of the agreement that would stay at Grace Refuge, then he stood up from the table. Raising his voice amid the clamor in the echoing warehouse, he said, “I’m glad this worked out!” He held his hand out for Lydia to shake again.

Her big smile exposed a gap between her two front teeth as she leaned toward him and grabbed his hand. She squeezed tightly, pulling him a little closer as she replied, “Me, too! Now I can tell you about the dungeon!”