They hadn’t wanted to get them all cleared out until they got boats up and running, planned out a lot of everything from what I’d heard, and proven that I should give New Orleans a second chance.
Their words. It was sweet, but some wounds couldn’t ever be healed and would still be sensitive.
However, the amount of everything good coming off those boats might add a layer or two of bandages. I wasn’t sure but it was worth a shot.
“I thought fishing sharks was bad?” I asked Jaxon under my breath.
“Normally, but the population is at a crazy level and throws off the ecosystem. It’s also why there are a lot of alligators coming.” He winked at me. “I love alligator. It’s so damn good. Shark is good, too, nice grilled shark steaks are awesome. They weren’t always frowned-upon fishing and provided a lot of meat. I mean, I get it, I don’t want anything to go extinct, but they said there are too many.”
I nodded. Predator species could explode in waters just like on land after all. I listened as they talked about what was in season, Lorenzo and Adam greeting us and filling us in. It wasn’t crawfish season, and while we weren’t keeping to those hunting “seasons” like people had to before, especially with culling, it was still needed for fishing; otherwise it would be a no babies for next year sort of thing.
Yeah, no wiping anything out. But, crawfish was the only thing not in season, so on top of the sharks and alligators, we had shrimp, blue crab, oysters, and a few different types of fish. It was a score for sure.
“Enough to feed all the guests and more for your events this weekend, yeah?” Lorenzo checked, giving me a hopeful look.
I nodded. “If you guys want New Orleans and have a plan, I’m cool with it. You just might need to come visit me if you want to hang, not me here besides quick in and outs and for a while. Sorry, but I’ve got too much going on to push myself like that.”
“We know,” Adam said gently, reaching over and squeezing my shoulder. “It’s why we picked hotels downtown near the ports and landings instead of in the French Quarter. You don’t ever have to go back there again, okay?”
“Yeah, thanks, at least for now,” I sighed, glad they understood that. I knew it was probably the cooler hotels and all the party everything of Bourbon Street, but I just didn’t have it in me.
I nodded along as they explained the plan to ship it out with the semis and trailers they would need. Eventually, they were hoping the high speed trains we were talking of would come from the coven, through Albuquerque to Oklahoma City—which apparently people were scouting for another outpost—and then down to New Orleans to them.
It made sense and it would take care of transport faster. The trains only had about ten cars, but there weren’t billions of people in the world anymore, and New Orleans wouldn’t be a huge player in a global economy. From what I had read, the export that went out of there in produce to other countries had been staggering on its own.
And now it was crawling with corrupted. The world was a different place.
“So, we heard you might be thinking of letting humans into the coven?” Adam asked cautiously.
I nodded. “There’s a situation and if they’re accepting of us, fine, they can join the team, but if not, we’ve got someone who can wipe the memories and stick them back at that settlement. If they are cult dicks or other assholes, they can kill each other for their corner over there while we sneak the good ones out the back door or whatever.”
“Cool, yeah, we’re good with humans, but the idea of going back to hiding is just too much,” Lorenzo muttered. “Everything’s so different, and I’m not going to risk my clan because they had to play human.”
“On that we agree, I promise. I just know from having to go through some of those types of settlements there were normal people there that wouldn’t have cared if we were purple aliens if it meant a safe place from the crazy in those cults. Those are the people we’ll help. The others, screw them. I’m not helping them live longer or better so they spawn the next generation of cult crazy.”
“So what’s the plan overall?” Jaxon asked as more and more was unloaded.
“If Vitor can start with all the vehicles on the expressways all over here, I’ll turn them into what we need and—”
“No, I meant long term,” Jaxon clarified. “Seattle isn’t fishing every day as we don’t need that much. I mean, we’re adding people, but they’re only fishing a few days a week.”
“Basically, what we were helping with in other areas,” Adam answered. “We map out the whole city, see what’s here and what could be useful if we’re back online and raiding. Start on the outskirts and that way stuff can be returned to nature. We don’t have a direct rail line to you guys, but energy beads don’t expire, right? So, we’ll report what we find and make sure we keep communicating.”
“Was there something you were specifically thinking of?” I asked Jaxon, wondering what he had been getting at as well.
“No, just wanted to make sure they understood that would still be the plan here. I was hoping they might be up for the idea of sending some of the probationary coven members here. There’s a group that doesn’t want to be out on their own in the cold to figure it all out,
