Adam woke with a start. Adrenaline running through his veins. What? He waited for his mind to catch up. It was always this way: disorientation as his mind struggled up from the depths. He was surprised to find he was in his bed. Normally he napped downstairs, less of a temptation to sleep too long. And he’d definitely slept too long. His body felt sluggish as he sat up.
He heard a sigh from next to him and turned slowly. Mae lay there a smile on her face. She was looking up at him.
“Morning.”
“Morning.” Adam managed to reply. Half of him was ecstatic, Mae was here. The other half was terrified, what had they done? What would her parents say? “Um…will we get in trouble?”
Mae laughed and stretched. His attention was caught, she wasn’t wearing anything. “My father’s been asking me for months when I was going to leave the house.”
“And…” Adam swallowed. He wasn’t sure how this all worked on Glassbolt. There didn’t seem to be marriages. People just moved in and out of each other’s houses when they felt like it. There were some who seemed to stay together longer, almost like a marriage. But at least in the two years he’d been there, no one had ever invited him to a ceremony.
Mae crawled across the bed with a smile. Adam was fairly sure he knew exactly what she was thinking. At least he hoped it was the same things he was thinking. She hugged him from behind. He was too terrified to move. He could feel her pressed against his back, skin to skin. “Does this mean you’re moving in with me?”
“Only if you want me too.” She said softly. Then with a complete change she sighed and sat down next to him. She looked at him, her eyes now serious. “It’s not right for you to be alone so long, but this,” she gestured to the bed they sat on. “Doesn’t mean I have to stay if you don’t want me.”
“Oh,” Adam’s brain stuttered. “No, I like you, I just – I’m not sure how it all works. Oh!” His mind finally woke up and started turning again. “I just remembered I told Abraham I’d meet him today – about my idea.” He looked at the light coming in from the window. It was definitely too bright. “I’m late…” He scrambled up and located his pants. He looked back at Mae.
“Please, you’re welcome to stay. We can talk more about what this will mean when I get back.”
Mae laughed. “Go, silly.”
***
Abraham was waiting when Adam arrived, panting and out of breath. He looked up as Adam entered, surprise written on his face.
“This is unusual, usually I’m the one making you wait.”
“Sorry, I overslept.”
“You? Ha! Never thought I’d see the day. Something happen?”
Adam couldn’t help but remember this morning, remember Mae pressed against his back.
“Heh, Mae trip you or something?
“Uh” Now he knew he was blushing. “How did you know?”
“It was obvious. I’m glad she convinced you though, we were starting to worry. Anyway – what was this plan you had?” He gestured for Adam to have a seat.
Adam shifted gears in his head, pushing Mae out. He smiled at his first friend and then began to lay out his idea. “I”m thinking that there are some people who are good at carpentry right, Joe and Anna.”
“Fiona too,”
“Yes, and there others who can sew or are really great fishermen.”
“Okay,”
“Well, why should we all do everything? Sure if there’s a big problem we all pitch in, but for the day to day, everyone is responsible for their own houses, their own meals, everything. It means that everyone has to work at what they’re not good. What if Joe and Anna and Fiona just made furniture when folks needed and Ms. Wakefield could sew clothes for folks. Rather than them spending half their time fishing or fixing the plumbing.”
“But what would happen when their sink broke?” Abraham asked.
“Someone else, Jo perhaps could come round and fix the sink. Not only for them, but for all of us.”
Abraham was silent a moment, Adam waited, it was a big idea. He’d been working on the idea for the past two years. An idea here, a word there. Everyone was always so busy just surviving, he felt that if they could limit what they did, the everyday drudgery, everyone could spend some time relaxing. That would cut down on the illnesses and injuries as people pushed themselves too hard. Adam thought it was finally time, that Abraham would be receptive. And if Abraham agreed, then he’d help convince the rest.
“How would we decide who does what?”
