David Dolan's Survival Plan

David Dolan borrowed some children's blocks and paper stripes then placed them on the floor since there were no tables.

"I know what you all are thinking, haha, don't worry I'm still sane." He joked.

"If you can't see, don't push, calm down, I'll leave them here so others that saw can explain to you. I could explain but I figured it'd be nice to show you guys a visual imprint of my idea."

Mark was close enough to see and Damian was tall enough.

Damian wore a white long-sleeve t-shirt, washed blue denim jeans (which he cuffed), and casual white canvas. He only washed a few parts of his body when he showered so he wouldn't ruin the bandages around his chest and upper abdomen. His hair was, as usual, neatly combed backwards.

"The blocks represent the houses in the area above us while the paper stripes represent the subway lines…

"This red block stands for the empty apartment block. As we all know, no one resides there at the moment…

"While these other coloured blocks represent the buildings around the red block. These buildings are inhabited. We've inspected these buildings and there wasn't anything suspicious apart from the residents being extra cautious. If there is someone or some people that conformed to the rule of the 1st phase then we would've noticed by now…

"To make sure it's not us that missed it we'll be doing an all-round inspection. There's no way they could've gotten rid of the body or bodies…

"Obviously, no one's gonna just allow us in their apartment without some type of plea or threat. For now, since we don't have a way to force them… we'll plead."

"Wait." Mark raised his hand while taking glimpses at Damian, "I have some guns stashed somewhere in this area. Will that help?"

…This ungrateful piece of sh*t. I bought those guns with my hard-earned rings. How dare you donate my guns and ammo to charity? Damian was greatly annoyed but didn't let it faze him even in the slightest.

David Dolan was overjoyed, "Of course! Thank you. I know some people here that can handle guns well. But aren't you worried about the human rights violations?"

Mark replied, "What we're trying to create here is somewhere people can feel the safest. I'll give you guns but only give a handful of ammo. "

"Undeniably, we gotta work on our trust issues but fair enough. I express my gratitude once again. Now, following that…

"I want the subway lines between Spring Street Subway Station and Canal Street Subway Station to be exclusive to us for easy transportation of supplies. Therefore, there will be a group of people to guard this passage and keep alert for intruders and other threats…

"In short, we need to expand, we need more people to survive. Does anyone find a fault in my plan?"

"No way. What a brilliant plan."

"Smart."

"Who would? I'm so hyped right now."

"This is the type of stuff Vilin should do. That asshole. I should've never voted for him."

Damian harrumphed, garnering everyone's attention, then he said, "How 'bout we just leave the not-so-red blocks alone?

"Think about it. Why don't we just tell them that if they want protection they can join – which means they'll have to cooperate – instead of forcing them?"

Damian looked straight at David Dolan, "One has to know when to draw the line between surviving and surviving together, or else…"

Damian's lips curled up slightly, "Innocent lives could be lost."

David Dolan took a deep breath and nodded his head in accord, "Brilliant. As expected of a world-class neurosurgeon."

"He's a neurosurgeon? Are you serious?"

"He's so young. How's that possible?"

"Now that you mention it don't you think he's kinda cute?"

"When this apocalypse is over do you think he'll gimme his number?"

…Dad knows so much about him, but how much? Stephanie didn't know this about Damian yet her father did. She eavesdropped on their conversation that time at Cranberry street so she knew they didn't talk about anything related to their personal lives.

"No one listens to the news nowadays, huh? You guys don't know the Director of NYC Central Health? One of his biggest achievements is single-handedly curing a patient with grade 4 brain cancer when he was still learning. No one knows how he did it, and he says he 'forgot' how…

"And that's just fifth place on the list. Fourth place would be rejecting a Nobel prize for Neurosurgery for God knows why. His research facility is said to be the most promising. And I've also heard some rant that he gives nearly 80% of his annual earnings to fund his cancer research. 

"In short, he's already one of the world's greatest minds in this century and he hasn't even crossed 30. He obviously doesn't like the public eye but some of you doubt me when I say you're on thin ice when you mess with him."

Jaws were on the floor. Mark couldn't believe his ears. I wondered why even Karin gave him so much respect…

Rachael was in shock, and although Michelle hardly understood David Dolan's words, she knew it held harder than gravity by everyone's reactions.

Damian smirked. He didn't know what David Dolan was planning by saying all that but he had to admit, the flattery felt good.

And of course, the crowd will whisper.

"He's a national treasure. How come we've never heard of him?"

"Yesterday he only said he was a qualified doctor."

"Rejecting a Nobel prize? My goodness…"

"His name should just be Chad."

"He even apologised to everyone. How can he be so humble?"

"Young, smart, rich, tall, and so cute! Who wouldn't want that?"

Suzie, Claudia and the other people that wanted to pay Damian back all wanted to dig their graves and bury themselves in shame. Once again, they were reminded of how much David Dolan looks out for them. Some insecure men started resenting him.

"I bet it's just his parents that paid his way through."

"You heartless asshole! Didn't you hear? He was orphaned the second time at 17."

"You sure he didn't kill his parents to inherit their fortune?"

"You motherf*cker---"

"Okay…" David Dolan spoke up before things got out of hand, "Does anyone else have any ideas? No one? Oh yeah, Damian, in yesterday's meeting you said you had to think something over."

Damian nudged his glasses and said, "Yes. I and a few other people witnessed a demon… that talked."

The reaction of the crowd was mixed. Some were shocked, while Julian had already told somewhat transpired that day.

"I need to run some tests so we can know what we're dealing with here. And maybe see if there's a cure…

"There are three problems here. Firstly, my field of knowledge in this field is limited… 

"Secondly, getting the samples of the experiments alive won't be easy. And lastly, I don't know the current state of my hospital."

David Dolan thought for a few seconds before saying, "I have to update my plans. We'll resume 30 minutes from now. Everyone should use this time to get ready for anything."

The crowd got busy. Some people wanted to close their eyes for a few minutes, while some had breakfast.

Damian sat in front of his tent and checked his phone to see how much time they had left before the start of the 2nd phase.

+

[Current Phase Details]

<Adjustment period>

Description: There will be 3 days of adjustment before the start of the 2nd phase

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Time remaining : 6:28:10

+

Only a few hours remaining… He was fully prepared, but a man can't work on an empty stomach.

…

Mark went over to David's tent and made his presence known, "Mr Dolan? It's Mark."

David Dolan came out of the tent and said, "Oh, Officer Jordan. I have to tell you again how grateful I am for helping us with the guns. I really appreciate it. So, what did you wanna talk about? "

"Mr Dolan… I'd like to ask you for a favour, if you don't mind that is…"