Endtown by Aaron Neathery for October 31, 2012

Well, a roof over her head is good, right? Also, Linda’s full name is Linda Stephanie Kowalski? I just realized; Kowalski sounds like Koala!

I’ve lived in worse.

Shes supposed to feel lucky, to feel greatful, yet she gets handed things like this house? Shes ’fortunate"? Looks more like the trama never ends.(hard fo r her to NOT see it that way).

Looks fine to me! :)

Linda: “Oh joy, 1800’s British-style. Bet it has both hot and cold running rats…”

Kinda has a Will Eisner feel about it.

A little paint, some good will furniture, some wall plaster, some tools ,an education on pluming, electricity, repair of appliances, window repanes and good neighbors. I have been there and that is what I needed. Sigh. Learned a lot, so will she. Hey I have been wondering what do they do with beetles, spiders, flies, and real rats and mice????Blessed Be.

That apartment does look a little scary, especially with one of the windows being boarded up. Though I don’t know if Linda would have to worry about pests like bugs or rats (except for maybe the saluting kind?), with the end of the world as we know it and all. ;)And wow, Surfs! You weren’t kidding about the bid war for Blackie Magic! We should put Darwin and Veteran in a pit and make them fight for it!

Looks small, but not like she got alot of stuff now.

Oh, Linda…Things work out the best for people who make the best out of how things work out.

Looks like Wally’s place.

I sudden, discomforting thought.. what if Linda’s apartment building is the same as Jacob Jackrabbit’s?

Try not to get mugged, Linda, like Wally did—-keep an eye on your backpack.

EHC? Endtown Housing Committee, or maybe Endtown Housing Council, maybe.

Well we finally have a map to the basic layout of Endtown. Very linear and efficient.The Jeffersons theme song comes to mind. Except if this is moving up? I hate to see the bad parts of town. You know they have to have them.Probably controlled by the Ghetto Rats. Those not working for Security (Academic issues Could not pass the R.A.T.’s for entry)Linda is really being put to the test. I wonder if Allee lives there?Reminds me of a neighborhood about 2 blocks outside of the White House area in DC. If you been there then you know. Use to be just blocks from the Mall and Congress was some of the worst ghetto next to some in Chicago. It mostly burned down after the KIng assassination in the riots that followed.I was on a Volunteer fire crew that got sent in to fight the fires. I kept wondering what these things were hitting the ground around us. They were bullets bouncing off the ground. Chief ordered us to cut hoses and we got out of there.At least she has a basic need fulfilled. Shelter. Next is going to be food. Lets see how that works out.

That logo pops up alot. APEX apparently broke into separate factions. Keeping a part of the original logo. Some bent on genetic purity and survival of the perfect human.(Topsiders) Other just to survive and work for a cure if there is any.(Those responsible for Endtown)

Endtown Housing Commission. (Look at the length of the middle and last word. High and Counsil is too short) Be their version of HUD. Subsidized housing.

Linda apparently has someone pulling some strings for her. Wonder who it could be?

Linda also has an ID number assigned to her. Under her name. Would be necessary for the “benefits” she would be entitled to. Like housing. This suggests Endtown is under strict rationing programs. That is why they are working at self sufficiency. Wonder how those programs are coming along. There is alot to catch up on.Oh and Darwin. I did throw down. To you sir.

SurfStuff,

No problem! I’ll be as civil an engineer as I can be without being a Civil Engineer.

Frankly, I doubt that anyone in this future is “fortunate” by modern standards. There are far worse fates than living in a run-down building.

I can understand Linda’s discomfort with her new living situation but it has to beat living on the surface and going to sleep wondering if you’ll wake up staring at a zero gun.

Cohen. Thats funny!

