Mall Rats Return

Mall Rats Return
459

Salene

Gel and Mouse leave the Cafe to find a room for Gel, I go back to Dee who stands with some utensils and vegetables.

“Come on, you can’t be everyones mommy any more, the chickens are all grow’d up” Dee says playfully “But we can use some of your yummy cooking talents”

I smile as Dee hands me a basket of food that we brought with us and head towards the roof… We go outside, the sun is lower in the sky than when we arrived…

“Be dark soon” I sigh to Dee

“Missing home?” She asks

“Just a little, it’s so gorgeous there Dee, I have a well of water in the garden, the streams close for food, I have vegetables growing in the garden, the people who lived there were prepared for disaster, I had a room full of different supplies and things that would be good for years”

“Sounds beautiful” Dee smiles “Maybe I can see it when all this shits over”

“I’d love that” I smile

We spot Tally and go over to her… She is sitting trying to prepare the bits she has and checking on Leo…

“Reinforcements are here” Dee smiles happily

We sit on the floor next to Tally and start to help her prep the food for the stew

@Zwenja

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460

Tally

I look up when a voice sounds up. “Oh hi Salene…Dee…” I look at the apple core in my lap. “I was so hungry… So I thought… Well… Andy and I collected those apples… So technically it’s ours. It’s not like we are a tribe…”

I hope they won’t judge me. “I thought we could cook the apples to an apple sauce… So we make more from them. It wouldn’t be enough for everyone otherwise. The fire is going strong… They have worked it out good here. The water wlli need a while to cook. I’ve put in onions already to get some flavor. I have carrots, potatoes, some corn, celery and wild herbs…”

I am pretty sure I can cook well enough… But I never cooked for so many people. So Salene is the one I look up to now…

@Salene

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461

Eciov

From how Gel had entered, it was nice to see her bright smile. All it took was to discuss a little bit of makeup. :nail_care: As we step outside the cafe she asks if I know which rooms are free.

“So you have come along way since I saw you last then, your brain has gone from a pea to a broad bean, go Gel.” I give her a nudge and a smile. "I am glad we weren’t roped into the cooking, I still remember us in the cafeteria getting more flour on us than in what we were baking. Sorry I am digressing, (Ah maybe I should reframe from using complicated terminology), I am pretty sure the shoe shop opposite is free which would be perfect for Little Miss Polish. We will figure it out by people’s belongings dumped inside. Unless you need a bigger room for your boy toys?" I smile again. Gel really was bringing my smile out.

@Patsy

2 Likes
462

Salene

“No one is going to judge you” I smile at Tally “Have you been gettimg enough to drink? We don’t need you getting sick and with breast feeding you have to get enough food and fluids”

“Here” Dee smiles

She reaches into her bag and pulls out a bottle of milk, she hands it to Tally

“It’s good for you and will benefit Leo” Dee smiles

I look at Tally and see her smile a little…

“Okay lets get this food going before we all starve to death”

I pull out another pan and put it on the floor… I start to put all the onion peels, herb stems, carrot skins and what ever other root vegetable skins and wild garlic bulbs into the pan and cover it with a bottle of water from my bag, Dee and Tally look at me confused as I place the pan next to the other on the stove…

“Why… did you do that?” Dee asks cautiously

“To make a vegetable stock” I smile “You can do it with chicken leftovers as well to make a chicken stock”

“I never knew that” Dee smiles “You really do learn something new every day”

That makes us giggle a little…

@Zwenja

2 Likes
463

Lex

I leave the place I claimed for my room and walk towards the fountain, I plan on offering myself for security duty, the one thing I was good at before, I was never a good provisions person or cook… I see Andy, Tally’s brother…

“Hey… Andy?” I say more as a question

He stops and looks at me

“I found aloady of baby stuff that used to belong to the Bray brat” I pause

What am I saying, being back here I seem to slip back into bad habits, I cant be this guy…

“I mean, the stuff must have belonged to Amber and possibly Trudy at some point” I say changing the way I speak “Perhaps it can be useful for your sisters Kid”

@Jack

3 Likes
464

Tally

I relax when Salene shows understanding of my situation. Of course she always was protective of the younger ones. I nod when she asks if I drunk. “The water filter is still in work and looks clean. But I guess I’ll be boiling out sone water for me later to kill out any possible germs…” I look at Leo who has his little fist in his mouth. He seems comfortable on the blankets of Eciov people.

Dee even gives me some milk. Milk is rather precious and I am moved she gives it to me.

While I sip on it, we watch Salene fill all the peels in a pan and cover it with some water. She then puts it into the fire.

She explains to Dee its to make vegetable stock. “I did that at home too… But was unsure how to keep it here… Andy and I also collected some eggs… I don’t know what to do with those to have everyone benefits from it… I never cooked for so many. Do you realise its around twenty five people to feed?”

