I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay
Who: Scott and OPEN
When: Early afternoon
Where: Down on the farm
Scott had spent most of the morning searching their house for something to cut wood with. The storm didn't look like it was getting any better, and with the power not sure if it wanted to be on or off today, he decided that it wouldn't hurt to get some firewood. Of course, there were no axes or chainsaws or anything that would come in handy around his house, so he set off towards the farm. If anyplace had the proper tools for a job like this, they would. They might even have a cart or something that he could use to get it back.
He'd taken his time getting dressed for the cold- scarf, long coat, leather gloves... hardly the "rugged" look one would expect from someone chopping wood. Some concessions had to be made for style, right? He lifted his collar a bit as the wind picked up again. He was starting to wonder if this was such a good idea. But he'd committed himself, and felt like he needed to at least make the effort. Passing the boarded up houses, he had a thought- What if the farmhouse is boarded up too? If that was the case, he'd wasted the trip. As he approached though, he saw that it was not boarded up. Of course, he had no idea where exactly he should look. Good planning, butch. "You're not helping!" he shouted at the voice of Casey in his head.
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Saj had of course been meaning to go to the Farm and visit Adam today, before the whole "WELCOME TO YOUR BRAND NEW HOME" deal, so he figured yeah - stick with that plan. Even if they'd been moved and the dude weren't there no more it was a starting point, a place he hadn't been before. Exploration was good for the soul or some jazz hands.
Speaking of jazz hands, there was Scott the beefcake himself, walking ahead of him. Funny, he hadn't seen the dude leave the house, but Saj had been a bit preoccupied what with flickering lightbulbs and bickering with online Bri and spending some quality time with Allah.
"Scott!" Saj cried, jogging towards the man and clapping him on the shoulder. He liked familiar faces, even if they were ones he wasn't buddy-buddy with before, he wasn't the type to bear old wounds. Not that Scott had ever been anything but polite but still. The whole...gay thing was a bit weird. Hence the rather swift withdrawal of his hand.
He disguised this by folding his arms under his armpits and grinning sheepishly "Cold, innit? And I thought London could get a bit frosty - fuckin' Russia man!" - Saj wasn't exactly dressed for the weather in his oversized jeans and big white hoodie (complete with Indian flag emblazoned on the back. Oh, the foibles of The Raggastani wardrobe).
Scott looked over his shoulder as Saj run up and hit him on the shoulder. He was a little surprised, actually. He and Saj had always been polite enough, but yeah, never the back-slapping type. He decided that the whole "strange bedfellows" thing had some truth to it. "Tell me about it. Down in Austin we get maybe one or two days of winter weather, tops. And that's usually just crappy slushy ice." He smiled at the youngster. "Out for a stroll, or you gonna actually give me a hand with the firewood situation?"
Saj grinned and nodded. Firewood? He didn't know a thing about any firewood situation, but it sounded like a task for more than one person, and Saj was nothing if not helpful.
"Yeah man, I'll help with whatever - I was going to go and see that Adam bloke about a bit of like... down on the farm style food harvest. I dunno, might be a bit redundant now we're fully stocked. Maybe he's not even around anymore. People vanish." Saj shrugged, trying to look nonchalant with that last comment.
"This is mad though, innit? This place. I feel like I'm in a really rubbish horror film. Wish we were just back in our own experiment. Before the food dissappeared, I mean."
"I know what you mean," Scott said, looking around at the farm. He wasn't entirely sure they'd find anything here, and half wondered if their "hosts" would intentionally remove things that could be used for survival. "Things were a lot easier back there, weren't they?" Casey wasn't bothering me back then, either. I'll leave anytime you want me to, you know. "No, don't!" he said, forgetting himself for a moment. Having Casey around had been the only thing that kept him sane while he was lost. He took a moment to regain his bearings. Farm, right. "So, what do you think?" He said to Saj. "Do the polite thing and knock on a door, or just go in and start rummaging?"
"Yeah man. Easy-peasy. It was just chillin' in a big fuck-off mansion. I reckon it might be like that again though, now we've been put back into houses. Just like - fix the power, and we're cushty. Apart from the missing folk that is. Fucked up what happened in the wilderness, man. I was lucky to have Allah on my back for that one. Shit. And I guess we weren't the only ones to wander off out there and get lost..."
He glanced curiously at Scott. Carly and Josh hadn't been his only friends in the experiment after all. He wanted to know that other people were okay. Because Josh certainly wasn't and Carly was...well...somewhere else.
"No don't what, big man? Don't crack up on me, yeah? Blimey. Anyway, it doesn't look to me like there's much action goin' on in the farm. Probably abandoned, innit? Maybe just like...shout 'hello?' horror-movie style and see what happens? What the fuck are we after, anyway? Combine harvester?"
"What? Oh, sorry." Pull yourself together, ya old queen. "Um, I wouldn't even know what a combine harvester was if it was painted pink with a big sparkly sign that said 'Combine Harvester'." Scott looked around for a barn. "Just some axes or a chainsaw. And maybe something to carry things in. Figured it wouldn't hurt to get some firewood just in case, and there's plenty of trees around."
He looked at the houses again. "I doubt they're abandoned, though. Everything that's been abandoned's been boarded up, but neither of these houses are, so I would assume someone is here, somewhere." He looked up at the sky. Not good. It'll get bad tonight. "Hello?" He shouted to the sky. "Anyone home?"