A JAG-Sims3 Story
Author: Haruo Chikamori
Rating: M
Classification: Angst, Romance.
Spoilers: N/A
Summary: Continuity of Government (COG) – a stark term for starting over after a holocaust the likes of which is hoped will never ever happen. This is a what-could-happen if the button was ever pressed.
DISCLAIMER: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., Sarah "Mac" Mackenzie, Meg Austin, AJ Chegwidden, et al. belong (in concept if not name) to CBS/Bellisarius. Animal and all OC characters are the property of Heather and Hugo Chikamori. No profit is being made from this story, nor is any infringement intended.
------------------------------------------------Chapter Seven - Taking Over the Empty Lot
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It took us some time but we managed to secure the empty lot across the street without notice from the seedier elements of Nightmare City. It appeared as though we didn't have enough fencing material to secure the lot completely but just when we thought all was lost; a merchant, wanting to settle in Nightmare City in the hopes of rebuilding it into a viable city, approached us; cautiously. Cautiously; because we were armed to the teeth. He wanted a place to place his shop and preferably behind fence...so that he would be secure from the criminal elements. A bookstore owner soon appeared as well as a consignment store owner mainly due to this one shop-keeper. Perhaps Nightmare City might have a second chance. But not us, we were getting out of here. But for the long term, while we were still gathering supplies; we allowed him to stay behind our fencing on the lot. The others opted for outside the wire, but being wire fencing of their own.
At least we now had options in terms of getting bait for fish. I had found out that the bait for rainbow trout was egg and since we needed our supply of eggs for food; we opted to buy some bait as necessary; so the eggs that we got from the chicken coops were placed in the fridge; the ones that we kept as trout-bait, we kept in our personal inventory. But with winter coming, most days, the pond that we had was frozen and no fishing was possible. We would have to wait until spring.
Days involved milking the cows and fishing; our new home was warm and comfortable. It was essentially a glorified one room plus a bathroom. Our kitchen was in one corner, our living room was near the stairs and the bedroom; well the only thing that separated it from the rest of the place was a book-case that I'd managed to nick from the large mansion in behind our old place. Luckily the guard dogs were no longer there and I was able to sneak in and get out quickly. Guard dogs would have added yet another element of fear. Because by now with them starving; there would be no discretion on what they would do. Humans were basically food for them and well, I would be one grade A steak traipsing onto their turf.
The fog and rain descended on Nightmare City bathing the entire place in an eerie billowing white mist that brought visibility down to near-zero. We opted to stay put; not even venturing outside the wire to explore. We decided that the best thing would be to just milk our cows (we captured as many of them as we could) and collect eggs from our chickens (we captured as many of them as we could too). Thank goodness for our little underground shelter we constructed; because it was all that we had keeping us from the incessant rain.
Any time the memories of my parents overwhelmed me; Matt was there...and it seemed like he and I grew closer and closer with each passing day. He was my rock and I think he considered me his. And during the worst of the rainstorms, we just did what we could and he focused on his painting and I focused on writing. It was a way to while away the time and keep our minds off our parents and our predicament.
It was at this point that I realized just how much I liked Matt. We both had parents who were friends...and that was the start of our friendship. Our parents had enjoyed the fact that we enjoyed each other's company. But who realized that our playtime together as toddlers would have amounted to much more. I caught myself glancing at Matt a lot more especially after he doffed his t-shirt to go to sleep. In the morning at the breakfast table, well...I couldn't help looking over at him. He was ripped, who knew.
I shook myself free from the Matthew Mackenzie-Rabb Admiration Club long enough for us both to go fishing in the backyard pond since it had thawed enough with the rains to actually do some fishing. I couldn't help but have Matt on my mind all while fishing and actually it was a pleasant distraction.
Eventually, the weather cleared and the skies started to clear a bit. I knew with the hint of a chill in the air, that it wouldn't be long before snow took over the grounds of our compound, making it impossible to do anything let alone fish so we took advantage of the fact that we were still able to and fished for quite a considerable amount of time.
In the distance we could see packs of wild horses roaming around the deserted town.
...and of course there was that little raccoon that curled up by the entrance, having himself a nice little sleep.
Of course to Matt's credit he fixed the computer that had gone belly up. Although considering that he only had a screwdriver; I'm certain that it fixed itself mainly due to being petrified of what Matt could potentially do to it. Of course, I kept that opinion to myself. No complicated computer tech tools here.
The next morning after that, had us doing our regular chores; dealing with the last of the apples and Matt cooking a meal so that we had food to eat. With the falling temperature, we had the cold to contend with and the fact that the apple trees would soon be going dormant. But we were so close to the thousand-apple mark that I hoped that we could achieve it before the trees went bare for the winter.
In the evening the mist shrouded the city in wisps of white that floated just above the surface which ultimately made our minds jump to the thought of spirits, even though that wasn't rational.
...and as we dropped off that night to sleep; cozy in our bunkbed, the whinny of horses could be heard off in the distance. Surprising how sound carries in the cold air.
Our bunker was secure and we nodded off to sleep knowing that no-one could penetrate our fenceline. We were armed, the shopkeeper was our lookout and we had an alarm system on our only door. We slept secure that night.
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