Doomsday Pillars

The tally is in, it shows that there were 8,000 plus children under the age of 16, and about 1,000 plus seniors. A few hundred of the seniors are in the later stage of retirement age. For which the governor assigns dozens of caretaker to look after. While ideally, almost all of these 9,000 plus people needed caretakers, given that they lost their biological family members. But during dark times, especially disastrous time such as this, even these people needed to be able to take care of themselves. 

The best cure for despair and sadness is love. If they can't have it, give them hope. If they also lost all hope, then just give them something to do. 

Alex and Agung agreed that the next logical step would be to recruit a team of teachers and educators. 

And so, a few hundred of these elderly who were deemed capable then turned into educators and caretakers for the children. They were not the best, but they would have to suffice, at least for now.

- - - - - - - - - -

DDay +5

Barry and 6 of his friends managed to reach the survival post and were transferred to the Main Base yesterday. They were surprised to see the 4 meters tall concrete wall expands to a few kilometers in the middle of nowhere. The group came with one of the trucks. There were several trucks in this convoy and it was sufficiently guarded with armed soldiers. They were dropped outside of the base, at least a few hundred of them altogether. The trucks hurriedly turn back the way they came from, it seems there were more people to transport.

Barry saw the big gate, it was heavily guarded. There were at least a few dozen guards patrolling around the main entrance. The group walked passed the gate and were led into one of the big tents. They were waiting to be processed. The survival post, the trucks, the armed guards, the wall and these facilities. All of this gave him a feeling of unspoken security. He can't help but wonder who was the mastermind behind all this. Could it be the government? Perhaps the president survived or even was present on the island when the disaster struck? Surely only a man of high caliber could have done anything of this magnitude. For a while he was lost in awe.

One by one, his friends went through the administrative procedures. Sure enough, came his turn and for some unknown reason, he was feeling nervous! So many questions spins in his mind, only to be interrupted by a call from a man in front of him, who appeared to be in his thirties..

"Name?" 

"Barry Hans"

"Age?" 

"16.."

"Bali locals?" 

"No, I am a student from Jakarta."

"Any family here in Bali?" 

"No, but I came with my friends. We are from the same school and lived in the same dormitory."

The man seems uninterested with the information Barry offered.

"Any special skills?"

"What do you mean?"

"Martial Art, shooting, masonry, carpentry, medical, cooking, teaching, or singing.. any skill at all?"

"..."

"I am a student. I like programming... web design... yes. yes I can make a good web.."

.

"Ooo Yes I write novel!! My sci-fi novel got quite a following on the web... does that count as a special skill?"

.

.

"What do you think genius?"

"You're 16. That leaves you with two choices,fighter.. or worker..?"

He looked at Barry with a stone face which doesn't help with the nerve.

.

Barry suddenly remembered about the strong people who saved him and his friend and impulsively decided,

"Fighter!"

"You sure? Workers generally stay safer within the walls, especially for young ones such as yourself.."

"I am sure... A man never go back on his word!" Barry said with conviction, to his own surprise.

"....16 years old, I guess you could be considered half a man."

.

"This is your identification. Here are a couple of food stamps for today. Congratulations young man, you are now officially part of the Star Arm. The army will provide food and shelter for you. In return, you will follow the commands of your superiors, do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand, Sir!!" Barry replied enthusiastically.

As one of the fighters, Barry received a red armband. Thinking about becoming a real trained warrior, he gleefully smile with excitement. That is until he made his way back to his friends, when he saw that all of them had on not red, but yellow armbands...every-single-one!

.

"Guys...why? Cynthia.. you are not even wearing an armband.."

"I know Barry, I am still 15 this year. I was assigned to go to the educational department."

"..."

Only then regret settled in, Barry suddenly thought about going back to stone-face and switching to yellow armband, but he was startled by Cynthia's next sentences...

"You are wearing the red armband... you are going to be one of the fighters! You really are brave Barry!" Cynthia said with eyes full of admiration...

