c.

;

His stride slowed for Claudia and his hurriedness shifted to the keys in his pocket. “I brought back four, but there are still fifteen or sixteen out there. I found them in an old, ah.” Knox offered a hand to carry her bucket. “Some kind of utility building. A small one. Bet it’s been overlooked a million times. Looks like it’s been hidden in snow and dead trees for a while.” His best guess. “It’s a good trek out there. If you think it’s worth the trouble, I can head out again.” The elements and spontaneous storms always sparked to contend with. What he didn’t mention were recent sightings of icebergs in the area. A lot of them. 

“Brought ‘em as they were. Yeah, there is wiring and boxes attached to some of them.” Another several steps and they reached storage. Knox opened the door and ushered her in. A lantern was lit inside. Knox gestured to the carefully stacked panels. “There they are.” As Claudia began the inspection, he stood near the door. His eyes followed her. “Let’s say the rest are in decent shape too. What would you want to do with these?”

-

“Take them straight to the council, of course,” she answered without looking up. Both of her arms were elbow deep in the wiring as she tried to unknot the frozen mess. Carefully. Everything was overly stiff that should have been pliable. So she worked slowly, moving nothing past the point of resistance, and she listened closely in case there was a snap.

“We are living in a constant state of energy crisis,” she continued, fully aware that her lectures on the subject were not a popular source of entertainment. But he was, at the moment, an audience held captive by circumstance. Today was her lucky day. “Not only to we need to diversify, this could open up options that are self-propagating.”

Her fingers followed a cable to a box which was cracked open. Using that, she pulled on the top, trying to pop open the lip. It wiggled, but didn’t open. She added a little more pressure.

“Coal... is....” Each word punctuated a stronger attempt to rip open the box.

“Finite.”

there was something about being so close to the wall that gave kamran a twisted sense of comfort. he was one of the first lines of defense against anything happening to the people of jericho, but he was also able to be one of the first to step out of their camp if need called for it. there was freedom of movement and trust between himself and those others in the security role.

kamran had heard someone from engineering would be visiting this afternoon so part of him had hoped it was his friend claudia. when his ears had picked up the sound of footsteps nearing him, he turned to greet her. “it would be me, you’re correct.” he nodded, “do you need to do anything before i open it up?”

-

Prepare emotionally, she quipped silently.

“No.” Steeling her nerves, Claudia nodded toward the gate. She was as ready as she would ever be. Which was not much, but there was nothing to be done about it. She had a job to do. One she enjoyed, despite any recent rants about switching jobs that might have taken place over last night’s dinner.

She glanced over, remembering her steadfast disapproval of being tossed into hunting or scouting. What if she were to switch into security? Dealing with everyone’s messy behavior around town. Spending everyday at the edge of society. She shuddered.

“Do you ever get nervous this close to the wall?”

“if anything, i’m disappointed you didn’t use a stronger word. like dumb shit. or fuckhead. i taught you better curses.” he grinned at his daughter, every ounce of affection that look of his. he’d hit the jackpot on finding kids. as far as the apocalypse went, he could have gotten worse, but he couldn’t have gotten anyone better.

“tragically, kiddo, not everyone is as honest and open as you are. it’s a good quality to have, don’t get me wrong. but, for some reason, calling it like it is isn’t always received well.”

he was proud of her, though. he hoped she knew that. he tried to say it as often as he could. he loved the honesty and bluntness she always wielded. it made her trustworthy. and being trustworthy was good.

“well, i did change jobs. a lot. so, yeah. i’ve thought about it, and i still think about it. sometimes i miss going out and hunting or scavenging. i miss the thrill of it all. but then i wake up, and my back hurts. i remember quite quickly that i’m not a young man anymore, and i let myself be content with my job as a medic. maybe i’ll become a regular worker one day. but i don’t see that happening very soon. if you want to change jobs, though, sweetheart, i support you. you know what’s best for you, and the fact that you’re smart enough to ask the question makes me proud as fuck of you.”

-

True, she knew better curses, but she hadn’t been making an emotionally charged statement - which she considered the sole purpose of strong language - just an accurate one. Something idiotic had happened. She had pointed it out.

“I don’t want to be a scout or a hunter,” she said, mulling over the options. She wasn’t interested in medic either. Mostly due to the crying. Injuries she could handle, but the excessive feelings that came along with them not so much.

