Surviving the Apocalypse with my Multiplier System novel Chapter 246

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.