MURKLAND - MONDAY - CHAPTER 2

JOURNEY TO THE HOT SPRINGS

I am up with the sun and hungry again! Thank goodness for free food! So, I help myself to a nice bowl of cereal and think about what I am going to do today. One thing I need to do is exercise...

But ...hey! What about that garbage pile? Did it turn into the trash plant like they promised? I saunter to the back of my lot and to my surprise....

Look!  Look! My first trash plant!

I never thought I would be so happy about growing a little trash plant and I start singing and doing the Happy Dance! Woot!

So with breakfast done, and all this free food that I'm eating, I decide that maybe I should go for a jog. That way, I can also meet new people and explore the neighborhood a bit, ok...and maybe get some exercise. Just as I am starting off, I almost bump into...

Who the heck is this? I find out that this is Mad Mud. He's supposed to be some great leader of the Mad Mud Faction. He tells me he has it all -- fame, power and fortune. But, can he garden? Ok, so he's kinda cute, in a creepy kind of way.

I get so caught up in yakking with him that I don't see the something or someone coming up to us. Please pass us...please pass us. This is not the same one I saw last nite, but this reminds me that I need to talk to Dusty about a few things. See you around "Mad" or should I call you "Mud"? Ok, just Mad Mud. Thank goodness that zombie girl passed us by.

I wave goodbye to Mad Mud and get a whiff of myself! 
Pee-ew! Off to see Dusty to go to the Hot Springs together as today is Monday and my "shower" day.

Luckily, Dusty lives next door and she's home! Her lot looks pretty much like mine, but she has a guitar, some lanterns and candles. She must have been recruited like me!

We chat a bit and then Dusty says she was just on her way to the Hot Springs. Did I want to join her? You betcha! She read my mind or maybe it was her polite way of telling me I reek! 

The Hot Springs are pretty busy when we get there, and I meet some new Murklanders.

There's Crag the Cliff Dweller, who lives in Cliff City. He is part of the Acquisition Faction.

I also meet some visitors to Murkland who stock the food coolers for the Murkland Mercantile Company.

There's Nehenem, who is a Mutant Raccoon. He seems like a fun person! And there's...oh no...who is in the water with him? I almost jump out of the water myself when I recognize the something or someone I saw yesterday. Yikes!

I make weird hand motions for Dusty to come over quickly and ask her if it's safe to stay and frantically point to the other hot spring.

Dusty just laughs at me and tells me that Lucas is one of "The Infected", and basically they were ok to talk to, just sometimes they might talk to themselves. Good to know.

Later, while I'm chowing down on some grub, Crag tells me about Granite Falls and the Hermit. He also gives me a piece of cloth with a map on it. I learn that I need $111 simoleons to purchase a day pass and to pay for the transport to get me there, but I can't stay overnight.  

Granite Falls is a fragile biosphere reserve with unique species of animals and fauna, that was somewhat protected from the apocalypse. The Hermit's house is hidden in the brambles, so I need to look hard to find it. The Hermit is the one who will teach me about herbalism and how to make the deodorizing cream. 

We chat a bit more and I realize that it has gotten quite dark. We decide to make a HUGE bonfire and have a party!

We dance until the wee hours of the morning and then Dusty says it's time to go. 

We give hugs and say our good byes and promise to see each other again soon.

On my way home, I think of the great time I had today and the new people I met. I even made a friend. But my collecting was terrible and all I found was this bartending book in the box on Dusty's lot. I have to work harder on collecting if I am going to make it to Granite Falls.