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<h1> Bare Necessities </h1>
<p>
Jack is driving the truck towards a dried-out river. On the other side,
a bit in the distance, is a group of houses that – while they
have certainly seen better days – don't look abandoned.
Jack says to Annie: <span class="quote speech">Hold on!
<span class="comment">translate: Festhalten!</span></span>
Then, he drives into the river bed.
</p>
<p>
The truck struggles to get traction in the sand while driving up
the other river bank. It gets stuck. Jack backs up and
turns into the river, accelerates, then steers back onto the bank
– to no avail, the truck gets stuck again.<br />
<span class="quote speech">Well... fuck.</span><br />
He turns back into the river once more. The engine roars and the wheels
fling sand everywhere. Jack shifts gears, the needle on the speedometer
slowly creeps up, then he goes for another attempt. The suspension
bottoms out as the wheels plow into the sand, but the truck barely makes
it out.<br />
<span class="quote speech">Ouch.</span> Annie holds her shoulder where
the seat belt had dug into it. <span class="quote speech">Can we not do
that again, please?</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Sorry. I'll... try to keep it in
mind.</span><br />
He turns around and drives onto the overgrown remains of a road leading
towards the settlement.
</p>
<p>
Jack parks the truck in front of an old store.<br />
<span class="quote speech">This is it, I guess.</span><br />
They get out and start walking towards the door. A small dog runs up to
them, barking, jumping around, running in circles, and wagging its tail.
It picks up a stick and drops it in front of Annie. She crouches down
and pets the dog.<br />
Jack says: <span class="quote speech">I'm gonna be inside.
<span class="comment">more elegant way of saying "I need to take a
piss.</span> Hopefully, they have a toilet.</span><br />
He disappears into the store. Annie picks up the stick, gets up and
holds it just out of reach of the dog. It jumps back and forth a couple
times, looking at her.<br />
<span class="quote speech">You wanna play fetch, do you?</span>
</p>
<p>
Annie plays with the dog for a bit, then she follows Jack into the store.
Its shelves are sparsely stocked with a random assortment of things,
roughly sorted into categories:
Hand tools, boxes full of hardware, household chemicals, bars of soap,
a few clocks and watches, books, and more. Half of the store seems to be
dedicated to food – though the shelves are mostly empty.
In the back is a counter. Jack is talking to the man behind it who
appears to be in his 60s.<br />
The man says: <span class="quote speech">No, we don't sell food.
What you see there is strictly rationed. Since the <span class="comment"
>river name</span> has changed course, we don't even have enough
water to grow crops for ourselves. The cisterns and wells simply
don't cut it.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Okay... What if we supplied you with
water?</span><br />
The man interrupts the conversation and looks at Annie:<br />
<span class="quote speech">Good afternoon, what can I do for you?</span>
<br />
<span class="quote speech">I'm with him.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">I see.</span><br />
He turns back to Jack:<br />
<span class="quote speech">Listen, the amount of water we need can't
simply be carried here or we'd do it ourselves. And we need it
constantly and consistently, not just once.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">I understand that. You need an industrial
quantity of water. Will you provide food if we supply it?</span><br />
He musters Jack for a moment.<br />
<span class="quote speech">Who is <i>we</i> and how do you wanna
accomplish that?</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">We're a small group of people living in
a bunker south of Ivydale. Two of us have extensive knowledge of
old world technology that we can put to use.</span><br />
The man looks at him with skepticism.<br />
Jack continues: <span class="quote speech">Let the <i>how</i> be my
problem to solve. If we make it happen, will you give us food?</span>
<br />
<span class="quote speech">You're gonna have to discuss that with
the others. Wait outside.</span><br />
He disappears through a door behind the counter. Annie and Jack leave
the store and, once outside, Annie asks:<br />
<span class="quote speech">So how do you wanna accomplish that?
Sounds like you have a grand plan already.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Not really, but I'm pretty sure I will
within the hour. If all else fails, we could fix up a flatbed
truck, bolt a tank to it, and do supply runs.</span>
</p>
<p>
While they wait, the small dog runs up again. They play fetch until
a group of people approaches, the man from the store among them.
A few handshakes later, Jack repeats his suggestion. A man in his 40s,
who seems to be in charge, says:
<span class="quote speech">Your intentions are ... ambitious. I doubt
you can do it but I don't see why we shouldn't let you try.
<i>If</i> you manage to restore a permanent water supply, you can have
all the food you want.</span><br />
Someone else throws in: <span class="quote speech">Within reason.</span>
<br />
<span class="quote speech">Yes, within reason. Any objections?</span>
<br />
He looks around. Someone raises a hand.<br />
<span class="quote speech">Yes?</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">We're not just gonna feed these people
forever, are we?</span><br />
Jack replies before the one in charge gets a chance:
<span class="quote speech">We need to feed maybe ten people for a few
months while we establish a settlement in the south of Ivydale.</span>
<br />
The one in charge responds: <span class="quote speech">That's a lot.
Let's say one month.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">We'll need at least two.</span><br />
A few members of the group discuss among themselves for a moment.
Then, the one in charge turns to Jack again:<br />
<span class="quote speech">Okay, we have a deal.</span><br />
A few people keep questioning Jack and the feasibility of his idea.<br />
<span class="quote speech">Ladies and gentlemen, whether it can be done
will be our problem. Now I would like to see what we have to work with.
Do you have an irrigation system?</span><br />
The one in charge responds: <span class="quote speech">Yes, old pipes
in the ground.</span> He turns to a girl:
<span class="quote speech">Mary, can you go, show them around?</span>
<br />
<span class="quote speech">Sure.</span> She takes a step towards Annie
and Jack. <span class="quote speech">Follow me.</span>
</p>
<p>
Mary says: <span class="quote speech">The closest access point is right
there, behind the store.</span><br />
They walk around it and onto a field of <span class="comment">withering?
</span> plants. A large, partially buried pipe with just the top exposed
goes through it with an access hatch roughly in the center of the field.
Right next to the hatch is a <span class="comment">Gestell?</span> with
a boom to lower a large bucket into the access hatch.<br />
Jack asks: <span class="quote speech">Is it all like this, buried pipes
going to fields?</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Mostly. In the greenhouses, it's just
an open <span class="comment">channel?</span>.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Where do these pipes lead?</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">They all connect to a large
<span class="comment">round buried tank</span> from where a tunnel
connects to the inlet. It's a bit of a walk but I can show
you.</span><br />
She gestures for them to follow but Jack stops her:<br />
<span class="quote speech">Wait, we can take the truck.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">That's <i>your</i> car?</span><br />
Her sudden excitement seems to take Jack by surprise.<br />
<span class="quote speech">Uhh... yeah.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">That's so cool! I've only ever seen
the broken ones by the side of the road. We gonna drive there?</span>
<br />
<span class="quote speech">If you show the way.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Heck yeah!</span>
</p>
<p class="comment">
Not sure of this should be the end of a chapter or if I should continue
here.<br />
One thing that has happened is that this chapter, while written from
Annie's perspective, has her be a passive bystander without even
having any introspection for most of it. This needs to be adressed
somehow.
</p>
<p class="comment">
Description of the inlet: Two <translate: Stauwehre>, a large one
and a small one. The small one can be adjusted with large screws.
Behind the small one is a pit with a grate covering the tunnel entrance.
They see a railway bridge not too far upstream.
</p>
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