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AA 1.61 - Leadership
🕑 Added 2025-08-01 16:46:21 +0000 UTCEnjoy the chapter, Andy readers! :) See you Monday with the next installment. -Plum 61 – Leadership Andy walked over and opened the door to
Enjoy the chapter, Andy readers! :)
See you Monday with the next installment.
-Plum
61 – Leadership
Andy walked over and opened the door to find Bella standing there, fidgeting with her hands as she stared at the ground near her feet. “What’s up?”
“I, um…” She shook her head and started to walk away. “Never mind, Andy. Sorry, this was stupid.”
Hearing her defeated tone and seeing her walk off without even looking him in the face tugged at something in Andy. He felt…responsible, and he wasn’t sure he liked that feeling. Half of him wanted to count it as a win and let her go, a new problem avoided. The other half was louder, though, and he cleared his throat and said, “Hey, don’t walk off.” When she stopped walking and turned to look at him, he shrugged. “I mean, you must have had something on your mind, right?”
Bella had dark hair and dark eyes, and when she scowled, she reminded Andy of a friend he’d had in high school named Hana Park. “Why are you staring like that?”
Andy sputtered out an embarrassed laugh, shaking his head as he stepped down out of his trailer. “Sorry about that. I was just thinking you reminded me of a friend I had a while back.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. Anyway, that’s not important. What’s up?” He pointed to a little concrete picnic table in the common area between his trailer and Sheila’s. “Wanna sit down?”
Bella nodded, shouldering her spear and walking over to the table. Andy followed, enjoying the feel of the sun on his face as he sat down across from her. “Were you trying to sleep?” she asked.
“Nah, I’m too wired. I was messing with my skills.”
She smiled, but it didn’t look to Andy like his words even registered. Something was distracting her. “Oh, um, that’s cool.”
“What’s on your mind, Bella? I thought you’d be asleep right now.”
Her eyes welled up with tears, and she shook her head. “That’s it, Andy. I can’t sleep! I can’t—” She shook her head, sniffing. “I think Brian’s dead because of me. I pushed for this. I wanted them to pay! How many did we kill last night, though? I don’t feel any different. Yesterday, Brian and I were sparring, joking about how we were going to kick some ass. He was talking about how he was eager to start hunting for his wife when we were done dealing with Construction City. Now, he’s gone!”
Andy leaned on the table, putting himself a little closer to her. “I don’t have the right answers, Bella. It sucks that Brian died. Hell, it sucks that anyone died. This new reality is brutal, though, and I’m sure he won’t be the last one we lose. We just have to do what we can to minimize our—”
“Shouldn’t we just, like, hide out? I know I pushed for the war, but the prisoners say they’ve got a lot more people. They say they’ve got a guy on their team named Chavez who’s pushing level twenty! Andy, I don’t want more people to die. I don’t want you to die! I know I said—”
“You said we ought to stand up against people doing terrible things, and that’s still true. Don’t worry about Chavez. I doubt he’s level twenty, but if he is, that’s just a number. I’ll handle him. Shit, or maybe Lucy will. We’ve got the high ground, Bella!” He didn’t mean to smile crookedly when he said the last line, but he was pretty thrilled when she got the reference.
“Oh my gosh! What are you, Obi-Wan now?” She snorted a laugh, interrupting her tears. “Andy, that’s not funny! What if they have people who can fly? What if they just have a good climber? What if—”
“We’re going to take things one step at a time, Bella, but none of this is your fault. If we want to blame anyone, we can blame the System. As for the assholes at Construction City, though? Brian’s death is on them. Same for any other deaths that happen tonight, including theirs. They shouldn’t mess with us. Anyway, what are you doing talking to the prisoners? I hope everyone’s not trying to get info out of them.”
“Oof! Did I say prisoners? I meant the two people you took in, the, um, defectors.”
Andy groaned. That was just what he needed: Shawna and Silas going around demoralizing everyone.
Bella must have seen his expression because she hastily held up her hand. “No, it’s not like they’re trying to scare people… Well, maybe it is, but it was in the context of trying to get people to prepare. I don’t think the people here understand exactly what—”
“Bella,” Andy interrupted. “How can they? I haven’t told them anything. The meeting is in an hour or so.”
She stared at him for a few seconds, then fresh tears welled up and she pressed her palms to her eyes. “I’m not thinking straight, Andy! I’m exhausted!”
“All right, easy.” Andy held out his hand, palm up, and she took it. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze as he said, “I want you to sleep. If you wake up for the meeting, that’s cool, but if you don’t, I promise we’ll tell you everything you missed. I need you sharp tonight, though. You understand me?”
She blinked her eyes, scrubbing her face with her free hand. “I… I think I can sleep. I feel better. Thank you, Andy.” Her fingers were hot and a little clammy as she squeezed his hand. Then she stood and picked up her spear. “I’m going to bed.”
Andy stood and watched her go. He wanted to say he didn’t do anything, but he’d done one thing: he’d listened. She’d needed to get those thoughts about Brian off her chest, and now that she had, he hoped she’d be able to sleep. He felt pretty shitty about Brian, too, but he hadn’t built any kind of camaraderie with the guy like Bella apparently had.
