post_apocalypse_story/ja-erosion-michelle_wakeup....

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<h1>Erosion</h1>
<p>
<span class="quote speech">Morning, Michelle!</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Ugh.</span><br />
She feels dizzy and her body is filled with a burning sensation.
She stumbles forward, out of her preservation chamber, and sits down
on the floor in front of it, putting her arms over her knees to rest
her head.
<br />
<span class="quote speech">I&apos;m gonna ... need a moment.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Water?</span><br />
She raises her head and Jack hands her a glass. After taking a couple
sips, she sets it down, unsure whether it helps or makes it worse, and
rests her head again.<br />
<span class="quote speech">Just let me sit here for a while.</span><br />
He sits down a bit to the right, facing her.
</p>
<p>
A few minutes later, she lifts up her head again:<br />
<span class="quote speech">What year is it? ... and what&apos;s the
mission?</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Twenty-one-oh-six. There is no explicit
mission, uplink&apos;s dead.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">You&apos;re kidding.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Nope.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">How&apos;d you get woken up then?</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Technical failure in my preservation
chamber.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">You survived that?</span><br />
He chuckles. <span class="quote speech">That was the least of my
challenges. The failsafe worked.</span><br />
He briefly tells her that he found himself trapped inside and turned
to the dome city for help.
</p>
<p>
Michelle&apos;s dizziness starts to go away and the burning sensation
in her body begins to fade. She slowly gets up, takes a few cautious
steps forward to the table, and leans on it.<br />
<span class="quote speech">So? What now? Any plans?</span><br />
Jack gets up as well and picks up the glass.<br />
<span class="quote speech">I guess, for now, taking a look at the
uplink. I wanna see if we can get it going again. After that, we need
to return a favor to the dome city people.</span><br />
He sets the glass on the table.<br />
<span class="quote speech">Thanks.</span><br />
She thinks for a moment.<br />
<span class="quote speech">Assuming we can fix it... Then what?</span>
<br />
<span class="quote speech">Honestly, I don&apos;t know. Maybe the moon
base has something to do for us, maybe they don&apos;t.
I&apos;m&nbsp;just curious about the state of things up there.</span>
<br />
<span class="quote speech">Sounds good. Though give me a bit longer,
I don&apos;t feel quite ready for a hike like that.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Take your time, you just woke up.</span><br />
She pulls back one of the chairs, sits down, and takes another sip.<br />
<span class="quote speech">So what&apos;s that favor for the dome
city?</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">They&apos;re stuck inside as well and want
our help.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">How? Even if the tunnels are collapsed,
I can think of a few other ways to get out.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">From what I know, they aren&apos;t physically
trapped inside, the people in charge just don&apos;t want anyone to
leave.</span><br />
Jack sits down across from her and retells everything that had happened,
starting with his preservaton chamber breaking down. It takes him about
half an hour, including answering Michelles questions.
</p>
<p>
<span class="quote speech">How have you been dealing with food?
I imagine the stockpile was already pretty low?</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Actually not, the others seem to have mostly
hunted and foraged for themselves.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">I wonder what they found to still be
edible...</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Speaking of food, I got leftover baked
potatoes. Want some?</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Now that you ask, I&apos;m slowly getting
hungry. Did you make your usual spicy dip?</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Yup.</span><br />
He gets up and walks over to the kitchen area, grabs a small bowl filled
with a dark red-ish paste, and sets it on the table.<br />
<span class="quote speech">I had to improvise a little due to
a distinct lack of fresh ingredients but I think it still turned out
pretty good.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Oh wow, that looks almost kinda scary.</span>
<br />
<span class="quote speech">The flakes they left us just aren&apos;t
the same as fresh peppers. I had to add <i>a lot</i> to get even close
to the usual spiciness.</span><br />
He grabs the <span class="comment">Backblech?</span> with potatoes
and puts it back in the oven to re-heat.
</p>
<p>
After the meal, they go to the bunker entrance and Jack opens the door
by touching a thick cable to one of the lugs on the motor. Sparks fly
and the door moves up into the ceiling. Michelle gets her first look
outside. The sky is a clear blue and the sun hits the other side of
the valley.<br />
<span class="quote speech">Oddly familiar, and yet so different.</span>
<br />
She hesitates for a moment before stepping onto the cracked pavement
in front of the bunker.<br />
<span class="comment">the scene where Jack opens the door should
have a short description of the lay of the lands</span><br />
The two decide to walk up to a <span class="comment">crest? ridge?</span>
not far from them on the other side of the valley. Beyond it is Ivydale,
once a large city housing just over a million people &ndash; only one of
<span class="comment">who? whom? which?</span> remains to behold its
overgrown ruins.
<br />
<span class="comment">Jack is from Sentinel Shores.</span><br />
Michelle says: <span class="quote speech">I mean I knew it already but
seeing it like this just hits differently.</span><br />
They sit down on a large rock in the shade of a small, lone tree and
take in the view. Michelle takes some time to fully process her new
reality.
</p>
<p>
After a long while, she says: <span class="quote speech">Okay,
let&apos;s go take a look at that uplink.</span><br />
The two get up and walk back towards the bunker, looking for a path
somewhere to the left of it.<br />
Jack points to a structure a decent bit up the mountain and says:
<span class="quote speech">I think that&apos;s it.</span><br />
<span class="quote speech">Oh wow, there isn&apos;t much left.</span>
<br />
Jack points at a few other things below it.<br />
<span class="quote speech">I think these are also part of it.</span>
</p>
<p>
They make their way over and, following what remains of the path, the two
start making their way up. The path is narrow and winded, and overgrown
where it hasn&apos;t disappeared entirely. Jack walks ahead, only half
following it, half making it up as he goes. Michelle struggles to follow,
slowly falling behind. After a while, he stops abruptly, looking down at
something, then up, then down again. Then, he turns to Michelle who is
just catching up and says:<br />
<span class="quote speech">Well, that could be a reason why
the uplink is down &ndash; it literally ...<i>is&nbsp;down</i>...</span>
<br />
Michelle reaches the edge and and sees what Jack had stopped for:
A large <span class="comment">wash?</span> extends downwards
from the top of the mountain where a landslide had left nothing but
a cliff and a huge pile of rubble. At the top of the mountain, teetering
on the edge, are two buildings &ndash; all that&apos;s left of the ground
station. The rest of the buildings and the dish lay strewn around
in pieces down below.
</p>
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