Vice Bunker 38 (Patreon)

Vice Bunker

Chapter 38

-VB-

As my many bodies traveled across the frozen landscape of New England and into the Mid-Atlantic States, we found more survivors than we anticipated. Most of these survivors lived in smaller bunkers than my own or the PRT’s but there was also a significant portion of survivors living on the surface.

The severity of the blizzard, snow and ice build-up, and the lack of sunlight remained no different between Brockton Bay and Boston, didn’t change between Boston and New Haven, and definitely didn’t change between New Haven and New York City.

What did change was the number of survivors on the surface.

And the wildlife.

The wildlife in question, however, was not normal in any way, because how else could a thick jungle be surviving out in the middle of a frozen apocalypse? Yes, there was a jungle here right in between New Haven and this particular body’s next destination, New York City. With red trunks and black leaves, I could already tell that the plant had been optimized for maximum light absorption with no regard for efficiency. I also noticed that these black jungle forests bore fruits, and there were thick-furred monkey-like creatures that went around collecting them.

I could smell a tinker’s involvement in this.

Instead of contacting them, I too walked around the black-leafed jungle. For all I knew, the forest might be pumping out fatally toxic spores that might not kill me but kill the next person I meet due to contamination.

The current purpose of this body was to find and catalog survivors.

And well, as I stated before, New York City’s state was no different than Brockton Bay with a few visual differences. Some of the skyscrapers had taken enough hits from asteroids to topple over. Even without entering the city, I could see a particular domino of buildings that had fallen probably because the first had fallen due to meteor strikes.

It took me a while but I did find my first group of survivors.

They were huddled around in the deepest basement of one of the skyscrapers, which used to be a mall. The sublevel in question used to be a parking lot, but the new locals had done their best to keep it warm by blocking all but one exit and circulating just enough oxygen from the surface through a small pipe. It was so efficiently done to the point of being dangerously unstable that it could only be a Thinker’s work.

But how were they generating heat?

My nanomachines that found them skittered about and found … a literal pile of shit, slowly fermenting away. But it was also fermenting at such a pace that it was giving off just enough heat to heat that sublevel to survival levels. I suspected that it may also be part of the potential Thinker’s method of circulating the air without a pump.Hot air rose, after all, and cold air sank; using the hot, fermented air from the pile of shit to force stale air out was a good idea, even if it might be smelly as hell.

I had the nanomachines take photos of the inhabitants, marked the spot in my mental map, and moved south.

At the very least, some parts of the New York City was going to be fine, right? Because if a place like New York City, which was filled to the brim with meat, and not always legally approved meat, was a ghost town, then Earth Bet really didn’t have any hope of humanity’s long-term survival on it.

I also wanted to contact Legend and somehow get a video or work with Doormaker so that I can make the door myself. Even if I lacked the targeting module, letting my people suffer underground life forever more didn’t make me feel accomplished.

Survival and living were different, and I came to know that after watching the residents of my bunker become depressed as the deadly and prolonged reality of this apocalypse asserted itself.

I also had a feeling that while my girls remained hopeful of a better future, they would also eventually fall victim to depression and the like from being stuck indoors for so long. It was simply human nature. Or rather biology.

Strictly speaking, Vitamin D was a very necessary part of life that regulated a number of functions including calcium and phosphorous absorption/reabsorption. Calcium, in particular, affects heart and nerve function. A lack of Vitamin D from this constant blizzard would eventually lead to frayed nerves for everyone. Then there were the psychological aspects of being outside.

Humans are meant to be outside. We are not moles. We are not rabbits. We are endurance hunters who chased after their prey for hours on end if that’s what it took. Being under the sunlight was our natural state.

We originated from Africa, not Siberia.

‘That’s assuming that Cauldron hasn’t abandoned Earth Bet,’ I thought.

I paused in my rumination as I detected five people approaching her.

Turning around, I came face to face with the five people and recognized the woman in the lead.

I just didn’t expect her to be here. After all, the black and grey, Library of Alexandria bearing Triumvirate stayed over in Los Angeles.

“Alexandria.”

“Identify yourself,” she demanded.

I gave her a curtsy, just because the body I was in was a woman in figure. “I am Yal’Manus of Brockton Bay.”

She stared at me for a second longer before visibly relaxing. I had a feeling that was more for her companion’s sake than mine.

“You are far from home. Has something happened in Brockton Bay? We have been disconnected from PRT ENE for the last month or so.”

Oh? That was a new information.

“No, I am just exploring what else might be standing in the Northeast,” I replied before glancing at the faint outline of New York City that I could see through the relatively light snowfall today. “New York City seems to be standing but not much else in between. What about you? Shouldn’t you be in Los Angeles?”

Her hands gripped into fists. “The State of California has fallen from too many asteroid strikes. Los Angeles itself is gone.”

“... My condolences.”

“Do you have time to talk?” she asked me. “I would like to know more about what’s happening further up north.”

“Of course.”