After everyone had finished consuming their lunch or supper, it was a bit later in the afternoon than expected. Don asked everyone to meet up in a meeting room. The room was filled with tables and chairs, much like a college class, and at the front of the room was where Don was standing. Several papers were on the tables and a stack of papers on the podium in the front of the meeting room.
Everyone gathered into the meeting room shortly after Don arrived. There had been some time before the meeting was to commence, so everyone had gone off to do their own thing before coming to the meeting room. They could see various papers on the tables, and Don asked everyone to take a seat. The papers were in a packet and stapled together.
April took her rightful place beside Don, and everyone gave a quick look through the paper. It was mostly just words with headliners in bold text labeled plans. The paragraphs were broken into bullet points to provide an easy and clean read. Once everyone was situated, Don began going over why he called everyone here.
"As of today, we will be preparing for the future. This will be our new home. Some of us will be leaving sooner than others. We may even find others who will have to remain here longer; therefore, we need to build this base. Keep it fortified and make it into a fortress that nothing can get through." Don stated firmly. April smiled softly and nodded lightly in agreement.
Everyone was amazed by what Don had just said. They figured they would just lay low here the entire time. After all, that was the original plan. Don did tell them there would be stronger foes in the future which was why they trained, but for the most part, they figured they would just lay low until it was time to leave.
"As you are all aware, stronger undead and bugs will be making their appearance. We have already encountered one of them, but we will get to that later on. For now, please follow along with the packet before you." Don addressed while picking up the packet from the podium and smacking his hand against it.
Everyone looked at the packet of papers before them and noticed that it read, 'Preparing for the End.' Josh already know what this was about. Don had given him a detailed explanation of what was to come, and it seemed that the others would soon learn about it as well.
"First off, we will need to assign everyone a task. Most of you have already fallen into tasks naturally; before those of you who haven't, there will be no need to worry. Next, I will assign you tasks best suited for your skills. Now then...." Don began.
"Cooking. Everyone will be required to cook. For right now, it will be a two-person job. Alice and Sarah can't always be cooking, so this will be a good chance for the lot of you to learn how to cook." Don explained. April jumped for joy, shouting, "Yay! I can finally eat my darling's food again!" Everyone gave her a confused look, then Tim asked, "You can cook?" Addressing his question towards Don, who nodded. "Of course I can," Don replied without tooting his own horn. April's reaction was enough to show just how much of a good cook Don must have been."
"Up next, The Lookouts. They will be taking over the watchtowers. Each Squad will be required to perform a set number of hours to keep on the lookout. This is to allow others to rest and do other things that they want to do. The First Squad will be the Queen's Squad. They will perform WatchGuard duty at 1000 hours. After that, they will be on duty for three hours. After that, the King's Squad will take over, another three-hour shift, then the Three J's Squad will take over."
"Then, Lucky Cover's Squad. Next will be Brave Hearts Squad, Next Rough Diamonds, Mysterious Spades, and then the Ace Squad. Every Squad will have a three-hour shift for a total of twenty-four WatchGuard duty. So, we can make sure that no one is under attack." Don explained.
The Lookout and Cooking tasks were on the plans, but it seemed like three people had been forgotten. "What about us?" Tim asked, referring to him, Katelyn, and Lily. Don's lips curved into a smirk. "You will be with April and me, the Ace Squad. I have plans for you three. I'll let you know when we get there. For now, don't worry about it." Don explained. He didn't want to have people asking him questions until after he finished with the packet. He knew they would if he brought up the fact that he and April were leaving.
Josh knew they were, and even he had barraged Don with a bunch of questions. Tim accepted it for now, but in the back of his mind was wondering what that was about. So, for now, Don moved on to the next task on the packet.
"Misc. Duty. These will be simple things like maintaining a clean base, tending to the garden, and even patrols. Even if someone is on WatchGuard duty, we will need patrols. As such, those of you who are not on WatchGuard duty should take it upon yourselves to keep up the maintenance of the base. I have made a list for each of you to look over, as such..." Don would turn around and pick up a dry-erase marker and begin writing on the Misc. Duty tasks on the whiteboard, but leaving the spots empty. "I will be taking suggestions." Don expressed, leaving the floor open.
On the whiteboard, the tasks read as follows:
Misc. Duty
Cleaning Duty -
Gardening Duty -
Scavaging Duty -
Scouting Duty -
Base Building Duty -
Maintenance Duty -
Patrol Duty -
"Not everyone has to be in each of these Duties, but I strongly suggest that people go with the Squad I assigned you as. Then, it will be easier for you to stay together and perform your other duties." Don explained.
