He spotted the mattress store and pulled in. He left Coop in the truck with Daisy and ran into the store. He came back out with a twin mattress and put it into the trailer. Going back in, he picked up the box spring. On the next go around, he picked up bedframes, to keep the beds off the floor. Then he picked up a full-size mattress. He needed a bit more room than a twin could provide. He was about to leave the store when he looked at the leather loveseat, where customers could sit and wait. He shrugged. He’d need some place to sit in the evenings. Why not?
He dragged the loveseat out; it wasn’t that heavy and he easily put it into the trailer. He smiled. Check out sure was a lot easier these days. He pulled away from the mattress store satisfied. He noted the Walmart up the road, that would be for future plundering. He sped along the highway and turned off the exit to the small farm. Before he pulled into the long drive, he slowed down. There was a car parked in the yard. Someone was there. He cursed softly under his breath. He’d just have to make do with the chickens he had. Perhaps he’d swing by another farm and pick up more. He drove past the farm and drove on for another few miles. Off in the distance, he saw another farm house. He slowed down and pulled into the drive. He beeped his horn several times, waiting silently.
Cooper lifted himself as far as he could and looked out of the window. It was quiet. Brian beeped once more before getting out of the truck.
“Stay in here Coop. I’ll be right back.” Brian instructed softly. Daisy sniffed the air but her tail was not wagging.
He could smell the distinct scent of putrefaction and corruption. He didn’t go up to the house, but went around back. He found the coop, but all the chickens were dead. It was grizzly and he turned and walked away. This place was a bust. He got back into the truck and turned around carefully and left the farm behind. He was wasting time here and decided another day would do just as well for chicken hunting. He needed to get back to the park.
Half an hour later, he pulled into R.B. Winter State Park. He drove around and then pulled up to the large structure. He sighed in relief, there was no one around and no one had bothered the impromptu chicken coop. He let Daisy out, who then went sniffing around. She sniffed at the coop and then ran off toward the water. Brian lifted Cooper out of the truck.
“Stay close, where I can see you. Don’t leave the area, okay?”
“Okay daddy.” Cooper pipped up and then went running after the dog. Brian grunted and kept his eye on the boy, all the same. He began unloading, and carrying the clothing bundles and suit cases into the structure, now home. It was large and would hold quite a bit. He’d have to section it off, but that could be done later. Once he got the garden in and trees cut down for future firewood, along with all the other things on his long lists. He watched Cooper playing by the chickens and was satisfied the boy had settled, at least for the moment. He stripped off his light jacket as the morning began to heat up. He unloaded the trailer and set the contents out on the ground. He took the beds into the house and set the fruit trees containers out. He felt the soil in the containers, it was damp, so he didn’t need to water them.
With the truck and trailer finally unloaded, he began to assemble the wood for the new coop. He had a simple idea in mind. Tall enough to where he could enter, the floor raised off the ground, and chicken wire surrounding the whole of it. He’d also gotten dowel rods, for the chickens to roost on. The raised coop would allow the chickens to scratch under the structure in winter. It would also be large enough once the chickens reproduced more chickens. It might take a couple years to get a big flock, but he was confident they could do it.
It would take a few days for to build the finished coop, for now, he began building an enclosure around the temporary coop. Cooper came over and helped him, handing him galvanized screws. Brian had his drill, with extra batteries. They’d been charging while he’d had the generator on at home. He figured he’d be needing all the batteries before it was all over. He’d seen solar panels at Lowes, as well as the inverters and deep cell batteries. Perhaps once he got things squared away here, he’d go back and pick them up. It would be nice to have the water pump running, so he’d have flushing toilets as well as the outdoor showers. Also, to have lights at night. He could also pick up light fixtures with the LED bulbs, so as not to draw too much power. He could even pick up extra panels and inverter, so if the others wore out or broke, he’d have back up. It didn’t hurt to have extra.
If he did that, then he’d look to see if there was a refrigerator that he could
