Chapter 35: Snow Day

Saturday, April 1st, 6:51 AM

Dungeon Ciara

Joe wiped condensation from the face of his old wind-up watch.

It’s snowing in Santa Cruz, on the first of April.

He pressed his lips together, thankful for the shelter they had. However, because they lacked heating, the house was bitterly cold. Joe was loathe to leave the relative comfort of his blankets.

Thoughts of life before the bombs crept into Joe’s mind—of a lithe, soft body pressed against him seeking warmth. Now, all he had for company were memories.

A single tear rolled down Joe’s right temple, wetting his ear.

I miss you, Anna.

Mike sneezed in the next bedroom.

Ah, fuck. Master Guns gave Allison one of his blankets for her kids.

Willing himself up, Joe grabbed his windbreaker and pulled it on. He rubbed his arms, grabbed his comforter, and headed to Mike’s room.

Mike lay shivering, curled up under his single blanket. He met Joe’s eyes.

Mike shook his head. “No. I don’t care how… cold it gets. That shit ain’t happenin’.”

“Fuck off, Guns. I ain’t sleepin’ next to your ass.” Joe laughed. “But I won’t let you freeze to death, either.” He threw the comforter over Mike, then left to check on the others in the building where he was staying.

“Thanks, Schimpf.” Mike called from upstairs.

Most in the large house huddled for warmth.

Shit. Better check on the others. Some might not realize how dangerous this is. Cold kills.

As Joe was leaving, he ran into Joy and Siobhán.

“Hey, Joe!” Siobhán said brightly from behind a stack of blankets.

Joe sensed no hint of the pushy attitude she’d had with him. She looked happy to see Joe, and he smiled back.

When she’s not chasing me down, Siobhán’s a sweet girl. Anna would’ve liked her.

“Blanket delivery.” Joy stuffed her stack of rough, uneven fabrics into Joe’s hands.

“How in the—” Joe began.

Siobhán cut him off, “ProfCon saw the snow and made these for us. She doesn’t want anyone freezing to death. Yours is our last house. The power-couple are handling things next-door.” Siobhán grinned as she called for anyone who wanted an extra blanket on the first level.

“Y-yes, please!” One of the women on the first floor shrieked.

When Siobhán danced around him like a waitress with a tray, Joe couldn’t help but chuckle at her antics.

She’s reliable. Yeah. Anna would’ve liked her. Joy, too.

“If anyone’s too cold, it’s warm in the fruit orchard!” Siobhán called out as she and Joy headed in that direction.

Joe watched them go, and his eyes settled on Siobhán.

That girl…

Siobhán’s hair shone red on brown. Her trim body held Joe’s gaze, framed against the quiet gloom of snowfall with the rumbling ocean behind.

She’s stunning.

Joe furrowed his brow after feeling his pants stir when his eyes locked onto Siobhán’s shapely backside, and he smacked his cheeks.

No. I have a duty to my wife.

Despite Joe’s determination, his traitorous eyes shot another glance at Siobhán. She and Joy had turned back to wave at him. The stirring in his loins returned, and he grinned at Siobhán’s radiant smile.

If things were different—but… I can’t.

Joe turned to climb the stairs.

I miss you, Anna.

----------------------------------------

The air was cold and strange. Slow rain fluttered in white chunks, but Sunny wasn’t focused on those things. She raced alongside her sister as they reveled in the strange white coating on the beach.

Soft, but cold. Like the air. Different from sand. Makes crunchy sounds. Sunny likes crunchy sounds! Like food from before-times! Not tasty like fish. But still good!

Sunny slowed to prance, staring at her feet, then turned to sniff at her tracks. They smelled of her feet, as they should. But white stuff shot up Sunny’s nostrils. It was cold, and she sneezed.

[Sandy can sniff, too!] said her sister. Sandy smelled like happy.

There was white stuff all over Sandy’s nose, and that made Sunny happy. They exchanged kiss-greetings, then took off running again.

Together they frolicked, rolled around, and play-fought on the strange new beach, reveling in the sights and feelings.

----------------------------------------

Ice and snow.

It was a rare occurrence, and I’d learned something new about Dungeons.

I can make ice and snow.

All I did was absorb some.

This is so cool.

A ball of packed snow grew above the waters of my tide pool cavern before I let it fall. It became translucent on contact and I watched it melt.

I seldom had occasion to play with snow as a human, so I let myself enjoy the moment.

I fashioned a small likeness of a Labrador out of ice atop one of the tide pool rocks. It was rougher and less accurate than I would have liked. The snout was a little long, and the tail too bushy, making it look wolfish.

But I was happy.

Looks like the theme for one of my floors just dropped in to say hello!

Well… maybe. I’ll have to ask Sven if there’s another kind of magic stone I can make that keeps things cold. If not, I’ll have to constantly replenish the snowy landscape of that cavern. That’d be a royal pain in the Dungeon-hole.