Juan was the first to speak up, "Lucky Clovers would like to volunteer for Cleaning Duty." Catalina seemed fine with it, and Sofia was just as happy since it meant she could keep doing what she wanted. Don nodded and wrote their Squad name next to Cleaning Duty.
"The Three Js Squad will take part in Scavaging, Scouting, and Patrols," Josh stated while raising his hand." John and Jake looked at him with a nod, and Don nodded and wrote their Squad Name next to the duties.
"The Queen's Squad will take part in Gardening, Cleaning, and Patrols," Alice stated. Sarah seemed to agree, and Rose just gave a soft nod since it seemed like she didn't have much say in it. Don wrote their Squad Name on the whiteboard for their duties.
"The Mysterious Spades will take part in Base Building, Maintenance, and Cleaning." Noah came forth. Natalie and Tyrone agreed with this; since it seemed like this would be good for them. Don nodded and wrote their Squad Name down.
"Brave Hearts will take part in Maintenance, Patrol, and Base Building," Ryan stated firmly, and the others agreed. One of the reasons for Base Building was thanks to Dillian's Seed Power; as for Patrol and Maintenance, Ryan and Sussan could help in a minor sense with Maintenance, but Patrols was something Ryan wanted to be part of. So, Don wrote their Squad Name down.
"The King's Squad will take part in Patrols, Scouting, and Scavaging," Boss spoke for his Squad, and they agreed. Don nodded and wrote their Squad Name down. A heavy sigh came from the back of the room, and Ion seemed to speak up next.
"The Rough Diamonds will take part in Scouting and Scavaging." Don wrote their Squad Name down, and that was the last Squad. After that, the whiteboard was filled with Squad Names for different tasks.
Misc. Duty
Cleaning Duty - Lucky Clovers, The Queen's, Mysterious Spades,
Gardening Duty - The Queen's,
Scavaging Duty - Three Js, The King's, Rough Diamonds
Scouting Duty - Three Js, The King's, Rough Diamonds
Base Building Duty - Mysterious Spades, Brave Hearts,
Maintenance Duty - Mysterious Spades, Brave Hearts,
Patrol Duty - Three Js, The Queen's, Brave Hearts, The King's
With that done, Don turned to Tim. "Tim, Katelyn, and Lily..." Don looked over these three as she said their names. "You three have not been giving a Squad name, and as such, I will now ask you an important question. Out of you three, which one will be the Leader of your Squad?" Don inquired. Everyone was shocked by this question. "Leader of the Squad?" Tim asked.
Josh sighed heavily. He knew what Don was about to do and say. Don nodded, "Yes. Before you all start asking me questions, I want you all to know that April and I will be gone for a while. I will get more into detail about that later, but for now. A Sub-Leader needs to be determined. Each Squad will pick a Leader for their Squad. This Leader will write reports of what goes on. Documentation of sorts. During my absences, it will be up to these Sub-Leaders to guide the base in a good direction and keep it stable." Don explained. Everyone was now awestruck.
Don had been thinking so far into the future that it was almost as if he had planned for something. Then they remembered what the first page of the packet had on it. 'Preparing for the End.' They felt like something was about to go down and that just because they made it to this base, there would be more to prepare for.
"I think Tim should be the leader," Katelyn stated.
"I agree. I'm not too good with that sort of thing." Lilly added.
Tim blushed a deep red. "Uhh... are you sure?" Both of them nodded to Tim. He smiled lightly. "Then I'll be the leader," Tim stated. The truth was, he had been their Leader from day one. He always called the shots and kept them safe. They just only spoke of it now and brought it to light.
"Good, then Tim come up with a name for your Squad," Don stated, which put Tim on the spot. He blinked rapidly in thought. His mind right now was blank, and he couldn't think of anything. His eyes darted all over the place, looking for inspiration, and then they locked onto the whiteboard. All of the Squad Names resembled a Deck of Cards, but there was one thing missing from completing the Deck. "We'll be known as the Tricky Jokers," Tim stated with a proud smile.
Katelyn and a few others couldn't help but giggle since it sounded cheesy, and even Lilly blushed from embarrassment. "Hey! It fits! I mean, look at all the other names. Rough Diamonds!? Brave Hearts!? Even Mysterious Spades!?" Tim exclaimed with his face slightly red out of embarrassment. Still, after his claims, everyone seemed to turn their attention towards Don. It was Don who came up with the names after all.
Don just chuckled, "It's a good name. It completes our base. The Fortress of Fifty-Two. The Deck is now complete." Don stated with a smirk. Even if it sounded cheesy or seemed cringe, it sounded proud and awe-inspiring when it came from Don. They felt proud to be part of this family. "Now then, Tricky Jokers, select where your group will be," Don stated.
