Hours passed, the air's getting frightfully cold as it's growing night again, the pits alit with warm flames as people huddled near it with their loved ones, trying to warm themselves.
There's a new trend taking hold in the camp, started today surprisingly enough, started by a crafty child who complained his flat's always cold.
People using warmed oval roughed black stones in their flats and persons to keep warm during the nuclear winter.
These stones abundant around the Ruins provided they haven't been exposed to radiation, everyone got their own, and they put an identifying marker on them, a signature, something to make it unique only to them.
Placing the stones around the flames, they heat up as the flames continued burning in the pits, and with a twist of the metal clamps, they're pulled out of the roaring flames for each person.
Not burning to the touch like one thinks of stones exposed to intense heat for hours on end, instead pleasantly warmed to the touch, and stays warm for hours after.
Women sown little pockets to put these stones in the shirts of their husbands, letting them keep warm while they worked around the library.
Despite constant heating and slow cooling, the stones kept their shapes, not a crack, no brittling, making these stones a vital resource overnight, enough that Camp Prime's willing to trade them to other camps to spread goodwill and curry trades.
Warming alongside the stones, whatever food salvaged and traded for, such as the meal kits.
Tins filled with soups and stews, whatever, water boiling for the dehydrated drinks, something spicy on their tongues, a rare treat.
Standing near the warmth of the fire, Theodore held his large hands outright as he felt his hands warming up from the bitter cold.
The camp sealed every crack and cranny possible, avoiding the risks of leaking radiation from the outside, but the bitter cold finds a way to make its presence known.
Looking above, the ceiling's heavily reinforced, preventing anything from getting inside.
Through charcoal air filters and other means, the air in the camp's supple compared to the harsh air outside.
Sitting near one of the open pits with the crackling wood, plates readied to hold the food, Theodore awaited his dinner as it warmed in the pit near his and Lila's stones that he picked out of a bin.
Periodically, he checked on his and Lila's dinner, as he did, he looked for Lila, who hadn't arrived from her duties. He ended up checking on her, entering her mind with the familiar greeting, and heard a response.
"Even with you I can't sneak a nap," Lila murmured, having taken a nap after her duties as Dimitri's nurse, and only woke up because Theodore prodded her away.
Theodore further prodded her to come and join him by the fire, musing that she probably hadn't ate anything during her duties, and Lila admitted that all she wanted to do after her long shift's sleep.
"Sleep after you eat," Theodore tells her, "you can't sleep on an empty stomach."
Lila asked for five more minutes and Theodore reminded her that if Hammond finds out that she's skipping meals, it won't be pretty.
Seeing his point and jabbing him for using his brother against her, Lila relented, and made her way towards the pit Theodore sat around.
She plopped down with a sharp exhale and a yawn as she rubbed her eyes.
If only the excuse that she can't feasibly treat people's because she's a librarian, she spent much of her duties scared stiff that something goes wrong on her watch.
Hardly reacted when the aloof giant wrapped his long arm around her waist and pulled her close to him as he saw more people arriving at the pits, hoping to warm and eat, too.
Lila asks what he did with his duties and Theodore showed her his getup that Rasputin helped dress him in for when he goes out into the Ruins with Cyrus.
"Another thing, I was wondering, heard any good rumours?" Theodore inquired if Lila heard anything since they last talked. He wanted to know if she heard anything about the power plant that supposedly held caches of weapons, food, everything the camp needed to survive.
Stretching her arms out briefly, hearing her joints pop, Lila replied that she heard some rumors about the power plant, not a whole lot, but as far as entertainment goes, no wonder the camp loves their wild rumors.
One rumor she heard's that the reason the power plant remained untouched that it's akin to the parliament building that she and Theodore investigated briefly. Just another anomaly that took form in the Ruins, the beasts that roamed sensed it, and stayed away from it, out of fear of what it'll to do to them, and that there's nothing in the power plant, only death.
"Cyrus thinks there's something," Theodore frowns as he twiddled his feet near the flames, warming the soles.
Shrugging, Lila told him that's as much as she got out of it while running around Dimitri's office.
"What do you think's in the power plant?" Lila asked for Theodore's opinion and he frowns before saying that it sounded too good to be true and considering they almost met their ends at the parliament building, with what they heard's roaming around the ruined city, there's more to their plight than meets the eye.
Remembering the tins, Theodore retrieved them carefully from the pit in front of him, setting it down on deep dish plates he grabbed prior elsewhere.
