“That’s not what it is,” Danielle said. “If the whole thing is just about protecting me, why would God give me the Bodyguard class? I wasn’t even trying for that.”

  “You too?” Akari asked, surprised.

  “Well, it might be an ordinary System thing,” Danielle admitted. “I mean, I protected Heather from Arny, then we did that training and right after that I protected you and Sadie from the thorn thrasher – um, kind of, but that was sort of the way I was fighting? Style- and priority-wise? I don’t know if that’s a Class I’ll be actually taking, but I did get a Skill out of the same unlock that, um, I did take. So if he’s supposed to find someone who instructs and protect his enemies, maybe we’re supposed to share that training with him?”

  “Oh, and what gifts are you planning to give him then, huh? If you’re just going to take his dream as instructions from on high?” Heather demanded.

  “No clue. Presumably God will tell me when the time is right,” Danielle said. Though now that Heather mentioned it, Danielle realized if he was supposed to be defending others, she could give him a relevant Skill token now.

  “My vote is still no. Even if he was going to be a model friend and ally from now on, just being seen with him will bring Vanessa and her cronies down on our heads,” Heather insisted.

  Sadie sighed. “We already can’t stop Vanessa from coming after us,” she said. “Vanessa hates three things above anything else: she hates it when Danielle is ahead of anyone in the System; but literal hundreds of people in camp know Danielle is level 2. She hates it when Danielle uses System abilities, especially if they’re at all jealousy-inducing; Danielle is known to half the Systemists in camp to have unlocked at least one Skill and Class that they all want. Last, she hates it when any of us, but especially Danielle, act like it’s OK for us to be friendly with the people she thinks of as ‘her kind of people’ – which is anyone popular or, um, in the spotlight I guess. Well, even before Gideon came to talk to us, Zephyr was already hanging around, trying to talk to her instead of the other girls that think he should be with them. The chance that Vanessa won’t hear about any of those things in the next few days is so tiny it might as well be zero. Unless she’s so hungry and desperate she actually decides she can’t be bothered to care about Danielle anymore, she’s going to come after us.”

  Sadie turned from Heather to Danielle. “Set up the actual vote, and go first,” she said.

  Danielle stared at her. “Really? You think we should vote on their membership right here and now, without even going over the charter with them or anything?”

  “Is there anything that could be in our charter that would stop you from joining, if you really think God told you to?” Sadie asked Gideon.

  “Well, hypothetically, maybe,” Gideon said. “Maybe even the thing where girls are going to tell me what to do, if it wasn’t for the fact that it was mentioned in the vision. In reality, though, God wouldn’t have told us to join if anything that was a deal-breaker was in the charter, right?”

  “Hypothetically, it could be a test, and you’re supposed to ask us to reform the charter first,” Danielle pointed out.

  “Is there anything like that?” Ezra asked her.

  “Of course not – not if you mean what I think you do – I mean, except if you were from a denomination that takes the hard line on women in leadership positions, even when it’s outside the church,” Danielle said.

  “I’m not,” Ezra said simply.

  “Not for stuff outside the church,” Gideon said. “Go ahead and vote. Um, I just want to see the charter when we do get back, of course. It does have a clean exit clause, I hope?”

  “It does,” Jordan said. Gideon gave him a complicated look; possibly wondering how he’d gone from enemy to friend so fast, Danielle guessed.

  “All right, all right,” she said. “My Skill just ended, so private discussion time is over. As a member of the council of the SHAD Party, I hereby initiate a vote to add applicants Ezra and Gideon, who are here with us, as Welcome level members of the organization,” Danielle said. “With unofficial probationary status.”

  The System prompts came up, and Danielle voted “Accept” for both of them, wondering if she was going to regret the decision. Worse, she saw Zephyr getting up from the next firepit over, and realized he’d just heard her call for a vote. Possibly both votes.

  She was right; he came right over, even as Heather and Akari were still dithering over their votes, and quietly said, “I hung out and did get-to-know-you talks and stuff like you asked, but now these guys come out of nowhere and make you look like you want to run away and you still let them have a vote to join? Why can they join and I can’t?”

  Danielle buried her face in her hands. “It’s hard to explain, and half of the reasons are secret anyway,” she mumbled between her fingers.

