Chapter 72: Vibration
[Edited by: ArchmageNaoki, deathbricks, Bunny, Arthur300000]
"Alright, I think this is the last one. Let's finish this quickly so we can go down and snuggle each other in the shelter." My sister who hoisted me up said, seemingly a bit too happy for an emergency situation. I peeked through the gap before I sealed it with temperature insulation tape. The time was one hour before the storm, and it was dark out there, but due to aurora lights I could see the cloud of flying snow rabbits in the sky become denser and denser.
We ran the barrier on a low setting because it was easier to spot the gaps like this. All I had to do for the past hour was looking for points where ice flakes began to form and put the tape over it. Well, when we turned the barrier up to the max nothing was supposed to leak inside, but my dad said we shouldn't be too complacent. If there is a one in a hundred chance that the barrier would fail, we better be prepared for the worst case scenario.
The barrier we used was a standard model which was used in every household. From what my brother described, it didn’t have fancy features like high efficiency emitter or dual layers something. Nevertheless, it was stronger than the interference field or static wall spell which was mostly enchanted on close combat devices. Also, it covered a bigger area, but according to my brother it consumed a lot of energy. In any case, normal people only used this type of barrier in an emergency situation. However, it could still collapse if the outside force was greater than its threshold.
I looked around the house for the last time before I followed my sister into our basement-cum-underground shelter. They told me to only put valuable items away, but I didn't want to leave anything behind, so I stored everything into my hair clip, furniture included. Even the refrigerator, which couldn't be put away because of the living organisms inside, was carried into the shelter by my insistence.
One of those small monsters was some kind of octopus-like creature with a name which I didn't even know how to pronounce. To be honest, they were fearsome entities. It played dead when I approached it, so I thought that it was a normal octopus during my store-everything-before-the-storm period, but when I curiously opened its package, it jumped onto my face. In my panic, I headbutted the table and killed it in the process. That's why we will have takoyaki as an after dinner snack. Of course, in the future I will ask my mom before opening any unknown can.
"I'm done, is everyone inside yet? Huh? Where is Mr. Bobo?" I said as I was the last one who went into the shelter. I really can't sleep if I left anything behind. Even the toothbrush and toothpaste I used a moment ago was carried with me.
"Squeak!" Mr.Bobo came out from behind my brother and announced his presence. What a smart pig he is. He was a magical creature though so I guess it is to be expected.
"Here, let me help." My dad helped me close the shelter trap door. Because our basement was not too tall my dad could help me without the need of a ladder which I currently stood on. He also helped me seal its gaps with insulation tape.
The basement-cum-shelter was a bit cramped. More than half of it was filled with large machines. The largest of them was a life support device which supplied fresh air, warm water and temperature control of the entire house. Aunos was still busy looking at its manual and turning several valves as I climbed down the ladder. Considering how old it looked, I hoped it wouldn't blow up and kill us all.
There was also other machines down here, the barrier generator, backup energy generator, the energy emitter for my mom, and the large size fridge which I insisted to take down with us.
On the bright side, the room was filled with everything a shut-in person would need. Large mattresses and blankets for everyone, a fridge, a television, a temporary set up toilet, a computer a.k.a. Skynet, and a hug pillow named Cocoa. Plus my mom and my sister to sleep with me at night. Wasn't this even better than my own room? Of course, my dad and my brother would also be sleeping with us, but let's not fixate on such insignificant details. My mom also put the energy transfer glove on in case of an emergency, so everything was ready.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
The television announced that the storm could hit us at any moment and advised that we should take cover in a shelter immediately with blinking red text. I wanted to see what it would look like outside but from what everyone told me it seemed too dangerous, even for me.
"NO! Kuro might fly away." Was what my sister said when I jokingly told her that. My mom also looked at me like "What is this girl thinking again." It seemed my credit in her eyes just went down another notch... The worst thing is, Skynet also told me to leave her here in case I was going to do that. You abandoned the ship when I needed you the most, huh?
"I was joking, you know!?-" Just when I said that the television turned blank and the barrier generator began to whirl loudly. I could even feel the ground below me trembling.
"The storm has come." My dad said. I wondered what kind of snow rabbit could generate this much pressure. Maybe it was a mountain size rabbit or something.
Still, it was all just that, a whirring noise of machines, a howling of the wind outside, and some trembling of the ground underneath me from time to time. All in all, we were safe. Cocoa and my brother also chatted nonchalantly about what my blade's enchantment would be. I wondered why they couldn't just put in a standard interference field enchantment, but seeing their seriousness, I didn't want to interrupt them.
On the downside, the television had gone blank, and Skynet couldn't connect to the internet. The only relief was that the emergency generator didn't kick in. That meant the main power line wasn’t cut off yet.
With nothing much to do, we talked about this and that like a proper family would do before we fell asleep one by one. I was also tired because I slept very late yesterday and the intense smithing today, but all the noises and vibrations kept pulling me back from sleep.
While I tried to sleep, I counted all kind of noise. There was banging noises, screeching noise, and to my shame, it took me a while to identify Cocoa's snoring noise. I shook her a bit after I learned that, and pretended to be asleep when she awoke.
"I can't eat anymore." Was the cliche phrase I said when I pretended to fall asleep.
.
.
.
"Mou, what’s wrong with you, Kuro." Cocoa complained as I woke up. For some reason, the pretending had become real.
"You kept mumbling 'I can't eat anymore.', but you also kept licking me everywhere and you were laughing evilly." She complained while I wondered what kind of dream I had.
"Yes, and we had trouble excavating her from your hug. In the end, it was done by replacing her with that pillow." Skynet added.
"But she was cute when she turned into a cat and began biting and kicking the pillow." My sister showed me a shameful video and the rest of what was supposed to be a pillow... Alright, note to self, never ever sleep late again.
"I got trauma when I imagined myself in place of that pillow." Cocoa complained. I told her that I'm sorry and went back under my blanket, the safest spot of all. Maybe I should stay here for a day. It was Sunday after all.
"Still, I wonder why the television didn't come back on. Usually they’d broadcast about the situation outside." My brother changed the topic. It made me to peek out from under my blanket. He was right, I hoped the storm didn't damage the town so badly that we’d be forced to move. Still, living with grandpa and grandma wasn't a bad idea.
"Maybe something broke through the barrier and flew into the antenna, I will check outside." My dad said and began to move to the trap door. Seeing that, I sprang up and climbed the ladder before him.
"I will check." I told everyone. Even with my dad looking at me in protest, I began to remove the insulation tape from the door. I'm the strongest and sturdiest person here. So if there was debris falling in, I'd be the best person to handle that.
It felt like the wind from the room just flowed out at first, but it soon came to a stop as I pushed the door up slowly. I hoped that my house was still there, everything intact, but for some reason, I heard a strange yet familiar noise instead... Weren't those car horns? And from the noises being made, there were a lot of cars outside my house.
Curious, I pushed the door wider and what I saw defied all logic and made me doubt my sanity.
I close the trap door shut. Rubbed my eyes and tried again. Same result...
"What is it, Kuro? What was that noise?" My brother asked worriedly. Did I go insane? No, I did a double check and it had the same result, that meant I didn't go nuts, for now at least.
There was no mistake anymore. Up there, it was my previous world!