181 lines
9.4 KiB
HTML
181 lines
9.4 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title> Bare Necessities </title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="html_resources/style.css"></head><body><a href="index.html"><button class="back"><</button></a>
|
|
|
|
<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
|
|
<span class="comment">certainly have? have certainly?</span> seen better
|
|
days – don't look abandoned. Jack says
|
|
<span class="quote speech">Hold on!
|
|
<span class="comment">Festhalten?</span></span> and drives into the
|
|
river bed.
|
|
<br />
|
|
<span class="comment">TODO: mention Annie in this paragraph</span>
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
The truck struggles to get traction while driving up the other river
|
|
bank, eventually getting stuck in the sand. He 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 river bank, but the truck does
|
|
barely make 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">I'll... try to keep it in mind,
|
|
sorry.</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>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="quote speech">I'll be right there.</span><br />
|
|
<span class="quote speech">Okay.</span> Jack disappears into the store.
|
|
She 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 throws the stick a few times, 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. Behind the counter
|
|
is a man who appears to be in his 60s, talking to Jack:<br />
|
|
<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 know you need an industrial quantity of
|
|
water. We can get you an industrial quantity of water. Will you give us
|
|
food if we supply you?</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 are 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 supply us with
|
|
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 drive it here.</span>
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
While they wait, the small dog runs up again. They play fetch for a bit
|
|
until a group of people, amongst them the man from the store, approaches
|
|
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 any harm in agreeing. <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 two months.</span><br />
|
|
<span class="quote speech">Okay.</span><br />
|
|
<span class="quote speech">Then we have a deal.</span><br />
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
A few people keep questioning the feasibility until Jack puts a stop
|
|
to it:<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.
|
|
Can I have a look at that irrigation system?</span><br />
|
|
The one in charge 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. 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, a net of
|
|
buried pipes?</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 another pipe
|
|
leads to the intake. 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="copyright">Copyright © 2023 Jan Danielzick (aka. BodgeMaster) – All rights reserved.</p><script>let spans = ["<span class=\"paper green\">", "<span>"]; let pre_texts = document.getElementsByTagName("pre"); for (let i = 0; i < pre_texts.length; i++) {if (pre_texts[i].className != "paper") continue; let lines = pre_texts[i].innerHTML.split("\n"); let result = ""; for (let j = 0; j < lines.length; j++) {result = result + spans[j%2] + lines[j] + " ".repeat(80-lines[j].length) + "</span>\n";} pre_texts[i].innerHTML = result;}</script></body></html>
|