Chapter 10: Growth

The following day brought about some changes to our current status quo, having the population of the Sanctuary virtually double meant we had to make some changes. Asking around the new individuals to find out what skills they had was paramount as it gave us an indication of how to fit the new group into the existing one.

Andrew was an accountant and had run his own practice managing the financial records of 20 or so clients, this would come in use helping Nat in the warehouse. He could assist her with the reporting of the current level of supplies and helping me with organising the reports we collect and make about various happenings around the area.

Setting up an appropriate reporting structure to facilitate the current operations as well as any further growth is important in the early stages. Not only is it easier setting it up now due to the smaller work load but down the line we would be set up for any population boom that we underwent. Being happy to have something to do Andrew and Nat moved off in order for her to show him what she had done and the current set up.

Sue had been a primary teacher before everything happened, she was in between schools and had been teaching for about 15 years. Seeing as we had a few children in the Sanctuary it would be good to try and get some form of education set up for them. Though the structure of a proper curriculum would have to change as we didn't know what the future held for us or anyone else. Sue was happy to start organising a plan of attack and to cover some of the basic subjects, though she did ask if we would be able to get her some books or study materials the next time we were out.

I did recall that there were a number of baby stores which would have some younger stuff for any young children and there had been a book store quite a bit further east of our current position. Not sure what the situation would be at the shopping centre the book store had been located we thought it would be good to check much later when we have expanded and we could send a larger group.

Finally, the last new member was Andrew's brother Roger, roger had been a general labourer and had worked in different areas of construction from parklands through to larger apartment buildings. He would be very useful helping out Tom with any construction and we could see the relief on his face knowing that he would have something to do and having his skills be put to use. The added benefit was now that we had two individuals skilled in construction work it would speed up any new build significantly.

Being aware that we would gradually increase in size we tasked Tom and Roger with making some new buildings for people to sleep in. The convenient part of the amenities still working despite a forest over growing the surroundings was that we essentially just needed the new buildings to have a sleeping and living area. Making the build much faster and we could focus on quality as the quantity wasn't a problem due to the faster construction process.

We didn't want to detract the natural look of the surrounding area so we made sure to instruct Tom and Roger to focus on making the buildings fit in as much as possible. They didn't think it would be a problem, we just needed to get some more supplies from the hardware store and they could begin. Two of the new children were asked to help Theo with his current work, organising things in the club rooms and keeping the area clean. Two of the kids were a bit older than Theo being Alex and Noah, 8 and 10 and the oldest who was Roger's son Luke was 14.

Luke on the other hand wanted to help us in the trips out of the Sanctuary, wanting to see the unknown and face what is out there. He was a bit of a thrill seeker and we made sure to explain to him as well as the other new people the actual process in order to be allowed to come out. Luke wasn't too happy with the decision to wait yet he understood that where he currently was, he had no chance of surviving against any predator out there.

Different from Theo however was that being older and much more physically able, we were open to the idea of him going through the enhancement process as long as his father gave him permission. Roger said it was up to him, and we explained about the fact a better physical fitness gave you a much better return and in a surprisingly mature move, he agreed to put it off until we thought he was ready. Though he did state that he wanted Dan to put him through his paces after seeing his abilities in the forest, I would have to admit there was a fair bit of hero worshipping going on.

Coming up with a game plan we set about putting it into place, everyone moved off to begin their work and like normal we started with the initial intake of the enhancing food. The rest of the day proceeded like normal, instead of heading straight out Dan started organising workout routines for the new people we had. Not wanting to head out without him we did some more resource collection in the immediate area and just inside the tree line of the forest. Collecting some wood and plants that seemed edible from what I remembered we made our way back to the club rooms after a few hours.

In that time Dan had organised a plan for everyone, nothing too tailored but a general fitness routine to acclimatise people to their increasing abilities and we had asked Sue to put together some intellectual games and puzzles to challenge out minds when we had eaten the vegetable as any exercise that taxed us mentally was beneficial under its effects. We had already done something along the lines before but having something more standardised would be good for new arrivals.

We then headed out to get some more specific building supplies to help Tom and Roger begin some construction and that pretty much took up the rest of the day. We used a trolley from Bunnings to load up on supplies and avoiding any encounters on the way back was much easier now we knew what to look out for. By the time we returned everyone else had finished their tasks and were sitting around getting ready for dinner. Nat had taken over the book keeping and organisation of the enhancement process and had rotated throughout the day to ensure everyone got the optimal effects. Having it all documented so far was assisting us in streamlining the process and we had worked out some of the smaller issues and problems that plagued us in the past.