“And I’m sure that’s what I’ll be offered. Because we can never have too many warm bodies running off into the drift.” Claudia hadn’t meant to sound bitter, but there was an edge to her tone. Both jobs were necessary. Both were dangerous. Everyone knew what they were getting into when they agreed to it.

But enough about that.

“What’s wrong with your back anyway? You’re not even that old,” she said, “Have you tried plumping up your pillows?”

-

The corner of Jenny’s lips twitched upwards for a fraction of a second at the other’s reaction. Seemed like they made the right choice. Not that it was a difficult one. Everyone needed kettles, most wanted to replace old ones where they could. Jenny had thought to keep it for themselves for the same reason, but their old one wasn’t in too bad of shape. “ Metal. ” They answered easily, tone cool and calm. Though ceramics were nice, and a kettle was a kettle, the break-ability surely lowered it’s value. The second question, however, they didn’t know off the top of their head. “ I’d have to check, ” They replied honestly, no sense in lying or pretending when they appeared to have the upper hand in the trade. “ If it does, is that a deal? ” They asked, eyebrow raising a little as they did. Almost playful in a sense.

-

“Deal.”

Not the slightest hesitation graced Claudia’s tone. She nodded, and flipped the player around again. Surely she was getting the better end of of this deal. Music players were nice, especially if they were working, but they were ultimately dependent upon electricity. She could do all sorts of things with a kettle, with or without an energy source.

“I’ll take it even if there aren’t hinges,” she added, quickly. Best to be upfront. Metal was valuable enough on its own. She offered Jenny another smile, a much more genuine one this time. Then she gestured to the player.

“Do you already have music for it?”

A rigid, unclear smiled appeared for a moment to the ‘naturally’. An unnecessary quip. Knox thought of Claudia first when he found the panels, and perhaps he shouldn’t. She tended to be focused on not only surviving but improving the situation at hand. Smart too. Claudia shifted, and he knew he’d caught her interest. 

“They’re in storage.” Knox would not repeat himself on the rest, the reason why time was of the essence. “You can close down for a second, huh?” His point made as he bothered to look around, before eyes settled on her. “No one else is waiting for you. Come on, it’ll only take a minute. What else do you have to do?” Not to talk shit, but the marketplace was fairly dead at the moment. 

She could ask whatever questions she might have on the walk over, which Knox already began in the direction towards the shed. If Claudia decided not to follow, he would find someone else to help. 

-

“Hold on,” she called, packing away her papers. Could he slow down for five seconds? After shoving all the bits and pieces she had laying about into her catch-all bucket, she hefted it up by the handle, and hurried after him. At least she already knew where storage was, if she couldn’t catch up. Claudia didn’t spend as much time running as the scouts or the hunters. Her expertise centered more on climbing, and wedging herself into tight corners.

“How many did you find? Just panels or were there any other parts?” She switched the handle of her bucket from one hand to the other, and tried to fall into step beside him. 

“The panels themselves won’t do much on their own,” she explained, “We’ll need a charge controller and an inverter. Both of those would be box shaped, and wired to the panel.”

“Yeah, sure.” Jaimie slowly nodded along in agreement though she didn’t know what the hell that was supposed to mean. Something inside the device was all she got out of that answer.

As Claudia continued her explanation it made more sense, fortunately. But as soon as she returned to the method of payment she preferred, Jaimie’s lip curled back and she let out a groan.

“Ugh, idle mingling? I have to make small talk? Can’t you ask for something else like, I don’t know, a fun quickie in the library or food or a cool sweater or something?” Another displeased sound halfway between a second groan and a sigh escaped her already not enjoying the prospect of this little event. As much as she enjoyed being around others it was only ever on her terms.

“Fiiiine,” she drawled out with an exasperated sigh and rolled her eyes. “If you really can’t be convinced to pick one of my way better suggestions then I’ll maybe do it if you tell me what it is first and when it’s going down.” Maybe as soon as she showed up she could leave. Claudia hadn’t mentioned she had to stay for the entirety of the thing, and if it turned out to be dull then Jaimie would look for any loophole to make her escape.

-

“This Saturday. Probably late afternoon? I’m putting together a weekly lecture series. This first one is going to be on energy conservation within our dwellings.” Claudia tried not to appear too eager, but the subject matter was of vital importance to her. Not to mention that this was the first official invitation she was extending to the general public.

“It’s going to be fun, it’s going to be insightful,” she continued. Fun was subjective, but she assumed the turn out would be better if people thought they were going to enjoy themselves. Why wouldn’t they have fun? There was even going to be a question and answer portion. “I will be taking questions at the end, but you don’t have to talk if you don’t want.”