“Let’s see… What was I going to spend that point—” A System message appeared. “Oh, brother.” Andy inhaled deeply, some part of him dreading whatever news or announcement the System was going to make.
***Congratulations, Andy! You’ve unlocked an uncommon skill: Leadership. This skill will not amplify your ability to inspire, command, and unify others. Those talents must be acquired through other means. The leadership skill will shape the opportunities presented to you, influencing potential class evolutions, the notable skills and distinctions you may be awarded, the quests available to you, and even your standing among other System-integrated communities.***
After reading the message carefully, Andy relaxed, relieved to see there weren’t any negatives that he could discern. The new skill wouldn’t help him “lead” people, but it might influence his future in a lot of other ways. He wanted to hope that was a positive. Out of curiosity, he tried to put an improvement point into the new skill.
***That skill reflects your talents as observed by the System. The application of improvement points cannot influence it.***
“Interesting.” Andy went back into his trailer and sat down on his couch again. He wanted to spend that point, but on what? He’d been set on putting it into Kindled Bonds, but during his talk with Bella, he’d imagined the impending attack on the settlement. All of the scenarios that had danced through his mind had been at night. He’d be fighting in the dark, which meant he’d have his Umbral Reaper class active. Kindled Bonds wouldn’t help him in that scenario, and he figured he ought to have all the help he could get.
Looking at his skills again, he impulsively threw the last improvement point into Critical Mastery. No matter what class he wore, whether he was in the open or sneaking through the shadows, critical hits would help him settle fights quickly and decisively. As his mind tingled and little buzzing pulses ran down the length of his arms into his fingertips, Andy leaned his head back and closed his eyes.
When he opened them, someone was knocking on the side of his open door. Blinking, feeling very confused, Andy turned toward the door and saw Lucy poking her head in. “Heya.”
“Um, hey.” Andy stretched, blinking again, and then it all clicked. He’d fallen asleep! “Oh, shit!” He leaped to his feet.
Lucy laughed and waved her hand. “Relax! You’re not late. People are still gathering.”
“You were supposed to be sleeping!”
“I slept! I dunno why, but my eyes just popped open about fifteen minutes ago.”
“Huh. Well, thanks for getting me up.” Andy stood and stretched again. He felt surprisingly good.
“Do you want a protein bar?” Lucy didn’t wait for an answer, tossing one to him. Andy caught it and slid it into his pocket.
“Let me hit the restroom really quick.” He took his waterskin into the bathroom with him, and chuckling at the strangeness of it, he opened the toilet tank and poured about a gallon of water into it so he’d be able to flush. When he was finished and had stepped outside, he held up the waterskin. “Hey, remind me to refill this, please.”
“Yeah, sure.” Lucy picked up her bow, which was leaning against the trailer, then pointed toward the central lane. “You gonna try to cover that stuff you went over with our raiding party? I mean, having intention with skills and levels and all that?”
Andy shook his head as he started walking. “I think I’ll leave that to you guys. I mean, I pretty much explained it all to you, Bella, and the others. I think today I’ll just talk about what happened last night, what’s probably going to happen tonight, and then see if I can get people to vote for council members. I mean, I don’t mind having these big meetings once in a while, but I think it would be better if I could just meet with a smaller group sometimes. You know?”
Lucy laughed. “Yeah, I know, silly! I was part of the conversation!”
Andy thumped his forehead with the heel of his hand, shaking his head. “That’s another thing: these frickin’ days and nights with only a few hours of sleep—they’re all running together, and I know I’m forgetting some stuff.”
“I know. Everyone feels like that. I hope things will calm down a little if we can just get through this war with Construction City.” She sighed, idly strumming her bowstring with her fingernail. “For a little while, at least. I mean, until the System does something.”
“Don’t tempt it.” When she looked at him, eyes wide, he winked and shook his head. “I’m mostly kidding. Still, sometimes I wonder just how much attention it’s paying to us.”
By then, they’d come around the corner, and he could see the dog park up ahead. It was pretty well packed with people. Lucy grabbed his wrist, tugging to slow him. “Hey, before we get all caught up in that, I just wanted to say I’m, um… I’m glad I got stuck in this situation with you. I mean, if I had to be thrown into a monster-filled apocalypse, yeah, I’m glad I was here with you…”
She trailed off, and Andy could see that she was regretting her sudden earnestness as she looked down, and her cheeks reddened. He smiled and nudged her shoulder, getting her to look at him again. “Hey, are you kidding me? I’m so glad I met you in all this!” He gestured toward the waiting crowd. “I mean, I think we’re all lucky. Think how much worse things would be if we’d had some guys like Brooks or Rhodes in this park.”
Lucy nodded, her smile returning as she looked up at him. “Yeah. For sure, Andy. But, still, I’m not saying I feel lucky because those guys weren’t here. I feel lucky because you were.”
Now it was Andy’s turn to feel flustered as he looked at the sky, then the crowd, then, almost reluctantly, back into Lucy’s eyes. She didn’t flinch away from the eye contact, and he licked his lips nervously. “Damn, you’re gonna give me a complex.”
Comments
Chris
I honestly have no idea what Andy's new class could be. You're dropping all these breadcrumbs here, but the best I can see is some kind of Lord of Shadowflame, which, while sounding kind of badass, I'm not sure is an "Andy" class? Can't wait to see where it goes!
