"So, ladies and gentlemen, you're all well aware we're living in a world-class clusterfuck."

Rebecca found Amira's unfettered potty mouth reassuring somehow. Like, someone who swore this much couldn't possibly care about political maneuvering. She smiled and heard Sam chuckle next to her as Amira swept her eyes over the vacant retail space, addressing most of the civilians and garrison as they perched on stacks of lumber, inverted buckets, folding chairs, or simply knelt or sat cross-legged on the floor.

"Gunnery Sergeant, please speak up if I misstate anything in your purview, you have license to step on my toes." She looked at Rhonda with a "I mean it" face, then returned to addressing the room. "Captain Tierman and I have been busy since I was last here, trying to find our asses with a flashlight and see who else out there has their shit together. You already know the federal government is fucked — two presidents in a row dead, one missing with rumors of some treasonous bullshit going on in bed with those pricks who blew through our goddamned town last year before they got thrown out on their asses." She threw her hands up in a dismissive gesture, like she was waving a fly away. "Who knows what the fuck is going on with continuity at this point."

Rebecca noticed the two new guys in unmarked tactical gear stir at Amira's last point. She looked them over again and noticed their stuff was all well-worn. Pretty high end, even if it was hodgepodge — definitely not all the same brand. Her attention went back to Amira as she continued talking.

"When everything went out the fucking window, states and the feds all declared emergencies. Virginia doing it gave the governor access to the national guard, later the combined Joint Task Force, for aid. We all know how that turned out. But here we are months and months later with no word from a functional state government, either — there's no radio traffic from Richmond, and early reconnaissance attempts by Tierman's people into the fringes report it's a lawless ghost town."

"So... in the absence of anyone at the fucking wheel, and in agreement with the handful of sheriffs, small town mayors, or anyone we can find with a semblance of credible regional authority, we're going to start rebuilding from what we do have, from the ground up. Since we're the locally viable excuse for a government, that emergency order sets precedence for Tierman's forces, and any allies they can reconnect with, to being operating at our request or on our behalf."

"We'll continue to work our way up from there when—" Amira raised a finger imperiously. "Because fuck if, we will rebuild, it's just a matter of how far — when things are re-established. In the presence of a fractured JTF command structure who has their hands full just with shitshow that is Washington..."

Rebecca saw the two mystery "operators" shift again. Something about their body language changing, or maybe a glance at each other that she saw in her peripheral vision, she couldn't quite put a finger on it. Meanwhile, she pondered what Lassart had to say about all this... and wished she could be a fly on the wall when Amira ripped him a new one some day.

"... D.C., we'll probably start operating under the banner of the Commonwealth, at least until someone shows up with a better offer."

Rebecca felt a little tingle of excitement as a quiet, but generally approving murmur rippled through the room. She'd always liked that Virginia identified itself as a "commonwealth", and felt that the word was a good reflection of an optimistic view of their situation. Everyone had to work together for the common good if they were going to successfully claw their way back out of the hole they were all in. But not everyone would go for that.

She waited to make sure Amira really was at an opportune pause, then raised her hand. "Uh, ma'am?" (Shit. Sam was going to give her a hard time over that later.) "What about the bad actors we've already run into? Or people who just see it as the unwelcome return of government rule?"

"They're welcome to stay the fuck out of our way if they don't want our help. And if they try to start a fight, we'll make a show of finishing it to discourage everyone else — something you and your friends personally seem to have started a trend of."

Rebecca noticed movement from those two guys again. Did Amira's allusion to the earlier fights suddenly focus their interest on her? She shifted anxiously, which made Sam glance over with a lifted eyebrow, so she tried to hide her discomfort before anyone else noticed. Thankfully, Leonard asked Amira another question that drew the eyes in the room to him.

"Speaking of help... do you have anything to share about those efforts? I know there's been a lot of work here in the other building, setting it up for storage and barracks... and obviously the extra power's going to be really nice. I'm already tripping over things in the dark less." He gave Sam a little nod. "What about collection and distribution of supplies, that sort of thing?"

Amira smiled. "Everyone, I swear I'm not paying him to set up my next topic for me. I just don't have that kind of budget yet." That got a few chuckles around the room. "All of you can see the progress here, so you probably know more about it than I do. So, I'll spend my aged breath —" (She emphasized the second syllable of "aged", pronouncing it like "age-ed") "... and tell you about what's going on everywhere else."

"You know Tierman has established her headquarters at the county airport, and dug in fiercer than a badger in its den. What you might not have heard about is the fringe benefits of the surrounding area. The rail line to the west, invaluable for heavy movement if we find out there's someone out there worth riding it to. South of the airfield is an old historic farm site, with something like 400 acres of land. They've already raided a nearby golf course for fertilizer and have begun rehabilitating the fields."

Amira scanned the room looking for questions — or perhaps gauging how well she was playing the audience? Fortunately, she started talking again before Rebecca could think too much about collecting soil from a certain hotel.

"Just south of the farm, there is a small industrial park with the remnants of — and I am not kidding about any of these — a building supply company, two auto repair shops, a microbrewery, fire and flood restoration company, commercial light and semi truck dealer, bulletproof vest manufacturer, and a business eclectically specializing in underwater tactical gear, assault ramps and ladders, and... what are they called, Sergeant? Ballistic shields?"