.

.

"Yes. I promise... I will train hard and be strong to protect you!!

"..."

His mouth blurred it out so quickly, by the time his mind caught up, it was too late to take back.... but then Cynthia smiled and said softly...

"I believe in you Barry!"

.

Barry's heart beat fast and his face burns... but suddenly,

.

PRRRIITTTTTT!!!

ALL RED ARMBANDS! Gather up! We are moving to Antiga city…!

"..."

"NOOOOOOO!!!!..." Barry cried in his mind, but he can't lose his cool now, not in front of Cynthia...

"You guys.... please take care of each other.. I'll be back soon."

"Take care Barry."

.

Cynthia went straight to the education division. Where they were divided into 3 groups, as one may expect: The Kindergarten, the Primary, and the Secondary.

The Kindergarten, takes care of children who are 6 years old and under. They will be taught to read and write. The primary looks after children between 7 and 12 years old. They would study mathematics, geography, biology, and social studies. Meanwhile, Cynthia were sent to the secondary, where she will learn each of the 7 division professions and fighter's basics. On top of that, they will also learn leadership skills by taking care of the younger students. As one of the oldest in the class, right away Cynthia was given an assignment where she was in charge of a group of 13-year-olds to lead.

- - - - - - - - - -

Alex spent the last 2 days with his managers. He made sure everything would run like clockwork while he's away. He also gave authority for all 7 managers to conduct a majority vote to reach a decision should Alex become unreachable, especially on time-s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e matters.

Alex set up a long-range HAM radio to enable extended distance communication. By now, Lieutenant Rangga had finished his special mission, which was to set up the booster antenna on the westernmost city of Gilimanuk.

This way, the two-way radio should be able to work on even wider radius. The aim is to be able to contact James Randall in East Java, Surabaya city. But until James complete the set up of the booster antenna on his side, they won't be able to communicate just yet.

Alex had thought about preparing this communication antenna before the doomsday begins, but there was too great of a chance that the operator in charge would be infected by diseases or the antenna destroyed during the disaster.

Alex assigned three staff members to standby on the main base HAM radio, covering 24 hours non-stop in 8 hours shift each.

Alex plans to return and explore the big cities. The army were currently in battle, he was itching to go and help.

Before Alex go on his next trip, he went to Benny and took the time to read all of the names. He found some familiar names and also a few spirit enhancers he knew from his previous lives. One of them were still underage, while the other was a foreigner from Russia. Alex didn't expect this guy would end up in his base. In his previous life, this guy was supposed to be having his holiday in Bangkok, Thailand, instead of here in Bali. Apparently, Alex doomsday intervention consequently did change quite a few things.

Sergei Jacob, a Russian professional wrestler and entertainer. He was the runner up of last year's strongman champions league. This guy stands 2 meters tall, arms the size of a tree trunk, short flaming red hair, and a beard down to his c.h.e.s.t. This guy was an earth element spirit enhancer. He has the ability to unconsciously connect with the earth energy which gave him the abnormal muscle growth and strength. 

Contrary to his brute appearance, this guy actually has a friendly and approachable personality. He was quite easy to be recruited; with some incentives of course, alcohol and cigars. Fortunately, Alex kept many of them in storage. Sergei willingly decided to join the mission. It's either this or some boring construction manual labor.

This time Alex not only bring Aria and Rama, but he also took Cindy and Theo. Alex thought that this would be a good chance to train his best friends on some fighting and survival skills. That, and also to get Cindy off his back, she has been pestering Alex since he got back to the base two days ago. This way he can finally put an end to her nagging.. for now..

They planned to set off first thing the following morning. Before which, Alex gave 6 stones each to Sergei, Theo, and Cindy. Alex also gave 30 spirit stones to Major Sandi. He believed these stones were well spent, since they're distributed to the most talented fighters.

Tonight, Alex spends time with his family.