Dericka awoke to a dark canvas right in front of her. She shot up with a spike of adrenaline, looking around the dark room and feeling at the wall next to her.

Then she fell back with a relieved sigh, smiling at her own confusion. It was the first night in one of the new tents. Apparently, she still needed to adjust after a few weeks of sleeping out in the open. The tent had been a welcome change, shielding her from the few bloodsucking hummingbirds that still preyed on them at night.

Silently, she made her way out and into their campsite, close to the edge of the forest where the trees didn't grow quite so close together. She grabbed a kettle of water and put it on the embers of last night's fire, letting out a happy sigh as she looked down at it. They had a kettle now. Pots, too. Even coffee and tea, from the food pack they'd bought.

First, there had been chaos, of course. Sorting through all the requests, then fairly balancing the budget had taken several hours. Then had come the final puzzle: how to optimize their order for the least possible amount of items.

The limit on the transportation fee waiver they got from the quest was fifty items. Everyone had wanted a change of clothes, which by itself could have filled the quota, if they were so foolish as to order each item separately. Luckily, the System Store offered entire item sets that counted as single items. It was possible to just buy a pair of socks, but much better to get an entire set of clothes as a single item.

The 'outdoors comfort kit' that had cost only 30 Value had included cookware, cutlery, foldable seats and sleeping mats. Just like that, they'd gone from having nothing to having almost too much stuff, most of the group now lugging around a sizable backpack.

But the time was well spent; most of the group had been able to get what they wanted. Dericka had made sure of that, speaking to each member of the group individually to avoid any lingering resentment.

It felt amazing to finally have a clean victory. They'd actually celebrated last night, which was a big change from the somber evenings they'd shared before. It had been wonderful to see how people blossomed when they finally felt good for a change. She chuckled as she recalled Dmitriy trying to teach Kobe some traditional Russian dance. So far, she'd only seen how this group behaved in dire circumstances, but yesterday they'd truly started bonding as people.

She resolved to push through some group training today. Now, with their spirits high, would be the right time to get people working together as a squad. They would need to be as prepared and strong as could be for the rest of their journey. She would make sure she did everything she could to make sure they didn't lose anyone else.

Dericka walked to the edge of the forest, only slightly bothered by her leg, and looked out at what would be their next challenge. It seemed to be some kind of moorland, dark brown sandy soil covered with moss, shrubs and lavender, though with her increased Perception she could also make out some large cacti in the distance.

The map showed only about five zones left between them and their goal, the large stationary MAFT where they hoped to finally find more people. It could be more than that though, depending on what path they took. If they were prepared to take a large detour, probably an additional ten days of walking at the very least, they could avoid crossing a single yellow zone. On the most direct path, they would cross first a thin strip of yellow that stretched far to the east, then two more greens before finally traversing a large yellow zone. Dericka frowned, already anticipating the inevitable strife that would bring to their group.

This next zone ahead of them was the darkest shade of green, but she didn't feel concerned about the risk. They were well equipped now, not just with proper weapons, but also with their first Abilities. Most of their fighters would be testing theirs out today, but she had opted to invest the 120 Value in a Party-focused communication Ability instead.

[Party Radar Comms]

This Ability will become available to all members of the Party once purchased. Once activated, it will enable party members to send radar messages to the rest of the Party. The maximum range is 2,5 miles.

The military guides she'd begun to read after their messy battle against the centipedes emphasized the importance of scouting and communication. Interestingly, they were one of the few things that were freely available. Her mood darkened a bit as she considered the implications of that.

"Good morning, comrades! Rise and shine! Another day brings another opportunity to crush our enemies!"

It was Dmitriy's voice, slightly distorted but no less loud in her ears. For a short moment she looked around, startled, then realized he must have spoken through the radar comms. There were groans and shouts of protest coming from the tents behind her, which had her laughing as she walked back to camp.

The good cheer and joking continued during breakfast and she savoured the relaxed, casual conversation, but before long she had to return to her role as party leader. That involved not only forcing people to practice formations and maneuvers, but also juggling a never-ending flow of random requests. It brought the same frustrations as when she had to wrangle her teachers in the old world; no matter how much she tried to avoid it, there was always someone who wasn't happy with the latest schedule.

"Look, Dericka, in this formation I won't be able to use my cool new Ability. It'd be too hard to hit the damn things and they might be too close to Dmitriy and Jim anyway. I gotta be able to spread my wings and fly, you know?"

From Kobe's smirk, she knew he was still feeling good after cleaning up and getting a new outfit. He looked good too, somehow managing to make the functional mix of greens, browns and black that would blend in with their environment look fashionable. His hands rested on a large belt made out of thick, black hardened plastic. Attached to the side of each hip were coiled wires with thin, barbed tips at the end.

