Survival Bunker System Developer

The Importance of Water

For one week while the army was busy searching for Dr Rockmiller and killing ghouls, Caleb was busy researching on the sewage treatment plant that Helen told him about. The scientist’s suggestion was brilliant and on the mark. It was exactly what Caleb needed at the moment.

The only problem was how close the sewage treatment plant was from Manhattan and Queens. It was at the border of Brooklyn very close to the barricade. Caleb didn’t know who was working in the treatment plant at the moment during the apocalypse but he was very nervous about breaking and entering to convert it into a special bunker. Not to mention, converting the sewage plant with an incomplete distillation system was going to cost him even more resources than creating the special power plant bunker.

Caleb groaned. There really weren’t many things left he could sacrifice to the system even with the help of his automated assistants. The system developer was very happy that not a single of his automated assistants were caught by the army yet. The streets were empty and there were no more cars, trash bins or vehicles apart from his Benz and Paul’s truck.

Every household that could be broken into that wasn’t a bunker had been looted clean and Caleb was still short of materials. He considered sending some of his assistants to the airport. The airplane business wouldn’t need too many of their aircrafts during the apocalypse and it would be a shame not to put them to better use. However, Caleb had to consider that the smaller planes were left so that important people like researchers and doctors could still travel to lend help to other countries.

The plan to steal a few big Boeing planes will commence two days later after the army finished combing through Queens. The army moved quickly and Caleb had to worry a little when he heard that they were expanding their search to Brooklyn, the Bronx and Staten Island. They also started combing through parts of New Jersey, expanding the circle of search around Manhattan for Helen. This second part of the search will take the army more effort and resources so Caleb gave them an estimated time of two to three weeks to give up.

The sewage treatment plant had been registered in Caleb’s system as reserved areas but the number of resources required to convert it into a special bunker without additional features will cost Caleb about twenty Statues of Liberty. According to his search on a Boeing 747 plane’s composite, he made some calculations. He would only need to steal two big planes to be able to afford the special bunker. He didn’t know how much more resources he required for the upgrades but Caleb intended to steal about at least ten planes.

“How’s the research progress coming along?” Caleb asked.

Helen sighed over the phone. “One of the rat ghouls died. It couldn’t recover from the injury it received from the other rat. I have separated all remaining three rats, for now, to prevent them from eating each other. However, it is rather interesting to see how PXE22 develops differently from individual to individual and from species to species.”

“Oh? How so?”

Helen leafed through her journal and circled something. “Remember the latest notes I emailed you? You said that human ghouls behaved differently and will seek uninfected humans to eat as a priority before going for uninfected animals. I made a hypothesis about how PXE22 affects their host’s appetite and seek any uninfected host as a target for transmission. I was wrong. I’ve been observing the rat ghouls closely and testing them for their preference of selecting a target. Your hamsters are still safe, don’t worry. I found out that PXE22 is designed to go for the more intelligent prey.”

“More intelligent prey?” Caleb didn’t like the sound of it.

Helen hummed. “Compared to a rat, a bird is more intelligent. Compared to a dog, a human is more intelligent. Of course, this isn’t a standard measure because animals are sometimes more intelligent than us. For now, I’m going with the theory of a bigger brain. They target anything that is uninfected with a bigger brain but that’s all for now. I have not dissected the dead rat ghoul but I need to observe it for a little longer to see if how long PXE22 can survive in a dead ghoul.”

Caleb didn’t say anything and looked at Jeremy. He was only glad that Helen was making progress with her research and putting the noisy hamsters to better use. The scientist emailed him a file about her observations and hypothesis about ghouls and asked Caleb to help her confirm some facts. So far, human ghouls were the most predictable. They attacked anyone who isn’t infected without discriminating gender or age.

“One more thing,” Helen said before Caleb ended today’s call. “I heard that the army is looking for me. Is it really safe in the lab bunker? Will uninfected people be able to enter?”

