The commotion in the hall quickly picked up, with people inserting their opinions and concerns into the conversation. I listened to each argument, paying close attention to the people who spoke up and making a mental note of them. They all brought up good points. Some of them voiced things I was thinking myself - like the guy who was talking about 'needing to see a plan' - but some people brought up things I hadn't considered - like the girl talking about midwives. That part kinda hit hard, making me realize we had no idea how many people were left in the world. Maybe this tiny little group of 25 strangers was all that was left. We had no idea.

I noticed the book being passed around, asking for everyone's name and skills. It wasn't a bad idea. When the book was passed to me, I skimmed through it real quick, trying to match some of the skills and names with the people who had spoken up. Andrew had already written his name and skills down, so I looked over them before I jolted some things down.

Jean:
-First Aid
-Pilot
-Navigation/Planning/Mapmaking
-Martial Arts (hand-to-hand/weapons)
-Basic engineering skills (very basic, really)

I couldn't think of a whole lot of things relevant to our current predicament, but I put down a few things.

[u ] Jed[/u]
I got the book back filled with everyone's details, I nodded in recognition, it was more than I expected. I expected a group of blubbering idiots who needed to be spoon fed. Instead I got a group of capable people with a vast range of skills. Then a woman at the back spoke up, "Hi sorry, my name is Morganna. My question is, there are 20 of us, how are we all going to fit in one farm house. I know the farms around here and I know that there is no place big enough for us all to live in comfort.
My second question is, have any of you noticed something? The disease has picked off a certain kind of person. I have not met anyone who is till alive with an IQ of lower than 80. It has left those that are capable alive. And it has struck households of discord..."

She was cut off by an uprising of murmurs. I meerly looked at her. Her name was in the book, an ambulance driver or something. Although she kept quiet, I could see Teri pondering the idea that soething bigger might be at work here, she always did enjoy the supernatural.

"Intresting thought, but we cannt linger on thoughts like those" I pulled out my map from behind the counter and showed everyone the red mark where the farm house was. "The farm is here, as Morganna mentioned: we cannot all stay there for the time being. Mostly because the first thing we need to do on this house is fix it up. It's overgrown the plants and weeds and stuff." I gulped nervously as the group watched my every move. "If we can all meet tomorrow at 10am, or after that then we can get started. And finer details then.
Second this is: food supplies. How much food do we all have combined and how long will it last? Like what was mentioned, we have a lot of livestock that are not being well.. Eaten. That we can make use of" god I should have phrased that better. "And thirdly: weapons. This small pile on the table is not going to cut it. "I went behind the counter and brought out my three guns. One, a hunting rifle; and two shotguns. "I'm not going to hand these out for obvious reasons, but is this really all we have?"
"And thirdly, communication" I brought out a basket and passed it one so everyone could take one of it's contents. "I made these, I took an ordinary cellphone and worked the inside to be like a walki-talkie radio. The radius of signal is 20 km and it is solar powered to charge the battery which will last over night.
Unfortunatly I cannot single out the signal so these will act as communication for the lot of us"

A group near the back, including Morganna did not take radios and they voiced theire reason "our group intend to go to Florence to look for any survivors. We inteded to leave on Saturday. (Let's say today is Wednesday) before this came up, can we go and then come back?"

"Yea sure! Like I said, I intend to build a safe haven. So that's all I have to say. I hope to see you tomorrow. Ponder on it over night and raise all your questions tomorrow after we've. All had som$e time to think on it"

Callum

I was happy with what I heard and with that I took my leave. I spoke to Jed after he finished addressing the congregation. "I'll be back tomorrow and will help where it is needed regardless of where or what." I said with a smile. I grabbed a radio, my hockey stick of the table, put up my hoodie and snood and then left the town hall. I decided to find a place up high and after a moment or two inspecting a couple of buildings, I settled for the roof of a three storey house. It was outside the hall and everyone could see it. I am by no means athletic but I was told I'm strong so after an hour of persistent trying I finally made it to the top. I opened my backpack, took out a bottle of water and drunk about a quarter of it before looking about for others or anything else interesting.

