A/N: Here's chapter four! The first summer scene of the story! Let's see how our four colonists face a real threat!
Disclaimer: I do not own Rimworld
The days have been passing by quickly, for the four of them. Luckily they seemed to be peaceful, at least, for the time being.
It was the first day of Jugust, and they had twelve packaged survival meals left.
Not that it was really much of a problem anymore. Every other hour, Phoebe would drag up a deer carcass that she would snipe down with frightening efficiency. Her aim with that bolt-action rifle was impressive. It sometimes made Cadmus wonder how deadly she would be with a more dangerous weapon.
It had gotten hotter ever since summer began, but not overly so. The temperature was usually a constant eighty-something degrees. Once in a rare while it flirted with the nineties, but that didn't bother Cadmus. It might've bothered the other girls, but, maybe with his duster on, he just didn't notice the heat as much.
Either that or he spent his days toiling inside their mountain, mining it out completely. The more room, the better. He could eventually syphon off sections of it with walls and they could have a base half inside the mountain, and half outside it. For some reason, this excited him, even though the rest of their entire situation looked bleak.
Every so often, someone would complain about putting coolers inside people's individual rooms, but, they didn't have the steel or electrical equipment for that. He didn't see it as much of a concern, the temperature wasn't terrible, it just got a little stuffy sometimes. Like Genevieve had constantly been saying, it was quite fortunate for them to land on a planet, or rather, a section of the planet that was familiar to them. They were blessed, in a strange, twisted way.
Or maybe it was a cruel fate. They could have just exploded on an airless asteroid, dying immediately. Is all of this goodwill supposed to be a way of tricking them? Are they going to get their hopes up for nothing? He had no idea. It was honestly up to Genevieve more than anyone else. She was actively trying to come up with a solution. The other three, Cadmus, Phoebe, and Toni, they were just lengthening their survival, delaying the inevitable, one might say.
Sometimes he thought about the rest of the crew, who died. The other five captains, all of them, left behind. Perhaps it was survivor's guilt that ate away at him. They just happened to be closest to the escape pods, that's all. Cadmus, Phoebe, Genevieve, and Lady. Only they survived.
Did he feel sorry for the others? Yes, of course he did. He constantly wondered why it was him. Why he and the other two survived while everyone else most likely burnt to death, or suffocated out in open space. He even felt sorry for that guy he nearly choked out on the bridge for being a giant pervert. None of them deserved to die so quickly and suddenly without any warning whatsoever.
Right now, he was doing what he always did. Watch Toni tend to the garden. He hated horseshoes, so this was more entertaining to him. As stupid as it sounded. Everything else that needed to be build was built for now, at least. He had replaced all the wooden torches with standing lamps during the springtime. And that hospital was built too, though to Cadmus, it just looked like a large group bedroom. Genevieve thought that six beds would do for now. And they had blue sheets, unlike the typical green sheets Cadmus used for the bedrooms. And the prison cell sheets were tan. He never saw himself as a color-coded guy, but what the hell.
Still, it barely resembled a hospital he ever saw (not to say that Cadmus was even knowledgeable about hospitals). It was just a wooden room with a bunch of beds. Sure, the beds were neatly lined up in a row, and the space was rather roomy, but Cadmus didn't see why Genevieve and Toni couldn't just treat them in their own beds. Was there even a difference? It just seemed like a waste of resources.
As stupid as it sounded, he really liked watching the plants grow a bit each day. (Most likely to Toni's annoyance). For the moment, Toni had six different plots of land sectioned out for her. (And they were all huge). The sad thing was, Cadmus couldn't identify any of the plants yet. Some of them really looked on their way to full maturity, while others have barely peeked out of the ground.
What perplexed Cadmus the most, was these little weeds with a large blue flower at the end, "Huh…" He said, "I've never seen a plant like this before…"
Toni watched him out of the corner of her eye, like he was a little kid, and she was worried that he'd stomp all over her garden and ruin it. Setting up the crops was serious business to her. And unless they were Phoebe, she got really on edge whenever someone else was loitering around her fields. (She had to chase Lady away with a stick once). Of course, Cadmus felt it necessary to butt in all the time.
When Cadmus ate the blue flower at the end, Toni felt her chest tighten, "Hey!" She screamed, running over towards him, "What the hell are you doing?"
