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“Wait,” Katie said, leaning forward in her folding chair. “Are you saying we get to do the training instead of the fighting tomorrow?”
“Yep.”
“Thank God!” She wilted in her chair and took a swig of her beer. “There isn’t a part of me that doesn’t hurt.”
“Even your boobs?” Steve asked.
Roland smacked the back of his head.
“Even those,” she said with a fierce blush. “I think it’s from the climbing, and I won’t mind a few days off of that.”
“Does that mean another day of sleeping in?” Brandon asked.
“I'll find out when we go back to the hospital later. The volunteers are going to be given temporary housing after they arrive here so we can have two days with them. Waurlyn wants us to vet the rejected volunteers for any military aptitude.”
“She’s smart,” Sid said. “She’ll probably feed them well while they’re here working hard. Big pay for hard work. It might sway a few to join her rather than Molev’s group.”
“Which is fine,” I said. “Molev wants the people who want to be there. The ones who believe in what he’s doing.”
“And what is he doing?” Steve asked. “I mean, he’s saying he’s building a community, but we’ve seen what it’s like out there. It was bad in the beginning, but it’s even worse now. How is Whiteman going to be any safer than here?”
“It’s the mountains and the fence keeping us safe here,” I said. “And you saw how effective those both are. Molev thinks it’s only a matter of time before we’re no longer safe here. And you also saw how effective a fence and just one fey are against four hounds and hundreds of undead. Can you imagine that scenario with five hundred of them? Where would you rather be?”
“With Molev,” Sid said. “Doesn’t matter where as long as he’s there.”
The rest nodded, and Steve held up his hands. “I wasn’t doubting his skills, just the living conditions. Excuse me for liking showers and food.”
“Then we’ll make sure to build a community that has both,” I said. “Molev told me that he and his brothers go out for supply runs regularly. He won’t let us starve.”
Steve nodded and stared at his beer.
“What’s really going through your head?” Roland asked him.
“That undead that looked us in the eyes,” Steve said. “They’re getting smarter, and I’m letting this place brainwash me into thinking it’s safer.”
“Stay focused on what you can control, not what you can’t,” I said.
He nodded, and we all looked at the sliding door at the sound of it opening. Roni and Molev came out to join us.
“How was the run?” I asked, looking at Roni.
“Necessary,” she said, taking a seat. “What’d we miss?”
“We’re training the first group of volunteers tomorrow instead of having a mixer,” Sid said. “Andie’s going to find out when they’re arriving.”
“Good.” Roni glanced at Molev, who stood beside my chair. “What are we looking for tomorrow? I mean, there’s the obvious–anyone too afraid of you or the assholes who dismiss or look down on you. But what are you really looking for?”
“People like you,” he said, looking at all of us. “People willing to work together. Willing to listen to one another. People who understand loyalty and hardship. People who haven’t given up hope and are willing to fight for a better future. Even if their way of fighting isn’t with guns or training.”
“I think I’m tearing up,” Brandon said. “No one’s ever said so many nice things about me.”
Katie rolled her eyes at him.
“What moves do you want us to cover?” Roland asked.
“We should stick with basic blocking,” Sid said. “There’s seven of us. We can divide the volunteers into even groups to pair them off, each of us in charge of seven to eight pairs. Assess and rearrange based on skill. That way, Molev can move around, watching all of them. When he calls the first break, we can send the ones with the lowest skill to him.”
“Why lowest?” Katie asked.
