“After fleeing the bunk room, Jamie finds himself in a bathroom. The change is about to happen and he feels horrible. He presses the button on his watch that alerts Lee he is needed. Thankfully, only a few seconds go by and Lee appears. Jamie is visibly sweating and clearly uncomfortable. “Please...get me...out of here", he gasps haltingly to Lee. "I’m...burning...up...changing back!”
Lee grasps his arm firmly, and they instantly disappear, teleporting to the surveillance house. Jamie is unable to speak as the transformation continues to take hold of him. Intense heat radiates through his body as he transitions from a transparent ghost to a human with bone, cartilage, muscle and skin. Jamie's agony increases with each layer of healing. Those present in the room see Jamie transform from ghost to human in an instant. To Jamie the change seems to take forever. The pain, the heat, and the energy of the transformation have convinced him that he does not wish to do this again. But Jamie being the man he is, will do it in an instant if someone needs him.
As soon as Jamie is back to himself, he collapses on the couch. The recent developments are discussed with the Chief and Detective. Jamie explains that Damien wants to leave first thing in the morning. Since the Chief represents the syndicate's leader, he will place the call early. Noticing Jamie's obvious exhaustion, the Chief sends him to rest in the other room. Jamie texts Bekka letting her know he is out and safe before falling into a healing sleep.
Knowing that Jamie is back and safe with the others, Layla and Bekka set the books aside and fall asleep. They found a few more things that will help them with their preparations. The cats remain curled up watching over them as they sleep.
Elias follows Damien and Bert to the jewelry store, staying out of the way in case Bert senses him. Damien uses his skills to pick the lock and deactivate the alarm at the back of the store. The collection Bert is interested in acquiring is in the office section, not in the store. Once inside the building Bert leads the way to the vault. Damien quickly disables the alarm system and unlocks the doors.
There are two very sturdy safes and an enormous locked cabinet in the vault. "You don't need to bother with the safes. The collection is large and is most likely stored in the cabinet," Bert tells Damien as he leans over peering at the door to the cabinet as if he can see inside.
Damien turns his head and complains to Bert. "Dude, you need to back off and give me some space to work. I can’t do my job with you breathing down my neck. Go get a chair from one of the offices and position it in the doorway. If this alarm is triggered, I believe it will cause the door to close, locking us inside. Neither of us want that to happen. I need you to get out of the way."
With Bert out of the way, Damien hunches down and contemplates the intricate lock. He doesn't want to trigger a trap, even though the chair and Bert's body should prevent the door from shutting them in the room. He has missed the excitement of undercover work and opening locks has always been a fun challenge for him. He is enjoying the challenging locks that the Chief devised for him.
Damien takes his time as he works on the lock. After several minutes he finally bypasses the traps and the cabinet opens. The collection inside stuns him and he fervently hopes the team completed the substitution of the gems. They certainly look genuine to him.
Bert pushes Damien back. “Get out of the way!" Bert's eyes light up with excitement as he stares at the shimmering pink diamond collection. "Hand me the case," he orders.
Damien passes it to Bert, who carefully picks up each gem, admiring the beauty and cut as he places them into the case.
"Twelve rare pink diamonds, flawlessly cut. I could not have done it without you. You have earned your place with my organization anytime you want to leave the syndicate."
Back at headquarters, the criminals unwind with a few drinks while discussing their successful night's work. Bert shakes his head at Damien, stopping him from relating the story of the gem collection. Damien is puzzled as to why Bert is keeping it a secret until he remembers the treasures in the vault off Bert’s office. The crew probably knows nothing about what is really in that room.
Bert calls an end to the celebration, sending the others to rest or to go home and retreats to his office. Taking his time, he lovingly looks over each gem as he packs them away in a trunk. He gloats over the beauty of the gems wishing he didn't have to sell them. He has a buyer in mind, and the money from the sale will go to his private account in the islands of Sunlit Tides.
As Bert locks the trunk in his vault, his phone rings. He recognizes the gruff voice belonging to the syndicate leader. "I'll have him call you right away." Bert continues as he tries to charm the leader. "It was my pleasure having Dominic here, and I hope my own crew has learned a few things from him. It would be an honor to meet you and collaborate with you in the future." He soon discovers he is talking to dead air. The leader has hung up.
Bert bursts into the sleeping quarters shouting, rousing everyone. Damien climbs down from the bunk and makes the call as requested.
"Get dressed and gather your things. Come by my office before you leave. Dave, get ready and take Dominic to the bus station when I am done with him."
Bert hands Damien a tribute to take to the leader. "Did I ever tell you how I obtained these crystal skulls?" He notices Damien checking his watch. "It's a fascinating story, but I know you need to leave. I will save it for another time. I do hope to meet you again Dominic."
Mack is waiting at the stairwell as Dave and Damien arrive. “Ya know, you're not as bad as I thought you would be coming from the city. You’re all right. It was nice working with you."
"Same here. Stay in the shadows, man."
Dave stops Damien after they leave the building. "Just in case anyone is watching, we will go to the bus station. Enter the restroom, and the Chief will be waiting with your bag. Change your clothes, drink the potion he has and your appearance will change to that of Damien. He will drive you home. Jamie and Lee will meet you there. Any questions?"
Damien reaches out and shakes his hand. "No questions. Thank you for your help. It's been a pleasure working with you. Please stay safe."
Dave gives him a friendly smile. "I’ll be ok. Genie, remember?"
As they drive away, Damien looks out over the valley watching as the sun rises from behind the mountains. The sky is hazy and a musty scent is in the air. Rain is coming. It feels like he has been away from home for weeks rather than a few days. It hasn’t felt like home with Mary gone. He is grateful for Jamie and the others that will help him bring her home safely. He knows from Jamie that the Fates cannot help them. He bows his head and prays to God for strength and guidance for all of them in the days ahead. He thanks God for blessing him with Mary and begs Him to keep her safe and help them bring her home.
Bringing in some “psychological matters” into the story line. And expanding the pre-holocaust part of the story.
********************************
Stocking the Bunker
There was plenty to do. Replenishment shipments of supplies from both the Canadian Forces and the US Military were being shipped to the bunker to make sure that the occupants had food.
“XO, what do you make of the requisitioning?” Animal asked Meg.
