"Underneath: 2048" (Always open; see introduction)

[Alice2015]

"Underneath, Nebraska: 2048"

"Underneath, Nebraska: 2048"

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8 August 2048:

The end of civilization...

It didn't come quickly in the blinding flashes of thousands of atomic blasts but instead came slowly as the result of conventional (though no less deadly) warfare, global warming, disease, starvation, economic collapse, and four separate pandemics that between them killed more than 3 billion people.

The United States of America collapsed; the Russian Federation collapsed; the People's Republic of China collapsed; the European Union collapsed, as did each of its member nations individually over the following decades.

The entirety of the world fell into mayhem, anarchy, and chaos. The Nuclear Powers did their best to keep control of and resist using their arsenals, but in the end 12 atomic detonations killed yet another 2 billion people, directly from the blasts or indirectly via the horrors of the aftermath. Gone were Washington DC, New York, London, Moscow, and 8 other major cities.

By 8 August 2048, the human population of Earth had been reduced to less than 1 billion people ... and it was still declining across most of the globe.

Except in Underneath...

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-23, an unassuming man named Howard Lender turned a small fortune into a massive one through a series of manipulative transactions, many of them immoral and/or illegal. Then -- as the Federal Government was finally in the process of investigating him -- Lender disappeared, along with his family, some friends, a few significant others, and almost all of his money.

Twenty-five years later and dying of age-related causes, Lender walked into a small hospital in North Platte, Nebraska. A volunteer nurse, Alice Pierce, cared for Lender 24/7 until he died, three weeks later. In appreciation for what she'd done for him, Lender told her of Underneath and gave her the location.

"I did this world wrong, and you have done me so right," he told her in his final moments. "Let my dying act be to do one good thing for you."

Alice drove to as close to Underneath as she could get by road, then hiked through the dust bowl ravaged prairie and rolling hills until she reached what looked like an abandoned FM radio tower control building. She searched through the partially collapsed building as Lender had explained and found a hidden door that -- using the code she'd been given -- she opened to access the Underneath.

Inside, Alice would find herself simply amazed; it was like something out of a post-apocalyptic Science Fiction movie. Everything seemed to be in working order, with a Monitoring Station from which she could look upon most of the interior of Underneath as well as the landscape outside; a Research Lab and Infirmary that appeared capable of handling all sorts of medical investigation as well as emergency medical care; a Horticulture/Aquaculture facility that was growing thousands of edible plants, all cared for by automatic systems; a Repair Workshop with a vast array of tools, hardware, and backup machines; a Saloon/Cafeteria with -- Thank God! she remembered thinking -- a wide variety of alcohols and both fresh and packaged meals and snacks; Living Quarters that on one level included small rooms for couples or small families and on another two rooms with bunks for male and female occupancy; lockers for possessions and several small bathrooms for maintaining hygiene in privacy; a level occupied by power generators, water filtration systems, and other equipment she didn't recognize; and finally two levels at the very bottom of the complex in which she found a wide array of storage devices -- barrels, trunks, cartons, cases, bottles, shelves, etc. -- that either were now or once had been full of clean water, food, and other supplies.

Alice was the only person alive in the Underneath, but she wasn't the only person there. As Lender had warned her, she would discover 3 corpses in the Generator Systems room, where they had died of a toxic gas release that Lender had repaired before leaving for North Platte.

After verifying everything that Lender had told her about the place -- as well as hiding the bodies until she could get someone to inconspicuously help her take them topside for burial -- Alice gathered 24 others -- family, friends, associates, and their significant others where appropriate -- and quietly brought them to Underneath.

They arrived, disposed of the dead, and went to work trying to understand Underneath. There was a lot to be learned; although her collection of people included some very smart people and some very experienced people, there were a lot of systems they simply didn't know how to work or use.

There were setbacks and failures, but in the end, they made it work. And now, months later, the original population of 25 -- which had been reduced by 2 because of death due to a suicide and an undiagnosed chronic illness -- was growing by one with the birth of a little girl.

<<<<< +++ >>>>>​

This is just a fun, mostly free form role play centered on a post apocalyptic community. The Hostess, Alice2015, will create the background of the story as a whole; individual writers will create the background of their characters within the confines of that story background; and ya'll will have fun ... or ya'll can go the fuck away ... haaaa!.

There is no minimum limit of the number of replies you have to offer, nor is there a limit on the length of those replies. However, if you commit to an interaction with another writer and do not fill that commitment, the Hostess reserves the right to write your character out of the story or replace you as that character's writer. (That sounds fair, doesn't it?)

Please do not flood the thread with an excessive number of short little posts that will cause other writers to get lost in the mix. If you and one other writer are going to trade dozens of little replies back and forth and those replies do not involve other characters, I would prefer that you and this other writer create a separate thread and link it to this thread, so that all writers/readers may enjoy your work as a parallel, stand-alone piece of role play. (If I didn't make this clear enough, you are welcome to PM me for more information.)

Proofread: spell check, grammar check, punctuation check. Don't be lazy or sloppy, please.

 

[KyleReevis]

Hunter Lee lowered his bow after his shot and watched the white-tailed deer bound and disappear into the woods. He'd hit it, he was certain. The doe's reaction had told him that. He didn't go chasing off after it or anything like that, though. It he'd missed, it was gone and chasing it wasn't going to do him any good. If he'd hit it, it would run off to find shelter, and once it thought itself safe would simply bleed out where it was.

After a couple of minutes, Hunter made his way slowly to where the deer had been. After a couple of minutes of searching he found the missile he'd fired, with its steel arrowhead and several inches of its shaft buried into the rotting wood of an ancient stump. It was bloody and had several bits of fur in the flights. He retrieved the arrow and began the slow, methodical tracking of the blood trail.

"There you are," he whispered when he found the animal. "I knew you wouldn't be far." He continued slowly forward, not wanting to frighten the deer into once again leaping up and taking flight. But soon enough he got a look at its eyes and motionless chest and knew it was dead. A large pool of blood dirtied the ground. Hunter patted the doe when he reached it and thinking of how much meat it would provide Underneath said, "Thank you, girl."

He gutted it, bagging the organs that Cookie would make into some special treat, wrapped a sheet of plastic over his shoulders (to keep himself from being horribly bloodied), and threw the animal over his shoulders, its legs before him, held tightly in strong hands, and back toward Underneath he went. He was a bit more than half a mile from the entrance, which gave him time to think about his life.

It was Hunter's birthday. 18 years old. He rarely felt as though he was 18 though. His mother (who had been a single mom) had babied him all his life, protecting him as she called it, and it had gotten even worse when they came out here to Underneath. She'd grown up religious and had tried to make Hunter like her. He'd shown no interest in the Bible, though he'd always respected her, saying Grace at the table, kneeling for silent prayers at bed, and such.

He typically prayed to get laid. 18 years old and he was not just a virgin but he'd never even kissed a girl before. A woman. There were two girls who were younger than him, one 16 and one 15, but neither of them had an interest in him and besides now that he was 18 that would be wrong. There was one single woman older than him, a 24 year old, who he'd ogled and fantasized about while masturbating since the first time he'd seen her clear back when they all arrived here. But she'd shown no interest in him, something Hunter hoped would change now that he was no longer jail bait?

His mother had died two months ago, committing suicide by swallowing a handful of painkillers. She simply hadn't been able to live this bunker life.

Hunter reached 80C, dropped the deer and the plastic together to the dusty ground, and sat on a big rock there. He drank some water and scanned the area with his binoculars for almost 30 minutes. He was still 300 yards out from Underneath's entrance. Someone, he didn't know who, had suggested identifying certain locations all around the bunker's entrance with degrees and distances, so that the hunter-gatherers (like Hunter), the Guards, and the people inside Underneath could talk about the topside in code and know where everyone was. Hunter was now at a big rock that sat inside some tall grass and under a half-dead birch tree that was at 80 degrees from the bunker by the compass and 300 yards out, thus 80C. 80A would be 100 yards on that same heading while 80B would be 200.

They used other designations for locations that were farther away, though. Hunter had killed the deer in the East Grove, for example. His trek back to Underneath had taken him west along the North Creek (which had only had water in it for a few weeks back during the thaw) and then south along the Rocky Ridge. You never returned to Underneath on a direct path, in case there was someone out here who didn't belong here, which was the same reason he'd just spent 30 minutes scanning the terrain with his binoculars, seeing nothing but birds, a small herd of antelope, and a hawk, which moments ago streaked to the ground and sent up a plume of tan dust, probably killing a rabbit or prairie dog.

Satisfied that he wasn't being watched, he headed west, then south to 80B, paused again to scan the area, then headed farther south and then west once more to 80A. He looked to the concrete structure in his glasses and waited to get the okay from Topside Watch, then covered the final hundred yards to drop the carcass one last time. Cookie had been informed that meat was coming in and met Hunter topside. "You have earned your name once again, my boy."

"You missed the excitement," the Topside Watch told Hunter. The baby that had been expected several days ago had finally arrived. Hunter had known all along that it would come today, on his birthday, stealing the attention away and likely meaning that any chance of a birthday party had been lost. "It's a girl. They say she's healthy."

