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Neighboring Silo

Silo 17 · Silo Seventeen

The neighboring silo, identified by Solo as silo seventeen, houses survivors amid the remains of its collapse; its floodwater is now receding.

Story so far

Juliette discovered another sensor tower beyond the hills and found a decayed cleaning suit nearby. Bodies in ruined ordinary clothing crowded the approach to its airlock, and no one answered her knocking. Inside, the air was foul but breathable, the stairs retained emergency lighting, and the portions she recognized appeared identical to her own silo. She initially knew neither the cause nor the age of its abandonment.

Solo identified it as silo seventeen. He reported that its toilets no longer flushed, said it no longer generated its own power, and thought power arrived automatically from other silos. Electrical cables installed during its downfall still supplied timed grow lights, leaving plants growing out of control on the lower farms. A call from line 17 reached Bernard Holland despite his belief that the silo was dead; he later wanted its calls identified so they could be ignored. Someone there answered Lukas after Bernard left. Scattered signs of violence troubled Juliette, who sometimes slept in its jail cells during journeys between levels. Lukas understood the red X across seventeen as marking the loss of its population.

Juliette came to believe only two adults remained, but survivors began choosing rooms and moving toward the upper farms, and children could again be heard running and shouting. After hearing Juliette’s description, Lukas believed his own silo had narrowly avoided the same condition. Its floodwater is now receding.

Appearance

A silo concealed by hills, with bodies near its airlock, emergency-lit stairs, scattered evidence of violence, and overgrown lower farms. Its familiar portions appear identical to Juliette’s home silo. Floodwater is receding.

Role

A damaged but inhabited refuge where survivors are choosing rooms and moving toward the upper farms.

Relationships

Juliette — Juliette explored the silo and described its condition to others.
Solo — Solo identifies the silo as seventeen and believes it receives power from elsewhere.
Lukas — Lukas believes his own silo narrowly escaped a similar fate.
Sources — 26 recorded facts, by chapter
Chapter 34
  • The next hollow contains another sensor tower.
  • Juliette finds the decayed remains of a cleaner’s suit and helmet near the other tower.
  • Juliette concludes that the hills conceal the neighboring silo from view.
Chapter 36
  • Most of the bodies outside the other silo wear ruined ordinary clothing rather than cleaning suits.
  • The bodies are densely piled along the approach to the other silo’s airlock.
  • No one answers Juliette’s knocking from the dark interior of the other silo.
Chapter 39
  • The other silo has breathable air despite its overpowering stench.
Chapter 42
  • The abandoned silo still has emergency lighting on its stairs.
  • Juliette finds the familiar portions of the abandoned silo apparently identical to her own.
  • Juliette does not know what caused the silo’s abandonment or how long ago it occurred.
Chapter 48
  • Solo reports that the silo’s toilets no longer flush because there is no water.
Chapter 50
  • Solo identifies the silo he and Juliette occupy as silo seventeen.
  • Solo says the silo no longer generates its own power and thinks it receives power automatically from others.
Chapter 52
  • A call from the silo connected to line 17 reaches Bernard despite his belief that the silo is dead.
Chapter 56
  • Silo 17 has electrical cables installed during its downfall that still power timed grow lights on the lower farms.
  • Plants in Silo 17’s lower farms are growing out of control under the surviving timed lights.
Chapter 57
  • Bernard wants calls from silo seventeen identified separately so they can be ignored.
  • Someone in silo seventeen answers Lukas’s call after Bernard leaves.
Chapter 59
  • The silo contains scattered evidence of violence that unsettles Juliette.
  • Juliette sometimes sleeps in the silo’s two jail cells during trips between levels.
Chapter 73
  • Lukas understands the red X across silo seventeen as marking the loss of its population.
Chapter 77
  • Juliette believes only two adults remain in silo seventeen.
Chapter 79
  • Survivors in silo seventeen are choosing rooms and heading toward the upper farms.
  • Children can be heard running and shouting in silo seventeen again.
Chapter 82
  • Lukas believes their own silo narrowly avoided the condition Juliette described in the other silo.
Chapter 83
  • The floodwater in Silo 17 is receding.
Character portrait