“We have enough cold storage, sir, to put well over one million tons of perishable food (meat and vegetables) in storage. That would be enough food to keep 50 people fed for 100 years or more. Then we have seed shipments. All the cold storage is in the lower floor of the bunker. We have over 50 head of cattle, and 300 chickens. There is well over three million tons of grain feed in dry storage for both the cattle and the chickens to keep them fed for as long as we’re able to be fed.” Vice-Admiral Austin notified him, checking the sheets on her clipboard of all the information she’d garnered on her routine inspections.
“Good, on top of that we should have seeds in a refrigerated section of the bunker so that we can create a garden to grow vegetables and fruits.”
Meg nodded, “Agreed, sir. A garden will not only be necessary but will give training in agriculture to those who will take care of the farms during the recovery process.
Animal agreed with her; this was exactly what was necessary for long-term survival, growing foods within the bunker, making sure of adequate supplies and above all, having the trained personnel to take care of the agriculture. “What else do you think we need?”
“First aid supplies should be well-stocked, our armory, reloading our ammo; lead, gunpowder and primers. So that we can reload rounds. CBN Masks, filters, and other necessities.” She paused, consulting her list. “Have we had much communication with HQ, sir?”
“Not since I sent off the notification we got here. I think we’re expected to be black; no communications in or out other than lo-band. So the Russians and the Chinese don’t know we’re here.”
Meg nodded. That made sense. If they were going to survive the impending apocalypse, they would best be served by remaining quiet. The enemy would be monitoring hi-band frequencies. Subs communicated in lo-band or VLF and the bunker had VLF as well as UHF frequency transmitters, though disguised as a house with satellite TV to throw off any Russian satellites orbiting the earth.
“What do you figure are going to be the main needs within the bunker?” Animal asked Meg.
“Primarily the ability to maintain our food stocks to appropriate levels, access to clean water, secure shelter, ability to maintain our health in optimal condition…of course there are other things in the bottom tier that require taking care of such as morale and reproduction” Meg thought for a long moment as she flushed a little with embarrassment, “…at least those are the primary standards. If we don’t do that, we can’t survive. There are secondary needs, projected in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.”
@bekkasan ,as with @emorrill 's story, I won't read your new update yet because I have a lot of catching up to do. But I see that you've made a jail and a criminal hideout, and that sounds super interesting!
Posting in this thread stresses me out cause I don't have time to read it all and I don't want anyone to feel like I left them out or didn't enjoy their stories so I will just say.... hi to everyone and great job! so many great story tellers and photographers on here. And now I will try once again to keep up.
My Apocalypse/Rebuild the World Legacy Reboot has the Prologue and Chapter One written out now. We are looking at almost 15,000K words for those two chapters alone. Currently on Chapter Two which is currently sitting at almost 9K words just on its own. I may have to split it up in Parts for posting on the forums.
After I had once again satisfied my craving for pancakes, I made sure to pet and feed Yumi before following Palash to go to sleep. He had gone to bed a little earlier than me this night, complaining about a headache and feeling tired.
However, when I came into the bedroom, I didn't find him sleeping like I expected. He was wide awake and clearly upset. I asked him what was wrong, and he said he had tried to go to sleep, but it was impossible, because as soon as he tried to fall asleep he had gotten these thoughts that something was going to happen to either us or someone in the family.
It wasn't unusual for him to get some wild ideas every now and then, where he would begin to ramble on about... I don't know, anything from how the moon landing was a fake or how our government is controlled by a secret cult sacrificing babies or something, but it was a little different this time. Usually he would be pretty clear and concise about his ideas, no matter how far out they were, but this time he was surprisingly vague. He just kept repeating how it was all based on a feeling that something was happening or going to happen to a family member, but he couldn't answer what he thought it was.
He was so serious about it, for a while I got a little concerned too, that maybe he was talking about our little one.. that I would end up having a.. a miscarriage, but.. I didn't want to share that with him.. I know that.. children is.. I know how important family is to him, and I didn't want to say anything to upset him further...
I managed to put that thought away and gave him a hug to calm him down, doing my best to ensure him that everyone was probably alright, and that we could call his family or visit them tomorrow to hear if everything was alright. It was probably to late to call anyone now at this hour.
He wasn't to convinced, but agreed to try again to go to sleep saying he would call his mom and then his sister living on the east coast first thing in the morning.
I had such sweet dreams again this night.. at first... this time, it was a boy. A young handsome little man, and I was so proud! It was a sweet summer day, and I was so proud to show him off to everyone in town when I was out walking with him in the stroller!
In the dream it felt so good... and I hoped that I would never wake up, even though I knew that in 7 months time or so, it could be a reality..
..but underneath all that, Palashs concerns must have gotten to me, because quickly the dream became a lot more unpleasant.. I was about to cross the road to take him to the park so that he could meet and play with some of the other toddlers there, when summer all of a sudden became winter, and I was knee deep in snow!
The sun disappeared, night fell and it was snowing heavily, and right as I was in the middle of the road, an ambulance, of all things, came speeding down the road and hit the... it was so awful, the ambulance just barely missed me, but took the stroller with my baby boy with it..
I broke down crying on the street watching the ambulance drive away with full sirens on, and there was no longer any sign of my baby boy or the stroller. When the ambulance was gone, the remaining echo of the sirens gradually turned into the sound of a phone ringing...
..and a phone was ringing. We didn't even get the time to wake up by ourselves to call Palashs relatives. His mom already called him. It turns out Palash wasn't concerned without reason. What an absolutely eerie thing! Just last night his father had a stroke and was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance!
He agreed to meet up with his family to go see his dad at the hospital, right away after breakfast! His mom had assured him that the doctors had gotten rid of the stroke, and that his dad was good and on his way to recover, but Palash was still worried. I didn't think I would need to go to the hospital this soon, but now there was no other choice...
I was surprised to see how much it had snowed during the night, and we had to spend a few minutes brushing off the snow and deicing the car before we could go. We wouldn't normally get this amount of snow until late january or early february, if at all, so this was definately an usual day in every way!
We took my car to go, and I had to tell Palash several times to be easy on the gas. I understood he wanted to get there as fast as possible, but I didn't want to end up in a car accident...