Having said all that, her thoughts jumped back to the various forms of payment Jaimie had offered. A cool sweater - cool like her dad used the word, Claudia assumed, when something was really good or desirable - could be nice. Or food. Hard to say no to food, especially from a hunter. Or..

“Does the library even have a lock on the door?”

“... he was going to connect a hot wire to a neutral,” she said, finally reaching the crux of what had been a short, but jargon-filled rant about how work had gone that day. In two words: not well. While she often tossed around the term ‘dream job’ when speaking of her position within the community, that didn’t exempt her from difficult days.

“But then I’m reprimanded for using the word idiot, and I get scolded for accurately assessing the skill level being shown. If I did something only an idiot would do, I would expect the people I work with to say so.” Her elbow rested on the side of the armchair, her hand propping up her head.

“Do you ever think about changing jobs?”

He waited at the side of Claudia’s stall in her peripheral. Bored impatience masked, Knox looked at items piled behind her. Parts waiting to be used, a crate filled with tools and objects in need of repair. Once she had finished dealing with her latest request, he spoke. “Claudia.” A grin, mirrored on the one she gave the person in front of her earlier. The only difference was the way it vanished quick. “I need your help with something.” 

Knox did not expect Claudia to rush in helping. Time was critical on his end and haggling would waste it. “I was out scouting and found several solar panels. I brought back what I could. There are more, but I’d rather know how viable these things are before I head out for the rest. Could you take a look at them?” Now, preferably. “Wanted to leave in the next hour or so on another run for the rest.” 

-

Somewhere on the sideline, someone was lurking. She could feel them watching. She could sense their presence with an instinct that had been drilled into her long before her life had brought her inside the wall. The back of her neck prickled as she continued on - saying what needed to be said, doing what needed to be done - until she finished her current conversation. Then her head whipped around. She stared at him, waiting to hear what problem needed her expertise.

He needed her help.

“Naturally,” she sighed, but her wary expression dropped once he began to explain. She leaned forward, nodding along as she listened. Anything they could do to diversify their energy sources would be a serious boon to the community, but also solar panels. She’d never seen one before, and the information she’d found in the library was limited. If she could get her hands on one -

“Where are they? Did you bring them with you?”

Evening had arrived by the time Claudia waltzed into the med bay. She paused near the door. Craning her neck, she looked beyond the intake, searching for a familiar face. Of course, a lot of the faces in Jericho were recognizable - it may have been the largest community she had ever lived in, but it was not so large that she couldn’t keep track of the people who had been there a while - that wasn’t what she meant by familiar, however. She was looking for someone in particular. 

When she did not spot them from where she stood by the door, Claudia ventured a little further inside. Still nothing. She stopped in front of a young woman.

“Hey,” she said, “Have you seen my dad?” Shaking her head, she pulled off her right glove to reveal a rather swollen looking thumb.

“I jammed it. I just need a bandage.”

Claudia sat at her workbench. Her elbows rested on the table, halfway encircling her cafeteria issued lunch ration - no rolls today, sadly, those were her favorite - and she glanced at the broken clock sat in the corner. A stopped clock was right twice a day, or so she had once read in a book. Whoever coined that term had apparently never worked with digital clocks. They could be wrong at all hours of the day, thereby rendering the words pointless if they could not keep up with modern technology.

She glanced across the room. Seeing someone nearby filled her with reassurance, easing that stiff posture that had her hunched over her plate. She wasn’t alone, and she preferred it that way. Even sat in silence, she’d rather be with others than keep her own company. She caught the eye of her co-worker, and offered him a smile.

“Been working on any good recipes lately?”

Claudia was closer to the wall than she preferred. Some clambered for the freedom, if it could be called that, to run beyond the town limits. Not her. She approached the walls with a healthy amount of respect. Gratitude, even. She liked being inside. It had been decades since she’d been on the other side, but she well remembered what it was like. Feeling a little boredom within Jericho was worlds better than anything out there.

She lifted her eyes, following the line of the structure all the way to the top. She swallowed. Shifted her bucket of tools over to her other hand. She spotted a figure near the front, waiting - or possibly loitering - near her designated job spot. Perfect. The sooner she could get started, the sooner she could leave.

“I’m supposed to check a spring loaded hinge that was re-fitted last week,” she announced as she moved closer, “They said someone from security would be here to open the inner gate. That would be you, I assume?”

