The Protagonist System

140 Another Great Find

I had severely underestimated exactly how much happier the people at the camp would be to have something new to do. The ATV was more of a curiosity than anything else, since most didn't want to travel far from the camp and be so unprotected. The canoes however? I was mobbed with hugs, kisses on the cheek, and a few gropes of my butt. I ignored it for now and hoped that it was Amy.

Apparently, Amy's stories about spending relaxing time on the lake with her father, had really resonated with everyone and they all wanted to try it, even the kids. The parents were especially grateful for all of the life preservers I had grabbed, too. The mob ran off with my ill-gotten gains as they happily chatted about making another rotation list and everyone would be getting a turn as soon as possible.

Dale came over to me and he looked like a proud father. “You keep giving us all so much joy, Rick.” He said and patted my back. “It's almost shocking, you know?”

I chuckled. “I do and I'm almost as shocked, since I hadn't intended to bring the canoes back at all. It was a whim I had after loading up the ATV. I figured it was much more versatile and could travel much farther on less gas, giving us a more stable option than Merle's motorcycle.”

Dale chuckled, too. “So, you're saying your mistakes are more beneficial than your plans?”

I laughed and shook my head. “I just need to stop expecting certain things to come out the way I think they will.” I said and motioned to the ATV in the back of the truck. “Give me a hand unloading this thing, will you? I still need to grab those gardening things and the tool chests I saw.”

“Sure thing, Rick.” Dale said and we unstrapped it and opened the back, set up the ramps, and he volunteered to ride it down.

I showed him how to kick it into neutral and where the front and back brakes were, how much pressure to apply to not jerk him and the ATV around, and how to start it and shift gears. Dale looked quite happy at the quick lesson and then he rode the free-rolling ATV down the ramp and used the momentum to swing out and do most of a u-turn to face back towards the truck.

“Nice one, Dale.” I praised and he had a huge smile on his face. “You can start it up and drive it over by the motorcycle. Just make sure to keep the keys in your pocket until I can teach the people that want to try to use it how to use it properly.”

“No problem.” Dale said and started it up, revved it a little, then set it into first gear and drove it off down the driveway to park it near the motorcycle.

I watched him set it near but not block the motorcycle, which was perfect. I waved to him and he waved back before he walked back over to the RV, the huge smile still on his face. I climbed back into the truck and backed up, turned around, and drove away. No one wanted to come with me for my second run and that was fine.

It would be a lot more movement intensive if anyone came along, because I couldn't use my storage trick to load up the truck if they were there. So, I drove back to that subdivision and stopped at each and every shed to raid them. Some of them didn't have much inside, like only a lawnmower and some junk. Most of them had what I wanted, like shovels, lawn care tools, and bags of fertilizer. Apparently, this subdivision took great care of their lawns and it showed.

I loaded up the back of the truck with everything I could find and eventually made it back to that first shed I found on my way back to camp. I raided it and took everything except the lawnmower, filling up the last of the space in the back of the huge truck. That meant another run back to camp to drop all this stuff off and I would have to come back to check out the house.

The trip back to camp went fast and my return gained almost no recognition by anyone, except from Dale. He waved and pointed to the spot where the old tarps used to be. We had spread out the various parts that were left between the different vehicles for the winter, which meant I'd need something small like a two-wheeled trailer or something to keep it mobile and to collect them back together.

Well, it wasn't like I needed them anymore, since no one questioned me anymore about where I was getting all the things I was. It was almost like they expected me to pull things out of my ass when they were needed and I didn't discourage that. Being seen as a miracle worker would only benefit me and my reputation.

I dropped off all the things there, not concerned that there were no tarps, because it was all going to be used in the dirt anyway. I gave Dale another wave and headed back to the subdivision to pretend to grab those tool cabinets. I wasn't sure if we would ever need them; but, I'd rather have them and not need them instead of regretting not revealing that I had them.

