Doomsday Pillars

Chapter 8 - The Bay City

Finally, Alex and his family reached the island of Bali. It was a short 1.5-hour flight. They checked into a hotel and visited the local special cuisine for dinner. They went to a famous seafood site near the beach, it's the holiday season, so it's very crowded. Alex took a beer and also tried to enjoy the last few days of peace with his family. The next day, Alex left the hotel, he took a rental car and brought his brother Hendrik with him. He went to find a place to start his Base.

Bali is separated into 5 sections:

South Bali, this is the main section. 2/3 of Bali's population is located in this section. It's separated into 2 main areas: The Denpasar area in the north where the main cities are, and Nusa Dua, in the south, where all the villas and 5-star hotels are. Both areas are connected through a small corridor, it's shaped like an hourglass. .

West Bali section, bordered with east Java and separated only with a thin strait. It's normally busy with people crossing between Java and Bali using a ferry ride.

North Bali is the section with the least populated cities. it's facing the Java seas.

Central Bali has the widest area, it's full of forest and mountain ranges.

Lastly, the East Bali section, it's the second most developed area. In the center is Bali's tallest mountain, Mount Agung. It is near this mountain, that one of the Doomsday Pillars will drop. This is the section where Alex will start his first base.

The plan is to prepare two separate locations, so he plans to buy two properties. It actually seemed stupid to spend money on a property, as when the doomsday comes, nobody will care about land ownership. But, because he needed to prepare the base right now, he needed to buy the property. Consider it like this, how do you feel if hundreds of people suddenly start building a base in your backyard.

The first location he chose is at the most eastern side of Bali, it is a small city called the Padang Bay. Just like its name, it's a bay city. The beach spread like a crescent moon, surrounded by two hills on each side. There are about 50 small and medium-sized boats in the docks. On one side of the beach, there is a huge port reaching 100m into the sea. A ferry can be seen in the port loading vehicles and supplies. The port is a hub connecting Bali with the other islands in the east. The city center has around 1000 houses, many restaurants, and cafes, and there are also quite a few inns and hotels. Port cities tend to have many visitor and workers from other cities.

Alex already knew which properties to buy, he did his research and already made an appointment beforehand. It's an elegant service villa on a hill facing the city and the bay. A combination of traditional and Mediterranean design. It has 40 houses and it can serve up to 300 guests. Alex planned to put all his employees and family in this villa. The deal with the owner was done pretty quick and simple as the owner was in big debt and Alex was willing to pay the market price and also settle his debt. The deal cost him $5 million dollars. It included the villa compound and an extra land about the size of 2 soccer field. He basically now owned the whole hill.

The villa and the bay city will function as a staging area for all survivor before being sent to the second location, the main base. Now that the first location was already settled, Alex contacted Nina and let her manage the work and some of the supplies to this place.

The second location will be a bit more complicated, therefore he decided to go see the bay city mayor. It's only been a few hours since he purchased the villa but the mayor already received the news. Alex has become some kind of a big shot in his eyes. It's no secret that many Indonesian officials are corrupt, this mayor named Rendi was no different. Alex actually never really liked this type of person, but he needed the mayor's help, so he got straight to the point; He opened up a bag full of money which made the mayor's eyes shine. Alex explained the mayor 2 things. First, his intent to bring people to settle and develop a project in this city. Secondly, his plan to purchase more land in the Northside of the bay city. For both requests, he required lots of helper and worker.

While still smiling and staring at the money, the mayor said: "All is possible Sir, how many people do you need 50? 100?"

Alex said "At first I need 2000 people"

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awkward smile...