Chapter 15: Hope

January 24, 2024 3:00 PM

Sanders followed after Jacob as they moved toward Hope. A few people started toward Sanders, but turned away once they noticed Jacob. A few gave Jacob an angry glare, but most looked to just be unwilling to approach him. Looked like it wasn't just the soldiers that were still angry with him for what happened to the colony. A sad and some what unfair situation even if it did work out well for Sanders. He didn't have to worry about being mobbed with Jacob around.

"I guess the first place I can take you is the clinic. It's the closest important spot so," Jacob said as he lead the way into the city. Sanders only partly listened, though, as he was too busy being shocked by the state of the place. When he had been with Darius, he hadn't really gotten a good look at the city. There had been too many people and too much going on to really look at it. Now, though, the horrid conditions were on full display.

Most of the buildings, if they could be called that, were made out of junk, literally. Some were old cans of soda, others were plastic bags held up by wooden frames, and most were just old cardboard boxes. Even those made totally out of wood looked rather ramshackle, jury-rigged, and like it had been made out of whatever wood happened to be around.Then again, maybe this was just a bad part of the city.

"This where the poor people of the city live?" Sanders asked.  Jacob turned back to him and gave him a confused look.

"What? Of course not, this is where the more well-off people live. What, you think everyone in Hope has a house or something?" Jacob asked as he shook his head. Sanders was stunned by Jacob's response. Holy shit...these shitty "houses" were the homes of the rich! If the rich lived like this...

"Well what do those without a house live in?" Sanders asked. Jacob's shoulders slumped a bit at that question as he sighed.

"Whatever they can," he answered without turning to face Sanders. Sanders had been afraid of that answer, but it didn't surprise him. Really, now that he thought about it, any sort of house would be a luxury out here. A luxury he took for granted in New Atlanta, along with who knows what else.

"Any plumbing or electricity?"

"No."

"Why not? Y-" Sanders started to say something else, but Jacob gave him a glare that got him to stop.

"Go ask Darius if you are so curious, alright? He's the one who decided shit should be like this...fucker," Jacob said as he keep going. Didn't take a mind reader to know Jacob was just as pissed about the state of thing as Sanders was, if not more. Sanders would have to remember to have a word with the Phoenixes' leader after this tour.

They walked in silence for the rest of the way to the clinic. Unlike the other wooden buildings, the clinic looked to have been carefully crafted and put together. Rather than being ramshackle and sorta thrown up, it looked clean, neat, and designed to last. Not only that, it was one of the biggest buildings in the area, standing about four stories tall and having a good bit of floor space. It even had a large red cross printed onto its sides.

"In case it wasn't obvious, this is the clinic. Doctor Hambly runs the place and has a large staff of nurses to help her. I wouldn't suggest going in unless your sick or need treatment. She doesn't take too kindly to people just coming in for no good reason. Though she is an angel if you are hurt," Jacob said getting a bit of a faraway look in his eye. He must be remembering said angelic times, Sanders thought. He was going to snap Jacob out of his memories when he noticed the door to the clinic open.

An older man came out first, looking rather haggard and worn out, but still moving and with a big smile on his face. Behind him came a sight that nearly flattened Sanders. Isabella was holding the door open for the older man. She spoke something to the older man before she gave him the warmest, yes saddest, smile Sanders had ever seen. The old man laughed before turning away. Isabella smiled after him before turned to face Sanders, her long blonde hai-...blonde hair?

Sanders blinked as he realized the woman wasn't Isabella, though he could tell why his mind was fooled at first. She had that same sad smile that Isabella had always had, depressing yet so warm and loving. Her breasts were just as large, if not larger, than Isabella's and stretched the patchwork white coat she wore. And, just like Isabella, her hips were large and motherly. She pushed a bit of her long blonde hair out of her sky blue eyes as she starred at him and Jacob. Her smiled faded a bit as she started to walk toward them. Sanders had to fight back the urge to dive headfirst into her cleavage and wrap his arms around her squeezable butt. Thankfully, she moved to Jacob first, giving Sanders more time to get himself under control.

"Jacob, has that stomach virus you had run its course?" the woman asked with a concerned look. Jacob nodded as he blushed a bit.

"Yes, Doctor Ham-" he started to say before the Doctor shoved him aside.

"Good, then I don't need to worry about you. And its Doctor Kimberly you dumbass," she said as her look changed completely and utterly. Rather than looking concerned and kind, she looked uninterested and annoyed as she brushed Jacob off. She turned to Sanders and looked him over before stared right into his eyes. Even though Sanders had a good head in height over her, he still felt a bit nervous as she looked at him.

"So you're the hero that is supposed to save us all with that catmonster you brought, right?" she said as she crossed her arms under her breasts. Sanders had to fight himself like crazy not to stare at them, but managed to keep his eyes on her face.

"Yes, Doctor. I'm Sand-" he started to say before she interrupted.

"Sanders, I know. Let me ask you something, "hero", can you bring the Society down by yourself?" Kimerbly asked as she glared at him. Sanders stumbled a bit to find the words, taken off guard by how quickly the Doctor had changed. She sure as hell wasn't Isabella now.

"N-No."

"Can you make sure no one else dies fighting the Society?"

"No."

"Can you give me the supplies and equipment to save all my patients?"

"...No," Sanders said as he found his eyes drift away from her face and her chest. He looked away to the ground as the Doctor's stare burned into him. She scoffed at that and shook her head.