"That's good," Hunter said as he used sand and water to wash the now drying blood from the plastic sheet. He said bye and descended to the Male Dorm. He showered and dressed and went up to the Saloon. The guy behind the bar surprised him by setting a clear, unlabeled bottle in front him, telling him happy birthday. "I didn't think anyone would remember. What's this?" he asked lifting the bottle. Told it was a beer and that at 18 he was now legal, per the Laws of Underneath, Hunter lifted the bottle to his face, sniffed, then sipped. He grimaced a bit, then took another bigger sip. He didn't really mean it, but he said, "Tastes good."

Out of the corner of his eye he caught movement, set his gaze, and felt his cock begin to swell immediately. He wondered whether it would sound totally inappropriate as well as desperate to call out It's my birthday! I'm 18 now! He didn't of course. He only smiled meekly, lifted his beer as if toasting, and stared.

 

[Alice2015]

Marilyn "Cookie" Grimes was just heading for the Sun Room to get her daily dose of artificial sunlight when -- over the Main Intercom -- she heard the deep, playful voice of her lover, "Cookie, Cookie, Cookie ... needs a little nookie."

She laughed and diverted to the wall mounted Comm' Panel. Tapping the icon for Monitoring, she said with a feigned tone of anger, "I hope to high hell you didn't just broadcast that throughout the whole fucking bunker, Bryan. "

"Course not," he responded. "Just there where you are, honey buns."

Cookie laughed again. "And how do you know I'm all alone here."

She knew the answer to that, of course; looking up to the corner of the room, she smiled to the camera via which she knew Bryan was watching her. She pulled one side of her bikini top down to expose a young, firm tit for a moment as she blew him a kiss.

There was a laugh over the intercom, followed quickly by a male voice that wasn't Bryan's, asking, "Can I see the other one, too?"

Cookie's eyes and mouth opened with in shock as she spun her back to the camera and manipulated her boob back into her top. She hollered, "Ass hole! Why didn't you tell me you weren't alone?"

"I didn't know you were going to flash me, Cookie!"

There was more laughter -- during which Cookie wrapped her body with her towel and raised a middle finger to the camera -- followed by Bryan informing her, "I just got the word that Hunter got us a deer. I know you like to inspect meat before it's brought in, so..."

Learning she didn't have time to get her sun, Cookie returned to Female Berthing to don some appropriate clothes and headed Topside. The doe wasn't the biggest Hunter had ever brought home but the organs were all in good shape and there were no signs of disease in the animal. She was tickled pink and promised Hunter the best back strap steak he'd had since they'd come to Underneath.

Cookie had snatched one of the residents on her way up, and together with Hunter, the pair hauled the deer down to the kitchen that was more less hidden behind the saloon. She grumbled again -- like she had almost daily for months -- that her cooking and preparation facilities were simply too small to be doing things like carving up a deer carcass. But it was all she had, so she did as she always did, bitched and moved on.

Truthfully, if it wasn't for the fact that she was cooking for 23 -- 24 now with the baby -- Cookie would have been thrilled with the size of the kitchen, as well as with what it offered in utensils and such. It reminded her of the Mom & Pop, which literally was the name of the café her parents had owned and in which she'd practically grown up.

The two men strung the animal up in a corner over a drain, where Cookie could clean the animal properly. Someone would have to help her move the deer to the walk-in refrigerator after that, but she'd give the carcass a while to breath first.

As the pair were heading out, Underneath's chef tossed them each a token that was worth an extra serving of dessert. "I'm making pies tonight and brownies tomorrow. Just don't make a big deal out of getting extra, 'cause then everyone will be wanting to help me with some chore or another to get a little extra fat and sugar."

They left, and Cookie went to work. She was done with her work and heading out into the Saloon to get something to drink when she saw Hunter at the end of the bar talking to Peter, who served a number of functions on this Level an others, not least of which was bartender.

"I didn't think anyone would remember. What's this?"

Cookie wasn't surprised at all that Hunter didn't recognize beer or that he reacted to it the way he did. His mother had been a very conservative, very strict, very devout Bible Thumper, God rest her soul. Cookie imagined that although she'd passed a while back, it would likely take Hunter a while to loosen up, if he did so at all.

"Happy birthday, Hunter," Cookie said remembering that it was the young man's birthday. She offered to back him a cake and arrange a party, but he said he didn't want to distract from the celebration of Underneath's first birth. She told him with a firm tone, "Tomorrow then. And don't argue. You'll either eat cake or wear cake, and you know how much I don't like to waste food."

Behind the bar, Cookie selected a 6 ounce bottle of dark beer and flashed it to Peter so he could deduct it from her rations. She was going to head to the infirmary to see the baby but then caught Kendall out of the corner of her eye. She looked back to Hunter instinctively; yeah, he'd spotted her, too.

Hunter's secret lust for Kendall James was anything but a secret. Since the day the two first met at the rendezvous sight in North Platte back in February, the 24 year old -- who in Cookie's opinion looked like she was still in her teens -- couldn't pass by the now-18 year old without causing his tongue to fall out of his mouth and his cock to, well, do what cocks did in the presence of such a sexy young women.

Cookie took a bit of a detour through the Saloon to pass by the table at which Kendall and her younger-yet-married sister, Haley, were sitting. She chatted with them a moment about nothing special at all, then looked over her shoulder. Yep, Hunter was still peeking over here, trying to be casual and all but failing horribly.

"You know it's Hunter's birthday today," Cookie said, aiming her comment directly at Kendall. She looked back to the boy again, then leaned in closer to Kendall and whispered, "He's 18 today. That means he's no longer jail bait."

Both of the women at the table laughed in shock at Cookie's obviousness. The older of the three women smirked, shrugged, and before leaving said, "You know, just in case you wanted to break in a new stud."

The sisters laughed some more, traded glances with Hunter who finally acknowledged the pair's presence, and then finally took turns inviting the young man to come sit with them.

<<<<< ### >>>>>​

OOC: I started another thread here. It will be our conversation thread for Kendall and Hunter. We are going to write this interaction separately because it will make reading their interaction easier in that thread because there will be no interruptions by other interacting characters; and it will make reading this thread easier as well because their back and forth of short posts won't "pollute" this one.

The other thread isn't any less important than this one, though, so if you are following our story, please read it, too.

 

[Alice2015]

"Boys."

The two young men on Topside Watch had been sitting in the relatively cool shade of the concrete structure's northeast corner, quietly chatting about women and sex, what else, when just that one single word from Alice Pierce caused them to leap to their feet as if troops called to attention.

"Ma'am!" they said almost in unison. One of them quickly moved toward the window from which he was supposed to be scanning their surroundings while the other simply stood in place. He explained, "We were just taking a second to--"

Alice waved off his excuse and reminded them in a polite but firm tone of what their duty was and why it was so important. Once she knew they had them straightened out, she told them, "I hear that Cookie had some venison backstrap and fresh vegetables ready for dinner."

One of them began, "Our tour doesn't end for--"

"I'll take the rest of your watch," Alice told them. The two young men looked between themselves with surprise. They had never been relieved by the Commander-in-Chief before, but that didn't mean that Alice hadn't stood watch before. She gestured for the high powered, military issue field glasses one of the men had, then for the Winchester Model 70 rifle the other man had in his hands. "It's okay. Trust me, I know how to use both of these."

There was hesitation amongst them, but eventually the two headed for the hidden entrance and for dinner. Alice simply stared out upon the landscape for almost half an hour before finally lifting the binoculars and doing a thorough study of the land. There was nothing out there, exactly as they wanted it.

Only twice since they'd come here in February had another human actually approached the building they all called Topside. Both times, the Watch had been recalled down into the bunker, and the intruders had been watched via a half dozen cameras professionally hidden during the construction of Underneath.

Alice was sure their home had been discovered the second time. Their visitor had noticed relatively new boot tracks in the soil around Topside and had begun a thorough search of the area, likely certain he'd find exactly what Alice hoped he wouldn't. But the camouflage of the bunker door was too much for him, and after a couple of ours of searching and finding nothing, the man wandered off and was never seen again.

She lowered the field glasses and reflected on how she and the others had gotten here. After she'd had a chance to check out Underneath, Alice had gone to her closest friends and family and told them she had a solution for the new plague that was already exploding across Europe and destined to arrive in the US within weeks.

Some of those down in the bunker now had thought Alice was crazy. In fact, there had been another 12 people she'd approached who'd either politely said no thanks or you're crazy. Alice sometimes wondered whether or not they had survived this latest pandemic.

They'd spend a week planning and a week getting everything together. They'd filled cars and trucks with almost 2 tons of food, gear, and other supplies. Then, in the middle of the night on 18 February half a year ago, they all left their homes and took different routes to eventually end up at the rendezvous point northwest of North Platte.

They'd driven all night to an abandoned building that Bryan Thompson, now Chief of Security, had been keeping on eye on for a few days, to ensure no squatters were there to spoil the plan. They parked, ate, slept, and headed out again after dark.

Using the old, abandoned, rocking and rolling truck path that had been used to build Underneath, they arrived just before dawn. They covered the rigs with desert camo tarps, and went to work unloading every thing. It took almost until dark once again.

The next day, the vehicles were driven out to White Creek Gulch and were allowed to simply fall over the edge, plummeting out of sight of the plateau. And that was the last time more than 2 residents at a time had ever been more than a couple of hundred yards from Underneath.