Beef rigatoni and a hearty stew to keep them going for a little bit longer until they're able to complete this bizarre adventure.
With his knife, Theodore cut open the warmed tins and poured them out, allowing the dishes to fill with the respected dinners.
Holding spoons and forks, the two commenced eating their dinners, sprinkled with some hot sauce on top.
Having eaten military rations courtesy of his mum, Theodore's no stranger to their dinners, he scooped mounds of both into his mouth, consuming them without any effort.
"Is there anything you won't eat?" Lila asked him if he had any limit with his cast iron stomach.
As he chewed, Theodore pondered before giving his answer, liverwurst.
No amount of trying helped him get over the sheer sight of it and that's even before the taste, couldn't stand it, and that's trying to cook it numerous ways and fashions. Nothing ever made it palatable and this' coming from someone who happily ate military rations!
"Duly noted," Lila nods as she scooped a spoonful of both dinners into her mouth.
While they ate, Theodore reminded her that he got her a stone and she asked him why. Looking at her, Theodore told her that it's cold and she needed to stay warm, the stone's the only way to go, and besides that he's going on scavenging trips, it'll keep her warm until he gets back.
He felt the jab by Lila's finger as she poked him for that, but he couldn't help but give her his Cheshire grin as she sighed heavily before going back to eating her dinner.
The fire crackled as more wood's added by men walking around the pits, poking at the burning wood with a metal prong, ensuring the fire burns evenly while everyone ate their dinners and sat by the pits.
As he sat with a full stomach, Theodore caught sight of Cyrus again, he's talking to Josef who sat near a pit with his family. Couldn't hear what he's saying, but Theodore somewhat understood what little he made out of reading their lips.
Josef talked to the other leaders about the power plant and what they know, they said that not even Omega went towards it, and they're no strangers at taking over things if they can help it.
"What do you think?" Cyrus asked Josef about the possibility of him taking his team to investigate the power plant for supplies.
Settling in his spot, Josef showed doubt about the idea, but he admitted that they couldn't be picky about where they scavenged. With reluctance going out of the Ruins, it's a matter of time when they're forced to expand outward.
"The camp leaders won't send their teams near the power plant without confirmation that it's safe. I've untimely gave them my word I'll have an answer to their questions, in return for 15% of the supplies if you find anything, and if anything happens to you, they're willing to give us 10% of theirs as consolation for our loss," Josef sighed as he tells Cyrus what he discussed with the camp leaders' hours prior.
For the price of supplies, Josef sends his team out to find the power plant and deduce whether or not there's anything worth value. Should they find anything of importance, they'll split the supplies with other camps. If anything goes wrong and the team ends up wiped out by beasts or Omega, the other camps planned on giving Camp Prime some of their supplies each out of condolences for their loss.
"It'll only be us?" Cyrus asked for confirmation about the terms and Josef nodded as he tells him that the camps won't send anyone with them, they're the only ones going.
As he nodded, the flames giving him a red hue, Cyrus states he'll help the camp at all cost. Tell him when he'll set out and he'll prepare his team.
"Part of the deal, they gave us a map that'll lead you to it, you shouldn't have any problems with radiation spots as long as you follow it," Josef added that he had a map made up by the collaboration of the camps.
No idea what they'll find at the power plant or how they'll get inside, but it's worth trying for the sake of Camp Prime.
Couldn't read their lips much afterwards and when Theodore turned his head, he sees Lila drifting all to sleep with her head on his shoulder.
A warm smile and Theodore carefully picked her up with one hand while retrieving their stones with the other.
Jumbling the three, Theodore walked with the sleeping Lila back to their flat, set her on her side with his coat as her blanket and the stone to keep her warm as the cold air continued to hold its grasp in the library.
Theodore settled on his corner with his stone and blanket, drifting off to sleep himself.
When morning came, Cyrus collected him and the other scavengers, preparing to take them to the power plant, hoping to find answers to their questions.
Theodore managed to tell Lila where he's going and what to do if anything happens to him, but of course, stay out of trouble, before he left the flat to follow Cyrus and the others down to the ground floor.
They're geared up and ready as Cyrus went over the map with them, showing them where they're going once, they leave the safety of the area back out into Ruins.
The briefing lasted for only twenty minutes before Cyrus made sure everyone's ready. Once he's sure, Cyrus led them out of Camp Prime through the same tunnel he brought Theodore and Lila through.
Within two hours with minor hiccups due to the rail car, the team's outside in the Ruins once again.
