Post by Cody Long on Oct 16, 2016 23:46:20 GMT -5
Louise toiled away at the tree bark with her knife, scraping and grinding and hating life. Tree sap was the most under used form of sustenance in the apocalypse, yet suitable sap had been hard to come by until she and her dad made it into New York. There was maple trees aplenty then. A God send. Still, the 10 year old hated it, the work anyway.
An earshot away from her, Cody busied himself removing the lawnmower blade from the John Deere riding machine, it was the kind he used to make back in North Carolina. It was proving to be a hassle. Not having the right tools was a constant pain in the butt before the world went to shit, and it was proving the same now too.
As he worked, he pondered. Why was this lawnmower just sitting out in the back yard of a suburban house? Did someone have the same idea as he did but got spooked away? Were they trying to use it as a means of transportation but couldn't get it started because it, or they, had no gasoline? On the way in he and his daughter paid close attention as they always did, scouted the area well, and only saw some straggler walkers here and there, no humans.
"Psst." Louise returned and handed him a small chunk of bark with sap spread across it. "Break time." He quipped at her and gladly indulged in the delicacy, as did she. The pair plopped down against the mower and wiped away the grime and sweat from their pores. "How's it coming along, dad?" She gave the blades a once over and a vexed brow. "Heh. Not good. Probably going to have to scrap it and scavenge somewheres else." He replied.
She frowned and glanced at her right hand, which was missing the pinkie and ring finger due to a non walker related infection she got on her hand a year ago, which resulted in her father chopping them off. "Sorry I couldn't go faster getting this stuff out. Damn tree was tough." She sighed as she spoke. Cody just smiled and drove a playful elbow into her side. "It's okay, honey. It's New York. Everything in New York has an attitude, even the trees." She giggled at his statement and shot back, "And the lawnmowers too."
An earshot away from her, Cody busied himself removing the lawnmower blade from the John Deere riding machine, it was the kind he used to make back in North Carolina. It was proving to be a hassle. Not having the right tools was a constant pain in the butt before the world went to shit, and it was proving the same now too.
As he worked, he pondered. Why was this lawnmower just sitting out in the back yard of a suburban house? Did someone have the same idea as he did but got spooked away? Were they trying to use it as a means of transportation but couldn't get it started because it, or they, had no gasoline? On the way in he and his daughter paid close attention as they always did, scouted the area well, and only saw some straggler walkers here and there, no humans.
"Psst." Louise returned and handed him a small chunk of bark with sap spread across it. "Break time." He quipped at her and gladly indulged in the delicacy, as did she. The pair plopped down against the mower and wiped away the grime and sweat from their pores. "How's it coming along, dad?" She gave the blades a once over and a vexed brow. "Heh. Not good. Probably going to have to scrap it and scavenge somewheres else." He replied.
She frowned and glanced at her right hand, which was missing the pinkie and ring finger due to a non walker related infection she got on her hand a year ago, which resulted in her father chopping them off. "Sorry I couldn't go faster getting this stuff out. Damn tree was tough." She sighed as she spoke. Cody just smiled and drove a playful elbow into her side. "It's okay, honey. It's New York. Everything in New York has an attitude, even the trees." She giggled at his statement and shot back, "And the lawnmowers too."