They had no reason to go out into the world, of course. With the hunting of deer and antelopes and the trapping of a variety of ground mammals; with the foraging of wild onions and other wild edibles, some of which were available now and others of which would be plentiful in the fall, despite the recent years of drought; with the bounty being produced in the Horticulture Bay, mostly via aquaculture; and with the massive amount of food that had been brought here in February and which was still mostly there, the residents of the Underneath were certainly not going to bed hungry at night.

Alice heard movement behind her and turned to see her sometime lover approaching with a couple of beers. "You're not listed as the Topside Watch, so you're not actually on duty, so there's nothing keeping you from having a beer."

They opened the bottles, drank, and watched as the sun descended to almost the horizon.

 

[ms_tiff]

Riley Jacobs nodded to the technician, signaling to flip on the generator. With a squeal and a long, low groan of protest, the turbine began to turn, adding its hum to the already deafening field of generators.

“Fuck yes! I own you bitch!” Riley pumped a triumphant, grease covered fist in the air. Her words swallowed by the hum of generators.

Work complete, she began to pack up her tools, giving each one a cursory wipe with an old rag. A full cleaning would have to wait until she was out of the generator room. The room was stifling and, after an hour in the hotbox, Riley was drenched in sweat. She wiped her slick forehead with the back of her hand, no doubt smearing grease everywhere. As she picked up the last of her wrenches and packed it away, all Riley could think of was stripping out of her coveralls and taking a long, luxurious shower. She could practically smell the lavender shampoo already.

Of course, her specialty shampoo had run out the week before, just like so many of the little luxuries that she had managed to procure before entering the Underneath. Gone, too, were the days of long soaks in a tub lined with candles and filled to the brim with bubbles. Even a long, hot shower was out of the question. At most, Riley could hope for a lukewarm shower that lasted long enough to scrub the grease off her skin. But those loses were worth it for the chance at survival, so Riley counted herself lucky.

Luck seemed to be the thing that got Riley through life. It was luck that she had been the lone survivor of the six-car pile-up. It was luck that that she had wound up in Alice Pierce’s ER. It was luck that Alice was on shift that night and had stayed by Riley’s side when it was clear the young woman had no family coming for her. And it was luck that the two had developed a friendship that, three years later, was strong enough for Alice to offer Riley a place in Underneath.

Riley took the lift to the Women’s Dorm, where she stored her tool box under her bunk and quickly shed her coveralls and let them fall to the floor in a pile around her work boots. In just her underwear and a tank top, Riley made her way into the showers. The pipes groaned and clanked before rewarding Riley with a steady stream of water. Tossing the rest of her clothes outside of the shower, Riley stepped under the stream, sighing happily as the water washed away the sweat and grim of the day. As she lathered up, Riley considered her life pre-Underneath and how quickly everything could change.

Only a month before Alice’s invitation to the Underground, Riley had been out celebrating her thirtieth birthday. Her friends had surprised her with a birthday rave, complete with glow-in-the-dark body paint, pulsing music, a baggie full of little white pills and every drop of alcohol they could find.

“One final night of debauchery before you hit boring adulthood.” One of her friends had said before the two had kissed, exchanging the drugs on their tongues. They had partied all night and Riley had stumbled home in the pre-dawn light.

Those nights were long gone now and who knew what had become of her friends. A lot could happen in six months after all. She wondered if her friends were still alive. Wondered what had become of the garage she worked at and if the guys she worked with were still around. Wondered at the fate of so many faceless one-night stands.

Rinsing the shampoo from her hair, Riley shut off the water and wrapped herself in a towel. She wandered back to her bunk and pulled on a pair of ripped jeans and a black tank top. Tying her dark hair, still wet from the shower, up in a colorful scarf. Slipping on a pair of black, military boots, Riley headed to the saloon. A drink was much needed.

She waved a quick hello to Kendall as the two passed in the doorway. Wandering inside, Riley spotted Hunter at the bar, leg bouncing like he had too much pent-up energy. As she made her way to the bar, Riley waved to a few others she saw before taking a seat and waiting for Peter to finish serving Hunter.

“Hey, Riles.” Peter greeted her with a smile.

“Oh god, not that again. How many times do I have to tell you, I don’t do nicknames.” Riley groaned. Peter’s grin only widened.

Riley had noticed Peter when everyone had first gathered to head Underneath. She’d noticed a lot of people, actually. But Peter had stuck out for his obvious charm and smile. A girl wasn’t about to limit herself though. And she certainly wasn’t going to tie herself to one person for the duration of their time there. Riley didn’t do relationships, anyway. Never had, never would.

“What would you like?” Peter asked, leaning on the bar. “Other than the best sex you’ve ever had, I mean.”

“Someone’s awful cocky.” Riley teased. “As tempting as that sounds, I think I’ll take a beer.”

“Suit yourself,” Peter shrugged as he popped open a bottle and set it in front of Riley. “Offer still stands though.” He winked before moving to help another customer.

With a laugh, Riley shook her head and took a long swig of her beer.

 

[Alice2015]

(OOC: Picks up from here while Riley's post above is happening.)

Topside, 2000 hours:

The sun was about to touch the rolling hills when a buzzing sound that could have been mistaken for an insect calling a mate sounded from near Topside's access to the bunker tunnel entrance.

"Answer it," Alice said from where she was leaning against the concrete wall, enjoying the descending orb to the west. Her on again, off again lover, Mimi Rollings, who had been trying and failing to talk Underneath's Ruler into kneeling and slipping inside her dress for a little lips on lips fun groaned. Pretending to be the dictator that Mimi often accused her of being, sometimes playfully, sometimes not to much so, Alice waggled an extended finger at the hidden Intercom panel and said, "Answer it! It might be Monitoring telling us that all is right with the world and we can go home now."

"Home," Mimi mumbled as she turned away. Still murmuring more to herself than to her pre- and post-Collapse friend, she said, "I have no home."

Mimi was amongst a handful of people who hadn't found Underneath to be the vacation spot in a world of mayhem that they'd hoped it would be. Mimi had grown up on the California coast, an actual surfer chick, before heading for Kansas, then Nebraska for University.

She missed the surf and the salt air and the freedom! The only familiar thing Underneath had to offer that was welcome to Mimi was sand. Well, and Alice, of course. They'd met in an underground club that was popular with the college crowd and the staff of the one-block-over hospital staff. Alice hadn't been gay or even curious at the time, but Mimi had fixed that over the weekend they'd spent together.

They'd dated, well, had sex, off and on for a few years, taking a break after Alice's husband got sick with COVID-44, Variation B, and required a great deal of attention. Mimi didn't see Alice for almost two years until the Supervising Surgical Nurse suddenly showed up at her apartment door to tell her about this hole in the ground in the middle of the Nebraska wasteland called Underneath.

Mimi hadn't hesitated to take Alice up on her offer to come with her. She wished she had now. There relationship was mostly off and less on anymore as Underneath simply took so much of Alice's time and energy. Plus, there was Karen, who Alice had brought with her as a soft of adopted daughter when the little girl's mother hadn't been able to commit to Underneath.

Taking a communications headset out of its hiding place and pressing the listening piece into her ear, she spoke softly toward the mike, "Yeah, what?"

She listened for a moment, then rushed over to Alice and put the headset on her concerned lover's head. Alice told the person on the other end to repeat and heard, "Something's tripping trail detectors, ma'am. 270-C went off twenty minutes ago. 300-C ten minutes after that. We thought it was deer or antelope heading for the stream bed for a drink, but now 300-B's gone off. Whatever it is, it's heading this way, and there's nothing over her that would interest a white-tail or a pronghorn."

Alice had already grabbed up her field glasses and was looking out to the northwest. The lowering sun played with the shrubs and short, straggly trees dancing in a light breeze to create shadows that made it hard to detect what was plant and what might be human.

"Get down in the bunker, Mimi," Alice ordered without taking her eyes out from behind the binoculars. When the other woman, who had no experience or interest in the security of Underneath began to argue, Alice looked to her with a harsh expression. She growled, "Get down there and find Karen. Stay with her. Keep her calm."

Since coming to Underneath, Mimi had found herself involuntarily becoming Karen's nanny at times. Mimi had never had an interest in becoming a mother, whether by spitting one out of her own cooch or by hooking up with a woman who had a kid, like Alice did now. Oh, Karen was a great kid. Mimi just didn't want to be a babysitter. But, if Mimi took care of Karen's needs, Alice took care of Mimi's needs. And that made chasing the little girl all around Underneath at times worth it.

Even as Mimi was heading down the stairs into the bunker, 3 men and 1 woman were heading up the stairs, armed and either in or carrying camouflage clothes and what to Mimi looked like riot gear, even though it was only standard bullet-resistant helmets and body armor that had been in the bunker's armory when they'd arrive 6 months ago.

Up Topside, after Alice was given the changing situation over the headset, she gave orders to the four Guards: two pair, heading out slow and low at 270 and 360 degrees to the 100 yard markers, and hold. "It might still be nothing more than a deer. Either way, human or beast, no one fires without my authorization. I don't care who or what it is. You all know how far a gun shot travels at night over this terrain. The last thing we need is attention from, from wherever!"

