Chương 37: Camp Recognition

Mark woke up and looked around his A-frame. The feeling of camp was changing. It felt more settled, more secure. Less like a place he was hiding from things in the forest but more a place that was his. Well, maybe not his, but their home. There were now three survivors that would call this place home. Four if you counted Cora, but she was not really part of the group. Mark moved aside the skin that acted as his door and stepped out. He saw Ava up early like normal.

It looked like she was taking Bramble for a walk along with her morning trap run in the safe area to the west she was in charge of. Dale was just walking out of his A-frame and waved at Mark.

"So this is real, huh? I dreamed last night I was back home. But when I woke up, I was still here." Mark said, "I had something similar happen to me the first night too. It's real." Dale said, "I hope it's ok if I cook breakfast this morning?" Mark said, "By all means, your cooking is a lot better than what I can do. If it's ok with you, I will put you in charge of cooking if you're willing." Dale said, "I sure would love to. It was my life before I came here.

I was a line cook and managed all the kitchen staff, including the procurement of all the foodstuffs." Mark said, "Ah, so your mention of culinary school was not a joke last night then?" Dale said, "No joke. I love to cook." Mark said, "Ok, let me pull all the food and food-like items I have out of inventory, and you can see what is useful and what is bad and needs to be tossed. Some of it's been sitting around for more than a week."

As Mark put out the food items he had stored, Dale started to sort them into piles. Some of them went back into his storage. Others were added to the fire to be burned. The rest were divided into piles on the table. When Mark had emptied out all his items, he stepped back and watched Dale while he started to get items ready to cook. Mark said, "If you need anything, let me know. Right now the eating stuff is pretty light; we have 4 cups, bowls, plates, and a few water pouches."

Dale said, "Ok, I will think about what is needed and let you know." Mark then went and walked around the camp. It felt different today. More complete. In the last few days he had organized the camp. Built shelters for 3 with space for 3 more, which he planned to make today. Looking at the crafting area, he saw that the current space was not big enough for more than one person. He added improvements to that on his list. He looked at the fire and cooking area. It worked great for him.

But he saw that Dale looked cramped. He did not have enough work space. Not enough cooking area. He would talk to him later and see how to improve it. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. He looked at the camp perimeter and the gates. They wouldn't hold off a high-level beast, but they'd keep out the smaller animals nearby. And it had alarms that would help give them notice if something bigger came.

As he walked back to the center of camp, a chime sounded and a system message appeared. [Territory Development Threshold Reached] Sustained habitation detected. ◈ ◈ ◈ [Zone Status Updated] Control Level: Increased Status: Stabilizing Camp Status: Unlocked ◈ ◈ ◈ He smiled as he looked over the messages. His hard work had paid off in redoing the camp and preparing for the future. He would need to continue to improve the camp and see what options open up in doing it. He then opened the camp status screen.

[Camp Status] Population: 3 Shelters: Active Food: Stable Defense: Basic ◈ ◈ ◈ So the system did not count Cora or Bramble. Maybe the addition of Dale is what pushed to open the next level. Would it expand more if he built a better crafting station or improved the cooking area? He would have to experiment with this to see where it goes. Mark opened the map and looked at changes there. The camp was more defined now on the map. The rest of the zone looked more refined, also with more details on the trap lines.

He could see that the more control he had, the more the system showed him. Areas he had not visited had less control and less visibility. When Dale finished up breakfast, he brought over a plate and handed it to him. It smelled amazing. He ate it slowly and enjoyed the taste and flavor of it. He could feel that it gave him a boost, though he could not tell what. Mark turned to Dale.

"Thanks, that food was great. It even makes you feel good." Dale nodded and started cleaning up and washing down the work table. Mark started walking towards the gate and said so on his way out.

"I am going to gather some materials and finish the other three A-frames I had planned on building." Mark took his time and found all the materials needed. It took two trips to get them all. When back at camp, he sat at the crafting table and started to make the fiber cords needed to build them. He heard the gate open and turned, expecting Ava, but saw Cora instead. She walked over quickly while looking around and said.

"Something has changed. It feels different." She then walked over to Dale and asked.

"If I bring you more items each day, can you make me some food?" Dale turned and smiled.

"Of course I would love to." He then reached over and grabbed one of the spices he used last night.

"More of this would be nice too." Dale then handed her a plate of food. Cora quickly ate the food and then left. Mark smiled. She liked Dale's cooking; she might be by more often. Looking over at Dale, he watched for a little while as he put away his items and watched as he arranged a few things that he had just tossed down, and Dale put them in the storage box where they should have been. Mark then continued on his A-frame project. Now that he had already made three previously, they went up pretty fast.

The skills he had gained from building the first ones really paid off. When they were all finally completed, he stood back and looked them over. He now had room for six. He no longer had a camp for one but the start of something more. Not just staying alive but working to improve their situations.