CravingsLori was a scientist who came to Strangerville to work for the military. She wasn't in town long before she began to hear rumors that there was something, well,
strange going on where she worked. Though she'd seen nothing odd, she'd tried asking what she thought were innocuous questions. Apparently any questions that weren't directly tied to her work drew suspicion. She was forced out of her job, with "mental health problems" being the reason given.
This made Lori angry and suspicious, and as she worked for the love of learning, not simoleans, she began asking questions around town. There was nothing solid to go on, just things that made her feel uneasy and paranoid. When she ran into a former colleague, he told her that he was leaving town and getting as far away as possible. He also offered to sell her his bunker. She hadn't known that he'd even had a bunker, and he'd told her that no one in town knew. He'd been raised by preppers and brought in out of town labor to build what he felt would be a safe place, just in case. She'd checked it out, and found that it was structurally sound, underground, and completely camouflaged from the surface. It was fully stocked with food and medicine, and even had a hydroponic garden, as well as a sophisticated air and water filtration system. There was a generator, as well as a bicycle that could be used to top off the batteries when needed.
When she'd asked why he was selling it and leaving, he'd told Lori that he couldn't say much, but that things were getting weird and he just needed to get away from town. She decided to buy the place. She added her library and set up a small lab where she could analyze samples and perform some experiments if she wanted to.
She'd spent months there, barely leaving to grab things that she needed to make the bunker suit her better. One day she'd come home and gone to bed feeling cold and ill. When she got up, several days later, she felt weak and strange. She was also still chilled. She got a shock when she looked in the bathroom mirror. At first she didn't know what to do, but she decided to see if there was anything on the news before trying to reach a doctor. She didn't have a television, but the radio had reports about what some called a flu and others a virus. As the hours passed, the main radio stations went silent. From the ham radio, there were hysterical accounts about people that had become monstrous, mindless eating machines that would attack anyone who came near and try to consume them. Some said they were zombies, while others said ghouls. There were a very few who said that though their family members had changed in appearance, they weren't hurting anyone. Many who caught the virus just died. There was apparently looting and chaos spreading everywhere that Lori could get a signal from. Lori also began to feel cravings for something she couldn't identify. She was very surprised when she realized what it was that she craved. She still needed regular food, but without the other, she'd grow listless and weak.
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Lori in her bunker.Though Lori had never been very sociable, she'd never wanted anything bad to happen to other people. As her mood plummeted, she realized that she had to set up a schedule and keep to it before she sank into a depression she wouldn't be able to escape. She wrote up a detailed plan for what she'd do each day, while allowing for an occasional event that she would do as a mini-vacation. She called them: Formal Event and Party Event, Later, after a night of scavenging turned up some unusual items, she added another event: Special Party Event.
Her schedule was made up of cleaning the bunker, checking all of the various systems, making any necessary adjustments or repairs, using the bicycle to generate additional power to be stored, reading, and tending to the plants that helped clean the air, produced oxygen, and feed her normal appetite. She set up a special cravings room as well.
She'd cut her hair very short for easy maintenance, and since it didn't seem to grow as fast as before, she didn't have to tend it very often. At the same time each week, she used her ham radio to see if she could contact anyone to find out what was going on and if there was anyone working on a treatment or cure. She hoped that if she found someone who was, that maybe they'd be open to someone like her helping them. She also made occasional trips out to find anything she needed or thought that she could use.
She always went out at night because she didn't want to be spotted easily and mistaken for a monster by some immune person stupid enough to be looking for trouble. She neither wanted to get hurt by someone or be forced to hurt anyone herself. The infected seemed confused by her and mostly left her alone. When out grabbing clothes, she didn't care if they were for women, men, or boys. As long as they fit her well enough, and were the right colors, they were fine.
Her wardrobe had always favored black, gray, and purple, but now black dominated. It was just as well that she liked black and gray, because when she would wash her clothes, she had to wash them all together. If there'd been anything more colorful mixed in, it would doubtless have become dingy. She did have her one nice purple dressy outfit from before, a few items of jewelry, and a purple top that she used to wear when she wanted a bit of color. Those she treated carefully so that they would stay beautiful.
When she began feeling like the days were blurring together too much, it was time for one of her Events. For Formal Events, she'd dress up in her purple top and skirt, add her cute purple flats, put on her jewelry, then carefully add a bit of lipstick and blush to her now dark gray lips and cheeks. Most of the time, she forgot that the warm brown of her skin was gone, but doing this made her remember. She quickly became good at applying the makeup without a mirror in an attempt to forget. After dressing, she'd make a pitcher of mixed juices from her garden's produce and pour some into a cocktail glass. Then she'd put on some classical music and sip her drinks until they were gone. It wasn't very exciting, but the change in routine did her good, she thought.
Party Events were similar, except she wore a different outfit, put on a mix of blues, world, and metal music and danced instead.
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Lori dances during a Party Event.Then there were her Special Party Events. She saved them for when she felt really down and just outright odd. She'd know it was time for one. The outfit was a bit beaten up, but she didn't mind. The mask wasn't meant to go with it, she was sure, but it felt right. The shoes definitely went with it, and she became adept at creeping around in them silently. Then she was ready to go out. She didn't remember much about what she did those nights. She had vague memories of creeping around. She probably spooked anyone who saw her. She never found blood or anything like it on her clothes, so she was certain she wasn't hurting anyone. She also felt so much better after one of these nights that she couldn't give them up even with the peculiar lack of memory.
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Lori creeps up on a sim during a Special Party Event.After each Event, she'd go back to her usual schedule.
And so her days and nights went. On and on. Would things ever change?
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I wish I'd been up to doing this sooner. I hope you enjoyed learning more about Lori. ?
Edited to fix three small things that I missed last night.
