Chapter Twenty-One - Learning

The next morning, Autumn pulled Amanda out of the crib and set her on the floor so that she could work with the blocks and with the xylophone. This would increase her skills so that she could start at a higher level when she aged up to child. And it kept her occupied so that the adults could get other things done.

When she wasn't smacking the xylophone with the mallet...

...she was trying to eat the mallet...

...but she did eventually get the hang of what she was supposed to do with it and soon the metallic clinking sounds of mallet hitting xylophone keys filled the air.

...and while the attention was focussed on Amanda's learning curve, along came Andrew McIrish-Chikamori who promptly fell asleep in his crib because he was so exhausted from the birthing process. His mommy fell asleep too.

It had stopped snowing, but still the rad-counts were on the high-side. And these colors in the sky certainly showed that when the skies were clear, the UV index was through the roof. Without being protected by a shielded enviro-suit; you would receive a nasty burn from UV radiation. Even the animals sought shelter in the nearest possible building when the sun came out. Whether it was animalistic reaction or innate knowledge that being outdoors wasn't safe anymore, the animals all knew when to take cover.

...and the humans being wise enough to stay indoors, sheltering in their bunker knew that it wasn't a good idea to poke their heads out. They did what they had to do indoors. And if anyone was going to go topside, it was going to be the plumbots. In fact they were capable of doing everything that a sim could do and more. They were impervious to they type of damage that would ordinarily incapacitate a living organism, because plumbots were made of metal.

So...the plumbots did the recon and the humans sims stayed underground researching alchemy and other tasks.

Chapter Twenty - Amanda Ages Up

When Amanda aged up to toddler, everyone celebrated - even the plumbots. After all, the plumbots were considered part of the family, so, naturally, they were included in the celebrations. Little Amanda, with her golden blonde hair, aged up into an adorable toddler.

Of course, as a toddler, they couldn't partake of the cake unless it was put in a blender for them to eat. But she would get her opportunity to do so when she aged up to child. It appeared as though the geiger counters were starting to show a slight dip in the background radiation form the fallout, however, Haruo had determined that they wouldn't set foot outside until they were absolutely certain of the situation topside.

...so little Amanda got to celebrate her toddler-hood in the bunker.

Meanwhile a few false snow-falls had alerted Haruo and the rest of the bunker as to the nuclear winter to come. And considering the fact that world-wide temperatures had plummeted at least two degrees in the days after the bomb-blasts, it was certain that it would fall even farther.

The Eight did what they had to do in order to keep their sanity intact - played games, did scientific research and other things. They needed to maintain a sort of normalcy around the complex or they would go absolutely crazy and they didn't need for cabin fever to start setting in, even though all were feeling a little unsettled.

...

...and the snow continued to fall.

Chapter Nineteen - Life's Prerogative

Life went on as per usual inside the bunker along with the usual research on science and alchemy so that they would at least have some sort of fighting chance when they were able to egress the bunker.

Haruo and River conserved on energy as River's pregnancy was hard on her. So it was better for her to go on bed-rest when she wasn't eating for two.

Nuclear winter had set in hard and the Eight were grateful that they had a solid shelter with a defensive perimeter.

The other three couples also slept conserving their energy for the laborious exertions of learning things that they could barely wrap their minds around.

...and little Miss Amanda slept too.

The early morning light showed that much of the vegetation top-side still had not grown back months after the bombs had fell on Sunset Valley.

Of course, River came to terms with the unorthodox-ness of her pregnancy and the fact that her and Haruo's marriage had not been the normal kind of wedding ceremony. But such was what happened when the world as they'd known it had ended. They were now living inside of a bunker with the orders to repopulate the earth and well, they were doing their best to do so.

...and hopefully they would be able to do so, if the ozone layer cooperated.

Chapter Eighteen - A Birth

Those who were still alive after the radiation storms witnessed a gorgeous sunset, but one that foretold an ominous future. The brilliance of the sunset belied the fact that there wasn't the ozone layer to protect them any more. Anyone caught out in the open when the skies cleared would suffer intensive burns to any exposed skin. Until the ozone layer regenerated, if it ever did, humans would be prone to severe sunburn and the potential for cancer-causing damage would rise significantly.

Into this new and uncertain future, those on the surface of the planet would have to stride, knowing that their future depended on whether or not they had shelter at the times that the sun's UV rays were at their most intense. It meant that any time other than at night, they would be unable to set foot outside their homes. It also meant that UV-B (or beta particle) radiation would damage any plant growth on the surface; that short-wave pattern radiation was also responsible for what gave humans sunburn.

Not only did those on the surface have to worry about the lack of an ozone layer causing skin damage and further health complications, the atmosphere was unstable making anyone on the surface a target for lightning strikes at any moment.

Of course, the Eight, safely ensconced in their bunker had other things to worry about, as Autumn went into labour right at that very moment.

When the cramps subsided enough so that Autumn could walk downstairs, Mickey guided her safely to their bedroom so that she could give birth in peace.

After which Autumn was so exhausted that she went to bed.

For the rest of the bunker occupants, life went on as usual: no change there. And Horace, Hildegard and the newest plumbot, Hector went and charged themselves in the plumbot charging station. After all a plumbot didn't want to suddenly deactivate in the middle of doing something. It would leave the poor thing in a bad mood afterwards.

And thus little Amanda was born.