Chapter EightMomentumThe street was still half asleep when they ran. Mist clung low to the pavement, curling like ghostly fingers across the asphalt. A distant echo, like metal clanging, sliced through the pre-dawn quiet as if offering a subtle warning. The air carried a sharp, clean bite, laced with the faint scent of earth and rain left behind by the night. It was the kind of chill that crept through layers, settling in bones before the sun committed to rising. Harold set the pace without thinking about it, feet striking in a steady rhythm that felt almost natural now.Sarah stayed beside him easily, breathing controlled, stride smooth. She shot him a sideways look and smirked."Still slow," she said.He huffed out a laugh. "You were a varsity soccer player.""Still am," she replied. "Just on break."Behind them, Josh wheezed loudly. "I hate both of you."Beth wasn't much better, jaw set, arms pumping with determination more than grace. She refused to slow, refused to complain, even as her breathing turned rough.Harold glanced back once. "We can—""No," Beth said sharply. "Keep going."So he did.They finished the loop together, legs burning, sweat cutting through the chill as they jogged up the driveway and finally slowed to a walk. Josh bent over, hands on his knees."I am," he gasped, "too old for apocalypses."Sarah laughed and clapped him on the back. "You'll adapt."Inside, shoes were kicked off, water was poured, and the house filled with the small, everyday chaos of people who hadn't slept enough but were alive and moving anyway. Josh sprawled onto the couch. Beth leaned against the counter, stretching her calves with slow precision.Harold felt solid in a way he hadn't for a long time. Memories of past instability flickered briefly through his mind, moments when the ground seemed to shift under his feet, leaving him unsteady and unsure. Now, not calm and not entirely healed, he was just steadier than he'd been alone."That's new," he said quietly.Sarah looked at him. "What is?""This part," he said, gesturing vaguely at all of them. "I was kind of a loner before."Josh raised his bottle. "You were a loner in college, too. I'll trip you on the next run."They laughed, and for a moment, it almost felt normal.Harold checked the time and set his bottle down. "Alright. Schedule."Everyone's attention shifted."I'm going to keep working through the notebooks today," he said. "There are details from the early days I'm still missing, and the sooner I get them down, the better. I won't have these notes when we're taken. I need to remember as much as I can."Beth nodded. "Patterns decay fast.""Exactly."He looked at Josh and Beth. "I need both of you studying early construction methods. Non-electric. Hand tools. Load-bearing structures that don't rely on modern supply chains or electricity."Josh blinked. "You want medieval engineering.""Pre-industrial," Harold corrected. "But yes. Humanity took too long to get organized last time for progress to spread. The spawned people did most of it on their own, without direction. Most of it was basic."Beth nodded again, already thinking. "Stone, timber, jointing methods. Water control."Then she paused..."Wait, what spawned people?""And redundancy," Harold added. "If one thing fails, the whole structure can't collapse."He paused to collect his breath. "When I start the Village, there will be a stone Stele. From that Stele, I get a daily allotment of people to help start the settlement. They come with the tools they need, and each has a variety of jobs. Some of them will be soldiers. Don't bother asking me where they come from. I don't know. No one did. They all have backgrounds and stories and lives, but when you ask them where they're from, they say cities and lands that don't exist."Josh leaned back and let out a snort, though his laugh wavered slightly. "I didn't get a mechanical engineering degree to die under a bad beam," he joked, but there was a note of concern beneath the humor. "It's good to know there will be help, though."Beth briefly looked up at his explanation, but then went back to work as if people appearing out of a portal didn't concern her. "And I didn't spend six years studying civil failures just to watch someone repeat them."Harold glanced between them. "You two always sound like this?"Josh grinned. "She copies me because she loves me.""That's why we consult together," Beth added, rolling her eyes. "He tells people how it moves. I tell them how it breaks."Sarah crossed her arms. "What about me?""You keep training," Harold said. "Conditioning, awareness, fundamentals. And you help where you can. I have a couple of errands for you to do today before the looting starts."She smiled, sharp and satisfied."Actually…" Harold said, and the room quieted.He took a breath. "This evening, we need to talk about expanding the circle."Josh straightened slightly. "Already?""Panic's starting," Harold said. "It's not even four days since the broadcast, and people are already hoarding, already looking for someone to follow." He gestured towards the radio, where a tense report crackled with updates about crowded grocery stores and empty shelves, the distant sound of raised voices crackling like static in the air. "Supplies are vanishing fast. It's starting to feel like the calm before a storm." Beth's expression tightened. "Which means the wrong people will start gathering others.""Yes," Harold said. "If we're going to bring anyone else in, they need to be solid. Dependable and trustworthy."He looked at Sarah. "Are there people still going to class? Anyone you think might be worth talking to."She frowned, thinking. "A few, I'll talk to them.""And if they're not," Josh asked."Then we don't," Harold said.Silence settled, thoughtful rather than tense."After that," Harold continued, "I'll tell you what I already have planned."Sarah raised an eyebrow. "You've been holding out.""Of course I have."The day went by in pieces.Harold lost himself in the notebooks. The air seemed tinged with the smell of old paper and ink, an aroma that called up memories as much as the words he recorded. Pages filled with half-memories and hard certainties, names written without faces, places marked by what went wrong instead of where they were. He worked until his hand cramped, feeling the persistent ache from hours of scribbling his thoughts. The sensation was grounding, anchoring him to the present even as he delved into the past. Then he switched to another book, chasing details before they faded. He spoke some of it aloud as he wrote, testing the sound, discarding anything that didn't feel right.Across the table, Josh and Beth turned their laptops into workstations. Diagrams replaced news feeds. Timber framing. Dry stone walls. Roman concrete. Gravity-fed water systems. Beth sketched while Josh cross-referenced, arguing quietly about load limits and joint