Day 0 - Early Morning - Location - Train
The train continued to rock hard, the movement punctuated every few meters with the sudden whine of metal on metal, the train turning into the banking turn very hard. Outside the countryside continued to roll by, punctuated with the continued sightings of burned out dead trees and the occasional signal post that ran along side the tracks. The train rocked further, picking up speed as it came out of the turn, heading down into the plateau below where the destination soon awaited the Master and his Mistress. The ground was torn, craggy and dry, vein like cracks breaking through it as far as the eye could see, broken up only by the occasional dry lake bed, or the remnants of what once were forests, ashen colored trees standing in black stark contrast to the otherwise whiteness of the dry ground, their forms an eerie reminder of what was once lost, and might never be found again. The intercom started up, the sound coming across it raspy, and broken up, the communication system beaten and in disrepair.
"We are arriving in new Haven shortly, to your right you can see the fair city of New Haven"
The other high class passengers of the train looked out to the right, their faces reflected in the cracked and dirty glass. Off to the distance, in the center of the plaza, stood a jutting mountain, it's face blackened, scarred, and in some parts shining with the reflection of black glass. Around the base of the mountain, up to about half it's side rose the city of new Haven, the sprawling and shanties appearing nothing more than a scab forming on the side of the mountain, both the city and the relief standing in stark contrast to the sandy, dry, cracked earth around it on all sides.
Elizabeth Windsor turned, looking towards her lover. "So this is it? After decades of war, we can finally settle down and just rebuild?" She said with a hint of relief. The two of them were young, both having been born in the height of the war that had threatened to not only wipe the nation off the face of the planet, but all those around them as well. She creased her fore head in thought, her Golden hair falling about her high set cheek bones as she looked at the master. "Luckily for me, unlike the rest of the world, I have you. Is it still wrong to feel like we don't deserve the fortune we have come into from your family's long line of profiting from wars?" she asked.
He had no chance to answer, the train having pulled into the station, shanties built up around it as far as the eye could see, houses made of the remnants of what once was a fair city. All around them people begun to shift and move, making attempts to gain access to their lug age and debark from the train, for it had been a long trip, nearly a day and a half away from anywhere else. The distance from everywhere else, of course, was the result of the weapon's facilities that still continued to dot the landscape as far as the eye could see in all directions, and now, in the time of post-war, it made for a place that while still dangerous, was at least secluded from the more dangerous parts of the province.
Elizabeth got up, a long blue dress flowing out from her bosom to her feet, a remnant of times long ago, when people freely wore such elegant clothes, when shortages of fabric did not force people to wear little more than what was necessary. She grabbed at her husband's wrist, pulling the shy boy up and out of his seat, before making her way past the people scrambling to gain their affairs. Stepping down from the train, she was assaulted on sides by the sights and sounds of the city, all along the rails were built markets and shanties, and cutting it through it was a winding path leading up to the mountain, some nice houses here and there, gaining in frequency as her eyes trailed to the top. Off to the side near the top was an old decommissioned command center for the area, their new home. The father-in-law had been right, their new home was hard to miss from any view. She gabbed at a man in red suit, pulling him aside.
"Here are our baggage tags, I will handsomely reward you now to carry them to the address marked on the paper, and doubly so if ALL the contents make it their accounted for." Elizabeth stated, before placing a small roll of bills into the man's suit pocket. She turned to take her husband by the hand once more, pulling him in the direction of their new home.
Day 0 - Early Morning - Location - Command Center / Mansion
They arrived after a half an hour walk, sweat beading on her brow, dust along the hems of her skirt as they finally made it to the high concrete walls that surrounded the command center on all sides. Before her stood the assembled maids, all those hired either locally or externally, some new faces, some old, all with a look that could be described as both physically and mentally mixed. "I am sorry for the tardiness, I dare hope you haven't waited too long" she said with a feigned smile. It was always good to put a good face on, whether genuine or not. "I am Elizabeth Windsor, and this here is your new master to whom which all of you are employed. As you know, the war is finally over, and it's time to settle down, and live life once more. I wish I could say with little fear, but as those of you whom had come by rail could attest to, as well as those from the city, times are harsh, and harshness does things to people."
She let go of her Husband's hand, before walking out into the semi circle the girls have formed. "Some of you, I have had the pleasure of meeting before, some of you, I haven't. You are also employed by me as well, and if you fall out of favor, we will not hesitate to replace you. Your tasks will be hard, even back breaking in the days to come. As you can tell, this... isn't the ideal homestead of any family, but we will make it as such, and you will be the power that does so. It will take a few days to settle into the routine, but it will occur, and you will be responsible for adhering to it. That is all" She turned to look at her husband, handing him over the spotlight to assign the tasks for their new homestead. From her purse at her side, she drew the keys of the complex, opening the thick metal gate to the compound, the Command Tower standing ominously in the center of the plot, a simple cracked road leading to the building, before forming a loop and turning in on itself just outside the main entrance. One either side of the towers were long, low lying buildings, two floors at best, and assortment of other buildings and rooms.
