Holland "Holly" Sharpe (ilicin) wrote in the_colony, @ 2010-08-15 23:16:00 |
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Entry tags: | ^ week 19, bridget mackenzie, holland sharpe, | bridget and holly, ~ series: raids |
Week nineteen - Saturday
Characters: Bridget and Holly.
Location: Grants Pass; residential neighborhood.
Summary: Holly and Bridget are partners on the Raiding Romp and are making headway, but Holly notices Bridget seems extra tired and voices his concern.
Rating: PG
Dust swirled through the air as Holly jogged up a creaky staircase in an abandoned house somewhere in Grant’s Pass. Bridget was his raiding partner that day, and they were picking through food pantries, as well as rooting through miscellaneous other things the group might need come the dead of winter. They’d been at it for half the day already, and if the comforter hadn’t been covered in dust Holly probably would have collapsed on top of it.
“Hey, Bridge!” He did touch it, though, running his fingers over the ornate stitching of the duvet cover as his voice carried downstairs. “There’s a huge down comforter up here! I think we should take it with us!”
“Yeah?” Bridget’s voice floated up from downstairs. The young woman had been inspecting the pantry while she let Holly check out the top floor. His shout brought her moving up the stairs, though Bridget was getting to the size where she didn’t move anywhere very quickly. It was a steep staircase, and by the time she reached the top she was breathing pretty hard. She leaned against the wall and waited to catch her breath, one hand on the swell of her belly and wishing her children would quiet down just a little that day. “Be there in...a minute.”
Holly didn’t give Bridget a chance to be anywhere in a minute after he heard that, and he appeared in the hallway only a few moments later with a frown pulling at the corners of his mouth.
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” he said, and folded his arms against his chest to complete the ‘cross mother’ look. “You look beat, maybe we should call it a day after this one.”
“Don’t be silly, I’ll be fine! Just had to catch my breath.” Bridget told him, breathing a little more naturally now that she’d had a few seconds to get more oxygen in, and ignoring the little voice in the back of her mind that suggested he was right. She was pregnant yes, but she had months to go and she wasn’t going to shirk her responsibilities to the group. “Those stairs were just a little steep, that’s all.” She assured Holly, and pushed off from the wall to head toward the bedroom. “Now let’s take a look at that comforter of yours.”
“It looks like it’s in good shape,” Holly said slowly, and watched Bridget closely as she entered the master bedroom. He wasn’t satisfied with her answer, but for the time being he would humor her. “It was in a cover, but it’s still gonna need to be cleaned. Smells stale.
“How does the pantry look?” he asked.
“They’ve actually got a decent supply of dry goods in the pantry,” she glanced at him over her shoulder. “Pasta, rice, and things like that. A few cans of soup too, but I didn’t check the expiration date before you called.”
She made it over to the bed and turned sideways to pick up the comforter. “This does look real nice Holly, good catch.”
Holly smiled. “Very few things get past these eyes,” he said, pointing to said eyes. “Why don’t you carry that downstairs? I’ll take care of the stuff in the pantry.”
Bridget wasn’t going to argue with that distribution of the workload. “Sounds good, anything else up here worth taking?”
“There are some more blankets in the hall closet, and we could take the pillows.” Holly shrugged. “You might want to check the closet over there, too. Looks like the lady of the house was a fatass. Her clothes would fit you.”
That comment earned Holly a swat aimed in his direction, which he took on the shoulder with a chuckle. “Wiseass.” She shook her head, smiling, and waddled over toward the closet. “She not only was a fatass, she must have been old too.” Bridget grumbled, looking through the closet. Still, there might be one or two items that would fit her that she was willing to wear.
“At least you’re not old,” Holly called into the closet, while he rooted around in a jewelry box left atop a large dresser.
“There’s so much useless shit left in this world,” he sighed, but that didn’t stop him from trying on a diamond ring that was too large for his finger. “Sucks all this jewelry isn’t even worth taking; the work we do at the farm would ruin all of it.”
Bridget shrugged. “Take it and stick it in a box if you want. By the time you’re in your forties they might be worth something again.” It would be a while before people valued jewelry above survival goods, but it would happen again eventually. She took a few sweaters that looked like they might fit her, then came out of the closet looking for the pillows.
The two made short work of taking all of the promising things (and several food items) from the house, and did the same for a few more hours. It was surprising, at least to Holly, how much food some people had left in the wake of evacuation, and their truck was full nearly to the brim once they decided to call it a day.