"Some hero you are," she said as she turned around and strode back to her clinic. A nurse came out, looking rather worried just as she reached the door and both went rushing inside. Sanders stood there in an ashamed daze as she left. He looked up and noticed Jacob staring at him. Jacob turned away when Sanders looked at him and just motioned for him to follow. Sanders looked back at the clinic before following after Jacob. Some hero he was, indeed...

A real hero would have saved Isabella, a real hero would never have gotten Lindsey killed, a real hero would never have allowed this kind of world to be made. A real hero would have never let the current Matriarchs take power. A real hero would have stopped the Chinese before they even used that weapon. A real hero... wasn't here, instead, all they had was him.

Sanders followed Jacob in silence. A few people said hello and such, but Sanders didn't even acknowledge them. He was far too depressed to keep this sham up and wanted to just go back to Pyrrha to sulk. He might have done just that if Jacob hadn't spoken up.

"This is where the market sets up. Its not all that busy in the winter, though," Jacob said, seemingly oblivious to Sanders inner turmoil. Sanders tried to shake off his despair as he focused on the tour.

The area was a large open area Sanders guessed was near the center of the city. A few stalls and carts were set up in the area and people were trying to sell various things. A small crowd of people were moving around the stalls and carts, haggleing, looking, and buying. Most of the stuff on sale looked to be food, but few other things were on sale.

"Guessing there is not a lot of outside trading in the winter," Sanders said as Jacob nodded.

"Pretty much. If you needed something exotic, you should have gotten it before now. The Society getting so close to us and forcing travel to be cut doesn't help either," Jacob said as they moved through the, mostly, abandoned market. Closing travel...made sense as they didn't want the Society figuring out they were here. Easy to keep soldiers hidden, but civilians tended to be less...cooperative.

"Do people have to buy their own food?" Sanders asked as he looked at the food on sale.

"No, well sort of. Everyone gets a ration of food from the stuff we grow here along with some meat. However, if you want food grown outside Hope or extra rations, you have to trade for it," Jacob answered as they keep moving through the market.

"So you guys don't have a currency or anything?"

"No. We tried a few years ago, but we just don't have anything that is useless and in abundance that could work as coins or anything. So its all just trading or IOUs," Jacob answered with a shrug. Made sense as Sanders couldn't really think of anything to use either.Still, he had to wonder how the people who didn't have stuff to trade got by. He didn't bother to ask Jacob, though, as he was sure he would just tell him to go as Darius.

They moved to the edge of the open area of the market and came to another large and somewhat well built building. It was not as nice as the clinic, but it was better than most of the other buildings around. Of course, once Sanders saw the sign on the building, he could understand why. The sign had the word, "Bar" carved into it along with the picture of a jar.

"Guessing this is the cities bar," Sanders said with a sigh. Some drinking might help with his worries of being a "hero", but...

"What was your first clue? Yes, its the bar and before you ask they only serve moonshine. Only alcoholic thing we can make down here," Jacob said with an annoyed look. Welp, that got rid of that idea. Normal moonshine was strong and he could only imagine what this places moonshine was like. Actually, he didn't want to imagine that as it made him feel drunk just thinking about it.

"Could go in for a round if yo-" Jacob started to offer before Sanders interrupted him.

"No, that's OK. Little early to be drinking, anyway," Sanders said, trying to sound as neutral as possible. It must have worked as Jacob just shrugged and headed on. Good, he didn't want to let on he had no interest drinking with Jacob. He could think of hundreds of ways for that to go wrong and most of them ended with a trashed bar.

The next few places were rather minor and uninteresting. The city hall was the biggest building in the city and looked more like a fort than a government building. Jacob said it was more used as a fall back point in case the city was taken unawares and people couldn't get to the bridge support, though Darius did give announcements there every so often. Between those times, though, there really wasn't anything to do in there or anything to look at, they had better things to do than make art or trophies, so they just keep going.

They exited the city proper after that and headed to a large open area on the other side of Hope. They moved through a few winter people, if he remembered right, camps and got a few nods and smiles. Jacob returned them and, for once, actually looked welcomed to be around. Looked like their good will to Derek extended to Jacob as well. But, they keep going past their camps and to some buildings off in the distance. Sanders had seen them from afar with Derek, but hadn't been able to tell what they were for. Once they got closer, though, Sanders realized what this place was...

 It was a farm...a mushroom farm to be exact. Mushrooms were planted in neat rows all through the area and were being tended to a by a few people. Off away from the farm land, Sanders could see cows, sheep, and even a few horses being herded around near some cardboard barns. This place brought back so many memories...their farm before the shrink and the one after. Tending the crops, herding the animals, playing with hi-

"Nice, let's go somewhere else," Sanders said as memories of his family started to bombard his mind. He missed them so much it was driving him insane. Worse, he didn't even know if they were safe. He had just left them...left them at the mercy of Aviel and Angela and Lu...oh god...

"Huh? What i-"

"I SAID LET'S GO!" Sanders yelled as he turned away and stormed off. Jacob stood there a bit dumbfounded before shrugging and following. He had to get away from here, had to get away from these memories. He needed to go back, had to go warn them and...and do what? Take them here to this shit hole? But this place had to be better than risking Lutice finding them. And Aviel...Aviel was going to make his siblings good soldiers for the Society... He had to go bac- NO he had come to far to go running back- ARGH!!! Fuck where was that bar again?

