Surviving the Apocalypse with my Multiplier System-Chapter 246: Important Decisions

The next morning Liam arrived at Fred's Ranch.

Before he even had a chance to get out of the RV he noticed Fred running towards him.

"Liam! I'm so happy you're back!", he cried out.

Liam walked out of the RV and greeted Fred, but then he noticed Fred's shaking hands.

"What's wrong? If everything okay?"

Fred nearly burst into tears. "We've run out of water and every day more and more cattle are dying. We are slowly beginning to suffer from dehydration."

Liam was shocked at the news. By his previous estimation they should have had enough water to last at least another month.

He turned to the rest of his team, sending them the signal to begin unloading the supplies.

Liam turned to Fred, "It's air conditioned and cool inside of the RV, if you have people who are suffering from heat exhaustion please send them to cool off in here".

"Thank you! Thank you!", said Fred.

He was eyeing the gallons and gallons of water that were being unloaded from the RV. He was amazed that these people were able to bring out so much water amidst such a disaster.

I wonder if they live near a lake or river.

-

After the goods were unloaded they were quickly distributed throughout the settlement. Everyone quickly drank their fill before hauling a portion of the remaining water over to the barn to give to all of the cattle.

While the rest of the settlement was busy trying to save the animals Liam invited Fred inside of the RV for discussion.

"What is it that you wanted to discuss?", asked Fred.

He was worried that Liam would demand higher payments for the goods and water. If it was before the extreme heat, Fred would have no issue with paying more, but now they were in no place to offer anything extra.

Liam picked up on Fred's nervousness and shook his head, smiling.

"Don't worry, it's nothing bad. The leaders of our settlement wanted to extend an invitation for your settlement to move in with us, and merge into one larger group."

Fred's eyes widened!

This was a major surprise to him! They were hardly able to support themselves and wouldn't even consider accepting new members to their settlement at this time.

However Liam's settlement was offering for them to all move in with them.

"Will you be able to support all of us? There's a lot of us here...", he said, unconvinced.

Liam nodded, "I assure you, we have enough space, housing and resources to support everyone."

Fred sighed to himself. He never thought that his ranch was anything big but he never considered there were settlement that were much more well off than they were.

"What about the cattle? I don't have it in me to abandon them. They've been our way of live for generations", he asked.

"Bring them with you!", answered Liam, "We've already considered this and I believe our carpenters have begun barn construction. I estimate that they should be done shortly."

Fred couldn't believe his ears, "Building a barn? You have tools and lumber?"

"Yes, as I've said before, we have a very strong stockpile of resources. But as far as the invitation, feel free to discuss amongst yourselves, there's no pressure. Just inform me of your decision before I leave please", said Liam.

-

After their discussion, Fred walked out of the RV with a lot on his mind. He looked at the farmhouse that his great-great grandfather built.

Many childhood memories flooded his mind as he looked around. At the same time the pale faces of his residents came into view.

"It seems like I will have to move past my nostalgia. What's important now is survival", he said to himself.

He planned to put up a vote at dinnertime tonight to see if people were on board with moving to a new location.

He didn't know where this settlement was located, only that it was further south.

While the feeling of abandoning this ranch felt bitter, he knew that if they wanted to survive, moving would be the right choice.

-

At dinner that evening Fred stood up and cleared his throat.

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"Everyone. I have been offered a potential solution to our problems. I need everyone to listen carefully so that we can take a vote"

The house quickly quieted down as everyone put down their forks.

"As many of you know Liam is a trader from Rayne's and Julian's base. They are capable people and have managed to secure a location with a good water supply and other resources."

He took a deep breath and looked around the room.

"They have offered us a place in their settlement. They would like us to move down and merge with them", he finally stated.

Everyone looked at him, surprised. The room quickly burst out in small chatter.

"Please think this through carefully. We will be transporting the cattle with us. I apologize that I do not have detailed knowledge of where or what that area is like, but if they can keep bringing large amounts of water over, they must be well off".

Fred then sat down to finish his meal, giving the rest of the settlement time to digest this new information and come up with an opinion.

He told them that they had until 10 pm to decide so that he could give Liam an answer tomorrow morning.

-

A few hours later everyone gathered inside of the farmhouse. Fred waited for everyone to settle down before speaking.

"Okay, I know there wasn't a lot of time to digest this information, but we ourselves are on a deadline. Everyone who is for moving to the new base please raise your hand".

He watched as many people in the room raised their hands. He didn't even need to count to know that this was already the winning vote.

Still, to be fair he had Rita walk around and count all of the 'yes' votes.

"Okay, everyone who is in favor of staying here, please raise your hands", he asked.

A few people raised their hands, but there were less than a handful.

"Okay, so as clearly shown, the winning vote is to move. Those of you who are not in favor of moving are under no pressure to follow us.

Just know that if you decide to stay, I cannot guarantee that later down the road you will be allowed to join us", warned Fred.

Moving in with the other would mean that he was no longer the leader of the settlement. Liam said that he would maintain a leadership position at the new settlement, but only when it came to smaller, personal matters over their group.

If these people decided to stay and then a week later changed their minds, it would be up to Rayne and their leadership team's decision to allow them.

"Tomorrow morning I will inform Liam that we agreed. He will deliver our message to his base and begin preparations to move us. Please begin packing tonight".