 

[Alice2015]

(OOC: The 1x1 thread, "Kendall and Hunter" takes a hiatus and comes back here for the moment. The reply below is the last half of the most recent replay to that 1x1 thread, found here.)

After arranging a hookup with Hunter, to claim his virginity and as she'd said it make him a man, Kendall had left the Saloon, gone to Women's Berthing and made arrangements for them to have some private time in one of the Fuck and Suck rooms. She then headed to the stairwell to meet up with him and give him the door code.

Only, he shot right by her, shrugging with an expression of genuine disappointment. Kendall headed into the bar where she learned of what was happening: potential intruders. She didn't hesitate, rushing for the stairs and ascending two levels, two steps at a time, and arriving at Monitoring to take her station.

Bryan was there, as were two others, monitoring an array of motion activated Trail Detectors and the few still working cameras that were hidden out on the terrain of the prairie. She donned a headset and every 20 seconds or so tapped an icon on a screen repeatedly to listen in on one after another of the listening devices hidden in the shrubs around Underneath.

She heard movement two, maybe three times in the same general location of the tripped detectors, and she thought she ever heard a soft cry once. It almost sounded like a woman in pain, but hell, it could have been a coyote for all she knew, injured or simple calling out to her pups.

The system Lender had put in place 25 years ago had included hundreds of motion detectors, cameras, microphones, and even vibration detectors. But even before he'd left the prairie, dying and seeking redemption, many of these devices had failed or were beginning to.

Part of Kendall's job had been repairing and replacing these tools of their security.
She was good at it and she'd reactivated more than half of what had failed over the quarter of a century. But what they needed were replacement parts which, Kendall knew, could be found at an abandoned electronics parts supply business on the south side of North Platte.

Alice simply wasn't having that, though. First, the business was almost 100 miles away. Second, to easily get there meant using the highways, and the highways were controlled by various local militia which may or may not be of a kind and friendly nature. Third, the world out there was dying of yet another pandemic, which was the reason they'd all come here 6 months ago in the first place!

Kendall couldn't help but be conflicted about this presumed intrusion taking place outside. She wanted Underneath and all of its people to be undetected and safe, of course. But maybe if this incident scared Alice enough, Kendall and a team protecting her would finally get the chance to head south and get what they needed to truly keep the bunker and its residents safe for years, decades, or centuries to come.

 

[KyleReevis]

"It might still be nothing more than a deer," Alice told the four people arriving topside at the emergency call. "Either way, human or beast, no one fires without my authorization. I don't care who or what it is. You all know how far a gun shot travels at night over this terrain. The last thing we need is attention from, from wherever!"

While Underneath's leader was talking, Hunter was donning his night time camouflage, then his then his bullet proof vest, helmet, and finally his communications headset. He tested it and got a response from Monitoring. Ironically, the call came from the woman who was supposed to be taking his virginity right now. Hunter so desperately wanted to ask her if they were meeting up after whatever this was, but he knew better. Others were on the line.

He matched up with Craig, one of the infamous Bobblehead Twins, and crouching to lower his profile took off due north toward 360A. He knew this trail well, the way it zig zagged through the underbrush and around the still young trees that had been planted by Underneath's original residents in an effort to combat the ravages of the 21st century Dust Bowl. A couple of times Kendall came onto the Comms to verify that the sound she was hearing at specific hidden microphones was their pair or the others. At one point, though, sound of heavy footfalls were heard somewhere between the two pairs, out near 300A. That put whatever or whoever it was just 100 yards from the entrance to Underneath.

The scouts were ordered to hold their positions. It was only now that Hunter realized he was trembling. Stalking a deer with the intention of killing it was one thing, but stalking a human being, well, that was an entirely different situation and Hunter had never had to do that before now. And ironically, as he kneeled behind an ancient, rotting log and listened to the sounds that were obviously the steps of a heavy man upon the sand, dirt, and rock of the prairie, Hunter found himself imagining Kendall naked, straddling his groin, and as she'd described it, making a man out of him.

Fuck, he thought to himself as he reached down to adjust the erection that he feared was going to make it hard to continue crouching and moving through the darkness of Nebraska's wildlands.

 

[KyleReevis]

Post for Peter Higgins

Peter Higgins had been invited to join the community in Underneath because he was a pretty face, a hard body, and a big dick. At least that was the rumor that had begun floating amongst the others on rendezvous night outside North Platte way back in February. He was smart and well educated, but he didn't show off his intellect when conversations about big topics arose. He hadn't gotten involved in the complex tasks involved in getting Underneath back up and running during those first days and weeks, instead helping with the less thought-involved tasks of cleaning, unloading, arranging, etc., so many of his fellow residents had thought that perhaps he hadn't had the drive or even dedication to be here.

But within a couple of weeks or for some of the others a couple of months, his neighbors began to realize just what he was offering Underneath. He was always ready to lend a hand in any area, from the Infirmary and Research Center to the Repair Bay and Gen Services floor. And, of course, he bartended. That was where he interacted with most of the others on a regular basis, that or in the Infirmary where as "Doc" Alice's nurse, he tended to the little boo boos like cuts, burns, and scrapes.

When Kendall shot into the Saloon with a confused look on her face, he explained, "Monitoring picked up a tripped Trail Detectors. There might be someone out there." Kendal was gone in an instant, and Peter took charge and told the other patrons, "We're closed! Get to your Intruder Alert stations."

Looking to Riley, Peter smiled again, took the refill drink she was still yet to touch, and told her, "I'll take this off your rations and get you a fresh one later when this is over. Maybe we can have one together."

He winked to her again. He'd been wanting to get between Riley's thighs since day one of the Underneath portion of his life, but circumstances had simply prevented him from sealing the deal. He knew she was into guys, but at the same time he knew she was into girls just the same. Being Underneath's regular but not only bartender, he heard and saw a lot from behind the counter, but to be totally honest, he couldn't know for sure whether or not she'd been bedding one of the others, whether male or female. Like Riley, Peter wasn't the type to tie himself to one person. He didn't do relationships anymore than she did.

And also like Riley, assuming what he thought he knew of her was correct, he didn't restrict himself only to individuals of the opposite gender either. He didn't advertise his bisexuality, though. He was a firm believer that what people did behind closed doors, so long as it was legal and not harmful to others, was their own business. He didn't want others to know what he did between the sheets, and he didn't want to know what others did between the sheets.

It wasn't because he was afraid that he would be typecast as a literal cock sucker and, therefore, be deprived of his share of eating Underneath pussy. It was simply that he didn't advertise his sexuality or sexual interactions, never had, never would. PDA's, public displays of affection, were simply not Peter's thing.

In less than 30 seconds, the Saloon was empty with the exception of Peter. He double checked the compartment to ensure he wasn't leaving an open fridge, hot burner, or running tap, then hurried up to his own the IA station in the Infirmary. He pulled out the Inventory and Task Checklist to ensure that they were ready to receive injured and/or contaminated people, whether they be current residents, future residents, or unwelcomed intruders.

Peter had always been a bit concerned about those last two categories of people, as were other Underneathers. He was well aware that Alice had given the bunkers location to a handful of friends and family who hadn't been able to come here in February. He understood the woman's desire to have these people safe in Underneath. But he also understood that should one or more of those people arrive here, they might very well be carrying any one of several viruses or basic diseases that could endanger the whole of Underneath's population.

He went to the Emergency Descent Hatch and unlocked it. This was where a newcomer from the outside would descend from the dangerous outside world directly into a quarantine cell without the rest of Underneath being exposed to whatever they may or may not be carrying with or in them. Lender, the bunker's creator, had been a genius, Peter had always thought. Of course, Peter had no knowledge of the bad things Lender had done back during the pandemics of the early 2020s, so, whatever.

Done with his work, Peter donned his PPE suit, all except for the helmet, and crossed the hall to Monitoring. Half a dozen people were watching the situation topside and/or preparing to go up to help if needed. He looked for but didn't see Riley. Peter was unsure whether or not her station was here, in the Gen Room, or elsewhere. Oh well, they'd see each other after this was all over he was sure.

 

[Alice2015]

2145 hrs, 8 August 2048
Just northwest of Topside:

From within the concrete building atop Underneath, Alice was listening to the communications between Monitoring and the four Scouts who had ventured out into the prairie to investigate what they thought might be a human intruder. The noises heard over the still-operating microphones were picking up the sound of something heavy. It could have been a bison or maybe even just a regular old cow, as had happened occasionally in the early days of Underneath according to Howard Lender's diary. But neither of this type of big beast had been in the area in over 15 years, and the footfalls were too big to be a deer or antelope.

With support from Monitoring, Alice had decided it was time to close in on whatever it was. She whispered into her headset's microphone, "Go, go, go!"

Through a pair of night vision goggles, she could just barely make out the
movement of one or more of the Scouts as they closed on the intruder from its south and east.

<<<<< +++ >>>>>​

Kimmie was the one female of the four member Scout team that was closing on the intruder. She carried an AR-15 assault rifle with a sound suppressor, set for single shot, but she was also had her compound bow strapped to her back in case what they found out there was an animal they might want to fill some plates down in the cafe over the next few weeks or months.

"Contact," she heard a male voice whisper in her ear piece, followed quickly by, "One target, human. Likely male. Carrying..."

