บท 70: Desolate Oasis, Pt 4
You rouse up from your Chakra feeling deeply rested and refreshed, more than you have in many weeks of being on the road. It's especially true after the past few days where you've been running roughshod and harried just to make it as far as you have.
You sit up on the simple canvas cot as you rub your eyes a bit, then you roll your head around slowly, easing whatever strains are left in your neck. You finish up your routine by massaging your right shoulder a bit - sitting still for so long has caused it to cramp up slightly.
You're up early, Noir transmits to you via Telepathy. It's still early afternoon right now.
You watch as she stretches herself out on the ground in the middle of your tent, then sits attentively before giving herself a quick tongue bath.
"Figured I'd go say hi to the people of Oasis before night fell again," you reply audibly. Then you realize where you are and switch to talking to Noir Telepathically instead.
Just wanna be polite and not be seen as some kind of nighttime weirdo, you finish.
You are a nighttime weirdo, Noir replies. We both are.
True, true. Anyway, didja find anything interesting here while I was napping?
Oh yeah! There's a tomcat at the other end of the lake that keeps mewling in my direction. I think I might go check on that later.
I'd really rather not know the details on that, thanks. Anything else?
Hm? I dunno. People are gathered up in one spot, being all happy. Don't know what that's about. I'm off to find a hot date. Wish me luck.
You decide to heighten your ESP out of curiosity as to what Noir's talking about, even as she picks herself up and saunters out of the tent. And you immediately hear sounds of numerous community residents nearby, outside of your hostel.
There are sounds of them chattering, cheering, laughing, cajoling. As well as eating and drinking and munching and slurping and gulping.
A quick Scan reveals about half of the people in Oasis are gathered in one spot - probably about a dozen and a half in total. They're also relatively close, roughly a building or two away from where you're staying. The other half of the population is scattered around the lake itself, probably in their homes or shops or patrolling or whatever it is they do.
There are also various animal thoughts and emotions scattered around as well, probably a couple dozen in total. They seem like dogs or cats or other domesticated pets to you, rather than livestock or captured wild critters.
You do also sense a handful of actual livestock creatures - perhaps cows and chickens and goats. But they're scattered around at the different homes as well. You can only guess that the people who own them raise them for their milk and eggs.
Once you're satisfied with what you've observed, you pick yourself up off the cot and stretch a bit, then you lower all of your powers down to a minimum. No sense in keeping them up in a town like this, plus it's kind of nice to lower your guard for once. There are other psions here helping keep everyone safe.
Though you leave your hat and poncho in the tent, you slip your hiking pack and messenger bag over your shoulders. If all goes well, you can do a bit of trading before the sun sets.
You then step out of your plain canvas tent, which has been set up inside of a relatively large open floor log cabin. Lined up all along the walls are a handful of simple tents set up next to each other. Doing so gives each of you a modicum of privacy, though not much. You suppose it's like any other hostel you've ever been to, and it works just fine.
While most of the tents are empty, there are two others in here besides you. Both seem to be traders, and they have a plethora of goods they've brought in with them. Not only that, but they both have carts filled with various goods parked just outside.
The two of them chat with each other, no doubt exchanging stories about their travels. You all greet each other pleasantly before you step out of the hostel and out into Oasis itself.
As you do, a mild breeze sweeps through you, cooling you down a little bit. You find that the heavy canvas shade above the town works incredibly well to shelter you from the heat. Combined with the light breeze and proximity to the lake, the temperature here is quite bearable.
Almost pleasant, in fact.
Certainly far better than outside the community - out there you can see the heat warping the air all around. The sun and its relentless rays are practically burning the world all around you with unabated fervor.
Despite how well everyone seems to be thriving here, you note that there aren't that many in total to begin with. Perhaps about as many people who accompanied Frank and Nance northwards, and certainly no more than 40 adults in total. There are about a dozen kids in town, though they're all relatively young - perhaps no older than eight or nine at the most.
Besides the people, there's definitely plenty of land for them to work, though much of it is dry and unfarmable. In fact, you're sure that you haven't seen a single farm thus far. The fact that you've sensed very few farm animals here certainly cements the fact that this is not a farming community.
Considering how little water they have access to, that's probably a good thing. From what you've read through your travels, farming is incredibly water intensive. All a farm would do here is drain their lake faster than it could refill.
Which makes sense that they're big into trading, and why so many of the houses here have storefronts. Trade is the only way they can truly subsist out here. Perhaps they do a little hunting and a little foraging, but from what you've been able to Scan, there isn't much nearby. There certainly isn't enough wildlife in the area to support the food needs of everyone here.
You look over to where you sensed the large gathering to find a kind of open-air restaurant / bar sort of thing. The floor itself is simply a raised platform made with wooden planks, though it has been stained and sealed rather attractively.
