Amanda chuckled.  “That’s cool.  The votes show up next to each choice.  That’ll make things easier, especially if we ever expand to a much larger group.  We won’t have to gather everyone together and count hands.”

Allistor leaned back in his chair, relaxing slightly.

“Okay, folks.  There are a few things we have to have, that I think we all agree on.”  He mentally ticked the boxes as he read them off, so the others could follow along. “We need a clean water source.  When I went to my house, the broken pipes had flooded the basement.  I assume every building in town is hemorrhaging water as well.  Unless we cover the whole town and shut off all the water meters, the supply in the tower won’t last long.  The cost listed for water is five thousand points.”  The others all nodded their heads or made agreeable noises.

“Next, we need places to sleep.  Each sleeping quarters costs two thousand points.  I say we make a dozen for now.   There are ten of us here now, but we may find other survivors. And I’m guessing Sam and Meg will pair up?  Same with Nancy and Chloe?” Both pairs nodded again.

“So that’s twenty-nine thousand points spent.  As somebody who, as Chloe put it, keeps letting things bite me… I would also suggest a proper infirmary.  That’s four thousand.  We need a kitchen, obviously.  And cold storage for all that meat and whatever other food we can find.  Together those are also four thousand. We can make the kitchen bigger later if we need to.”

He looked around the table.  Nobody was speaking up or making faces at him.  “Please guys, if you have opinions, speak up.  Especially if you disagree.”

When he got nothing but amused grins in response, he kept going.  “Okay, since several of us have picked up skills, and I expect will pick up more – I got a new one called Improvisation today, by the way – I suggest a crafting hall.  If it’s anything like I expect, there will be workbenches and such inside for us to use to improve our skills.  And trust me, we’re going to want to improve them.  Make weapons, better armor, healing salves, and such.   The cost is a little high - ten thousand points - but I think it would pay off.”

Sam spoke up.  “I agree, but can we set that one as an option?  I want to make sure this place is secure first and foremost.  I mean, in theory, we could just sit at this table and craft if we had to, at least to start with.  Right?”

“Good point, sir!” Allistor was thrilled to have input.  “We’ll save that as an option if we have the points.  And since you brought it up, let’s look at available defenses.”