“We ask.” Adam pulled out the stack of notes he’d taken. Each resident was listed as well as where their talents were. “Some folks are good at multiple things, I’m not saying anyone shouldn’t do what they wanted, but spread out the effort. And if we had a few people who spent their day fishing, they could catch more than they needed and help families that struggle on their own.”
“Like Dani.”
“Her leg never healed fully, it really slows her down, and her mother can’t walk that far anymore either.”
“You think it’ll work?”
“I think it’ll work.”
Heads bent together the two men looked through Adam’s notes. Abraham adding information Adam needed. They worked out who to approach first and who would be harder to convince. Adam took copious notes and it was dark before he headed back home, head filled with thoughts and speculations on how to move this forward. This was only stage one of his plan, but for anything else to work, this had to be perfect.
***
Mae was still at his house when Adam returned home. He was pleased, he’d forgotten she was waiting for him until it was time to leave Abraham’s house. This late, he’d figured she’d gone home. Instead, she had caught a fish and prepared dinner. He grinned and wrapped his arms tentatively around her waist. When she didn’t pull away he pulled her tight.
“Hello, gorgeous.”
She looked up at him and grinned. “It’s not as good as yours.” She admitted. Adam looked down at the poor fillets.
“I can teach you. If you’re staying,” he said reaching for the plate.
“I can stay.”
***
Adam’s plan had Abraham’s blessing, but people had to be convinced. They had to be willing to trust that someone else besides themselves should be leaned on. And it was up to Adam to meet with all the townsfolk and try to convince them all.
“But, what if Brenden doesn’t catch anything. We’d go hungry.”
“But he will catch something, because in return you’re fixing his clothes.”
“He doesn’t tear his clothes everyday, but I have a family to feed everyday.”
“It won’t be just Brenden,” Adam explained.
“But you said…”
“Yes, as an example, there are multiple sims fishing for all of us. And you’ll be making new clothes and repairing them as everyone needs it.” Adam looked around the small house. It was one of the most colorful in the neighborhood, but then again Zoe Wakefield was great at sewing together small pieces of fabric until it felt like it was from a single cloth. A trick she was teaching her children.
“I’m not saying your children can’t go out and fish as well, but they won’t have to all the time. You’ll be guaranteed enough food for six every day no matter if anyone needs anything from you or not. In return, you’ll fix their clothes or make new clothes as we need it.”
“I can’t make clothes for everyone.” Alice protested.
But Adam was jubilant, she was starting to get how this whole plan worked. “You won’t be alone either, but you could spend your time doing that, which you clearly love, rather than other things. If your children don’t have to fish, they could help around the house more and you’ll have more free time.” He knew she’d need some more convincing and he’d come back several more times before she agreed. But he could tell she was going to try his plan.
Credits
Abraham’s family home was adapted from Sparkyjean82’s Safety Box Apocalypse.
- Sims 2 paintings by Tkete. Check out tukete.tumblr.com
- Curtains by Mabra. Check out mabras-arte-della-vita.blogspot.de
Zoe Wakefield’s home was adapted from VanillaChaiPWNS Apocylpse Starter.
- Sewing Machine by Sweetmint. Check out sweetmint-sims4.tumblr.com.
- Rug is the Urban Outfitters by Rachel Sims Stuff. Check out rachelssimstuff.tumblr.com
- Curtains also by Mabra.
Apocalypse Notes
Challenge rules are being kept – any ‘challenge breaking’ photos are taken out of game. For example, there is no visiting other sims allowed at this time. Adam is in the business career and we’re planning to have him lift the restriction on selling items and harvestables. Hopefully his knowledge of gourmet cooking will mean that he can teach a family member so they can unlock cooking soon. But for the story and Adam’s personality, it just didn’t make sense to unlock cooking first.
Raerei's Fortress 
You’re really building an alternate reality so successfully for me! The culture–even the experience of time–feels so very different! That’s cool that he’s introducing barter to the community! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person