Seamus

I liked Jed's thinking, and walked up to him after his speech was over. I shook his hand, "Hey, I'm Seamus, I like your thinking. Look, I've got a bow and a knife, and I was thinking that I could do some hunting if you want? What do you say?"

I hoped that Jed would agree to me hunting, I needed something to take my stress out on, and thought that archery was the best opportunity.

It took Miykael alot longer to get back to the town hall and he was seriously worried that they might leave without him. Who knows how quickly this farmhouse thing would be implemented? The self propelled carts were effective, and as far as he could tell werent too hindered by weight, but he had to go around anything that was too steep, which wasnt much. When they found better materials, they could probably make ones that were much faster and more capable of hilly terrain.

Something else worried him... a farm... a farm had fences and stuff but its not like they were trying to keep out animals. This safe haven was gonna be a target. They needed WALLS. And sturdy walls might be tough to build... now if they could move the farm equipment... say on a couple self-propelled carts... they could set up that farm somewhere far safer... like one of the Bari castles.

When he pulled up to the town hall it was quiet and dark. For a brief panicked moment he thought maybe they had left. But peeking inside he saw they were just quietly deliberating. Finding a pen and a pad of paper, and ripping off the suicide note on the top page, he began to write down details on the carts, their functions, how they worked, what could be acheived with them... He drew a map to the castello Normano-Svevo from various countryside communities surrounding Bari. And his arguments for why they should implement a plan to move the farm there. He decided hours ago that he didnt want to be a public figure, so all these ideas would need to be expressed by someone else. Who better than that leader guy, Jed?

Everything about this castle was perfect too. The Normano-Svevo had gardens and fields, living quarters for an entire village of people, walls that bordered the sea on one side, with a spectacular moat and drawbridge stup on all the others, gorgeous smoothly crafted walls that werent crumbling, a guard tower on the inside, was built on a steep hilltop, and the walls had sniper notches on two seperate levels. The only major issue was that his carts couldnt make it up those hills, but by that time he expected they could find some beasts of burden who could carry the heavy stuff until they found a way to improve his carts. All these details and ideas, he wrote onto the paper, and signed them
-M
more dramatics, but whatever. He was a dramatic guy.

When he was finished, and was sure his thoughts were clear, he copied it all down a second and third time. Once for himself, and once for Brown Beard, as a backup. Then slipping inside and doing his best to avoid contact with anyone, he slipped one copy to Brown Beard's pocket, who happened to be in discussion with Jed, to whom he handed the transcript personally and without a word, before leaving. He thought he heard someone call out to him... but he wasnt sure, and didnt want to talk anyways... then, leaving the cart and the materials and supplies he gathered that day with a note saying they were for everyone, and also signing it with an M, he wandered back towards his clock tower to stay the night...

Teri
Jed was promtly bombarded with questions so I left him, lifting the radio to my mouth I pressed a button and spoke into it. A second letter "Testing" echoed out all the radio's in the room. People turned to look at me and I just looked back at them what? They needed to be tried out. Whatever. I stuffed the radio into my pocket and left the hall. Unclipping the two dogs who were estatic to see me again, I immediatly mounted Black Beauty and kicked him on, away from the hall. The dogs will be able to keep up, but for now. We need to get home, and fast.

---

That night I worked. I packed a tent, gas cooker, all the bottled water and food I owned, what little toiletries I owned, blankets, clothes, all the basic stuff. Into suitcases that were stashed in the cupboard of my bedroom. I then filled several cardboard boxes with soil and dug out and re-potted all my plants. No way in hell I'm letting my hard work go to waste.