Cadmus recoiled, spitting the flower out.
"Ugh…jeez…idiot, spitting it back out isn't gonna do anything now!"
"That tasted terrible." Cadmus said as he stood tall, "What the hell is it?"
"It tasted terrible because it's not for eating." Toni said, "Not everything I'm growing is food."
He frowned, "Then what the hell is the point of it?"
Toni gave an annoyed sigh, putting a hand on her forehead, already feeling a migraine coming on. "That's healroot."
"Heal…root?"
"Yes, dummy." She said, "Tell me, how much medicine do we have?"
"I don't know. Not much." He said, "Like twenty-five kits left. We had thirty when we crashed, but…then you happened…so…uh…"
"Right." She said, "What I'm growing here, this healroot." She held her hands out, "It's free medicine."
"No way…free medicine?"
She nodded, "It's herbal medicine, but—"
"Ugh."
"No, no 'ugh.' Would you rather have herbal medicine, or no medicine at all?" She frowned, "Herbal medicine may not be good as the regular medicine you crashed with, but it's certainly better than just staring at someone bleeding out until they die." She said shrugging, "Besides…I know there's a way to convert herbal medicine into regular medicine. A way to refine it, upgrade it, if you will." She said, "But…uh…I don't remember the exact process. Our only hope is the Brainiac and her elephant in there."
"They have names, you know…"
"Whatever, I know." She said, "Jeez…if only I could remember what boss said to me…you need…herbal medicine…the works…um…the special juices…uh…"
Cadmus raised a brow, "Where exactly were you a surgeon again?"
"It doesn't matter." She blurted, "Now I need to replant another healroot here…" She said, "Cause some idiot ate it."
Cadmus kept walking around her garden, "What about these, what are these?" He asked, "These look just about ready…these bushy ones."
"That's rice." Toni looked back over in his directions, "It's the fastest growing thing I got. I figure it'll really save our butts when we're out of packaged survival meals, and when your girlfriend makes the deer population go extinct."
He blushed a little when Toni said 'girlfriend', but he kept strolling around, "And these? These…darker…bushier ones?"
"Potatoes." Toni said, "They take longer to grow, but…each plant will produce more."
"Huh…" Cadmus said, "And these stalks I'm guessing are corn."
"Uh-huh." Toni said, "I thought I'd vary it up. We're going to get sick of eating the same thing over and over again."
Cadmus walked over to another field. More bushes, "Uh…" He checked them, some of them had tiny red berries at the end, but overall it still looked as though it needed more growth, "These are…?"
"Berries." Toni said, "Strawberries." She clarified, "Those will taste nice, I'm sure."
He nodded, "They will." He said, "And that's healroot." He said, "So what about this plot? It doesn't look like food either."
"It isn't." She said, "It's cotton."
"Cotton?"
"You seriously don't know what cotton is?"
"I know what it is!" He snapped, "I just wanted to know why you were growing it!"
She shrugged, "Backup clothing." She said, "I mean, your girlfriend is probably getting us clothes already, whether she knows it or not, but…doesn't hurt to have some cloth in our storehouse."
"Phoebe's…making clothes?" Cadmus raised a brow. Then he thought about it. The deer had to be butchered when they were killed. And he noticed, well, in addition to the hideous amounts of blood, gore, and dirt it left behind, that there was usually a bit of leather left too. "Oh…so we can turn that deerskin into clothes too!"
"Uh-huh." She said, pulling at the collar of her peach skinned shirt, "Everything I'm wearing is from dead animals."
"Really?" He asked, "Is your shirt deerskin?"
"Gazelle skin, but, close enough." She said.
"What about your pants?" He looked at her black skintight pants.
"Panther skin."
His eyes shrunk, he took a few steps back, "Shit…" He said. First of all, he didn't even know that there were panthers on this planet. Secondly, he didn't expect Toni to live long enough to both see, and kill one.
"It's nice to finally see the two of you get along." They heard a soft, deep voice as Phoebe joined them.
Cadmus and Toni exchanged a glance, then they both looked away, "Just a coincidence." The former said.
"I would never get along with this idiot." The latter said.
Phoebe smiled, "How are the crops going, Toni?"