Sanders might have just gone charging into the city if he hadn't spotted a large number of soldiers moving toward the armory with a big, rickety, empty wagon. His inner fighting died down as tried to focus on his curiosity. Odd...doubly so with all of them packing rockets and looking like they were about to go into a combat situation. Sanders slowed to a stop as Jacob caught up with him and followed where he was looking.

"Guess we are running out of web," Jacob said more to himself than to Sanders. Sanders raised an eyebrow at that and thanked whoever for this distraction. Web must be spider web, he had seen the Resistance use it on the train and a few other places as rope, though why they needed all that firepower just to harvest some he had no idea. Spiders had been shrank along with everything else so a good boot would be enough...unless...

"W-...Where are they going to get the web?" Sanders asked, a bit worried about the answer. Jacob glanced over at him before giving him a nasty smile.

"That's right, you don't know... Come on, I'll show you," Jacob said as he went to follow after the soldiers with a bit too much pep. Sanders was very sure he did NOT want Jacob to show him, yet this was the best way to stop himself from tearing himself apart. And he did need to know where this stuff came from considering how useful it was. He gathered his courage and prepared himself as he followed them.

A few of the soldiers glanced back at them and didn't seem too happy about Jacob following, but brightened when they noticed Sanders. They started nudging each other and gesturing back to Sanders. Jacob shook his head and mumbled something under his breath, but didn't look back at Sanders. Oh great, now he was jealous of Sanders' unwanted reputation as a hero. Maybe he should have just brought Samantha and let Pyrrha have her way with him...

Rather than going straight into bridge support, the soldiers went around it and to a slightly larger side entrance. A few large metal...things were inside, probably projects Helman had never finished or had turned out to be failures. Most looked to be either cannons or vehicles of some kind, but were now just slowly being scrapped junk heaps. One, however, looked to still be in working order and had two people working on it. Sanders got an odd feeling like he had seen them before, but couldn't qui-

"Taylor, hand me that wrench, gracias," the guy said. Sanders swore as remembered that voice, it was the same man Flonne had...well...

"Do you have to keep up that old cliche of using Spanish words every so often, Henderson?" Taylor said as she dug through a toolbox.

"Excuse me for trying to retain some kind of my cultural identity, chicka. Nobody else here speaks Spanish so I either use it or lose it, comprenda?" Henderson shot back as he took the wrench and got back to work, mumbling Spanish to himself. Sanders made sure to keep his head down as he tried to avoid the two of them. He had no wish to meet them and have the, undoutably, awkward moment between them. Thankfully, the soldiers and Jacob steered away from the pair and headed for a ramp leading down.

The group headed down the ramp and Sanders let out a sigh of relief when the pair vanished from sight. He followed the group down the ramp till it ended at a large room. The room had a number of spare weapons and ammo lining the walls along with wooden signs with warnings carved in them.

"Do not enter alone."
"Do not feed without permission."
"Trespassers will not be rescued," and other such signs were everywhere. A large table was on the right side of the room. Three soldier he knew were not in the group he had followed were there and seemed to be ill at ease. On the left side of the wall was a doorway that lead into a separate room. Sanders could hear a few animals snorting and moving about inside.

On the far wall was a large glass window with an equally large cement block hanging over it. The block was held up by a pulley with some web as rope.  The web rope came down to a second block it was tied off too. A flask of some kind of chemical was setting next to it and had a "IN CASE OF EMERGENCY" blazoned on it.

Next to the large window was a large metal door shut tighter than a drum. A number of locks and deadbolts covered it and one of the soldiers began to slowly unlock them. Most of the rest began to check their weapons while the others seemed to relax a little when they noticed he was here. He heard more than a few whisper about having the hero here and other things. Jacob didn't looked too happy about that so Sanders tried to get his mind off it.

"What is all this?" he asked, wondering what the hell was past that door. It must be something really dangerous to need this much security.

"This is where we keep Charlotte and make sure it doesn't get out," Jacob said as he made sure to stay out of the soldiers' way. Sanders did the same, though they didn't seem to mind either Sanders being there. The last few locks were left on the door as the man who seemed in charge motioned toward the other doorway. Three soldiers headed into the room and stayed in there for a few seconds. They came back with three fat pigs that seemed extremely agitated and were having to be nearly dragged forward. A few others moved to help them as the moved the pigs to the door.

"Alright, you all know the drill. Animals go in first to get stuck. We let Charlotte get her bacon for the day before shooing her back. Candice, Devan, and Justin, you three are on collection duty. Everyone else, keep an eye on Charlotte. First sign of trouble, we book it back here and leave anything not bolted onto you, understood?" the sergeant, or at least Sanders figured he was, said. The soldiers all nodded as the three soldiers who were not part of the group began to grab up weapons of their own, rockets for the most part. Jacob snatched one up as well before handing one to Sanders. This must really be dangerous if Jacob was handing him a weapon.

"Good, and remember we got Sanders, the hero himself, here so make sure you show him your best, let's go," the Sergeant said as he opened the last of the locks and pushed open the door. Sanders, ignoring the very unwanted title, tried to look past all the bodies to see into the doorway, but could really only tell a cave was past it. The soldiers kicked the pigs into the cave and they took off squealing. Everyone waited for a few seconds before the pigs squealing became even more panicked and terrified. The Sergeant waved them forward and the group moved into the cave after him. A few stayed back with the wagon and waited till a clear came out to move it through the door.

