Caleb rose from his reinforced mattress and yawned.
"Seems like springtime has arrived.", he muttered.
Outside was like any other day to him, but he knew better. Being underground ment that things worked differently. When winter was around, permafrost littered the ground and a bitter chill rang through the air. But now the air was getting warmer and the permafrost was dissolving. Everyone seemed to be getting up and awaiting the gatherers who would arrive any minute. And sure enough, as Caleb got a fresh shirt on as well as a good pair of pants, they came in from the pipelines above with large trash bags full of leftovers that they found in dumpsters and other places.
"Morning Caleb."
Caleb turned to see Zeke who had already gotten up before him.
"Morning Zeke.", Caleb said sleepily.
"You sure you got your rest?", Zeke asked, "I could rearrange your sleeping space if you'd like."
Caleb held his massive hand up.
"That won't be needed thanks. Just kept thinking about what's going on above now that there is an official mayor going around."
Zeke nodded.
"I know. After we all found out over the news, we all got concerned. But for now I think we should get our morning meal over with before getting into anything else."
Caleb couldn't disagree with that. The meal wouldn't start if he wasn't there. As he and Zeke made their way to the table area, the smell of reheated food filled the air and all over the community, others joined them on the way there. Reynaldo was there helping prepare the food and arranging plates and plastic kitchen utensils to each member who came to get their share. Even in the dim and growing light of early morning from the glowing moss around the enormous cavern, everyone still got what they were served.
"Well, now that the air is warming up, guess it's time to start the farming again.",Zeke stated.
Caleb nodded. They had been living this way since Jeremiah liberated them from Hades all those years ago. It wasn't much and the situations were hard to get by, but they found ways of making it work. Caleb noticed a label for egg dye on one of the reheated breakfast burritos someone was eating and got interested.
"Looks like Easter is approaching too."
Above ground, everyone was waking up too. The roosters were crowing as usual and as the sun began to rise, everyone was getting their day started. Dudley was one of those late risers and Peg knew this. Then again, she knew all too well how to get her son out of bed. She put a frying pan on the stove and started cooking breakfast. She was already dressed for the day surprisingly, but she'll be okay. Peg had gotten three bacon strips into the pan and as the frying rang out of the kitchen, Peg knew the aroma would follow up the stairs. A short while later as Peg was placing the plates of bacon, eggs, toast, and other stuff on the table, Dudley walked in lazily.
"Morning sweetie.", Peg said very pleasant.
Dudley just yawned.
"Morning Mom.", he said half awake, "Thanks for getting breakfast ready."
As Dudley sat down and got his plate filled, Peg sat down too.
"Dudley, it's been three days since Kitty and you were separated so Kitty could settle something and you still are in a slump."
"I still miss her being with me on the field.", Dudley said now wide awake.
"Don't worry, I'm sure they'll make an exception for Easter Sunday coming up.", Peg assured.
Now that got Dudley's attention.
"It's going to be Easter?!", he asked in surprise.
"In a few days and I really need to get some Easter shopping done if I'm going to chip in this year.", Peg put in as she rose from the table, "Now go get dressed Dudley and I'll drive you to work."
"Mom, I have my own car.", Dudley said calmly.
Peg shrugged.
"Guess it slipped my mind. You want some extra bacon so you have a lunch for the day?"
Dudley rose from the table.
"I'll get it on my way out.", he answered, "Right now I got to get dressed for the day."
Now that morning was official, it seemed everyone was in a lot of hustle and bustle. As Dudley made his way to TUFF HQ, he then remembered something.
"I should get a head start on TUFF's annual Easter shopping. It might surprise Kitty if she's not too busy."
That would prove to be quite a challenge. Every store Dudley tried to get a parking space in was either filled or had a traffic jam causing a lot of angry pedestrians to honk their horns in protest. Dudley then remembered his car can go into flight mode which he did and now he could find a parking space somewhere faster. He found one near a large department store and sure enough, inside a lot of pedestrians were loading their shopping carts full of egg dye, baskets, candy, and Easter decorations. Lines at the counter seemed to go for miles and Dudley found it hard to get around.
"Geez, the things I do for work.", he muttered.
A couple hours later, Dudley had all he needed and now was waiting in line for the counter. All went well( if not very slow) until Dudley felt like he had to use the restroom. He was so close, but he needed to go very bad. Just as he was looking around, a finger tapped his shoulder.
"You go to the restroom, I'll hold your spot for ya."
Dudley noticed a familiar shadow slink out from the side of the counter and Adrian materialized by the cart.
"Thanks!", Dudley said.
Dudley bolted for the restroom which was nearby and shut the door. A minute later, he came out wiping his hands with a paper towel. After he got back, he paid for the whole load and Adrian helped him carry it to the car.
"So Adrian, what brings you out here?", Dudley asked.
"Asked Mr. Walker if I could get some fresh air.", Adrian answered, "He said I could as long as I don't misuse my suit."
"How's everyone else?", Dudley wondered.
"Jasmine's looking pretty good, Calvin's still working on his near perfect split, Marcy is still cheerful and Barry is still-"
Just then, Adrian's behind suddenly ignited into a large blaze and Dudley helped pat it down. They then turned to see Barry leaning against a post with his familiar tough guy look on.
"How long have you been over there?", Dudley asked nervously.
"Long enough.", Barry said, "I came by and thought I'd give a demonstration on how well my suit is developing."
"Did you have to scorch my butt like that?", Adrian asked.
"It was the first thing that came to mind.", Barry said.
Kitty filed the paperwork she was working on as Herbert hopped over to her desk.
