KyleReevis
Really Experienced
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2017
- Posts
- 190
Peter Higgins -- Profile, Headshot
(This 1x1 thread begins the night of August 10, 2048, at this post, #20, in the main thread. It will likely take us several days to complete, but since the outcome is pretty certain, it won't matter that the writing of it will possibly days behind the timeline of the main thread. BTW, depending on your device, if you click the "this post" link, you will be taken to the page in a "View Single Post" format. I don't know about your device, but on my computer, if you click "Underneath..." in the upper right corner, you are taken to the thread itself, not just post #20. If you've been here a while, you already knew that.)
Peter looked up to the clock on the wall, then called to a couple who'd been nursing their beers in the corner while playing checkers, "Closing."
They looked to the clock, too, and one of them asked, "At ten?"
Peter shrugged and said, "Monday night. Closing is actually 9pm, but I had work to do so--"
They waved off his explanation as they stood to bring him their bottles for clean up. Peter rarely had people fuss too much about closing or last call or any of the other notices he gave them. It was so different here in the Underneath saloon than it was out in the real world. Or at least how it had been back before the Collapse. A lot of things changed when society fell apart.
It was ironic that many aspects of Underneath were like that old world in which Peter's parents had grown and of which he'd heard so many stories. Last call and closing time here in the saloon, obviously. Weekends and weekdays, too. Today was Monday, August 10th. Why did it need to be Monday? Couldn't it be Tuesday or Humpday or the weekend? Because there were still some things that went on here that were just like they had been out there in North Platte, in Nebraska, in the US, in the world. The children here, for example, only had school Monday to Friday. There was special entertainment and outings, though indoors obviously, that only occurred on Saturday and Sunday.
In many ways, Underneath was as regular as North Platte or any other city had been 50 years ago, 100 years ago. Peter wiped down the last table, cleaned the bar, checked the fridges and freezers for proper closure, and more. He set out the regular box of goodies, bottled water and juices, and some left over sandwiches for the night time Neathers who would be hungry and thirsty.
Then, smiling widely at his good luck, he headed down to the Gen Room where he'd heard Riley was dealing with a temperamental piece of equipment. There wasn't typically a night time mechanic. All of the equipment had originally been operated remotely from Monitoring in the evening and a mechanic was only in the Gen Room during the daytime, to check and top off fluids and do both routine maintenance and repairs. But Underneath was over 25 years old, and almost everything in that equipment room was original. It took a lot of love and care, and that, of course, was Riley's job.
"Hey," he said with a smile from the door after he was sure that the beauty had noticed him. She carried hammers and heavy wrenches and sharp screwdrivers often, and the last thing Peter wanted to do was startle her when she was having difficulty with one of the machines. He held up a small platter filled with a variety of food, as well as a bottle of her favorite non-alcoholic drink. As he moved toward her, he said, "I would have brought you a beer, but Alice would have fired me for that and I'd be back to sanitizing beakers in the Research Lab."
He waited until she cleaned her hard working hands, gave her what she wanted, then smiled as he confessed, "I did, however, set aside a couple of beers or four for us afterward. You know, in case you want to hang out a while. It is only quarter past ten."
(This 1x1 thread begins the night of August 10, 2048, at this post, #20, in the main thread. It will likely take us several days to complete, but since the outcome is pretty certain, it won't matter that the writing of it will possibly days behind the timeline of the main thread. BTW, depending on your device, if you click the "this post" link, you will be taken to the page in a "View Single Post" format. I don't know about your device, but on my computer, if you click "Underneath..." in the upper right corner, you are taken to the thread itself, not just post #20. If you've been here a while, you already knew that.)
Peter looked up to the clock on the wall, then called to a couple who'd been nursing their beers in the corner while playing checkers, "Closing."
They looked to the clock, too, and one of them asked, "At ten?"
Peter shrugged and said, "Monday night. Closing is actually 9pm, but I had work to do so--"
They waved off his explanation as they stood to bring him their bottles for clean up. Peter rarely had people fuss too much about closing or last call or any of the other notices he gave them. It was so different here in the Underneath saloon than it was out in the real world. Or at least how it had been back before the Collapse. A lot of things changed when society fell apart.
It was ironic that many aspects of Underneath were like that old world in which Peter's parents had grown and of which he'd heard so many stories. Last call and closing time here in the saloon, obviously. Weekends and weekdays, too. Today was Monday, August 10th. Why did it need to be Monday? Couldn't it be Tuesday or Humpday or the weekend? Because there were still some things that went on here that were just like they had been out there in North Platte, in Nebraska, in the US, in the world. The children here, for example, only had school Monday to Friday. There was special entertainment and outings, though indoors obviously, that only occurred on Saturday and Sunday.
In many ways, Underneath was as regular as North Platte or any other city had been 50 years ago, 100 years ago. Peter wiped down the last table, cleaned the bar, checked the fridges and freezers for proper closure, and more. He set out the regular box of goodies, bottled water and juices, and some left over sandwiches for the night time Neathers who would be hungry and thirsty.
Then, smiling widely at his good luck, he headed down to the Gen Room where he'd heard Riley was dealing with a temperamental piece of equipment. There wasn't typically a night time mechanic. All of the equipment had originally been operated remotely from Monitoring in the evening and a mechanic was only in the Gen Room during the daytime, to check and top off fluids and do both routine maintenance and repairs. But Underneath was over 25 years old, and almost everything in that equipment room was original. It took a lot of love and care, and that, of course, was Riley's job.
"Hey," he said with a smile from the door after he was sure that the beauty had noticed him. She carried hammers and heavy wrenches and sharp screwdrivers often, and the last thing Peter wanted to do was startle her when she was having difficulty with one of the machines. He held up a small platter filled with a variety of food, as well as a bottle of her favorite non-alcoholic drink. As he moved toward her, he said, "I would have brought you a beer, but Alice would have fired me for that and I'd be back to sanitizing beakers in the Research Lab."
He waited until she cleaned her hard working hands, gave her what she wanted, then smiled as he confessed, "I did, however, set aside a couple of beers or four for us afterward. You know, in case you want to hang out a while. It is only quarter past ten."