  “We may as well let him have a vote!” Heather said. “As a member of the council of the SHAD Party, I hereby initiate a vote to add applicant Zephyr McPherson as a Welcome level member of the organization.” She paused for the notification to come up and said, “Zephyr Accept, Ezra Accept, Gideon Deny!”

  Danielle stared at the new system prompt, then glanced at Sadie and Akari. Sadie just shrugged. “I vote accept. He’s not going to cause us any more trouble than Gideon. Probably.”

  Akari had her head down – praying? She hadn’t voted at all yet, and Danielle had missed Sadie’s votes; she might have done them using visual interface.

  “As the only member at the middle level, so far, I would like to make an advisory statement to the effect that I would vote to Accept Zephyr if I was on the council right now,” Cassy said. “Not just because I think he’s right that we’ll have fun talking magic together, but because I think he’s closer to being in your situation than you think – dealing with popular people that don’t have his best interests at heart, and all. I think his coping methods are just different than yours were.”

  Akari finally sighed, and looked up. “Accept all,” she told the System. “Do we get to write rules for dealing with 50/50 splits in – ” she broke off. “Three to one?”

  Sure enough, the System reported the voting results for Gideon as 75% in favor. Danielle flicked her eyes at the Accept vote for Zephyr’s prompt. “Um, congratulations you three, you are now provisionally accepted as Welcome-level members of the party. You’re free to do whatever tonight, but tomorrow you’ll need to come by our room when we get back to town and read over the actual charter. Um, all five of you, actually.”

  Gideon looked into Heather’s glare and said, “Welcome is not how I feel right now.”

  “When we named the membership levels, we weren’t imagining higher powers telling us who to accept,” Sadie said.

  “Higher powers?” Zephyr asked, raising his eyebrows.

  “We’ll talk party secrets tomorrow when we can do it behind closed doors,” Danielle said.

  “Why, though, Sadie? Seriously, why?” Heather demanded.

  “I’ve seen compelling evidence of higher powers,” Sadie said. “I don’t wanna fight with that.”

  “Look on the bright side, Heather,” Akari said. “We have ten people now, and one of them is a Scout. We can hunt deer by ourselves!”

  “Ten people to feed and protect, though,” Heather said. “We might have to hunt deer ourselves.”

  “Not every day,” Danielle said. “We can still alternate snaring and fishing – maybe set up a second fish trap. Everyone’s still going to be pulling their weight every day, and the ones that aren’t used to hiking a couple miles a day will have to get used to it, just like you did. There are more people between you and having to learn to tan hides for yourself; more people – ”

  “ – to heal in an emergency!” Heather interrupted.

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  “ – to contribute to our healing mana stash, too,” Danielle argued.

  “Wait, are there dues with this organization?” Gideon asked in alarm.

  “Only if you want me and Heather to heal you for free in an emergency,” Danielle said.

  Gideon’s glared at her. “Is that some kind of threat?” he demanded.

  “No, it’s just not a charter thing either,” Danielle said. “Party members so far have donated to a stash of mana tokens for use by the party Healer, which is Heather. When we ran into the thorn thrasher, she used some to heal the worst cuts, and we donated it back up to – what is it now? Fifty?”

  “Fifty,” Heather confirmed sulkily.

  “Right. So that’s something we all did because we trusted her and each other, and in return, we have first dibs and don’t have to pay it back like outsiders do. It’s not in the charter, so you don’t technically have to do it, but if you don’t contribute to the supply, you don’t get the benefit. We’d still help you, but you’d have to pay it back like anyone else,” Danielle said, trying to keep her voice calm and reasonable.

  “That makes sense, but I think I’m going to hold off on contributing until after we see the catalog on Saturday,” Ezra said. “I feel like I didn’t pack very well, and there’s some stuff I’m really hoping will be in the catalog.”

  “That’s fair,” Sadie said. “We already killed the thorn thrasher by our favorite fishing spot anyway. I think we’ll probably fish tomorrow – or no, I mean Saturday. Wait. How are we going to get food for Sunday?”

  “We already have it,” Danielle said. “We’ve got days of dry fish and venison. Maybe we can plan to go foraging tomorrow afternoon and Saturday afternoon, though.”

  “Us girls and Jordan have days of fish, but do these other guys?” Heather asked, challengingly.

  “That’s a fair question. How are you guys supplied for food?” Danielle asked the boys.

