Safe Haven - How the Hell Do They Eat?

[...Posted by Ted H]

Fuck you, I'm not a little late...work-post-sleep-work some more...we also have a new author...whether or not this one posts something remains to be seen, but I got a good feeling bout this one

...Yeah, this update should answer some foodage questions Ive recieved...
Plus some more fun insight as to what makes a certain bastard tick...

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[Safe Haven - How the Hell Do They Eat?]

“Access authorized,” the guard said as he opened the door for Joseph. The entire north face of Safe Haven was set up for food growth and processing, nicknamed Noah Sector, it was the only place to find animals in the city except for the rats. Cows, pigs, chickens and the like were kept here as well as several plots of farmland, rotated regularly of coarse. Second only to the maintaining of the walls, this was Josephs main concern in Safe Haven. People need feeding, a service that was freely given as well as all the amenities the city provided such as safety (both from the undead and within the walls) and health service.

These services were indeed free, but only at face value. Any and all of these can be taken away at the whim of Joseph or either of the other Kings. There was security in those facts, that the citizens will always step out of line from time to time, but they would never cross a certain line knowing what the repercussions would be. No food? No protection if the undead got in? No medical care? There are certain things the citizens have proven to be able to do without, but those three were vital needs, and vital needs that only the Kings could offer.

Of coarse food wasn’t Joseph’s only duty. He was the only one of the Kings to trouble himself with multiple duties. Thomas was of sound mind, and could easily handle the Enforcers, but that was all. Chase was a brilliant doctor, but that was all he was good at. Joseph on the other hand was building a career in politics when the world ended, and he applied his skills to his new city. He ran the day to day operations in the city, which included food, maintenance, schooling and keeping the citizens accounted for. He was every bit deserving of his faux title as “The President” as Thomas and Chase were of their “General” and “Doctor” titles.

Every month Joseph would take a walking tour of the Noah Sector to ensure everything was in top shape. In the early days of Safe Haven, the citizens made due with provisions that were acquired from markets and raided from farms. It was realizes from the very beginning that that food would never last and Safe Haven would never survive if it couldn’t produce its own food. So before Safe Haven even opened its doors, the north section was walled off and reserved for food production that started not long after the last bus load of people entered.

Noah Sector was not connected to the Hub, meaning if Joseph was to ever visit, he had to venture outside into the city. He had his own set of armed Enforcers to protect him and he would only travel after curfew, when all the common citizens were away and unable to ever cross his path. He saw himself as a great leader for humanity, but for now the masses were unworthy of his leadership and it only takes one crazy with a weapon to ruin the future of humanity.

The people of Safe Haven had come a long way to becoming like the civilization Joseph imagined, but there was still some progress to make. Despite the best efforts of the Enforcers, drugs and alcohol persisted still. People still smoked and weapons keep finding their way into the hands of people all too willing to use them on authority figures, leading Joseph to fears of just one psycho running out and gunning him down in some defiant manner.

Such an event almost happened in the early days of Safe Haven. Joseph was overseeing a lockdown procedure for the main gate when a crazed man approached him and pulled a gun, demanding to be released. Joseph remembers trying to reason with him, that he was better off dropping the gun and remaining safe inside the city. The man was having none of that and continued to threaten Joseph with his pistol. The Enforcers never could get a shot off without risking Joseph’s life, so he ordered the gates opened so the crazed man could exit and die of his own volition.

After that event, Joseph made sure there were at least five fully armed Enforcers with him at all times when he travels through the city. While it would be infinitely safer for him to just remain inside the Hub at all times, Joseph felt it necessary for the people of Safe Haven to know their leader isn’t going to be deterred from running the city in person when need be, even if they are never allowed to approach him. Most ResEs are even barred from approaching Joseph unless explicitly allowed.

The only people allowed to be near Joseph with regularity are the other two Kings and his personal entourage of ResEs, and the entourage changes every so often at his discretion. Chase had told him before that he was paranoid, but Joseph knew better. He knew that Chase could not comprehend just how important Joseph was, how much a target he had become to any anarchic individuals. One errant fool with a gun, that’s all it would take for the perfect future for humanity to come crashing down.