@Salene

1 Like
465

Gel:
I smile hearing Mouse speaking, she sure hasn’t changed, just as chatty as she used to be. She mentioned the time we tried cooking and I can’t help but to laugh. the disaster” I say shaking my head. She mentions the shoe shop, I nod my head ”my friends will not be staying, one of them died before we started to head to the city, and now I feel like a third wheel, cause Melody has a thing for him and I think he likes her as well. But he said we would continue our nail polish brand, so they are finding a place not to far away” I tell her with a sad little smile.

”who was your friends?”
@Jack

466

Salene

I can hear the worry in Tally’s voice about how many people we need to feed…

“We will manage okay” I smile placing my hand on her shoulder “I say we save the eggs, we can scramble them and make sure there’s enough for everyone, we can wait and see what Alice and the others find at the farm tomorrow”

“I think we should keep a few back just for you” Dee smiles “You will need the protein and things that eggs provide, especially while breast feeding”

“Good point” I smile

I drop some parsnips and carrots into the stew and then stir the stock, Tally is worried about how to keep it but I have plans to use it for the stew, we can pot up what we don’t use…

“I hope they find some chicken at the farm” Dee smiles “I haven’t had meat for ages, normally the nomads live on fish and vegetables, we don’t get many wanting to eat the animals rather we use them for eggs, milk and things, they have a pig, I guess in the older days he would be a prized pig, he can find the most amazing mushrooms, I think they used to be called truffles, they were the most expensive in the old world”

“I remember truffles” I smile “My parents told me they cost alot but had the richest flavour ever”

“The flavour is beyond anything you have tasted” Dee smiles

“Shame you didn’t bring any with you”

“Who says” Dee grins

I watch as she pulls out a box with truffle mushrooms in it, the smell is potent and strong… I smile at Dee as she puts the lid back…

@Zwenja

2 Likes
467

Tally

I am not sure about the idea to put away eggs just for me. True Andy abd I found them, but the serpents are ready to share their home and even offered their food. (And mind you it wasn’t that much. They probably sometimes struggle to have the five of them fed)

But I am not discussing with them. If Salene wants to she can be very fierce. But the idea to make scrambled eggs another day is a good one. “There live lots of ducks along the river… If you are clever enough you can steal eggs from them. Andy often succeeds with that. Of course he does never take more then two from one nest…” I muse.

Dee then speaks about meat. I don’t like meat so much, so I don’t really care if we get some. Andy of course is a “man”, so he often caught smaller animals like rabbits.

Then she speaks about the people she lives with and how they use animals for more then meat. She speaks about a pig searching… Mushrooms? Huh?

Salene and her then look into a box in which lay some… Well… It looks like little stones. The smell is quiet intensive.

I jump a little as a little hand pats my leg. I look beside, seeing Leo on his stomach, one leg a little pulled under his belly. He looks utterly proud and moves even closer to my feet. “Sweetheart! Are you… Did you…?” I grab him and he makes a hapoy sound as I out him high “Awww… Uncle Andy will be sad he missed that! You are learning to crawl! Well done baby boy!”

@Salene

1 Like
468

Ryan

Talking about helping out at the farm brought me back, it brought back many memories and I had always loved the farm. I smiled even more after KC and then Cloe offered to help out, it really brought me back even more. It made me think of her and Patsy coming out to help out, so it was a bit sad that Patsy wasn’t here as well. “It can also be a great time to catch up even more” I said which caused Cloe to smile as well and nod her head.

I had seen Salene again with some others I didn’t know, it must have been people who joined the Mallrats after… well… after I had left if I could even call it that. I was taken away but then choose not to come back right away. Hearing Danni speaks up gave even more of that feeling of familiarity. “It seems no matter how long we are gone it’s still easy to get back into some things” I spoke back quietly to Alice, no offense to Danni though. I had always thought she had good leader skills.

I look back at Alice and nod my head “Yeah, I’m good with that”*

1 Like
469

Luc

I watch as people start leaving the cafe, I turned to look at Callan “So, you know that guy with the long dark hair who stormed out then came back? Turns out he was with Red over there, there was some kind of accident, he thought she was dead and buried her… That’s why there was the shouting,” I whisper filling him in on the gossip “Its gonna be like living in one of those day time soaps that adults used to watch, there is plenty of tension between everyone”

This was just day one, I can just imagine how everything is going to unfold over the next few days, I feel like I need a few drinks just to deal with all this.

470

Zan

I sit and listen to everything going on, not gonna lie I was excited about the food. Between traveling and staying at the stop-over house I was starving, my cooking skills have improved but are still probably nowhere near as good as the others.

I look over at Danni “Still game to find out if there is a bar later? I’d love to get out of this place for a bit” I sigh, there were still things to sort out in my room and I wanted to have a nosey in the store room as well to see if I could find anything of interest, I definitely wanted to get some clothes and make a couple of outfits up.

471

DANNI

Alice suggests her and Ryan take the first shift and I shake my head slightly, that wasn’t what I’d meant… I meant one mallrat and one serpent, working together. They probably wouldn’t like just mallrats taking the watches, they didn’t know us and had zero reason to trust us, especially given the situation. Ryan agreed to take the watch and I glance over at the serpents, wondering if they will speak up.

’Yes,’ I reply when Zandra asks if I still want to get out of here later ’I need a drink!’