Caleb laughed. “Are you really afraid they will come for you? Relax… They cannot enter the lab bunker. It’s a special bunker like my research workshop studio apartment. Only you and I can enter the lab bunker. I don’t have any intentions of changing that. It’s the same with the gun shop. Only Paul and I can enter and leave the gun shop freely even though I’m thinking of disabling the setting for Paul to leave his shop with the army prowling closer.”

They chatted for a little longer, updating each other about their progress. Caleb was still nowhere near levelling the system up but he was happy that the water supply issue can be resolved quickly.

“If you need help with creating a distillation plant system you can let me know,” Helen told him. “I might not be an expert but I know a thing or two when it comes to reverse osmosis. I can clone the semipermeable membrane in the lab.”

Caleb thanked Helen and ended the call. Now that the more troublesome part of setting up a distillation system was so easily resolved, he could focus on getting what he needed and setting up the water plant.

>>Xxx Destiny Aitsuji xxX<<

As Caleb anticipated, the army spent the next two weeks combing through other parts around Manhattan in search of Helen. The number of ghouls drastically reduced with the combined efforts of the army and the civilians. Almost ninety percent of New York’s population had been evacuated outside the city, were dead or signed up with the army. Less than ten percent remained within the city. Caleb’s bunkers were made to accommodate only ten thousand survivors. That was hardly enough for everyone.

The bunker system charged exorbitant fees to create safe bunkers even if they were ghoul-proof shelters. Caleb simply couldn’t afford to create too many safe bunkers for now. The ten thousand people that he wanted to save weren’t ordinary people. He thought about how he could save the one million abandoned citizens of New York before the apocalypse started. He thought about how he could use the bunker system to save the world and derived at the same answer. He couldn’t save humanity simply by using the bunker system and ignore the ghouls outside. He had to deal with both issues at the same time for humanity to have hope.

The basic bunkers were for people who wanted to fight ghouls and were able to take instructions. Caleb was scouting for warriors to fight against ghouls and contribute to his ghoul kill counts. He was also looking for people to help him gather resources. At the same time, Caleb needed experts like doctors, engineers and administrators to help him coordinate moving the goods to the meet-up points for the rest of the survivors living in shelters in the subways.

Right now, Caleb’s priority was finding a way to supply the city with food, power and water without the government’s support. He didn’t have farms to secure food supplies yet and he needed to look into it as soon as the army left.

Brooklyn was combed. The Bronx was combed. Jersey City was combed. Staten Island was flipped upside down but there was no news about Helen Rockmiller. Unable to continue the risky operation and putting the lives of trained soldiers at risk, the government finally announced that they have done a sweep over the city and cleaned out whatever ghouls they could. However, due to the high amount of deaths that the army suffered, the government will now pull out of New York City and guard the borders to prevent further spreading until the situation was controlled within. The citizens of New York who remained were given a week to think about their decision. Anyone who volunteered to work for the army will be able to leave the city with their families but those who didn’t qualify to serve the army should remain in the shelters established by the army until the situation improves.

A new piece of information was circulating over the internet about the weaknesses of ghouls. Caleb merely started a rumour and the world government worked quickly. Within a week, they were able to confirm Caleb’s rumour and confirm that ghouls could die by starvation. However, the other rumour that Caleb spread about awakened ghouls went silent. The scientists that the government gathered to research about PXE22 didn’t manage to prove the existence of awakened ghouls or were keeping silent about it so as not to spook the public.

Ghoul bodies were lying all over the street, making it difficult for Caleb to drive to the wastewater treatment plant. Today, he had an important mission. The army was finally leaving so Caleb seized the chance to get to the facility and sort out the distillation treatment set-up.

After two weeks of hoarding and several missing airplanes, Caleb finally had all the materials he needed to build that water plant. Helen sacrificed the lab synthesized partially permeable membrane to the system and Caleb was able to replicate it easily. However, the tricky part wasn’t piecing the parts together. Putting everything together and testing it wouldn’t take more than a day with the system’s help. The main problem was connecting the distilled water to the water pipelines so that every shelter and household in New York City can receive their supply.

