TROA)Storm Shelters

I stood outside the entrance to a storm shelter in the back of a house. All the spiders in the town had been stuffed into my inventory. I scratched my head and knelt down before knocking on the door to the shelter. “Hello? If you are in there, say something. I can bring you to a place with food and water and cool air.”

Silence was all I got in return. It was to be expected. After all, there was no reason for them to open up to me. They probably think I am someone who is out to rob them if there are people alive inside. I sighed and pulled on the handle to open the shelter. I was instantly hit with the smell of death. I frowned slightly as I made my way down into the storm shelter. It was quite big, from what I could tell. But I instantly saw that a family of five were all huddled together in the back. The food supply had not run out, so I am not sure why they died.

“Hmm?” I picked up a heat signature behind the corpses. I walked around the dead bodies to see a young boy around five years of age with open food packages around him, squatting on the floor, holding his head. “Are you alive?”

The boy began to panic as he cried out: “Don’t hurt me! I did not kill them! I found them like this!” 

“I can see that.” When I looked closer at the family, I could tell they all died not from lack of food but from something else. “Poison, maybe?”

“You won’t hurt me? If you promise not to hurt me, I can give you the rest of my food…..” The little boy was only five and was begging for his life. To survive this long already was quite amazing.

I squatted down to his height and stretched my hand out, which he instantly flinched to, but when my hand landed on his head, and I gently patted it with a smile on my face, he looked up at me in confusion. “Someone your age should not need to worry about food and water. I will send you to a place where you can live a good life.” 

With that, I opened a portal to the outsider base, and without much of a word, I sent the boy through. Ice had already set up a receiving area for all the people I sent to him. He would give them food, water, and a room. If they were young, he would place them with a family. As for the family here, I have no idea what they did, but they died together from the looks of it. I guess the idea of being torn apart by spiders was enough for all of them to wish for death.

“Rest in peace together.” I bowed my head and gave the family a moment of silence. When I was done, I left the shelter and sealed the door with stone so no one would even know it was there. To make sure that no one did find it, I also put a barrier over it to keep it locked up forever.

“Next house.” I went to the next house, but it, too, was a dud. Just a couple of skeletons inside the house. The way they were laid out looked like they were running for their lives.

I did not stay there long before moving to the next location. House after house I went through but only found dead bodies. “This is the last one.” I looked at the metal door to the storm shelter and noticed that through it, I could see something moving around. Seeing as there might be some hope, I pulled the shelter door open. My eyes came in contact with a beauty who was staring back up at me in surprise. 

“Who are you?” The girl asked as she quickly took a few steps back and picked up a bat. 

“My name is Ai. Don’t worry. I will not hurt you, nor am I here to take any of your things.” I said with a smile. But the girl, of course, did not believe me.

“Then leave! I have nothing anyways.” The girl replied sharply. I could see her trying to muster up her courage to fight if it came down to it.

“I can’t leave you here.” I looked around and noticed the empty food containers all over the place and the empty shelves. Even the small stench coming from the back where she was probably going to the bathroom.

“Where can I go? The temperatures outside are too hot! I can’t even live as I am now! Wait… how are you walking around outside!?” The girl asked. She finally seemed to realize that I was out in the sun.

“It’s because of my clothes. They are specially made.” I answered, not elaborating anymore. “Once again, my name is Ai, and I wish to bring you to a place where you can live fairly normally.”

I saw the girl’s eyes water up, and a hopeful expression appeared on her face, but it quickly dimmed as she backed away further from me. “Will…. Will I need to sell my body? Because if I do, I refuse.”

“You will be fine. It’s a community in a base I created. There are lots of people there who are working hard together to make a new life.”