@Zandra

472

CALLAN

’He buried her alive?’ I whisper back incredulously, ’no wonder she’s p*ssed!’ I couldn’t imagine that was a fun experience for any of them. ’God, that’s the last thing we need.’ I vaguely remembered those shows and I knew I’d hated them when I was younger, all drama for no reason apart from the story.

Talk turns to security and it’s suggested that we split the watch, makes sense, I would make sure there was a serpent on guard at all times… for all we knew these people could be the source of the red letters just here to cause issue, like the mallrats always did when they were in the city the first time.

We haven’t managed introductions but at this point I feel less interested in learning their names and more interested in resolving the situation so we can get them the f*ck out of our home and go back to our lives.

@Zandra

473

Luc

“Yup, crazy right, and when he apologised, she basically said she doesn’t care about his apology and that’s when he stormed out. If we ever have to burry someone we’re doing that thing where you tie some string around their wrist and a bell rings if they start moving in the grave showing their alive” I say and sit back in my chair.

I was about to say something else when the woman in question comes over.

474

Zan

I nod at Danni and look over to Luc and Callan who seem pretty deep in a conversation, I didn’t really want to interrupt them but this was probably the quietest it was going to be in here for a while so I was taking the chance.

Standing up I walked straight over “Sorry for interrupting, but me and Danni are planning on going out for a drink tonight and as we haven’t been in the city in years we have no idea where to go. What sector is there somewhere decent to drink?” I paused to give them chance to reply… Hopefully with a place to go.

475

Andy

Ahh, there’s the Lex I know… I decide to wind him up a little.

“Whose Andy? Sister, I don’t have a sister!” He looks at me puzzled.

“I’m just pulling your leg. That’s very considerate of you, Tally will be thrilled. We can turn Leo into a Bray brat.” I smirk. “Where is this stuff? Would you led me a hand shifting it to here please?”

Never in a million years did I think I would be playing nice with Lex. Who knows, we might end up the best of chums. He didn’t seem like such a jerk anymore.

@Salene

1 Like
476

Eciov

My bottom lip drops when Gel tells me about her friend that had passed and her situation. I place my hand on her shoulder as she asks about my friends.

“I am so sorry to hear about your friend.” I pause before telling her about my friends… “The laughing brickhouse is Will. He is so kind, strong and good with his hands.” I give her a cheeky wink. “And Dawn is an absolute treasure with a mahoosive brain. I am their leader. We are called The Everglades. If you fancy it, you can join us before bed up on the roof and we can share stories whilst you do our nails? Will might be large with the butch, but he looks great in a skirt. He will love having his nails painted.” I snigger.

I was no girly girl, but I was prepared to be a bimbo for Gel. I wanted to keep her smiling, The Everglades thrived on fun and happiness so I was confident Gel will be laughing her knickers off with us if she decides to join us later. We had now reached the shoe shop.

@Patsy

3 Likes
477

Lex

I give Andy a glare, hands on my hips, as he jokes about being Tally’s brother… My patience is slim after being met with my ex wife who I thought was dead and her attitide… Shes hurt but I went through hell as well… I groan, I am not the hot headed idiot I once was…

“I’m just pulling your leg. That’s very considerate of you, Tally will be thrilled. We can turn Leo into a Bray brat.” Andy grins

I may not be much of a baby fan but that boy is far from being a brat, let alone a Bray brat, unless thats who hos dad is which I highly doubt…

“Where is this stuff? Would you led me a hand shifting it to here please?” Andy asks

I look towards the cafe and nod…

“Of course” I say “I’ll even help put the cot up”

Andys eyes go wide as he looks at me, I can tell its a

WHO THE HELL ARE YOU AND WHERE THE HELL IS LEX look

“Come on, this way” I say

Glancing to Zandra again sitting talking in the cafe, I sigh and lead Andy to the room where the baby stuff is stored…

“I think the Serpents mentioned a room where most of the extra stuff is stored, we should move what you and Tally don’t need to there and that opens this room up for use, we don’t know how many more are coming back to the mall”

I start to move the boxes into the light of the mall, 17 years of dust on them makes me cough and sneeze… I make a mental note to ask one of the girls the best way to eliminate the dust…

@Jack

1 Like
478

Andy

Without any hesitation Lex said “Of course,” he would even help putting the cot up. If there is one. My eyes go wide. Who is this guy? A clone? None of that here please. Maybe he is a twin, the nice one, like me! Who am I kidding this was plain and simple Lex… A more laid back, grown up adult. We were not the same people we once were when we were last here…

Lex and I start to shift things. I begin to cough from the amount of dust. “So where did you leave the old motor mouth version of you then? You handled the not so dead first wife scenario better than most would have… You did the right thing walking away. Sometimes it is best to take yourself out of a situation and take a moment. Some people just argue until they are black and blue, which gets you nowhere! She certainly won’t forget, but maybe one day she will learn to forgive you? Your mistake put her on a whole new path and it may have not all been hugs and puppies so yeah your not exactly going to be at the top of her Christmas card list…”

@Salene

1 Like