  “Um, I’m down to pemmican and hard tack, but I can put out squirrel snares while we’re foraging and handle my own meat,” Tom said.

  “I have a cooked bird in my cold box,” Zephyr said. “Duck, I think. Don’t you guys share food, though?”

  “We always divide food out to shares unless we’re eating it right away,” Danielle said. “Our room guide told us – us founders, I mean – she told us not to let anyone make us dependent on them for food, and we try not to do that even to each other. When we make hot-pot like tonight, we put back in a share each.

  “Also, those of us who are Christians – um, again, from the girls; we haven’t brought this up to the other guys yet – we take off Sunday as our day of rest, and spend time praying together; and we encourage the rest of the party to rest even if they don’t do it for religious reasons. We only get one day of ‘weekend’ out here, but everyone needs to rest sometimes so they don’t wear themselves out or go crazy. The deal is, we try extra hard on Saturday to have enough food on hand for Sunday, so we don’t have to choose between working and starving (or eating our emergency rations).”

  “Wow, really? That’s, um. Has it been working?” Gideon asked awkwardly.

  “Yes, really well actually,” Danielle said. “Pray about it tonight, and we’ll do our best tomorrow and Saturday around the disruptions. I think we’re still planning to go out to that spot on the river for prayer meeting on Sunday – need to talk to Peter about that, I guess, but we’ve seen the spot now.”

  “Is that in the charter?” Zephyr asked.

  “Nope. If you need to stay in camp on Sunday for your Systemist meeting, that’s fine. I still encourage you to plan food ahead of time so you can take the day as a rest day, though,” Danielle said. “You don’t have to follow all our religious rules or come to the prayer meeting or even the general hang-out that a bunch of the nonreligious types are planning on after the prayer meeting. You just need to take the day off from hunting and fishing and plotting and just relax.”

  “Plotting? You do enough plotting to consider it work?” Gideon asked.

  “Danielle is such a planner that the system gave her a Trait called Planner,” Sadie said. “She takes the day off from planning.”

  “I was being a little facetious, and also referencing the fact that Zephyr has a ‘secret plan’ all his Systemist friends are bugging him about,” Danielle said. “Anyway, the basic idea of this party is that we help each other survive, advance in a healthy manner, and get back Inside in the end; we do that by helping each other hunt and forage; by protecting our Healer and fighting wild animals and monsters together as needed; and by teaching each other useful small-s skills and also System Skill unlocks so none of us are dependent on just one other of us for any given thing – not meat or plant foods or first aid or crafting, even. We’ve all got our specialties and we work together, but one person getting sick shouldn’t leave everyone else in trouble. At the same time, no one should have to do everything all at once, either. We all need our circle of friends, just like we all need to carry our own weight – most of the time.”

  “I’m going to like being in this hunting party,” Ezra said with a grin.

  Gideon finally sat down, with a lopsided smile. “Are you the one who’s been bending Peter’s ear about joining a group?” he asked.

  “Well, um. I might have talked to him about that last Sunday, yeah,” Danielle said.

  “Do you girls hang out together most of the time, or do you have time to get away from each other when you need to?” Zephyr asked.

  Heather gave him an odd look. “Why would you need to get away from your own hunting party?”

  “We have personal project time,” Sadie said. “It’s not really away, but it’s quiet.”

  “We’ll probably divide up more now that we’re this big,” Danielle said. “Before, there were just five of us, and even then, when we went camping the first time we split up to forage in threes. We try never to be alone because we keep running into threats – vine monsters, wildcats, crazy people. I assume the Scout Classes include some kind of ‘run away before it gets you’ Skill or something, though, because obviously you can’t haul around a party-full of people with no Skills for moving quietly while you’re scouting. Oh – do any of you have watches or clocks or anything?”

  The boys all shook their heads. “I kind of didn’t want to be on a schedule anymore,” Zephyr said. “I didn’t think about how it would make it hard to meet up with people. It’s been a minor problem with everyone who wants me for my last name.”

  “I think we need to prioritize that flute tomorrow, Cassy,” Danielle said. “Even if you make a better one later, we need that distance-communication Skill of yours. The only other option is knocking on all four doors, and Jordan at least is in building seven where it’s just asking for trouble if I start showing up there on a regular basis.”