tolerances.At one point, Josh muttered, "Why did we ever stop doing this?" and Beth answered without looking up, "Because electricity made us lazy."Sarah came and went between sessions. Training. Stretching. Conditioning drills in the backyard. She practiced with the wooden sword until sweat darkened the grass beneath her feet, then came inside to read, to listen, to ask questions that were sharper every time. Her questions focused on what they would be fighting, but Harold stayed tight-lipped about most of it.By evening, the house felt different.Lived in and focused.Harold called them together as the light faded and the noise outside settled into the restless quiet of a world waiting for news."Okay," he said, standing at the head of the table. "This is what happens when we arrive."They all looked up."The only way we arrive together," Harold said, "is by holding hands when we leave. Last time, families were separated. People spawned under different Lords. The first weeks were chaos. People died trying to reunite."Josh frowned. "That's comforting.""It's worse if you don't expect it," Harold said. "You'll be given a choice. Three paths. Adventurer. Crafter. Lord."Beth nodded slowly. "And this choice matters.""It matters more than anything else you'll do in the first hour," Harold said. "You don't get to undo it."Sarah looked over..."What are you picking this time?""Lord," Harold stated.The word settled heavily.Josh tried to speak, failed, then tried again. "Why?""Because Lords have the most impact," Harold said. "And it's where most of humanity failed. I won't let that happen again."He met their eyes. "Most of what I've been remembering are the decisions that broke regions and how to impact those decisions and stop if I can."Silence followed."When I choose Lord," Harold continued, "I'll be tested. A fake settlement will be attacked. Can I defend it? Can I keep people alive? Can I decide under pressure? That score determines the quality of my starting territory."Beth's eyes sharpened. "And this time you're cheating. You already know it's coming.""Yes, I already know what the test is and how to beat it," Harold said with a wolfish smile.Josh exhaled. "So what do we do?""I assume you'll both choose Crafter," Harold said. "If you don't want to, that's fine. But I need you to manage work crews early. And I have a way to get you solid early perks."He spread the map out."I've picked a basin valley," he said. "Encased by mountains and ocean. It fell in the thirteenth year last time. It should have been a stronghold for humanity, but it wasn't."Beth exhaled slowly. "And you plan to—""Unite them," Harold said. "Or remove them, either way, I will control the basin."Josh stared at him. "You don't say that lightly.""No," Harold agreed. "I say it because hesitation killed more people than war ever did. The Lords here failed."The room went quiet."This isn't about strength," Harold said. "It's about being early and organized. Willing to decide before it's comfortable."Sarah nodded once. "Then tell us what we need to do."Harold tapped the map."First," he said, "we survive the arrival. To do that…" He looked up at them. "I want you to reach out to your colleagues. The ones who will listen and who don't panic, don't posture, and don't need to be convinced twice."Josh leaned back, considering. "Engineers," he said. "You need the experts for your expansion."Beth nodded. "You want us to start recruiting to help build for you.""Exactly," Harold said. "Construction, logistics, planning. People who understand that early momentum matters more than perfect design. Most of our early buildings will end up being torn down, but we will need a lot of construction as fast as possible."He folded the map and set it aside. "We need space."Josh glanced around the house. "This isn't it.""No," Harold agreed. "But I've been talking to someone."He hesitated just long enough to make it clear this wasn't a casual connection. "There's a shipping magnate I worked with a few years back. I helped him out of a situation that would've cost him more than money. He owes me."Beth raised an eyebrow. "Owes-you-how-much.""Enough," Harold said. "He owns several warehouses on the south side. One of them is empty. I called him earlier. It's reinforced and off the main roads. He and his family will join us there."Josh exhaled. "That'll do, but you trust him?""I'll have to," Harold said. "We move tonight."Beth hesitated, a hint of unease crossing her face. "Are we really ready for this? What if we're moving too soon?"Harold met her eyes, his voice steady. "We have to be ready. There's no perfect moment."Josh glanced at Beth, then nodded. "Harold's right. If we wait, we risk losing the opportunity."Beth was silent for a moment, then she nodded, determination returning to her expression.The decision landed without argument.By the time the sun dipped below the skyline, boxes were stacked, tables cleared, and the kitchen had turned into a staging area. Phones buzzed constantly as names were written down, crossed out, rewritten.Harold stood at the whiteboard they'd dragged in from the garage and started listing people under one heading.Construction.Beth added notes beside the names. Who had field experience. Who could improvise? Who froze when plans broke.Josh handled calls, voice low and steady, asking questions that sounded casual but weren't.When can you get here?Can you listen without arguing?Some said no.Some didn't answer.Enough said, yes.Beth watched the list grow, then grew quiet. She glanced at Josh, then back to Harold, thoughtful rather than hesitant."Are you okay with me gathering my family too?" she asked. "If they're willing."Harold looked up at her immediately. "Of course," he said, then frowned slightly. "I'm sorry, I should've said that earlier. Gather who you can."He paused, choosing his words carefully."But they need to understand something," he continued. "When we get there, my word has to be law. Not because I want it to be."Beth studied him for a long moment.For just a second, she saw someone else layered over the man she knew. Not cruel. Not reckless. Just… resolved in a way that didn't leave room for debate.Then she nodded. "I'll make sure they understand."Josh exhaled quietly, relieved she'd said it first.By midnight, the list had grown longer than Harold expected.He stared at it for a long moment, then underlined the heading once.A quiet pause settled over them, filled with the faint rustling of papers and the distant hum of the night outside. The room, now dimmed to shadows, seemed to hold its breath. The soft click of a key turning, the gentle roar of an engine coming to life, and the headlights slicing through the darkness, illuminating their path into the unknown. The mist curled around them, shrouding the night with a promise of what lay ahead."Alright," he said quietly. "Let's go meet him."