Toni grinned back, "Good." She said, "Very good." She said, "We're going to get a rice harvest very soon." She ran over to the patches of rice, "I can just feel it." She said, "Then next will come the strawberries, I'm sure."
"That's wonderful news."
A stray boom of thunder was heard, followed by a few more. But Cadmus didn't really pay it any mind. He was too busy being shocked at the fact that Toni could smile. He didn't think she had that ability.
"I gotta say, Phoebe, between my gardening, and your hunting, we'll be fed for years to come." Toni's smile grew.
"That certainly seems plausible." Phoebe said.
"And it's actually pretty lucky that you guys ended up in a forest as dense as this one." Toni said, "There's actually wild healroot growing all over the place. Raspberries too. There was nothing like that where I was from. We'll have to harvest it as soon as we get the chance to."
Cadmus looked around. Sure enough, those funny looking plants with the blue flower were everywhere, scattered evenly throughout the forest. And also, some of the bushes he mindlessly ignored seemed to be growing wild raspberries. Maybe they were going to survive all of this.
Another loud crash was heard, and the three of them saw Genevieve running out of the base. (Which basically signaled that there was an emergency in itself). She panted once she reached them, "We're in serious danger…"
"Serious danger?" Cadmus asked, as the three of them gave Genevieve a confused look.
She nodded, "The storm…"
"So…it rains on this planet…big deal…"
"No, it's the fact that it's not raining that's the problem."
"…beg your pardon?"
"Look around you. Right now."
The four of them all looked around. Massive wildfires were at every corner, practically fencing the lot of them in. "Ah!" Cadmus gave a high-pitched scream, "Where the hell did all that come from?"
"From the lightning strikes." Genevieve explained quickly, "There's a thunderstorm. But it's a dry thunderstorm. That means the cracks of lightning will cause fires that won't be put out."
Cadmus swallowed hard, "We gotta put them all out…"
They all raced towards different angles of the fire, stomping the embers out. They swore under their breaths every time a new burst of lightning pounded the ground. In turn, it left more fire for them to deal with.
Putting out the fire lasted for most of the rest of the afternoon, well into nighttime. It had gotten so big, that it seemed out of control. Cadmus looked back, seeing one particular batch of fire eagerly heading straight towards their base.
Their entirely-made-out-of-wood base.
"No!" He ran towards the fire, which was just a few feet shy of clinging onto the wooden walls, thus, burning them to a crisp. He vigorously put out any immediate flames, panting afterward. He, like the others, he predicted, were most likely exhausted at this point. Instead of doing their normal jobs for the day, they basically spent all their time putting out a fire.
"Damn it…" He told himself, fighting against his weary muscles to keep fighting the fires, "If only it had rained just a little bit…" He said. Lady leaned against one of the walls of the base, uneasily watching the four of them spread out in the night. She knew that something was wrong, and that something dangerous was potentially going to happen. Cadmus looked back at the elephant every so often. At least she was staying put, as long as she stayed near the base, she wouldn't get burned.
Toni couldn't stop smiling, holding something in her arms, though it was too dark to tell right away, "I bet you guys are gonna be happy."
"Happy?" Cadmus asked, as he, Genevieve, and Phoebe were all sitting outside in a circle, "What the hell would we be happy about?" He asked. The fire didn't hurt or damage anything, but it completely ruined everything, not to mention that it was past most of their bedtimes.
"The first rice harvest came."
"It did?"
She nodded.
"Wonderful." Phoebe smiled, "How much of a harvest did it yield?"
"Uh…about…seven…hundred…or…so…" Toni looked back.
Their jaws dropped. They all stood up, "Seven-hundred?" They all asked. Cadmus looked shocked, Phoebe looked pleased, and Genevieve clasped her hands together as her stomach growled, "You are an angel." The scientist beamed.
"Gimme that!" Cadmus grabbed all the rice that Toni was holding, eating it. Then he made a face, "Aw…this is…"
Toni crossed her arms as her face fell to its natural frown, "Raw?" She asked, "Yeah…gotta cook it first."
"So the question is…who's the best cook?" Genevieve asked. It was hard to hear her voice over Cadmus's swears and the sounds of him rubbing all the foul tastes off his mouth.
"Don't look at me." Toni said, "I know how to grow it, not how to cook it. I've never been near a stove, even."