---
P.S: I consider this not a complete update. Normally I would wait until I had "everything done", but this is as far as I got today, and I'm .. kind of trying something new here. Maybe it's better to post something shorter as I go along. Of course, now that it's done, I can't go back and change this part if I should want to. :P
Hey so does anyone know what add on for SP I need to have the option to disable friendly visitors?
So tired of random sims coming and knocking on my door all the time.Just had some teen come knock on my door and when I didn't answer he started fishing in my pond XD
I know the option is SP---Situations--Friendly Visitor
But my SP is missing the friendly visitor option, so I assume I am missing one of the add ons
Kenny's new haircut @emorrill and @bekkasan I wanted it to look like he just slicked down his mohawk.
Oh and I gave him less facial hair.
Cuddlin on the couch
It was Spooky Day, so I made Chrissy her own outfit. She's a cow. Just in case you couldn't tell. And, yeah, I know female cows don't have horns okay but they looked cute. But, apparently, this costume bored Lady Lala.
Pork and beef living together in harmony. Isn't it beautiful?
Apparently the party was a huge success. But really it just seemed like a bunch of weirdos came over in costumes to sit and watch my TV, but hey, if they enjoyed themselves then I'm happy.
Derek: Honey, Guess what I just did?
Elizabeth: It doesn't have anything to do with a once in a lifetime money
saving offer does it?
Derek: No.What would you say to a family portrait?
Elizabeth: Of who's family?
Derek...Ours.
Elizabeth; Why do we need that?
Derek: Cause this came today..-holds up flyer-
Elizabeth: One of your movies are having a cast reunion?
Spare me.
Derek: What happened to your spirit?
Elizabeth: I lost it on prom night..
Derek: They want a family portrait of each cast member's family.
Elizabeth: Ugh..why?
Derek: People will be watching this reunion, we should send the
best photo we can.
Elizabeth: Whose lame brain idea was this? oh maker...Its Phyllis Zinner...
I hate that actress. Such a pointy head little phony.
Derek: ...Aren't you expressive?
Elizabeth: You know why she wants a picture? So she can make sure her
life turned out better than yours.
Derek: Amber, what are you looking at?
Amber: Photos from the movie premier...boy have you changed.
Derek: Why are you here?
Amber: To make sure this hot photographer you hired doesn't mess things
up.
Amber: Oh look, Phyllis Zinner....
Elizabeth: Quick, destroy the photo.
Amber: I can't believe Derek ever took her out.
Elizabeth: He never took her out.
Amber: He did, the week that you ran off.
Elizabeth: No way...
Amber: He never told you that?
Elizabeth: No...
Amber:...um...you look very nice today.
Derek: What about this spot for the photo?
Elizabeth: I don't know Derek, we should ask phyllis Zinner.
Derek: Why should we care what she thinks?
Elizabeth: Because 4 years ago, we dated her behind our back.
Derek: What are you talking about?
Elizabeth: 4 years of lies.
Peter: Maybe we should do this another time.
Elizabeth: You went out with someone else and you didn't tell me about.
Derek: Our photographer is on a busy schedule, could this wait?
Elizabeth: Another four years.Peter let me ask you something, do
you think its a low down mean thing to lie to your girlfriend/wife
for four years?
Peter; How many years?
Derek: Since we're on the subject, lets talk about your friend.
Elizabeth: You leave her out of this.
Derek: Why does she have to open her big mouth..Amber!
Amber: Yeah?
Derek: Why did you have to tell her about Phyllis?
Amber: Sorry Derek, I thought you would have told her by now.
Derek: There was nothing to tell..It was one measley date.
Elizabeth: If there was nothing to tell, then why didn't mention it
when I came back.
Derek: I was trying to protect you.
Elizabeth: From what?
Derek: Lets forget about it.
Elizabeth: I wanna know why you went out with her in the first place.
Derek: You left, what was I suppose to do?
Elizabeth: Try to get me back?
Derek: I did try, you wouldn't answer me.
Elizabeth: What did you do on this date?
Derek: Nothing, we hopped in our limo and we
went for a ride.
Elizabeth: So you just rode around? Didn't stop anywhere?
Derek: We might have stopped somewhere.
Elizabeth; Where did you stop?
Derek: Just at the lighthouse..
Elizabeth: Did you share a moment with her?
Derek: Elizabeth...
Elizabeth: Well...Did you?
Derek: ..Yes.
Derek: Where are you going?
Elizabeth: To my parents and don't follow me.
Derek: Elizabeth...lets be rational about this.
Elizabeth: You obviously mistaken me for someone who cares.
Peter: You have such a big mouth don't you.
Amber: I didn't know it would cause an episode!
Peter: Everything you do, causes an episode.
Elizabeth: Hey Dad, is mom home?
Henry: She sure is.How's my baby grandson doing?
Elizabeth: Just fine dad...Derek and I had an arguement.Mind
if we stay here tonight.
Henry: Not at all, but your mom is gonna wanna know what happened.
Derek: Hi, Charlotte..Is Elizabeth here?
Charlotee: She is Derek, but I don't know if she wants to speak
to you.
Derek: I take it she told you what we were arguing about.
Charlotte: I managed to get bits and pieces.
Elizabeth: I told you not to follow me.Go home Derek.
Derek: Not until you both come home.
Elizabeth: I'm not in the mood to talk.
Derek: Elizabeth, it was four years ago...And technically, we weren't
even a couple then..
Elizabeth: I still think you should have told me.
You were all big on "I trust you, but not him." Hypocrite.
Derek: I should have, okay! I'm sorry. I can't take it back.
What do you want me to do? Go back in time?
Elizabeth: I want you to go home for now.I'll come home in the morning.
Derek: Fine...I give up.
later that night, Elizabeth decided to come home.
She walked into her house being robbed, nearly stumbling into
the burglar.She managed to call 911.The ruckus caused everyone
else to wake up.After the police left, she went to bed without a word
to anyone.
The next morning.
Derek: At least you still love me...Its a good thing you're too young
to understand..
@Sprottenham , I love your blurry pictures of the nightmare, they are very effective!
@Emily4331 , I love the kiss between the cow and the hot dog! People just sitting down and watching TV, honestly, sounds like some parties I've been to in real life.
In my previous update Audrey, single mother to Janella, successfully tried for baby again, but this time with a different father.
Since she's soon going to need all the help she can get at home, she went to the cemetery to explore the catacombs in hope of finding a magic lamp. She found nothing, and only got attacked by zombie bears.