With the room now empty, Sanders and Jacob moved up to the window along with the other three soldiers. One of the them, an OK looking woman, stayed near the door and made sure to keep it ready to be slammed shut. Sanders tried to not think of if that was in case the soldier's ran back and needed the door shut behind them or to make sure the soldiers COULDN'T come back as he looked out the window.

Outside the door was, indeed, a cave, but one far larger than he had expected. The cave was huge, probably big enough for Pyrrha to move through comfortably. But its size wasn't what drew Sanders attention, it was the fact it was almost completely covered in webs. The tell-tale signs of spiders were everywhere in the cave and went on as far as the light allowed them to see. But these were not just any webs, theses webs were huge...far too large for shrunken spiders to make.

The squealing of the pigs drew Sanders attention to them and he saw all three of the pigs had already gotten tangled in the webs further into the cave. The soldiers who had gone into the cave stayed near the door, for now, and sweep their rockets and rifles over the area. Most of them had small hooded lanterns for light, but not much else. The lanterns lit up some of the cave, but not nearly enough for Sanders liking. Sanders had a horrid feeling about this and made sure the rocket Jacob had given him was loaded and ready.

"There, I see it," one of the soldiers with them said as he pointed toward the outer edge of the light. The woman by the door followed his finger and saw it before Sanders and shouted out a warning to the soldiers outside. Their lights shifted around and Sanders eyes widened as he saw what it was.

The thing seemed to hiss a bit as the light began to shine on it, but still it slowly moved closer. Its long, chitinous legs, all eight of them, lowered it along its web to the ground. It landed with a loud boom and Sanders gaped at its huge size. It had to be just as, if not bigger, than Pyrrha...but where Pyrrha had a mostly human form, this...thing had anything but.

The entire lower half of the thing was that of a monstrously huge spider. Its huge legs were bigger than most buildings  while the spider half of it was....fuck he didn't even know what to compare it too. Connected to what would normally be the spiders head was the truly terrifying part. The top half of a woman was connected to the spider body, though the shadows of the place made it hard to see.

Even cloaked in shadows, Sanders could see a bit of the female part. The woman half had black hair that looked to have not been washed or combed in years. The hair draped over her form and nearly hide her face completely. What could be seen, though, was enough as her mouth opened into a growl of anger, revealed her teeth to look more like a shark's than a human's. She moved closer to the soldiers, but they held their ground and their fire. Sanders was tempted to dash in and tell them to run, but figured these people knew what they were doing. This didn't seem like the first time they had done this.

The spider-woman-thing, stared the soldiers down for a second before the squealing pigs got her attention. She glanced down at them, before looking back up at the soldiers. She keep her eye on them as she bent down toward the pigs. As she did, her body was lit up a bit more by the lights. She was completely naked, though her hair was so long that it draped over her breasts. Her arms didn't end with hands, but with claws that looked capable of ripping any of them apart. Her claws snatched up the three squealing pigs as she glared at the soldiers. She slowly retreated back into the cave before leaping onto a web near one of the walls. She withdrew back into the shadows, but Sanders could still barely make her out...waiting.

The soldiers by the door and Jacob let out a breath of relief as the soldiers inside got to work. Three of them split off and began to pour some kind of chemical onto parts of the web. The chemical, probably an acid of some kind, ate through the web and let them carry the severed parts back to the waiting wagon. The rest keep their eyes on the huge spider-woman and made sure their weapons were ready.

"What the hell is that thing?" Sanders asked Jacob now that things had calmed down. Jacob smirked at Sanders before he answered.

"Spider-monster or drider if you want, though we call her Charlotte sorta as a gag. Society used to use them a few years ago, but stopped probably because of what we are doing right now. Those webs are near impossible to break and getting caught in one is almost guaranteed death, but some Japanese guy, Chijinda or something, came through here and taught us a way to treat the webs so they lose their stickiness. Do that, and their pretty much unbreakable rope," Jacob answered, seeming rather proud he knew all that. Sanders glanced back in as he put the rest together himself.

"So you guys trapped one in here and placate her with free food while you harvest some of her web. Smart, wouldn't take her long to figure out its better just to take the free food that doesn't fight back than bother with the food that will," Sanders said. As if to agree with his statement, one of the pigs ceased its squealing. Sanders could still see the huge form of Charlotte in the shadows of the tunnel, though she seem content just to stay there and eat.

"It was Darius' idea, though we didn't really trap it. We were digging out through the back of the support and more blundered into its lair. Rather than kill it, though, Darius suggested we use it to our advantage. Most people thought he was nuts, at first, but now... well sometimes he does have good ideas," Jacob said, though he seemed very unhappy having to admit that. Good idea indeed... pretty much had an infinite supply of rope now thanks to that idea. And, even if Charlotte went on a rampage and killed all of them here, she still wouldn't be able to get to Hope. A slab of solid concrete was between her and the city and she had no way of getting through it. Still...

"Has she ever killed anyone?" Sanders asked, more toward Jacob, though one of the male soldiers answers.

"Yeah a couple. Few were just idiots who thought they could map the place all by themselves. Never saw them again, though we did hear them. We have lost some during these harvests, though. Someone isn't careful and gets caught in its web or isn't paying attention and wonders away from the group. It knows not to try and rush a group that big as they'll put some serious hurt on it, but if anyone gets separated its open season," the guy answered. Jacob nodded his agreement to what he said as he went back to watching Charlotte.