By the way, nice pair of sneakers, too…

“Vanishing Point” Great movie. I have been on both sides of the law. Early youth though it was fun. In Alaska I had a Chevy ElCamino. 426 motor. 4 speed with over drive. Weighted for control. Headers no muffler straights. Roll cage. Racing seat and 5 way harness. Use to set speed records driving the roads in Alaska in the summer. The Alaska Highway Patrol back then drove AMC’s supercars. I scoffed at them. I would shoot by, they would chase, and I would go till they exploded their motor. One day I had lost a HP unit while coming from Anchorage. I was about 25 miles from the military base I was stationed at. I was running 130 135. I looked up ahead and saw a vehicle on the shoulder. A man standing by the vehicle. He raised something to shoulder height. I saw a flash then all hell broke loose with the car. The hood peeled back and off, hot oil and water poured into the car, skidding back left and right, finally sliding off the road some 400 feet into a field.I sat behind the wheel, collecting my thoughts, thinking about how much trouble I was going to get into. I climbed out. (The doors were welded shut used the window) stood beside the car while the Trooper drove up. He walked over to me. Big guy, Sergeant stripes. He asked “Son who the hell are you?”" I handed him my DL told him my name and where I was stationed. He said “Soldier, huh?” “Tell you what I will make you a deal. You leave that damn car of yours there and I will give you a ride back to base. If I ever see that car gone I am going to hunt you down and toss you so far under the jail so will never see the light of day.”“And if you ever tell my supervisor I shot your car off the road the deal is off.” I said “Okay, I can agree to that sir.”He gave me a ride to the gate. When I left Alaska a year later that car was still sitting in that field.Now I am on the other side of the Law chasing those running. I used to drive the Mustangs 84, 87 90 and 93 models. 5 speed 5 liter V8’s.Never lost a pursuit. Never. I instruct at the High Speed Pursuit Driving Schools So you know I have skills beyond mortal man. And the Gods of THP have blessed with a new Charger Police package. 460 hp.8 speed. Low mean and fast.You see even a slightly bad guy can become a good guy and still drive fast.

But remember Kids don’t try this at home!!!!!!

Considering that at the present point and time she only has what’s been given her, “looking the gift horse in the mouth” is not such a good idea.

I wonder what the plumbing is like…after all, six years in a Topsider suit…does she even remember what a toilet is for?

To NebuIt is not so much the radiation that kills. It lingers which is what causes death. It is the blast and heat from it that is the most destruction. You seem to know about it so I will refer you to the blast and heat shots done back in the testing days. First the paint and front of the building burns off then wham. There it goes. Concussion wave way above even our biggest conventional bombs. The MOAB is probably the closest to what a small nuke would do. It is a pure concussion bomb that air burst just above the ground. It literally crushes you like a brick wall. I have seen effect of concussion on enemy soldiers after going back in after a B52 carpet laying. These guys were too horrible to describe. Back years ago in Texas City a ship holding fertilizer was on fire. They poured salt water mixed with fuel oil leaking from the ship. They were taking the water from the bay. It exploded. I think over a 100 people standing nearby were never found. Not even a piece of them. The fire truck and crew gone. Vaporized by the blast wave. A two ton portion of the the boiler was found twenty miles away. So a nuke blast is what I would be concerned about surviving.As for the surface in the story. We know little about the Aimsworth Radiation. I don’t think it follows our normal view of radiation. I know of nothing like that in our world that would make a body turn to dust by exposure just by a ray blast. So our normal view of this is not going to fit. The Aimsworth may turn all living things to dust.

Man Nabu. Hanford?In the days before alot of it was understood. You have my sympathy.I never got hit by that much but I remember taking down the reactor at our base in Fort Greeley. (SALT agreement) I was behind lead shield. 10 badges on. Four civilians on ground wearing the lastest in suits. Briefing was twenty minutes max exposure once we start. I operated the 5 ton wrecker M578. Has a 5 ton crane for usage. I had to extend cable into the facility drag out the core. Lift it and put into a big container then put the lid on it.Took 16 minutes. I was screened before going to decontamination. All badges but one were fully exposed. The other was just beginning. I was scrubbed down and checked. No radiation. Advised to avoid chest xrays for the next ten years. Did later in the week get sick. Thought it was the flu. Went to the docs. Way too much concern was going on. I had to drink this, given pills, blood samples taken. I did wander into an off limits area. There were the four civilians. Not looking good at all. Apparently they received letal dosages. I got better but did become some what sterilized by the exposure according to later VA visits in their opinion. So we were all victims of the Cold war. Glad it never got hot.

Here’s a scary thought…Remember the alligator lady? The one who lost two of her comrades to the topsiders when Wally appeared? The one who was last seen roaring drunk and throwing liquor bottles at the door when Wally tried to apologize for scratching her face in a fit of uncontrolled rage? I wonder if her face is scarred from that?Heaven help Linda if she becomes her new neighbour…

Maybe Allee window is the one that is boarded up. Far top right. That would be ummmm interesting. I can see it now. Sitting back having a few drinks. Linda forgets due to alcohol and goes on about being a Topsider. Crikee she is a big croc. She’d eat that Koala right up.

Whomever gets it will DEFINITELY be doing their part to keep Endtown alive.

Nope! Allie isn’t going to be Linda’s neighbor. In the strip below, we see the beginning of Wally’s ill fated attempt to visit Allie. He’s knocking on the door of Allie’s home, that is a house, not an apartment.

http://www.gocomics.com/endtown/2011/07/20

Linda is not happy, uncertain of a future in a strange body, without her child, rejected in a heartbeat by her community.. I should take a step back and remind myself just how cruel she was in her last moments as a topsider.. will that be a clue to her life as an endtowner?