Ronnie nodded to Amira, whilst Rebecca let out a low impressed whistle. You just can't make that kind of stuff up... and this was as significant a bounty as the solar panels and armory leftovers.

Amira smirked jovially at Rebecca — who felt like she'd been busted for whispering in class — but continued. "The low buildings and trees surrounding the airport give them a commanding view of all of this, which will make securing all of it that much easier. The river's not far, which means a water supply if the city grid collapses. There's even a cluster of very nice houses on some cul-de-sacs right across the main road from the airport. We're hoping that we can attract survivors with comfortable and secure housing, to work on the farm and escorted scavenging teams in exchange for a share of the output. Lieutenant Fairbanks has already identified two drugstore chain distribution centers within a half mile, a rod and gun club they want to scour for ammunition components, and a warehouse or small manufacturing plant for a big-name pistol and shotgun manufacturer... quite the juicy menu to start sampling."

Damn. Rebecca was amazed at how quickly this could all come together. Maybe they'd reached a critical mass tipping point and would enjoy a period of rampant improvement, appropriately just as spring started — assuming nobody came along to fuck it up. Amira seemed confident, but... Rebecca just couldn't help suspecting there was some bunch of assholes out there who would come knocking. Especially as word got out...

She bit her lip and spotted Rhonda noticing her frown and giving her knowing nod. Rebecca was pretty sure she could guess the message behind it — something along the lines of "Trust me kid, I know. But we'll be ready."

She sure hoped so.

**

Amira's meeting went on for another forty minutes or so, but the remainder was mostly things that didn't hold much of Rebecca's interest. Most noteworthy was Amira encouraging the settlement's civilians to elect a handful of representatives as the region's fledgling attempts at bootstrapped self-governance took shape, an idea which Rebecca emotionally nope'd right the hell away from. She even shook her head a fraction of an inch when Ronnie glanced at her, which got a subtle smirk in reply.

There was a brief debate that drew her attention, about whether to resume the use of cash or start issuing ration tickets or something. She tuned out after the room seemed to reach a consensus that nobody had a clue what to do yet.

But Amira's armored SUV... that kept popping up in her train of meandering thoughts. Something about the way she described the convoy they found it in... it sounded like there might have been other drivable ones? Maybe that would be a good option for their search for family... discreet, but protected. They'd give up any offensive firepower, but it wasn't like any of the four of them were well-trained in the mounted MG's the military vehicles sported. The not-really-civilian SUV was probably faster than the Humvees too, especially over any reasonable kind of road, so it might get them out of trouble faster — or even keep it from catching them in the first place as they zoomed by.

At the end of the gathering, Amira made her way around having small side conversations and generally working the room. As she watched, Rebecca was starting to develop a newfound respect for how being a real diplomat, not just some skeezy politician, took true skill. When Amira made her way to where she stood with Sam, Rebecca looked at her with a humorous glint in her eyes.

"Madame Councilwoman, I thought you said that if they tried to make you mayor, you'd quit. Perhaps I'm mistaken?"

Amira's eyes narrowed in a mockery of a perturbed glare, but there was a hint of respect to her tone, like Rebecca had pulled off a competent sparring round. "Perhaps, child. But I never said anything about governor."

Rebecca, schooled by the master after what she thought was going to be a successful jab, laughed. "Fair point. Can I ask you something, mostly unrelated?"

Amira raised an intrigued eyebrow and gestured encouragingly with one hand, but remained silent.

"The SUV you arrived in... I think you said there were three. Is there another one around somewhere? Drivable?"

Amira tilted her head appraisingly. "You'd have to ask our dashing mechanically inclined Marine friend about its exact condition, but yes, I did see a second one at the airfield. You have roused my curiosity in turn, though. Why do you ask?"

"Well... we've been cobbling together plans to look for our families. Sam's parents lived out in the fringes of town, and last I heard, my mom was heading to her brother's cabin out in the Blue Ridges. We're not exactly sure what to hope for, but since it seems we might have the resources... we figured we ought to try. Ronnie's been suggesting it's even more important with some of the unpleasant things she's been hearing about the big cities."

"Oh, I can tell you exactly what to hope for, young lady. We have no choice but to hope most defiantly in the face of what this world has become, or we will fail. Though, what you should prepare yourself for is the tougher question. Meanwhile, how would one of those vehicles help you?"

"Well... I have my own car... it's having some trouble that Epstein thinks he can fix, but it's just a regular car, no protection to it other than some airbags and crumple zones. With the tactical vehicles..." Rebecca held a hand up towards the outside, and shrugged. "Is something big and tough an asset, or a liability out there? We're trying to figure out the balance between looking like a hard target, and not being noticed in the first place. Not to mention squeezing through tight spots in the mess out there, or up in the woods."

"I see. And something like a diplomat transport would be better protected, but also cast a smaller shadow."

"Right. And, as you mention, be more comfortable. But... that last part's secondary, compared to family."

Amira nodded approvingly. "Indeed." She remained silent for a few moments, enough that Rebecca started to grow a little anxious, wondering if she was supposed to say something — but apparently Amira made up her mind about... something? "Both of you come see me in the camper you stuck an old lady in last time I was here, in, say, twenty minutes. Bring a map, and your Gunnery Sergeant friend.