PAFS- Post Apocalyptic Fallout Scenario

Ransacking The Mall

“What if I told you I could help you finish the blueprints, then I could also get all of the materials...and all of that within the next 24 hours?” She offers with a big smile.

“If this was before the war, people knew how to get along with each other, and everyone knew how to share...then yeah I’d believe you...but here and now, im-f*****g-possible...” I say with stern seriousness, although I did not mean to say it the way I did, it was the pain and depression that fueled the fire in my rage fit, “I apologize, I didn’t mean to lash out,” I say caressing her head.

“It’s cool, I can only imagine what you’re going through,” she says hugging me, “but listen, I have a friend back at the place I was staying at, Doctor Graveheart, she has done some biosynthetic engineering that would help with your blueprints,” she explains leaning on my shoulder, “I know a guy who used to work for NASA, and I think DARPA too, he used to research and design prototype propulsion systems and has even built an innovative relay engine that displaces matter and energy in space and time, but I bet if he got a look at your Lotus Ring power source, I think you two could make some neat toys...oh and I don’t know his name, he only goes by Klárt,” she continues causing me to laugh when she says Klárt, “did I say something funny?” She reacts to my laughter.

“No, it’s just that Klárt is Icelandic for smart,” I reply still chuckling.

“That is kind of funny, how do you know that?” She inquires with a half laugh.

“I know like, bits and pieces of 22 languages...kind of,” I respond as she gives me a weird expression, “I spent 8 years in a semi-public bunker, lots of free time...”

“Wow, I was lucky that my dad was rich and had a vault similar to Aluri’s,” she yawns stretching her arms out wide before wrapping them around my neck and lays her head on my chest, “lastly, I have studied many things, same as you, Aluri is very smart despite her minuscule communication skills, and I’m sure either Dr Graveheart or Klárt might have some colleagues that know a thing or two about nanotechnology,” she says before falling asleep in my lap, so I flip to the front of the journal, which is the back for me since I write left handed, but I realize that I am out of empty pages. I finally start to feel drowsy from the painkillers while putting everything in the satchel except for my phone, which I slip into Sierja’s bra, then I grab her buttocks to lift her as I stand up positioning her legs to straddle me and carry her over to the bed. Once I reach the bed, I sit on the edge, move my arm up to her waist, lay down, and roll her over so she will be between me and Aluri, then I take my phone out of her bra, roll to the side, and start making a list with some notes of all the items, materials, and tools that I would need to turn my pipe dream into reality. I also do all the research I can feeling hopeful, but still expecting the worst, then I eventually fall asleep while reading. I wake up about 5 hours later feeling even more hopeful as the dream I had featured a cybernetic mechanical prosthetic arm that has matte white armor plating, black undertones, and cyberpunk style tracer lights that change with my mood, and it also had the features of my watch along with the grappling gauntlet while interfacing with my phone. As I look around while sitting up, I see Aluri raiding the mini fridge, Sierja using my laptop to contact her friends, and that they are both still in their underwear, so I stand up and limp over to my gear.

“Good morning my beautiful ladies, how is everyone doing today?” I ask raising my voice startling them both, then Aluri immediately drops everything and runs over tackling me with a hug, which causes me and Sierja to laugh.

“She thought you were going to die, so you can imagine how happy she is to see you,” Sierja says joining us by piling on top of me, “I didn’t tell her that we had some alone time last night,” she whispers lightly.

“This is cool and all, having two cute almost naked girls dog piling me, but I can’t breathe,” I struggle to say, then they both raise up allowing me to sit up.

“We are both doing good, but we are hungry,” Sierja answers for both of them.

“Where is the Voltex, my bike?” I ask suddenly feeling turned on from them sitting on my legs.

“It’s on the first floor in the main lobby, why?” Sierja replies standing up.

“Either I can go down, or both of you can go down and get some things from it,” I propose leaning forward to grab my harness rig, then I take a ring of keys out of one of the pouches while noticing the GoPro camera, but it is badly damaged, “this key will unlock the compartments,” I hold up a black metal key with blue miniature LEDs on it, “one of the compartments has a dark grey leather journal featuring a unique V shaped firebrand on the back cover with a turquoise bead on the open edge that holds a black leather loop, please bring it with you if you go, but there is a white canvas mailbag that has some food in it that you can have,” I explain assuming they would not allow me to leave this room alone, but I would rather neither of them be alone.

