168 lines
9.4 KiB
HTML
168 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>
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<h1> Bare Necessities </h1>
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<p>
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Jack is driving the truck towards a dried-out river. On the other side,
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a bit in the distance, is a group of houses that – while they
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have certainly seen better days – don't look abandoned.
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Jack says to Annie: <span class="quote speech">Hold on!
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<span class="comment">translate: Festhalten!</span></span>
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Then, he drives into the river bed.
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</p>
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<p>
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The truck struggles to get traction in the sand while driving up
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the other river bank. It gets stuck. Jack backs up and
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turns into the river, accelerates, then steers back onto the bank
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– to no avail, the truck gets stuck again.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">Well... fuck.</span><br />
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He turns back into the river once more. The engine roars and the wheels
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fling sand everywhere. Jack shifts gears, the needle on the speedometer
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slowly creeps up, then he goes for another attempt. The suspension
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bottoms out as the wheels plow into the sand, but the truck barely makes
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it out.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">Ouch.</span> Annie holds her shoulder where
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the seat belt had dug into it. <span class="quote speech">Can we not do
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that again, please?</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Sorry. I'll... try to keep it in
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mind.</span><br />
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He turns around and drives onto the overgrown remains of a road leading
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towards the settlement.
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</p>
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<p>
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Jack parks the truck in front of an old store.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">This is it, I guess.</span><br />
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They get out and start walking towards the door. A small dog runs up to
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them, barking, jumping around, running in circles, and wagging its tail.
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It picks up a stick and drops it in front of Annie. She crouches down
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and pets the dog.<br />
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Jack says: <span class="quote speech">I'm gonna be inside.
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<span class="comment">more elegant way of saying "I need to take a
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piss.</span> Hopefully, they have a toilet.</span><br />
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He disappears into the store. Annie picks up the stick, gets up and
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holds it just out of reach of the dog. It jumps back and forth a couple
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times, looking at her.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">You wanna play fetch, do you?</span>
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</p>
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<p>
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Annie plays with the dog for a bit, then she follows Jack into the store.
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Its shelves are sparsely stocked with a random assortment of things,
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roughly sorted into categories:
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Hand tools, boxes full of hardware, household chemicals, bars of soap,
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a few clocks and watches, books, and more. Half of the store seems to be
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dedicated to food – though the shelves are mostly empty.
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In the back is a counter. Jack is talking to the man behind it who
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appears to be in his 60s.<br />
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The man says: <span class="quote speech">No, we don't sell food.
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What you see there is strictly rationed. Since the <span class="comment"
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>river name</span> has changed course, we don't even have enough
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water to grow crops for ourselves. The cisterns and wells simply
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don't cut it.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Okay... What if we supplied you with
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water?</span><br />
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The man interrupts the conversation and looks at Annie:<br />
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<span class="quote speech">Good afternoon, what can I do for you?</span>
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<br />
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<span class="quote speech">I'm with him.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">I see.</span><br />
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He turns back to Jack:<br />
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<span class="quote speech">Listen, the amount of water we need can't
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simply be carried here or we'd do it ourselves. And we need it
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constantly and consistently, not just once.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">I understand that. You need an industrial
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quantity of water. Will you provide food if we supply it?</span><br />
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He musters Jack for a moment.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">Who is <i>we</i> and how do you wanna
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accomplish that?</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">We're a small group of people living in
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a bunker south of Ivydale. Two of us have extensive knowledge of
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old world technology that we can put to use.</span><br />
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The man looks at him with skepticism.<br />
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Jack continues: <span class="quote speech">Let the <i>how</i> be my
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problem to solve. If we make it happen, will you give us food?</span>
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<br />
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<span class="quote speech">You're gonna have to discuss that with
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the others. Wait outside.</span><br />
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He disappears through a door behind the counter. Annie and Jack leave
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the store and, once outside, Annie asks:<br />
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<span class="quote speech">So how do you wanna accomplish that?
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Sounds like you have a grand plan already.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Not really, but I'm pretty sure I will
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within the hour. If all else fails, we could fix up a flatbed
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truck, bolt a tank to it, and do supply runs.</span>
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</p>
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<p>
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While they wait, the small dog runs up again. They play fetch until
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a group of people approaches, the man from the store among them.
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A few handshakes later, Jack repeats his suggestion. A man in his 40s,
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who seems to be in charge, says:
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<span class="quote speech">Your intentions are ... ambitious. I doubt
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you can do it but I don't see why we shouldn't let you try.
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<i>If</i> you manage to restore a permanent water supply, you can have
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all the food you want.</span><br />
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Someone else throws in: <span class="quote speech">Within reason.</span>
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<br />
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<span class="quote speech">Yes, within reason. Any objections?</span>
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<br />
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He looks around. Someone raises a hand.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">Yes?</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">We're not just gonna feed these people
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forever, are we?</span><br />
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Jack replies before the one in charge gets a chance:
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<span class="quote speech">We need to feed maybe ten people for a few
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months while we establish a settlement in the south of Ivydale.</span>
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<br />
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The one in charge responds: <span class="quote speech">That's a lot.
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Let's say one month.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">We'll need at least two.</span><br />
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A few members of the group discuss among themselves for a moment.
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Then, the one in charge turns to Jack again:<br />
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<span class="quote speech">Okay, we have a deal.</span><br />
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A few people keep questioning Jack and the feasibility of his idea.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">Ladies and gentlemen, whether it can be done
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will be our problem. Now I would like to see what we have to work with.
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Do you have an irrigation system?</span><br />
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The one in charge responds: <span class="quote speech">Yes, old pipes
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in the ground.</span> He turns to a girl:
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<span class="quote speech">Mary, can you go, show them around?</span>
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<br />
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<span class="quote speech">Sure.</span> She takes a step towards Annie
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and Jack. <span class="quote speech">Follow me.</span>
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</p>
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<p>
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Mary says: <span class="quote speech">The closest access point is right
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there, behind the store.</span><br />
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They walk around it and onto a field of <span class="comment">withering?
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</span> plants. A large, partially buried pipe with just the top exposed
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goes through it with an access hatch roughly in the center of the field.
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Right next to the hatch is a <span class="comment">Gestell?</span> with
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a boom to lower a large bucket into the access hatch.<br />
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Jack asks: <span class="quote speech">Is it all like this, buried pipes
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going to fields?</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Mostly. In the greenhouses, it's just
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an open <span class="comment">channel?</span>.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Where do these pipes lead?</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">They all connect to a large
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<span class="comment">round buried tank</span> from where a tunnel
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connects to the inlet. It's a bit of a walk but I can show
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you.</span><br />
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She gestures for them to follow but Jack stops her:<br />
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<span class="quote speech">Wait, we can take the truck.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">That's <i>your</i> car?</span><br />
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Her sudden excitement seems to take Jack by surprise.<br />
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<span class="quote speech">Uhh... yeah.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">That's so cool! I've only ever seen
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the broken ones by the side of the road. We gonna drive there?</span>
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<br />
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<span class="quote speech">If you show the way.</span><br />
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<span class="quote speech">Heck yeah!</span>
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</p>
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<p class="comment">
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Not sure of this should be the end of a chapter or if I should continue
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here.<br />
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One thing that has happened is that this chapter, while written from
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Annie's perspective, has her be a passive bystander without even
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having any introspection for most of it. This needs to be adressed
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somehow.
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</p>
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<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>
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