Minnie stood there, and Zach blinked. "You know Viola, the wood is bigger and better towards the back of the forest... But I've collected most of the dry stuff back there because I like to go back to front in my sweeps. I think splitting up may actually be better for what you need to do. But don't think that doesn't mean I won't come and check up on you. I do my job well." Her last bit was a little biting, as she picked up the tarp. "I ain't usually nice to people, but Im gonna tell you a secret. Tonight I'm gonna do a big bonfire, Im gonna collect a lot of sticks, we're gonna have drinks and wrestling and all that fun stuff. Lots of people are working hard, well with the obvious exception. But it's gonna be rad." With a pride in her step she smiled wide as she walked out the door. "But keep hush, I know where you're stationed, don't forget it!"
Heading to the woods, which she knew like the back of her hand, she thought back to her own words. Probably was best to keep her trap shut about it, but Zach wasn't the only one who knew about the bonfire tonight anyway. Tracing her steps back to where she last ended for the last fire they had, she knocked over the rock marker she made and began sweeping for sticks, and dry, dead wood before rolling it onto the tarp and dragging the tarp along.
When she was almost full, she headed back to the settlement area, but something caught the side of her eye. Wow. Her fingers shaded her eyes so the sun wouldn't glare into them as she looked at a tall and dead tree which had fallen over and gotten caught in the branches of another of it's kind. It wasn't a small tree either, it was bulky and looked as if it'd been dead awhile. Dropping her tarp she went over to inspect it. There was no danger of it falling and hurting anyone, it was thoroughly ensnared into the libs of a smaller birch. Running her fingers over the thick wood she realized it hadn't yet rotted, but it was certainly dry. Excellent firewood. Zach ran her tongue over her lower lip. Once it began to rot terribly though, it wouldn't.
With a bit of a huff she stepped back, turning away. It wasn't her job.
One glance back was all she needed though, because the fact it wasn't her job is what made it so much better. Grabbing hard onto the wood with her boot at the base, she climbed. She wondered how this was missed. It really wasn't far off from the treeline, then again a lot of the wood collected was by her. As she grew closer to the top her hands gripped harder, she had done this more than enough times to not fear falling, tree climbing was a fun activity when done carefully. The only thing that was difficult is the way her jacket and shirt road up leaving her skin exposed to the rough bark. Swinging strategically around, she placed her foot on a branch that the dead tree was leaning on. Holding with her right hand as her left hand darted about. Dull echoes of twigs snapping began to ring out as one after the other branches were weaved away from the dead tree. With a final bend and a loud snap, the tree began to slide slowly down.
And so was Zach.
What?
Gripping harder onto the upstanding tree, her foot began to give. In panic she glanced to her left hand which she tried to pull away from the ever lowering trunk of the dead tree. Along the very edge of her jacket was a string, a string that had been attached to use for tightening the jacket to the persons form, and that very string was tightening along her arm because it was caught on the other side of the trunk.
"Help! NO!" The cry was high pitched in panic, and rang out in her ears. Tugging fiercely only tightened the rope to her arm. It's gotta come off, it's gotta go! No, don't tree. Stop that! Give me a fucking second to... Suddenly the speed of the tree falling was beginning to gain, and just as the last branch broke, she got the jacket off her left arm. A sigh of relief only lasted half a second, when the flying tree tugged her right side to spin towards it in a free fall. "Fuck!" Her voice was small this time, unheard, as she flew to the ground. When she hit it, everything was fuzzy, and ice, and numbness. Something was wrong, something was hurting. The throbbing came from the back of her head, she had landed on her side the hardest but hit her head pretty hard. Moving to look at the tree slowly, the numbness was over and her mangled arm was in sight. There was no need to scream though, because cold blackness took over.