Day to Day Chores

Posted on Thu Nov 13th, 2025 @ 9:35am by New York Survivor Amythyst & New York Survivor Briar Maddox & New York Survivor John ("Dodger") Smith & New York Survivor George Brooks

1,864 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Safe Harbor
Location: Safe Harbor Island
Timeline: 21 September 2010

It had been several days since Amy and George had returned with everything from Ceder Hill.

Amy had spent the time sorting out all the items she had brought back from Ceder Hill. She had taken each child aside and gotten them to try on clothes and soon everyone had new clothes to get changed into.
Amy had set up three new items in the kitchen. One to pasteurise the milk, one to churn butter and another to press cheese. And Amy had already taught everyone to use them because she refused to be the only one using them. Amy had added plates and cups and more cutlery. Which helped when they ate.

Amy had made a list of everything and put it on the wall near the kitchen. And now as rain lashed at the windows in the afternoon she looked into the large lounge area, where the fireplace warmed the room with its fire. The 11 younger children were sprawled on the couches, or the floor on beanbags with the dogs and cats, most were reading while some watched a Disney movie on the TV, which was playing on low volume.

Amy let the image warm her heart then she grabbed her brand new raincoat and slung it on and when she went out the backdoor, she exchanged her shoes for wellingtons.

They had chosen to stay on the main island for a few days before going exploring again so if anyone was watching for them, it would throw them off.

Amy pulled the hood of the coat up, and made the walk to the barn. The cows were inside, and the chickens were all in their coop, out of the rain, but they still needed to be fed and the area needed to be cleaned. She hummed softly as she walked through the partially dug pathway. Briar and Dodger had started building the covered paths over the past few days but the rain had driven them inside, which, Amy thought was wise. A few more days, they had told her, and it would be covered.

Pushing into the Barn, she took off the coat, shook it and hung it on a peg. Still humming she grabbed a bucket and filled it with the chicken food. She moved to the interior entrance to the coop and then carefully poured the feed into the covered feed bins.

Once they were fed she moved to fee the cows. The two milk cows were munching on the grass that grew through the slats in the barn, the calf was watching her as she came up and began loading the hay into their feed trough, then checked their water bin. Content it was all good, she headed back to the main door, grabbed the raincoat and pulled it back on.

The rain was consistent. And it filled the rain water tanks which fed the gardens and the animals. Which Amy knew they needed. While they showered with water from the bore, it was not nice to drink. She had made sure everyone had their own water bottle now and filling them with rain water, or purified water from the creeks would make sure they would always have drinking water.

She walked slowly back to the main house, letting the rain hit the hood of the coat and wash down.

Dodger had watched Amy leave the house and go out to the barn. When she came back, he was waiting for her. "Everything okay in the barn? Also when this rain stops Briar and I will finish the covered pathways so no one will need about getting rained or snowed on." The last said with a smile. "I was going to head to the fishing boat, give it it a once over. Check the rods and hooks, bait, the crab and lobster traps and make sure there is enough fuel in it if we go on another excursion and decide to take it. Even if we don't take it, it's good to know it's ready to go in case of an emergency."

Amy nodded. "The barn is good. I will go back at night to milk the cows. When you go, take the older children so they can learn."

"Sure thing." Dodger agreed readily, "I'll show them how to bat the traps. You use different bait for them. Crabs take one kind, lobsters another. I'll also them how to bait the rods and set the drags on them. Later I'll show them about how to catch crabs in the sand and maybe surf fishing. That can be tricky though, Not the actual fishing but if you catch something large like a ray or a shark."

At that moment, another figure in an army rain poncho stepped up to the door leading into the mud room. It was George. While everyone else worked on the homestead, he focused on keeping their boats maintained, as without them, they would probably never leave the island again.

As he peeled off the rain covered poncho and hung it up, he spoke. "Glad you two were here," he said as he sat down to remove his rain boots. "We have a problem. Not a big one, yet, but it could get bad sooner rather than later." He slipped his regular shoes on. Then made sure only the three of them could hear what was said.