"Well, it looks like Gardening may need some help. But, unfortunately, we don't know much about Base Building or Maintenance, so Scouting and Scavaging would probably be best for us." Tim stated, and Don nodded and wrote their Squad Name next to Gardening, Scavaging, and Scouting.
"Now, with this complete, you all need to select your Sub-Leader or Leader of your Squad. I'll give you a few minutes to group and talk about it." Don said, and the Squads began grouping up and discussing who would be their Sub-Leader. Don took this time to have a cigarette. It had been some time since he has had one. He really wanted one; however, when he was about to lit the cigarette up, April snatched the Zippo Lighter from his hand.
"Don...." April looked up at him with puppy dog eyes. Don sighed heavily when he saw this. She had been pestering him about a certain thing he needed to stop doing. She didn't like that Don smoked. She hated the ashy taste from his breath and hated the smell. She had asked Don before about quitting, and he said he would do his best. He actually did get better.
He went from one pack a day to one pack a week, but thanks to everything that had happened, it was more like one cigarette a week now. So, in truth, Don was keeping to his promise of quitting, but the nicotine was something he really enjoyed, more so, the icy chill in his throat. "You'll have to make up for this one. You know that, right?" Don stated while removing the cigarette from his lips.
April's face tinged a bright pink. "Uh.... umm... yeah." April was fidgety. This had been the second time Don had said something like that. The first time she remembered so vividly. How he was so rough and forceful, but she had found some enjoyment from it. This would be the second time she would experience such a thing. April handed back the Zippo-Lighter, and Don took it while putting the cigarette away.
"Hey! Where did you get cigarettes!" Jen shouted from across the room since she saw Don putting the pack away. She hadn't ever actually caught Don smoking. Even during that time, April slapped him and scolded him; this was the first time she caught him. "Here," Don said as he tossed her the pack but kept the lighter. He had found it quite fun to play with it from time again. When his hands were idle, he always fiddled with it like some kind of coin.
Jen caught the pack, opened it, then smelt the ashy menthol smell, and her eyes fluttered as if she was some kind of drug addict. "Yessssh~" She mused happily. Boss shook his head and shrugged, and everyone just seemed to sigh in one way or another.
"Well, it looks like each of you has found your Sub-Leader. Shall we begin?" Don inquired, and everyone nodded.
"From the Rough Diamonds, it will be Ion," Jessica stated.
"As for the Brave Hearts, we believe Ryan will be suited for this position." Sussan brought forth.
"Rose of the Queen's Squad," Alice put forth.
"I will be the Sub-Leader for the Lucky Clovers," Juan stated.
"Josh will be our Sub-Leader, for the Three J's Squad," John said.
"Noah will be ours for the Mysterious Spades," Natalie commented.
"Rebecca will be our Sub-Leader, for the King's Squad," Boss stated. Both Jen and Rebecca looked towards him as if that wasn't what they agreed on. "What? Yeah, I used to run the school, but that was way back when. Besides, you the Vice-Leader of our entire group. Whenever Don isn't here, you took charge." Boss said, and they both sighed heavily. "Just seems like you don't want the responsibility." Jen muttered, and Boss chuckled, "Perhaps." He didn't deny it, which made it seem like Jen was correct.
With that said, all of the Squads had their Sub-Leader; up next was determining something Don knew would be easy and quick. "Now, all of you will pick A Vice-Leader for when I am gone and a Strategist," Don stated. This one went by quickly as everyone pointed to Rebecca for being the Vice-Leader and Josh for being the Strategist. No one questioned it. Time and time again, Josh had come up with plans for their survival. As for Rebecca, when Don went off to do things, Rebecca was the one they all went to. They just felt like she was the Vice-Leader, and in the end, both of them accepted this position.
"Good." Don had written down the new positions with the names under them. "Now... for a reason for all of this," Don stated, which got everyone's attention. "I will be heading to the New World Government HQ to obtain several suits of NS armor. It will be April and myself. This is why the Tricky Jokesters will be on WatchGuard Duty with us. They will be taking out our spot when we leave. This is also why everyone has their tasks. So on top of your Cooking and Lookout Duty, you will be occupied with your Misc. Duty tasks. You can do whatever you want in your free time, but just make sure you put time aside for your daily training. This should keep all of you busy and preoccupied while I am away." Don stated.
No one knew what to say. They were all too awestruck. Sure, Don said he would need to go to their HQ to get the NS armor, but they figured they would be going with him. Of course, they didn't expect this. It was as if Don was preparing for the end... Then it hit them. That was actually what he was doing. The title of the paper was just that. Preparing for the End.
"That is all... We will need the NS armor because the End of the Year will be the toughest trial yet. We will be going up against..."