Endtown by Aaron Neathery for March 21, 2018

Yeah, um, Foxworthy, about that horrible food shortage that the upstairs has been keeping secret, but you alone have the guts to expose? Having second thoughts about the thrust of your reporting career, perhaps?

I’m still leaning toward Bunny seeking an ally in Fox. This, in spite of their historical animosity toward each other.

Ok, who first called it?

Bare minimum, Philo has to be catching on that he’s been fed bogus intel. Where he can take it from there is another matter. First question should be who killed Cooper and why.

You know, for all the talk about a food shortage, you would have thought that the conspicuous absence of starving people littering the streets of Endtown might have given a reasonable journalist reason for pause. Philo really hates Jake, so it may take a bit more to convince him that the supposed shortage is so much fertilizer, but I do believe the lights are starting to come on. ;-)

There may not be a food shortage, but there’s certainly no oversupply. Having the food doled out it drips and drabs hasn’t been helping Jake’s image as the colony’s main bread winner. (On the other hand, it won’t take Philo long to notice the mirrors a little ways down the aisles, intended to make the warehouse look much larger than it is.) Hopefully, this will be enough to get him to tell Jake what he wants to know before the rabbit shoots him in “self-defense.” There are way too many aisles in there for clean-up to “happen.”

Correct me if I’ wrong, but it looks like the room contains at least 720 shelves? Assuming 30 double sided racks, 12 shelves per side. And then, there’s the Pork and Beans? Whence the Pork?? Has the Rabbit been doing something he should have not been doing?

So much for “just printing the facts”, eh?

he was running those food shortage stories that likely started the pig discrimination that led to the cannibalism and subsequent wolf discrimination and riots. In a roundabout way he’s the root cause of all this, showing HIM that there is no food shortage is the first real step to recovery.

I wonder if there’s any canned crow for Philo to eat. Pickled crow? Freeze-dried crow casserole?

“More beans, Mister Taggart?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6dm9rN6oTs

That’s a lot of canned pork.

If those are all canned goods, every can has a shelf life. What’s the expiration date on all of ‘em? Is all that still edible? Or perhaps, given Endtown’s technology and that enjoyed before WWIII, the technique of food preservation/extension of shelf life indefinitely is a reality.

You can see the surprise on Philo’s face and the questions he no doubt will ask Jacob…

The construction of Endtown took many years to complete. Since Endtown was built to allow for a limited population to survive—it makes sense that food storage was begun at the same time and that the food cache has grown over the same time. It also makes sense to keep this secret and to encourage foraging and/or growing food to be sure that that population would survive, and keeping the food for absolute emergency. Now, I wonder who did know of this food cache. Before Jacob, wasn’t Endtown ruled by a randomly-picked council of members who never knew who else was drafted at the same time they were in"office"? If this council knew, then the food would be common knowledge. But someone must have known. Who told Jacob about it? The rats? And NOW….Jacob has just told the press about it.

Philo just learned he was being used. Now maybe Rabbit and Fox becoming friends…….

Endtown has the mother load, but they have to make it last since they have no way of planting and harvesting food.

This is Storeroom 7. Storerooms 1-6 MIGHT be empty, or at least some of them might hold supplies other than food, but there also might be more than 7. Many more.

Now he must suffer a fate worse that death: A life with egg on his face and knowing how wrong he was.

Actually, showing this storeroom to Philo raises more questions. If the food being supplied to a 7,000+-colony on a daily basis is all coming from here, what’s the distribution chain? I guess the rats would be the ones boxing the food from the shelves, then bringing the cases to the security elevators to the main level. But, how does the food make its way to the cafes, shops, and cafeterias? (We’ve seen children, so there may be a school and possibly a school cafeteria.) If there was any indication of a shortage, it should be most visible at the main distribution center on the colony-side of the elevators where people take over the food from the rats. Maybe the people feeding the information to Foxworthy through Cooper work in distribution and are skimming off the top. The rumors could be just cover for the scam.

Would be difficult for him to state there was a shortage now. Unless the cans end up being empty.

“Did I say ONE can opener? Shoot, I’ll give you TWO!”

As he announced the food shortage, he needs to issue the correction otherwise the people won’t believe it. Question is who is behind wanting to destroy the colonies faith in its government and why? Have top enders somehow snuck in? Is there a different faction? Someone “created” a “race war” where there was not one before. And that wound will likely never heal now that you have established the predator vs prey divide.

best wishes on the URSA MAJOR AWARDS – Y’all go vote http://www.ursamajorawards.org/

Link to vote on left column – enter email to have a ballot sent to you. Then scroll down:

Best Graphic Story – Includes comic books, and serialized online stories.

• Endtown, by Aaron Neathery (Internet; January 2 to December 25)

Thank you for supporting a great story,

Jelliqal

contributor to ROAR8 ( nominated for Best Other Literary Work) and Patreon backer

for there to be a food shortage, wouldn’t the colonists had to have had trouble getting food in the shops?

Here’s the problem. Mr. Mayor is simply way, way too removed from his own people to realize what “fear” means for them. His separation in the “upstairs” monitoring systems and lack of empathy for the common anthro are creating a deadly mix that he will not catch onto until it’s way too late. I think he will find an ally in Foxworthy, but it’s going to be way way too late!

If I had to guess at it, he’s going to try to calm things down only to realize he’s missed the entire point. Foxworthy and Heather alike have lost all credibility. Endtown residents are ready to kill one another at the slightest suspicion. And worst of all, he no longer has the genuine control over a bunch of gun-happy rats who are prepared to hold together order at ANY COST.

I’ve said it twice, I’ll say it once again. It’s time to FIND WALLY. Endtown needs an outside source at this point whom have not been sheltered. I’d be shocked if Wally hasn’t risen to a degree of prominence thanks to his power over the Dittos. So he can bring fresh faces capable of taking over the upper management. Thus there’s a connection with those in the town, but a disgust and refusal among temporary leadership to allow that “sheltered” shallow mindset. It’s going to be bloody, but putting a bladed yoke on endtown is the only way to get these people to reflect on what they’ve become. And I say bloody because a fair number will have to have those blades activated, to a final result.

I will augment my suggestion with one MAJOR consideration though. The problem with such a move is it MUST be temporary, and those who remain as a result integrated into the upstairs element. You can only enact a hostile takeover for so long.

Look up how England conquered Wales if you want an example. They had a temporary period of castles and stone-authority for some time. But that period of time was very brief and costly. True victory came from offering trade and a better life to the common human, rich and poor alike. The poverty remained, but it was enough to persuade most welsh natives to stop fighting. Final victory was atchived this way across a five hundred year span.

who’s got possession of the can opener???

who’s got possession of the can opener???

I know we don’t have all of the pieces yet, but I never was convinced that people were eating pigs. Still…there are some loose ends to still tie up here.