Eli Hayes (poke_the_dragon) wrote in the_dome, @ 2013-11-19 17:49:00 |
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Entry tags: | 04-14-2017, eli, eli and savannah, savannah |
Preparing for the Storm
Who: Eli and Savannah
Where: The lumberyard
When: Morning
Savannah had been up early in the morning like always, preferring to have some time to wake and leisurely prepare for her day. She couldn’t help but notice that today had a different feel to it when she stepped outside to get some fresh air, though. For one, it was colder than what she had grown used to within the dome. She had ignored it at first, but it only grew colder as the morning pressed on and that caused her to re-evaluate her hopes that the temperature would rise throughout the day. Finally, she decided she had better pay a visit to the lumberyard before school so she could be prepared to heat her room with the small fireplace inside it tonight, if needed. She changed into a more appropriate outfit for collecting firewood than the dress she had previously slipped into, jeans and a t-shirt with a light zip-up hoodie her clothing of choice, then left the ranch with a basket in hand and headed for her destination.
It was busier than she had anticipated it would be; apparently a lot of other people had the same idea she did about stocking up for tonight. Then again, there was no reason to be surprised. After surviving everything out there, being prepared was something that just came naturally now. At least it did for her.
When it was this cold early in the morning, Eli knew it was bound to get colder, so the first thing he did was grab the wheelbarrow and head down to the lumberyard. He arrived to find it bustling with people, all looking to stock up on firewood before the storm came in. Some of them had been smart enough to bring something to carry it with, others hadn’t. And even though it was early, it looked like the supply would run low before the day was out. Rather than take the last of the already cut wood, Eli picked up an ax and began chopping, loading up the wheelbarrow as he worked. “Need some firewood?” he asked Savannah when he saw her.
Savannah had begun the search for wood that was already split, not at all confident that she could lift an axe and hack away at a tree without making a complete fool of herself. Not that she would literally be cutting down a tree, but even those blocks of wood that just needed to be split would prove to be a challenge for her. The crowd and lack of available firewood was beginning to overwhelm her, bringing her empty basket closer as she crossed her arms tightly before her waist. She hadn’t caught sight of Eli until he spoke, turning her attention to where his voice reached out from. She breathed a small sigh of relief, nodding her head as she took a few steps near him. “Thank you.” She jumped when he brought down the axe on a piece of wood, noting where not to stand while he was doing that. “I’m sorry.. Eli, right?” She raised her voice out of fear that her usual quiet tone would go unnoticed, though it may have come across unnecessarily loud. She read that as a few people gave her an odd glance, licking her lips and staring down at her basket instead.
She didn’t seem overly loud to him, but then he was the one chopping wood. “Yeah,” he answered, bringing the axe down again. It might be worth it to skip school and work down here for the morning, since he couldn’t see himself working this afternoon. It would probably be a good idea to call Finn and tell him to come on down as well. “Do you need wood just for yourself, or for the school as well?” He couldn’t imagine that the school would be open today, or that if it was that the kids would attend, at least not if there wasn’t a way to heat it. As he thought about it, he didn’t think there were fireplaces in the high school either. Sitting in the cold didn’t sound appealing at any age.
"Just myself. I don't imagine I'll need very much." Savannah answered, making a conscious effort to control the level of her voice this time. She slowly raised her gaze from her basket back to the small wood pile that was accumulating thanks to Eli. She took a step closer then took a step back, reminding herself that it would be better to wait until he was done chopping to collect from the pile. For one, she wanted him to take as much as he wanted before she went for what she needed since he was doing all the work. She also didn't like the idea of any flying debris making painful contact with her being. "How is school?" It felt odd asking that question. She was just barely older than Eli, he actually kind of looked a little older than her, and here she was making small talk about how his education was treating him as if she were a grown adult talking to a young person. She had no idea what else to talk about, though.
Eli gave a nod, though he was going to send her with at least enough to last through the night and into the next day. If it was too much for her to carry, then he’d carry it for her. That’s what the wheelbarrow was for. “School’s okay,” he answered. “It’s not doing much to give me an idea of what I want to do with my life, but I guess that’s pretty normal considering how much we missed.” He could do what he was doing now, farm, but he wanted a bit more than that. He liked the idea of being out in the wild, hunting and living off the land, so maybe farming wasn’t too far off. “How’re the little ones?” he asked with a small smile. It was good to know that some children had survived into the dome. Hopefully they weren’t scarred for life.