“Sweet! Come on Aluri!” Sierja says grabbing the key from me, and grabs Aluri’s hand pulling her up, then they both grab a gun and leave the room. I return to rummaging through my stuff grabbing a black sleeveless hooded workout shirt with pink stitching and a hot pink stripe that starts at the bottom of the back going vertically up to the hood where it splits into three stripes; one staying straight ending as a point at the top of the hood while the other come out parallel to the ears. Then I look to see the shirt, pants, and underwear I was wearing are completely wrecked beyond repair on the left sides, so I grab a pair of purple sport boxer briefs, a pair of white and black digital camo tactical pants, and a pair of purple and black diamond design print dress socks and walk into the bathroom. I set the clothes out neatly in a stack starting with the underwear on the counter, then I raid the sundry cabinet to find very high quality soaps, hair care products, perfumes, and bath additives. I walk back over to the bed to grab a pillowcase when the video call ringtone starts ringing from my computer, so I check it out to see that it is a group video chat with Dr Graveheart, Klárt, Maxxy, Dr Hāz, and Zhou Xi, none of whom I know personally, but I decide to answer it anyways, so I sit down and click the blue phone icon.

“Good morning! I’m V, friend of Sierja,” I say nervously when the chat starts, “sorry, but she went to get some food, and I didn’t want to be rude and not answer the call,” I wave at the webcam.

“Jeez, man that bomb really f****d you up, I didn’t think it was as bad as she made it seem, but I’m definitely down to help you out,” Klárt says, he is a blonde haired blue eyed man whose location says Iceland, and his accent fits perfectly.

“Would you mind backing away a little and standing up?” Dr Graveheart requests politely with a hint of Australian accent, and she is a caramel skinned black woman with blonde braided locks and golden amber eyes, also her location shows Shreveport, Louisiana.

“I would say it is a miracle that you survived such an atrocious event, Sierja explained everything to us beforehand,” Dr Hāz says while I turn around to push the chair back and stand in the view of the webcam. He is a bald brown eyed man with a bushy white mustache and an English accent, and his location shows Halifax, Nova Scotia.

“I am so sorry this has happened to you, and you have my help, anything you need I’ll do it...but I would like to help in person,” Zhou Xi says with a very distinct Asian accent, she is a black haired blue eyed Korean woman, and her location shows Columbus, Ohio, “I need a new place to go, I can explain more later,” she signs off.

“Look at the bright side, you’re still handsome and women adore scars,” Maxxy says in a flirtatious manner, they are a transgender with more feminine qualities, natural red hair, and heterochromia; the left eye is deep blue and the right eye is deep green, “and you also have my help, I work with Dr Graveheart,” they blow me a kiss and wink before signing off.

“You shall have my help, send me the details,” Dr Hāz says before signing off.

“If Hāz is in, then I’m definitely in, I’ve never seen him take a request before going over the details a hundred times, so I’ve got to see this through...wait, where are we meeting?” Klárt asks.

“We haven’t discussed that yet, but a good center point would be Tennessee perhaps?” Dr Graveheart says writing in a notebook while looking at my injuries.

“It’s funny you say that, my main base of operations is in Chattanooga centered around the aquarium, and I have a great workshop and lab that has almost all the tools we need,” I respond sitting down.

“Wonderful, then it’s settled, Maxxy and I will meet you in Chattanooga,” Dr Graveheart gives me a smile and signs off.

“You wouldn’t happen to have a plane would you?” Klárt asks with an embarrassed tone.

“I have a helicopter pilot that can fly circles around a tornado in the opposite direction and come home without a scratch, will that work?” I laugh causing Klárt to laugh as well.

“That’ll do, could he pick up Hāz too? We are both island bound,” he requests.

“Yes, he will be picking up you, Dr Hāz, and Zhou Xi,” I say while thinking about my friends at home.