Then I pulled my small cart out the garage and piled everything on. I made it with my boyfriend when we looted houses together before he...
Our names were branded onto the drivers seat of the cart with tipex. He had painted the wood dark green, my favourite colour and the colour of my eyes. "Hmph" was all I had to say to the memories.

I barely slept that night and arose when the sky started to lighten. I buckled Beauty up and attached him to the cart, the dogs jumped into the back and lay ontop of my pile of blankets. I looked back at my house. It's green roof, the ivy that was now so out of control you could barely open the gate. The drive way where I would play ball games alone as a child. And the roof that I always dreamed of sitting on but never picked up the courage to brave the dangerous walk across the thin tin of the garge roof to climb on the clay tiles. A lump rose in my throat, and I struggled to breathe normally. Birds sang around me as the echoes of hooves on tar clapped around me.
As eauty trotted I sang, I was never religious even though I went to a catholic junior school, but somehow Kumbaya my lord was soothing. Probably just the slow meleody.

Things began to slowly wind down I heard a group say that they were going to Florence to look for survivors I briefly thought about joining them but I decided to wait and think it over that night. The same girl who walked around asking for everyone's weapons also handed out walkie talkies and she tested them before she left. Shortly after I grabbed my knife off the table and started walking to the dorm that I hadn't been in nearly a month.

I slept relatively well last night I thought about the people who were going to Florence on Saturday day and if they're there today I'm going to talk to the about joining on this expedition. I woke up before the break of dawn and raided the library of the college I found three or four medical textbooks and some higher level psychology textbooks I put them in a bag I found in the corner of the room and started walking to the meeting place

I looked over in Morganna's direction when she introduced herself. If what she was saying about Goldilocks was true, she wouldn't be the only one to have figured it out, and cults had been started by less. Between the IQ and 'households of discord', it could inspire some supremacist movements focused on IQ, or a fundamentalist group that punished 'discord'. That could be worrying.

Other than that, Morganna and the guy raised some pretty good points. Accommodation, a place to farm and supplies had the highest priority. I had no idea how long the workdays were in Italy, though. Around this time of year in Texas, the sun would be setting around 6-7pm, while it wouldn't set until around 9pm at the height of summer, so a 10pm start tomorrow would ideally give them 8 hours of work time, not including lunch breaks. Hopefully the farm would have some farming equipment, too. Like tractors, machetes, saw, clippers, tools, nuts and bolts and generally things that would make their job easier. Maybe even a welding set-up. If the tractor or vehicles ran on diesel, that would ease some of our fuel problems. Maybe.
That was when I felt a hand in my pocket. I started slightly, looking at the guy walking past me while grabbing for my pocket. He looked like the guy from the rafters, and I prepared to chase after him to get whatever he'd taken, but a quick search showed nothing missing. In fact, he'd left a note. Something about a nearby castle, wells, walls, protection and fortifications. It was signed '-M'.

It was a good idea, something we could work towards, but until then we needed a home base to at least start farming food and water before moving on to bigger projects. Worst case scenario, we could probably build a sturdy wooden wall from, 8-foot thick wooden beams. I'd seen it done with some cattle traps in Texas. It would help us have a safe place to herd livestock and we could probably use it to protect any houses, at least until the castle became an option.
The meeting slowly broke up though, and I gathered the dogs and Chopper and headed home. They were right when they said we'd need more weapons, too. We were probably going to need to go old-school. Sure, we could melt down some of the more useless items for spears and things, but we were probably going to need bows and arrows and things. Even packing your own bullets, shells and powder could only go so far.

I slept relatively well that night, the dogs keeping me warm, but in the morning I was anxious. This was going to be a lot of work and it was a;most a guarantee that some personalities were going to clash, not to mention the uncertainty of things now. Morganna sounded like they were going scouting, so I had to hope they didn't run into any trouble. Or have trouble follow them back.
Saddling up, I made a mental note that I'd need a cart before too long, depending on how Chopper world react to it, and got ready for the day.