Ugh. I’m starting to make jokes like my dad.

I smiled a little, then frowned.

I miss my parents.

Mom would be horrified to know what I’ve become. And they’d both die a second time if they knew what I’ve done.

That thought hit hard, considering how they’d raised me. But the Dungeon instinct didn’t care, and the rest of me knew that I’d had little choice.

Sunny and Sandy were still running around on the snowy beach after an hour, and both shivered, so I called them into the fruit orchard. Siobhán and Joy were there, eating and talking while Nita wove an irregular, heart-shaped silken creation on the ceiling beneath one of my quartz light filament-arrays.

Taking the opportunity while Michael and Rihelah were occupied for the third time this morning, I added hot and cold water for my basement.

I left the existing drainpipes alone since they still seemed to function.

Michael and Rihelah emerged from their room with huge smiles.

At least they were quiet this time.

[Michael and Ryebean.]

Rihelah stopped, and her smile disappeared. “Kyah!” she cried out. “Professor, you weren’t watching us… were you?”

[What? No! I was working on the plumbing. I knew what you were doing, of course, and as usual, I avoided watching. Just don’t let Michael sing while you’re doing that, and we’re good.]

There’s no way I would tell her that I knew every single detail of their bodies, including how things looked while they were connected.

With how clear and vivid those memories were, I wondered if I ever could forget. At least the shock of their first time had worn off, and I no longer felt the need to hide in a hole.

“Aww, damn. Opera sex was awesome.” Rihelah snorted. Then her eyes grew wide and she covered her mouth with both hands.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Michael hugged her from behind. “I don’t really care about being seen. I mean, Ciara notices the whole Dungeon all the time, right?” He pressed his cheek against Rihelah’s. “I’ll sing again if you want. It was damn good on my end.”

Rihelah shot him a mischievous smirk. “I like being on your end, Michael.”

Both grinned.

[I’m still here, you know…]

What am I gonna do with these two?

I chuckled.

At least they had a sense of humor about it.

“You said you were working on plumbing?” Rihelah’s eyes brightened.

[Yep. There should be running water—hot and cold, but be careful. I can’t tell how hot the water is.]

Before I finished talking, Rihelah ran for the bathroom with Michael close behind.

[Have fun, but let me know if the temperature’s off.]

“Will do!” They said in unison as the door shut.

I returned to what I’d been working on when the snow interrupted.

My new core room.

I created a series of sixteen tunnels leading out from the far end of my second floor. Each was more than a kilometer in length, and I used my fiber optics trick to spread the light out, rendering them dark and foreboding.

The one that led to my core—fourth from the right—branched five times. The correct path was left, left, left, right, left. I recalled hearing that sequence in some military film in a marching drill scene at boot camp, and it was easy to remember.

After those fighter jets flew past my Dungeon, I knew it wouldn’t be long before men in boots arrived to look around. With that in mind, I made the aesthetic of all sixteen tunnels identical, to make it less-obvious which was the correct path.

As an added distraction, I placed a lightstone shaped like my core on a steep pedestal that rose thirty meters above the center of the main pond. I coated it with blue glass salvaged from the harbor channel, until it was a visual match for my core.

To make it seem valuable, the massive stone pillar upon which it sat received a lining of smooth, sharp, five-centimeter spikes that jutted downward around its exterior starting halfway up.

Ultimately, it looked stunning from the ground, and if I were still human, I’d wonder what was special about it.

Perfect.

For the fifteen dead-end passages, I added various ore deposits at the end of some of their tunnels—chosen randomly, though I skipped titanium and tungsten for now.

I added more lightstones with various colors of glass around them connected via fiber optics near those deposits, hoping it would make them appear special.

Silicon’s silvery sheen scattering dark green light made the surrounding rock look eerie, and I loved it.

A feminine voice cried out in ecstasy and drew my attention to the housing for a moment, but I didn’t look. Quiet words from a familiar voice followed.

“Shh. Nikki might hear.”

Ugh. Steven.

“Danger’s part of the fun, Professor. Now, shut up and keep going.” A woman’s voice replied with a giggle.

That’s not the blonde.

With my curiosity piqued, I glanced, grateful that they were covered. Steven was behind a young brunette on her side, undulating his lower half at her beneath the blankets. From her open-mouthed look, it was obvious what was happening.

I didn’t know her name, but she couldn’t be over twenty years old.

Wow. Steven’s messing around with a younger girl. Looks like that suave persona of his is just for show. I guess I dodged a bullet.

I spotted movement outside the house. Nikki appeared through the snow, coming from the Crow’s Nest.

Not my problem. You made your bed, Steven.

I shrugged.

Working on my Dungeon was more important, so I did my best to ignore the yelling and slapping that followed.

For my core room, I made the last portion of the tunnel leading into a ten-meter climbing wall with enough small ledges that it wouldn’t be impossible, but it should present a decent challenge for the average person.

