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“All done.” Nova set the scissors and comb aside.

She gave me a handheld mirror, and I turned it this way and that to get a good look at my new haircut. I still looked like myself, with my thick hair longish and a little wild, but she’d cleaned me up so I looked more like a member of society instead of a mountain man.

“It’s excellent. Thank you.”

She shrugged. “It needed to be done.”

“Well, I still appreciate it.”

“How’s your knee? Could you go on a short hike?” Nova asked.

“Right now?” I asked, caught off guard by her question. “I still have my limp, but I can get around okay. Why? What did you need me to do?”

“I’m going out foraging tomorrow. Why don’t you come with me?” she asked.

“If you think I’d be of help, then I’d be happy to.”

19

Lazlo

After breakfast, we set out with a wagon and the wolfdogs. Nova had a quiver full of arrows on her back, and the bow rested in the wagon that she pulled as we walked.

“Is the bow and arrow to fight off zombies?” I asked as we started down a dirt trail that led into the woods.

She shook her head. “I prefer the shotgun on them. They don’t go down as well with a bow and arrow, but I don’t have much ammo, so I save it for them. The arrows take down deer and rabbits just fine.”

“So what happens if we come across a zombie?” I asked.

“We’ve got the wolfdogs and the machete.” Nova motioned back to my broad knife sitting next to her bow.

“I didn’t realize we’d be hunting today.”

“Foraging for me is looking for plants and animals ready for harvest. Frost and Sable require a lot of protein, and as you’re still healing, so do you.”

“I haven’t done that much hunting,” I admitted. “I’ve killed plenty of zombies, but not any animals.”

“You can stick to foraging for plants for now,” she said.

As we walked through the trees, Nova told me what I should be on the lookout for, like nettles and dandelion greens. The thing she was most excited for were morel mushrooms, which she usually found on top of a nearby hill this time of year.

“How far do we have to go?” I asked after we’d been walking for a while.

My knee was already throbbing, and I was pushing through it as much as I could, but I honestly wasn’t sure how much it had left considering we’d have to make the same journey back to the house.

“The hill with the morels should be right up ahead. I usually only go a few hours away from the farm so I can be back by dark,” she said. “Sometimes I have to go beyond that, but only when I’m heading to another settlement to trade for the goods I can’t get on my own.”

“How close is the nearest settlement?” I asked, since I hadn’t seen any neighbors or even any other houses nearby.

“The closest is two days away by mule, but the place I prefer takes five days of travelling, so I don’t go there often. We are very isolated out here, which keeps the zombie populations low, and fortunately, we can get most of what we need on the farm or nearby.”

When we got closer to the hill, a wild rabbit ran across our paths, and both of the wolfdogs immediately gave chase.

“You can’t run, so go on and look for the mushrooms,” Nova commanded hastily as she grabbed her bow. “I’ll meet you up there when I’m done.”

With that, she raced after Frost and Sable, and hopefully she would return with rabbit.

I left the wagon behind, and I carefully scaled the hill, using the pine trees to lean on and take breaks when my knee required it.