Jed - The Farmhouse

Jed was already at the farm by the time everyone arrived, standing in front of a run-down looking farmhouse. Net fencing surrounded the property with tangled weeds creeping up along the fence line and signs of rust prevalent throughout. A simple twist on some of the wire would be enough to snap off a piece. Overgrown weeds and vines crept up the walls of the home and the wooden panelling looked weathered and worn, with holes visible in parts.

“I’m glad that you could all make it here.” Jed greeted the assembly that had gathered before him, “As you can see, there’s no shortage of work waiting for us! I’ve come up with serval jobs that need our immediate attention and I’m looking for volunteers.”

Waving a hand towards the farmhouse, Jed brought the groups attention to the dilapidated building. “The most obvious job is cleaning the farmhouse here, cleaning out the rooms and making this place livable, or at least maneuverable. I’ve seen inside already and I have to warn you to watch out for some holes in the carpet and floorboards.” He then nodded to the vines and weeds, “Next is the weeds, or the plants and grass in general. Fortunately there seems to be a tool shed behind the house that should hold branch cutters and the tools we’ll need. Then we need to start organizing a place for livestock. The fence here is in need of repair and I saw some holes as I came in, as I’m sure all of you did too.”

Turning back to the group, he addressed them with an optimistic smile, “Finally, we need volunteers for a patrol, scouting out the property and even looking for furniture, fences, doors and equipment that can be scavenged or repaired. Morganna has already mentioned that she plans to travel to Florence, so hopefully she’ll return with supplies, but for now we need to see what can be found around the this area.”

“Our friend, Miyka has also taken some initiative and scouted out a nearby castle that may prove quite beneficial in the future once we’ve established a home here.” Looking at everyone evenly as he spoke, Jed smiled broadly, “I have no doubt that we be able to work together towards a better tomorrow starting here! Through hard work, perseverance and goodwill we can start to reclaim what was lost and rebuild, no, improve the world that was taken from us!”

Beaming with optimism and anticipation, Jed look at the group, “So! Who wants which job?"

Miykael had followed the group from the rooftops until they reached the city limits. Having woken up early, he left his clock tower and stashed a few supplies there just in case. Then he went off towards the group and waited on the town hall until they started to leave. When they arrived at the farm (Which looked pretty ratty to be honest) The leader guy, Jed began detailing what needed to be done. For some reason Miykael felt he would be most useful going to Florence, having lived there awhile, he knew the city very well. Also, he was certain that protection would be needed. Florence was a nice little hive of agressive groups last he'd been there. He wasnt sure who they'd come across. First things first though, he fashioned himself a quick crossbow, and whittled out some bolts. Then he volunteered to go along with the group to Firenze.

(Those going to Florence, you join me now) Morganna
Morganna stood next to Jed, watching the crowd he had gathered.
The rest of the guys were leaning against the truck. The back was filled with backpacks of clothes and food. Luckily her late husband was a zombie enthusiast, and after his first season of The Walking Dead he had built a safe room with all the needed supplies, including a years worth of diesel. Above the truck a solar panel gleamed, a supplement for the truck's power thanks to Morganna's talented abilty with a pair of wire citters and wire.

Her long red hair was braided and lay slumped over her shoulder . One of the guys on the truck's bonnet slipped and fell forward, knocking a dent into the car "Oi! Watch it asshole" she swore at him. Shoving him away from the car where she leant, now protecting the vechile from any further damage. One of the kids checked out his forehead where he had hit the car, it was scratched and bleeding "see if you can get him a brain as well" she called to the first aider.

Once the party was asembled and Jed had spoken to them she hollered "anyone going to Florence, over here!"

I slept okay that night, I mean sleeping on roof tiles wasn't the best idea I ever had but I slept nonetheless. I woke up and hurriedly made my way to the meeting this morning, keeping my snood and hoodie up for the meeting. I was torn between staying and helping or going out and scavenging when presented with the choice but I decided to wait till I was last and see what the others all picked first. Suddenly there was a crash which made me turn to see what had happened. Turned out a car had bumped into another which made one woman very angry and in my opinion over reacted. I turned to the lady and said "Hey! What's your problem it was an accident. They happen y'know?"