Unfortunately, the cabinets and the welding tanks filled the back of the truck again and I had to make yet another run all the way back to camp. Dale looked constipated as he fought to not laugh at me appearing again so quickly and I still had to go back to town. I flipped him off before I turned the truck around and he laughed and laughed.

I made it back to that well-protected house and slowed down as I passed it. I did a quick check around to make sure there were no stray walkers, honking my horn a few times to draw them out, and then went back to that house. There were no movements or sounds, so I hopped out and went to the back of the house. I apparated inside and began my search.

You see, if the house was this well-preserved, there had to be something worth protecting inside. It didn't take me long to find what it was. A small library. It was filled with books of all kinds, including a collection of encyclopedia from A to Z, and all kinds of fiction and non-fiction. I nodded at my theory being confirmed, so I also needed to check something else in the basement.

The books had to have been brought in somehow, because doing it individually would have taken way too long. I found what I wanted in the far corner and smiled at the high stack of folded cardboard boxes. I was really grateful for magic, because cardboard was very easy to make copies of. I took the stack and went back up to the library, set it down, and cut the string holding it together.

The whole stack popped up into the air, like one of those springy snakes from a Pringles can, and they flopped all over the floor making me laugh. I didn't bother trying to pick them all up, because I was going to be using them all anyway. I grabbed the closest one and pulled on it to make a box shape, cross-folded the bottom, and used sticking charms to hold it closed because I didn't have any packing tape.

I used my wand to point at the first shelf of books. “Pack.” I said and swiped my wand to the box.

The books floated out and sorted themselves into the right shape and slid right into the box and it closed and sealed.

“Awesome.” I said and repeated that, over and over.

When I reached the last of the unfolded cardboard boxes, I made it into a box shape and then duplicated it to use the copy instead. It cost a single Karma Point to make permanent, so I asked to make the Copy Spell itself mastered. It cost 50 points, just like the Apparate spell did, and my spine tingled as the small amount of knowledge for the spell flowed into my head.

I swiped my wand across the room and dozens of finished boxes appeared and I nodded. “Pack.” I said and another swipe of my wand sent the rest of the library into the boxes. There were a few left over, so I unfolded them and added them to the stacks of boxes. I levitated the first stack over to the back door and repeated that until the living room was filled with cardboard boxes.

I unlocked and opened the back door, went to the truck, and turned it around and backed it up to the back door. I cast the human revealing spell and nothing showed up, so I used the levitation spell liberally to move the stacks of boxes into the truck. God bless sticking charms, because there was no way I was getting all of them into one load if I didn't stack them really high.

I was halfway done before I realized how ridiculous it looked with the boxes twice the height of the truck and sighed. I needed to make multiple trips and it was getting late. I hadn't eaten after missing lunch and supper was going to be soon.

I didn't want to make delivery runs in the dark, since that was just asking for trouble, so I moved the boxes around to even them out and counted how many were already in the truck. Only two runs would have to do and I would make it to supper just in time. I secured the boxes with straps and stored the rest into my inventory before I locked the house up and drove back towards the camp.

That was when I realized something important. I had nowhere to store the boxes of books. I groaned and came to a stop on the side of the road as I thought about it. I would need something huge for the books to be taken out, assuming people wanted to browse through them.

After ten minutes, I couldn't thing of anything and sighed at not being able to figure it out. I started the truck up again and started to pull back onto the road when I saw something that might be exactly what I needed. A transfer truck. More specifically, the back of it. I had a powerful truck that might be able to haul one of them if it was empty. Maybe a featherlight spell on it would work?

I pulled over again and went over to it to knock on it. It returned an echoing sound and I smiled. I went to the truck's cab and saw it was partially crushed with a smaller car's rear end half up onto the engine. I entered the thing and saw where the airbrakes were. I tried them and nothing happened, so I nodded at there being no pressure in the lines.

I closed the door and went to where the trailer was attached to the truck's cab. I pulled the release pin and unhooked the airbrake hoses. I didn't hear any hissing or air release, so I tied them off and took out my wand. I cast the human reveal spell again and nothing showed up. With a smile, I touched and stored the entire trailer.

