Shelter

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Thomas McTavish

Absent, forgotten god
Original poster
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
Posting Speed
  1. 1-3 posts per week
  2. Slow As Molasses
Online Availability
Quite often
Writing Levels
  1. Intermediate
  2. Adept
  3. Advanced
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Primarily Prefer Male
Genres
Dark Fantasy, Fantasy, Zombie, slice-of-life survival, Post Apocalyptic, Cyberpunk, Sci-fi, High Fantasy, Modern, medieval
Rain pattered gently against the window as the morning sun rose, clouding the view of the street below. The city had grown quiet. It was the first time in weeks the subtle din of the township had been silenced by anything. At least to the occupants of the apartment, anyway. Down below, business continued as usual. People shuffled along as they had done for years, barely even bothered by the downpour.

How sickeningly similar it was to how things used to be gave Maxwell chills. As the boiler began to screech the sound of coffee finished brewing, he removed it from the stove, and poured some in a mug. "Hey, I made coffee. You want some?" he asked his roommate.

@Naomi Tuesday

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Jaime had just stepped out of her bedroom yawning and rubbing the back of her head. The shirt she was wearing was more a dress on her. Leaning against the door frame she nodded. "Yes please." Jaime then made her way over to the couches and plopped down on one of them.

"Have you checked the bird traps yet?" She asked him.

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With an "I knew it" smirk, he got down a second mug and filled it, as well. "Not yet, I was gonna do that after I finished my coffee. Just hoping it's not any more feggin' crows, the inedible bastards. Sleep well?" he asked, walking over and handing her the mug. They had been roommates for, what, three? Four years now? Max could barely even process the concept of time anymore, aside from the seasons and the general time of day. It didn't much matter anymore.
 
"Yeah I slept good." Jaime said taking the mug and holding it close to her. "It's raining pretty good out there. I wonder if it would be a good day to go hunt down some more supplies. It would be nice to hit up one of the garden centers and get some more seeds. We could do with more vegetables." She told him and sipped at her coffee.
 
Max nodded. "Do you wanna do that, or shall I go this time?" he asked, sitting on the couch. It would be dangerous for them to leave while it was raining. While it did mask their movements through the city, it also masked the movements of what were once the city's inhabitants. Hopefully the rain would subside soon so that it would be safe to move about. Being something else's food is not the most ideal situation.
 
"I can do it." She told him, and then sipped at her coffee more. "Do you think there are any more newly mutated ones out there?" She asked and reached over picking up a small notebook where they had catalogued alot of different creatures created from the end of the world. "If so we maybe have to do a study trip."

Jaime skimmed through the notebook and then looked up at Max.
 
Max rolled his eyes and shook his head, smiling. "You and your damn 'study trips'. I would be vehemently against doing those if they weren't just so. Damn. Interesting." he admitted. They put them in really risky situations, but learning more about what they had to deal with was interesting, and useful for knowing how to avoid or, if necessary, destroy them. That, and it kept Jaime sane, and in these times sanity was a rare and values commodity.

"Want me to join you, or going it alone?" he asked, and chugged the rest of his coffee. He immediately regretted that decision, as now he had burned his tongue and throat, and he let out a long, low growl to avoid screaming in pain. Why did he always do that? And why hadn't he learned not to, yet?
 
"I'll go alone, I won't be taking any major roads, just the back ones. I'll be on my bike so I can get there faster plus it'll be quieter then those damn idiots using motorbikes." She said reffering to the gang that they had a run in with last week. Jaime shuddered at the thought rembering one of them trying to get frisky with her.

"So happy that we took those bastards out." She said, and then sipped at her coffee chuckling at Max. "Dude you need to stop doing that. There is a reason for sipping coffee not chugging it."
 
"I know," he growled, "but I'm a stubborn ass who never seems to learn, I guess." he joked, gritting his teeth as the searing pain began to subside. "Just make sure you be safe, and wait for the rain to stop before you go. And tell me this time, damn near died last time when you didn't tell me you were leaving. I'm going up to check the traps." he said, heading out onto the balcony and up the fire escape, despite the rain still gently pouring. On the roof was laid out a minefield of cage traps and snares, several of them sprung, only a few with things in them. A rotting crow. A terrified sparrow. A surprisingly calm pigeon. An alarmingly pissed off squirrel. Two more squirrels and a wild chicken- probably from the farmer's coop- were all that were up there. Six possibly edible things out of maybe twenty three closed traps, out of who-even-knows-anymore total. Not too bad for a rainy day in autumn. Max tossed away the crow, and one by one went to each of the animals, calming them down and then snapping their necks before inspecting them for any signs of disease or parasites, anything that would make them inedible. Only one of the squirrels, the sparrow, and the chicken were any good. They'd have to find a way out to that farm, eventually. The livestock had run wild. And there were likely weapons out there. He wouldn't have to worry about the farmer or his family- they all fell to the plague on a trip in town, when the virus hit them.

Making his way back inside after resetting all the traps, Max set all the poor creatures on the counter and went to wash his hands. "A squirrel, and sparrow, and a chicken this time," he announced hoping Jaime was still there to hear him. He'd have to clean the animals quickly, before the meat spoiled.
 
Jaime stepped out of the bathroom toothbrush in her mouth, and gripping onto a towel to keep it around her body. She looked at the animals, and then pulled her toothbrush from her mouth pointing at the squirell and Sparrow. "We might be able to get two burgers out of those guys if your up for burgers. But man a chicken oh that's going to be so good." She grinned a foamy grin and returned to the bathroom to finish off her morning routine.
 
"Burgers sounds good to me. As for the chicken, I con't decide what I wanna do with it!" Max joked, setting about to skinning the squirrel and de-feathering the sparrow and chicken, and gutting them all. They could use the inedible bits as bait for wild dogs or fish or something. The feathers would be used as arrow fletching, probably, and the squirrel pelt could be used to patch holes in the blanket he had been trying to make. Or maybe a new handle for his bat... Nah, he'd rather just find some leather for that. Soft touch, good grip. For now, though, he just focused on keeping as much of the meat as he could manage. "At some point, definitely not today," he called so Jaime could hear him, "we need to go check out the old farmer's place. Likely lots of stuff left for us to loot, and wild livestock to hunt. I'm thinking after the next four days, provided it's not raining then and nothing's stirred the Horde. Sound good?" he asked.
 
Jaime finished up in the bathroom, walked out and nodded. "That sounds awesome. It would be good to stock up on some meat for the winter. There should be a few more cows now that they have had time to breed." Jaime walked into her bedroom and dressed quickly. She then walked back out and pulled on her fingerless biking clubs while having her wooden bat covered with sharp nails leaning against her leg.
 
"Heading out, then?" he asked, barely glancing up from his work with the carcasses. "Or are you gonna have some breakfast while you watch my less-than-appetizing work, first? I think we've still got some roasted veggies left over from the other night if that's the case." he looked at her bat, riddled with nails on the end. His own was caged with angle-pointed rebar, the work of a bandit who didn't quite make it out alive. "You know your bat's gonna split open and break one day, right?" he commented. "Take a backup weapon when you head out, will ya? There's a lead pipe by the door, and my hunting knife is on the end table by the couch. And don't forget your walkie-talkie this time. Thought you were gonna die last time you forgot it." he reminded her. Max had taken on the role of keeping everything running and safe- including Jaime. He was like an anxious mother with a leather jacket and facial hair.
 
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