Alice listened to her talk about the gardens, she could truly tell it was her passion by the way her voice and face emoted when she talked about them. "Bricks would be easier to get here, but the railways sleepers would do a better job of keeping the grass out." Alice supplied with her limited knowledge of garden edging and the tools they had to get them here.
"It looks good so far though, you've done an amazing job." Alice glanced over at the tank, she hadn't done any work so far today, only spent probably the coolest part of the day cooking. She hoped it would be cool enough inside the tank, and she needed the sunlight to be able to see inside it anyway. She just hoped she had enough daylight to finish it off today. The sooner she finished the best chance of catching the next rain.
Alice tried to eat as fast as she could and only managed to get through half her plate before her stomach protested taking another bite, "Did you want the rest of this? I'm extremely full, I don't think I could take another bite without compromising it." She said patting her stomach.
Post by Magella Jones on Jan 25, 2015 20:04:49 GMT 10
It is easier to know where you are going... ...When you know where you have been
Magella nodded. "That's what I was thinking. I remember going sleeper hunting with a mate from the community garden. They used to just dump them beside the rails and let them rot so we decided we'd borrow a few and put them to good use. Mind you, we used to go out in the ute to find them."
She prodded the last mouthful of food with her fork, the memory of fun times putting her into a little bit of a down swing. The sun was getting too hot for her to do much else at that moment, and she wasn't sure what else she should be doing. So much had to be done before they could live comfortably.
Seeds were needed, and food for them to survive until the plants were grown, just having them planted didn't mean they were out of danger. There could be no rain, or bugs could eat them all. It could even get too cold and the frost could kill them off. So many things could go wrong between the planting and harvesting that she didn't know where to begin. This wasn't just a hobby any more, this was life or death. They could die if she failed this.
"You... you can't finish it?" Magella's eyes dropped to the serving that still remained. "Hell, no point letting it go to waste, I'll eat it gladly. Thank you."
Post by Desmond O'Reilly on Jan 26, 2015 23:26:58 GMT 10
It had been a fortnight, at best guess, since Desmond had left the base in search of resources. His situation was growing grim and without much support to rely on, he was left with his own actions. Packing his rucksack back and scavenging the base for vital supplies, he left the base with the intention of coming back in a month. His plan was to use the base long term, but temporarily needed to leave in order to travel and scavenge rural areas with less traffic. He'd spent over a week travelling and every location he came across was nearly picked clean, the amount of time he spent travelling was chewing through his resources faster than he was able to replenish them. Town after town riddled with corpses and decay. Making the long term call, he abandoned his mission and made his way back.
He made his way into the base, axe in hand as he began a quick search for any intruders. At first his intention was to clear it of infected, ignorant to the two living occupants at the time. First the barracks where he noted a small addition, but put it down to squatters before moving on. Carefully he moved through the compound until he came across the kitchen. His eyes glanced across a tin upon the bench, not one he had opened. After scanning the room and clearing it of threads he crossed over, he ran a finger along the inside edge of the tin, the moisture from the contents still fresh. His eyes darted across the bench. He checked the tap, but it was dry and moved to the stove, he waved a hand over it and felt a moderate amount still emanating from the appliance.
Desmond pulled his axe free from the drawstrings on his rucksack, the weapon held in his hands as he investigated further. Leaving the tin on the bench, the soldier moved through the kitchen quietly and left through the second exit. Quietly pulling on the door, now that he had proof that the squatters were more recent than originally anticipated, he had no intention of dying to the antics of idiots. The door pulled inward and he blocked the return with his foot, leveraging his body around to get the best angles to view the exterior. His eyes failed to find the targets he was after but his ears caught a small echo. The voice that caught his sense of hearing was soft, female. He had a rough location, but it was a guess no matter how you put it. Voices traveled well and bounced in odd ways. He waited for a moment to confirm and re-positioned himself to get a better angle on the sound waves.
The voices were still too muffled for him to make out clearly, but the acoustics provided him with the answer he needed. A quick peek around the corner gifted him with the vision of two people, females, but no other details suck in. The glance was far too quick to take in exponential information. He hadn't noted any obvious weapons and both were occupied with the food they'd made. He placed himself against the door, arms low at his side. His axe in his right hand, gripped around the top of the handle to balance the weight. Feeling a bit more relaxed he turned the corner and made his way towards the two of them.