“Fuck gardening,” Holly was saying to Bridget as he turned the key in the truck’s ignition, getting it started for the ride home. “There’s probably enough food in these houses to last us a while. I never want to stick my hands in dirt again.” His nails were shorter and dirtier than he’d ever wanted them due to the fact that, despite his wishes to stay indoors to work, sometimes he had to go out.
Bridget laughed tiredly, her eyes closed as she leaned in her seat against the side of the car. “I don’t think you’re going to be able to get away with that, Hol. We’re all going to have to help out with harvest when the time comes, even if you manage to get out of helping with planting.”
“Yeah, well,” Holly replied glumly, “I knew I was screwed once the power went out.”
But enough about him. Holly couldn’t help but notice Bridget’s lack of energy. He was also tired, but he knew Bridget and she looked worse for wear than he liked.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, hoping the question sounded innocuous.
“Tired.” Bridget responded honestly, opening her eyes and looking over at Holly. “It’s been a long day, and the terrible twosome are trying to have a kickboxing tournament.” She was hungry, too, but she was constantly hungry these days. “How about yourself? You were running around more than I was.”
“Gotta keep in shape.” Holly shrugged, glancing to his left to make absolutely sure there was no one speeding down the road before he pulled out of their parking spot. “You, on the other hand, you should probably start sitting out on these things.”
Bridget narrowed her eyes at her fellow raider. “Not yet,” she shook her head mulishly. “I’ll stop in another month or so, once I hit the third trimester.” She wasn’t about to quit raiding just yet, it wouldn’t be right to force the others to take up the slack when she was still capable of doing the job. “I’m tired, but that just means I’ll sleep well tonight.”
“Ever heard of taking it easy?” Holly retorted, suppressing the urge to roll his eyes at Bridget’s stubbornness. “You can work yourself to death for fifty years after you’ve given birth. Take the time to be pampered now, Preggers.”
“I will.” Bridget promised him. “Later. I’m not saying I plan on going every single raid, but I’m still going to go for a few weeks yet.” She wasn’t going to give up that independence, even if she should. Another month or six weeks and she’d just be too large to consider it, but for now she’d keep going.
“Okay, okay.” He had to sigh, giving up mostly because he remembered how infuriating it had been when Alice was totally against him going on raids. “You know yourself better than I do, but slow down a little, okay? I know I complain a lot about everything, but I don’t mind doing more work if it means you get to rest.”
“I didn’t think I’d ever hear you say that.” Bridget teased him, grinning from ear to ear before taking on a more serious expression. “I’m getting plenty of rest Hol, don’t worry.” Her yawn immediately afterward probably didn’t help her case any. “Raiding days just take a little more out of me than normal, that’s all.”
“You can say that again. You’re not the only one who’s gonna sleep good tonight.” Holly glanced into the rear view mirror at their loot. “I think I might take that blanket for myself.”
“It does look like a nice comforter.” She yawned again and closed her eyes. “I’ve got plenty though, so you won’t have to fight me for it.”
“The day I start fighting you is the day I hightail it outta the farm,” Holly replied gravely.
That earned him an un-ladylike snort, but she didn’t open her eyes. “Scared of the pregnant chick?” She asked sleepily.
“Ha, you wish.” Holly smiled, which didn’t fade even as he continued speaking. “I meant I don’t care for anyone else we’re living with - well, not enough to stick around. You’re the only one I can be myself around.”
That woke her up a bit, and she opened her eyes to look over at him. “Really? After all this time?” None of the others had made the effort?
All Holly did was shrug, keeping his eyes on the road.
“What about Meghan? You’re rooming with her after all.” Bridget couldn’t believe that the young man hadn’t at least gotten friendly with his roommate. Meg was such an easy going person.
“She’s fine,” Holly said airily. He hadn’t been pleased to have a roommate at all (especially a woman) and took that out on Meg at first, but she’d turned out to not be so bad. “Still not sure why I got stuck with a roommate, though.”
“Damned if I know, I figured Alice guilted you into it.” Bridget closed her eyes again, figuring that Holly was exaggerating.
“Whatever, at least she’s blind so I can continue sleeping in my underwear without offending her.” The storm seemed to pass as Holly turned to joking rather than sulking.
“She’s not the type anyway to get offended anyway,” Bridget yawned. “Besides, you two could probably trade underwear.”
Holly snorted. “Gross. I’m gonna tell her you said that,” he teased, though his eyes were sharp as he watched Bridget yawn again. At the very least, Holly was glad they were almost to their destination; then they could call it a day.