"We never had anyone try to tame it, though. Want to give it a shot?" Jacob said to Sanders with a wicked smile. Sanders returned his smile with an annoyed glare.

"No, thanks. Pyrrha is the jealous type and I'm not a fan of spiders," Sanders said.

"Is anyone?" the female soldier said, keeping close to the door.

They spent the rest of the time watching Charlotte and keeping track of how many squeals of pigs there were. When they all agreed there was only one squealing now, the female soldier gave a signal to the ones outside. The sergeant circled his finger above his head and the soldiers gathered back up. They got the rather large amount of webs they had harvested onto the wagon, the three who had gathered were stuck to a few pieces, and began to wheel it back to the door.

They got the wagon inside the room first before they began to all pull back. Jacob and the people inside all stayed close to the door, looking ready to charge out just in case. Rather than help, Sanders decided to stand back and let them handle this, he had a feeling he would just get in the way. Finally, the last of the soldiers pulled back into the room just as the last squealing pig was silenced. They throw the door closed and began to, quickly, get the many locks and deadbolts back in place. Sanders watched as the huge form of the spider-woman shifted a bit and slowly vanished from sight.

"I think she's gone," Sanders said as everyone in the room began to relax.

"Yeah, its gone," Jacob said as everyone in the room let out a collective sigh.

"Nice job everyone. Let's get this stuff up to the Doc and get our people unstuck from it. Shines on me," the sergeant said getting a cheer from the soldiers. The three that hadn't been with the group put their weapons back and sat down at the table, picking up a game of cards they had been playing.

While they waited for the soldiers to push the wagon back up the ramp, Sanders moved a bit closer to the window. He knew he had said no to the idea of trying to tame this spider monster, but if he could manage it somehow... Pyrrha was already a massive boost to the Phoenixes combat strength and could, nearly, take a giantess by herself. Add in another equally powerful monster an-

Suddenly, a huge eye, no eyes appeared in the window. They looked around the room before settling on Sanders and locking him in place. Charlotte's two eyes, one above the other, stared at him as what little of her cheek could be seen seemed to rise. They moved away as its claw like hand began to move toward the window, opening as if getting ready to grab something.

"GET BACK!" Jacob yelled as he grabbed Sanders' shoulder and pulled him back. Sanders stumbled backwards onto Jacob as the sound of glass breaking sounded through the room. The giant concrete slab that had been above the window came racing down and smashed into the ground, right where Sanders had been seconds before. A loud hiss of annoyance came from the other side as something scrapped against the glass.

Sanders' heart was racing as his mind tried to catch up with what happened. Jacob shoved Sanders off him as they both got to their feet. Over by the slab where the web had been tied off, the female soldier was holding the top of the flask that she had broken over the web. A pool of acid was slowly steaming its way through the concrete, though it looked to be dissipating.

"Fucking hell, are you trying to get us killed?!," Jacob said as he gave Sanders a furious look. Sanders shook his head numbly, having only sorta heard him as he turned back to the slab of concrete. That...had been far too close. A second later and he would have been splattered or grabbed by that...thing. He had had near death experiences before, too many to be honest, but they never got any easier to recover from. Doubly so when they were death by consumption...assuming that thing did eat things.

"Quit being an ass, Jacob, he didn't know!  Just get Sanders out of here while we deal with this," the male soldier said as he and the other two soldiers began to arm back up. They keep as far back from the wall separating the cave and this room as possible as they readied their weapons. The other man who had not talked grabbed a stick and banged it against a tube going up through the ceiling, making a loud banging noise echo up into the armory.

Jacob growled at being called an ass, but nodded. He guided, then shoved when Sanders didn't start moving, Sanders toward the ramp. Sanders anger at the shove helped snap him out of his shock and he started to move up the ramp. As he did, though, he could almost swear he heard a strange noise almost like...a laugh? No, more like a rapid bit of hissing. Must be Charlotte, angry her second course was denied to her. Any thoughts of taming her were now well and truly dead.

The two of them headed back up the ramp as a few soldiers, all armed and ready, headed down. They all gave Sanders a respectful nod, but seemed to ignore Jacob, much to his annoyance. They arrived back at the, Sanders guessed, garage and found it, thankfully, empty. It seemed Taylor and Henderson had finished working on that cannon and had gone to do something else.

"I...think I would like to just head back to Pyrrha. Had enough exploring for one day," Sanders said, still a bit shook up from that brush with death.

"Don't let me stop you," Jacob said as he motioned forward. Sanders followed his gesture and saw Pyrrha's tail and a bit of her backside off in the distance.
"I'm going back down to make sure you didn't just stir up the hornet's nest," Jacob said with an angry look. He turned back and ran down the ramp. Sanders didn't fire anything back at him, kinda hard to when he was right to be angry. Sanders shouldn't have gone near that window, but he had. Dammit, if he had gotten anymore people killed...

He thought about going back himself, but he figured he had done enough "helping" today. Some hero...how right that Doctor had been. nI all honesty, the real hero was off in the distance, probably still playing with a bunch of kids. Pyrrha was the one who did all the work, who did the fighting, who had stopped that punch, and had saved his and so many other lives. Sanders...Sanders hadn't saved anyone. In fact, he had done the exact opposite... Fuck, where had that bar been?