Meanwhile Nathanial, the father of her future child, got engaged to another woman.
In a few days Janella is going to age up to teen and Audrey will have her hands full with the new baby, so I made sure to focus on their quality time together.
After school Janella wished to play hopscotch, so Audrey took her to a little square in town where there's a hopscotch court.
Playing made them hungry, so they had supper at the bistro. (There was a townie sitting down and meditating while they were eating.)
The next day was Love Day, and they went to the Spring Festival to search for eggs. By this time Audrey had already received her pregnancy notification and changed into maternity clothes.
In the meantime Nathanial was on a date with his fiancée...
@Sprottenham I must not have refreshed this morning before posting my comments. I totally missed your update on the city life.
It looks like a nice city.
I think subways are important for city life so good idea to build them.
Cool builds of the subway interiors.
looks like some mysterious stuff going on further down.
I laughed seeing the cat on the counter eating food.
Hmm, cat germs!
Oh my! What a horrible nightmare! That picture of the crash was incredible. Fantastic job.
And his premonition came true!
Great update.
@Turjan lol, that is one way to get everyone home.
Thank you! Yes!! Lots of holding and hugs and love in store. It was a strange sensation holding her at 8 lbs versus my grandson's 27 lbs.
I like the way the house turned out. The colors are perfect making it blend right into the sand and water.
I don't make simbots but beekeeper sounds like the perfect job if I do.
I really do need to use the philosopher's stone! Once I have a decent collection of death flowers.
That is really pretty lighting in the last picture with your sims playing chess.
@Astro Lovely honeymoon.
Good luck with the new job.
Congrats to Amy on her new pregnancy.
Bonehilda is so fun when she isn't terrorizing infants, toddlers and dogs.
Congrats to Myra and Leighton on the pregnancy.
@emorrill I think I was posting that story elsewhere and not on your thread or in creative corner. Sorry.
That picture did turn out great. He was actually playing with his nephew and his wife had their little girl. I had them bring the two littlest ones to the beach that day.
Thank you! Being a grandma is such a blessing.
@PalmArrow Great pics of Mom and daughter!
Oh, congrats her/them on the baby.
Does the other father visit Janelle? I had a male sim that had a child with Elvira. He took the baby when it was born and raised their son. Elvira would come by the house occasionally as if to visit the child. She would stay for a little bit and then leave. It was interesting to see her do that. I eventually moved them to another town and left Elvira in Bridgeport. I did invite her over for his birthday and she came, visited and left.
Thank you! We are over the moon happy having her here.
Thanks for the comment. I hope you have time to catch up. I'm writing slower as working got busier.
Oh bummer about his engagement to another woman.
Nice she will be aging up as teens can help with babies.
@Emily4331 Yaay for mohawk being gone! I actually like that new cut for him considering ya know I love the long hair on guys! But that one suits him much better.
I do like that jacket! Is it a set or separates?
Chef looks like a cutie pie!
Glad to see they were able to move to better quarters.
hehe, sexy cow for sure!
@GraceyManor Yum! Derek's a fireman!
Lovely bonding time for Derek and Michael!
Ah man, I knew it was too good to be true. Silly Elizabeth, past is past, break is a break. Yes, I was with Ross on that one. I bet she doesn't disclose every stray thought about a hot guy in a uniform does she?
Glad she decided to go home. No grudges allowed Elizabeth!
@ZeeGee Thanks, I love seeing you pop in and wish you didn't let it stress you.
I'm moving slower on the story as work and life got busier. Guess that is a good thing?
@Nikkei_Simmer I've been writing my story in goggle docs but never thought to see how wordy I am. I'll check later today because now I am curious. I know you definitely have more words then me.
I went back into memory lane again after asking @PalmArrow if the father visited Janelle. This is my sim Jamie (not related to the Jamie in my Mary story. I just like that name ) who was a bit of a player in Bridgeport and got Elvira pregnant. Elvira was in a relationship with William, another vampire so she did not want the child. She did come by and visit occasionally. Jamie raised the child (turned out to be a vampire) after it was born eventually marrying his childhood best friend Lea who he fell in love with.
This is the baby as a toddler. Loved this little one. His name was Jesse.
@bekkasan , so Jamie was your active sim and Elvira would come to visit him and the baby on her own? I love that! In my case, Janella's father Roderick is still technically Audrey's boyfriend and he came to Janella's birthday party because he was invited,but he doesn't initiate any contact on his own. That's one of the reasons I didn't feel bad about Audrey trying for baby with another sim.
@PalmArrow LOL honestly, the party was pretty accurate to real life. Except there wasn't a cat or dog for the shy person (me lol) to go pet instead of interacting with people.
Peter: Morning Elizabeth, where you going with your food?
Elizabeth: To sit on the patio
Derek: -rolls eyes- She's still mad at me.
Elizabeth said nothing to Derek's snarky comment and left the room.
Elizabeth sat on the back patio in silence, enjoying a bit of solitude.
Derek: Amber's got a sense of humor.She asked if we were getting
a divorce...Are we?
Elizabeth: Did I forget to tell you I'm not talking to you.
Derek: I wanna tell you everything that happened.
Elizabeth: Again, you obviously mistaken me for someone who cares.
Derek: I guess when you left, I was trying to prove something to myself.
I don't know why I picked her.
Elizabeth: -glares at Derek-
Derek: Alright, I know why..She just broke up with her boyfriend,
ran into at the diner, we went for a ride and ended up out at the lighthouse.
That's it.
Elizabeth: I don't understand how it just happens.
Derek: Well, you start with 4 bottles of nectar..
Elizabeth: Well, buy me a whole case so I can get together with the Chicago Bears.
Derek: ....look what happened that long ago, doesn't have anything do with us now.
Elizabeth: Then how come I'm sitting here wondering what else I don't know about you.
Derek: Trust me?
Elizabeth: Maker I hate you.
Elizabeth: I swear somedays I wanna smack you.
Derek: I love you to
Derek: Its bed time.
Michael: No.
Derek: Yes.
Michael: No.
Derek: In you go.
