All Inclusive

In the interest of full disclosure, I haven't actually done much to assimilate into the Nexus. My sister loved it here and loved everything about being in the hotel but I didn't trust things I didn't understand and I had just gone from one crazy bottleneck to another without being able to see my family in between. It was disorienting and confusing and I spent most of my time trying to figure out a way to get back to the caves and back to my brother.

I wasn't successful.

I had read somewhere once that the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the same result and now, finally, after two months of trying and trying to get back home I was finally giving up. Done. That was it. I was just going to embrace my new screwy life in the hotel and just enjoy the fact that I did have Wanderer and Nick even if I couldn't get back to Jamie and the others. I just wished I could open the door once, just long enough to shepherd my family and friends into safety before closing it again permanently. It wasn't meant to be.

With my newfound lease on life, I decided it was high time I finally got a job. I had been subsisting on the buffet and trying my best to make everything I had last as long as possible but now I wanted to work. I wanted something I could put my hands on, something to help me work out the stress and frustrations of the day. I tried my hand at waiting tables but it turned out that I was terrible at it. I don't really have a memory for orders and working quickly didn't come easily to me. After throwing my tray down and storming out, I wound up joining the maintenance and grounds crew. That was something I was good at. I liked fixing things and I had a decent knowledge of minor repairs after so long on the run. I could hack that.

That was what found me outside just before dawn started pinking the sky, laying mulch in one of the many gardens at the Nexus. It was easier to do this before the sun got high in the sky and it was hot and I wanted to take advantage of it.