The thought of sweet alcoholic bliss was tempting, but Sanders could see it was getting late through the drain high above. Pyrrha would be getting hungry soon and letting her go hunt alone this close to Hope filled him with dread. He needed to get back to her and make sure she didn't tip off the Society to where they were.

Sanders followed Pyrrha's waving tail around the outskirts of Hope, not wanting to be cheered on as he walked back to her. He had never gone through this area, but had assumed it was another place for the winter people to live. The tents and cook fires all through the area had looked very similar to the winter people's...but he had been dead wrong.

The tents here were ragged and torn in many places. The fires were not for cooking, but for people to huddle around to keep warm. And the people... unlike the winter people who looked hardy and well fed, these people look half-starved and in various states of disease. Where as the Winter People had stared at him with pride and conviction, these people looked utterly broken and defeated.

Sanders tried to keep from gaping in horror as he moved among them. None of the people here seemed to recognize Sanders and most didn't even look at him. Their clothing was falling apart along with their "houses". What few children were around seemed more concerned with huddling together than playing. Sanders had only seen conditions like this on those old ads about Africa back before the shrink. How the hell could they let people live like this?

Sanders turned back forward from looking over the place to find a little girl standing in front of him. She was staring up at him and seemed somewhere between fear and wonder. She started to say something, but stopped as she looked down at the ground. Sanders sighed as he wished he could just walk away, but bent down to her. He put on his best big brother smile as he tried to get her to look at him.

"What is it? If you want to ask me something, go ahead," Sanders said, using the same tone he used with his little sisters back...dammit... The little girl glanced up at him and seemed to get a little less shy. She gulped before turning up to him.

"Are...are you Sanders?" she asked Sanders with a hopeful look. Sanders had to fight not to frown or cringe at that. This was the last thing he wanted to deal with right now, but the look that little girl was giving him... It was the same look his little sisters used to give him. Did every little girl know that look?

"...Yes, I am," Sanders admitted, knowing full well there was no fighting that look. He had tried for many, many years and failed every time. The little girl's face brightened up with a big smile as she, suddenly, threw her arms around his neck. Sanders was taken off guard as he stood there in surprise, unsure whether to push her off or return the hug. The little girl broke off from the hug and smiled at him.

"Thanks for saving my daddy," she said as Sanders still tried to figure out what was going on.

"Your...daddy? What are you talking about?" Sanders asked, confused and totally lost.

"My daddy is in Derek's Force. Mommy said he might not comeback this time and I got really scared...But today she said the Hero, Sanders, had used a catmonster to save him and kill the bad giant ladies. Daddy gets to come home, now, thanks to you!" the girl answered keeping her bright smile. Now he understood what she had meant. He supposed seeing it as he had saved her dad was one way to look at it. Not exactly the way he would have looked at it, but kids didn't always see things the same way as adults.

"Oh, right. Well, you're welcome," Sanders said and was about to get up when something caught his eye. He looked to the side and saw a woman running toward them, looking worried and angry. Much like everyone else around here, her clothing was dirt stained and looked to have never been washed. Her body was somewhat shrunken in and she didn't seem at all well.

"Cindy! I told you not to go wondering off! I'm sorry, she was-" the woman started to say before the girl interrupted her.

"But Mom, this is Sanders! He saved Daddy!" the little girl yelled at her mom. The woman looked about to yell at her again for talking back, but stopped in place when her daughter mentioned who he was. Sanders, suddenly, became very keenly aware that everyone in the area had heard that and felt eyes begin to settle on him. He slowly got to his feet as the woman stared at him in half wonder and awe. Dammit, he didn't deserve that kind of look...

"Y...Yo...You're...Sanders?" the woman asked as more people began to look at him. A few began to talk among themselves and Sanders overheard a few agreeing that he looked like him.

"He is, he said so! He's going to make sure Daddy can stay home forever, right?" Cindy asked as she hugged his leg. Sanders glanced down at her and stammered out a well before looking back up. Suddenly, a number of the people in the area had stood up and were moving closer to him. Sanders felt a wave of fear go through him, at first, but it faded as he noticed their looks. They were not angry, just desperate, pleading almost for him to say yes to little Cindy, to say that he would save them from this place, bring their loved ones back, and give them back their lives. He wanted to say he couldn't promise that...but...

"O-Of course I am. I'll make sure your Daddy comes home after every mission and defeat the Society once and for all. That's what heroes do, right?," Sanders said, trying to sound more confident than he felt. So easy to say that, but actually doing it...hell he didn't even know who her dad WAS and defeating the Society...

The people gathered around him, though, didn't worry about those things at all as they began to cheer and clap. Their faces, once completely takeover by despair, was now showing signs of hope. Cindy's mother, who had looked so sickly before, seemed to become more alive as she smiled at him.  In fact, everyone in the area did. Sanders marveled at how just him giving them hope, however false, had changed them. Those promises he might not be able to keep, but maybe...maybe he could help these people other ways.

"Please, could you all stop for a moment," Sanders asked as he motioned for them to quite down. The group took a second or two to stop, but did as Sanders asked. with all their attention now on him, Sanders was feeling a bit of stage fright. Shit, there were a lot of people here...
"T-Thank you. I..I wanted to know why you live like this?" Sanders said, finding his bravery back as he pushed through. A few of the people looked around, as if remembering the horrid conditions, and darkened. Others seem to get bitter and angry looks on their faces. That might have been a poor question.