"Maybe you should have thought of that before getting a flashy Ability with a high risk of collateral damage."

That wiped the smirk right off his face, but she smiled to prevent a defensive response.

"But I suppose I could still put you on scout duty. You should have enough opportunities to play with your new toys then."

"What!? So he can hog all the Value again? I should be the vanguard. Then Kobe may clean up any cowardly creatures that flee past my shield."

"I think you're getting things mixed up a bit there, comrade. Despite my obviously heroic efforts, Tasha's the one hogging most of the Value."

The smaller woman had been fiddling with a small vial, looking up suddenly at the sound of her name. After a moment, when she seemed to register what Kobe was saying, she lifted two fists, performing a wrenching motion with her right hand while her left middle finger slowly went up.

"Okay children, that's enough playing around. A few more formation drills, then it's target practice for the archers. It's a new zone tomorrow, so get ready." Dericka called out.

"Oh boy, I can't wait to see what kind of fucked up farm animals we get to slaughter this time."

The next hours passed pleasantly, people training and just relaxing around camp, while Dericka walked the tightrope of maintaining a functional Party while keeping everyone happy. It had gone well enough so far, but that tightrope just stretched on and on, and some days required serious acrobatics.

At the end of target practice, which went surprisingly well, Dericka pulled Tasha aside for a moment. She had dreaded the woman's reaction, but to her surprise Tasha readily agreed not to partake of her new substances during guard duty or when they marched. The caveat that she might reconsider her stance after 'initial experimentation' was slightly concerning, but that was a problem for later.

After that, Dmitriy, Jim and Kobe ambushed her to once again push for a removal of the Party tax on their Value gains. The argument that they'd just purchased most Party specific items and would therefore need less Party budget was persuasive enough, so Dericka compromised by lowering the tax from twenty to ten percent.

Another thorny topic was raised when one of the girls overheard them talking about Value distribution.

"Dericka, Dericka! Can I also get some Value? I want to grow big and strong like Dmitriy and protect my mommy from all the bad monsters!"

Her eyes widened slightly as she considered that. It was a good question; would it not increase the kids' safety if they were faster, stronger, more durable? It might impact their growth and development in unexpected ways though. Ultimately, it was not her decision to make.

"Hey sweetie, I, um, think you'd have to first talk to your mommy about that, okay?" She replied carefully, quickly moving away so as not to be caught in that discussion.

With that done, she steeled herself for another conversation, one that she'd been putting off for some time. While Marie and Thelma had taken well to crafting and now, with increased Stats, Marie had even taken up archery, Gerald remained the odd one out. He was stuck in his ways, refusing to attempt crafting or even to increase his Stats by a single point. The only thing he was adding to the Party, at the moment, was that he often took care of the two little girls.

But as she was walking up to him, playing out in her head how she wanted the conversation to go, she was intercepted by Millie.

"Hey, Dericka. I was hoping we could have a little chat."

The other woman was smiling, but it was clearly forced and her shoulders were visibly tense. This little chat might not be so innocent, then.

They walked for a moment between the many thin tree trunks that lined the forest, until they were out of earshot of the rest of the group.

"What's on your mind?" Dericka asked with a disarming smile.

"I'm just… Concerned. About the direction we're heading." Millie spoke slowly, carefully choosing her words.

Dericka waited patiently for Millie to continue, as her mind worked to predict where this was going, trying to get ahead of the conversation. The woman had been relatively quiet so far, and this was the first time she'd approached Dericka like this. She should have tried to spend a bit more time with her.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"In the beginning, we were only focused on survival and finding our relatives. The choices we made were safe. We wanted to reduce risks, avoid injuries. Gather information. Save up for a map. I was totally on board with all of that."

Millie seemed to be finding her stride then, the words coming out faster as Dericka encouragingly nodded along.

"Now, I feel like we're turning into some kind of warband. That fight with the goats, it was really dangerous. People are talking about Abilities and weapons. I mean, you're even drilling us like some military squad now."

With her Perception and Intelligence both sitting at 12 now, it was easier than ever to spot and interpret the woman's body language. There was genuine fear and concern, but she thought she saw something else as well. A deep sadness. Something like grief, perhaps?

"The formations are meant to be defensive. I'm certainly not planning for us to go out and actively look for fights," Dericka replied firmly, then continued in a softer tone, "but I think you already know that. There's something else on your mind, isn't there?"

"When I hear the men talking about hunting foes, gaining Value, I'm not so sure anymore that we're only acting defensively. If your only tool is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail, you know? I guess I wonder what it'll do to us. To them."

Still, the woman wasn't sharing what was really on her mind. So far, she hadn't shown much concern about the others, nor had she acted cowardly or tried to keep herself safe. The one thing Dericka had seen her focus on, was the girls.