Miykael was starting to see a pattern of delusion... Something about this didnt make sense... but he had helped at least, creating the self propelled carts and sharing the designs... He decided he would head to the castle ahead of them and see what there was to see. Who knows... he might even stay there... Hopping on his cart and wrapping the rope mechanisms, he rode off for Svevo, wishing them all the best...

A ginger boy stalked over and shouted at Morganna "Hey! What's your problem it was an accident. They happen y'know?"
This made Morganna tense up as she glared at the boy. Nobody had ever talked to her like that. That just made her more angry and she began to fume "Who are you? Wait nevermind, I don't care. Are you coming to Florence? If you are, put your stuff in the back. I want to go"
She snapped at the kid, and got into the truck's driver seat. And sat sulking with her arms crossed.

"Hmph, Princess." I muttered under my breath as I turned to see the others. I made my way over to Jed and told him that I would go where I was needed and not where I wanted to go. Mainly because I had no preference but I admitted to myself last night that I didn't know how to fight properly, having never been in one before so perhaps scavenging wasn't a great idea but anytime is as good as any to learn I suppose. Of course I was never going to tell anyone this, I wanted to look capable despite being young compared to everyone else. Either way I let Jed know and I waited yet again to see who went where and who needed help.

It was the second meeting already, where we were supposed to pick who went where; either out with the scouting group, or staying to help fix up the farm.

The day was still young as I walked up the gravel drive toward the farmhouse. The place immediately made me skeptical, wondering if this little run-down farm was really going to be some sort of strong hold. I kept my opinions to myself as I joined the growing crowd. Roscoe and Akira were still stupid as ever, and took off after some squirrel or something. At the last second, I was able to catch Roscoe by the collar, but Akira was already gone. He ran across the field, barking like an idiot, and I knew I wasn't going to be able to call him back. Cursing under my breath, I tied my make-shift dog leash to Roscoe's collar and drug him with me. Hopefully, Akira would come back when he found whatever it was he was so determined to catch.

I had decided the night before that I wanted to go with the group to Florence. I didn't want to stay bound to the farm, especially after I had seen what kind of condition it was in. No, staying still was not my thing. Regardless, I listened to Jed's little speech. I didn't dislike him, but he didn't give me any sense of confidence in his capacity to be a leader. Maybe it was just because I was a horrible, cold-hearted person, but I didn't like his sentiment. At a time like this, compassion had to be kept in check. We couldn't allow ourselves to make decisions based on emotion, and instead had to chose what would help the greatest amount of people survive.

Say someone were to steal from our food source, or god forbid, murder someone. We had no prison, and even if we did, could we afford to waste resources housing and feeding a criminal? Where do we draw the line? Do we forfeit our humanity for the sake of survival? I worried Jed was too nice, and would be unable to hold everyone together in one of those sticky situations. Even if no one had clearly stated he was going to be our leader, right now, everyone's logical choice would be to turn to him, since he was running these meetings.

On the other hand, there was Morganna. Now, she was something. I didn't particularly like her either (and I was starting to consider that maybe I was just a pessimist) but she certainly gave the impression of being able to hold her own. I was concerned she would maybe act for her own gain, instead of for the good of the group, but I had more confidence in her leadership then Jed's.

She already looked annoyed by time I joined her and the rest of the group. She sat in the drivers seat of the truck, arms crossed. I didn't want to set her off like I had seen that other kid do, so I made a mental note to watch my attitude around her.

“Hey there,” I said, raising my hand in a simple greeting. “I'm Jean; I'm gonna be tagging with your group.” Roscoe growled softly, but I silenced him with a sharp jerk of his leash.