"We...we have asked Darius to help us and to build homes for us, but...He says there is not enough wood or food for all of us," Cindy's mother said.

"Its a bunch of bullshit is what it is. He just wants to horde it all for himself!" a man yelled out from the crowd. A few yelled their agreement, but didn't seem eager to do anything about it. Angry though they were, none of them looked in any shape to put up a fight. Had Darius really just left these people here to rot?! Considering how coldly he had dismissed Lindsey's death and his general attitude, Sanders leaned more toward yes he had.

Sanders wasn't going to let that stand. These people deserved houses and food just as much as anyone else. He might not be a real hero, but he knew how one should act. And a hero wouldn't just turn his back on these people. Darius had said he needed a hero to rekindle their hope, well then it was time to get firing and start acting like a hero.

"This is not right. You people have just as much right to have homes as those that do have ones. And to let you starve while others are well fed, I will not let this go on. I will go speak to Darius at once and make this right. I promise that by tomorrow you will have the wood you need for real homes and food enough to be properly feed," Sanders said to the gathered people, making sure to be loud enough for them all to hear.

The crowd was silent for a moment, seemingly stunned by what Sanders had said. But not for long as they erupted in cheers and thanks. They all crowed in to shake his hand or thank them and Sanders did his best to let each one get their turn. What despair had been left on their faces was gone in favor or optimism and hope. But the best part was that it felt...right. These people DID need a hero and he COULD help them. He knew it.

Finally, he managed to pull himself away from the group and began to move toward Pyrrha again. He still wanted to check on her before he went to Darius to talk about this. Word of his promise had spread like wildfire through the slum and everyone was thanking him and cheering for him. Sanders nodded to each one and thanked them himself as he moved through the camp. He was about halfway when an older man approached him and drew his attention right away, mostly cause of his age.

The old man had to be in his 70s, possibly 80s, and looked just as haggard and run down as anyone else here. How he had managed to survive in these conditions was beyond Sanders, but alive he was. He leaned rather heavily on a walking stick and huffed a bit when he reached Sanders. As he did the crowd quieted down and made Sanders wonder who this was. Apparently he was someone rather important.

"So you are Sanders...quite the looker young man, shame I am not in my prime anymore. Oh the things I would do," the old man said with a soft chuckle. Sanders had to fight back the urge to recoil at the horrid thoughts that barraged his mind at those words. Oh fuck, you had GOT to be kidding... Yep, time to go.

"Oh don't look so terrified. young man. Just having a bit of fun in my old age. I have enough self awareness to know no one want's to see me unclothed anymore. Now, you are going to go and talk to Darius for us, yes?" the older man asked. Sanders stopped as he nodded, apprehensively. He wasn't sure if he should stick around this old man or not, doubly after...yeah. The older man smiled a bit as he looked back over the area.

"All of you git, me and Sanders have some private talking to do," he said as the crowd began to disperse. Sanders was taken aback by how quickly they all left and how none of them seemed to have any interest in trying to eavesdrop.

"Surprised? Well don't be. These people just respect their elders, doubly so when that elder has some pull with Darius, hehe," the old man chuckled as he waved Sanders to follow him. Sanders was still unsure if he should have just keep walking, but followed the old man anyway. They didn't go far, just to a slightly better looking tent. The old man bent down to enter and Sanders followed him. Inside smelled about as bad as he figured it would and was far too cramped for Sanders liking.

"Now, we can talk in serious. You will have to excuse the smell, just part of the job you understand," the old man said, suddenly now sounding much stronger and more authoritative. In fact, he seemed to straighten and look far more healthy than he had before. He was still old, but more fit and ready old than deathbed old.

"Who are you and why did you act so frail out there?" Sanders asked as he checked his instinct to reach back for his mace. It wasn't there anyway. The old man smiled at Sanders before answering.

"William Pledger, scout for the Phoenixes and keeper of the refugees. As for the act, its to make sure they don't realize I am with the Phoenixes and to take them off guard if they do," the old man said as he stretched a bit in the tent, showing off his rather muscular physique. Jeez how had he hid that?

"So you're here to make sure these people stay repressed and in this sorry state?" Sanders said as his hand did drift back for his not there mace. Damn, he had no weapons, but he was rather sure he could win a scuffle. Worse came to worse, if he retreated outside William would have to go back into his disguise and be unable to fight. William, though, sighed as he looked down at the ground.

"No and yes," he said before looking back up at Sanders,
"No because I refuse for that to be my job. Yes because reality, unfortunately, seems dead-set on it being my job." Sanders raised an eyebrow at that in confusion as William looked up. He nodded and held up his hand.
 
"Let me explain. When Hope was first founded the Phoenixes barely numbered in the hundreds. Getting enough wood and food for everyone was simple, back then. Didn't need to cut down too many trees and we grew enough in Hope to feed everyone. However, word spread fast of the place and our numbers swelled well beyond our means. Soon enough, demand for lumber and food was outpacing what we could provide. Some thought the best answer was simply to cut down more trees and make more farms outside, but Darius was smarter than that," William said before stopping as he looked at Sanders. Sanders was a bit confused by why that wouldn't be the best option himself and William seemed to pick up on it.

"Tell me, do you know where lumber comes from?" William asked after his short pause. Sanders eyed him suspiciously wondering if this was some kind of trick question, but the older man seemed genuine.

"Trees?" he ventured getting a smile from the old man.