Pushing the bad news and worries aside, for now, Caleb rejoiced. After a week of thinking, he found a solution to rack up ghoul kill counts. The system developer had a long talk with the army representative before striking a deal to sell Paul’s ammunition and guns to the army for the new conscripts. Paul didn’t even have to deliver the ammunition because the army volunteered to come and collect the ammunition themselves at the meeting point.

Looking on the bright side, Caleb looked forward to updating his popular blog to give people tips about building a better bunker and telling them about ghouls tonight. He had a plan for gaining viewership and eventually gaining the ability to monopolise all the information within the city and choose ten thousand people to live in his bunkers.

He reached the water plant in less than an hour after having to deal with two hordes of ghouls. His black Benz took a beating but the trusty sedan remained strong. Caleb cringed at the gory mess beneath the tyres. He wished that the car wash was still functioning in a time like this but he highly doubted it.

The water plant was huge and Caleb didn’t care about the surveillance in the area. He found out earlier on that there were several old and loyal workers dedicated to working in the plant till they die so Caleb offered them safety from the ghouls if they continued to work and help him keep the plant functioning. They were mostly old engineers who had been working with the plant ever since the plant was first constructed thirty years ago. Caleb was thankful that such people remained because he didn’t know how he was going to manage such a huge place alone.

“Good morning,” he smiled and greeted the janitor who was an elderly black man.

“Caleb! You wouldn’t believe it. Somebody sent us an email earlier today saying they are applying for the job of a head engineer. Lewis is looking for you. He wants to know if you will hire them.”

Lewis was the facility manager and the person overall person in charge of the water treatment plant.

“Thanks, Jackson. Where is Lewis?”

The janitor pointed to the staff canteen and Caleb nodded. He wasn’t able to afford fancy special bunker upgrades for the other special bunkers apart from the basic necessities so the canteen wasn’t self-restocking.

Caleb found Lewis easily. The man was cooking for the small group of ten workers including himself and Caleb tried Lewis’ food. The man was quite a decent cook and if he wanted to change his career, he would do well in the kitchen.

“I brought some fresh groceries. Where should I put them?” he asked.

Lewis barely glanced away from the pot and pans before pointing at a clean table. Caleb withdrew the groceries from his inventory. Today, he brought fresh fruits and some turkey which was considered a luxury ever since the apocalypse started.

The group of ten old men gathered at the table after Lewis rang the lunch bell. Caleb was already there and ate with them while going through the details of the new distillation chamber’s installation. At the same time, he looked through the application of the man who applied to be the head engineer for Caleb’s bunkers.

“What do you think about him?” Lewis asked.

Caleb took one look at the name and picture before laughing.

“I know this man. Hire him. He can work at both the power plant and water plant. Actually, ask him if he can come over today. I need to ask him how to link the distillation chamber to the city’s water pipelines.”

Lewis nodded. “Got it. Are we still going ahead with assembling the distillation chamber?”

Caleb paused. “It’s better to wait for him to arrive before we proceed. I’m not the expert, he is. We’ll continue with it if he approves of the current design. If it doesn’t work, I’ll have to revise it.”

“Got it,” Lewis grinned and picked up his phone.

Caleb munched on the grilled turkey sandwich with heavy thoughts. It was a few years since he last saw this man. In his past life, he wasn’t able to get in touch with his foster father before he died. Knowing that he would be able to work with his foster father in this life made Caleb happy and worried at the same time. That man had left the city before this but now, he was coming back to apply for a job that Caleb posted.

Whichever the case was, once Caleb hired his foster father, he wasn’t going to allow the old man to roam freely in the ghoul infested city. Alan Gomez might be the world’s most capable engineer but he was also the world’s biggest trouble magnet.