I could feel the weight in my mind and cursed at myself for not casting the featherlight charm first. I carefully walked back over to the truck and checked the rear trailer hitch. It was not in the right shape and that was okay, because it was going to be. I used the original as a model and transfigured the hitch into a bastardized version that would work.

I took out the trailer and it rattled as it settled onto the pavement. “Right, be more careful with the placement with heavy things.” I said and then spent several minutes casting the featherlight charm on the huge trailer. One charm wasn't going to do it, because the thing was huge. Surprisingly, I did not get the option to make it a maxed out spell. Perhaps there was no better or stronger version of it?

I finished with that and then used the levitation spell to move it that last foot or so and set the thing down onto the transfigured latch. It clicked into place and I ran over to the transfer truck cab and grabbed the securing pin and ran back to my truck. I slid the pin in place and used a sticking charm on it.

I let out a long drawn out sigh at it working and then stored everything in the back of the truck. I went to the back of the trailer and opened the doors to see that it really was completely empty. I climbed up inside and quickly dropped all of the cardboard boxes of books I had in my inventory. I spread them out into a single layer across the floor so they wouldn't topple over or anything.

I then realized there were no shelves to put them on and growled at not thinking of that earlier. Instead of driving all the way back to the house to try and take the shelves down, I instead apparated right into the library at the house and examined the shelves. Once I saw how they were set up, I used my wand to make a copy of them, with part of the wall included to keep the shelves stable.

With one section prepared, I stored it and apparated back into the rear of the trailer. I had to store all the boxes of books again and then took out the section of wooden shelving. I copied it and used a permanent sticking charm to secure the copy to the left wall of the trailer. Using the original as the base, I made a bunch more copies and lined them all along that side of the trailer as I stuck them into place.

I was on a roll, so I did the same with the right side of the trailer and stored the original. I was proud of what I had done so far and saw that it was kind of plain with the bare metal floor and nowhere to sit. That just wouldn't do. I apparated back to the house and cut out a piece of the expensive carpet and stole the long rectangle table and chairs from the dining room.

How was I going to explain how I did all of this? I wasn't. There was no need for me to, because the things looked so expensive that no one would believe I had created it from pieces. I covered the remaining floor with the nice carpet and then set the long table at the front of the trailer in the middle of the shelves and put the chairs around it. I duplicated as many as I needed for everyone to sit down at the same time and I was done.

I dropped all of the boxes of books into a single layer again, except I packed them around the table and chairs as well to stop them from moving around. I stepped out of the back and closed it, secured the doors, and went to the truck.

I stopped walking when I noticed the completely empty cargo area and had a neat idea. I took out the diesel barrels I had, only one of which was full, and I poured some fuel into each of them. I took out my wand again and tried to use the Refilling charm and the damn thing worked! I laughed and filled all four barrels with fuel before I secured them with straps.

I climbed into the driver's seat and started the truck up to drive back to the camp. I would have to park pretty far away and needed to figure out how to move the other vehicles out of the way to make room for the mobile library, then I laughed. I just remembered that I had the perfect place that had plenty of room for me to park the thing.

It was right in front of the wrecked plane on the long runway that I could no longer use.

*

Dale was the first to notice the huge silver thing rumbling down the access road to the quarry, thanks to his binoculars. He raised the alarm, just like he was supposed to. The few people not near the lake and enjoying their canoe lessons with Amy, rushed over to the RV and asked what was going on. He explained as he continued to watch through the binoculars and then he saw what was hauling it.

“Jesus Christ, Almighty.” Dale whispered in awe. “It's Rick!”

“WHAT?” They all exclaimed as one.

“He somehow hooked up a damn tractor trailer to the back of that suped-up 4x4 truck he found.” Dale said and saw Rick's arm sticking out the window and that waved at him, then it pointed off to the side. “It looks like he's going to the runway.”

