Cultivator in a Zombie Apocalypse

Chapter One Hundred and Six - One Man's Trash

It was always eerie driving down a wide road with abandoned, scattered vehicles dotted here and there. The van rattled as Winston failed to miss a shallow pot hole, one of several that had never been fixed since the end. Most of these hadn't really worsened; there was no longer the pressure of continuous traffic to cause them to do so. But here and there, some had deepened, some had lengthening cracks and others had weeds comfortably growing in their reclaimed spaces.

They'd travelled first along a few backroads, some of which had now been mostly reclaimed by grass and greenery making them difficult to traverse along. They'd had mixed success with the smattering of properties located there, but as they were not looking for food as this was the most unlikely thing for them to find, their pickings really weren't bad overall. With Shaun insisting on travelling with them, their task had become somewhat easier; he could directly pluck the pipes and radiators from the walls rather than them smash them up like yobs. If there was any water lingering in them, Tyler evaporated it with his abilities, while the others sought in every corner for salvage.

Abandoned properties are more at risk from the elements; one bungalow had a few broken roof tiles allowing the rain to seep in damaging carpets and wood flooring as well as causing mould to grow on other fabrics. The smell of that place had been heavily musty, but it had not been the only property to be exposed to the elements. One house had several smashed windows and doors within, the patio doors had been broken from the inside. It was most likely that a zombie had broken out from inside.

Apart from metal pipes, nails and nuts, they gathered up curtains and other fabrics. These could be repurposed, perhaps or used to thicken their own window coverings this winter and help keep any warmth inside. Harry located a bunch of candles and tea lights in a loft along with a toy train set and building blocks. They'd been covered in plastic bags, so didn't need much cleaning up.

This hidden cottage was a fairly old property, built many centuries ago and still had its large fireplace in the living room and wood burning range oven in the kitchen. They stayed there that night, reheating several flasks of squash and bean soup over a fire and the next morning they used all their ability and strength to steal the oven. They planned to try install it in the second property in order that the occupants could live there more comfortably in winter.

From a few of these places, they did actually find food, including some tins and packages that were still in date. To be honest, even though a few were past their best before dates, they still claimed them, knowing that they wouldn't be awful. These included a couple of bags of white flour, a bag of brown sugar that hadn't been opened and a container of crystallised honey. Salt, vinegars and oil was also discovered, but none of the latter bottles were sealed so they left them rather than take the risk. Seasoning packets were abundant in one kitchen cupboard, sealed one use type things and Dexter quickly gathered these thinking they would interest his wife.

On a farm, the found a truck that still had some fuel in its tank and a horse box which could be attached to it. This was quickly filled with items from the farmhouse itself, though there was not a great deal to take. This place had clearly been found and stripped of any essentials so mostly what they took was metal, paint and some rusting tools hidden in a barn.

As they were about to leave, they noticed an old tree that had lost vitality and was simply dry wood waiting to fall. They took the time to chop it down and into movable chunks, placing it into the smaller truck's open bed.

It wasn't completely smooth sailing either, but there was only one encounter that could be considered life threatening.  That was a mess of mutant felines whose territory they had travelled into.  They decided to flee, Ren Zexian covering their backs and sweeping aside the vicious cat pride, while they left the barns and farm property labelled them as a loss.