Nothing so far; at hospital ER, thanks to box cutter accident trying to change cat litter and brain malfunction between left hand and right hand. Happy Days 🙄
Update: have made it home and am now resting. Doc gave me choice of “stitches or glue”. Since I was getting a shot for tetanus, I decided, Yeah, I’m going with “glue”…and be gentle with the finger for a few weeks until I’m able to take the bandages off. 😐
Comments
Mary Kendall, A Ghost Story
Pink Diamonds
“After fleeing the bunk room, Jamie finds himself in a bathroom. The change is about to happen and he feels horrible. He presses the button on his watch that alerts Lee he is needed. Thankfully, only a few seconds go by and Lee appears. Jamie is visibly sweating and clearly uncomfortable. “Please...get me...out of here", he gasps haltingly to Lee. "I’m...burning...up...changing back!”
Lee grasps his arm firmly, and they instantly disappear, teleporting to the surveillance house. Jamie is unable to speak as the transformation continues to take hold of him. Intense heat radiates through his body as he transitions from a transparent ghost to a human with bone, cartilage, muscle and skin. Jamie's agony increases with each layer of healing. Those present in the room see Jamie transform from ghost to human in an instant. To Jamie the change seems to take forever. The pain, the heat, and the energy of the transformation have convinced him that he does not wish to do this again. But Jamie being the man he is, will do it in an instant if someone needs him.
As soon as Jamie is back to himself, he collapses on the couch. The recent developments are discussed with the Chief and Detective. Jamie explains that Damien wants to leave first thing in the morning. Since the Chief represents the syndicate's leader, he will place the call early. Noticing Jamie's obvious exhaustion, the Chief sends him to rest in the other room. Jamie texts Bekka letting her know he is out and safe before falling into a healing sleep.
Knowing that Jamie is back and safe with the others, Layla and Bekka set the books aside and fall asleep. They found a few more things that will help them with their preparations. The cats remain curled up watching over them as they sleep.
Elias follows Damien and Bert to the jewelry store, staying out of the way in case Bert senses him. Damien uses his skills to pick the lock and deactivate the alarm at the back of the store. The collection Bert is interested in acquiring is in the office section, not in the store. Once inside the building Bert leads the way to the vault. Damien quickly disables the alarm system and unlocks the doors.
There are two very sturdy safes and an enormous locked cabinet in the vault. "You don't need to bother with the safes. The collection is large and is most likely stored in the cabinet," Bert tells Damien as he leans over peering at the door to the cabinet as if he can see inside.
Damien turns his head and complains to Bert. "Dude, you need to back off and give me some space to work. I can’t do my job with you breathing down my neck. Go get a chair from one of the offices and position it in the doorway. If this alarm is triggered, I believe it will cause the door to close, locking us inside. Neither of us want that to happen. I need you to get out of the way."
With Bert out of the way, Damien hunches down and contemplates the intricate lock. He doesn't want to trigger a trap, even though the chair and Bert's body should prevent the door from shutting them in the room. He has missed the excitement of undercover work and opening locks has always been a fun challenge for him. He is enjoying the challenging locks that the Chief devised for him.
Damien takes his time as he works on the lock. After several minutes he finally bypasses the traps and the cabinet opens. The collection inside stuns him and he fervently hopes the team completed the substitution of the gems. They certainly look genuine to him.
Bert pushes Damien back. “Get out of the way!" Bert's eyes light up with excitement as he stares at the shimmering pink diamond collection. "Hand me the case," he orders.
Damien passes it to Bert, who carefully picks up each gem, admiring the beauty and cut as he places them into the case.
"Twelve rare pink diamonds, flawlessly cut. I could not have done it without you. You have earned your place with my organization anytime you want to leave the syndicate."
Back at headquarters, the criminals unwind with a few drinks while discussing their successful night's work. Bert shakes his head at Damien, stopping him from relating the story of the gem collection. Damien is puzzled as to why Bert is keeping it a secret until he remembers the treasures in the vault off Bert’s office. The crew probably knows nothing about what is really in that room.
Bert calls an end to the celebration, sending the others to rest or to go home and retreats to his office. Taking his time, he lovingly looks over each gem as he packs them away in a trunk. He gloats over the beauty of the gems wishing he didn't have to sell them. He has a buyer in mind, and the money from the sale will go to his private account in the islands of Sunlit Tides.
As Bert locks the trunk in his vault, his phone rings. He recognizes the gruff voice belonging to the syndicate leader. "I'll have him call you right away." Bert continues as he tries to charm the leader. "It was my pleasure having Dominic here, and I hope my own crew has learned a few things from him. It would be an honor to meet you and collaborate with you in the future." He soon discovers he is talking to dead air. The leader has hung up.
Bert bursts into the sleeping quarters shouting, rousing everyone. Damien climbs down from the bunk and makes the call as requested.
"Get dressed and gather your things. Come by my office before you leave. Dave, get ready and take Dominic to the bus station when I am done with him."
Bert hands Damien a tribute to take to the leader. "Did I ever tell you how I obtained these crystal skulls?" He notices Damien checking his watch. "It's a fascinating story, but I know you need to leave. I will save it for another time. I do hope to meet you again Dominic."
Mack is waiting at the stairwell as Dave and Damien arrive. “Ya know, you're not as bad as I thought you would be coming from the city. You’re all right. It was nice working with you."
"Same here. Stay in the shadows, man."
Dave stops Damien after they leave the building. "Just in case anyone is watching, we will go to the bus station. Enter the restroom, and the Chief will be waiting with your bag. Change your clothes, drink the potion he has and your appearance will change to that of Damien. He will drive you home. Jamie and Lee will meet you there. Any questions?"
Damien reaches out and shakes his hand. "No questions. Thank you for your help. It's been a pleasure working with you. Please stay safe."
Dave gives him a friendly smile. "I’ll be ok. Genie, remember?"
As they drive away, Damien looks out over the valley watching as the sun rises from behind the mountains. The sky is hazy and a musty scent is in the air. Rain is coming. It feels like he has been away from home for weeks rather than a few days. It hasn’t felt like home with Mary gone. He is grateful for Jamie and the others that will help him bring her home safely. He knows from Jamie that the Fates cannot help them. He bows his head and prays to God for strength and guidance for all of them in the days ahead. He thanks God for blessing him with Mary and begs Him to keep her safe and help them bring her home.
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
********************************
Stocking the Bunker
There was plenty to do. Replenishment shipments of supplies from both the Canadian Forces and the US Military were being shipped to the bunker to make sure that the occupants had food.
