Work or Starve

About half an hour after Ba'al had finished killing the shade, Samantha came outside to take over for him. "So, do I need to worry about whatever that was screaming earlier?" Samantha asked, looking around.

"No, I took care of it." Ba'al stood up and handed the scroll to Samantha. "I think this skill would better suit you than me, since I haven't seen you fight up close yet. This will make it easier for you to avoid the zombies, and to make extra time for you to chant your spells."

Looking at the scroll, Samantha nodded. "Thank you, this will definitely help. I am indeed lacking in close range support."

Walking inside the gymnasium, Ba'al saw that many of the students inside sighed as they saw him enter. 'They must be worried because of the shade's screeching. I should actually warn Samantha about it.' Turning back, Ba'al said, "Samantha, the thing I fought was called a shade. They leech Mana and resist most magic with ease. If you see one, call for support, they are slow so it isn't that intensive for time." Seeing Samantha nod, Ba'al went back inside. "Everyone, the screams you heard were from a creature that I had killed. I doubt there will be more of them, so everyone should be fine for tonight." Heading towards one of the more empty walls, Ba'al sat down and stretched, yawning at the same time.

'I guess I should rest for tonight. Nothing will come of exhausting myself.' Laying against the wall, Ba'al used his bag as a pillow.

A few hours later, Ba'al woke up to the sounds of several people arguing. "Why do I need to go out there? There are monsters out there, not to mention zombies! Look at that guy over there! He's one of the only fighters we have, and even he got hurt!" Someone was yelling, and focusing, Ba'al could see that it was a guy pointing at John, whose shirt was a bit torn and he had bloodied bandages covering his left shoulder.

Getting up, Ba'al walked over to John and asked him what happened. "It was a mutated snake. The thing was huge, but luckily non-venomous. I took it down, but because of the blood, a bunch of zombies gathered around here. Samantha and Abby are clearing them out right now."

Nodding, Ba'al walked over to the people who were arguing. "What is the problem here?"

"What is the problem? These idiots want us to go out there and scavenge for supplies! It's basically a death sentence out there." A guy with short black hair was flailing his arms, and he had a bunch of people standing behind him.

Opposite of him was a girl with platinum blonde hair. "We need to get supplies! We have almost no food, and with the need to save water, we need to get medicine since people are likely to be getting sick." She had most of the other people inside with her.

Ba'al took in both groups before replying, "We do need to make sure that we have enough food and supplies to make sure we can survive."

"What the hell? Why do all of you want to die so badly? If that's what you want, then go, but don't you even think about stealing our supplies!" The annoying guy raved, pointing straight at Ba'al.

"Your supplies?" Ba'al's eyes narrowed to slits as he walked closer to the raving idiot. Grabbing his finger, Ba'al twisted, "Get this out of my face."

Falling to the ground, the guy screamed, "My finger! This fucker broke my finger!"

Looking at the group who stood behind the guy he maimed, Ba'al coldly stated, "If anyone here does not wish to work to ensure everyone's survival, they will be the first to go without. Should we run low on food, then they will eat none, should we lack shelter, they will sleep outside first. When we have abundant supplies, they will eat enough not to die. If this is a problem, then leave. While this situation persist, we shall operate under a simple rule, work or starve."

From behind him came a slow clapping, "Well said indeed. If you didn't propose that, I would have. Although, I'm not entirely sure if we should even give them anything in the first place." Turning, Ba'al saw Samantha making her way inside. Behind her, he could see that the sun was already up, making it maybe eight or nine in the morning by his estimate.

"I was just giving them an olive branch. Maybe after a few days of having almost nothing, they will give in and finally start moving their lazy asses." Ba'al crossed his arms as Samantha used a towel to wipe the blood off of a dagger she had. 'She got a new item.' "Well, there are only four fighters here, which means there are only four of us who have any real say in what we do. What do we say?'

"I vote for getting supplies." Abby chimed in quickly.

"I can stay back and protect the gym until I recover." John offered.

"I guess we should gather supplies quickly then." Samantha said.

"If anyone wishes to grow beyond what they thought possible, they should come with me. I will help anyone hunt their first zombie so that they can help with protection and other basic things. Who will step up?"

Immediately one guy stepped forward. "I would like to volunteer. My name is Luke Vandenberg."

"Nice, Luke. Now, anyone else?" Ba'al scanned the crowd before taking another look at Luke. He had golden-brown hair that fell down into his blue eyes. He was a bit taller than Ba'al, standing at about 6' 4". While a bit lanky, he had a decent amount of muscle on him. Looking at the guy with the broken finger, "I guess no-one else wants to fight for themselves. If you want to be like this prick, don't think that I will stand for it. Anyone who abuses others, abuses their privileges, or tries to incite violence or chaos will be dealt with with extreme prejudice and with no hesitation."

Just as Ba'al turned to head towards the exit, he heard a voice, "I-I would like to t-try to get stronger a-also, please." Looking back, Ba'al saw a small girl with brown hair peeking out from her hoodie.

Walking over, Ba'al held out his hand. "Ba'al Callisto, who might you be?"

Taking his hand, she said, "I-I'm Amana. Amana Nadir."

"Well then Amana, I will make sure to protect you as you grow stronger. As long as you do not break any of the rules mentioned before." Ba'al smiled at Amana.

"Let's go, we have a limited time since it is quite dangerous outside." Samantha and Abby had already rounded up everyone who was willing to help while Ba'al spoke to Luke and Amana.