“You stay here to keep a lookout and we'll go see what's up.” Shane said and they all rushed off towards the road to the quarry that Rick had made with the tractor to easily move the larger rocks for their protective barriers.

As they approached the runway, they heard the telltale beeping of a large truck backing up. There were no lights or anything to show them it was, though. Rick hadn't thought they were needed, considering how short the trip back to camp had been.

Shane stepped off to the side and waved at the side mirror to let Rick know he was there and Rick honked the horn in response. Shane started to guide him with hand signals and Rick followed them until Shane held up both hands in a clear stop gesture.

“Thanks for the help.” Rick said and hopped out of the truck and went to the front of the trailer and pulled the securing pin. He went to the side of the trailer and used the little crank there and let the trailer support lower to the dirt. He cranked it a little more and then set the lock.

“What the hell is this thing for?” Shane asked.

Rick gave him a crooked smile. “It's something that should keep the women and kids happy for a long time.”

Shane's eyes widened at the bold claim and Rick laughed and slapped his shoulder.

“Give this thing another few cranks when I say so.” Rick said and went to the other side. He cranked it down to the same spot and set the lock before he subtly dismissed the featherweight charm. “Okay, on three, and crank it five times to lift it from the truck.”

“Got it.” Shane said. “One...”

“Two...” Rick said.

“Three.” They said as one and then grunted as they cranked the little cranks.

“What... do you have... in this thing?” Shane asked between breaths.

“A lot... more weight... than I thought.” Rick answered.

They reached four turns and heard the clink of the hitch separating and gave it one more crank.

“Set the locking pin!” Rick shouted.

Shane did as he said and let the small crank go. His hands stung and he sat in the dirt to stare at the metal trailer.

Rick came back around and hopped in the truck, drove it a foot, and turned it off and climbed back out. He walked over to Shane and patted his shoulder. “I'm sorry about that. I hooked the thing up before loading it up with... something.”

Shane huffed and held a hand up.

Rick took it and hauled him to his feet. “Give me a hand opening the back and we can let the lookie-loos have a gander inside.”

“Lookie-loos?” Shane asked with a chuckle.

Rick laughed. “I don't know where I picked that up, either.” He said and walked over to the back of the trailer where the others had gathered and were muttering about what it could be. He stood there and let them speculate about it for a moment and nodded to Shane. The each took a door and unhooked it and pulled the handles to open them up.

The small gathering stepped back and a few of them gasped.

Shane hooked the door handle in the slot to hold it open and looked inside the trailer himself. “What's so good about a trailer full of empty shelves?”

“Don't you see those?!?” Miranda asked and pointed at the boxes.

“They're boxes.” Shane said.

Miranda shook her head and looked at her husband. “Juan, darling, help me up! We must start right away!”

Juan looked as confused as Shane and did as she asked. He picked her up and sat her on the back of the trailer's opening.

Miranda used his shoulders as braces and climbed to her feet. She then looked at Rick. “You need to go find Andrea right away. She needs to be here to help, as you very well know.”

Rick nodded. “Try to not let anyone run off with anything, all right? Until we get an accounting of everything, no one can borrow anything and they have to stay inside.”

Miranda smiled and nodded. “We'll have it done in a few days. It's too important not to.”

Rick walked off at a fast pace and left the others there.

Miranda saw they were still slightly confused, so she opened up the closest box and reached in to pull out two books, which made the other woman there immediately try to climb inside. Shane and Juan gave her a hand without grabbing anything important and helped her scramble up inside.

“I don't get it.” Juan said.

“Books, dear. It's books.” Miranda said and gave him a very sexy smile. “All these boxes that made this thing so heavy are all filled with books!”

“We have our very own library!” The other woman almost shouted and opened another box. “Ohhh, the Encyclopedia Britannica! I hope it's all here!”

Shane and Juan exchanged looks with Jim and all three of them turned and walked away without looking back. They heard Andrea's excited shout and sped up their walk to a jog to try and hide before she saw them. None of the men wanted to spend the next few days sorting books and putting them onto the shelves.