“XO, what do you make of the requisitioning?” Animal asked Meg.
“We have enough cold storage, sir, to put well over one million tons of perishable food (meat and vegetables) in storage. That would be enough food to keep 50 people fed for 100 years or more. Then we have seed shipments. All the cold storage is in the lower floor of the bunker. We have over 50 head of cattle, and 300 chickens. There is well over three million tons of grain feed in dry storage for both the cattle and the chickens to keep them fed for as long as we’re able to be fed.” Vice-Admiral Austin notified him, checking the sheets on her clipboard of all the information she’d garnered on her routine inspections.
“Good, on top of that we should have seeds in a refrigerated section of the bunker so that we can create a garden to grow vegetables and fruits.”
Meg nodded, “Agreed, sir. A garden will not only be necessary but will give training in agriculture to those who will take care of the farms during the recovery process.
Animal agreed with her; this was exactly what was necessary for long-term survival, growing foods within the bunker, making sure of adequate supplies and above all, having the trained personnel to take care of the agriculture. “What else do you think we need?”
“First aid supplies should be well-stocked, our armory, reloading our ammo; lead, gunpowder and primers. So that we can reload rounds. CBN Masks, filters, and other necessities.” She paused, consulting her list. “Have we had much communication with HQ, sir?”
“Not since I sent off the notification we got here. I think we’re expected to be black; no communications in or out other than lo-band. So the Russians and the Chinese don’t know we’re here.”
Meg nodded. That made sense. If they were going to survive the impending apocalypse, they would best be served by remaining quiet. The enemy would be monitoring hi-band frequencies. Subs communicated in lo-band or VLF and the bunker had VLF as well as UHF frequency transmitters, though disguised as a house with satellite TV to throw off any Russian satellites orbiting the earth.
“What do you figure are going to be the main needs within the bunker?” Animal asked Meg.
“Primarily the ability to maintain our food stocks to appropriate levels, access to clean water, secure shelter, ability to maintain our health in optimal condition…of course there are other things in the bottom tier that require taking care of such as morale and reproduction” Meg thought for a long moment as she flushed a little with embarrassment, “…at least those are the primary standards. If we don’t do that, we can’t survive. There are secondary needs, projected in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.”
@bekkasan That looks amazing! Somewhere along the line I forgot about Mary and her story. Need to catch up with that too.
@Turjan Hope the OMSP works!
Posting in this thread stresses me out cause I don't have time to read it all and I don't want anyone to feel like I left them out or didn't enjoy their stories so I will just say.... hi to everyone and great job! so many great story tellers and photographers on here. And now I will try once again to keep up.
Sofias notes:
After I had once again satisfied my craving for pancakes, I made sure to pet and feed Yumi before following Palash to go to sleep. He had gone to bed a little earlier than me this night, complaining about a headache and feeling tired.
However, when I came into the bedroom, I didn't find him sleeping like I expected. He was wide awake and clearly upset. I asked him what was wrong, and he said he had tried to go to sleep, but it was impossible, because as soon as he tried to fall asleep he had gotten these thoughts that something was going to happen to either us or someone in the family.
It wasn't unusual for him to get some wild ideas every now and then, where he would begin to ramble on about... I don't know, anything from how the moon landing was a fake or how our government is controlled by a secret cult sacrificing babies or something, but it was a little different this time. Usually he would be pretty clear and concise about his ideas, no matter how far out they were, but this time he was surprisingly vague. He just kept repeating how it was all based on a feeling that something was happening or going to happen to a family member, but he couldn't answer what he thought it was.
He was so serious about it, for a while I got a little concerned too, that maybe he was talking about our little one.. that I would end up having a.. a miscarriage, but.. I didn't want to share that with him.. I know that.. children is.. I know how important family is to him, and I didn't want to say anything to upset him further...
I managed to put that thought away and gave him a hug to calm him down, doing my best to ensure him that everyone was probably alright, and that we could call his family or visit them tomorrow to hear if everything was alright. It was probably to late to call anyone now at this hour.
He wasn't to convinced, but agreed to try again to go to sleep saying he would call his mom and then his sister living on the east coast first thing in the morning.
I had such sweet dreams again this night.. at first... this time, it was a boy. A young handsome little man, and I was so proud! It was a sweet summer day, and I was so proud to show him off to everyone in town when I was out walking with him in the stroller!
In the dream it felt so good... and I hoped that I would never wake up, even though I knew that in 7 months time or so, it could be a reality..
..but underneath all that, Palashs concerns must have gotten to me, because quickly the dream became a lot more unpleasant.. I was about to cross the road to take him to the park so that he could meet and play with some of the other toddlers there, when summer all of a sudden became winter, and I was knee deep in snow!
The sun disappeared, night fell and it was snowing heavily, and right as I was in the middle of the road, an ambulance, of all things, came speeding down the road and hit the... it was so awful, the ambulance just barely missed me, but took the stroller with my baby boy with it..
I broke down crying on the street watching the ambulance drive away with full sirens on, and there was no longer any sign of my baby boy or the stroller. When the ambulance was gone, the remaining echo of the sirens gradually turned into the sound of a phone ringing...
..and a phone was ringing. We didn't even get the time to wake up by ourselves to call Palashs relatives. His mom already called him. It turns out Palash wasn't concerned without reason. What an absolutely eerie thing! Just last night his father had a stroke and was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance!
He agreed to meet up with his family to go see his dad at the hospital, right away after breakfast! His mom had assured him that the doctors had gotten rid of the stroke, and that his dad was good and on his way to recover, but Palash was still worried. I didn't think I would need to go to the hospital this soon, but now there was no other choice...
I was surprised to see how much it had snowed during the night, and we had to spend a few minutes brushing off the snow and deicing the car before we could go. We wouldn't normally get this amount of snow until late january or early february, if at all, so this was definately an usual day in every way!
We took my car to go, and I had to tell Palash several times to be easy on the gas. I understood he wanted to get there as fast as possible, but I didn't want to end up in a car accident...