On top of that are four moderately sized picnic tables - the kind with the benches attached to them via curved steel pipes.
Each one has a handful of people seated in them, all talking and drinking and eating amongst themselves. Though their conversations occasionally reach outward and involve the other tables at times. Altogether, their mood seems quite jovial and lighthearted and easygoing.
An older woman seems to be attending to all their needs, while her husband (presumably) stands behind the bar at the far end of the open floor. There, he serves the two patrons seated at the bar itself. Looks like glass mugs with warm beer from what you can tell.
In the corner near the bar are a grill, stone oven, and prep table, all of which are being handled by a young adult woman - most likely the husband and wife's daughter. She seems to take to her duties rather well, and is happily cooking and grilling food for the patrons.
In fact all of them look rather content and happy with what they're doing. Clearly, they love being here and doing this.
Seeing them work the restaurant together makes you think that the place is basically a family business. Which would track given where you are - there seems to be a number of families living out here, and so it would make sense that they own and operate their shops as well.
You greet everyone around you as you walk towards the bar, with which you're met with hellos and grunts and nods by the patrons. And when you pull up to a stool and sit down, the bartender immediately asks you, "What're you having?"
"Ah, well, I don't really know what you've all got," you begin. "But I am a bit hungry and a bit thirsty, so I'll take whatever you've got to offer."
"We've got what'cha need," he replies. Then he turns to the girl working the grill and orders a 'daily'. She responds happily then gets right to work putting your meal together. While she does so, he grabs a corked bottle from under the counter and places it in front of you.
"Mead," he says. "Made right here in Oasis."
"Never had that before," you reply. "Not really a fan of alcohol."
"Give it a shot. You never know if you'll like it."
The bottle itself is about the size of a beer bottle, though it's completely clear. Inside, the mead itself is a darkish amber and somewhat cloudy. When you take a sip, your tongue is hit with all kinds of sweet fruity flavors, as well as a slight bitter hint that somehow binds all the flavors together.
Though you're unsure how you feel about it at first, you grow to like it more over the next few sips. The spreading warmth inside you as well as your slight intoxication helps that sentiment along as well.
"That's pretty good," you say eventually.
"Good to hear," the tender replies.
"By the way, what do I owe ya for drinks and dinner?"
"Nothing. Meals here belong to the community. Everyone gets one free daily, if they want it. Or they can give theirs to someone else."
"Really? How do you make money?"
"Wealth isn't about a single person, or a single family out here - we all gotta work together to make it. We've got our own internal system worked out to make sure everyone's got what they need. And sometimes, that includes traders and travelers like you."
You sit in stunned awe at what you're hearing. Of course it makes much more sense this way - with resources tight, it's much easier for the whole community to thrive if they share what they've got with each other.
So when they buy and sell, they do it for the whole community's needs rather than just their individual selves.
You find this utterly fascinating, and wonder if something like this could scale up to a population much, much greater. You can't help but wonder how long a city with a system like this could run for in this apocalyptic mess.
Of course, a part of you thinks it would be impossible - someone would ruin things for everyone else. Their individual greed would likely override the needs of the many. And the more people there are, the higher chances of having those greedy people around. It's just the nature of human life.
As you take another sip of your mead, the couple sitting near you turn towards you with inviting smiles. In front of them are bottles of mead just like yours, though you're certain they've had much more than you. The alcohol is thick in their breaths, though their minds still seem sharp despite that.
"Hey, it's the Traveler," says the one closer to you. "Heard you came in early this morning. How're you liking our Oasis?"
"You all seem really nice, and it's a great spot to live," you tell him. "I definitely don't have a single complaint."
"Oasis has got its ups and down like everywhere else, but I'd rather live here than anywhere else. It's nice and quiet… mostly. Anyway, I'm Jonesy and this is Tad, my partner."
Jonesy leans back, allowing you to get a better look at Tad, who waves to you genially.
"Pleased to meet you," he says.
"Likewise."
"We hear that you might have some goods for sale," continues Jonesy. "Guns and ammo to be specific. Tad and I operate the armory near here, and would love to take a look at your wares."
"Aren't you off work?" you ask. "I mean, you're here having a drink and cooling down for the day instead of in your shop or wherever. Wouldn't you rather do business in the morning or something? I mean, no offense. Just curious."
Jonesy chuckles a bit, then nods.
"Well sorta off work, if that's really such a thing around here," he says. "Thing is there really isn't any off-time out here. If we don't scramble as best we can whenever we can, sometimes we end up with less than we want. And that means some people miss out on dinner 'coz there isn't enough to go around.
"Not that it's much of a problem in recent days, but it's best to work ahead of it than try to catch up, know what I mean?"
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