"So Kitty, how's the day been?"
"I put in three extra shifts yesterday to make up more time for my debt to work society.", Kitty answered.
Herbert saw she was typing on three different computers, and working a photo copier with her foot and rolled his eyes.
"Kitty, I understand that you want to get back out on the field, but cramming all your work into one long shift isn't going to help. Also, I came to inform you that Agent Puppy is in with the decorations I was going to send him to get."
Kitty looked impressed. Normally Dudley wasn't one to do something like this, but after Zero's world takeover, he seemed to have taken things more seriously. She also couldn't disagree with Herbert on how she wanted to get her debt to her job done. She had to take a breather sometime and since Easter was around the corner, she could worry about her little role debt later. As she came out of the office with Herbert hopping nearby, Dudley was setting up the egg dying station while Keswick helped set up the props and other stuff. Kitty came over and Dudley saw her.
"Hey Kitty, how's your day?"
"It was long.", Kitty answered, "I thought I'd work overtime for making up for my time as chief, but apparently it doesn't seem to apply."
Dudley sighed. Kitty had a habit of working harder and longer than any other agent at TUFF. One time he tried to help her out, but instead he gave her a phobia of spray bottles and because of this, he almost drowned with all of TUFF if Kitty hadn't come back.
"Kitty, you can't spend every second at work. You need to learn to make time for yourself."
Kitty looked unsure.
"I'm not sure I can.", she said, "Guess work is my way of relaxing."
Dudley looked concerned.
"Maybe I can help. And rest assured, I won't use a spray bottle or get carried away like last time."
Kitty didn't look convinced.
"Promise?", she asked with a raised eyebrow.
As she sat beside Dudley in the car, Kitty was starting to have second thoughts. It had been a couple days and she had done her hours for the day, but now Kitty was starting to wonder where they were going now.
"Why are we going to visit Caleb and the Undesirables?", she asked.
"To show we care about them.", Dudley answered, "A holiday is much better when it's shared."
Kitty couldn't disagree with that. They had a Christmas party with them although nobody else knew or found out about it. Even though they were not the most normal looking, they were still people. Dudley parked the car by a large man hole by the side of the road and lifted the lid. The hatch was on a hinge so it didn't take much effort. Then he and Kitty climbed down into the dank, smelly and real dark tunnel.
"Why couldn't Caleb live somewhere where we didn't have to get filthy to get to?", Kitty muttered to herself, "Like an abandoned hotel?"
After walking through the place for about a couple hours, Kitty was getting a little bit peeved.
"Dudley, are you sure we're going the right way?"
"Positive Kitty, I never go the wrong way.", Dudley said smiling.
But that only lasted four seconds cause Dudley looked around and clearly he got nervous and broke down.
"Kitty, I don't know where we are!", he said rather loud, "Where do we go now?!"
"How about stop screaming?"
Dudley and Kitty turned to see Jeremiah and Iris walking their way.
"What are you doing here?", Dudley asked.
"Visiting. Same as you.", Jeremiah stated, "Didn't I tell you to never go visit Caleb unless I go along?"
Dudley looked deep in thought.
"I don't remember."
Jeremiah took out a recorder and pressed the play button.
"Okay Jeremiah, I won't go visit Caleb without you leading the way there.", Dudley heard his own voice say.
Jeremiah pressed the stop button and put the recorder away. Afterward, under Jeremiah's leadership, they reached the huge cavern where Caleb and the Undesirables lived. As they got down, Dudley and Kitty stopped by a nearby waterfall to wash away the muck on their clothes and freshen up. As they got down, they noticed that Easter was certainly in swing. Some were dying eggs, some were arranging baskets, and some were even panting giant mushrooms like Easter eggs.
"Well this is odd.", Dudley said, "Wonder what's up."
As if to answer, Caleb came over as they got to the large tables where meals were served.
"Oh hi Jeremiah. You caught us getting our Easter Eve party ready."
"Easter Eve party?", Dudley asked.
"Yep.", Jeremiah stated, "Caleb's folk have a huge party before Easter and the following morning, the kids look for all the eggs we made. By the time they find them all, it's Easter Sunday."
Jeremiah wasn't kidding. By the time everyone got done, it was really late. Dudley and Kitty called in to ask if they could spend the night which of course they could. Jeremiah and Iris stayed too. As the night wore on, Dudley couldn't sleep cause he was so excited. The party earlier that evening was most extraordinary. Even Reynaldo seemed to get into the swing of things. Dudley managed to get to sleep, for about a couple hours before he felt a shake on his shoulder.
"Dudley, you don't want to miss the egg hunt do you?"
Dudley woke right away and seeing it was Kitty who stirred him, settled down. As he and Kitty got out, they saw that TUFF and ULTRA had also come down and were helping find eggs left and right.
"What's going on?", Dudley asked.
"Guess we didn't check our calenders cause it was Saturday yesterday.", Kitty said shrugging.
Sure enough, it was Easter Sunday. Jeremiah was nearby, so he explained everything.
"It wouldn't be Easter if we couldn't have our coworkers here."
Dudley didn't disagree with that. All the more reason to celebrate. With the extra help, the eggs were found in only a few hours. As everyone gathered at the feasting tables, breakfast was being served. Rest assured, there were cooks there and the food wasn't from dumpsters this time. Peg was helping hand food out and she could tell her son was having fun with everyone. Dudley sat next to Jeremiah and Caleb with Iris and Kitty sitting on the other side of them.
"Happy Easter Caleb.", Dudley said.
"Same to you too.", Caleb stated.
Yep, it was a very special Easter indeed.