With their gas masks firmly on their faces and their Geiger counters faintly clicking in the cold breeze that came over the area, the team moved throughout the ruined city as Cyrus guided them, periodically checking the map as he walked over the broken road.
The grey skies above, never saw the sun through the clouds, Vodka said that they won't see the sun for a long time, probably a good thing, but warns there's periods of time where they experience perpetual darkness.
Black clouds, blacker than anything imaginable, sometimes makes their way through the lands, and linger, bringing with them darkness so thick, not even torches work.
Occurs during the coldest parts of the year, which they're coming close entering, colder than they're experiencing now, and doesn't end until spring.
During this point, beasts that lay dormant come out in droves, feasting on each other and anything that gets in their way, a terrible hunger that even beasts that normally come out in night flee from them.
No teams go out at this point because of it, so they'll hole up in the camps until spring, risking starvation or worse because nobody's capable of dealing with the beasts that only come out in the darkest time of the year.
… Probably why the leaders and Cyrus want to know what the power plant contained while they still have the time, wanting to shore up as much supplies possible for the coming point in time where they won't be able to go topside.
"How often do you encounter a beast?" Theodore inquired the frequently of them attacked by the mutated beasts lurking in the ruins, which Boris recalled them encountering a pack of mutant dogs not too long ago, near what used to be public square.
That was a hoot, he said to Theodore, saying that the alpha had two heads and the only reason they managed to survive's Aytrom got the idea to throw a bottle of corrosive acid he found in a box somewhere at one of the heads. While the other head tried to gnaw the burning head off in a desperate attempt to survive the burning acid, they took the mutant dogs down.
"Never forget the day I nearly pissed myself when we saw the biggest ugliest thing the one time," Vodka spoke up, saying that it didn't compare to the monstrosity that attacked them the one scavenging attempt where they found boxes of rations stowed away in someone's collapsed bunker.
They're on their way towards the bunker when they heard this terrible noise, sounded like a guttural cackle, and while Cyrus' barking orders for them to duck and cover, Boris wondered if it was a big mutant chicken. He, of course, had food on the mind during the whole scavenge.
"And of course, Boris here started making clucking noises, because of course, he needed a bit of drink!" Vodka seethed as he remembered Boris, in a tense situation, making clucking noises, thinking that they're dealing with a giant chicken.
He's telling him to shut up, Aytrom's taking point, Cyrus' barking orders, and then they see the monstrosity land on a rooftop, wingspans at least 20 metres wide with the black curved head complete with long fangs from the top of the mouth.
"Looked like a dragon, but Boris here thought it was a chicken!" Vodka chuckled at the sight as Boris lost his ability to cluck when he saw the beast as it perched on the building, the head swinging as it moved, showing the large four eyes as it looked for prey.
So, they're given commands, trying to not die horribly to the beast that hadn't saw them, yet, and hid underneath a fallen billboard.
They're waiting for who knows how long until the damn thing finally took off after something that wasn't them, but they hid until maybe another hour before Cyrus told them they had to hurry, it's getting late.
"You never fought it?" Theodore asks him and he shook his head.
Vodka snorted as he responded, "Thank god we didn't, our billets couldn't possibly penetrate the hide. It'd pick us up and drop us until we splatted on the ground."
The conversations continued until Cyrus checked the map again, adjusting the compass he brought along, and as they stopped for a moment, Theodore caught movement in the corner of his eye.
When he turned his head, there's nothing but broken pipes laying on the ground, half-covered in debris and snow.
Their situation easily the direst he'd ever been, Theodore didn't turn his head back, looking where he thought he'd seen movement.
Boris saw him looking and asked what he's looking at and Theodore told him truthfully.
"I… I thought I saw something," Theodore tells him as the man stepped forward, standing beside Theodore, looking in the direction he saw movement.
His eyes scanning everything possible, Boris told Theodore that even the littlest things easily turned in the worst things.
There's no further movement and Cyrus called them to assemble. They returned to formation and cautiously moved through an area of broken rubble and vehicles with one path through.
Boots clanking against the ground, the men walked through the path, their eyes slowly scanning through every corner of the area, on edge.
Theodore's walking when he nearly tripped over something that grabbed his foot and he fumbled as he tried to situate himself.
Vodka and Boris caught him, allowing him to pull his leg away, when they looked, they saw…
"Is… that a trap?" Theodore's icy blue eyes narrowed as he saw what looked like a small trap, like a bear trap, only there's something off about it.
It's made of bones.
Cyrus sees this and becomes alarmed, telling his men to get a move on, and they hurried through the long path.