Olivia had spent the day scavenging, looking for any goods and weapons she could possibly use. With the Walkers all frozen through she had little to fear aside from other human beings--not that she came across any--so she had been able to roam the streets freely. She had explored and roamed, taking her time and really only hurrying when night was getting ready to fall. She had little want to sleep outside in the snow, though in spring, summer, and even the mild days of fall she tend to sleep in trees high out of reach of Walkers.

During the day's scavenge Olivia had found something miraculous. There was a department store that had managed to escape virtually untouched. There was clothes, camping supplies, dried food--some past its expiration date but still edible--and even weapons. Olivia was able to replenish her dwindling supply of arrows, get a new ax and knife, and she even found a semi-automatic pistol with plenty of ammo. When it came to clothes she had a complete new set of winter gear with at least two spares of everything excepting jacket and boots. After having gathered everything she needed and donning her new clothes, Olivia had ventured back out into the cold, not wanting to stay in the department store in case some other survivors should come through. She felt it best to stay elsewhere.

Toward evening, once Olivia was content with the day's finds, she began her tour of the big city. She saw the subways grown through with vines, visited crumbling Time Square, and finally made her way to Central Park.

While Central Park had been big in its heydays, it had still been small compared to the state parks of Mississippi, who had more square footage of forest than any other state. Now, however, Central Park was becoming a true forest in its own right. With no one to tend to it the plant life had grown wild. Trees had expanded out to the roads, causing the pavement to crack and crumble in order to make room for their roots. Climbing plants and crawling vines enveloped rotting park benches and lay strewn across the road. Until the snow cleared and spring came to make them green again the vines reminded Olivia of leather thongs all twisted and worn with age.

While human kind found little in this city but a snow covered wasteland strewn with frozen Walkers, the wildlife was thriving. There were no birds right now as they had all flown south for the winter, but there were still rivers yet frozen and filled with fish, deer and wild pigs that rooted through the expanding forest that had once been Central Park. Olivia could fish and hunt and have fresh meat. From the bridge where she had surveyed the land earlier she had noticed the boats on the Hudson River. She could stay there for the night, figuring it would be safer than staying on land where she could easily be snuck up on wherever she choose to make camp. If the boat Olivia boarded didn't work then maybe she could find a working one in the morning and take it further out to the bay to fish. If the boat had enough gas she could even go visit Lady Liberty on person.

With a plan in mind Olivia set her course. She made her way down to the docks where there were still plenty of boats tethered. Having grown up on the Gulf Coast, the sight of the boats and smell of the river air was like a welcome from an old friend.

Olivia hummed happily to herself as she picked a boat at random and hopped aboard. The best part was that the docks seemed to be completely Walker free. Any that found their way here tended to fall into the water since they ran on instincts alone and had no sense of self-preservation. As she forced open the door to a cabin and deposited her stuff she sighed contentedly, "Home sweet home."