“Alrighty then! See you there!” He signs off, then I make a call to the base explaining that we will be expecting five visitors within the next 24 hours, and that I would like for Jellyfish to make a pick up run, but I would have to pay him after I pay the others for helping. I also ask them to prep the lab so that it is clean enough for surgery, try to locate some certain tools and materials, and set up four rooms for the visitors, but set up a home for Zhou Xi. After explaining my situation, updating them on our location, and requesting for ZcJay to make another run up here for transport, I return to gathering the bathing sundries. I grab the pillowcases to realize they are 100% silk, so I check the sheets, bedding, and other fabrics in the room collecting the silk ones, then I collect the sundries, towels, cloths, and other items making sure to get them all. Meanwhile Aluri and Sierja return to the room with everything they were supposed to, and it seems Aluri has made a new friend, a very young solid white female sugar glider with a black star on her forehead that she named Snowflake.

“Hey V? Did you answer the video chat?” Sierja asks setting my new journal on the desk watching the playback of the video chat.

“Yeah, I recorded it, do you want to eat first or take a bath?” I ask packing everything up before leaving the bathroom.

“I’m not starving, so I can wait,” Sierja replies keeping her attention on the video, and when I set everything down on the bed, I notice Aluri holding a shoebox and her new pet sitting on her shoulder.

“Seems you’ve gained an ally, a cute little sugar glider,” I reach over and pet her on the head, “is the shoebox for her, or did you find some nice shoes?” I ask as the glider crawls onto my hand.

“The shoebox is for you V, and she named the critter...Snowflake...” Sierja answers for Aluri turning around and seems stunned that it was taken to me so suddenly, “what the hell? The reason it took us so long was that she didn’t want to leave the animals behind...but you’re standing there, being totally adjusted with an animal that took us 30 minutes to wrangle...do you have any flaws?” Sierja rants shaking her head, but Aluri has the same expression as Snowflake crawls up to my shoulder.

“This gift for you,” Aluri signs to me before handing me the box.

“You called that critter a sugar rider? What is it exactly?” Sierja inquires turning back to the video, and her mispronunciation makes me laugh.

“Sugar glider, and it is a marsupial, like a kangaroo or koala, meaning they give birth to live young and raise them in pouches, but the gliders are more like flying hamsters,” I explain signing thank you to Aluri before taking the shoebox, bowing to her, and opening it to reveal a very young male hedgehog with glossy jet black fur, a white V on his forehead, an odd blue lightning bolt shaped spot on his belly, solid black quills except for two white stripes starting from the tips of the V and running along the back meeting at the nub of his tail, “incredible, such a uniquely adorable little hedgehog,” I say setting the shoebox on the bed so that I can pet him.

“Hedgehog...” Sierja says pondering, “isn’t that what the blue spiky thing from Sonic was?” She asks as she nears the end of the video.

“Yep, Sonic the Hedgehog,” I reply petting him gently, “they are also marsupials, and I think I’m going to call him...Umbra,” I say as he plays with my fingers.

“We bath now. Eat later,” Aluri signs to me.

“We should keep these two in here, but I gathered all the bath stuff in this pillowcase, also, thank you Aluri, I love him,” I give her a hug and kiss her cheek, “you two should go through and pick out what you want to use while I get the hot tub ready,” I suggest returning Snowflake to Aluri, then I grab a ziplock bag full of a freshly picked homemade trail mix blend, put some of it in the shoebox for Umbra, and put some on the bed for Snowflake. I walk outside onto the top deck where a vanity pool and a very exquisite black ceramic hot tub that is connected to solar panels take up most of the available space and both full of clean, but not drinkable water. I activate the heat and jets on the hot tub before returning to the room to grab six towels, my phone, and the new journal, then I take them out to the tub and start writing down everything I wanted to last night while waiting on the girls, “I brought the towels with me, and I set my clothes out in the bathroom, so I suggest you do the same, or use the closet for privacy,” I shout realizing I would need help washing myself, “oh, and I’m going to need either or both of you to help me bathe...please,” I add thinking that I still wanted to go to some of the places Aluri and I discussed to get clothes and other supplies. Five minutes later, the girls come out carrying a pillowcase, and once they get to the tub, they start pouring in four different liquids into the water and putting the other soaps in the cup holders.

“I can’t believe the water is already hot!” Sierja exclaims after putting her hand in.