Task 001: Connections

Reasonably, the portable cd player that read SONY on the top was not something Jenny needed. The amount of actually playable cd’s they ever found were fairly low, and even then they were low priority regardless of the state they were in. But still, Jenny liked the device. They liked the idea of having it. They watched Claudia prod at the device with watchful eye. Not that they thought she’d break it, but if there was anything they could learn from they way she looked at it. What was she seeing that they weren’t kinda vibes. Though their features probably easily looked judgemental. They raised their brows at her tight lipped smile. The fuck did that mean? But she delivered the news soon enough.

A week seemed like a long time, but it wasn’t like this would be a priority. And Jenny wouldn’t expect it to be. Nor would they pay whatever premium that might incur either. “ I dunno, what are you looking for? ” Their job made this sort of thing easier. If they didn’t have something right now, they could look for it. But bartering was easier started with something on the table. “ I’ve got decent kettle I found the other day. ” It had a dent, but what didn’t? “ The bottom’s not totally burnt yet or anything. ”

- 

There were any number of things Claudia was looking for, and sometimes she didn’t know she wanted something until she found it. Such was the nature of their world. She couldn’t just write down whatever she needed and have it sat on her doorstep the very next morning like the older people in the community talked about sometimes when they reminisced on the time before. Such stories didn’t make sense to her. Where did the items even come from?

Claudia’s expression changed, however, when she heard the word kettle. 

“Metal or ceramic?” she asked, a heightened tone in her voice betraying her sudden interest. Bartering required a steady demeanor, and a willingness to walk away. At present, she had neither of those things. But she didn’t get a lot of unclaimed kitchen appliances in - as the item was described - decent shape. Didn’t matter if it worked. She just needed it to have all the parts.

“Is it hinged on the spout?”

anders still struggles with asking people for things, or help. it was a weak point for him. he’d gotten so used to doing things on his own that now, when it comes to things like bartering, it feels like he’s cheating. 

“ a book from my collection? ” his tone was a little strained, so he offered this with a hint of a smile. not forced, just not entirely genuine. 

his collection was actually somewhat impressive, if you cared about books. some had been custom bound and repaired by val, ranging in genre and subject matter. anders had things from old geography textbooks to tattered copies of obsolete ‘COMPUTERS FOR DUMMIES’, but he also had books of poetry and a robust collection of novels. anything printed was basically his criteria for collecting, but he keeps the special ones hidden. 

truthfully, he only wanted the damn watch because he thought it would look good with one of his coats. the glass was broken, and the leather strap looked worn and faded, but something about it just felt good. 

-

“The kind with the hard outside or the soft?”

Claudia ran her thumb over the glass, feeling out the rough edges of each crack. Carefully. Last thing she needed was a trip to the infirmary with a sliver of glass stuck in her finger. There was no repairing that, she’d have to find a replacement. Either something around the same size or a little bigger that she could shave down.

“I could do either, but if it’s a soft outside, it’s got to be bigger. More pages.” Bigger was always better, in her book (pun intended, she mused). The larger an item, the more raw material it provided once taken apart. She looked up, meeting his gaze, and taking in his smile which appeared friendly enough at first glance.

“Or something interesting. What are your books about?”

Jaimie pursed her lips in mock pensiveness, but a moment later the facade of exaggerated seriousness dissolved into a smirk.

“My riveting company, duh.”

Before Claudia could try and tell her that wasn’t sufficient Jaimie held up a hand to cut her off.

“Jokes, don’t worry.” This time as she eyed the device – a music box she found on a hunting excursion that didn’t quite play as it was meant to and part of it got jammed when the little handle was turned – her brow crinkled in genuine thought.

“What’s wrong with it? Bent metal thingy? Is it a simple fix?”

It was a useless trinket to Jaimie, but maybe if she found someone who took an interest in it then it might hold more value to her. A bartering item, maybe.

-

“The problem is the spring housing.”

There had been a time in her life when she hadn’t even known the word. She still would have been able to pinpoint the problem, but explaining it to others was a skill she hadn’t learned until she’d arrived in Jericho. She held the box out.

“Now whether something’s stuck in there or it needs to be replaced, I don’t know. I would have to take it apart. I’m sure I have the parts, but jumping back to payment...” Here she paused, her thoughts jumping back to the joke a few seconds prior.

“Actually,” she said, an idea forming in her mind, “If you did want to trade your company, I am organizing a small gathering. You would just have to show up, and tell other people you’re coming so they show up too.”