The rebirth of society

"That's it," finished Marcus. He'd just gone over everything he'd witnessed since waking up. Marya had already given her recount. Marcus swallowed the last bite of his sandwich and drank a large gulp of water to clear his palette.

He looked accross at the others to try and detect any hint that Marya had missed something but there was only honesty embedded in their eyes. Marcus couldn't hold it in and let out a small splutter. He had freaked out over nothing.

"Is there something wrong?" Marya asked. She seemed to be the only one who didn't look 100% clueless.

"No, nothing at all." He dismissed her concern with a wave of his hand. Marya enjoyed every bite of her sandwich. She didn't hide how impressed she was that someone had made actual mayonnaise in the wild. "How did you know how to do this?" She asked completely out of curiosity.

"It's like the memory wipe has left so much space in my head, when events DO resurface, they are all the more vivid. My earliest memories that returned were the most vivid but some things just enter my head without any explanation. They must be things I learnt in school or heard from random people. Common sense you might call it."

Marcus answered in great detail because he wanted Marya to trust him. He wanted to show her he was willing to open up to them and gain the others' trust as well.

"It's the same for me!" Perked up one of the girls. Marcus remembered she had introduced herself as Lana.

"Me too!" Added James and soon Sam agreed along with them.

'So I guess I'm not special...' Marcus sighed without trying to look too disappointed. "I suppose I should finally give you guys the grand tour. Welcome to Georift!" For the next hour or so, Marcus gave everyone the grand tour. Marya paid close attention whilst noting down important information in her head.

Marcus noticed her calculating observations with respect. Everyone thought the name was cool and Marya agreed that giving their group some form of identity or recognition would make a better impression when meeting new survivor groups.

James seemed to be a cool guy who was always happy to show his appreciation. Especially that he now had a new friend around the same age as him. I guess things like that were important when you were surrounded by chaos.

Lana was eager to give off friendly vibes around everyone as well and already seemed close with Samantha. Sam was more reserved but her social side shone through her competitiveness. Marya was probably the most mature and was neither extroverted nor introverted. Marcus was glad that no one was going to be a problem at least.

"So... Marcus." Lana tilted her head to the side and stared at him curiously. "What are your stats?" Marcus couldn't remember the exact numbers since he last looked so he decided to bring it up again with the system.

Strength - 12

Agility - 15

Stamina - 13

Dexterity - 16

Intelligence - 13

Wisdom - 12

Fortitude - 13

Charisma - 9

Survival coins - 230

Defence - basic clothes (1)

Age - 17

Marcus' eyes widened. His strength had gone up by one which made sense as his survival demanded a lot of work every day. His agility had also incremented by one which was probably from spear fishing and his stamina went up by one most likely from the long trek to arrive here.

His dexterity definitely used to be 14. Putting together the water filter as well as his knife work, adobe oven, pottery skills, and shelter building would have contributed to that. The coin increase was expected as he had finally checked the system to claim any rewards from achievements, skills and quests.

His wisdom had also gone up by one due to the mental challenge he had to overcome at the start of his adventure combined with battling his trauma from killing the zombie that he thought was another survivor.

Of course his charisma was unaltered as there had been no one to talk to. However, the greatest change was from his intelligence. 'Could this be from reading the handbook and upon retrieving my memories?'

"So what are they?" Asked Marya. She was standing behind him but obviously couldn't see his screen. Could this mean the system was an implant partly covering his eyes? Marcus told them his stats but took a few points off of each to make him appear weaker than he really was.

He didn't know if he could trust any of them yet. It wasn't that he didn't believe their story, it was just that Marcus wasn't sure how many of their memories had returned yet so some of them could turn out to be not so friendly in the future.

"Seems pretty average," James commented. "But I guess it's good to be an all rounder!" They started preparing a fire after that and built a few extra shelters similar to Marcus'. Marya kept glancing at him since she was suspicious to how he had survived so long on his own with only average stats. The girls would sleep in one shelter while James insisted on sharing with Marcus.

Marya however made it clear she was to have the third shelter to HERSELF. Marcus wasn't too worried about sharing a den with James because he had such an open and honest personality.

So much so that if James did try something, Marcus would accept it and maybe even congratulate him for acting so convincing when it came to being a good person. Of course, he wasn't ready to die yet either.

'Maybe I'm overthinking it...' pondered Marcus. After having to fight for so long, was he finally safe with these new people? It didn't matter. Full of tranquility, he drifted away into sleep. His last thought was, 'I hope this feeling of security never leaves me...'

The next day was warmer than all the other days up until now. Summer was reaching its peak and autumn would sneak up on everyone in no time. Marya was determined to lead the group once more today and build the foundations for their mini tribe to thrive here. However, after emerging from her shelter, she found them all discussing something. Marcus mainly driving the conversation forward.

The old her in the time before the collapse would have strode over and took control of the situation but the events that had continued to surprise her from the moment she woke up made her instincts want to listen for once. "Ah, good morning Marya. Come join us. We definitely need your thoughts on this."

"The others told me about how you have a lot of survival experience," called Marcus whilst waving. She jogged over to stand with the others who were all up before her. She thought part of her job as guide would be to wake them up early and whip them into shape but it seemed Marcus had already done just that.

Marcus wanted to contribute now more than ever to show his new friends he was useful. With this group, they could set up the foundations for a civilisation. "Marya, are there other groups out there that you know of?"

"Yes, hundreds were put together in case of complications or unexpected deaths."

"In that case, we should expect to see more people sooner or later right?"

"Possibly... although, I don't know what country we're in so they might settle elsewhere if they're spread out far away. Some of my memories must have been lost as well." Marya furrowed her brow and looked like she was trying desperately to remember. 'I swear they briefed me on the location so why can't I recall that now...'

"In that c-case," Marcus began trying not to fumble over his words. 'Why does my charisma have to be so low...' He continued on, "we should find solutions on how to reach out to them and make this place into a sustainable kingdom."