"I just finished going over the engines of our main boat," he sighed slightly in frustration. "Towing that last load back really hit her hard. She's got several seals thT are starting to leak, and we dont have any spares. I can juryrig some covers to insulate the leaks where I can, but its only a short term fix. She will still be able to make runs to the mainland and back, provided we have enough fuel and oil. But she can't haul a load like that again. If we try to, the whole system will crap out completely, and then we'd have about two tons of scrap metal, that used to be two marine diesel engines."

Amy nodded. "So." She paused and went to the door and signalled to Briar.

Briar came out grabbing a rain coat as she did so. "What's up?" Briar asked.

Amy nodded at George. "Boat problems. We have 4 boats, lets go down and discuss them."

Dodger walked along after telling Fisher to stay at the house, he didn't want the dog getting wet and then smelling wet fur. he was also thinking on what George said. he would help in anyway to repair the boat, he knew they all would. it was what them so strong. One for all and all for one. Just like the Musketeers.

When they reached the dock the rain had picked up a bit so Amy waved them into the boatshed. "Ok George, what do we need?"

Once everyone was inside, George closed the door, lessening the sound of the growing storm. He led them all aboard their main boat, the one they escaped Nanhatten with, and then down into the small engine room. He pointed out all of the problem areas. These are things that I can juryrig. These seals are made specifically for engines that are built in this configuration. All ot the hardware can be fabricated. These seals though, we would need a factory to reproduce them, not to mention all the raw materials that would be required in their construction." He sighed, that took one of the rags he had left off to the side and cleaned some of the fresh fluid leaks that had appeared since he left to come up to the house few moments before.

"I mean," he sighed thoughtfully, "I suppose I could come up with a different substance to replace the original seals...but...." he shook his head, "They wouldn't last long, nor would we be able to use the engines at full power."

"Let's look at this from the point of view that the glass is half full." Dodger spoke up. We have four boats. So we're not stuck. We all pitch in and help George do what we can in making seals for the engines. As for as not using the engines at full power or have a full load on the boat to reduce stress on the engines. We'll just make do and use them at fifty or seventy five percent or what ever engine speed you decide."

Briar nodded. "There may be more supplies on other islands as well."

George shrugged. "That will certainly help in the short term. However, sooner, rather than later, I will have to strip these engines down, clean what needs cleaning, replace or juryrig what's broken, and put it all back together, hoping that the repairs hold." He shook his head as he continued. "Im doing the best in can here, using the things my dad taught me, but, im not a trained mechanic."

Briar nodded. "Well we will all help and learn." She said firmly. "The boats are our lifeline. We have the one we brought back from Crescent. Can it be broken down?"

"We're all doing the best we can and we all help each other. it is how we will survive and grow," Dodger added, "The fishing boat is in good shape. It could be used to scout the other islands and report back before we take one of the bigger boats."

George looked over at Briar, and considered her question for a few beats. "We can take a look. It might help to salvage one of our boats, to help keep the other three operating." He then glanced over at Doger. "Ill start teaching anyone who is interested in mechanics, what i know." He paused for a moment, then added, "If we can find boat maintenance manuals, that will help a lot in training us up."

"You can start teaching me." Dodger said, "That way if you're sick and something comes up, someone else can fill in for you and at least keep everything functioning."

"Then the rest of us." Amy said softly. "And it is the same across the island." she touched the boat carefully. "We will train everyone as best we can."

'We will make this work for all of us. I'd show you about fishing but there really isn't that much to it. I guess that's why I like it even if it is frustrating at times." Dodger said with a grin.

Briar smirked. "At least we are not fishing in the Hudson."

"Yes, there is that and believe I am thankful we aren't. I shudder to think at what me might have caught." Dodger answered with a grin.

"Tetanus, probably." George chuckled softly. He then nodded as he took in a deep breath and let it back out. "Alright. Lemme give you three a crash course on what I know."

For the next few hours, the four teens went over each boat, as George passed on both what he had learned from his father and what he had picked up on his own. He then pointed out all of the issues he had discovered on their small fleet of boats.

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