Raven stood quietly next to Alara in the massive underground hydroponics farm, her gaze moving across the freshly cleaned cement floors and the rows of prepared planting squares under the old overhead growing lights. Momma Jean stood a few feet away, already discussing something with someone else. Just then, an older woman walked into the roim. It was Darlene Wexler, holding her signature clipboard pressed tightly against her chest, her expression serious and coordinated.
"Hey, Darlene! Over here, we need your help for a moment," Momma Jean called out. Darlene’s eyes moved towards their group, as she immediately approached them. Darlene stopped directly in front of Raven, her fingers shifting nervously around the clipboard in her arms. Momma Jean began the introduction.
"This is Raven Salvatore. You mentioned before that you know her. And this is her girlfriend, Alara, her second-in-command. In the future, we will be taking our orders from Raven and in her absence Alara."
Darlene’s shoulders tensed for a moment, but she managed to offer a small, respectful smile. She remembered her stern warning from Momma Jean not to mention Alara’s true nature as a zombie. Instead, she just needs to follow orders and stay on Raven’s good side if she wants to keep herself and her daughter Cindy safe. Clearing her throat softly, she lifted her chin and spoke clearly.
"It’s good to see you again, Raven. Thanks to your advice, I was able to save my life and my daughter Cindy’s as well. And you must be the famous Alara. I’m so glad Raven has found someone to be by her side. I knew her growing up her family situation is… very difficult. So please, take good care of her. Otherwise, you’ll hear from me."
Raven’s eyes softened at Darlene’s words, a small smile tugging at the edge of her lips. She inclined her head slightly, with a small nod of appreciation for Darlene’s care. Alara’s gaze moved from Darlene to Raven, her bule eyes warm with affection. She stepped forward saying to Darlene.
"You don’t have to worry, Darlene. I will take great care of Raven. If anything… she takes care of me more than anything I can ever do for her."
Darlene shifted her attention to Momma Jean as she asked.
"Was there something you need me for Momma Jean?"
Momma Jean nodded as she said. "Darlene go ahead and pull out all the beans we scavenged, plus the soybeans and wheat seeds. We’ve got power and water running now, and the soil is cleaned up from all the trash that was here before. We can start planting our first crops today. Raven said she can supply extra growing light bulbs if we need them, so don’t worry about replacements even if some are decades old and might not work right anymore."
Darlene nodded as she said. "Right. I’ll have Cindy and a few of the other girls bring them over immediately. We’ve also had a few more women join us since moving in here. Some of our scavenger teams are bringing in new laborers, but only those with real skills and a will to work hard. We will not keep idle people around, just like you said, Momma Jean. We’re almost done cleaning up other sections of the bunker. Most of the structure is intact, including the blast doors. If anyone tries to raid this base, it won’t be easy even a large amount of explosives will not get through the front entrance."
Raven shifted her gaze up at the ceiling, studying the long rows of growing lights suspended from the ceiling by chains. Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully, analyzing the wiring and the arrangement of the light fixtures. She moved her head before saying.
"Honestly… this place was probably used as an illegal pot growing farm at some point. That’s probably why all these growing lights are still here. The government would have retrieved them otherwise, but they likely abandoned it after being caught or suspected of growing here. The original purpose of this room was probably always meant for hydroponics, but I doubt the government ever grew anything here."
Momma Jean let out a short, dry laugh, shaking her head slightly, while Darlene nodded. Darlene raised her eyebrows as she glanced around the room saying.
"I’m not surprised. Pot farming was booming in New York before the apocalypse they were on the verge of legalizing it for recreational use at the time. It makes more sense that this was an illegal growing operation. It’s actually less surprising than thinking the government left anything valuable behind… though they are famous for doing that as well."
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