Savannah nodded understandingly, recalling her time in school to have been lacking in the life direction department. If she hadn’t already had an idea of what she wanted to do when she was attending, she would have been completely lost as to what to do upon completion. Her eye brightened at the question of the children, a warm smile enlivening her face. “They’re all doing great, everyone’s showing some wonderful improvements compared to the last few years.” Some of the older kids in her class had been affected more than others by experiences outside the dome, but she was pleased to see that with much patience, nurture, and help, all of the children were making progress at resuming life as normally as anyone could, and learning all the while. “Maybe you should try teaching?”
“No way,” Eli said, shaking his head as he brought the ax down again. “The last grade I was able to complete before we got here was sixth grade. I’m not fit to teach anything.” It didn’t sound appealing to him in the least, not unless he was teaching them how to hunt or fish. He could be a boy scout leader, but not a proper teacher. “I’d make a good hunter if we had more open space. Or a park ranger,” he said, snickering to himself. Those were occupations that didn’t even exist anymore, but might have been appealing. “But I’ll probably just be a farmer.”
Savannah could understand teaching wasn’t for everybody, so she didn’t push the idea. “My daddy was a farmer.” She said softly, lowering her basket to the ground so she could wrap her arms around herself with some hope for additional warmth. She probably should have worn a jacket with a little more material to it than this one. “I’m sure Mr. Pollard would be happy to have your help if you wanted experience with animals. Or are you thinking mostly crops?” She personally loved living at the ranch and tending to the animals in her off time, but she was a tad bit rusty on the art of farming crops. It had been years since she helped her father, and other things had been on the forefront of her mind since that just seemed to push that kind of information to the back of her mind.
“Oh, I rotate through the different farms in the area, so I’ve helped out at the ranch before,” Eli said as he stopped chopping wood and began loading it into his wheelbarrow. “It gives me a chance to learn all the fruits, vegetables, grains, and then whatever Riley needs me to do.” It had taken him a moment to realized Riley was Mr. Pollard. He almost never used anyone’s last name these days. “Long term, though, I’m not sure what I want, so I’m glad I don’t have to decide any time soon.” It wasn’t like he was going to college.
"Oh, really?" Savannah smiled. "I board at the ranch. Maybe I'll see you there sometime!" She stepped forward once he was finished chopping. "Do you need help loading this?" She hadn't really waited for an answer, leaning down to lift a piece of the wood into the wheelbarrow. "You'll find it. What you want to do." She glanced up momentarily, somehow managing to smack herself in the face with the piece she had selected to lift, mumbling out an "ouch!" before she stood upright and placed a hand over her forehead. She stared at Eli, color rushing to her cheeks once she replayed the whole thing in her mind.
“I’m sure you will,” he said, thinking he’d have to look out for her the next time he was there. “I got it,” he said, but then she was helping anyways, so he didn’t stop her. His plan was to load up the wood he needed and see if more needed to be cut. If not, he could carry her wood for her as well. When she managed to hit herself with a piece of wood, he frowned and raised an eyebrow. “Maybe you should let me load the wood,” he said, then continued to do so. “I can drop it off at your place on the way to mine. You okay?”
Savannah placed the piece that assaulted her in the wheelbarrow, nodding as she brought her hand to her eyes with the hope that she wasn't bleeding. She was relieved to see she wasn't, shifting her blonde hair to block whatever mark was probably there. "I'm fine. That would be great, thank you." Her blush remained for a few minutes, trying to think of another topic so she could focus her attention elsewhere. "What do you like to do for fun?"
When he finished loading up the wood, Eli picked up one end of the wheelbarrow and started back down the path, assuming she lived out at the ranch. “I like to hunt and fish. Play cards and draw,” he answered, looking over at her as he walked. Being a werewolf made the wheelbarrow feel even lighter than usual, something he hadn’t noticed till now. “What about you?”
Savannah stooped down to lift her basket back into hand then followed Eli quietly, listening to what he liked to do in his down time and nodded. She wasn’t able to relate to enjoying too many of those things, but she could appreciate them all nonetheless. “Me? I like to spend time with the animals at the ranch. And I read when I can. Usually before bed.” She could have rolled her eyes at herself, realizing how boring she sounded as soon as the words left her mouth. She got quiet again, looking down to her basket.
“The cows and the horses?” Eli asked with a quirk of his lips. He wondered if they’d know what he was if he came near them. He hadn’t been out to the ranch since he’d been turned, but if he could smell other wolves, it wouldn’t surprise him if other animals scented him out as well. “I read a little. You should talk to Corey. She works at the library.” And while they rarely talked about books, he knew she liked them. He couldn’t imagine her working at the library otherwise. “What kind of books do you like?”