---
P.S: I consider this not a complete update. Normally I would wait until I had "everything done", but this is as far as I got today, and I'm .. kind of trying something new here. Maybe it's better to post something shorter as I go along. Of course, now that it's done, I can't go back and change this part if I should want to. :P
Sub blogs: #01 Sunset Valley. #02: Lake Onebega #03: Sprottenham #04: Bewickton
So tired of random sims coming and knocking on my door all the time.Just had some teen come knock on my door and when I didn't answer he started fishing in my pond XD
I know the option is SP---Situations--Friendly Visitor
But my SP is missing the friendly visitor option, so I assume I am missing one of the add ons
https://graceymanorsims3.tumblr.com/
Oh and I gave him less facial hair.
Cuddlin on the couch
It was Spooky Day, so I made Chrissy her own outfit. She's a cow. Just in case you couldn't tell.
Pork and beef living together in harmony. Isn't it beautiful?
Apparently the party was a huge success. But really it just seemed like a bunch of weirdos came over in costumes to sit and watch my TV, but hey, if they enjoyed themselves then I'm happy.
*Insert Game Here* to TS3 Conversions by yours truly!
My CC blog!
Derek: Honey, Guess what I just did?
Elizabeth: It doesn't have anything to do with a once in a lifetime money
saving offer does it?
Derek: No.What would you say to a family portrait?
Elizabeth: Of who's family?
Derek...Ours.
Elizabeth; Why do we need that?
Derek: Cause this came today..-holds up flyer-
Elizabeth: One of your movies are having a cast reunion?
Spare me.
Derek: What happened to your spirit?
Elizabeth: I lost it on prom night..
Derek: They want a family portrait of each cast member's family.
Elizabeth: Ugh..why?
Derek: People will be watching this reunion, we should send the
best photo we can.
Elizabeth: Whose lame brain idea was this? oh maker...Its Phyllis Zinner...
I hate that actress. Such a pointy head little phony.
Derek: ...Aren't you expressive?
Elizabeth: You know why she wants a picture? So she can make sure her
life turned out better than yours.
Derek: Amber, what are you looking at?
Amber: Photos from the movie premier...boy have you changed.
Derek: Why are you here?
Amber: To make sure this hot photographer you hired doesn't mess things
up.
Amber: Oh look, Phyllis Zinner....
Elizabeth: Quick, destroy the photo.
Amber: I can't believe Derek ever took her out.
Elizabeth: He never took her out.
Amber: He did, the week that you ran off.
Elizabeth: No way...
Amber: He never told you that?
Elizabeth: No...
Amber:...um...you look very nice today.
Derek: What about this spot for the photo?
Elizabeth: I don't know Derek, we should ask phyllis Zinner.
Derek: Why should we care what she thinks?
Elizabeth: Because 4 years ago, we dated her behind our back.
Derek: What are you talking about?
Elizabeth: 4 years of lies.
Peter: Maybe we should do this another time.
Elizabeth: You went out with someone else and you didn't tell me about.
Derek: Our photographer is on a busy schedule, could this wait?
Elizabeth: Another four years.Peter let me ask you something, do
you think its a low down mean thing to lie to your girlfriend/wife
for four years?
Peter; How many years?
Derek: Since we're on the subject, lets talk about your friend.
Elizabeth: You leave her out of this.
Derek: Why does she have to open her big mouth..Amber!
Amber: Yeah?
Derek: Why did you have to tell her about Phyllis?
Amber: Sorry Derek, I thought you would have told her by now.
Derek: There was nothing to tell..It was one measley date.
Elizabeth: If there was nothing to tell, then why didn't mention it
when I came back.
Derek: I was trying to protect you.
Elizabeth: From what?
Derek: Lets forget about it.
Elizabeth: I wanna know why you went out with her in the first place.
Derek: You left, what was I suppose to do?
Elizabeth: Try to get me back?
Derek: I did try, you wouldn't answer me.
Elizabeth: What did you do on this date?
Derek: Nothing, we hopped in our limo and we
went for a ride.
Elizabeth: So you just rode around? Didn't stop anywhere?
Derek: We might have stopped somewhere.
Elizabeth; Where did you stop?
Derek: Just at the lighthouse..
Elizabeth: Did you share a moment with her?
Derek: Elizabeth...
Elizabeth: Well...Did you?
Derek: ..Yes.
Derek: Where are you going?
Elizabeth: To my parents and don't follow me.
Derek: Elizabeth...lets be rational about this.
Elizabeth: You obviously mistaken me for someone who cares.
Peter: You have such a big mouth don't you.
Amber: I didn't know it would cause an episode!
Peter: Everything you do, causes an episode.
https://graceymanorsims3.tumblr.com/
Elizabeth: Hey Dad, is mom home?
Henry: She sure is.How's my baby grandson doing?
Elizabeth: Just fine dad...Derek and I had an arguement.Mind
if we stay here tonight.
Henry: Not at all, but your mom is gonna wanna know what happened.
Derek: Hi, Charlotte..Is Elizabeth here?
Charlotee: She is Derek, but I don't know if she wants to speak
to you.
Derek: I take it she told you what we were arguing about.
Charlotte: I managed to get bits and pieces.
Elizabeth: I told you not to follow me.Go home Derek.
Derek: Not until you both come home.
Elizabeth: I'm not in the mood to talk.
Derek: Elizabeth, it was four years ago...And technically, we weren't
even a couple then..
Elizabeth: I still think you should have told me.
You were all big on "I trust you, but not him." Hypocrite.
Derek: I should have, okay! I'm sorry. I can't take it back.
What do you want me to do? Go back in time?
Elizabeth: I want you to go home for now.I'll come home in the morning.
Derek: Fine...I give up.
later that night, Elizabeth decided to come home.
She walked into her house being robbed, nearly stumbling into
the burglar.She managed to call 911.The ruckus caused everyone
else to wake up.After the police left, she went to bed without a word
to anyone.
The next morning.
Derek: At least you still love me...Its a good thing you're too young
to understand..
Derek: -sniffs- Eww..you need a bath.
https://graceymanorsims3.tumblr.com/
@Emily4331 , I love the kiss between the cow and the hot dog! People just sitting down and watching TV, honestly, sounds like some parties I've been to in real life.
Since she's soon going to need all the help she can get at home, she went to the cemetery to explore the catacombs in hope of finding a magic lamp. She found nothing, and only got attacked by zombie bears.
Meanwhile Nathanial, the father of her future child, got engaged to another woman.
