“So, how are we holding up?”
While most of the surrounding fields of concrete bunkers were rather quiet, with their occupants resting, this particular bunker had a lot of sudden visitors, all meeting up to discuss the future of the small community that had popped up out of nowhere.
Scattered across the main table in the room was a large map of the area and vast amounts of paperwork, mostly jottings and calculations, as well as lists and bills that needed paying. The edges of the table were littered with battered, heavy duty mugs, having been reused from emergency supplies and rations, all of which were filled with various amounts of recycled water. The table itself was surrounded by Rethans, with not quite enough room for them all to sit down.
“All things considered, we’re actually doing pretty well for ourselves!” Tenuk smiled wearily. Despite being a Rethavok in appearances only, Tenuk had worked hard to protect his kind, having been arranging transport to the formerly empty community and supplying large amounts of initial food and water. “We have 271 Rethavok here, all clothed and fed and housed for the time being, with… I’m not sure, room for another 25 or so?”
The other Rethavok all looked less optimistic. Most of them had seen first-hand what the… sudden invasion had done to their fellow Rethans. Rethais in particular, the former leader of his kind, who had been usurped and nearly murdered multiple times, found no comfort in Tenuk’s words at all. Rethais watched over the other Rethans present. Retvik was his brother, who had helped save Rethais’s live and brought him here. Elkay was his half-brother, the presumed-dead vok in charge before Rethais’s brief rule. There were three other Rethans, only one of whom Rethais recognised.
“As we are, how long can we hold up for?” Lysar, Rethais’s partner, with whom he had just been reunited, asked. “It seems you already have… things well underway.”
“That is the problem…” Retvik sighed. “We have enough for three weeks. A month if we ration everything as strict as possible. Power and water are not problems, we just need to train teams to be able to maintain them. Food on the other hand…”
“Food is a short term issue…” one of the unknown Rethans, a heavily armoured, overly muscular beast of a being, grunted. “We can farm our own food.”
“We can, General Lundir…” Elkay almost growled back. “But it takes time to grow said food. Even if we all pledge to live off sogia foods, it will take a quarter-year for us to grow enough to begin feeding us. We need something to cover us for the next couple of weeks.”
“Was there nothing here we could salvage?” Lysar queried. “With everyvok that is supposed to live here gone, can we simply not just move into the empty homes?”
Tenuk and Retvik both glanced at each other and grunted. The smaller, almost-a-Rethavok-but-not-quite being next to Tenuk shook his head.
“Sorry guys, but I’ve been in charge of that and it’s… it’s been a mess…”
“Who are you?” Lysar suddenly interrupted.
The not-a-Rethan, almost identical to Tenuk in looks but with pale white skin and light blue and silver armour, bowed slightly. “I’m sorry, I’m Kohra Displastron! I’m Tenuk’s youngest brother.”
“And… you are a Kronospast disguised as one of us as well?” Lysar asked.
“I am!” Kohra chirped. “Just doing what I can to help! That being moving all the abandoned belongings into storage containers so free-minded Rethans can move in. It’s a bit of a slow process, sadly, and a lot of the stuff in pantries and stuff is going off because of the rolling power cuts to save electricity.”
Lysar glanced at Tenuk, then the other Rethans, then shrugged. “Perhaps I can help with that. I can sort out a party to go through the pantries of abandoned homes while you move things into storage.”
“That will get us a week’s worth of food at most…” Rethais sighed.
“Better than nothing…” Retvik shrugged.
Lysar though looked confused. “Why are none of the other races assisting us?”
“Would you? Knowing that the asshole now leading the rest of the Rethavok is a deity?” Rethais sighed. “Other races will not risk themselves to help us, they will only offer small amounts of aid.”
“The Kronospasts have offered six months of-” Kohra exclaimed, only to be immediately cut off.
“That aid could disappear overnight!” Lundir snapped. “Not only are the Kronospasts former enemies but they could also take their charity away whenever they want, leaving us free-minded Rethavok vulnerable! We should have restarted our farms two weeks ago!”
“We are doing so tomorrow…” Retvik tutted. “We had to make sure everyone was alive and sheltered first.”
Lundir shook his head, then pulled out a stool from underneath the table and sat down. “I do not trust the Kronospasts. No offense to you, Tenuk, you and your sibling have helped us greatly. But your… sponsors? I do not trust them.”
“None of us do!” Tenuk responded with a half-smile. “But we might as well milk Lord Avra’s charity while we can.”
“He is right, you know,” Rethais tutted. “We are in a bad situation. We will just have to make do for now.”
Lundir sighed. “I know. I know. I just… fear that something worse is heading our way…”