The four Dreamwalkers took the seats that were sat out for them in the main lobby of a hotel as the civilians gathered together. Many people were wondering what the reason behind it was as they looked at the serious expressions of the Walkers. 'I wonder how they'll take it.' Callum suppressed a sigh as they waited for everyone to get comfortable.
"Ok, now we have something serious to discuss, and it will take all of us to decide what to do," Tom said as he stood up and glanced at the crowd. "Cal and I discovered an area further into the fog that contains one of the machines we need to get supplies."
The crowd became restless at his casual statement. A series of voices called out, asking why they were not already moving there. The voices grew louder as people asked for the reasons. At that moment, Tom held up his hands to silence the crowd.
"Now, you need to understand the situation before we cast a vote. The building will be difficult to defend. So we'll have to spread out. It's the only preventative measure we can use to make sure our group won't be entirely wiped out in an emergency situation." Tom paused as the crowd seemed to think about that. However, he had yet to drop the worst news on them. "There's another issue we need to discuss. We believe we have found the edge of this world."
The room grew silent as people struggled to accept the meaning behind his words. Callum heard questions being shouted, with the majority of people asking Tom to explain what he meant.
"We've discovered that just beyond the area I told you about, the world seems to suddenly end. This means that we'll have nowhere to retreat to and we should assume the same thing happens, no matter what direction we go. So, we either settle there and do our best to mask our presence from the horde hunting us. Or we stay on the move and never settle."
The room exploded with discontent and fear at his explanation. From what the civilians could tell, they would always be trapped in this city where their lives would always be at risk. Some of them began shouting that it was no life at all to live like that. They demanded for scouting parties to be sent out to confirm what Tom had said.
"If that is what you wish, we can definitely scout out other areas. But first, we have to decide if we'll make use of this area we've currently found. Rachael, tell us what you found while we were away."
Rachael coughed and stood up as Tom took a seat. A firm expression appeared on her face under the gaze of the crowd.
"We discovered that there is working electricity in all the buildings in this area. They're all free of dirt and dust. Each apartment has running water and working plumbing. Basically, this area is as close as we can get to the things we had back on earth. My opinion is we should settle here for now and use it as a base to increase our understanding of what we're dealing with."
Rachael then took her seat as Amy stood up. "I've spread my smoke pretty far. We're of the opinion that this will interfere with the gobs' methods of tracking us. Of course, this will have to be performed routinely to keep us as safe as possible. There were no signs of the green fog or anything following us. My opinion is the same as Rachael's."
Amy took her seat as Tom gazed at Callum and nodded. With a deep sigh and an unsure expression on his face, Callum took his place before the crowd.
"You've already heard what Tom and I discovered. I'll admit, it's a source of concern for me. I haven't been here as long as you have. So I may not understand everything as well as you. But I don't like the idea of having our backs against a wall. If we settle there, then I have to be blunt." Callum paused as he noticed frowns appearing on the faces before him.
"Us four can't be responsible for protecting you all. The only way I see this working is if a lot of you volunteer to help defend our new home and aid us, Walkers, when we hunt. If we keep going the way you have been so far, then we Walkers will end up too exhausted to help when we're really needed. So, we'll have to come up with a contribution system or something to hand out rations. That's my opinion on the matter."
Callum shrugged as he sat back down to the sound of toxic comments. 'I knew they wouldn't be happy. Especially the elderly and those with young children. But we're not a country and we don't have anything in place to support those who are struggling. We won't get anything done without their help, and it wouldn't be fair to distribute the gains from the few to the many.' Callum sighed as a debate began amongst the civilians and the other Walkers. Nobody was interested in what he had to say anymore.
'If they go like this, then the group will collapse with jealousy and ill intent towards each other. There's bound to be people getting angry if they risk their lives to help secure rations while others do nothing and reap the rewards.' Callum shook his head as he saw the desperate times ahead if they did not deal with it now. 'Tom's essentially an idealist. He wants to treat them like they were on earth. But the situation is different here and we have to adapt to survive. If they can't see that, then maybe I should search for Adam's group.'
A few hours passed as they debated and then held a vote. With the majority agreeing to move to the area with the ATM. However, to Callum's disappointment, there was no decision reached regarding what he had said. Some had even wanted to return to the library, believing there was maybe a way to return to earth there since that was where they had appeared in this world.
"That was brave of you," Rachael said as she walked next to him while the group gathered their belongings.