In a few days Janella is going to age up to teen and Audrey will have her hands full with the new baby, so I made sure to focus on their quality time together.
After school Janella wished to play hopscotch, so Audrey took her to a little square in town where there's a hopscotch court.
Playing made them hungry, so they had supper at the bistro. (There was a townie sitting down and meditating while they were eating.)
The next day was Love Day, and they went to the Spring Festival to search for eggs. By this time Audrey had already received her pregnancy notification and changed into maternity clothes.
In the meantime Nathanial was on a date with his fiancée...
... and later that night they got married.
@PalmArrow Thanks, I looked at the picture right before the ambulance hits the baby carriage and almost got a little freaked out myself! :P
It's not just regular zombies, but zombie bears even. Scary. :P
Hmm, it looks like Audrey is deliberately trying to live like a single mom? :P
Sub blogs: #01 Sunset Valley. #02: Lake Onebega #03: Sprottenham #04: Bewickton
@Sprottenham I must not have refreshed this morning before posting my comments. I totally missed your update on the city life.
It looks like a nice city.
I think subways are important for city life so good idea to build them.
Cool builds of the subway interiors.
looks like some mysterious stuff going on further down.
I laughed seeing the cat on the counter eating food.
Hmm, cat germs!
Oh my! What a horrible nightmare! That picture of the crash was incredible. Fantastic job.
And his premonition came true!
Great update.
@Turjan lol, that is one way to get everyone home.
Thank you! Yes!! Lots of holding and hugs and love in store. It was a strange sensation holding her at 8 lbs versus my grandson's 27 lbs.
I like the way the house turned out. The colors are perfect making it blend right into the sand and water.
I don't make simbots but beekeeper sounds like the perfect job if I do.
I really do need to use the philosopher's stone!
That is really pretty lighting in the last picture with your sims playing chess.
@Astro Lovely honeymoon.
Good luck with the new job.
Congrats to Amy on her new pregnancy.
Bonehilda is so fun when she isn't terrorizing infants, toddlers and dogs.
Congrats to Myra and Leighton on the pregnancy.
@Puddinroy Hey! Thank you!
@Karritz Thank you!
@emorrill I think I was posting that story elsewhere and not on your thread or in creative corner. Sorry.
That picture did turn out great. He was actually playing with his nephew and his wife had their little girl. I had them bring the two littlest ones to the beach that day.
Thank you! Being a grandma is such a blessing.
@PalmArrow Great pics of Mom and daughter!
Oh, congrats her/them on the baby.
Does the other father visit Janelle? I had a male sim that had a child with Elvira. He took the baby when it was born and raised their son. Elvira would come by the house occasionally as if to visit the child. She would stay for a little bit and then leave. It was interesting to see her do that. I eventually moved them to another town and left Elvira in Bridgeport. I did invite her over for his birthday and she came, visited and left.
Thank you!
Thanks for the comment. I hope you have time to catch up. I'm writing slower as working got busier.
Oh bummer about his engagement to another woman.
Nice she will be aging up as teens can help with babies.
@Emily4331 Yaay for mohawk being gone! I actually like that new cut for him considering ya know I love the long hair on guys! But that one suits him much better.
I do like that jacket! Is it a set or separates?
Chef looks like a cutie pie!
Glad to see they were able to move to better quarters.
hehe, sexy cow for sure!
@GraceyManor Yum! Derek's a fireman!
Lovely bonding time for Derek and Michael!
Ah man, I knew it was too good to be true. Silly Elizabeth, past is past, break is a break. Yes, I was with Ross on that one.
Glad she decided to go home. No grudges allowed Elizabeth!
@ZeeGee Thanks, I love seeing you pop in and wish you didn't let it stress you.
I'm moving slower on the story as work and life got busier. Guess that is a good thing?
@Nikkei_Simmer I've been writing my story in goggle docs but never thought to see how wordy I am. I'll check later today because now I am curious. I know you definitely have more words then me.
I went back into memory lane again after asking @PalmArrow if the father visited Janelle. This is my sim Jamie (not related to the Jamie in my Mary story. I just like that name
This is the baby as a toddler. Loved this little one. His name was Jesse.
The Cowboy and the Mermaid
@Sprottenham Hehe thank you
@bekkasan The jacket and skirt are separates!
@lisasc360 Sorry to hear of your Mom's passing.
*Insert Game Here* to TS3 Conversions by yours truly!
My CC blog!
*Insert Game Here* to TS3 Conversions by yours truly!
My CC blog!
._.
http://store.thesims3.com/myWishlist.html?persona=lisasc360
My stories on this site:
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/991317/my-sims-stories/p1?new=1
Peter: Morning Elizabeth, where you going with your food?
Elizabeth: To sit on the patio
Derek: -rolls eyes- She's still mad at me.
Elizabeth said nothing to Derek's snarky comment and left the room.
Elizabeth sat on the back patio in silence, enjoying a bit of solitude.
Derek: Amber's got a sense of humor.She asked if we were getting
a divorce...Are we?
Elizabeth: Did I forget to tell you I'm not talking to you.
Derek: I wanna tell you everything that happened.
Elizabeth: Again, you obviously mistaken me for someone who cares.
Derek: I guess when you left, I was trying to prove something to myself.
I don't know why I picked her.
Elizabeth: -glares at Derek-
Derek: Alright, I know why..She just broke up with her boyfriend,
ran into at the diner, we went for a ride and ended up out at the lighthouse.
That's it.
Elizabeth: I don't understand how it just happens.
Derek: Well, you start with 4 bottles of nectar..
Elizabeth: Well, buy me a whole case so I can get together with the Chicago Bears.
Derek: ....look what happened that long ago, doesn't have anything do with us now.
Elizabeth: Then how come I'm sitting here wondering what else I don't know about you.
Derek: Trust me?
Elizabeth: Maker I hate you.
Elizabeth: I swear somedays I wanna smack you.
Derek: I love you to
Derek: Its bed time.
Michael: No.
Derek: Yes.
Michael: No.
Derek: In you go.
https://graceymanorsims3.tumblr.com/
Update: have made it home and am now resting. Doc gave me choice of “stitches or glue”. Since I was getting a shot for tetanus, I decided, Yeah, I’m going with “glue”…and be gentle with the finger for a few weeks until I’m able to take the bandages off. 😐
So…how was everyone else’s morning? 😁