Forest cleared, revealing a wide open field. Ground was still bare and soil packed to a hard surface. Lumber mill stood at the middle of the clearing, still tall and proud. Logan tilted his head. The control booth of the mill looked promising. It was located on to the roof of the three story lumber mill. It would be a perfect place for a sentinel. That was, of course if they had one. As it was they’d have to make by with a live guard. They could take turns in the tower. Like mongooses, a thought flitted through his mind suddenly, forcing a smile on his face.
“What do you think? I think it looks pretty good. If we find a way to dig a moat around the whole fucking mill we should be able to fend off almost anything,” Marie said, excitement once again colouring her voice. He could smell it on her. She was already waiting for it eagerly. A home. A place to call her own, a place to defend if it ever came to that. She was nesting. And truth to be told... He had no objections.
“It’s good. And moat... That’s actually a great idea. We just need a bulldozer and an excavator to crack through this soil... Yeah. This should do. There’s plenty of room for all of us, and that mill doesn’t look too shabby... We probably have to look up those shingles and check those poles it stands on, but there’s a whole fucking forest full of wood so there should be no problems...” He didn’t realize that he was rambling until he noted Marie staring at him with her mouth gaping open.
“You’ve gotten a serious case of constructo-itis, haven’t you?” It was more of a notion than a question.
“Uh... Yeah?” He rubbed the back of his neck, slightly embarrassed.
“I think that I have gotten enough of the killing and maiming to last for a lifetime. Something constructive would probably serve as a nice counterweight,” he then explained.
“Okay. But could this project wait until we have actually checked the mill and found something to eat?” Marie asked. He shrugged his shoulders.
“I guess it has to. Darn. I knew there was a catch in this deal...” He grunted.
She couldn’t help admiring the way Logan seemed to melt in to his surroundings, much like a chameleon would do. He had spied a group of rabbits in the forest near the lumber mill. Marie had begged and whined until he had relented and let her come with him, but not before extracting her promise not to disturb the hunt. She had climbed on to a tall tree.
“Stay and watch. I teach you how to do this later,” Logan had grunted.
Now she could see the rabbits, jumping around and munching away dry hay that grew on the ground, but she could not see Logan. She knew he was somewhere down there, but nothing alerted her before he suddenly emerged from the bushes, grasping to his left and right, managing to catch four of the rabbits while rest of the small herd scattered to every possible direction.
“Why didn’t you just shot them?” She asked while climbing down to witness Logan snapping their necks, one after another.
“I’m not that good with firearms. Besides, I think it’s better that we save our bullets to when we actually need them...” Logan said, then thrust the limp carcasses to her.
“What am I supposed to do with these?” She asked puzzled.
“Carry them. You think four is enough? We’re going to get some more. And we’re still going to eat rations tonight. Those rabbits aren’t ready to cook yet.”
“Won’t they rot if we wait?” She asked.
“We’re not going to wait that long. Just long enough for the meat to soften up a bit.”
For a while later they returned to the lumber mill. Scott and Jean had already found their way there, too.
“Looks promising. Have you already checked it from the inside?” Scott asked. Logan shook his head.
“Decided to leave that to you.”
“Oh... Okay. Jean! Let’s go!”
“I don’t remember Scott being that dependant of Jean before...” Marie whispered when she was sure that Scott was out of hearing range. Logan shrugged his shoulders, slicing open the stomach of a rabbit he was processing.
“Give him some time. The plane crash shook him up a bit. He’ll come around eventually... You think you could dig up a deep hole?” He asked.
“Huh? Now?” She asked perturbed. Wet sound of tearing tissues when Logan dug in to the carcasses made her slightly nauseous.
“Yeah. We need to bury these innards. Don’t want half of the local wildlife population to come looking for scraps before we have some sort of fort raised. Scott fighting off a bear would probably look hilarious as hell. Jean stitching up his remains for the burial would probably look even funnier...”
She begun to dig the hole Logan had requested. The soil was hard and she had no tools but her own hands and a sturdy branch to use for the job. By the time she was finished Logan had already cleaned up all the six rabbits they had caught. Their innards lay on a heap on the ground at his feet. He was staring at the pile longingly.
“It’s a damn shame to waste that stuff. Heart and liver... They’d be perfect for a stew...” He huffed, then pushed the pile in to the hole with his foot.
“And how the hell do you know so much about these things?” Marie asked, kicking dirt over the gross pile that was already attracting flies.
“I was out on my own for a good while before we tagged along with Xavier’s freak-show. Picked up little this and that along the road.”
They finished cleaning up.
“Come on. We better go and see what Jean and Scott are up to. And we have to find a place to hang these critters. Can’t leave them out in the sun,” Logan said shaking the limp carcasses he was dangling from their ears.
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