"It was just the truth. Sometimes it's better to say unpopular things just to open people's eyes. If they don't understand or don't want to understand the situation, then they'll just drain you dry. Seriously, what would you do if an attack came, but you were all exhausted from hunting and dealing with everything else?"
"What could we do? You made a valid point. But everyone's still in a fragile state of mind and still trying to accept this isn't a dream. You making that statement basically crushed their hopes of returning to their normal lives anytime soon." Rachael sighed as her big brown eyes peered at him from beneath her cap.
"I get that, but leave them like that for too long and it'll become normal. We have to get them focused on something before they take our protection and help for granted. They'll just turtle up and expect everything to be handed to them."
Rachael sighed as she thought about it some more. "How did you get so smart?"
"I didn't." Callum chuckled. "I read fiction and watched movies. Stuff like this always happens in disaster or horror movies. Relying on just a handful of people for everything is a dangerous move. They either crumble under the pressure, get betrayed, or take control of everything. Whichever one happens, it never ends well."
Rachael nodded in agreement. It was a wise observation either way. The surrounding crowd was restless with the hope of having somewhere safe, warm, and with comforts that they had been used to. She seemed deep in thought as she studied the people. As if she were trying to understand the thoughts running through their minds.
Luckily, it did not take the people long to gather their belongings. As Rachael had prevented them from settling into those buildings on the off chance Cal and Tom found somewhere better. Before long, the group was on the move again. There were less complaints this time around as they did not have to go too far. As soon as they arrived at their destination, Callum chuckled at the chaos that unfolded.
He shook his head as the excited crowd rushed into the buildings to pick out their apartments. However, Callum felt restless. 'I can't believe the gobs have just given up. They've been relentless so far. There has to be something else going on here.'
"Where you off to?" Rachael called out as she spotted Callum walking away.
"Hm? I thought I'd check out a few streets over. Nothing wrong with being prepared, right?"
"Ok, cool. I'll come with you."
Callum was taken aback. However, he did not let it show on his face. The pair walked in silence as they located a junction and headed away from the new settlement. Rachael fidgeted a bit as they walked through the fog. Her eyes constantly went to the few lights that were turned on.
"You know. They'll come around eventually, Cal. They can't ignore what you said." Rachael chewed on her bottom lip as she spoke. Which made Callum lose confidence in what she said.
"Maybe. Maybe not." Callum sighed while frowning at the buildings. "But they'll have to get their act together soon. Sometimes it feels like only us four are thinking straight."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know. But don't you think it's weird how the four of us seem to have accepted our situation pretty quickly? While everyone else still seems to be in denial. It's just too unusual."
"I guess you're right when I think about it. Do you think it's because we're different?"
"Hm. You could be right. Maybe it's because we're Dreamwalkers. It's like we're built to accept this world as real." Callum let out a long sigh as he focused on the buildings again. They walked around an old abandoned truck as Callum shook his head. "We should go back."
"What? Why?"
"Haven't you noticed? Look at the buildings." Callum swept his arm in a wide arc to draw her attention to their surroundings.
"Oh, crap!" Rachael cursed as she realised what Callum wanted her to notice.
"Yeah, the buildings here are run down and there are no lights on. It's not a good sign."
"You think it's another unsafe area?"
"I'm not even sure if where we've settled is safe. It makes little sense for those buildings to be fine and have electricity. Think about it. Where do they get the power from?"
Rachael shivered as a chilly breeze swept over them. Her mind was a mess as she tried to find an explanation for his question. However, nothing came to mind.
"You don't think it's some kind of trap. Do you?"
"Tom seemed to think it might be. But I think he forgot about it once we found the ATM. Maybe he's just hoping he was wrong. Who wouldn't want a safe space for us to live?" Callum shrugged his shoulders as they about turned.
"Oh, my god! Cal!" Rachael suddenly nudged him as she pointed to the sky above one of the buildings to their right.
'Well, that's definitely not good!' Callum cursed as he watched the green fog roll in over the buildings. "Let's hurry back and warn the others!"
Fear clouded his thoughts as their feet pounded against the road. 'Tom was right, but none of us really wanted to believe it.' Callum glanced over his shoulder and noticed the fog closing in from down the street as well. 'They took so long to catch up because they'd spread out to encircle us. They hoped to catch us at the edge!'
It terrified him to think how smart they had to be to do something like that. This way, there had never been any hope for them to escape. 'It's got to be that thing from the church! It probably ordered this after Amy's smoke threw them off when we entered the subway!'