Plans

Posted on Wed Oct 2nd, 2024 @ 4:28am by Amythyst

722 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: The Road Ahead
Location: 380W 12th Street
Timeline: **September 9th, 16:35PM**

The greenhouse was not small inside. In fact, when Amy measured it out as best she could it was nearly 16 feet long and 9 feet wide, it had three levels of shelves on each side of the narrow isle. She walked cautiously down the narrow centre; glad she had dragged the other body out and tossed it over the edge of the building. She noted that the prior owner had been very meticulous in labelling their plants. As she walked, she used a basket she found to collect anything that was ready.

Tomatoes – several different plants, which she considered was a good thing.
Cucumbers
Blueberries
Strawberries
Blackberries
Avocados
Lettuce
Peas
Beans
Basil
Mint
Rosemary

And there at the end, three fruit trees and one very bush vine. She checked the vine. It was a passionfruit vine and the trees were… after a check, Orange, Lemon and Apple. Amy considered how she was going to keep these plants alive. While the water tank was great, it would need to be rationed in case it didn’t rain anytime soon. Leaving the greenhouse, Amy paused at the sight of the pipes running across each level and to the plants. A watering system. She smiled and saw the timer; it was a simple twist timer. No power required. She deftly set it to 20 minutes and turned the tap on. The hiss of water reached her ears, and she turned to watch the plants get the water they probably had not had for days.

Taking the basket which held now 4 tomatoes, two cucumbers and a lettuce, she went to the chicken coop and checked on their water. She went to the kitchen of the middle apartment and using the knives she found there, made herself a small salad for dinner and then the rest she chopped small and fed them to the chickens while getting water from the tank to fill their water bowl and used some to bathe.

She was careful with the water she used and was even able to wash some of her clothes. She hung them on the fence between her apartment and the one on the right. She made a note to tear down the fence the next day. The wood would be useful in winter. She would have to winterise the Chicken coop as well. Maybe expand it as well so they had more room if she didn’t harvest the eggs and allowed for them to breed, and the chicks being born. More wood around the sides and... she would need to find something to use for ground cover for them. Maybe a rug from the right-side apartment… Amy mused as she sat on the small patio chair in front of the apartment she had chosen as hers for now. The middle apartment. Eventually she might move to one of the larger apartments.

She began to make plans for the next few days. Barricade the inner doors to the building in each apartment, and take down the fence between 2 & 3, then gather all the blankets, bedding clothes and sort it all. Water the greenhouse for 20 minutes each day. At least the water tank water would be rationed. She took a breath. Eventually she would need to find a way to get supplies as eventually things would run out. And … being alone meant that she would need to figure a way of protecting her place while she was out.

She went to her backpack as the sun began its slow descent and pulled out her sketchpad. She began to sketch out an idea to transform the garden area of the 3rd apartment into a chicken run.

Then she used the remaining water to flush the toilet in her apartment, which helped her with keeping it hygienic.

With the power out she knew she would need to find a way to bathe. Maybe she could wait until it rained… if it rained.

Pray for rain. Amy gathered her things as the light went bad. Then she moved into her apartment, closed and locked the door to the terrace and headed as silently as she could to the bedroom she had claimed the night before.

Settling in for the night, Amy let her gaze wander out to the city, now dark rather than the lights that used to light it. Life changed so much.

 

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