“That’s because the hot tub is a very high quality brand, it was top of the line before the war,” I explain carrying the journal back inside, then I return as the girls are climbing in the tub, so I join them. We spend the next hour and a half talking about random things and what we should do after we eat, teaching Aluri how to clean herself properly and why it is important to take extra care cleaning certain special areas, and helping each other wash and groom ourselves; me taking care not to get my nub wet; and them shaving and Sierja giving Aluri tips about shaving and plucking. I am the first to get out, then I go to the bathroom, get dressed, and start packing everything up while also making a meal out of the food they brought up. Once the food is ready, I go back to the tub to notify them about the food, then I return to the room and make each of us a plate, giving more of the food to them. I eat while I finish packing and the girls return a couple of minutes after I made their plates, grab their plates, go to the bathroom, and eat their food while trading cosmetic styles and doing each other’s makeup. When I finish packing and eating, I play with Umbra and Snowflake to pass time, but I get this feeling that I forgot something and it clicks suddenly when I get a text from an unknown number saying, “V?” I forgot to send the blueprints and details to the group, so I use the same messages I sent to my base dispatchers to send to the group while also saving their contact info, then I receive several replies basically saying thank you and see you there. The girls finally return to the room dressed in the same clothes they were wearing giving me a confused expression seeing that I packed everyone’s gear, not just my own, “whenever you are ready, we can leave and start hitting up some clothing stores, pharmacies, and whatever else might be here that Aluri knows of that may have things we need,” I say fixing the canvas bag with some of my tattered shirt as bedding for Umbra and Snowflake.

“We are both ready,” Sierja says grabbing her things, and Aluri grabs her things while giving me my keys, which I trade for the canvas sack.

“Take very safe care of these two, we can put them in one of the compartments for safe keeping,” I smile making my way to the door, then we go down to the ground floor, pack up the Voltex, and Aluri mounts it, “I don’t think so, I can still drive her with one arm,” I say shaking my head no, and she dismounts allowing me to get on and start it up, “now Sierja should be behind me, and you behind her, that way the weight is balanced,” I urge, to which they do as I say, then I pull out of the building following Aluri’s directions to a fairly large mall, “I’m going to park inside, I think there are Segway shopping dollies inside that we can use so we don’t have to walk as much and save time,” I explain pulling up to one of the automatic sliding doors hoping it would open, but it does not, luckily Aluri immediately volunteers to open it without anyone asking, and thankfully they are not locked. She struggles to pull it open, so Sierja hops off to help her, but she is of no help, “move away from the door,” I command backing the Voltex up a little, then I act as if I am going to ram the doors, but instead I gingerly roll forward and push the doors open, “it looks like sliding doors, but they’re actually swingers,” I laugh as they both give me a go to hell look.

“We can walk from here, so you can go ahead and park,” Sierja says as she and Aluri disappear into the women’s section, then I park the bike in the middle of the store where the jewelry is and start looking around. I only find a platinum box chain necklace, a metallic neon azure fish spine chain bracelet, a black gold serpentine chain bracelet with a white gold unique V charm, a black tungsten carbide ring with blue glowstone inlay and a sapphire gemstone, a unique white and black titanium tiger head ring with pink quartz crystal eyes, a heavy white gold Arabic style ring with a large aquamarine gemstone in the top and Samoan style engravings, a volcanic rock and turquoise bead layered bracelet with black leather and silver dividers, a black leather cuff bracelet with a unique silver wolf head and silver Norse style braided metal, a white beaded rosary type necklace with an obsidian owl head charm, a black and neon azure metal byzantine necklace, a black tungsten smart ring, and a white leather belt with a unique black V shaped buckle that has a blue LED backlight. We spend a total of four hours browsing through the mall, the girls come away with two dollies full each, meanwhile I have filled my dolly with more accessories, jewelry, and other things than I have clothes, but I did manage to find a replacement for my shirt, a new pair of teal and white slip on casual shoes, a pair of black and pink climbing shoes, and a white and purple light hooded jacket. The other items include: a variety of earrings and body jewelry, a variety of face and eyewear, some scarves and neckwear, a variety of different types of watches, a variety of different pieces of tech, a few books, a purple leather journal, several different climbing harnesses and equipment, and a variety of different novelties for my own collection, all of which are catered to my personal likings. I direct the girls to meet at the cinema when they are finished, and I drive the bike over there parking in front of the ladies restroom, then I set up the iMax theatre room for a couple of classic movies as a treat for the girls which also will serve as a safe way to pass the time waiting on ZcJay to arrive.