"When you say them, you don't mean the men. You mean the girls?"

Dericka could see how her lip quivered, how she swallowed with great effort, trying to keep her face under control.

"It's okay," she said softly, "you can tell me."

The other woman took a deep breath, a few tears rolling down her cheeks as she closed her eyes to compose herself.

"You should have seen them, yesterday," Millie said, voice heavy with emotion, having to pause and swallow before going on, "huddled around that tree. It was only Gerald and me between them and those goats, while Elza was in the thick of it. God, the horror on their little faces. It just broke my heart."

Millie's voice broke and she sobbed quietly for a moment. The mental image was enough that Dericka had to steel herself too, blinking to clear her eyes. Those poor girls. The problem was obvious to anyone but there just weren't any solutions. She squeezed Millie in the shoulder to show support.

"They have nightmares every night. Still, they've been pestering us, you know? Asking for a spear, so they could protect us."

She shook her head, wiping at her eyes and nose.

"I hate what's happening to them. In just a few weeks, it feels like their innocence has just gone away. I wish we could-"

She looked up then, meeting Dericka's eyes with a pleading look.

"Why don't we stay here a while longer? It's safe enough in this camp. We could send out hunting parties, slowly get enough Value for whatever we need."

Ah, so that's what she wanted to get out of this. It was understandable enough, if your one and only goal was to shield your children from any further violence. But Millie didn't have all the facts.

"I wish it were that simple. That we could stick our heads in the sand here and hide away from it all. But it wouldn't be safe. Not any safer than moving on, anyway," she said, shaking her head. "What happened to our old camp, I don't believe that was a coincidence. If we stayed, it would just happen again, but with different monsters."

"You mean the sudden rains, and the centipedes that just kept coming?" Millie frowned.

Dericka nodded, deciding to share the rest of it as well. If it came out later, she would lose trust with Millie. Better to be open and treat her like an adult.

"I haven't shared this with the rest yet. I think everyone deserves a day or two without bad news. But a counter was added on our third day in this zone. There's little explanation, but it does say that if we want to settle here, a series of challenges will follow. It looks like any Party staying in the same zone for over two weeks will face some kind of test."

Millie's eyes widened as that sank in and Dericka thought she could see the hope draining out of her.

"There are plenty of other clues," Dericka continued, "all pointing in the same direction. The relatively low price of weapons, the blatant lack of information on crafting or the Party system, while guides on warfare and military formations are freely available. This whole system is set up in a way that forces us to fight."

"Jesus." Millie shook her head, looking shocked. "So we have to keep moving then," she said, sounding resigned, "but there's nothing forcing us into a yellow zone, right? At least we can stick to the safer path, even if it takes us longer?"

Dericka's lips thinned. She had really hoped that wouldn't come up yet.

"I'll do my best."

It didn't escape her how Millie's jaw set, her eyes narrowing slightly. The woman had a hard side to her - the sadness wiped away in just a moment. She could respect that side of her, the fierce mother who'd stop at nothing to protect the little ones.

"I trust that you'll keep the right priorities in mind."

Millie was staring her down now, a hard look on her face. The fierce protectiveness, Dericka could respect, but distrust was another matter.

"I'll stop at nothing to protect this group," Dericka replied confidently, meeting the woman's eyes. "I hope that at least in that, I've done enough to prove myself."

There was a dark flicker of satisfaction as Dericka watched how the other woman's eyes flicked down to her damaged leg and the suppressed flinch and guilt that followed. She was glad to let everyone keep thinking that the injury bothered her deeply. It was a mark of what she'd sacrificed for the Party, and she would wear it proudly. It would remind them of her dedication.

Millie nodded back, face softer than before, then said her goodbyes and walked off.

Dericka let out a long sigh as she looked back at the camp, left with a bitter feeling. It would have been much better to keep the lid on that can of worms for longer. She could already imagine a stern-faced Dmitriy, leaving the group behind as he charged off into a yellow zone. It seemed like no matter what they decided on, some people were going to complain.

At least Millie hadn't dug further into the more disturbing implications of the Party challenges for staying put. If any human settlement would face a series of challenges, then Dericka dreaded what they might find when they finally reached their goal.

***

Barely two miles into the next zone, they saw their first attack. Two of the giant cacti suddenly uprooted themselves from the sandy soil and moved to attack, swinging their spiked appendages. They moved a lot faster than one would expect from a plant, but not so fast that they couldn't defend against them.

Jim and Dmitriy both carried large shields reinforced with metal, which held easily against the attacks, and then it was just a matter of carefully hacking the things to pieces. The burly Russian man puffed out his chest, smiling proudly after using his new mace to turn one cactus to pulp. It was a heavy weapon, lined with thick metal spikes, that complemented his fighting style.