In preparation of more individuals joining us we devised a test to be implemented upon arrival to determine how much of the berries that an individual could consume without causing themselves harm. This constituted a basic fitness test which consisted of push-ups, sit-ups, a run around the Sanctuary and a weighted lift. Something very basic but it covered multiple areas of fitness and we felt it showed someone's level quite appropriately.

Concluding the day, we set out a list of tasks for the immediate future so we could stay on track and ensure our time was as productive as possible. The main items were firstly building new lodgings, then finding any survivors, sourcing food and other supplies and creating a map of the surroundings.

The next few weeks saw much development in the Sanctuary, the regular trips out into the forest to find supplies had been a major success, they had needed to make another store house to keep all the goods. Tom and Roger had made an amazing start on the new lodging having multiple residences up and ready for people to move in. They had constructed 4 new dwellings, being 2 smaller 2 bedroom houses and 2 larger 3 and 4 bedroom houses. They had made a great start on another 2 houses with the additional help they had received, on top of the increase to their physical and mental ability.

The population of the Sanctuary had shot up, with their regular trips into the forest Dan, Sarah and I had come across another 4 groups that wanted to join us. We didn't invite them straight away, but gave it time for us to meet them regularly and get to know them. This also gave us time to set up accommodation in the Sanctuary to ensure we all weren't sleeping in the club room.

Having as large an increase that we did was a bit intense at the start, getting everything organised but with the groundwork we had put in place early is ensured that it was a relatively smooth operation. Over the 4 groups we had around 11 new people join us, two families, one couple and an individual, and various occupations across the groups. We had a cook, a man who had been a warrant officer in the army, a receptionist, the couple had both been in university studying law and business and two home makers.

This gave us a good spread and after allocating people to different areas we had a good community being set up here. Some of the responsibilities that we had taken on initially due to lack of help was able to be spread out upon the new arrivals. Dan was able to pass the fitness and combat workouts off to Michael who had been in the army.

The canteen/ kitchen responsibilities were handed off to Lucy who had been working in a local burger joint. The receptionist moved to assist Nat and Andrew in their work and was able to take on some of the work load now we had more people coming on board.

The two home makers took over the responsibilities that came with making sure the club rooms were operating effectively, from cleaning the place to setting out whatever was needed for our meetings or dinners. Ensuring the surrounding lodgings were clean and tidy and kept an eye on the kids, they helped out Sue who now that she had some materials to continue their education.

Seeing the progress we had made was extremely satisfying, and being able to be a part of something that helped so many people so far and what we planned to do into the future was satisfying. The club room had a transformation as well, it becoming our unofficial headquarters it had turned into more an office now, on top of where Dan, Sarah and I lived. Tom had installed some walls and partitioned off some rooms where we slept, and a separate boardroom where we had regular meetings to keep everyone updated on our progress and any issues.

We had created a kind of map of the surrounding area with key locations marked down, this was pinned up on the wall in the club rooms and as we found more stuff it was added. This meant that whoever did venture out was able to do so much more safely now we knew what was in what location. We also kept a tab on the estimated supplies remaining at the stores in the commercial area, and again updated it each time we returned. This gave us an indication of when somewhere was running out and when we needed to look elsewhere to find the same or similar things.

After the near month and now that we had settled into a routine, we had come to a decision that we had the ability now to explore further into the forest and see if we can find any other groups of survivors as well as seeing how much the area has transformed. We had the supplies and ability to protect ourselves and the facilities and systems in place that we could handle a further increase of residents. Wanting to expand our skills and experience we wanted to see if we could find any medical personnel and technically skilled individuals, mainly in construction, plumbing and electrical.

The possibility of finding some more specialist individuals was very appealing as well, the potential to research and discover more about what made the Sanctuary so special was pretty high on my list. While I had been able to make sufficient discoveries and think up various theories, I just felt that I was only scratching the surface and there was much more waiting to be found.

With this plan in mind Dan, Sarah, Michael and I headed out to the original area where we found Tom, Nat and Theo. With news of people moving toward the police station we thought that this would be the best place to find people. Not knowing what to expect we made sure to have our make shift spears and plenty of supplies in our back packs to last us for a few days. Leaving Nat and Andrew in charge of the Sanctuary while we were gone, we explained that we would only be gone for a 2 to 3 days at the most and only to send people to look for us if we weren't back in 4.

Bidding farewell to the residents of the Sanctuary we headed into the tree line excited for what may be discovered and the possibilities ahead of us.