“They’re the best listeners.” Savannah answered with a small smile, the color on her cheeks finally beginning to fade. He had been kind enough not to laugh at her blunder and she appreciated that. “Corey.. what does she look like?” She asked curiously, familiar enough with some of the library employees, but probably not all of them. “I like anything that’s fictional, really. The bigger the story, the better.. I like getting lost in them.” She admitted, having sought refuge in quite a few books when she first sought refuge within Delphi. It was part of the reason she believed she was able to pull through as well as she did. “Do you like to read too?”
“She’s got short hair, sometimes wears it in her face,” Eli said, thinking that Corey’s scars were her most obvious feature, but not one that mattered to him, and not what she would want to be known for. “She’s kind of small and frail looking, except she’s not. Frail, I mean. I’m pretty sure she could kick my ass,” he said with a hint of a smile. “But yeah, I like to read. I don’t get to often, so I usually end up rereading something I’ve already read. I used to read horror and thrillers. So long as it’s not zombies, I still like it.”
Savannah couldn't recall having met any employees with short hair thus far, but she would be sure to keep an eye out now. “She’s tough?” She wasn’t sure why she bothered to ask, just about anyone within the dome was. They had to be to get here, at least a little bit. “There are a lot of classic horror stories at the library. I read Frankenstein for the first time a few weeks back.. it wasn’t exactly as I expected. But, I guess I shouldn’t rely on the media.. or what it was, to tell me how a story is supposed to go.” She rubbed at her arm, trying to create heat with friction. “It was still a pretty good read, though.” She added, “I always liked hunting when it was for food, too. There’s something calming about being so close to nature.”
“In her own way, yes,” he said with a nod. Corey was a fighter and a survivor. She was definitely tough and that was one of the many things he liked about her. “I haven’t read all that many of the classics, but I probably should. Sometimes I try and pick up something I would’ve read if I hadn’t missed most of high school. I’ll have to give Frankenstein a try.” It was horror, right? Though he was probably like her and knew more about it based on the legend than the book itself. “What do you hunt with?”
Savannah looked to Eli with appreciation that he was willing to give the book a try, raising her brows. “He can talk. I didn’t think he could.” She smiled again, her hands seeking refuge in the pockets of her jacket as she draped the basket she was holding over her arm. “Bow.” She answered without thought, having always appreciated the bow as an old weapon that could be appreciated. She didn’t touch a gun if she could help it, always having relied on a bow or crossbow to get her through hunting animals as a food source or zombies for survival.
“He can talk?” Eli asked, not having thought that far. He knew Frankenstein was about a man who reanimated a human that had died and that was about it. “The bow’s a good weapon, especially in our current conditions. You can retrieve a bow, but not a bullet. Plus, guns make too much noise.” And the last thing they’d needed on the outside was zombies flocking to the sound of a gunshot. “How’d you learn to shoot?”
“He can!” Savannah confirmed, recalling how surprised and just a little baffled she was when she had reached that section of the book. Maybe it wasn’t such a shocker to her that he could speak, so much as it was surprising how eloquently he could do so. She thought back to the first few times she had gone hunting with her father and how they worked at finding what she was most comfortable with. It was always a bow. “My daddy showed me.” It had never really dawned on her that it may have been odd to call her father “daddy” at her age, having lost him at a young enough age that it wasn’t such an odd thing to call him at that point in her life. “And I just kind of ran with it from there. We went hunting almost every weekend.” The memory warmed her, her smile reflective of that. “I haven’t had the chance to lately, though. A part of me is concerned I’ve forgotten how.”
“Where did you grow up?” he asked, continuing to push the wheelbarrow along towards the ranch. It was unusual to him that a young girl would go hunting-- bow hunting, at that-- every weekend before the zombies came. She had to have been, what? Thirteen at the time? It wasn’t the kind of thing boys in his neighborhood would have been up to on the weekends, let alone girls. “I don’t think you’ll forget that quickly. Kind of like riding a bike. If you have an aptitude for it, I think it’ll stick.” He definitely wasn’t worried about it disappearing on him, but then he still hunted, now with more skill than before.
“South Carolina. We had a farm just outside a little town.” She smiled thinking back on home. It may have sounded unusual or boring to some people, but she rather liked growing up on a farm and spending her weekends on trips with her father. Any of the game they were able to successfully hunt was brought home for her mother to freeze for later use in meals. She was never much interested in things other kids her age were into, always seeking out how she could help and provide for those she cared about. “I hope so. I’ll have to pick up my bow again soon, just to be sure.” It was hard to tell if those skills would be necessary again, given how strange and random this weather was.