  Cassy nodded. “Sadie, can you look for some sandstone for me while we’re hiking tomorrow?” she asked in turn.

  “Sure, but why sandstone?” Sadie asked.

  “Need it to sand the flute – especially if I’m making a pan flute at first, which seems like the safest bet if we’re in a hurry now. Just sand would be a second choice, but sandstone seems like a better substitute for sandpaper. I’m going to need a bunch of twine or narrow vine, too, to hold it together. Shall we teach the guys the basics of basket making?” Cassy proposed.

  “Sandstone and vines on the way back, then; and any food that your Skill and Heather’s turns up,” Danielle agreed. “We might want to take a side trip on the way back to the Rooms to expand the materials search. Is that going to be good with you Welcome members?” she asked the boys. “Say, if we get up and get moving by seven, and give ourselves until noon to get back to the Rooms?”

  “Is this going to be a normal thing? Getting up at the crack of dawn?” Zephyr asked.

  “The crack of dawn is 5:30, not seven,” Danielle informed him. “We only do that if we have an especially good reason, but I’ve heard it said that the Wolves like to sleep in, and at least one of our members is in building seven.”

  “These guys are in the bottom of building one, like me,” Tom said, gesturing to Ezra and Gideon. “They’re from the room that checks up on me sometimes.”

  “I’m in building three,” Zephyr said.

  “I have extra beds you guys could sleep in if we need to all get up early for something,” Tom said. “Or if the Wolves are ever camping on the stairs or something, Jordan. I can’t get into the other three footlockers, but I can keep one clear for you to put stuff on, if you want, and you can have kind of a guest-corner with me.”

  “Oh, that would be amazing,” Jordan said.

  “Can I get in on that?” Zephyr asked. “My roommates aren’t violent or anything, but they’re um. Pushy. It would be nice to have another option sometimes.”

  Tom shrugged. “I’m sick of being alone. My room is your room, as much as the wards will let me.”

  “Wait, how did you end up alone?” Jordan asked.

  “My roommates fought to the death. There were only three of us to begin with, and we weren’t besties like a lot of rooms have. Anyway, I tried to stop them but I just got hurt myself, and I called the Rangers when things calmed down enough to get out a radio, and they got Heather and Danielle involved. Heather healed me, but then one of them bled out while Danielle was still trying to bandage up the other one, and the other one went crazy – I mean, I didn’t really help, yelling about how he didn’t deserve to – anyway, he got most of the mana burst but then he came after me, without stopping to actually level up or whatever; and the Ranger lady was protecting me and Heather, but he got her out of position and Danielle had to knock him down to keep him from killing Heather, and he cracked his skull when he landed, and now Danielle’s level 2, and I live alone. Official policy is that Sent can’t swap rooms, only rent new ones for themselves, so I’m stuck in the room it happened in.”

  “Ouch. Just remember, there’s no such thing as ghosts,” Jordan said. Then he got an odd look on his face. “Uh, there’s no such thing as ghosts, right? We still don’t believe in ghosts?”

  “I, for one, do not believe that the spirits of the dead are able to haunt the earth,” Danielle said.

  “Right! See? Even the religious ones agree with me,” Jordan said. “No such thing as ghosts.”

  Tom laughed. “I agree, man,” he said. “Doesn’t help with the nightmares, though.”

  “Ugh, let’s not talk about nightmares,” Danielle said. “Before we got into all this new-member stuff, we were going to talk to the other girls from our building about the whole council representatives thing. Zephyr, feel free to stay here and consult with your new party, but us girls need to go talk with the other girls from building six and see what they know about the social situation in the building and who we’re likely to end up choosing from. Please excuse me.”

  Talking about who was on top of the social game would normally have felt stressful to Danielle, but compared to talking about the miracle or the disastrous fight in room 1019 or the likely ramifications of daring to hang out with popular people (popular boys no less!), it just felt – well, boring, in Danielle’s opinion. Melanie’s name didn’t come up, which helped. Lauren thought a couple of the popular girls from the upper year were in building six, and were likely candidates for the council spots. She didn’t by any means know everyone in the building, though. Most of the Booker students in the building were complete unknowns to the Lemonade and SHAD Party girls alike, so nothing was certain.

  before you signed on. Especially the one about whether the charter included a way to leave the party!

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