Designation: Orchard Stores
Location: Sublevels of Redhaven Central Library
Oversight: Julius Peppermint (personal authority)
Intent: Sustain the Roses and protected civilians for three years without outside dependency.
Perishable Rotation Window: 30 days (continuous refresh)
“No one in the Orchard counts calories. No one checks portions. Food is not leverage here. It is assumed.”
Julius does not stock food like a bunker.
He stocks it like a nation.
The system is built on three principles:
Abundance prevents tension
Variety prevents morale collapse
Quality prevents resentment
There are no “treat days.”
There are no “ration phases.”
There is no visible scarcity.
People eat.
Always.
That is the rule.
The old library archives, climate-controlled and windowless, are now divided into distinct sections:
Cold Vaults (meat, dairy, produce)
Dry Stacks (grains, legumes, flour, sugars)
Protein Reserve (tofu, preserved meats, fish)
Flavor Hall (spices, oils, salts, vinegars)
Bakery Stores
Confection Vault
Greenhouse Output Holding
Each zone is clean.
Labeled.
Lit.
There is no scavenger chaos.
No piles.
No guesswork.
Everything has a place.
Beef (multiple cuts, not scraps)
Lamb
Venison
Bison
Stored in:
vacuum-sealed packs
deep cold storage
rotation racks
These are not emergency meats.
They are daily use meats.
Because Julius believes:
“If people eat like they’re already starving, they will start acting like it.”
Whole chickens
Turkey
Duck
White fish
Salmon
Preserved seafood (oil-packed, smoked, salted)
Fish is not a luxury here.
It is normal.
That detail matters.
Jerky (multiple types)
Cured meats
Smoked meats
Tinned fish
Pâtés
This is the deep reserve.
Not for daily use.
For continuity.
Firm
Silken
Smoked
Marinated
Stored in chilled rotation storage.
This is not survival tofu.
This is good tofu.
Julius eats it almost every day.
People notice.
They do not comment.
Chickpeas
Lentils
Black beans
White beans
Kidney beans
Dried.
Sealed.
Stacked like books.
He likes that.
There is an entire shelving unit labeled:
HUMMUS
Not as a joke.
Actual bulk:
plain
garlic
roasted red pepper
lemon
herb
It is constantly replenished.
The staff jokes that:
“If the world ends twice, we’ll still have hummus.”
Julius has never laughed at this.
He has also never denied it.
White
Whole wheat
Semolina
Rye
Flatbreads
Naan
Pita
Sourdough
There is a dedicated baking station.
Real yeast.
Real starters.
Real ovens.
The smell of bread in a post-collapse world is… destabilizing.
People talk about it.
The Orchard maintains off-site greenhouse production.
Output cycles through:
Leafy greens
Root vegetables
Tomatoes
Peppers
Herbs
Fresh vegetables are never absent.
Even in winter.
Even when it’s hard.
Especially then.
Because morale breaks in the small places.
Julius does not allow that.
This is where his meticulousness shows.
Olive
Avocado
Sesame
Neutral cooking oils
Balsamic
Red wine
Apple cider
Rice
Sea salt
Smoked salt
Imported mineral salts
Full global range
Not packets
Jars. Tins. Bags.
The kitchen smells like a world that still exists.
That is deliberate.
Real chocolate.
Bars.
Blocks.
Cocoa.
Stored cool.
Wrapped.
Protected.
This is not barter stock.
This is consumption stock.
People get dessert.
Sometimes after bad days.
Sometimes for no reason.
That scares outsiders more than the guns.
Behind sealed doors are the Long Stores.
This is the food that doesn’t get touched unless something has gone wrong.
Grains
Beans
Preserved protein
Canned goods
Dehydrated vegetables
Sugar
Honey
Salt
Enough to:
feed the Roses
feed the staff
feed refugees if Julius allows it
For years.
It is quiet back there.
No music.
No foot traffic.
It feels like a promise.
Or a threat.
Depending on who you are.
The ten civilians run the kitchen.
They choose menus.
They experiment.
They take requests.
They are not ordered.
They are asked.
They are respected.
Julius thanks them.
Every time.
That detail spreads.
People talk about it.
He does not feed people to control them.
He feeds them so he never has to.
There is a difference.
People who are full:
don’t steal
don’t hoard
don’t plot
don’t panic
They stay.
They relax.
They belong.
That is more binding than chains.
People say:
“There’s a place where you can eat bread again.”
“There’s a library where nobody is hungry.”
“There’s a man who stocks chocolate like ammo.”
“There’s a kitchen that never closes.”
And sometimes:
“If he feeds you, you’re his.”
No one knows if that’s true.
Julius has never commented.
This food system makes the Black Orchard terrifying in a quiet way.
Because it is:
thoughtful
excessive
stable
intentional
It is the infrastructure of a man who does not plan to lose.