The voice trailed off, though, and someone in Monitoring asked, "One male carrying what?"

There was a short pause, followed by, "It's a big guy carrying a small woman."

Just as Kimmie and her partner got close enough to see the intruder, Alice came on the radio, asking, "Weapons? Are they armed."

Another pause was followed with, "No weapons visible. The guy's, he's carrying her on his back. She, she doesn't look conscious."

"Close on target," Alice ordered. Speaking about the high powered lights on most of their firearms, she continued, "Brights. Light'em up, blind'em. Maintain distance for proper quarantine protocols. Non-lethal rounds if necessary."

Alice looked to her partner, who slung his assault rifle and filled his arms with a beanbag shotgun before hurrying forward through the scattered scrub. A moment later, the dark exploded with powerful white light and calls to the intruder from two different directions to stop and drop.

<<<<< +++ >>>>>​

While it may have appeared that she was unconscious, Polly was very awake and aware of what was happening as it did. Wes had been carrying her for most of the last 3 hours, stopping off and on for him to rest and for her to stretch her arms and legs. She'd tried to make it to Underneath on her own two feet, but she'd simply been too weak and pained.

"Don't shoot us! Don't shoot us!" Polly hollered as she was blinded by the gun lights. "Hopscotch! Hopscotch!"

She'd been running the password through her mind all day long, hoping that when they finally found Underneath she wouldn't forget it. There was a moment of silence as the flashlights, and thus the people carrying them, continued to move closer.

"Hopscotch! Hopscotch!" she repeated again. "My name is Polly. Pauline. Pauline Simms! I'm supposed to be here! I'm a friend of Alice Pierce."

Just in case these people weren't actually from Underneath, Polly didn't use the name of the facility. She doubted that any of them knew who Pauline or Polly Simms was, but she hoped that they at least knew the password that had been given to the few people who'd been invited to Underneath yet hadn't been able to go there at the time.

And then she got more than she could have hoped for when a female voice called out in surprise, "Polly?"

Wes had lowered her to the ground by now, and she contemplated the voice she'd heard. When her name was called out even louder this time, Polly almost sobbed and cried out, "Kimmie?"

"Polly!" the injured girl's name came through the dark again. One of the four flashlights was suddenly hurrying her way as the female voice was calling out, "Stand down, stand down, friendlies, friendlies!"

Suddenly the woman rushing forward essentially collided with Polly, wrapping her arms around her in a tight bear hug. All around them, male voices began calling out about contamination and protocol and viruses and whatever was concerning them. All Polly heard was her emotional sister, now in tears, professing her relief that her younger sister was alive and finally hear.

"Command, it's my sister, Polly," Kimmie was saying, obviously to the mike on her headset and not to Polly herself. Polly's attention was being pulled in three directions, by her sister's voice, the words of the men surrounding them, and the voices she could just barely hear over Kimmie's headset. Kimmie backed up a bit, continuing to hold her sister's hands, and said in a more official tone, "Command, we're going to need three sets of PPE topside asap."

Polly could see her older sibling look Wes up and down before adding, "Make one of them a 3L. My sister's beau is a strapping one. Jesus, sis. You know how to pick'em, don't you?"

The younger sister was about to explain that Wes wasn't her beau, but things got very busy very quick. One of the three men, all of whom still had their weapons trained on the intruders, began ordering the pair to drop their gear and strip out of their clothes. Polly wasn't sure how Wes was going to respond to this, so she began first, telling him, "It's alright. This is my sister. These are the people I told you about. We're safe now."

It was explained that they were being stripped to their birthday suits and would be given suits and breathing masks, PPE, for their descent into Underneath. Polly didn't know exactly when the woman arrived but as she was getting down to her panties and bra, she realized that Alice Pierce was standing there in the dark about 20 feet away. Polly almost shrieked with excitement, and the two talked about how good it was to see each other again.

Polly didn't hesitate to shed her undergarments. Hell, far too many people she hadn't trusted had seen her naked already so what did she care about people she could trust? Kimmie was stripping as well, what with having embraced her contaminated sister. Soon enough, the three of them were escorted into the concrete shelter, down the hidden bunker entrance, and into a little room that then descended.

Shading her eyes from the sudden bright light, Polly realized that she, Wes, and Kimmie were being lowered right into a quarantine cell. Kimmie explained it all as it was happening, not wanting her sister to be frightened. The older sibling was removed to a separate quarantine space, and someone in PPE entered to help the newcomers out of their own PPE and into simply hospital gowns.

Polly couldn't help herself and peeked Wes's way, hoping to get a look at his junk, which in the dark she had missed. She chastised herself afterward, remembering how many men had violated her with their own eager cocks.

Alice was in the Infirmary by now. She and Polly chatted some more, and Alice asked Wes about himself. She then reluctantly told them, "We're gonna run your blood and look for viruses and other undesirable things, as well as process some skin, saliva, urine, and stool samples. It's all very invasive and I'm really sorry about it, but as you may or may not know and understand, the first occupants of Underneath were wiped out because they hadn't been careful enough. We'll make you as comfortable as we can."

Looking to Kimmie, Alice explained, "We'll have you out of there sooner, probably. But, I should make you stay in there a couple of months for breaking protocol. That was stupid."

Kimmie apologized, told Alice she was right, and changed into a similar hospital gown.

 

[Wyld52771]

Wes had been carrying Polly off and on for a few hours now. Luckily, he was in good shape, and Polly was small and light, but even so, his back began to get sore and stiffen up after awhile.

She'd tried to walk on her own, but she was still weak and unsteady, and Wes didn't want her passing out, so had offered to give her a piggy back ride. Progress was slow, but steady, and according to Polly, they should be getting close to where Willa was...hopefully. The dark made things more difficult to tell.

Suddenly, there were blinding white lights all around them, and Wes staggered backwards in surprise, disoriented. He heard voices yelling, as Polly suddenly slipped off his back.

"Stop where you are!" A female voice yelled, quickly followed by a deeper male voice telling them to drop to the ground. Wes raised his hands and slowly dropped to his knees.

"Don't shoot us! Don't shoot us!

Wes couldn't see anything but a wall of white, but he recognized Polly's voice crying out excitedly.

Hopscotch! Hopscotch!

Things quickly de-escalted, after that, and Wes smiled, happy for Polly when he found she was reunited with her sister. He only hoped he would have the same luck with Willa. He kept quiet...his father always said the best way to get to know someone is listen to them while they didn't think you were paying attention. He was watching everything, looking for threats, but seeing none evident. These folks seemed efficient and a bit pushy, but not hostile...given the circumstances, things could have been much worse.

He stood back up, and was then told he needed to strip for decontamination...they would be given PPE's to wear, and Wes assumed they would have to be checked over for radiation or signs of pandemic, at some point.

Wes began to strip down, dropping his hat, jacket, bandana and hoodie in a pile. He was still a bit self conscious getting naked in front everyone...a leftover habit from back when he was overweight...but then took off the shoulder holster with the Desert Eagle, his tie dyed t-shirt, boots, socks, and then finally his Jean's and boxers.

He was surprised at how thin he had gotten since leaving Detroit...being naked made this all too obvious. His ribs stuck out, and every bit of muscle on him was easily defined and visible.

He looked up and saw Polly and her sister had also stripped down and he couldn't help but admire their well formed shapes. He stood behind them, enjoying the sight from behind, of their alluring curves and rounded bottoms.

Before he knew it, they were dressed in the PPE's and lowered into a quarantine cell. They were quickly stripped of the PPE's and placed in hospital gowns. Alice, who seemed to be the de facto leader of this place, spoke at length to both Polly and Wes. She asked him a bit about his background, and then told them of the array of unpleasant testing they could expect. Wes nodded, understanding the reason why, although admittedly, he was not looking forward to it.

After awhile, Alice left, leaving Wes alone with the two sisters. He looked over to Kimmie, and asked, "I have been searching for my sister for a few weeks now. Polly said she might be here. Her name is Willa McCann....is she here?" He held his breath as he awaited the answer to whether he was the last member of his family alive....

 

[Alice2015]

Polly might have been hesitant to ogle her traveling mate too closely for all of the sexual abuse she'd been through, but Kimmie didn't have that problem. Even though she did so inconspicuously, she gave the newcomer a good once over survey. He looked like he could use a good meal or two or ten, but what was left of him after an unknown period of malnutrition looked like, once reenergized, it would provide a girl with a helluva romp between the sheets.

When she stripped off her own panties and bra to don the gown provided, Kimmie took her time covering herself up. Like her younger sister, Kimmie was thin through the waist with nice curves above and below. She measured out at 34-24-36 with gravity defying C-cups and a firm, pear shaped ass that she'd been more than willing to share about Underneath when the mood suited her.

(In contrast to most of their stories of conquest they'd told to Hunter, the Bobblehead Twins had actually done with Kimmie many of the things they'd claimed.)

"I have been searching for my sister for a few weeks now," Wes asked the female Security member. "Polly said she might be here. Her name is Willa McCann....is she here?"

"No, I've never heard of her, sorry," she told him with a sorrowful expression and tone. "But there were a bunch of people invited to come to Underneath who didn't, so, maybe she's still in North Platte."

