Chapter written by FanfictionalWarrior
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The four Order members were gathered around a large round table, in the middle of a sort of war room that also served as an armoury.

Various different types of weapons were resting on or against the walls. Mostly swords, bows and arrows, with the occasional exception of a dagger or shield.

There was also a row of armour stands, holding the few sets of armour they were able to salvage from the ruins of the Order hall.

"Okay, so, this is what we have so far." Olivia said, rolling open a large map in the middle of the table, and smoothing it out slightly. "Nurm mapped out the entire base for us, so everybody can keep track of everything."

She pointed a finger at some red lines that looked like they were only recently drawn in with a marker. "This is the new network of redstone wiring we're installing, in order to change the glowstone in the greenhouses to redstone powered lamps."

"I see what you mean, it's a complex system." Lukas said, leaning slightly over the map to examine it closer. "I could look at building tunnels underground for the network to run through, that way it can't be easily disturbed."

"What exactly would be the difference between using glowstone or redstone lamps?" Petra asked curiously. "Other than one being much easier to maintain than the other?"

"We're hoping that the lamps will be able to emit more light." Olivia explained.

"Hoping?" Petra asked, frowning slightly. "You mean all the wiring could be for nothing?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Lukas said, leaning back in his chair. "Nobody here has ever really tried to sustain an entire farm without sunlight. We have to learn as we go."

Petra nodded her head, turning her gaze back to the map. She thoughtfully tapped the surface of the table. "Have you installed any of the new wiring yet?"

"Not yet. Why?" Olivia asked.

"I know nothing about plants or light sources, so I could be very wrong." Petra said. "But have you ever tried sea lanterns?"

"Sea lanterns?" Axel asked in puzzlement.

"Jesse..." Petra trailed slightly off from saying their friend's name, before snapping herself back. "She used to love working with anything prismarine. She'd always much rather use sea lanterns than any redstone lamps or even glowstone. And I've seen how sickly bright those things can get."

"You know, that might actually work." Lukas said, exchanging glances with the others. "We can try the sea lanterns first and if they work, it'll spare us having to install this complex system. If they don't, then we can go ahead with the lamps, but at least we'd have given it a shot. It won't cost us anything."

"Right, I'll have a talk with the guys working down at the farms then." Olivia said, making a quick note in a book she had with her. She looked up, grinning. "Where have you been all this time, Petra? We could really have used your thoughts earlier."

"Yeah, well, there's work to be done on the surface as well." Petra vaguely brushed off Olivia's question.

The engineer raised her eyebrows slightly before returning her attention to the note she was scribbling down. Petra rested her one elbow on the table, resting her chin in her hand. It wasn't necessarily that she just preferred to be scavenging and working on mob control, rather than helping down in the caves.

The base really reminded Petra of older times, harder times: times she would much rather put behind her than be reminded of every day. Up on the surface there was also a lot less time to think and talk about what have happened to their world and, more importantly, what had happened to Jesse.

"How has the search been going?" Petra heard herself ask, lifting her head.

"For Jesse?" Axel asked grimly, earning a nod from the redhead.

"Absolutely no lead so far." Olivia said with a sigh, putting away her notebook and sinking back into her seat.

"Romeo could have taken her anywhere, done anything to her." Lukas added sadly. "There are people out there who are starting to lose hope that she might still be alive."

"I refuse to believe that Romeo would just kill her." Petra said softly, her voice low and almost doubtful. "It's just... it's not his style, is what I'm saying."

"I hope you're right." Lukas whispered under his breath, looking back down at the map on the table.

"You know, Petra, maybe you could hang around and help us a bit?" Olivia suggested. "You're resourceful. We could use that."

"No, this is just a one-time visit." Petra said with a sigh. "I don't think I'm going to hang around, I... just want to get back out there."

"But we've barely seen you since we started building this place." Axel pointed out. "It was your idea to begin with, and you haven't even seen the whole place yet."

"Building and managing crops aren't my strong points." Petra replied bluntly. "I'm being more productive by keeping mobs at bay, scavenging here and there."

"Building and farming aren't the only things we could use you with around here." Lukas pointed out. "Even if it's just for a few weeks, it would be really nice to have you around. Like I said, we really miss you." He smiled vaguely, almost a sad tint resting in his eyes. "Besides... I'm sure Jesse would have wanted the four of us to stick together through this."

It was completely silent for a few seconds, Lukas's words hanging heavily in the air. Petra sighed, rubbing the back of her head.

"I don't know, Lukas. I really don't think it's going to work out." She said, shaking her head. "I'll maybe try and drop in a bit more often."

"So you're just going to leave us again then?" Olivia asked in dismay, a slight touch of steel in her voice. "Don't you care at all for what Jesse would have wanted? Can you even call yourself her best friend?"

Another uncomfortable silence settled over the room. Petra could feel her hands balling themselves into fists beneath the table.

"That..." She said through gritted teeth. "That, was uncalled for."

"Well, I'm sorry Petra, but it's true." Olivia said with a shake of her head. "You're not even willing right now to help us try and track down Jesse."

"Like any of you have done any better." Petra hissed. "You said it yourself, you have no cooking clue how to find her and now you're trying to pin that on me?"

Once more, silence.

"Listen, let's not fight about this..." Lukas started, trying to settle the unexpected argument. "I'm sure Jesse wouldn't have wanted this either-"

"What does it even matter?" Petra muttered, pushing back her chair and getting up. She began turning away, before she swung back around.

"And just for the record? I'm the only person who was actually by Jesse's side during this entire battle. So maybe you should think twice before saying I'm the one who doesn't care enough here."

With those words, Petra turned her back on them once more, beginning to march in the direction the of the door. "See you next month for the supplies, Lukas." She simply muttered before stepping out of the room and kicking the door shut behind her.

"Well." Lukas said with a sigh, raking his hands through his blonde hair. "That could have gone better."

Petra swiftly weaved her through the people, wanting to get out of the ravine as soon as possible. Her hands were clenched into tight fists at her sides, trembling slightly in rage.

Though silently, Petra was uncertain whether she was angry at the others, or at herself. Because in a way, what they said was true. She had done next to nothing to try and save Jesse, in fact she's been doing everything in her power not to think about her friend at all.

Because even though Petra hadn't admitted this to anybody, she blamed herself. She couldn't do anything to help Jesse that day, she didn't in any way even try. She was too powerless against Romeo, too.... too weak.

Striding up the last flight of stairs, Petra glanced over her shoulder one last time. Seeing the impressive base from above, the many levels all busting with life from the survivors. She felt almost bad, leaving it behind to return to the cold, barren surface.

Sighing, Petra turned her back again and began walking away. Outside she was greeted with the familiar dark, desolate landscape. The air was still, thick and humid.

Petra stopped, her eyes scanning the dark horizon. Her face twisted into a scowl, before she lashed out, kicking up a small stone in frustration.

"Conflict down there?" A gruff voice asked.

Petra sighed, shoving her hands into her pockets. She turned around to face the person standing behind her. "Hello Jack."

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Whaat, finally an update? Yup! Sorry for the long delay guys, but I believe this book is officially off hold now!
Thank you guys for still sticking with us, despite the long wait. I'm pretty excited to get back into writing this!

(Also can you actually tell this is my older writing style? Because I definitely can x'D I wrote this chapter before the story went on hold, lol-)

Anyhow, I don't want to start rambling. See you all in the next chapter!