"You think we could make tequila from that?" Tasha asked, crouching down to rub a bit of pulped cactus between her fingers before smelling it.

"Then I pray we come upon potato monsters next. For a real man, vodka is the only choice." Dmitriy shot back.

Kobe was unusually silent. Probably sulking because he still hadn't gotten the chance to test out his new toys, Dericka thought. She'd also told the archers to hold back and switch to spears, not expecting arrows to do much damage to these cacti.

But Kobe got his chance before long, when a dog-sized creature that looked like a mutated mole came up from the ground, all claws and vicious teeth.

It thrashed violently as he held it back with his wooden spear, his eyes seeming to glaze over for a moment as he activated his Ability. The two barbed tips shot from his belt like arrows. They passed underneath his arms, pulling the wire along until they stabbed into the mole's skin. Kobe frowned, face focused. After a short moment, the monster screeched and spasmed, but it soon got up again.

"Needs a bit more juice," Kobe murmured, focusing again. Then the mole spasmed again and remained still, the stink of burned flesh and fur wafting up from its corpse.

"Yes!" He exclaimed, shaking his fist in victory. He turned around, his whole face lit up with a bright smile. It reminded her of a schoolboy.

"Did you see that?"

"Yes! Very cool! Soon you'll be electrocuting monsters left and right!" Dericka praised, though she didn't yet see any reason to think it was any more effective than his spear.

He nodded enthusiastically.

"I need to work on my range and speed, but yeah, that was cool as hell."

After some more thumbs up and awkward pats on the back, they moved on. The cacti were easy to spot and they soon learned that they could pull one towards them from a distance by hitting it with an arrow. This allowed them to avoid more dangerous clusters of the things, picking them off one by one.

The moles were the main danger, sometimes springing from the ground in the middle of their formation with little warning. Dericka made them practice an inwards collapsing maneuver, where Jim and Dmitriy would pivot and move to the center as the archers ran out. As soon as someone called 'mole', the party would know what to do.

It made for an awkward watch at night, where people kept their ears to the ground to call out a warning as soon as they caught any sign of movement. Still, none of them got a good night's rest with the fear of one of those rabid moles suddenly popping up inside of their tent.

During the second day, Tasha also got a chance to show off her new Ability, though it didn't yet seem to be going as well as she hoped.

"These clunky-ass controls! I can't believe how shit this alien software is," Tasha cursed as another arrow missed her target.

Three moles had come out of the ground some distance in front of them, and she'd only hit one out of two shots. The arrow would be flying in a trajectory that was clearly going to miss, until Tasha somehow redirected it towards the target. The projectile would then suddenly jerk to the left, or down, but sometimes the timing was off.

Despite frequent attacks, they got into a rhythm and set a good pace, progressing quickly through this zone. Every day, after setting up camp, they drilled some formations and did target practice before agreeing on a guard schedule.

To Dericka's relief, there were no surprise notifications to lure them into another big fight. They didn't need it, as the monsters provided at least 10 Value per kill, but it would still stir up dormant tensions. She had so far put off the question of how to handle the first yellow zone by saying they would carefully scout things out and review when they got there.

As they marched, she managed to have individual chats with most people, trying to get a sense of where the opinions were and how strong some reactions might be.

The group was divided more or less as she expected, with Jim, Dmitriy and Kobe wanting to push through the yellows, while Elza, Millie and Marie wanted to go around. To her surprise, Gerald also wanted to push through, claiming his old knees would be happy with a shorter march. Tasha and Thelma did not have a strong opinion either way.

If she put it to a vote, it would be her, Tasha and Thelma to decide it. Would that be fair?

She wasn't even sure where she herself stood. Before they got a sense of what type of creatures were in the zones, it was hard to say with certainty that a yellow would be more dangerous than a dark green.

Their formation and equipment was best suited against something like the goats or cacti. If the goal was to keep the girls safe, their best shot was to avoid smaller, more agile animals like birds and squirrels, regardless of the threat level.

Besides, an extra two weeks was a long time to spend even in green zones. It was more time for people to get complacent and for accidents to occur.

Would it be best to push through quickly? Would they even be safe once they reached the presumed settlement around the MAFT? Beyond what was the correct decision for the team, she was looking for that thin line that might leave some people only dissatisfied instead of resentful.

She was still undecided on the fourth day, when they could see from afar that the moorland suddenly gave way to a field of tall wheat stalks.

"Ooh, it's the one with the pug-snakes again! Good timing, I really needed a venom refill."

"What? That is way too dangerous! We'd never see them coming."

Dericka closed her eyes for a moment, letting out a long sigh. The tightrope had just gotten a lot thinner.

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