Kimmie noted Wes's reaction and felt for him. She'd seen the mayhem in the city from which many of them came before leaving it, and she'd heard the stories of how bad it had gotten over the HAM radio transmissions they listened to frequently.

"I'm sure Alice will let you stay, though, for helping get my sister here safely," Kimmie said. She looked to Polly with a happy smile, and although she knew that her sister was glad to see her, too, she could see in the younger sibling's expression the sorry she felt for her traveling partner. Kimmie tapped on the glass to get the attention of the Security member watching over them. "Where's that food and water the Doc said was coming?"

Over the next thirty minutes or so, food arrived at the fish bowls, as did plenty of needles, swabs, and other testing tools. They were put into a shuttle drawer and pushed into the quarantine cells for the victims themselves to administer. This was easier than having to have someone suit up in PPE to do the sampling.

When the drawers were pushed back out, they got hit with four different types of decontaminant before Peter, the bartender/nurse, now in full PPE, took them and began testing them behind yet another isolation glass. Kimmie had asked for a pen and paper to be sent in, and she'd written a note, which Peter read before Kimmie crumpled it up and tossed it aside.

Ten minutes after the school room like note passing, Kimmie was watching Wes when he looked up and out through the glass ... to see his sister, Willa, standing just feet away from him. She had an non-committal expression of doubt in her face as she stared at the man she hadn't seen since she was a young teen. She'd never thought to see him again, and to hear that he was here now, up in a fish bowl, was just to incredible to believe.

Yet, after a moment she knew it was him. And her eyes instantly glazed over and leaked tears down her face.

 

[Wyld52771]

Willa looked at Wes doubtfully, as if trying and failing to recognize him. He couldn't blame her for that...she hadn't seen him face to face for almost ten years. When he left for college, he was twice the size he was now. He was clean shaven, and his hair was short. It wasn't until he said her name aloud, that she realized her brother had truly come home.

"Willa..."

He walked towards the glass, seeing the tears well up in his sister's eyes, and feeling his do the same.

"Oh, thank God..."

He put his hand on the glass, fingers spread, and she did the same. "I thought I lost you....that I lost everyone and was alone..."

He put his forehead up against the glass, as the tears ran freely down his face. Again, Willa mirrored him, placing her forehead against the other side, crying. They were like that for a few moments, and then Willa pulled back, tears in her eyes, but now smiling joyfully.

"How did you find me?" Willa asked.

"It was Shane...he pointed me in the right direction. He told me you went north...so I followed. I was so worried I wouldn't find you. Are you ok?"

Her eyes teared again, at the memory of the tragedy, as she replied, "You saw what happened to Mom and Dad, didn't you?"

He nodded sadly, and she continued, " After that happened, I couldn't stay there. Our own neighbors burned them up...I tried to stop them, but they wouldn't. They wouldn't let me inside. I couldn't say goodbye....tell them I loved them."

She sobbed again, and this time, it was Wes who replied, "They knew, Willa....they already knew you loved them. That WE loved them...it's alright."

Once Willa got under control again, she continued. "I was told about this place about six months ago...but I couldn't leave with Mom and Dad sick. Once they were gone, I had to go. I couldn't stay there anymore. I tried to talk Shane into coming too, but he said he couldn't leave the bar...stubborn as always. I guess it worked out, though...he helped you find us. We should get him here too..."

"We will," Wes replied, "I'll talk some sense into him..."

He turned back to Polly and Kimmie, and then introduced the two siblings to his own. He walked up to Polly and hugged her fiercely, and then held he at arms length so he could look in her eyes. " Thank you...thank you so much for giving me my family back..." He hugged her again, holding her tight, and Polly replied tearfully in return...

"You're welcome..."

 

[Alice2015]

"I thought I lost you....that I lost everyone and was alone..."

Willa's heart did a little roll at her brother's statement, knowing that he meant their parents and most certainly knew they were dead. If she hadn't already been sobbing, this would have made her do so.

To her question about how he came to be at Underneath, Wes spoke about Shane. You have to talk about him, too? she thought to herself, as if bringing up mom and dad wasn't enough?

Shane Flanagan was what Willa considered one of her many failings in life. He had been a close childhood friend of Wes's and, as a result, had been a fixture in Willa's life as well. She'd been just a little girl when Shane was already a growing, maturing boy-become-man, and furing her tween and very early teens, she'd actually had a bit of a crush on him.

Then she herself entered her own teens, and Wes left to chase a life of his own. Suddenly Willa's time around Shane was without the presence of her overprotective brother. When she began to grow her curves, as undramatically as they were in those years, Shane took notice.

Unfortunately for him, Willa had already unceremoniously dumped Shane into the friend zone. Oh, it wasn't because he wasn't boyfriend material or anything like that. Willa was simply to shy and lacked the confidence in herself to imagine that any boy who liked her could at the same time be satisfied with her. She was plain, she thought. Who could possibly want to keep her?

Of course, she still had those same two problems, which was why while living in a community with plenty of both single and taken men who would love to fuck her, she was still a virgin at 21.

They talked about their parents and the horror that Willa had seen with her own eyes, then talked about the love that their family had for one another. Despite Wes leaving and being gone for a decade, the four of them had always known that the love was there and that they would one day be together again. Known. Wrong word maybe.

And they talked about Shane. Willa was happy to hear that he was still alive.
She'd seen him, what, seven, eight months ago? It had been a few weeks before coming to Underneath. Willa couldn't help but wonder whether or not he would still want to be with her. She couldn't help but wonder whether she could find the courage to offer herself to him. Sometimes she just felt like such a little girl.

(OOC: I'm writing a second post right now that will take place the next day at 10am. Alice will call everyone to the Saloon for a meeting. This is not an uncommon thing.)

 

[Alice2015]

9 August 2048, 1000 hours
Underneath Saloon:

Alice strode into the room to find it even more packed than she'd hoped. She mounted the small stage upon which solo and group acts performed music, magic, comedy, and drama for the amusement of the others and took a look around at the faces. They weren't looking at her!

She didn't usually use the microphone for these mostly impromptu meetings, but this time Alice clicked on the mike and tapped it several times to gain the needed attention. With humor in her voice, she said, "I would thank you all for coming here this morning, telling you that it is heart warming to know that I can still draw a crowd of loyal Neathers like ya'll..."

There was already snickering and giggling circulating through the room, knowing where this was going. Alice nodded her head toward Laura and the tiny newborn swaddled in the blanket within her arms and acknowledged, "...but it's pretty obvious to me that ya'll came here to see the newest resident of Underneath."

As if on cue, the baby gave a little squeak that almost sounded like laughter, and the entire room exploded in joy. Alice went on, "Laura has given me the honor of introducing to ya'll to her beautiful and, I am told, absolutely perfect little girl, coming in at a respectable 6 pounds, 8 ounces, Regina Lender."

There were some varied reactions to the mentioning of the name Lender. Most of them already knew that Laura had casted away her own surname, though none of them, not even Alice, knew why. The leader explained further, "Laura has chosen to honor the creator of our communal home, the man without whom we might not have such a safe and secure life, by naming her daughter after Howard Lender's own beloved daughter, who was lost to him and the world at the tender young age of 16 while in the service of her less fortunate neighbors."

Alice gestured to Peter at the bar, who brought her a glass of sparkling wine as many of the others already had. She told them to raise their glasses and gave toast to the first birth in Underneath. As the excitement settled to a dull roar, Alice told them, "And as I am sure you are already well aware, we have two other new residents in Underneath. Willa, where are you? Willa? Willa, come up here please."

The young woman's reaction told Alice that she did not, want to mount the stage, but two other women grasped hold of her and hauled her up to stand next to their unofficial Mayor. Alice told about the arrival of the shy female's brother while also explaining about Kimmie and Polly as well. There were more cheers and applause for these four lucky people, three of whom were still in isolation, of course.

"Now...!" Alice began, turning to signal Peter. He tapped some icons on a panel as Alice turned back to the others and hollered out, "Let's party!"

Suddenly, the 1975 hit from KC and the Sunshine Band's, "That's The Way I Like It" began belting out from speakers hidden all around the room. And as always happened when the music was loud and the alcohol was beginning to flow, people got to their feet and started dancing in joy.

Alice looked down upon them with a wide smile, looked to and hugged Willa, and demanded, "Go dance, little girl. Life is to be enjoyed."

 

[ms_tiff]

“She’s adorable.” Riley cooed, forcing herself to fawn over Laura's new baby girl. The crowd around the new mother had thinned by the time Riley walked into the Saloon, but everyone was still watching the baby and going gaga over every little noise and movement she made. Honestly, Riley didn’t understand it. It’s not that she didn’t like babies per say, they were just very…squishy.

Seeing Alice about to take the stage, Riley made her way to an empty seat at Willa’s table near the front.

“Hey, I heard the good news. You must be excited.” She leaned across the table, keeping her voice low as Alice tapped the mic, and squeezed Willa’s hand.

The excitement of yesterday, between the new baby and the topside adventure, had the whole of Underneath abuzz. Riley felt somewhat on the outskirts of it all, as she had only heard of the topside adventure second hand while doing her usual round of maintenance. But at least they were all together now.

As Alice called everyone’s attention to the front, she introduced Laura's baby and everyone cheered. Riley clapped along…again, too squishy!