Cadmus gave his tongue another brush or two, "I'm…okay at it."
Genevieve nodded, "Me too."
"I have basic culinary skills as well." Phoebe said.
Cadmus looked from Genevieve to Phoebe, "So it'd be in between the three of us."
"I wouldn't mind doing it." Phoebe said, "I'm doing the least work in the colony…it should fall into my hands."
Cadmus was about to console her, but Toni quickly said, "Aw…you're doing plenty, don't worry." This prompted a quick jealous look from Cadmus, but he decided not to make a scene of it.
Phoebe shrugged, "In any case, I don't mind it. There's plenty of meat in the freezer from all the deer that I hunted."
"How much?" Cadmus asked.
"I'm not sure, I never counted…a lot though…I…had to have hunted over a dozen deer."
"Nice." Cadmus grinned, "So let's cook a little bit of both, and have ourselves a first proper dinner."
After Phoebe cooked them all dinner, they gathered around and ate it together. "Alright, I'm just gonna say it." Toni said, "This sucks."
Cadmus raised a brow, "You know, you should really learn to be a bit more grateful. Phoebe worked hard to make this." He said. The venison with the rice to the side was hitting the spot for him at least.
"No, I don't mean that. The food is great, you did a nice job, Phoebe." Toni smiled at Phoebe, who was given a quick smile in return, "I just mean that…we should build a dining room or something…you know…so we can sit around a table like civilized people…and not sit in the grass in a circle like freaking cavemen."
Cadmus gave a bitter, sarcastic grin, "Oh yeah, sure…cause new buildings just…fall from the sky, don't they?" He growled, "I think you're forgetting that making something like that takes valuable time and energy."
"Uh-huh, so get to it."
"I hate you." He snarled.
"What? Is there something I'm missing?" Toni asked, "Genevieve researches, Phoebe hunts and cooks, I tend to the fields, and you construct. It's your job. Get over it."
"Tch." He said, angrily stuffing his face.
"Mmm…tastes so delicious…" Genevieve said, "Thank you, Toni."
"We really appreciate it." Phoebe smiled.
Cadmus couldn't believe it. He had to admit, Toni was really pulling through for them. With her growing skills, she effectively saved them from starvation. Sure, Phoebe could hunt well, and brought in a lot of meat. But animals could never be a sure thing. If Toni could keep churning out food like this, then they would never have to worry about starving again.
He didn't know whether he should be pissed off that Toni saved their lives, or that he should be pleased and finally give her a pass.
"It's important for tomorrow though." Toni said, "That the rice gets put in the freezer. Sure, it can last a few seasons without being refrigerated, but it isn't a good idea to keep it outside. It'll just encourage the wildlife to come eat it."
Genevieve nodded, "Understood, some of us will spend our day tomorrow putting all those buckets of rice in the freezer."
"And this way, I can plant even more rice in the rice plot, and in about half a season, we'll get more." Toni smiled.
Cadmus watched as Genevieve and Phoebe kept piling compliments on, watching Toni with an increasingly envious eye. It sure didn't seem like she was going to backstab them. But this was ridiculous, they were treating her like a reincarnated god just because she can sprinkle some seeds in the dust and make plants.
"And the berries should be the next harvest coming." Toni said, "Luckily, they can be cooked, or eaten raw, so it saves time if you're determining what to cook first."
"Right." Genevieve nodded.
"What about you?" Cadmus looked at Genevieve, "Figure out a way to get us off this rock yet?"
Genevieve hesitated, "Um…no, not especially. I've actually been focusing more on methods to increase our survival…then building a ship. We might…we might be here for…years…"
Cadmus's eyes shrunk, his posture shrunk, "Seriously?"
"Cadmus, I don't have much. I just have a wooden desk and my thoughts, my imagination. I don't have nearly as much of the analytical supplies and technological data as I did back at home. Factor that in with the likelihood that mostly everyone in the galaxy probably thinks we're dead, and that means that it's up to us to save ourselves."
His shoulder sunk, "Alright."
Phoebe moved a bit closer to him, giving him a hug, "It's alright. We're going to survive at the very least…if…nothing else. We'll find a way home…someday…"
A/N: Jeez, the fire nearly burnt down their entire base. They might have to plan ahead for next time. Thanks for reading!