Two minutes later, Sam returned with Robert Edward, Meg, Sean, Amanda, and Lilly.  They all made astonished noises as they saw the load and realized what Allistor had done.  When Meg opened the freezer, she started to laugh.  Looking at Sam, she said, “Get that grill and this freezer down there first.  We need to cook all of this meat right now before it goes bad.  This is… this is two weeks’ worth of food for all of us if we mix in some vegetables and things.”

Allistor sat and watched as the group unloaded everything and moved it inside.  The hand truck was a big help when moving the freezer down the stairs.

When Sean lifted the still-dripping bundle of weapons, he gave Allistor a disappointed look.  “All of these will have to be cleaned now.”

Allistor shrugged.   “Yeah, I’m sorry.  The basement was flooded, and a canid attacked me as I was bringing those up the stairs.  I dropped them in the water.”

Sean looked at the shredded condition of Allistor’s front and nodded.  “No worries.  We can share the work.  Have them all cleaned and ready by morning.”

Ten minutes later, the trailer was empty, and everyone was inside.  Amanda had returned to demand he come to the medical bay and get looked at.  “We don’t want any of those getting infected.  Though they already look like they’ve been healing for days.”

“Yeah, it seems like my health bar fills up more quickly than I actually heal.  Like, I’m at one hundred percent now, and these wounds have closed, the bleeding stopped.  But the scars are still healing.  And when I lose a lot of blood, it takes a while to replenish, even after my health shows one hundred percent.”

“We’ll figure it out.” Amanda patted his shoulder. “Just like everything else.”

Not wanting to be surprised by any more monsters for the day, Allistor closed and barred the metal doors.   As soon as he did, another message popped up on his interface.

Congratulations!  You have created and secured a Stronghold.

A secure Stronghold is vital to survival.  Claiming a property as a Stronghold prevents any new monsters from spawning within its boundaries.  In addition, the structure itself can be improved to increase its defense rating, resource production, and available facilities.  Facilities may include sleeping quarters, dining hall, kitchen, market interface, tavern, merchant shops, defensive weapon emplacements, et cetera.

Would you like to claim this Stronghold?  Yes/No

He looked at Amanda.  “Are you seeing this?”

“Seeing what?”

“The system is offering me a chance to claim this place as a stronghold.  Like a home base.  Keeps mobs from spawning inside, among other things.”

“Well, hell yes!  What are you waiting for?” She put her hands on her hips and looked at him as if he were stupid.

“I’m… I mean, nobody elected me boss or anything.  I’m no leader.  I’m not sure I should be the one to claim this place.”