“I probably won’t feed you to my bear… but the punishment will be severe.”  This time people actually laughed.  Just a few at first, then more as Fuzzy walked over and sat at Allistor’s feet, licking blood off his cute little face.   Though Fuzzy had leveled up several times and gotten larger, he didn’t appear to have aged any.  He was like one of those giant teddy bears you get from winning carnival games.  Just as fuzzy and cute as the day Allistor discovered him.

Allistor’s next order of business was to check in with the Warren and his people there.  With Durham deceased, one of the others volunteered to take over communications. It seemed there was a lot of cross-training among the airmen in the complex.  Airman Redd was a gentle-seeming woman with a winning smile.  She fiddled with the gear for about two minutes, then handed Allistor a headset for privacy.

The first voice he heard was Sam’s.  “Allistor?  You there, boy?”

“I’m here, Sam.  Good to hear from you.  How are things at the Warren?  Has Nancy created any mutant bunnies?”

“Ha!  She heard that.  And she’s giving you the finger,” Sam replied. “Things are going smooth enough here.  We’ve been going out and foraging every day.  Brought back a few interesting things to sell.  Made a trip to your gun shop outpost and loaded up some more weapons.  We can talk about that when you get back.”

They spoke for a few more minutes, Allistor feeling reassured by how calm things seemed to be at the Warren.  He updated them on the two new Strongholds, and the people he’d recruited.  His plans for a Citadel had everyone excited.  “We’re really doing this.” Meg’s voice was quiet.  “We’re really going to survive this thing.”  She sniffed, and Allistor knew there were tears in her eyes.

“I’ll be back soon, Meg.  I’m going to get things settled here and then stop back home before continuing on to Casper.  So I’ll see you tomorrow or the next day.”

They exchanged a few pleasantries and signed off.    Airman Redd accompanied him back to the mess hall, where everyone was still gathered.

“Have you guys got some vehicles?  Enough to move everybody here? Except for a few who will stay to guard this place?  I want to introduce you to the others at the mall.”

Andrea quickly organized three people to stay, temporarily, to guard the Stronghold and watch over the dragonlings.  She sent two airmen to grab vehicles and tasked Redd to make sure they had working handheld radios that would reach the mall, and an extra base setup to be installed there permanently.  That way the Warren, Mall, and Silo could stay in constant contact.