Fallout Shelter Colony

"Mith'en...pour it out to form
a mirrorpool..."

[Previously] ...Radiation is just the sunlight, Biohazards are just the untamed woods or overgrowth – but the more The Man polluted the land and used up resources, the less attention they wanted to draw to it, so they labeled it all hazardous and used these as markers for secret ways out of the City when the Lockdown came.”

Willow had moved on and found an area to rest in, a broad leaf upon which she could pour the aquasilver into.

As she did, the magic connected and she whispered softly, "Ry'llia, we have taken them back home. These Humans are much cleverer than we have given them credit for. They have a 'greenhouse' and it is an indoor forest. They hide from their own. It was wise to choose to help them."

Willow exchanged a discreet conversation with the tiny pool on the leaf. She carefully slipped the mith’en droplets back into the phial and made her way toward Gwydd.

"I've seen traces of theses poisons, back with the human dreams used to float across my loom.” Willow spoke up softly.  “Images of burnt flesh, disfigured children, dead nature. I had always hoped that theses were exaggerations, nightmares as the human called them. Now I'm not so sure.” 
            How did they ever allow it to come to this? Her voice quivered as a silver tear rolled down her cheek.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Hi, I'm Hadron." his smile reflected the sun. "I manage
all the foliage and gardens here."

Dinner the night before had been a spectacle.  Inside the subway long tables stretched three or four cars deep into the underground tunnel.  All the Greenhouse community gathered for the evening meal, which turned out to be a rather sizeable number.

There were snap beans, butternut-squash soup and stuffed tomatoes.  There was cornbread with honey-butter and bowls of fresh, mixed greens.  A selection of carrots, radishes, beets and other vegetables were set out on smaller dishes as additives for salads, to taste.

Gwydd spent most of the meal time in fascinating conversation with Hadron, who was more than happy to elaborate on the ecosystem of the Greenhouse.  Afterward, Xan gave them a tour of the shelter which was much more impressive than any of the Fae had imagined.

Nothing short of impressive...

The humans had converted boxcars and platforms alike into sleeping quarters, recreation rooms, dry-storage pantries, and kitchenettes.  This Greenhouse was a veritable fallout-shelter colony. Xan showed the guests their quarters, which were nothing short of impressive for this underground world sustained largely on the restored cast-offs of a bygone era.

The fae were given two platforms side-by-side, with bunks and commodities for their stay.  Willow found herself back in the library eventually, avidly filling in blanks of human history.  It was best to know as much as she could so she crammed knowledge into her brain with the fervor of a college student the night before an exam before finally hitting the hay, exhausted. Soon enough they would venture into the city proper.

To be continued!...

Willow crammed like a college student the night
before an exam.