"And as I am sure you are already well aware, we have two*other*new residents in Underneath. Willa, where are you? Willa? Willa, come up here please."

Riley watched Willa sink into herself, the girl was too shy for her own good.

“Okay, get your ass up there, girl.” Riley, along with the other woman at their table, tugged Willa to her feet and pushed her forward. Riley cheered along with the rest of the Underneath as Alice retold the story that had spread like wildfire through the group.

“Now! Let's party!"

With a whoop, Riley jumped off her chair. Now partying was something she knew how to do! Sashaying over to where Peter manned the bar, Riley crooked her finger at him.

“You owe me a fresh beer.” She called out over the music. Wish a glance over her shoulder she noticed Alice pushing a somewhat reluctant Willa into the pulsing crowd. “Make that two!” She called to Peter. As he handed her the beers she smiled.

“Meet me out there when you get a break.” She said, nodding towards the dance floor as she sashayed away, her hips moving in time to the music.

Handing the extra beer to Willa, Riley moved in close, “You look like you could use this.”

 

[Alice2015]

Alice looked around the Saloon and thought to herself, If you would have told me life would be like this a year ago, I would have asked you 'Whatcha smoking?'.

It was a rather strange scene, of course. It wasn't even noon yet. They were dancing to 70's disco. They were drinking home brew. There was a new born less than 24 hours old in the corner being mobbed by oglers. And she had three potentially contaminated, potentially infected people in the bowl, two of whom were the long lost siblings of two other Underneath residents! What the fuck?

But Alice would have it no other way. Oh, it wasn't like they made a habit of getting sauced before lunch time every day. In fact, there were rules regarding alcoholic consumption in Underneath, just as there had been in North Platte. But because this was a 24/7 society that involved the day of one resident being the night of another, those rules were less about the time of the day for the entirety of Underground and more about the time of your own day, relative to your work and play schedule.

But none of that meant crap today! Today was special. Underneath had its first newborn, and two family members had miraculously found their way to their families. They were going to dance and drink and eat sugary desserts courtesy of Cookie, and then they'd all do whatever they wanted to do the rest of the day.

Alice knew what she wanted to do, of course. She caught the eye of Mimi, who was having a fit over the baby, and gave her a wink, before inconspicuously turning and leaving the Saloon on Level 3 to head for her quarters on Level 1.

Mimi had smiled at the signal, knowing what it meant. She and the leader of Underneath were gonna get naked together. The younger woman excused herself and excitedly hurried to catch up with Alice.

Meanwhile, Kendall James, who was dancing about on the floor, bouncing around between Neathers like a bumblebee in a bed of flowers, was looking all about for Hunter Lee. She was supposed to have taken his virginity last night, but he'd been sent out to engaged the intruders.

Protocol had demanded that he be thoroughly decontaminated and restricted to the Infirmary for 24 hours or until the tests on his clothing came back negative for anything of concern. Before Alice gave her speech, Kendall had bumped into Peter, who had been working the Infirmary the night before, and she'd learned that Hunter's tests had come back negative and he'd been sent to his rack for a good night's sleep.

Well, night was over and gone and Kendall had a couple of beers in her already. She was feeling horny and devilish. And she knew the location of a young man who wanted to finally put his cock into a warm, wet, inviting hole.

She excused herself from the party and headed for Men's Berthing.

(OOC: KyleReevis (Hunter's writer) and I are going to take our characters back to the 1x1 thread for the rest of this day, 9 August 2048. Wish us good luck and good times! The action picks up at this post.)

 

[KyleReevis]

Monitoring Station:

Bryan Breik leaned back in his chair as he watched the screen on which their fearless leader was beginning her talk to the troops two levels down in the saloon. He'd always thought Alice was such a sexy woman. If he hadn't already been fucking Cookie before the group had come to Underneath, Bryan probably would have made a play for the boss instead. He searched the faces and bodies in the crowd looking for those of his lover but couldn't find her. He leaned forward again and switched between cameras, yet still couldn't seem to locate Cookie.

The entirety of Underneath's interior was not viewable at all times from Monitoring, despite the dozens of cameras and the number of them that swiveled. They hadn't been placed to monitor every inch of the place and keep track of every person within it. They were mostly positioned so that Monitoring could look for emergencies, such as fire, flood, blackouts, injuries, etc. The cameras in areas such as the berthing area or hygiene rooms had cameras placed to provide privacy or, in many cases, didn't have any at all.

But Bryan did finally find Cookie as she was exiting a storage room with containers of ingredients for some feast or dessert she was making. He watched her move about for several minutes. It was one of Bryan's favorite past times, watching Cookie's delicious body in motion, even when she was wearing her loose fitting chef's uniform.

She must have heard or seen the swiveling camera following her around the kitchen because soon enough she locked her eyes on it for a long moment and smiled. Bryan laughed to himself, then tapped a button to cause a tone to sound on the Comm Panel on the wall near her.

"You know, if you were to lather your body with butter," he began in a sultry tone before chuckling, knowing he probably wouldn't get out the description of what he'd do to her after that.

 

[Alice2015]

Bryan began his dirty talk with, "You know, if you were to lather your body with butter..."

But Cookie cut in with, "Then Alice would want to ensure that butter benefited more than just your lapping tongue, and she'd toss me into the oven on 375 and cook me for every one else to enjoy with green beans and mashed potatoes."

Cookie heard him laughing over the intercom, which she clicked off with one hand as the other pulled her shirt open to flash him a tit for the second time in as many days. She turned back to her work. It was and at the same time wasn't like being in her parents' cafe in North Platte. Feeding Underneath was a combination of making individual items for individuals while simultaneously making large pots of stuff that would be eaten by all.

She'd been lucky in those first months to have so many ingredients to make so many wonderful meals. The vehicles that had brought the residents to Underneath had been loaded to overflowing with anything and everything those people had in their homes or could buy from local merchants before heading out.

The fresh foods had been consumed first, obviously. Gardening had exploded across America over the last decade or two, when grocery stores, if they were still open, had limited options for fresh food or food at all and most of those options were too expensive for the common person. The Collapse had turned people who'd never gotten dirt under their nails into very keen and fast learning vegetable growers.

In February, when the group left North Platte, those who had had root cellars cleaned them out of potatoes, onions, turnips, beets, and more. Those who canned vegetables, fruits, jams, and jellies crated them up, too. And then there were the store bought cans, jars, boxes, and bags, some of which would only be edible until shortly after their Best if used by dates.

Most of that was gone now, of course. The Horticultural Lab was, of course, growing fresh greens, small and fast growing vegetables, tomatoes, and more, but the supply wasn't keeping up with demand. Cookie worked with others to determine what would be ready when, and more often than not the children were fed the more nutritious food first, whether they wanted to eat their vegetables or not!

The one part of the Horticulture Lab that was a bust so far was the Aquaculture Bay. Howard Lender, when he designed Underneath, had included a trio of tanks along the back wall that housed two different species of fish. The fish poop in the water provided nutrition to the plants, the water run off from the plants fed the algae in the tanks, and the fish ate the algae.

Oh, Cookie didn't understand the whole system or the balance of it, but she knew that it had been designed to provide more than 10 pounds a week at optimum efficiency. Unfortunately, when the new group of residents got here, all the fish were dead, as was the algae.

They wanted to get the system up and running again, but the original species of foreign fish were obviously no longer available. One of the guys had had a neighbor who raised local species: catfish, perch, bass, and carp. They were all still available in the rivers and ponds of Central Nebraska. They only problem was finding a source that wasn't already within some dangerous militia or gun toting family's reign.

Someday, maybe, Cookie thought to herself. Then another thought struck her: Maybe Wes could offer some insight. She had barely talked to the newcomer, other than to introduce herself and thank him for saving Polly, who she had known from North Platte pre-Underneath. He'd been all over hell, literally and figuratively, so maybe he'd seen something out there that would help.

Cookie would have to bring it up with Alice later. Right now she had a huge kettle of canned-ingredient stew to watch, while also keeping an eye on the fresh bread that would be coming out of the oven in just 10 minutes.

 

[Alice2015]

OOC: This reply is just a marker that indicates the end of 10 August 2048. We have 2 or more 1x1 threads that began on 9 or 10 August and were written simultaneously and separately from this thread, and they all return to this part in the time line.

For the moment, this main thread is on pause until all of those other 1x1s catch up. That shouldn't be a problem as I think there is only one still left open and it should be ended today, I think!

 

[KyleReevis]

Peter Higgins -- Profile, Headshot

(This post is also the first post of a 1x1 thread that begins at this time in the timeline of this main thread, 10pm, August 10, 2048. I wanted to post this reply here as well as in the 1x1 because it contains some information about the internal workings of Underneath, as approved by Alice2015. I would be pleased if you followed the 1x1 thread, and I think Alice2015 and Ms_Tiff would be, too.)


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."

(OOC: Okay, this is the last post for this particular interaction in this main thread. Please go here to continue reading, and don't forget to subscribe to see new posts. )

 

[Wyld52771]

As Wes walked back to Men's Berthing for his nap, he thought about everything that had happened over the past few days...meeting and saving Polly, their arrival at the Underneath, the time spent in quarantine, reuniting with his sister, and the events with Kimmie and his upcoming date with her. He had been extremely lucky.

