Day 5.25
Creeping along the back fenceline again, Colin veered away from it briefly, before he reached the section lined with Dead corpses.
Kids don't need to see that kinda thing yet he thought to himself.
Can't be hidden forever though.
Bradley and Triss dutifully followed his footsteps. They could still see the bodies, but without the gruesome detail.
But they didn't stare, rather, they focused on Colin and their surroundings.
"Good job kids. Always keep watch. You wanna see trouble before it becomes YOUR troubles"
Continuing along the Greenbelt till the waiting ladder didn't take long. He let Triss have a look over the fence while on the ladder before sending her over.
"Only go over a fence without looking first if what ever thats on this side is definitely worse than what might be on the other"
Just full of folksie wisdom ain't ya boyo he thought.
Doesn't make what I said any less true! He snapped at the first thought.
Bradley went next, repeating the quick survey of the backyard. Colin followed quickly after.
" We keep the noise down, and we are safer here than anywhere kids, so let's get you cleaned up and have lunch.
[ Quest Complete. Save The Innocent - 2/2 ]
[ Contender Daily Quest Complete.
Constitution Increased.
Strength Increased.
Fast Completion Bonus. Agility Increased.
Colin could almost feel is muscles grow from the Quest completion. He hadn't noticed how much he had slimmed down till now, since his pants just got considerably looser.
He'd have a look at Mr Benson's wardrobe.
Lunch came first instead. Jarred fruit again, but the kids ate almost aggressively.
"Slow down kids. There's plenty more food here, and I'm guessing you left your house cos the food ran out"
Frowning with sadness at the mention of their house, he continued
" I'm sorry about you grandad kids. But whatever is in his backyard, it isn't your grandad anymore. I'm sure the real grandad has gone to a better place"
Colin wasn't sure how the kids took the information, they just slowly kept eating till the jars were empty, and drank the juice.
" I was gonna say you should get washed up now, but I've had another thought" said Colin, then pointed across the kitchen. " That there kids, is called a Potbelly Stove, or just The Potbelly. Start a fire inside it's "belly", and we'll use the flat bit on top to cook food. Or heat up some water for you guys to wash with"
He had already decided to give the kids as much knowledge as he could, atleast stuff he was sure about.
" Grandad has one of those" Triss piped in " He boiled water for his tea"
Nodding, Colin agreed with her " Your grandad was a smart man. We'll do the same as he did, but even more!
So what I'm going to do is look for firewood at the neighbours houses. You two can stay here safe and sound."
Why the Benson family had all these food supplies, but no fuel for the fire he'd never know. That was his first mission, to fine out why.
Most homes round here have fireplaces, or atleast chimneys, so he didn't expect to have to hunt too far for firewood.
Telling Bradley and Triss to explore the house as much as they pleased, as long as the were quiet, Colin went and dug through Mr Benson's drawers and found a pair of heavy cargo pants and a belt to wear. He then. left the house.
First stop was a full circle of the house.
On the fourth side of the house, past the garage, he found what he suspected.
A Coal basement.
Basically it was a set of stairs going down, covered by double doors at the top, set on an angle just above the ground.
A second smaller single door sat next to the double door. He figured that was the coal chute, when filling the basement.
Going back to the garage, Colin hunted down an oiling can.
Returning to the Coal Bunker, he drowned the hinges in oil, waited for the oil to drip away, then drowned them again.
Dropping the oiling can on the ground, he slowly lifted one of the doors open with barely a squeak from the hinges, till the door lay flat on the ground.
Creeping down the steps, the light from the door showed what he had hoped.
Sort of.
Against the backwall was a small stack of wood. Maybe enough for a week if they ran the fire alot. Longer if run for less time.
So I'm still gonna have to check the neighbours.
Heading round to the backdoor, he checked on Bradley and Triss. They were in the lounge going through bakery boxes.
" Good idea kids, anything with cream in it will have gone bad. We'll toss it over the back fence."
He also told them about the small amount of wood in the Coal Bunker, and that he was going to check the neighbours now.
Grabbing the ladder from the yard, he gently lent it on the wood fence between the neighbour and their house. Peeking over, he saw nothing in the yard.
I know they have a high fence and gate in the front. So any Dead were already on the property.
We have a few days wood, and wood wasn't the plan for the day anyway
Day 5.5
Back in the house, he stopped the kids going through the bakery goods and explained his plan
" we gotta get as many Dead out of the Village as we can. I wanna use the van at the bakery, drive slow around the streets and get as many Dead following as I can."
"I'll lead them to the edge of town, leave the van there and run along the backfence to here."
The kids looked scared, but after he told them he did the same thing (technically) with the van in front of the driveway, they seemed to relax.
" You guys will be fine here. After I get back we can heat up some water so you can clean yourselves up.
Why don't you check out the kids cloths in their rooms. The whole family headed up north before all this crazy stuff began. I doubt they are coming back here, so they won't mind"
Both the kids looked pleased with the idea of new clothes.
Time to pied piper some Dead.
As he climbed the back fence he frozen.
The road from the Expressway, close to 1000 metres away, was a black and twisting mass.
The Dead had arrived.