The birds have flown their summer skies to the south;

[markwatney]

WHO: Mark Watney
WHERE: 6I Inn
WHEN: 19 Oct 2017
OPEN TO: ALL Closed to new threads

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I think most people have an unspoken list of things they intend to do when they have the time and inclination. Mine I usually actually write down, even in a place like this where paper and writing implements are scarce — Days with much downtime don't happen often, and my list is embarrassingly long. It helps to have a note so I can look everything over and figure out what's most pressing. I managed to get off of Mars this way, so I figure it's not a bad system.

Today, though, my choice was made for me. I woke up to two things: A box with my name on it, and a sky full of snow. Fortunately, all of the harvesting had been done on the less cold-hardy plants already, and unless this cold snap dragged on into something long-term, it would be good for what we picked later in the season. Sweetens the berries.

I've got plenty of ways I could fill a free day, but the snow and that mystery box left little question what needed to be top of the list: Taking a census before winter fully moved in. As far as I could tell, while various people in various places took notes about events and connections, we'd never had one central, definitive list of everyone in the community, where they were living and how long they'd been around. With a second village in the mix now, this information was more important than ever. A proper census would give us the tools to start to prepare for winter in earnest — Not just in predicting how much food and firewood would be needed, but what roads needed to be cleared, medical preparations and more.

The box I mentioned before, it helped with this. It was full of items that were a huge help in getting organized: Pencils, binders, blessed paper. And chalk. There was only one place to use that.

After carefully copying the information that had been collected on the blackboard at the Inn, I wash down both sides and jump right in: At the top of the outfacing side, I make three headings:

Name - Residence - Apx. Arrival

Beneath this, I start with my own info:

M. Watney - W. outskirts, blue - 1yr, 4 mo

"Why haven't we named the damn streets yet?" I mutter, and then began writing in what information I know on the rest of the villagers, leaving blank spaces for others to fill in next time they're at the Inn. But seriously, though, one more thing added to my to-do list: Street names and house numbers.

Comments

[markwatney]

"Yet somehow, the mystery packages always find their way to the right place," I quip back, and reach for another piece of chalk after Kira plucks the one from my fingers.

"Nobody needs to be over on the east side once the weather starts to really turn," I add, and glance behind me at the slow-drifting snowflakes tumbling beyond the window panes. "Stuck over there with almost no resources... No. I don't relish the idea of going out there and finding bodies once the snow melts."

[3ofswords]

"I can't believe you'd call my shitty dice, old bullet casings, or dozen rodeo belts junk," Kira says, voice dipping and rising with exaggerated offense. In a tighter space, he might think about getting rid of the things that simply haunt him out of sentimentality, but he has a house with a house's storage: why throw anything away? Where would he even throw it?

The lake. Definitely the big lake.

"I don't relish the idea of finding bodies anywhere," he adds, eyes driving sideways over the board to find Mark's. "Especially the fountain. I know it drained last summer; you wouldn't know how to rig some kind of pump for that, would you? Or we could do our best with buckets."

[markwatney]

"It wouldn't work," I reply with a shake of my head. Not that we've ever tried that particular tack that I can recall, but amid the unpredictability of this place, a few truths have emerged. One of them is that we're not doing anything to that fountain that the people in charge don't want us to do.

"To be honest, I don't know what would actually be worse, coming out of the fountain wet in the middle of freezing temperatures but having the possibility of finding shelter, or being dry and stuck in the bottom of it for hours."

Kira does bring up an important point, though. "A lot of people go by there or take informal shifts — We had some volunteers last winter, but there were gaps, obviously." I motion his way but don't elaborate. The least said about Kira's arrival the better. "It's probably finally time that we see about making fountain watching an official thing 24-7."

[3ofswords]

"I mean we'd put in a fucking ladder," he says, though he can't argue the rest. "I wasn't suggesting we Darwin our way to village where everyone has a ten foot vertical leap." Because he'd be right out, the way he almost was his first night here. And probably several other times, one of which is definitely being chased by a badger.

"Nobody's come out on the other side," he asks, knowing enough people have traveled across for peaches or boats to report back if someone had. "I don't know about Bodhi, but I'll take a few shifts."

[markwatney]

"No, nobody has yet, but arrivals have slowed down a little, so that doesn't mean they won't," I allow with a slow sigh. Nothing about this place can be easy.

"We can put up signs directing anybody who happens to come through that way how to get over here, and yeah — Maybe not a ladder, but drop a rope down the side of the fountain. It also might not be a bad idea to send a team over there maybe once a week, just to check. We've got some adventurous types who would probably volunteer for that."

[3ofswords]

"Maybe that team could supply the other inn with some wood, at least, and add a sign pointing at it. Or we can leave that to whatever idiots decide to live over there." Kira rolls his eyes, but he can't shake the thought that someone is going to. Hopefully enough someones that they don't all freeze to death. "The teams could make contact with them if nothing else."

The trek across isn't impossible, in terms of distance, and the fountain on that side is at least empty--but it's a disorienting enough situation he isn't sure he'd want to make it first thing. "I guess we can draw some pictures of fire and houses or something, avoid a language barrier."

[markwatney]

"Yeah, that would probably be best," I agree with a nod. We haven't had many people show up who don't speak English, but better safe than sorry if we're going to all the trouble.

"Has anybody even cleaned out that other inn yet?" I ask. If it's in any state close to how the first inn was when we first discovered it, it's going to need some work to be habitable.

[3ofswords]

There's still the trust barrier, but what can you really do with signs and games of Pictionary to convince someone this is not the way to a village of cannibals?

"Probably not, I've been over a few times and not set foot in it." If you're avoiding people and antagonistic foxes, obvious gathering places lose their appeal. "Is it worth the effort to do more than the ground floor? It's not like we want people to linger over there."

[markwatney]

"No, but it's probably worth it to take a day before it gets much colder and go air it out and see what state it's in, what we can scavenge. I haven't spent much time over there since the breach first opened; I just haven't had the time." As much as I love to go exploring, when weighing my priorities, it's ususally felt like a waste of half a day or more to do nothing more than poke around over there.

"It's too bad we don't have a cart we could hitch to one of the cows. Would make it easier to carry things back." I don't know how much we're going to need things like extra pots and blankets, but it seems like a good idea to grab them while we can.

[3ofswords]

"Anybody got a wheelbarrow we could rig," he asks, unsure what in the village actually provides wheels. "Or we could use those shitty boats--they're basically nice tarps on a frame. If we wait for another snow, could pull them like sleds."

He'd seen people make do with a lot in Manhattan: some chick had even commandeered one of the carriage horses from Central Park.

[markwatney]

"I haven't seen a wheelbarrow, but we can rig a pallet, yeah," I agree, and then laugh. "Too bad we can't tie it to a sheep and avoid having to drag it. But that would probably be asking for a lost sheep and our shit strewn across the forest."

I glance back to the window. It's still snowing, but it's light and the ground is too warm still for it to stick. "You want to go tomorrow?"

[3ofswords]

"I mean, I've got a goat and a dog," he points out, unsure which would be worse: Aurora trying to herd a goat or the pair of them pulling it together. "But I've also got two hands and a lot of free time. Why not?"