Post by Magella Jones on Jan 27, 2015 15:47:17 GMT 10
It is easier to know where you are going... ...When you know where you have been
Magella had taken the pan from Alice, her own plate balanced on her knees as she scraped the food out of the pan so Alice could take it back to the kitchen and do something with it. The shovel was lying in the grass by the turned over earth, and she had nothing else within arm's reach.
She had no warning when suddenly a shape stepped out of the kitchen. It was just a flicker out of the corner of her eye but she instantly snapped upright to react, plate tipping over onto the grass, her body twisting a little to catch the crate with her hand and throw it towards the shape that had appeared in the doorway.
Without checking where and what the crate had hit, she dived forward, rolling on her shoulder as she grabbed the shovel, lifting it up to challenge the shape. There was a moment's pause as she recognised it as a human, not a creeper, but she still didn't lower her weapon. Her feet carried her back to stand between the man and Alice, intending to give the girl at least a few moments head start in case the man decided he didn't want to be friendly.
The handle of the shovel felt slippery in her hands, the rags she'd wrapped around her hands to cover the blisters compromising her grip. Not a problem for gardening, but life-or-death for combat situations. It was too late to do anything about it now, she would just have to hope that the man didn't intend them harm.
"Who are you?" she asked bluntly, eyeing the man's build and equipment. The axe looked in good condition and the man didn't look too lean considering the lack of resources they that around them.
Post by Desmond O'Reilly on Feb 3, 2015 11:31:35 GMT 10
Only one had reacted, he didn't pay much attention to the other. The first of the two diving for a weapon after throwing a crate his way. Shifting his weight to one side, his weapon rose and deflected the crate to the ground. The strength of the throw combined with the weight of the item giving it very little momentum. With the crate deflected his weapon lifted back up to head height, pointing directly at Magella. His eyes cold as he watched her for a moment, in her hands a shovel.
He ignored her question, leaving it unanswered. "What are you doing here?" He asked, eyes glaring past the weapons and directly to the woman who opposed him and protected the other. The people he stood against weren't here a few days earlier, and this was considered his base of operations at the time. He'd spent the last few days outside of the base for resources and scouting purposes. Groups of zombies occasionally popped up and they were easy to track, often traveling in a group and moving in a singular combined direction.
Despite the fact he'd temporarily left the base, didn't mean they had any right to come in and ransack the area. Whether he'd put up a sign and declared it as his or not. These were his resources gathered, and this was his area. He wasn't happy to have people intruding on it. His response was all based on how they reacted and their own views. His axe remained high, the edge of the blade hovering in the air, waiting.
Alice was afraid. She didn't know what was happening, everything had happened so fast and she was frozen to the spot with no idea what Magella had seen. But she had heard the voice in return to her questioin, it was cold and masculine and had sent shivers down Alice's spine.
She wished she was in the tank right now, wish she hadn't eaten and was already hidden away inside the metal container. But she wasn't. And she had nothing to protect herself, she looked past the garden in the direction she knew she should run. However she didn't want to leave Magella all alone. Some reason, probably a short circuit, her brain was telling her that even with no fighting skills or weapon she was still valuable to Magella, and would help her fight against this other person.
Post by Magella Jones on Feb 7, 2015 21:59:45 GMT 10
It is easier to know where you are going... ...When you know where you have been
Magella tightened her grip on the shovel, her knees bending a little in case she had to dive out of the way of an attack. Her jaw clenched when he ignored her question, her teeth grinding just a little against each other. "Alright, I'm going to be the bigger person here and I'm going to lower my weapon so that we can talk like civilized adults. Alice, if he goes to attack me, you turn and run. Don't put yourself in danger, just get out and survive."
Slowly, she let the shovel's edge lower down the the ground, her arm reaching out and crouching down to lower the handle. She let it go and straightened, holding out her hands to show she wasn't hiding anything in her sleeves. "The answer to your question, I found Sanctuary a few days ago, it was abandoned and I thought it would be a good place to bring other survivors so we can start taking back land from the creepers out there. My name is Magella, this is Alice. I'm hoping it will be a pleasure to meet you."
She gave a slightly awkward smile, hoping that she wasn't about to die. "Now, will you introduce yourself or should I run away screaming with my mate? I can't imagine being alone for a year has done much for your social skills but I hope it hasn't turned you into a Neanderthal. That would be quite... upsetting." Magella knew she was taking a risk talking like she was, but if she was going to die, she wanted to do it being her, and not someone who's knees shook and bowed down to those with more power than her.