Eli nodded, though he still thought it was weird, even if he’d learned to use a bow himself. He supposed she was lucky, going into all this with a knowledge of how to hunt. He and his crew had had to figure all that out for themselves. He and Finn were the hunters, unless it was fishing, which they could all do. “If you go out to the woods, there are rabbits you can hunt,” he said. “Corey uses them to make rabbit stew. And I bet if you saved the coats, you could eventually make something.” He wasn’t sure what. He wasn’t exactly crafty.
“I could fashion one of those fur hats.. with the tail?” Savannah glanced over to Eli with a small laugh, able to imagine her walking around with that on her head. “Not a bad idea though, the stew.” She glanced around at the surroundings as they passed, dropping her arms that had been crossed before her so that she could just hold the basket in hand between both hands. “I’ll be sure to make you one too, if I do end up with a bunch of furs. Or, I could make you a coat! Tail included, of course.”
“Little rabbit tail?” he asked with a small smile. “I don’t think it would have the same effect as a raccoon or a fox, but sure. You know that’s a lot of rabbits to make a coat, right? And I kinda feel like fur coats are better for girls.” He’d never known a guy with a fur coat, except for pimps in movies, and those didn’t even look real. “But yeah, rabbits seem to be what we have the most of in the dome, considering the rate they multiply and the lack of natural predators. It wouldn’t surprise me if there were enough to make a coat.” Which would be nice in this kind of weather. Eli was glad to have his hoodie.
“You could start the newest trend in Delphi, men in fur coats.” Savannah bobbed her head, thumb trailing over the handle of the basket to observe the notches in the wood it was fashioned from. “Then I’ll have to stop teaching because I’ll be so busy making the coats.. maybe you should hold off, on second thought.” Her tone was purely playful, not believing for a second that he would consider wearing fur as a fashion statement. She also wasn’t about hunting for anything other than necessity, appreciating animals for everything they offered other than just sport.
“Eh, I think I’ll pass on that one,” Eli said, making a face. “I’m hoping that this cold weather doesn’t stay long enough for us to need fur coats. We’re not prepared for a winter.” Not the people, nor the crops. The domes were meant to maintain a certain temperature and this was not it, at least as he understood it. Then again, the sun wasn’t supposed to go out either and that had happened. “Do you think the schools will be open today?” He didn’t think he’d be going in, but then it wouldn’t be the first time he skipped either.
Savannah nodded to agree, not a fan of the chill at all. She had grown accustomed to what she could expect for weather, so the unexpected drop had left her a little uneasy. “I haven’t heard otherwise, so I’ll be there. Right after I get back with this, actually.” She motioned to the firewood, guessing she would have enough time to change quickly before she would have to leave for the school. Some of the kids were dropped off rather early depending on their parents’ schedule, and not being there for them was obviously unacceptable. “Are you planning on going?”
“Eh, maybe. Probably not. Depends on what the other guys are doing,” Eli said, seeing the ranch up ahead. What he really wanted to do was see if he could shift into a wolf, then go for a run in the forest. He wasn’t entirely sure that was an option, but it sounded like a good time. So did curling up by the fire and drawing. “It’s kinda hard to focus when you’re cold. I doubt there’ll be much to do today at work if it starts raining, so we’ll see.” He didn’t mind a day off. It meant he could catch up with his friends.
Savannah’s gaze also fell on the ranch ahead, glancing down to the wheelbarrow below. “I can load up some wood in my basket and make the rest of the trek from here. You’ve already helped so much.” She offered him a smile, hoping he knew she was genuinely grateful for his help and assistance. With her previous display of grace, it was pretty obvious that she probably would have hurt herself had she been left to chop firewood for herself.
“It’s not that much farther,” he said, not minding the remaining distance, even if they made it in silence. Eli wasn’t a loud person to begin with, tending to be quiet around those he didn’t know very well. Though he wasn’t as quiet as Liam. When they finally made it to the ranch, Eli brought the wheelbarrow up on the porch so he could unload it under cover. It was going to rain soon, he was sure, so loading it in the wood pile would only result in it getting rained on later. “Thanks for keeping me company,” he said as he began unloading. “Stay warm?”
Savannah had taken a step forward to assist in helping Eli unload the wood from the wheelbarrow, but reminded herself what had happened last time. “Oh, thank you for all your help!” She smiled warmly. “I probably would have ended up with all kinds of splinters, otherwise.” She set the basket she had been holding on the porch, giving her hands a break from holding it. “I’m sure I will now. You do the same.. I’ll see you around.” She offered another friendly smile, grateful that a pleasant interaction had counteracted a rather nasty start of the day with the weather as it was shaping up to be.