To make things more interesting and much easier for defense, the wall opposite the climbing area gained two hydraulically-powered spike traps—one near the middle and one just before the top.

From my mining area, I gathered tungsten to shape the spikes. That took a while, but they were much stronger than those in my original spike trap on the first floor. A total of fifty spikes were added, in two banks of twenty-five that were two meters high and two meters wide.

I staggered the spike traps across the three-meter-wide climbing area, with the bottom one on the left, the top on the right, and a full meter of space to either side. That should allow observant people to avoid danger by climbing around them. It would also make scaling the wall more challenging with a necessary horizontal component.

“I like it! Now, here’s how to make those spikes operate without your input.” Sven appeared without warning, as usual.

[Damn it, Sven! I hate when you do that.]

“Ah, my little Mound of Mud doesn’t want to know how?” Sven grinned and batted his eyes.

[Incorrigible Legless Lizard. Yes, I would like to know.] I sighed.

“There’s my spunky little Rock of Refuse! Now, if you use some of those lovely springs you’ve salvaged from your harbor, you can make a few spring-loaded ledges out of hardened basalt, and then…”

The result was that I created a set of simple mechanical systems, hidden in the walls, that released a catch for the valve for each pressure-loaded spike trap whenever certain ledges were pulled hard enough.

The trap’s machinery was quite durable. It also came with a set of safety valves that I could actuate to disable the traps if I wanted to allow safe passage.

After a moment’s thought, I added a warning sign set one meter high, facing the tunnel that led to the climbing wall. A series of red lights via fiber optics illuminated a smoky crystal shaped into a skull and crossbones. The effect was terrifying, and I loved it.

[This is fantastic, Sven. Thanks for showing me.]

“Ah, but how can a poor Mud Puddle see without someone to clear the water?” Sven grinned.

[In quite the mood today, eh, Boasteus Maximus?]

“I aim to please, Intellectius Minimus!”

[Perhaps you’d enjoy a gander at Homo Nympho Erectus—the rare man above whose right cheek bears the red hand print of shame, heralding his return to single life?]

Sven quirked an eyebrow upward. “Oh, the one you preferred before evolution! Indeed, he is quite the specimen. I find him lacking on all counts—especially wisdom. His flighty nature and boundless libido are perfect for one such as you, Abstainus Naughtius Aeterna!”

[A cheap shot, Profundo Geriatris Repugna. Surely, someone of your advanced age can do better than jab at a woman’s emotional scars, despite your withering mind?]

Sven laughed for a few seconds, then smiled. “I do admit, I have come to enjoy our little spats.”

[You’re not so bad yourself, Scaly,] I said amiably.

“But alas, I am spoken for. My mate of 79,800 Gaian millennia would raze my hide to ash were I to behave in the manner of your dashing man above. See, even now, the shameless lad presses his suit.”

Sven disappeared.

What was Sven talking ab—wait.

I’d located the man, hand-print and all, looming over someone else I knew.

Steven wants to bed my Soybean?

----------------------------------------

In the fruit orchard, I beheld Steven leaning on the trunk of a cherry tree and leering at Siobhán, who stood shaking her head.

Siobhán rolled her eyes. “No, Miller. I told you, it’s never gonna happen. The only reason you almost got lucky after that field work in San Luis Obispo is that I was too drunk to care. Luckily, my friends kept me from making that mistake.”

“But you—”

“No. You toyed with my favorite Professor’s heart, and I’ll never forgive you. Now, go away. You’d better hope Ciara never finds out how you really are, or if she does, you’d best pray that she’s feeling merciful.”

“There’s no reason to talk like that, Siobhán. I’ve never hurt you.” Steven managed to sound like he’d been wronged.

He’s a decent actor, I’ll give him that.

“Spare me your bullshit, Miller. I’ve told you dozens of times, my name isn’t Show-von. It’s Shiv-on. Now, go away, or bitch-Siobhán’s coming out to play.” Her eyes hardened.

“You’re sexy when you’re angry.” Steven grinned and leaned closer.

Siobhán raised her eyebrows and said sweetly, “Nita. Come, pretty girl.” Steven smiled down his nose at Siobhán until Nita abseiled from the ceiling between them, her long legs tapping at him as her glowing red hourglass passed a few centimeters in front of his face.

Steven screamed and ran face-first into another tree.

Siobhán leaned over him with Nita perched on her shoulder. Steven cowered away from the pair, wailing in panic and sputtering as blood gushed from his ruined nose.

“Sorry, Miller. I’m not into weak men. Go see Joe. He can heal that busted nose. Joe’s a real man, who didn’t run away screaming when he met my sweet little Nita.” Siobhán wore a wry smile as she stroked the spider, then left to greet Joy, who was rushing over with Sunny and Sandy.

----------------------------------------

Minions: 100/100

Residents: 10/10

Denizens: 43722

Traps: 3/5