He’d never met crazy before, but he sure as hell met one now. He figured she’d been crazy before the virus; her appearance indicated a long-term lack of sanity. Perhaps she was let go from those who’d cared for her, perhaps they’d died. He’d never know. He’d not go back there. He’d not want to run into her again. He looked at the clock, it was just after three. He’d hit the farm that was only a few miles away and see if he could catch some chickens. He’d head back to the park and fix up a temporary coop for them. Tomorrow, he’d swing by Lowes and pick up a gas-powered tiller, and he’d begin getting his new home ready for living.
He pulled off the road onto a long winding drive. It led up to a faded two story farm house. He beeped his horn, announcing his arrival. He’d not want to be shot as a trespasser.
“Coop, stay in the truck.” Brian said, thinking about the crazy old woman. He got out and locked the truck. The windows were slightly opened to let a breeze in. He went up the steps to the house and knocked heavily on the door. He could detect the faint scent of decay.
“Hello? Anyone here? I’m going to go get some of your chickens. If you’re there, please let me know and I’ll leave you. I don’t want to take anything, if you’re still here and alive. I won’t hurt you; I’m just hoping to find some chickens.” He yelled. He felt foolish, but he knew if someone were alive, he’d not want to take their food from them. He waited, keeping his ears attuned to any noise. He could hear nothing with in.
He heard chickens clucking toward the back of the house. He went to the trailer and opened it. Taking out his knife, he cut open the bag of scratch grain, he took several handfuls and put inside one of the metal buckets. Then he took one of the large kennels out of the trailer and walked toward the back of the house. Sure enough, inside a large enclosure were chickens, scratching around. He could also smell the reek of decay and looked around. There were several dead chickens. Maggots moved on the dead and the live chickens pecked at them. Gruesome. There was a low trough that had less than an inch of water in it. He thought perhaps the rain had kept the other chickens alive.
He opened the door to the enclosure and set up the kennel. He started calling the chickens and throwing the scratch grain inside the kennel. At the sound of the grain hitting the back of the kennel, the chickens came running like crazed fiends. Squawking and running, the surrounded Brian. It damn near sent him running. He threw more grain into the large kennel and seven hens and a rooster rushed in. There were six outside the kennel, but Brian figured seven hens and a rooster was a good start. He could always come back and get the rest. He closed the kennel and trapped the chickens inside. He scattered more around for the other hens.
He took the kennel out of the encloser and walked back to the truck. He placed the kennel in the back of his truck. Going back to the trailer, he got several bottles of water and went back to the encloser. He dumped the water into the trough. Then he walked to the chicken house and looked inside. He saw two small hens sitting on nests. He walked over and lifted each hen and got severely pecked for his efforts. Both hens sat on half a dozen eggs each. Good, he’d figured they’d hatch these babies out.
Going back to the trailer, he got the other kennel along with a wooden crate. Going to the truck, he looked in and saw a hand towel. He grabbed that and took the items back to the enclosure. He went back into the coop. Carefully; he laid the towel over the unhappy brooding hen. He carefully lifted the hen, along with the nesting material, keeping the eggs cupped in his hands and set it all in the wooden crate. He then set the crate, hen and eggs into the larger kennel. He left the towel on her. He was afraid she’d freak out inside the kennel and bust the eggs.
He’d build her a separate brooder coop, away from the main flock. He’d come back and get the other chickens and the other brooding hen. Once he had a big enough set up for them, he’d return for more, he wanted to make sure he did it right. For now, he needed to get back to the park and get the chickens settled into a temporary home and then head back to his own home.
Leaving the encloser, Brian felt elated. He’d accomplished quite a bit today. It would be evening by the time he got home, but it had been a good day after all. Getting back in the truck, he looked over at Coop, who looked back expectantly.
“We got us some chickens!” He grinned and the rooster crowed at that moment. A wide smile split the boy’s face.
“Woohoo!” Cooper crowed.
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Casper looked around him, he sat at the fountain at the Board Game Art park. The city was deadly quiet but