“Hey! I think we are finally done!” Sierja shouts as she walks towards me with Aluri.

“Wonderful, what do you want to do next?” I ask putting a few sensors around, just in case.

“How are we going to carry all of this? I mean, the Voltex can only carry so much, but we could find a trailer...” Sierja begins to ask.

“ZcJay is coming to pick us up, and I asked him to bring a trailer to carry your car, possibly the Voltex, and whatever else we pick up,” I answer interrupting her moving to the concession stand to start working on the popcorn machine, “but in the meantime, I’ve picked out a few movies for us to watch, if you want,” I offer getting the machine operational.

“Really? That’s cool!” Sierja says ecstatically, “what should we do with our stuff?” She asks while I start searching for some fresh sodas, or something of the like.

“I put my stuff in the lady’s bathroom, I also confiscated the Segway, a hoverboard, and a Gravboard, the technology and parts will be useful,” I reply finding a 24 pack of fresh Dr Pepper in 12 ounce cans, 24 pack of seemingly fresh Red Bull in 12 ounce cans, a 6 pack of fresh Tiger Torrent Blue Açaí mixed swell strong wine coolers in blue glass bottles, and a 12 pack of fresh Angry Orchard Spiced Granny Smith Apple beer in glass bottles. The girls take their things to the lady’s bathroom while I use the Voltex’s power to activate the cooler putting three of each of the drinks in, then I get a phone call from Dr Graveheart, “hello?”

“Hey V, Graveheart here, I thought I would call you when we arrived at your base,” Graveheart says.

“Oh, great, wow, you got there awfully quick,” I say feeling confused.

“Oh yes, we took the helicopter,” she laughs.

“I’m glad you made it safe and sound,” I feel slightly relieved, “once my people get you settled in, ask to see Jace, tell her to take you to my lab, and see what you can do with VIOLET, that is, if you don’t mind...oh, and the words for today are Clutch Basket Pioneer,” I request thinking that a neuroscientist could help with our development.

“Of course! I came early hoping to have some fun while waiting for everyone to get here,” she says with enthusiasm.

“Cool, thank you again, I hope you find my lab, the main lab, and the workshop suitable,” I say with a half laugh.

“I’m sure it’s better than what I have to work with,” she laughs, “I’ll see you when you get here, bye,” she says waiting for me to say bye.

“If you have any questions or need anything, feel free to call and ask, see you,” I say hanging up. I make three large buckets of popcorn, put the drinks in individual cradles, and turn everything off, then the girls return wearing new outfits and looking very beautiful, “I got you some drinks and popcorn, grab them and follow me,” I order grabbing my popcorn and drink cradle, then I head towards the hallway leading to the iMax room, and they follow close behind me. Once we get into the room I lead them to the very middle, sit down in the recliner, and play the movie using my phone, The Goonies. They seem to have enjoyed the movie as it seems they have never seen it before, then the second movie, Star Wars: Episode 4- A New Hope, also seemed to have been a good choice, but the last movie, The Terminator, may have scared them a bit, since we are planning on synthesizing a robotic prosthetic arm for me. During the first two movies, Graveheart and I have a conversation over text message with her asking me how I keep everything powered, and I explain that I invented something similar to a particle accelerator, but it operates like a perpetual motion water turbine system that is a self sustaining power source possibly capable of powering a metropolis like New York for 10,000 years. I explain that the big one in the main lab is a working prototype, and that I successfully built a smaller version that powers the Voltex, it is called the Lotus Ring. During the last movie, I received a text from ZcJay saying he was getting close, so I gave him our location letting him know we might have to make a few stops before heading back to the base. Once we return to the lobby, I collect the sensors I put out, bag up the leftover popcorn, pack up the drinks, and start moving our stuff outside, then ZcJay drives up in his truck pulling an extra large flatbed trailer with Sierja’s 1932 Aurburn Roadster loaded on it.