"Yes, very good. Smart and good looking, I'm kidding. To get lumber to build homes we need to cut down trees. However, trees are our best cover for remaining hidden. Without trees, the Society could easily find us and kill us. And even if we only cut down one or two, if their stumps are found the Society will know we were there. Who else cuts down trees, after all. This creates a problem. We need wood for everything we build here, but we can only cut down so many trees AND can't do it too close to any of our bases. So," William stopped as he waited for Sanders to finished, much like Darius did. It wasn't too hard to finish, though, now that William had laid it out like that.

"So you have to make judgement calls on where that wood goes. Darius picked defense rather than homes," Sanders said, confident he was right. He hadn't been around Darius long, but he could already see him picking that over keeping his people happy. William nodded and confirmed his theory.

"And the same with food. You only have so many farms and so much food. Better to make sure the soldiers are all feed and let the civilians go hungry than risk the hungry soldiers screwing up," Sanders said, not needing prompting with that. Again, William nodded.

"Indeed he made both of those choices. I won't get into a debate of whether he was right or wrong, not my place anymore, but I will say that talking to him will do nothing to help. Darius is set in his ways and no amount of talk will change that. I am afraid you have promised these people the impossible," William said as he gave Sanders a cold stare. Sanders didn't want to believe that, but the more he thought about the more he thought it was true. He swore under his breath as he realized William was right.

Even if he could convince Darius to go along with it, where were they going to get the wood and food? They would have to go far from Hope or risk the taken trees drawing attention. And hauling back enough wood would take a lot of effort and time, AND risk those people being found. And the food...hunting was not called catching for a reason. Though, that didn't exactly apply to Py-

Sanders eyes shoot wide as something hit him. William gave him a confused look and Sanders smiled at him.

"Not the impossible if you know who to ask," Sanders said with a smirk. He dashed out of the tent before William could say anything and took off away from it. He made a beeline for Pyrrha and ran past the people staring at him in confusion. He had no time to explain anything, he had to get to her and get to work. This might take them all night if they didn't hurry.

He dashed up to Pyrrha's head and found her still playing with the orphans with Samantha. As cute as it was, he didn't have time for it. They needed to go, now.

"Pyrrha, hunting time. Samantha, get the kids out of here," Sanders said as he brushed past her to Pyrrha's hand, still trying to catch his breath from the sprint. Samantha tried to stammer out a question, but Pyrrha's happy meow drowned it out. Pyrrha shooed the kids and Samantha away from herself before putting Sanders on her head. Samantha was still trying to shoot questions as Pyrrha got up and moved to the lake. Sanders just waved as Pyrrha stood up to walk through the water. They headed back to the drain and Pyrrha managed to wiggle her way out. Night hadn't fully fallen yet, but it was getting there. They needed to hurry and use the darkness to its fullest.

"OK, Pyrrha. Time to go hunting for more than just food," Sanders said. Pyrrha gave a confused meow in response.

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January 25, 2024 12:26 AM

It had taken them most of the night, but they had finally managed to get what Sanders had wanted. Pyrrha was a bit irritated and testy, having been up a bit longer than she wanted, but her ears perked up when Hope came back into view. Knowing what to expect this time, she went in feet first and wiggled through fairly quickly. She had to leave their stuff at the entrance, though, but reached back for them once she was through.

Sanders couldn't help but smile as Pyrrha walked out of the lake and toward Hope. Most of the city was asleep, so he made sure she walked as quietly as possible. As always, quietly was nearly silently as she inched her way to the slums. He motioned for her to put her cargo down and Pyrrha sat the two bundles in her hands down near the camp. One, full of trees Sanders and Pyrrha had taken far too the west of Hope and the other full of deer and boars that Pyrrha had hunted down but not eaten.

With that done, Pyrrha slunk back to her spot and laid back down. She plucked Sanders off her head and sat him down next to her face. Sanders turned to her and gave her a big hug.

"Thanks, Pyrrha. We are going to make a lot of people's morning with this and I'll make sure to make it worth the long night," he said to her. Pyrrha gave him a quick lick in response before curling up around him to sleep. Sanders joined her and snuggled into her warm embrace. Tomorrow was going to be a good day. He could feel it.



Oral Report of Social Status of Hope. Given by Scout William Pledger to Darius. Date: Unrecorded

"As you wish, I will give my report in complete honesty and without any sort of tact. The Social Status of Hope is abysmal. While I understand the need for rationing and not wasting our resources, to allow only a select few to have homes while other do not will only lead to unrest. You and I know the issue is not one of will or corruption, but desperate and hungry people are quick to jump to such explanations. I must, again, suggest we find some alternative to this situation."

"And what alternative would that be, William? Would you have me have the buildings use a rotation schedule? Do you think telling people that helped build those homes that they have to vacate them for a few weeks so another family who just showed up at our doorstep can use it will go over any better? And what of the soldiers who have families in those homes? Do you think they will stay loyal when I threw their family to the street? And that is to say nothing of the unrest caused by a food shortage."

"...To be honest I do not have an alternative, Darius. However, I know how smart you are and how inventive you can be when you want to. I think if you set your mind to it, you could come up with a way to-"

"I have more important things to worry about than whether a few people have a roof over their head! It is all I can do to keep our location here hidden and these distractions are not helping!"

"They are not distractions, Darius, they are people! People yo-"

"I NEVER WANTED THIS JOB!"

....................................................

"Get out William. We won't be speaking of this again."