It was most definitely a nice surprise waking up to the smell of breakfast, particularly to the wondrous scent of coffee. Until Frank had arrived with his bag of grounds, Allison hadn't had a cup of jo in over half a year.

The greater surprise, though, was when Frank suggested that maybe they add more names to the list of hands working the McGee Estate. Allison hadn't expected that, and as he was speaking on the topic, she simply sat there in silence, sipping at her mug while churning the unexpected suggestion around in her brain.

"Just something to think about," he said in way of concluding the suggestion and leaving anymore to said about it to Allison. 

She did in fact mull on it a moment before giving the non-committal reply, "I'll give it some thought."

Allison had already made an enormous leap by simply inviting Frank to stay a while, whether it be short, long, or indefinite. The thought of having even more strangers, potentially [i]dangerous[/i] strangers, moving to the estate was almost frightening.

"I need to get started on my route," she finally said, not yet ready to speak about the idea any further at the moment. She looked to Robert, who was grasping at the playpen's net wall and trying to pull himself up. "He's a strong child. He'll need that if he's going to help you with the chores soon."

Allison laughed, began to help with cleaning up the table, got told by Frank that he'd handle it, and left the room to gather her things for the patrol. She thanked him for breakfast and interacted with Robert a moment before heading out with a pail of scraps and [i]homemade[/i] dog food for the Scrooges. 

As she headed down the draw toward the perimeter woods, Allison thought more on what Frank had suggested. It wouldn't have been a bad idea a year ago, before the world began to fall apart. But the collapse of society, the near distinguishing of law and order, the rise of militias and fall of respect had led to a world where it was hard for most people to trust strangers.

Stopping at the forest's edge and looking back on the estate, Allison considered the good that could come from having a half dozen more pairs of hands to get the work done. Of course, each pair of hands came with a mouth to feed, too. Maybe four pairs of hands, four mouths.

Still, Allison didn't know these people. Hell, she still didn't know Frank. For all she knew, he'd been the actual bad guy in the firefight into which she'd been drawn the day two days earlier. And there was always the possibility that in the process of recruiting these [i]good people[/i], some of the [i]bad people[/i] Allison had been avoiding since I-55 destroyed her world would end up finding the estate as well.

No, for now she was determined to keep things as they were. Frank would simply have to accept that it was just the two of them for now -- two and a half, actually.

Her mind was churning with thoughts as she went about her patrol, finding nothing of concern as she almost always did these days. When she returned to the house, she found Frank out on the grounds still hard at work on his list, which Allison had added to during breakfast. She found just enough coffee still hot on the wood stove to fill two mugs halfway. She went out to find him and gave one over.

"I'm not ready for more people," she informed him. She sipped at her coffee, then added a simple, "Let's talk about it more later on ... maybe in a couple of days." She emptied her mug, set it aside, and asked, "Okay, what's left to do?"

They finished the morning chores while Robert lay on a blanket and laughed and tugged at the nose and fur of one of the Scrooges who'd decided to [i]babysit[/i] the tyke. Occasionally, curious chickens or ducks would wander over toward the blanket, only to flap away when the Australian Shepherd jerked his snout or paw at them in warning.

The three of them eventually headed inside for lunch, and after coming outside again to dig up a hundred pounds or more of carrots, onions, and potatoes, Allison got started on more food preservation. It would occupy her for the rest of the day, even with Frank help in cleaning and chopping.

Before they knew it, the sun was falling, and it was time for another evening perimeter patrol. Allison suited up and armed up and headed out. Sometimes in the past, she'd wondered if all this security was really necessary. At times, she thought she'd done it just to have something to do that didn't involve planting, picking, or preserving food ... something that took her mind off the fact that she'd been all alone in the world after her last relative's death to the virus.

Now, though, with another human being on the property, Allison didn't have to patrol to preserve her insanity. Yet, as she headed down the draw again, she reminded herself of what had happened two nights ago and how -- if she hadn't been there when Frank and Jennifer were chased into the ditch by 5 armed killers -- the mayhem might have spilled over onto the estate without her knowing or knowing in a timely manner. 

No, for the time being she would continue to make her rounds. Maybe she could reduce it to just morning or night, not both. She would have liked to show Frank the route and let him do some of the walking through the woods. But who would stay with Little Bit while she was showing him the ropes? That only made her think about Frank's suggestion that they get some more people to share the burden.

Allison was wearing herself out. She knew that. She'd worked hard all her life, but she'd always had family and sometimes hired hands to share the load. For months now, it had been just her and before that just her and a cousin who, to be honest, hadn't been much use to her. Allison was getting up every morning around 5am, patrolling, working, napping for an hour or so if she could, working more, patrolling again, and finally laying her head down sometime after 7 or 8pm, sometimes much later.

She couldn't continue on this way for much longer, even with a second pair of hands. Frank was going to change everything, of course. But would it be enough? Allison knew she had to put some more thought into his suggestion. 

She returned in the dark, dug out some more bones for the Stooges from a box of them she kept, and headed inside. There was no sign of Frank or Robert, but a short search found the former in his bed and the latter in the adjacent playpen, both of them sacked out. She returned to the kitchen, finding it immaculately cleaned and organized. She smiled, thinking [i]Frank makes quite a housewife[/i].

Allison hurried through her shower and skipped the masturbation, needing as much sleep as she could get...

[center]..................[/center]

The next morning began as the previous one had, including yet another perimeter patrol, more daily chores, and the harvesting of apples to be preserved as sauce and juice both. The pair sat on the porch to partake of barbequed chicken; Allison had determined that one of the older hens was no longer laying eggs and had brought her [i]career[/i] to an end with a hatchet. 

"Tell me more about these [i]good people[/i] of whom you speak," she said out of the blue as they were watching the sun disappear into the western woods. "I'm not saying I'm ready for something like this. I'm just saying ... I'll listen."