Morning light spills across the dorm corridors as Charlie and Thomas leave their room. Charlie’s upper arm remains freshly dressed beneath his clean shirt, protected from the day’s work.
At the secured entrance, Thomas’s father, an elderly man with a sturdy build, silver hair, and a navy work jacket, sorts radio notes beside Grant. Grant checks the perimeter log and compares it with the latest watch reports.
Thomas Roberts
Morning, babe. Before we get pulled into repairs, I want your help reviewing tomorrow’s responsibilities. The Science Building team, the water systems, and the next watch rotation all need names.
Thomas's father
We have three new reports from the south perimeter, nothing confirmed yet. I marked the questionable movement separately so nobody treats uncertainty like an alarm.
Grant
The entrance log is clean, but the eastern route remains restricted. If the next team returns to Science, they need charged lamps and a second vehicle standing by.
Thomas glances from the reports to Charlie, his expression softening beneath the practical urgency. Around them, survivors carry crates, check radios, and turn the refuge’s routines into something resembling a town.
Thomas Roberts
This is becoming more than a place we defend, babe. It’s becoming our home. When you picture the future here, what do you think we’re building together?
✓ Quest Accepted
Build a shared future with Thomas at the refuge
“Charlie smiles and says he pictures a small town built on top of the Campus where people can live safely, and where he and Thomas can settle down and be close to normal again. Where Thomas will play concerts and they have the walls and UV lights to keep the infected out. And where they will bring in those without homes anymore and give them new ones.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled +0)
Charlie Moore
I picture a small town built right here on campus, where people can live safely. Thomas and I could settle down and feel close to normal again.
Charlie Moore
You could play concerts, and we’d have strong walls and UV lights keeping the infected out. We’d bring in people without homes and give them new ones.
The entrance activity continues around them, but the nearby survivors slow to listen. Beyond the barricades, the campus remains scarred; within them, the vision sounds concrete and possible.
Thomas Roberts
That sounds like a real town, babe. Music, workshops, gardens, safe homes, and people who know they belong. I want to build that with you.
Thomas's father
Then we should start calling it what it is: a settlement. The walls, water systems, power, and watch schedules are already its first infrastructure.
Grant
I can help map expansion zones and defensive lines. If newcomers are part of the plan, we should reserve housing and establish clear intake procedures.
Thomas reaches for Charlie’s hand beside the entrance desk. Around them, the refuge’s work takes on a larger shape, not merely surviving behind walls, but making a home worth defending.
“Charlie give Thomas his hand and says that they have their work cut out for them then. They still don't have anywhere near enough UV lights for an exterior perimeter yet. And they need materials to build walls. So they will need to start planning.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Diplomacy, rolled +0)
Charlie Moore
We have our work cut out for us. We still don't have anywhere near enough UV lights for an exterior perimeter, and we need materials to build walls. We need to start planning.
Charlie gives Thomas his hand beside the entrance desk. Thomas closes his fingers around it, while the settlement’s activity continues around them.
Thomas Roberts
Then we start with a perimeter plan, babe. We map the vulnerable approaches, count the UV lights we have, and decide which walls protect the most people first.
Thomas's father
I’ll organize a materials survey. Fencing, concrete barriers, lumber, sheet metal, and anything sturdy enough to reinforce the campus edges all go on the list.
Grant
I’ll map the exterior routes and mark likely approach lanes. We can place temporary watch posts while the permanent walls and lights are being planned.
Thomas pulls a blank campus map across the desk. Charlie, Thomas, his father, and Grant gather around it, turning the settlement’s future defenses into specific zones, supply lists, and assignments.
✓ Quest Accepted
Finalize a concrete settlement perimeter plan with Thomas
“Charlie starts by drawing out the boundary he envisions for the settlement. Enclosing most of Belmont campus in walls and gatehouses. They could fill the west parking lot with grow beds for farming and turn the sciences building into a workshop. The library would be their community center. And they could build small garages and housing shacks in the east and south lots. They would need to build watchtowers on the taller buildings to survey for threats, and build a place where they could keep chickens or other livestock.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +1)
Charlie draws a broad boundary around most of Belmont’s campus, placing reinforced walls and gatehouses at the safest road approaches. The map becomes a settlement plan beneath his hand.
He marks the west parking lot for grow beds, the Sciences building for workshops, and the Library for a community center where lessons, meetings, and shared records can continue.
Thomas Roberts
Garages and housing shacks in the east and south lots make sense, babe. We can separate vehicle work from homes while keeping both inside the protected boundary.
Charlie adds watchtowers to the taller buildings, giving sentries clear views over the walls, approaches, and surrounding campus. He circles a sheltered area for chickens and other useful livestock.
Thomas's father
That gives us distinct zones for food, work, housing, education, and defense. I’ll turn this drawing into a materials and construction survey.
Grant
I’ll map sightlines from each proposed tower and identify the strongest gatehouse positions. The west fields and livestock area will need protected access routes.
Thomas Roberts, his father, and Grant annotate the map around Charlie’s design. By the time they finish, Belmont has a defined boundary, assigned districts, tower sites, and a practical vision for a lasting settlement.
Quest Complete
Finalize a concrete settlement perimeter plan with Thomas
“Chaie says that they will need a massive amount of materials and more vehicles to transport them. They can probably get the construction materials from home improvement stores and abandoned construction sites downtown. Getting more trucks will be harder. They really need to do a recon mission downtown to see what their options are and find stockpiles. Although it would be an incredibly dangerous trip.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Reasoning, rolled +2)
Charlie Moore
We’ll need a massive amount of materials and more vehicles to move them. Home improvement stores and abandoned construction sites downtown may have stockpiles, but trucks will be harder to find.
Charlie Moore
We need a downtown reconnaissance mission to map our options, locate construction supplies, and identify usable trucks. It will be incredibly dangerous, so we plan it carefully.
Charlie marks downtown across the campus map, circling hardware stores, construction yards, loading docks, and commercial lots. The proposed route follows wide roads with multiple turnarounds and avoids the previously blocked music district.
Grant
I can compare old road maps with our perimeter reports. The hardware stores offer concentrated supplies, while construction sites may have barriers, lumber, generators, and fuel equipment.
Thomas Roberts
I’ll help plan the vehicle side, babe. We need flatbeds, box trucks, or anything with towing capacity, plus spare keys, fuel, and recovery gear.
Thomas's father
Then this becomes a reconnaissance mission, not a shopping trip. We document stockpiles, vehicle condition, infected activity, and safe approaches before attempting recovery.
Grant adds downtown targets and retreat points to the map while Thomas’s father begins a materials checklist. The settlement now has a defined reconnaissance objective, assigned planning support, and a dangerous but actionable route.
Quest Complete
Build a shared future with Thomas at the refuge
Skill Upgrade: Psychology Mediocre→Fair