Everything was looking up from his previous situation, but, as a firefighter, Wes had been trained to think about all the things that could go wrong in any given situation during a fire, in order to be prepared...and sometimes that thought process intruded upon daily life, and any given situation he found himself in.

He realized that the Underneath was not a perfect solution for the survival of the human race. In the short term, the Undeneath would work well, keeping everyone going, but there were things to think about long term.

Eventual overpopulation to the point where resources couldn't sustain those who lived here would be a problem, unless a regenerating and self-sustaining source of food and pure water could be created.

Air filtration and generation...if something ever went wrong in that regard, it could cause a huge problem.

Hostile intruders, if the place were ever to be discovered.

The spread of radiation eventually making the outside totally inhabitable enough where resupplying would be impossible.

There were probably a hundred other scenarios that could cause Undeneath to fail, in the long term.

Wes knew that, since others had been here longer than he had, some of these questions had probably been addressed already, but he wondered if he should take the questions to Alice, regardless.

"Not now, though," he thought to himself, "You're new here. No need to rock the boat...especially when you're in it."

He got back to Men's Berthing, and headed to his bunk. Laying down, he tried to sleep, but too many thoughts ran through his mind.

He wondered what his role in the Underneath would be. He'd been a firefighter. With his first aid training, and his partial EMT training, he supposed he could help out in the Infirmary...but it wasn't like he'd be of much help elsewhere unless a fire broke out.

The only other skill he'd ever been good at was art. Doing things like the mural for Willa's classroom would possibly be good for moral, but it really wasn't a practical skill that would help in day to day survival. However, it might keep him from going insane from worrying about the other things.

He sat up and went to his pack, opening it and pulling out some art pencils and his drawing pad. Looking at some of the things he'd drawn over his long hundreds of miles walk, he found landscapes, and likenesses of people he'd come across in his travels.

Here was a picture of the highway where he crossed into Illinois, where he'd seen a lone wild duck swimming in a pond. There was a picture of Vanessa and her family, drawn when he was at their farm in Iowa. A picture of a small trout stream here in Nebraska, where the fish were jumping from the water and catching fireflies.

He turned to a new page. The hardest part of drawing was putting pencil to the page...that first line on a blank slate. Once past that, it was easy....just imagine what you want to see. He pictured Kimmie's smile after she'd kissed him, and began to create it, her likeness slowly coming to life around it as he drew....

 

[Alice2015]

OOC: For our writers and readers both.

Ms Tiff and I have started a 1x1 for our two 18 year old characters who are best friends. The thread begins as a flashback to 18 February 2048, when the new residents of Underneath were only just meeting in the dark of the night to sneak away to the bunker.

The 1x1 is mostly just about the relationship of these two girls and the small group of people with whom them connect a great deal, but I would expect that there will be many details of Underneath in it as well. You don't have to read it, but I encourage you to do so.

(We are writing this separately in a 1x1 because: first, it's a flashback, and would otherwise confuse the time line of the main thread; and second, it simply makes it easier to read both the 1x1 and the main thread if they aren't combined as one.)

The link to the 1x1 can be found here.

 

[Alice2015]

11 August 2048, Tuesday:

"Come in, please, come in, Wes," Alice said at the sound of a knock at her quarter's open door. She stood from the arm chair where she'd been looking at a tablet and reached a hand out to shake, saying, "I'm so happy you could come see me."

They shared some pleasantries, and she asked about his living conditions. "I've been told there's lots of room in Men's Berthing, enough that most of the guys use both bunks of a set or even two bunks to build a bit of a canopy cabin."

She chuckled, picturing in her mind the various arrangements the single guys had come up with. Alice had only been in Men's Berthing on Level 5 in those first days back in late February, to inspect them and make sure they were suitable for the men. She left oversight of the male housing spaces to Peter, Head of Security.

Honestly, she didn't often go into Women's Berthing on that same deck or even into Family Berthing on the next deck up either. Alice was leader of this community, but berthing was her peoples' home. To just wander through them felt like being the Mayor of a small town and walking through a constituent's home without invitation.

Alice lived in much different circumstances than the others, of course. Because her quarters were at the top of the bunker and were by far the largest, they had been called the penthouse suite by one of the young teenagers back when the group had first got here. The room in which she and Wes were standing was her office. It was 20x20 feet and might have sounded big, but most of the floor space was occupied by furniture or stacks of supplies and even building material.

The door to the bedroom was open, and from where Wes sat at Alice's invitation, he might be able to see that that space was roughly the same size as this one. It included a queen sized bed, just as the Family Rooms did, so nothing special there. It did have significant closet space and shelving, though. But again, Alice had Mimi living with her and Karen, too, so it wasn't like it was all her own.

What Wes wouldn't be able to see from his seat in front of Alice's desk was that to one side about a quarter of the room had been walled off to make a little bedroom. That was for Karen, the 6 year old girl Alice had accepted as sort of an adopted daughter. Karen's mother had wanted her daughter saved, but she herself couldn't come to Underneath at the time so Alice had stepped in.

She and Karen both hoped that one day the latter's mom would get to Underneath, and while the former knew that that was very unlikely to ever happen, she continued to give Karen hope that she would one day again hug the woman who had brought the girl into this world.

"I've been talking to some of the others about you, Weston," Alice went on, asking, "or I hear you prefer Wes?"

Alice poured a drink of whatever he wanted from the little kitchenette in one corner. "You sister says you are quite the artist, and Kimmie has told me you have some ideas regarding painting the School Room. And before you even begin to say you're not good enough or might not have any appropriate ideas, your sister snuck your book out of berthing the other day and showed me your art, and it's perfect."

Alice nodded toward the sketch book what Wes was asked to bring with him to the meeting. She swore Wes to a promise not to chastise Willa for invading his privacy, then asked him to visualize the school room painting job for her. She listened intently, asking questions about the involvement of the children and the supplies he would need.

"You're hired, Wes," she said when they'd finished discussing the idea. Alice stood from her desk chair to offer her hand to him, saying, "I make the appointments around here. One of my privileges as Dictator, I guess. So, you are now Chief of Interior Design."

She laughed as she sat, then told Wes he didn't need a title but if he wanted one, he could make it up himself. Then, she told him, "Now, I want to talk to you about something just as important if not more so. Your book, whaddaya call it, your sketch book?"

Alice pointed to it and gestured for him to put it open it on the desk. "When Willa was showing it to me, there were some sketches of fish in a pond or stream, I don't recall. What I do recall was that they looked just like the Bass and Perch my daddy used to take us to catch at a pond when I was a little girl, before the dike at the coal mine's tailings pond broke and poisoned it all the way down from Brady to Overland."

She watched as he thumbed through the drawings, then stopped him. "There!
That one. Is that a pretty accurate representation, I mean, color and fins and all?"

They spoke about his drawings of the fish a couple of minutes, after which she explained her interest. "The aquaculture system down in Horticulture on the level below us, the fish were dead when we got here. We can reproduce the algae easy enough, but the fish, well, the fish we can just buy at PetCo, can we? We need to go out to this stream or river or pond of yours and catch them and bring them back."

She stood to pour a couple of hard drinks, setting one before the man as she wat on the edge of her desk. With a serious tone and expression she said, "Wes, if we could get Aquaculture back online, we could produce 20 pounds of fish a week and increase the fertility of the water for hydroponics and the regular ol' dirt farming part of Horticulture by 30% or more."

She finished off her tumbler of Vodka, the only hard alcohol she had left in her little mini bar, and told him, "I want you to lead a team out there, to find that exact spot, to catch those fish, bring them back here. And possibly save the entirety of Underneath's population from a starvation even that I fear is less than 9 months away."

 

[Wyld52771]

Wes didn't really mind that Willa had taken his sketch pad to show Alice his work. Unlike some artists, he didn't mind others looking at his drawings...besides, he'd already removed the picture he'd drawn of Kimmie. Cheesy and sappy though it might be, he was planning on giving it her as a present on their date. The date had gotten delayed a bit, due to Kimmie having been called topside, but Wes hoped that they'd be able to get a rain check tomorrow.

Alice discussed the plans of the mural with Wes...Wes wanted the children to feel like they were outside, with blue skies, green grass, and some animals. The idea was to make the classroom feel more open, as well as show the children what the world had been like before the world had gone bad.

Wes's prefered art style was photorealism, so when completed, they often resembled photographs of things he'd seen. He'd never imagine that by drawing a simple picture of a fish jumping out of the water, that it might end up being important enough to save the Underneath from starvation.

When Alice mentioned taking a team to where he'd drawn the picture, he nodded, and replied, "I can do that...but it is about thirty miles on the other side of North Platte, so we'd be looking at a day or two away from here, if we're walking. I know the place well...my friend Shane's grandfather Angus used to take us there fishing back when we were young. If we have vehicles, it would be faster...but my 4 wheeler died shortly before you found me. I'd have to have someone look it over to see if it could be fixed. If we DO head there, I think we should keep the team small. We don't want to attract too much attention."

He paused for a moment, as Alice nodded in assent, and then continued, "I do have a couple other ideas I'd like to bring up, but both could be considered risky, and would involve bringing more people to the Underneath...but it may help get us some food and supplies. We'd need vehicles and gasoline to pull it off, though..."