shyness.
"Pass me the screwdriver,” Toni called from where she lay sprawled out in the floor beneath the control room's main communications console. Jeremy selected a Phillips head carefully from the open toolbox he carried and passed it over. He heard Toni work for a moment with the tool before she slid out and smiled at him. “I think that does it. The system's ninety percent on-line again and as tweaked as it's going to be. Anyone on this side of the country with so much as a handset should be able to hear us now."
Jeremy grinned back at her and pointed at the top of the console. “So this little red light is supposed to be on and flickering this way?"
"What?” Toni pulled herself up. Her smile vanished to be replaced by sheer shock. Jeremy watched as she looked at the light in disbelief. Her whole body tensed up and she barely seemed to be breathing anymore.
"Was it something I said? I'm sorry if…"
She whirled on him and threw her arms about his neck as Jeremy stood there totally dumbfounded. “Someone out there is trying to reach us!” she half giggled, half screamed, slamming a finger down to put the incoming transmission on the room's speakers. The words were garbled by terrible static and interference but they managed to understand a few words of what was being said, “This… Freedom Station… Anyone… us?"
Toni held a hand over her mouth.
"Freedom Station,” Jeremy repeated aloud then it hit him. “Holy shit,” he muttered.
Toni had already opened the channel and was responding. “We copy that Freedom. This is Def Con and you have no idea how happy we are to hear you."
"Repeat… Couldn't…” the voice replied.
"Go tell the others!” Toni wailed at Jeremy. “I'll try to clean this up some and keep the channel open."
Jeremy dropped his toolbox and darted off, yelling, through the base's corridors.
The woods were quiet and a gentle rain began to fall as Amy made her way up the mountainside. The night had given way to a gray sky full of clouds. The rain was a warm one however and she welcomed it. She fished around in her pockets for the last of the berries she had found during the night, plopping the whole handful into her mouth at once. They were wonderful like the food of the gods but she longed for more and hoped she would come across another patch soon. She wasn't a nature person having grown up in New York so she had to be very selective in what she picked. She knew some berries were poisonous so she had to be careful. She considered briefly the notion of trying to shoot or catch one of the rabbits that appeared to be rampant in the woods but she had no idea how to hunt them. If it came down to it, she swore she would eat grass rather than waste the last five rounds in her weapon. She couldn't risk being defenseless if one or more of the creatures crossed her path.
Amy reached the top of the large hill, which in her city thinking she labelled a mountain and looked down at the town below. The instant she saw it she ducked into the foliage out of instinct. She cursed herself for being foolish. It was miles away. There was no way any of the creatures that might be in it could see her… unless they were the thinking kind and keeping out a watch with binoculars, she thought darkly. There didn't appear to be any kind of road or trail leading from where she was to the town. It looked as if the forest stretched all the way to the edge of the town. The town's proximity meant she was much more likely to come across the creatures than she had thought earlier even if she kept to the woods and tried to cut around it. She took a moment and steeled herself before she stood up and started walking straight for the town. She was going down there and was going to find the things she needed. Maybe, she hoped, if it was mostly deserted, she could find a home or some kind of building to
"Pass me the screwdriver,” Toni called from where she lay sprawled out in the floor beneath the control room's main communications console. Jeremy selected a Phillips head carefully from the open toolbox he carried and passed it over. He heard Toni work for a moment with the tool before she slid out and smiled at him. “I think that does it. The system's ninety percent on-line again and as tweaked as it's going to be. Anyone on this side of the country with so much as a handset should be able to hear us now."
Jeremy grinned back at her and pointed at the top of the console. “So this little red light is supposed to be on and flickering this way?"
"What?” Toni pulled herself up. Her smile vanished to be replaced by sheer shock. Jeremy watched as she looked at the light in disbelief. Her whole body tensed up and she barely seemed to be breathing anymore.
"Was it something I said? I'm sorry if…"
She whirled on him and threw her arms about his neck as Jeremy stood there totally dumbfounded. “Someone out there is trying to reach us!” she half giggled, half screamed, slamming a finger down to put the incoming transmission on the room's speakers. The words were garbled by terrible static and interference but they managed to understand a few words of what was being said, “This… Freedom Station… Anyone… us?"
Toni held a hand over her mouth.
"Freedom Station,” Jeremy repeated aloud then it hit him. “Holy shit,” he muttered.
Toni had already opened the channel and was responding. “We copy that Freedom. This is Def Con and you have no idea how happy we are to hear you."
"Repeat… Couldn't…” the voice replied.
"Go tell the others!” Toni wailed at Jeremy. “I'll try to clean this up some and keep the channel open."
Jeremy dropped his toolbox and darted off, yelling, through the base's corridors.
The woods were quiet and a gentle rain began to fall as Amy made her way up the mountainside. The night had given way to a gray sky full of clouds. The rain was a warm one however and she welcomed it. She fished around in her pockets for the last of the berries she had found during the night, plopping the whole handful into her mouth at once. They were wonderful like the food of the gods but she longed for more and hoped she would come across another patch soon. She wasn't a nature person having grown up in New York so she had to be very selective in what she picked. She knew some berries were poisonous so she had to be careful. She considered briefly the notion of trying to shoot or catch one of the rabbits that appeared to be rampant in the woods but she had no idea how to hunt them. If it came down to it, she swore she would eat grass rather than waste the last five rounds in her weapon. She couldn't risk being defenseless if one or more of the creatures crossed her path.
Amy reached the top of the large hill, which in her city thinking she labelled a mountain and looked down at the town below. The instant she saw it she ducked into the foliage out of instinct. She cursed herself for being foolish. It was miles away. There was no way any of the creatures that might be in it could see her… unless they were the thinking kind and keeping out a watch with binoculars, she thought darkly. There didn't appear to be any kind of road or trail leading from where she was to the town. It looked as if the forest stretched all the way to the edge of the town. The town's proximity meant she was much more likely to come across the creatures than she had thought earlier even if she kept to the woods and tried to cut around it. She took a moment and steeled herself before she stood up and started walking straight for the town. She was going down there and was going to find the things she needed. Maybe, she hoped, if it was mostly deserted, she could find a home or some kind of building to
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