Over the course of the next forty eight hours, Archie and Wren learned more about their hosts. They were good people, Bob and Maureen had seen and known too much with the fragile nature of global politics; so they were prepared. Lara on the other hand it seemed had some borderline mid-life crisis after the first event and gone in deep on survivalist culture.
“Quite a handy mid-life crisis, huh Lara?” Archie joked.
“Haha. Definitely. Before all of this I used to laugh at the idea of being a doomsday prepper, but look at us now!” Lara replied
“You know, I wish I got into it sooner, there’s something so primal and rewarding about being able to navigate by stars, by knowing how to forage and hunt… it made me feel free, for the first time in my entire life” Lara continued, reflecting on her wild transformation over the last year. She was fit, strong and prepared.
“I don’t know if you saw” Bob chimed in, “but I’ve been growing loads of veggies in my green house. I hope we can get up there soon so you can try some” he paused for a moment then added “also, I’ll teach you some survival tactics, if you want to stay with us, you’re going to have to get fitter too - you’re both skin and bone!”
“First off, I would LOVE to try your veggies Bob. Secondly, I think you’re right. I’m pretty sure Archie smokes too, Bob”
“Not in here you’re bloody not Archie, you can light up in that office with Maureen if you’re desperate, but not till those above us have disappeared” Bob said matter of factly.
“Oh gees, throw me in it Wren, why don’t you?” Archie chuckled.
Maureen had now returned power to the hidden camera’s above and was keeping an eye on the military units that had been working their way through her precious campsite.
The first night all five units remained at the site and had set up in their house. A large van had turned up and taken not just the two wolves they had managed to kill, but also some computer equipment and files from within the house and shop. Hopefully, if there was anything in there that would give away their secret, which she was quite sure was not the case, Christian her contact on the inside would ensure they would be mishandeled.
Christian had worked with her in Operations towards the end of Maureen’s career in the services. He had eventually moved out of being a top class Case Officer and moved into the less stressful life of logistics management. Christian had ensured he was anchored out of the nearby base. He was at the end of his career so had a little sway here and there as to where he would be stationed.
After the events of the evening, Maureen and Bob hadn’t slept a wink. Archie, Wren and Lara had all fallen into a deep sleep around 03:00am; the trauma and physical challenge of their days had taken its toll on them. It wasn’t until 10:00am that they stirred awake; seven full hours sleep under the circumstances was impressive.
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She shuffled back into the main bunker, taking a break from her screens. “Right. Four units have now left the site and only one remains. They seem a little too comfortable in our house. I suggest we give it one more day and then, Bob, we might have to poke our heads out of the emergency escape hatch”
“No problem my sweet” Bob smiled whilst handing her a cup of tea he had just made.
“Always too kind my little bear” she smiled back, giving him a gentle pat on his PopEye like arm.
“Awww you are both so lovely” Wren cooed, secretly wishing she had more of that affection in her own life.
“Right Bob, Lara, Maureen… ‘Operation get me in fighting shape commences’ - tell me what to do and I will do it!” Archie said springing to his feet, full of energy.
“That is the attitude we like to see” Lara said “Let’s test your smokers lungs and get on that treadmill. Don’t get off until you have run five kilometres” a wicked smile crossing her face.
'Oh my god. I’ve not run since I was in school… and I’ve done a lot of smoking and drinking since then” Archie protested
“Ha” Scoffed Wren, poking Archie in the ribs
“And for you, Wren, do not get off that rowing machine until you have hit 10km. Time to strengthen those muscles and push yourself!”
“Whaaaaaat?!” Wren responded, joining Archie in protest. A giggling Bob shuffled over with two bottles of water “you’ll need these. Good luck! I’ll just be on the couch over there, watching with a bag of popcorn. You can find some gym gear in the cabinets. Use the shower to get changed, obviously”
Archie and Wren got to work. The first day of the rest of their lives, they just didn’t know it yet. Lara joined them, doing a combination of Olympic lifts at varying weights, pausing between sets to give them words of encouragement.
After one minute of running, Archie had to pause and after many, many stops and starts, he finally finished after forty five minutes. He was really out of shape and completely gassed out. Surprisingly, Wren was not far behind him finishing her 10km row just seconds afterwards. They were full of sweat and panting heavily, gulping at the water whenever they could catch their breath.
“A good start guys! You’ll hurt tomorrow, but we will go again and we all will get that little bit better every day.” Lara said whilst giving them each a fist bump, a habit she had picked up in the CrossFit gym she had joined.
After some warm showers and a few complaints about how jelly-like Archie’s legs felt they began to discuss their abilities and theories in more detail. They all agreed that it followed a game-like system and they would need to practice to strengthen their powers and discover new skills along the way. To test the theory, they decided to try out some light training with each other in the limited space they had. Archie continuously conjured and threw his latte art pens directly at Lara’s arcane shield. They would bounce off limply and after an hour of absolutely zero progress and feeling it was a waste of their time, they gave up.
“I think perhaps we can only level-up in more rigorous scenarios, I don’t think we can ‘game’ the system like this… whatever it is” Archie wondered “we could try out something a bit more dangerous, above ground. Wren can heal us if anything goes wrong, hopefully!”
“If trouble doesn’t find us first, sure!” Lara said “It seems to have a habit of finding us up there though, based on a single days experience. It’s one wild world now”.